Time Travel: I'm a Flower Thief

After Bai Letian finished speaking, scholars in the room immediately echoed him loudly, their voices full of anticipation.

"Excellent suggestion! I have long admired Young Master Su's talent, and Young Hero Xie's poem from the other day was truly astonishing. It is our great fortune to have the opportunity to see the two of you compare your poems today!"

Xie Xiaoyi cursed inwardly.

I can have the Eight Great Masters of the Tang and Song Dynasties write my poems, but matching couplets is a real challenge for me.

So this Su Mubai is trying to use me to get revenge on Fu Yaoqin!

Xie Xiaoyi cursed inwardly, but his face remained lazy as he picked up his wine glass, took a sip, and said with a nonchalant smile:

"Young Master Su, you're too kind. My skills are just rudimentary; I could hardly ask for your guidance."

Seeing that Xie Xiaoyi was still pretending to refuse, Su Mubai assumed that he was afraid.

He immediately stepped forward, gently swirling his wine glass, his tone carrying a hint of certainty:

"Young Master Xie, why be so modest?"

At the banquet where wine cups floated on a winding stream, your poem amazed everyone present. It must be no problem for you to compose a matching couplet.

Why don't we offer our initial thoughts here to spark further discussion?

Having said that, Su Mubai swept his gaze across everyone in the room, and before Xie Xiaoyi could refuse, he spoke first:

"Then I, Mu Bai, will venture to offer my first couplet, and make a fool of myself in it—"

Ten minds, yearning for the zither, for the melody, for the beautiful rhythm.

Upon hearing this couplet, a scholar in the room immediately exclaimed in a low voice, "Excellent!"

Mu Pingting, sitting beside her in the women's section, gently swayed her jade flute pendant, her eyes crinkling as she chuckled softly.

"Young Master Su's couplet clearly reveals his feelings for Sister Yaoqin."

Everyone pondered it carefully.

Those ten thoughts were used brilliantly!

The character “思” is formed by combining “十” (ten), “口” (mouth), and “心” (heart).

The thought of playing the zither, the melody, and the beautiful tunes was clearly a recollection of Master Fu's song "Broken Heart" from back then.

Wonderful, absolutely wonderful!

Xie Xiaoyi's heart stirred upon hearing the first line of the couplet presented by Su Mubai.

He was initially hesitant about matching couplets.

However, the first line of this couplet is exactly the same as the couplet in the Stephen Chow movie "Flirting Scholar" that he watched before he traveled through time.

Haha!

I hit the jackpot; this actually helped me.

The first line of the couplet in the movie is: "Ten mouths and thoughts, thinking of the ruler, the country, and the nation."

Tang Bohu's second line is: "Eight eyes still appreciate, appreciating flowers, the moon, and the fragrance of autumn."

You can simply use couplets from movies and make minor modifications.

A playful glint flashed in Xie Xiaoyi's eyes as he put down his wine glass and said loudly:

"Young Master Su's couplet is brilliant, then I shall make a fool of myself in offering my own."

Eight eyes still appreciate beauty, admiring flowers, the moon, and the zither!

Upon hearing this, the entire room erupted in cheers!

The scholar in the blue robe exclaimed in admiration:

"wonderful!

Wonderful!

Eight eyes can be combined to form the character "赏" (shǎng), and ten mouths can be combined to form the character "思" (sī). The characters fit together perfectly, like a seamless whole!

Several scholars echoed this sentiment, their voices filled with astonishment.

"Enjoy the flowers, the moon, and the zither!"

The three words "ending" are simply a stroke of genius!

It not only fulfills Young Master Su's longing for music and zither, but also cleverly incorporates Master Fu into the couplet, achieving the ultimate in elegance!

City Lord Bai Letian laughed heartily and nodded repeatedly.

Fu Yaoqin's fingers, which were holding the fan, paused slightly.

When she heard Su Mubai's line "thinking of the zither, thinking of the melody, thinking of the beautiful rhyme," her delicate eyebrows furrowed almost imperceptibly.

A hint of helplessness flashed in his eyes.

Although the couplet was cleverly chosen, it was full of blatant admiration, which made her feel somewhat uncomfortable in front of everyone.

But when Xie Xiaoyi blurted out "Enjoying flowers, the moon, and the zither"—

She was startled at first, then her cheeks turned red, and she quickly covered half of her face with her fan.

