Red Dust Daqian

The weather was fine and cloudless, and it was sunny on the Qixi Festival. The streets were bustling with people, people were playing with lanterns, guessing riddles, writing couplets, setting up stalls, and there was a fireworks show at night. It was so colorful and lively. Zhou Sen felt that on such a beautiful festival and such good weather, if he didn't release his hormones and have fun, why would he hold a poetry competition? It would be a waste of time and energy, and it would be so boring.

As a participant of the poetry competition, Zhou Sen was quite self-conscious and arrived at the venue of the poetry competition early. There was a small island in the center of Dongqing Lake in Jiangxia Prefecture.

Dongqing Lake is located in the urban area of ​​Jiangxia Prefecture. It is one of the main water sources of Jiangxia Prefecture. It has been a tourist attraction since ancient times with pleasant scenery. It is said that the island in the middle of Dongqing Lake was the private property of the King of Chu. The King of Chu transformed it into a summer resort for his own recuperation. Only a villa named Baihuayuan was built on the island. You need to take a special ferry to go up and down the island.

During the Qixi Festival, only those who were invited or registered for the Qixi Poetry Competition were allowed to go to the lake island. After going to the island, Zhou Sen found that the participants and spectators were clearly divided into two major areas: the competition area and the viewing area. In the viewing area, dignitaries, prominent families, scholars, merchants and other spectators of different identities were also arranged in different small areas, and it can be clearly felt that different classes are treated differently.

When Zhou Sen and Xiangcao entered the competition area, they saw two people dressed as Taoist priests coming over. The contestants were a little uneasy, pointing and talking about Zhou Sen and Xiangcao. "Oh, there are two Taoist priests participating in the Qixi Poetry Competition. Aren't Taoists free from love?" "Do Taoist priests also want to win the Huaxi Order and go to Huaxi Tower for fun?" "Oh, a couple, are they playing with the temptation of uniforms?" "How vulgar." "Maybe Taoist priests nowadays like that." "I want to see how the Taoist priests write love poems?"

Zhou Sen was helpless. He knew that dressing up as a Taoist priest to participate in the Qixi Festival poetry conference, or to get the Huaxi Order of the Huaxi Society, would definitely cause a lot of controversy. He wanted to dress up as an ordinary person to participate in the competition, but he didn't know that when Li Qi hit him that day, he was dressed as a Taoist priest. Since he was discovered to be a Taoist priest at that time, he simply didn't dress up and let people talk about it.

Xiangcao wanted to teach those who talked without thinking a lesson, fearing that they would affect Zhou Sen's performance. However, there were too many people who talked without thinking, so Zhou Sen stopped them and comforted them: "Senior sister, don't worry about these vulgar people. Their words and opinions can't interfere with me."

After all the contestants entered, an organizer of the poetry competition came and explained the rules and rewards of the Qixi Poetry Competition to all the contestants.

The poetry contest is divided into three rounds. The first round is for all contestants who have not won a place in previous poetry contests. The first round will be a round of competition to determine the winner. All contestants are divided into groups of 6 people in each group. 6 winners will participate in the second round of competition. The second round is for the winners of the first round to compete with the winners of the previous Huaxi Society Poetry Contest. Each group is divided into three people, and one person will participate in the final round of competition. The third round is for the winners of the second round to compete with the participants with official titles above the Juren level. In the final round, the top three winners will be directly selected without grouping.

Since the scale of this Qixi Poetry Contest was unprecedented, both the contestants and the audience exceeded expectations, so the organizers finally decided to set three winners. And the top three winners will all be rewarded, and the top three will be given Huaxi Order of Huaxi Society. In addition, the second winner will also be given a coral stone sculpture, provided by the famous restaurant in Jiangxia Prefecture - Parkson Restaurant. The first winner, that is, the champion, will be given a golden Buddha statue, provided by the first pawnshop in Jiangxia Prefecture - Qian's Pawnshop.

Zhou Sen was delighted when he heard that the second and third place winners would receive extra prizes, which were provided by a local trading company in Jiangxia Prefecture. Isn't this a good opportunity to promote Qianmu Hall? How can we not seize this opportunity to build momentum and expand Qianmu Hall's influence?

Zhou Sen quickly asked Xiangcao to go find Shen Qianrou and Shen Yueer. Xiangcao felt puzzled and said, "I miss Qianrou after only a few days of not seeing each other. Isn't it enough for me to be by your side? Don't you see what the situation is now? Is it appropriate to find Qianrou at this time? Won't it expose your relationship with Qianmutang?" Zhou Sen was inexplicably jealous and explained awkwardly, "Sister, what are you thinking? Do you think I am so hungry in your heart? I just suddenly had an idea that needed Shen Qianrou to complete. It would be very easy for Xiangmu Society to quickly open up the situation in Jiangxia Prefecture. Just communicate secretly and have a few simple chats. This risk is worth taking." Xiangcao rolled her eyes at Zhou Sen. In her heart, Zhou Sen was indeed hungry, but since he asked to see Shen Qianrou at this time, there must be a reason, so she went to the audience area with him to look for her.

Shen Qianrou, Shen Yueer, Zhou Sen, and Xiangcao seemed to have telepathy and were also looking for them. After their eyes met, with a simple gesture, both sides understood each other's meaning. They quietly rushed to a hidden corner at the junction of the Hundred Flowers Garden competition area and the viewing area.

The four people sneaked into the junction of the two areas from two directions, just like a 007 agent meeting. They seemed to be communicating with people in their own area in different areas, but in fact they were communicating with each other.

In the competition area, Zhou Sen whispered to Xiangcao, "Qian Rou, do you know that this poetry competition has set up a prize for the winner? Go and communicate with the organizer and try to get Qian Mu Tang to sponsor the winner's prize. Take Qian Mu Tang's glass statue as the prize. Send someone back quickly to get a glass statue that is in good condition as a prize."

In the audience area, Shen Qianrou was somewhat puzzled. She looked at Shen Yue'er and said, "Mr. Mumu, do you know how much our Qianmutang colored glass statues are worth in Jiangxia Prefecture? At least a hundred taels of silver, and statues of excellent quality are worth more than a thousand taels of silver. Why would Qianmutang be such a sucker and give away silver for nothing? Besides, the winner of this poetry competition may not be you. If it's not Mr. Mumu, then wouldn't our donation be wasted? Even if it's you, what's the point of passing it on?"

Xiangcao also asked in confusion: "Yes, Mumu, why did you donate a thousand taels to them for no reason?"

Zhou Sen smiled mysteriously, looked at Xiangcao and said, "Qian Rou, listen to me. We are in the wrong place so it's not convenient to communicate too much, and we don't have much time. Just do what I say first, and then you will understand. This is a good time to promote it."