I am not a literary giant

Chapter 156 Ruthless Opponent

After saying that, Shi Shuqiu quickly added, "Don't play word games. I've already mentioned the two second lines of the couplet: 'Cannons guard the sea-facing city tower' and 'Lanterns illuminate the splendid city.' You can't repeat yourself!"

Prince Xu smiled and said, "Those two couplets of yours aren't anything special, why repeat them?"

Shi Shuqiu said, "Okay, then you're right, you're right, I'll drink. We can't check online, and we can't take too long. By the way, did he check online just now?"

Someone nearby immediately said, "He didn't check."

Shi Shuqiu said, "Take his phone away."

Wang Zixu smiled dismissively, placed his phone steadily on the table, right next to Shi Tonghe. Shi Tonghe glanced at it sideways, then casually looked up.

Prince Xu extended his index finger, dipped it in the wine glass, and said:

"If there are no problems, I'll begin. The first couplet is: 'Peach blossoms illuminate the Jinjiang River embankment.'"

As he spoke, he wrote on the table with the wine in his hand. The mahogany table absorbed the wine, leaving translucent marks.

Shi Shuqiu leaned closer, his eyes, one big and one small, staring intently at the couplet for a long time.

Indeed, the radicals all contain the five elements of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth, which is quite nice. Literally, it can be interpreted as "peach blossoms blooming brilliantly on the Jinjiang River embankment," a beautiful imagery and scene.

The second line reads, "Lamp inlaid in the deep temple's paulownia."

Shi Tonghe took his glasses from his chest and put them on, then began to carefully examine the words on the table.

This couplet is slightly inferior in its artistic conception, but it is still cleverly matched.

The third one is "Autumn maple leaves cover the ground".

Wang Zixu finished writing on the table, and Dean Li clapped his hands and exclaimed, "Good!"

Huang Xinghuo said, "It's so neat."

A teacher surnamed Yu from Nanjing University standing nearby said, "The third sentence doesn't quite make sense. 'Autumn all over the ground,' what does 'autumn all over the ground' mean? It feels like it was just filled in to make up the word count."

Huang Xinghuo said, "The phrase 'autumn leaves covering the ground' is a figurative expression, just like 'smoke locks the willows by the pond,' where the word 'locks' is also figurative. Maple leaves piled up all over the ground, the autumn wind rises, and the red leaves roll around, creating a desolate scene. If Professor Zhong were here, he would definitely be able to give a similar usage in ancient poems."

Dean Li nodded: "These three lines are all very cleverly matched. Wow, I never expected that just one word, 'absolute,' could produce three matching lines. Adding to the two lines from Young Master Shi just now, that makes five lines now, doesn't it?"

"snort."

Shi Shuqiu sneered and raised his wine glass: "You can still come up with three couplets, so I'll say you're very knowledgeable. I'm willing to accept the loss, so there's nothing more to say. I'll drink it."

Teacher Yu gave a thumbs up: "Young Master Shi has such a refined and generous spirit! He has such a vast and magnanimous spirit! Given such a refined and generous spirit, how would you respond with the second line of this couplet?"

Those around him burst into laughter, saying, "This is another absolute."

Amidst laughter, Shi Shuqiu raised his wine glass, only to be stopped by Prince Xu:

"Don't rush. As I said, you'll drink a cup every three sentences I write. I haven't finished writing yet."

Shi Shuqiu put down his wine glass, his expression shifting: "Anything else?"

The people around immediately fell silent.

Prince Xu dipped his finger in the wine, then continued writing and reciting:

The fourth line reads, "The lamp hangs low over the brocade railing, its light reflected on the water."

The fifth line reads, "The beacon fires have been extinguished, and the wild geese have fled to the far reaches

The sixth line reads: "The bell tolls, the pavilions and towers are dimly lit."

These three lines are all from "The Collected Works of Zhongzhou Caotang," and each comes from one of three poems. The parallelism is more perfect than the previous three lines, and the wording is more archaic, especially the second line, "The beacon fires have vanished, and the wild geese fly across the vast border," which has a more expansive imagery than the first line.

Prince Xu was particularly careful, knowing that the further along the story went, the more likely Shi Shuqiu would try to cheat and find fault with the wording. So he deliberately left these three sentences for later.

Sure enough, Shi Shuqiu and several others who wanted to curry favor with Shi Tonghe gathered around and studied the wine stains on the table for a long time, trying to find a flaw, but they couldn't figure it out.

After reciting each of the three lines twice, Shi Shuqiu reluctantly returned to his seat, shaking his head in silence for a long time before looking at him and saying, "You didn't specifically check the bottom line just now for this, did you? Otherwise, where would you get so many matching lines?"

Everyone looked at Wang Zixu, sharing his confusion. The first half of the line, "Smoke locks the willows by the pond," requires considerable thought even to come up with a matching second line. It's hard to explain how someone could write so much on the spot without intensive study.

