It was just a love letter; I'm really no great writer!

Lu Ran's popularity online mainly stems from his love poems.

Today, people admire poets far more than in any previous historical period.

The Celestial Empire is at its peak of power, brimming with martial spirit and brimming with confidence.

As the saying goes, wheat may ripen five thousand times, but carbohydrates will be plentiful for the first time. After solving the problem of survival and food, people naturally crave spiritual nourishment.

At a time when foreign arts and culture circles are experiencing a surge in talent.

The people of the country are eagerly waiting and calling for the emergence of a genius leader.

in this case……

Jumping appeared.

Despite having only a vocational school diploma, she competed alongside students from prestigious universities in a corporate mathematics competition, sparking heated discussions among netizens.

Some believe she has a bright future and will become a top mathematician;

Some people have raised questions and requested that a test be set to verify the claim.

Of course, Jumping disappeared without a response, and Asai also ceased operations afterward.

in this case……

Lu Ran appeared.

He was only in his first year of high school when he was featured in "World Poetry" with his love letter, which shocked the poetry world and marked the beginning of his meteoric rise to fame.

Although official media do not report on it, the power of poetry is boundless.

The most vital aspect of poetry is that it integrates into the language of the people and becomes an integral part of the culture.

As love letters are revealed one by one, Lu Ran ascends step by step to the throne of poetry.

Until the publication of "The Song of the Pipa"—

Lu Ran's popularity suddenly surpassed that of all contemporary poets, and praise and criticism followed in quick succession.

Some people think he's just a liberal arts jumper, another round of idolization.

Some people offer a rational analysis: We're saying, can a work like "The Song of the Pipa" that goes down in history be created by human hands?

Besides, it's not like the students at Huaicheng No.1 Middle School don't have cell phones.

Lu Ran's usual deeds, love letters, and poems were all revealed.

"When You Are Old," "The Past Was Slow," "The Song of the Pipa," and even fragments and incomplete pieces, as well as personal signatures on QQ Space...

Through these words, a vivid and relatable Lu Ran is pieced together.

His passionate, arrogant, sensitive, humble, vulnerable, and unrestrained temperament has made him a modern and iconic literary figure on the internet.

These are naturally topics that experts and scholars need to study.

The general public doesn't care about these things.

What they talked about more was Lu Ran's personal love life.

For example, which school beauty he likes, his past heartbreaks, and so on.

This has even spawned a profession called "Lu Ran scholar," who specializes in collecting and analyzing gossip about Lu Ran.

Tonight is a night of revelry for combustion experts.

Because of an extremely valuable piece of historical video footage—the video is very short, less than a minute long. The picture is blurry, and there is white noise from the sound of pattering rain.

But two points are still very clear:

First, Lu Ran is in love.

It is true that Lu Ran pursued Zhao Yishuang and wrote love letters to Zuo Hanzhi.

But did they actually get together?

There are different opinions.

Another insider revealed that Zuo Hanzhi's mother was a top writer, and her late father was a well-known translator and scholar. With such a scholarly family background, she herself was also a genius poet.

Therefore, the two may be close confidantes, or their relationship may remain within the bounds of propriety.

According to an unnamed student from Class 6 of Huaizhong High School, Lu Ran gets along well with many girls, but he doesn't have any publicly acknowledged girlfriends.

No publicly disclosed individuals?

So, that means you have a secret?

Is it Zhao Yishuang? Or Zuo Hanzhi?

The people's yearning for talented men and beautiful women has endured for a long time.

Judging from this video...

Lu Ran's love interest is someone else; the two were hugging and kissing intimately, clearly in love.

Secondly, and this is also the area that the poetry world is most concerned about.

Lu Ran casually recited a poem entitled "A Gift to Lingyan".

But this poem is extraordinary; it seems to be about appreciating lotus flowers, but it actually depicts the warmth and coldness of human relationships.

In particular, the line "unfurling and closing as nature dictates" perfectly captures the poet's pure and innocent emotions and his unwavering inner peace.

The lotus flower is used to express emotions in a subtle and ambiguous way.