When her gaze fell on Xie Xiaoyi again, she felt a little uneasy and confused.

This scene instantly froze the arrogance on Su Mubai's face, as if someone had poured a bucket of cold water over his head.

He never expected that this seemingly carefree guy could come up with such a flawless word-splitting couplet.

They even went so far as to embed Fu Yaoqin's name into it, completely overshadowing him in front of all the guests!

A surge of anger rushed to his head. Su Mubai took a deep breath, abruptly raised his eyes, and couldn't hide the icy coldness in his voice:

"Good! Very good."

Young Master Xie is indeed a man of great talent!

Then I will offer another couplet—”

"Wait a minute!" Xie Xiaoyi interrupted Su Mubai before he could finish speaking.

He was able to match that couplet entirely by sheer luck, thanks to Stephen Chow's fame.

Knowing he couldn't let the other party make things difficult for him, he decided to strike first. He immediately stepped forward, cupped his hands in greeting, and smiled:

"Young Master Su has already presented a couplet; now it is my turn to offer my humble opinion and seek your guidance."

Upon hearing this, all the guests in the hall were taken aback, then murmured in agreement:

"That makes sense, that makes sense. A battle of wits requires give and take; indeed, we should thank you, young hero, for setting the question!"

Su Mubai was holding back his anger and wanted to get revenge on his beloved Fu Yaoqin, so he didn't refute what she said.

"Please speak, sir!"

Xie Xiaoyi cleared his throat and said loudly:

"Since Brother Su likes the method of splitting characters, I will follow suit—"

A beautiful young woman asked at the door, "Whom can I marry?"

Hey.

This is a modern internet couplet from before I time-traveled. Let's see how you respond.

After he finished speaking, the room fell silent.

The crowd first appreciated the literal meaning of the words, feeling that the couplet perfectly captured the shy inquiry of a young woman, just like Fu Yaoqin's current state.

They couldn't help but look at her, causing Fu Yaoqin's cheeks to flush red again. She covered her face with a fan, but her eyes shone with curiosity.

Upon closer examination of the characters, what they revealed was even more astonishing—

The character 妙 is composed of 少 (shǎo, meaning young) plus 女 (nǚ, meaning woman).

The character 问 is equal to “门” plus “口”.

The character 何 is equivalent to “人” paired with “可”.

The three layers of word splitting are interlocked, seamless and semantically coherent, a clever idea never seen before!

Su Mubai was taken aback at first, then frowned and tapped his fingers rapidly on the sword at his waist.

He racked his brains, trying to find the corresponding character structure.

It's easy to match "妙" (miào, meaning wonderful) with "好" (hǎo, meaning good), but difficult to match "问" (wèn, meaning question) with "答" (dá, meaning answer), and even more tricky to break down "何" (hé, meaning what) into "人可" (rén kě, meaning person can).

He struggled to come up with a coherent second line, and cold sweat began to bead on his forehead.

City Lord Bai Letian pondered for a long time, then suddenly realized the brilliance of the couplet and couldn't help but clap his hands in praise:

This couplet is absolutely brilliant!

The wordplay is ingenious, and the imagery is perfectly matched, making it a couplet that is difficult to match even throughout the ages!

Young Master Su, do you have a plan?

Su Mubai's face turned pale and then red, and he opened his mouth but couldn't utter a single word.

His usual self-proclaimed talent was rendered utterly inadequate by this couplet, which combined wordplay with profound meaning, leaving him unable to compose even a single word in response.

Finally, he clasped his hands in a deep fist salute and said, "I humbly admit defeat."

At this moment, Fu Yaoqin's gaze was fixed on Xie Xiaoyi, which made Su Mubai feel like his heart was being torn apart.

Mu Pingting looked at the stunned Fu Yaoqin, her eyes sparkling, and raised her voice to Xie Xiaoyi with a smile:

"Thank you for your talent, young hero!"

I wonder if this ingenious idea was specifically conceived for Sister Fu, or if she already possesses a vast and profound knowledge within her?

Xie Xiaoyi turned around upon hearing this, and gave a roguish smile:

"Master Mu is joking. It was just an impromptu attempt to amuse everyone."

"Oh? Young Hero Xie actually knows I'm Master Mu? That's a pleasant surprise!"

"With such an elegant demeanor and the jade flute pendant, even without knowing her name, others would be able to guess that Master Mu is the owner of the Jade Flute Workshop."