Someone said, "If they were secretly checking his phone just to come here and mess with Young Master Shi, then there's no point in doing this."

Huang Xinghuo quickly said, "I was chatting with Xiao Wang the whole time, and he didn't check my phone."

Everyone looked at Huang Xinghuo, who added, "I guarantee with my integrity that he absolutely did not check the phone."

Dean Li smiled and said, "Professor Huang is an associate professor in our department. Everyone will believe you if you say so. But to 'guarantee with your personal integrity' is a bit of an overreaction. Professor Huang, don't say things like that in the future, or you'll be looked down upon by the younger generation."

On the surface, he was criticizing Professor Huang for making a mountain out of a molehill, but in reality, he was subtly siding with Professor Huang. The subtext was: "Even our associate professor has spoken, and even vouched for it with his personal integrity. What else do you not believe?"

No one spoke up then. Shi Shuqiu finally said, "I admit defeat. I just made Ning Chunyan drink two cups. I'll return the favor and drink two cups with you, okay?"

Prince Xu shook his head: "I haven't said it's over yet."

Dean Li's eyes widened: "Is there more?"

Teacher Yu reached out, frowning, and said, "Hey, you there, Xiao Wang, right? That's enough, that's enough."

Dean Li reached out and stopped him: "Wait, I really want to see if he can write three more lines. Xiao Wang, you have to write three lines, not one less! If you miss one, you have to drink a cup of wine, dare you?"

"What's there to be afraid of?" Prince Xu smiled.

Shi Shuqiu made Ning Chunyan drink two cups of wine; how could he let her off so easily?

He demanded that he repay him double.

As he read, he wrote on the table:

The seventh line reads: "Fishing with a rod on the autumn river in Mojiang."

The eighth line reads: "The tower overlooks the autumn lake."

"The 9th line, Kawakan Nomura Aki."

Teacher Yu glared and said, "All of them are 'Autumn'? You did this on purpose, didn't you?"

Huang Xinghuo said, "They all end with the character 'autumn,' so there's not much to say about it, since it's not poetry."

Prince Xuchong held up three fingers and shook them; his face turned pale.

"Understood, three cups," Shi Shuqiu said, then his expression changed upon seeing the man's face. "Is there more?"

"Yes," said Prince Xu.

I said I'd repay you double, so even one less cup doesn't count as repaying you double.

As Wang Zixu spoke, he wrote: "Rusty and clogged range hood..."

Upon seeing this sentence, everyone thought for a moment and then burst into laughter.

"Smoke locks the willows by the pond, rust clogs the range hood." Although the language is vulgar, it does indeed contain all five elements: "smoke" corresponds to "rust," "locks" corresponds to "clogs," and "willows by the pond" corresponds to "range hood." According to the interpretation of "unfeeling couplets," it can also be considered acceptable.

"Unfeeling antithesis" only seeks the correspondence of words, without considering the actual objects they refer to. For example, "Fairy Cave" is paired with "Vaseline", "Dongpo Pork" with "Spain", and "Amphetamine" with "Thus have I heard".

This ruthless couplet, written by Wang Zixu with equal ruthlessness, was intended to deliver a fatal blow to Shi Shuqiu. Shi Shuqiu hadn't been fazed by the nine couplets he'd written, but this "rusted range hood" finally broke him. Ignoring what Wang Zixu planned to write next, he grabbed his cup, stood up, and said in a gruff voice:

"That's enough, that's enough. Stop writing. If you write any more, I can only drink three cups. I'll only drink three cups, one more than before. You can have the place back, okay?"

Upon hearing this, Prince Xu stopped writing, wiped his fingers on the tablecloth, and indicated that he would stop there.

Just now, Shi Shuqiu had been plying Ning Chun with drinks, and Ning Chun wanted to turn the tables and make him experience the same thing – an eye for an eye. However, Shi Shuqiu lost and became a bit flustered, losing his composure.

Shi Tonghe took off his glasses and said, "This young man has written quite a lot, which is interesting. However, if he is only focused on gambling with alcohol, it shows that he is not very broad-minded. I think we should just give up."

Prince Xu's expression changed slightly.

Forget it? What do you mean, forget it?

Dean Li reached out to Wang Zixu and said, "Alright, alright, listen to Teacher Shi. You shake hands with Young Master Shi and make peace. Consider today a case of becoming friends after a fight."

The atmosphere eased slightly, the tense atmosphere dissipated, and people immediately stood up to offer toasts.

Dean Li winked at him. Shi Tonghe remained seated in his seat, unmoved, not even glancing at Wang Zixu.

Shi Shuqiu breathed a sigh of relief, put down his wine glass, and sat back down in his seat, an awkward smile slowly appearing on his face.

