Red Dust Daqian

The first round of grouping for the Qixi Poetry Competition was completed quickly.

Zhou Sen soon met the six members of his group. Zhou Sen was also self-aware. As a Taoist priest, he was not well received in the Qixi Poetry Contest. Not only the contestants, but even the judges of this round had complaints about Zhou Sen.

"Oh, this Taoist priest couldn't stand the loneliness, and his red star moved, so he prepared to go down the mountain to gain experience and be involved in the worldly affairs?" "Strange things happen every year, but there are more this year. I actually saw a Taoist priest at the Chinese Valentine's Day Poetry Competition. I'd like to see how this Taoist priest breaks the deadlock if the theme of love comes up." "Actually, I'm curious. The Huaxi Order was obtained by the Taoist priest. When the Taoist priest went to Huaxi Tower, was he going to persuade the brothel girls to be good, or was he going to have some romantic fun?" Ha~ha~ha~ The people in the same group teased Zhou Sen with each other, and at the same time caused the onlookers to laugh.

Another contestant mocked Zhou Sen, saying, "I wonder if this Taoist priest has ever been to a private school? How many characters does he know? Has he read the Four Classics and studied the Five Books? Can he write poetry? It's ridiculous for him to participate in a poetry contest." After hearing everyone's sarcasm, Zhou Sen sneered, "If you want to see me make a fool of myself, you can laugh at me now. Please be patient and wait for the examiner to give the questions. It's not too late to laugh at me later than in the last round."

At this time, a gentle and refined man in Zhou Sen's group said in a heroic manner: "Master, be magnanimous. Don't argue with these vulgar people. Strategists hate people who make irresponsible comments about others without understanding the situation. I am Li Qinwei. May I ask your name, Master?" Zhou Sen liked Li Qinwei and replied: "Zhang Mumu from Longhu Mountain. You don't judge people by appearance and just follow what others say. I think you are not one of those ordinary people."

The other people in the same group heard that Zhou Sen and Li Qinwei were mocking them, and they didn't want to continue listening to the two people praising each other's business, so they urged the judges to quickly set the questions and start the competition.

After the short farce, everyone gathered their thoughts and focused on the next poetry contest. The chief judge began to ask questions: "Today, everyone is visiting Dongqing Lake together. Then write a poem or lyric about the lake. The time limit is half an hour." After speaking, the chief referee immediately lit a stick of incense. He said: "The timer starts and ends when the incense burns out."

As soon as the theme of poetry was announced, everyone was distracted and began to scratch their heads, thinking hard about the best lines of poetry. Zhou Sen only closed his eyes and meditated for a moment, then he had an idea and thought about which poem to recite for the challenge. He had no pressure at all. Zhou Sen thought, if you are in the same group with me, you will be doomed, but this Li Qinwei can still be a good friend.

Zhou Sen bowed to Li Qinwei kindly and said, "Brother Li, do you have any ideas? Do you have a poem? I can wait for you to finish writing the poem before we go out to compete." Li Qinwei was surprised and said, "Could it be that Taoist Zhang has already finished writing the poem? Why don't you go on stage and write a poem, submit it to the judges, and finish the competition." Zhou Sen looked at the others with contempt and said, "I'm not belittling them. I'm afraid that once my poem comes out, they will never be able to write a poem with the lake as the theme again." The others were crying and meditating on their poems. They ignored Zhou Sen's words and suspected that he was deliberately disturbing their thoughts.

Zhou Sen bowed to Li Qinwei again and said, "Brother Li, please compose a poem first." Li Qinwei looked at Zhou Sen's serious expression and thought he didn't seem to be joking with him. They just flattered each other in business, so he shouldn't deliberately hurt him. So he agreed and composed a poem first.

As for today's poem with the lake as the theme, Li Qinwei had actually thought about it in his mind, and had intended to polish it carefully before writing the poem. At this moment, since Zhou Sen had made such a request, he would reluctantly write the poem first. What if it was true? He would still make a profit. Even if Zhou Sen was bluffing, once the poem was completed in his mind, it would not be too far off after polishing. Li Qinwei simply polished the words in his mind, and then went straight to the poetry writing platform, facing the judges, and wrote down the poem he had just conceived.

"The lake is shimmering with waves, the mountains are misty and beautiful even in the rain. The fishing boats sing as they return in the evening, and egrets fly over and alight on the reeds. The shadows of the clouds and the light of the sky are reflected in each other, and the vastness of the smoke and waves is far away. I sit alone on a stone by the lake in my spare time, and a clear song intoxicates the blue sky."

Li Qinwei was writing a poem while the judges were reading it. When Li Qinwei finished writing the poem, the judges on the other side praised him. After listening to the judges' reading, some audience members realized that a good poem had appeared, and many people cheered for Li Qinwei. When Li Qinwei's poem came out, other people with the same theme became a little nervous, especially Zhou Sen and Li Qinwei's group. Those who had repeated sentences had to change their words and rethink them.

At the same time, the other people in the same group were even more emotional. It seemed that Li Qinwei was definitely selected. They could only polish their words and strive for another place. Other people with the same theme were very lucky that Li Qinwei was not in the same group with them, otherwise, they could only fight for one place among the five people.

After listening to Li Qinwei's poem, Zhou Sen realized that he was a little frivolous and underestimated the wisdom and talent of the ancients. Fortunately, he was familiar with Tang and Song poems, which were all good words and sentences accumulated over thousands of years, otherwise he would definitely not play with them. It seems that Li Qinwei should not be a simple person.

Zhou Sen complimented Li Qinwei who had just finished writing a poem, "I was just too careless. I didn't expect that Brother Li's poetry attainments are so great. Good poems, good poems, with profound artistic conception, beautiful verses, and arousing imagination. Even if Brother Li writes a poem after me, it will not affect it. Congratulations in advance to Brother Li for winning the quota and entering the second round." Li Qinwei knew his own level of poetry, and bowed to Zhou Sen in return, saying, "Hey, Taoist Zhang, don't worry. I feel much more relaxed now that my poem has come out. Then, it's up to Taoist Zhang to perform."

Since Li Qinwei had already finished the poem, Zhou Sen felt that there was no need to waste time on it. There was no need to give the mob who just followed the crowd a chance to continue to express themselves. He must use this poem to blind their eyes, refresh their cognition, let them know what a quatrain that has been passed down through the ages is, and tell them that judging people by appearance is not advisable.

Zhou Sen walked straight to the writing table. Seeing that Zhou Sen was about to write a poem, the other contestants still mocked him: "Oh, this Taoist priest went up there, he doesn't know what's good for him. Such a good poem just appeared, and he dared to go up there to write a poem. Isn't he afraid of making a fool of himself?" Another said: "That's good, this Taoist priest will help us transition, so we don't have to follow Li Qinwei to write a poem, which is too embarrassing." Someone else echoed: "That's right, wait for the Taoist priest to finish writing the poem. We can fight for the second place without any pressure."

Zhou Sen didn't expect that the other people were still in the mood to laugh at him and see the Taoist make a fool of himself. No way, Zhou Sen thought, you are afraid to take over from Li Qinwei, afraid of losing face. When I finish writing poems, I'm afraid you won't even want to go on stage. I'm afraid you will all doubt your life.