The writing is simple and lively, and the emotions and reasoning are profound and enduring.

More importantly, this secretly filmed video fully confirms Lu Ran's talent!

It completely silenced the doubts online!

Who says there are no geniuses in the world? Who says there is no pure love in the world? Lu Ran can write great poetry even without heartbreak!

The whole world rejoices.

Bystanders thoroughly enjoyed the gossip.

Blackie is displaced.

……

Di Lingyan insisted on going to Suocheng, so Lu Ran waited for her to return to her dormitory to pack her luggage.

I don't have much luggage; I can just buy whatever I need.

As night fell, the rain in the surrounding area showed no signs of letting up.

Fortunately, there is a corridor in the girls' dormitory that leads directly to the teaching building, so there is no need to worry about getting wet.

Lu Ran sat on the bench, opened his phone, and messages popped up one after another.

First, Li Xingping forwarded a short video to him and sent a series of bewildered emojis.

Then Xia Liang sent a message, simple and direct: "Holy crap!"

Finally, Zhao Yishuang only posted a question mark: ?

As for the literary society's group chat, there wasn't a single new message.

After watching the secretly filmed short video, Lu Ran browsed the comments section.

His expression gradually became serious.

Which bastard is so despicable?

To cut off the beginning and the end, to take things out of context.

Even though he pushed Xiao Di away and took a tissue to wipe her face, it was all cut out and only showed reciting poetry and a brief hug... making it seem somewhat ambiguous.

Netizens say he's in a relationship.

By a twist of fate, they stumbled upon this unexpected turn of events.

I am indeed in a relationship, but the person in my life is her sister!

It really proves the old saying: you can't hide your feelings for someone...

This time, he realized that he was now a public figure.

But do public figures have to make their relationships public?

However, online opinions are quite tolerant, mainly consisting of teasing and jokes.

The public is always much more tolerant of talented poets.

After all, with the Ministry of Education's golden statue, as long as Lu Ran doesn't break the law or violate regulations, his reputation is unlikely to collapse.

……

Lu Ran dialed Di Qingling's number.

With a mix of trepidation and excitement, the call connected.

Judging from the background noise over there, it sounds like there's even theatrical singing.

Di Qingling's voice was very soft: "I'm busy. Is there something urgent?"

Before Lu Ran started dating, the most frustrating thing about watching idol dramas was that the male and female leads seemed to have no mouths.

A misunderstanding can drag on for dozens of episodes.

He certainly wouldn't hide it, and frankly said:

"It's nothing important, it's just that Xiao Di and I were photographed hugging today, and it's causing quite a stir online. I wanted to let you know in advance."

Lu Ran thought that Sister Di would at least ask, "Why did you hug Lingyan?"

But she gave a soft "hmm," offering a reassurance in return:

"Don't worry, netizens just like to join in the fun, you don't need to explain or respond."

"Public opinion will naturally subside in a few days. On the contrary, falling into the self-proof trap makes it easier to add fuel to the fire."

Lu Ran paused for a moment, then said, "Oh."

"Hugging is perfectly normal. You're so famous now, it's understandable that netizens are over-interpreting things. Just relax," Di Qingling said calmly. "Is there anything else?"

"...No, that's all."

He was a little confused.

Am I overreacting, or are netizens overreacting?

It's just a hug.

Oh right, Lingyan even confessed to me... He originally planned to bring it up after Di Qingling asked about the reason for the hug.

Thinking it over carefully, it would be safer to bring this up in person.

"I'll tell you later."

Di Qingling pressed the hang-up button.

Beneath the thick curtain, she stood in the shadows behind the stage, her almost transparent fingernails pressing shallow red marks into the thenar eminence.

The singing style has a lingering resonance.

The imperial concubine closed her folding fan, and her water sleeves rose and fell.

A short, sharp gong clangs, followed by a recitation that is both shrill and resentful: "Hey! Tsk tsk! Who's going to spend the night with you!" (Note 19)

-

Note 19: From the Peking Opera "The Drunken Beauty".