Wang Zixu then realized that when Shi Tonghe said "never mind," he meant even the three cups from earlier were forgotten.

Dean Li's eyes darted around, signaling him to return to his seat.

His glance was a private hint, not an attempt to intimidate or curry favor with Shi Tonghe. Wang Zixu knew he was being advised: One should be lenient when possible; Shi Tonghe had spoken, so he should give him face and not offend him too much.

Don't pursue a cornered enemy. We've already taken advantage of Shi Shuqiu, it's time to settle things peacefully and reap the benefits.

However, Prince Xu was somewhat unwilling.

"Who was it that said they would keep their word?"

Shi Shuqiu had just put down his wine glass when his arm froze.

Wang Zixu stepped forward again: "I was going to drink for Editor-in-Chief Ning just now. Who said that a bet is a bet and a promise is a promise? So you have to keep your word when others drink, but not when it comes to yourself?"

Shi Tonghe frowned deeply, looked up at him, and hesitated, "Hey you..."

He paused midway through his speech, then shook his head repeatedly.

Dean Li's smile deepened. He thought to himself that the editor Ning Chunyan had chosen was far too reckless, insisting on regaining face in front of so many people and making Shi Tonghe lose face.

What he meant was to imply that Prince Xu should be lenient and let Shi Shuqiu off the hook. If he could befriend the Shi family afterward, there would be benefits that many people would beg for on their knees, especially for someone like him who majored in Chinese literature and worked in the publishing industry.

As a result, he just didn't understand.

It wasn't that Prince Xu didn't understand; he understood everything, he just didn't want to.

You, Shi Tonghe, dote on your precious son, so you can just forget about the three cups of wine I managed to persuade you to drink? Why didn't you let me drink on Ning Chunyan's behalf? Not drinking is disrespectful, and so is persuading you to drink. So, you, Shi Tonghe, think face is everything?

Shi Shuqiu, relying on his status, could go on stage and declare the Little Prince a girl, and he even had to personally approve it. Prince Xu was used to being bullied; he could be bullied without any temper. Would Ning Chunyan be allowed to be bullied so easily?

He refused.

He tilted his head and looked at Shi Shuqiu: "Young Master Shi wouldn't go back on his word, would he?"

Shi Shuqiu stood up, his expression the same as at Ning Chunyan's banquet, filled his wine cup, raised it high in front of Ning Chunyan's face, and said:

"One cup."

Having said that, he drank his fill.

Two cups.

He drank his fill again.

When he was pouring the third glass, his hands were already swaying and he was almost unsteady on his feet. Someone next to him came over to help him, saying, "That's enough, that's enough." But he pushed them away, and the wine spilled all over the floor.

"Three...cups."

Shi Shuqiu tilted his head back, his throat bobbing, and swallowed the third cup with difficulty. Wang Zixu stared intently at the empty cup before returning to his seat as if he had accomplished his mission, and began to eat with his chopsticks.

"vomit……"

Not long after Shi Shuqiu sat down, he vomited all over the floor, and someone immediately got up and called for a waiter.

Wang Zixu lost his appetite and suddenly remembered that Ning Chunyan was still in the bathroom and hadn't moved for a long time. He wondered if she was hiding from the alcohol or if she was really lying in there, so he quickly went over and knocked on the door.

After knocking several times without getting a response, I pushed the door open. Luckily, the door wasn't on the threshold. When I went inside, I found that the situation was worse than I had imagined. Ning Chunyan, who was always very clean, was sitting on the floor with her legs in a lunge position, hugging the toilet. Her head was resting on the toilet seat, and her eyes were closed. I didn't know if she was asleep or awake.

The prince closed the door slightly and quickly stepped forward to help her up. Ning Chunyan's body was frail and boneless. She leaned her head on his shoulder, with food crumbs still stuck to the corner of her mouth.

Wang Zixu patted her face, but didn't hear anything. He wondered if she was suffering from alcohol poisoning. He didn't care about avoiding suspicion, took off his clothes and put them on her, then picked her up and rushed outside.

He exchanged a few words with the people at the table, but they were all taking care of Shi Shuqiu and no one paid any attention to him. Wang Zixu hurriedly kicked the door open and left, hailed a taxi, and headed to a nearby hospital.

While waiting for the car outside, a cool breeze made Ning Chunyan slowly wake up. After Wang Zixu carried her into the car, she was fully awake.

What are you doing?

Prince Xu looked on with surprise and delight: "You're alright?"

"Don't you want me anymore?"

Wang Zixu got into the car and said to the driver in the front seat, "To the hospital."

Ning Chunyan roared in fury: "Even a Kapibal like you doesn't want me anymore, what use am I? Since that's the case, I'm not pretending anymore, I'm going to the Kingdom of Locke!"

The driver turned around, puzzled: "Where to?"

"Go to the hospital."

Ning Chunyan collapsed onto Wang Zixu's body and cried, pinching his thigh hard with her hands and gritting her teeth: "I hate it!"

The driver finally started the car and headed towards the hospital. Wang Zixu was in so much pain in the back seat that he had to pry her hands off for a long time. As a result, she tilted her body and lay directly on his lap, swinging her fists wildly in the air. Two of the punches hit his chin, making him see stars.

"I only wish to win one person's heart; I'll fight tooth and nail without mercy." Easier said than done. What right do you have to make me grow old? No time to waste, take me to the Kingdom of Rock!

The driver said, "It'll cost 200 if you vomit on the bus."

Wang Zixu eventually took Ning Chunyan to the hospital. The doctor determined that she didn't really need an injection, and even if she did, she wouldn't cooperate. In the end, he prescribed some hangover medicine. So Wang Zixu took her back to her own home.

In a fit of anger, Ning Chunyan managed to salvage the situation, but her entire plan was ruined. The banquet not only failed to promote Wang Zixu or secure him two magazine connections for publication, but it also offended Shi Tonghe. Wang Zixu didn't know how to explain this to Ning Chunyan.

But after offending many people, Prince Xu became increasingly carefree. He had his own methodology to comfort himself: people like Shi Tonghe could easily use Prince Xu's connections to ask for favors without giving anything in return, and even a simple visit felt like a huge favor. Yet, Shi Tonghe would feel bad if Prince Xu made him drink three cups of wine. If Shi Tonghe really got angry and wanted to retaliate, it meant that Shi Tonghe was hard to please and easy to offend. It was best to stay away from him, otherwise, he would suffer a lot in the future.

Wang Zixu didn't know how to explain to Ning Chunyan after she woke up, but he would leave tomorrow's problems to tomorrow and just get a good night's sleep for today.

Fortunately, Wang Zixu knew where she lived. Ning Chunyan had a small 70-square-meter house in Donghai, where she lived alone. But when he actually carried her downstairs, he hesitated again.

This world always sets all sorts of traps for men, such as the zipper on their crotch, the brass buckle on their belt, and the beautiful, intoxicated woman they carry on their shoulders.

Of course, the third party involved isn't something you see often in daily life, but the risk of the zipper on a man's pants is something that accompanies him throughout his life: if you take your penis out of that thing to use the toilet, then according to Murphy's Law, sooner or later you'll be caught in it and scream in pain. This is a life trap for men.

So when Prince Xu was standing downstairs, he hesitated for a moment: How far should I go after escorting Ning Chunyan upstairs before I leave?

Given her current state, it's definitely not appropriate for her to just throw someone on the sofa and leave. That might seem carefree, but the next day there might be news reports that a female writer choked to death at home because of her own vomit.

It would be safer to help her upstairs to wash her face, fetch water, and carry her basin, and wait until she regains some consciousness before leaving. But when will she regain her senses? Perhaps she'll stay there all night, and if he's still squatting in her house tomorrow, things will become unclear.

Ning Chunyan reached out and grabbed his cheek: "Kapibala, tell me, what is the meaning of love?"

Prince Xu gently draped her arm over his shoulder and said, "Let's go to the Kingdom of Locke."

Ning Chunyan's eyes lit up, and she stopped talking and obediently followed him.

He hadn't figured out what to do next. He had read a couplet in "Xiaochuang Youji" that he greatly admired: "When making friends, one should have a touch of chivalry; when being a person, one should maintain a pure heart." Now, he could only act on a pure impulse, doing good deeds without worrying about the future.

Go upstairs.

He placed Ning Chunyan's arm on his shoulder, holding her wrist with one hand and wrapping the other around her waist. He tried his best to keep his hands from wandering around, which made Ning Chunyan uncomfortable, and he felt uncomfortable too.

She wore a little perfume today; the unknown scent mixed with the fragrance of her usual skincare products, along with the smell of alcohol in her breath, creating a wonderful aroma. Her soft skin was covered in fine sweat, giving it a powdery appearance, and you could see her veins.

If her high heels hadn't stepped on his toes, the situation might have been even more pleasant.

After much effort, he finally pulled out his key, opened the door, and carried Ning Chunyan into the room. She was surprisingly obedient, remaining silent, which relieved Wang Zixu somewhat.

But he suddenly noticed that Ning Chunyan's house was brightly lit, with all the lights in the living room on.

"Clang! Clang!"

A voice came from the living room, and a woman with snow-white skin came out from the next room, stood in front of him, and their eyes met.

In that instant, Prince Xu seemed to have returned to many years ago.

She is Chen Qingluo, and he is Wang Zixu.

If Chen Qingluo had been wearing other clothes besides her underwear, the scene of their reunion might have been even more beautiful.

(End of this chapter)