Chapter 30: Is This Really That Difficult?
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Wang Xuezhou found no fault with it.
Although his great-uncle was sometimes rather unreliable, he had genuinely passed the examination to become a student candidate.
His learning might not be especially profound, but he certainly had some ink in his belly.
The proprietor of Immortal Crane Residence stood to one side. After Wang Chengzu finished writing, he read the line aloud. The people around them nodded, all in agreement.
The second couplet read:
“Flowers scent the courtyard, flowers delight in the charm.”
Wang Chengzu pondered briefly before writing:
“Birdsong drifts through the woods, birds know that spring has come.”
The structure was symmetrical, the meaning flowed naturally from top to bottom, and it was not bad.
After the proprietor read it aloud, everyone around them nodded repeatedly, and their impression of Wang Chengzu improved somewhat.
The third couplet read:
“Through poetry and books, one achieves lofty character.”
Wang Chengzu frowned and pondered for a moment before writing:
“Let muddy wine come, and cast my aspirations into it.”
Wang Xuezhou frowned when he saw it. The lower line could only be called passable. It met the basic requirements of parallelism, but the word “achieves” in the upper line did not fully correspond in grammatical form to “let come” in the lower line. The final three words were even somewhat awkward.
“Great-uncle.”
Wang Xuezhou quietly tugged at Wang Chengzu’s sleeve. “What about changing it to, ‘With brush and ink unfurled, my thoughts run free’?”
Wang Chengzu’s hand paused, and he looked at him.
“I told you I had seen it in my teacher’s books. Do you believe me now?” Wang Xuezhou immediately understood what that look meant and muttered under his breath.
Wang Chengzu came to his senses at once and let out a long sigh of relief inwardly.
Thank goodness, thank goodness. He had nearly forgotten about that.
It was his nephew’s teacher, after all—and a licentiate at that. No wonder.
The proprietor was just about to step forward and take the paper when Wang Chengzu swiftly crumpled his own writing into a ball and clenched it in his palm.
“I am not satisfied with what I wrote just now. Please wait a moment.”
He picked up his brush, wrote the replacement in one flowing motion, and handed it over.
“Through poetry and books, one achieves lofty character; with brush and ink unfurled, one’s thoughts run free. An excellent couplet!”
“Excellent!”
Cheers rose all around them, and Wang Chengzu could not help but breathe a sigh of relief.
He lowered his voice nervously. “Do you still remember the lines that follow? Your great-uncle cannot match them.”
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Wang Xuezhou glanced at the upper line of the fourth couplet:
“Mountains and rivers possess a spirit, and are astonished to meet a kindred soul.”
“The lower line is: ‘From nature one gains one’s temperament, yet cannot forget how to speak.’”
Only then did Wang Chengzu finally relax completely. While the onlookers were still savoring the upper line, he moved his brush and wrote the lower line of the fourth couplet.
The proprietor came back to himself and, seeing that the fourth lower line had already been written, was instantly startled. He hurried forward to examine it closely.
“Mountains and rivers possess a spirit, and are astonished to meet a kindred soul; from nature one gains one’s temperament, yet cannot forget how to speak! What a fine couplet! Is there a horizontal inscription?”
The proprietor gazed eagerly at Wang Chengzu. Pretending to be profound, Wang Chengzu lifted his chin.
“Zhou’er, you tell them.”
None of the crowd found this strange. It was only natural for a talented person to possess a little arrogance. The proprietor turned to Wang Xuezhou and asked earnestly, “Would you kindly enlighten us, young master?”
His great-uncle truly was a talent! Even his act had the bearing of a grand master.
“The horizontal inscription is: ‘Kindred Hearts in Spiritual Accord.’”
“Wonderful! What a marvelous phrase—‘Kindred Hearts in Spiritual Accord’! Wonderful!”
Zhu An glanced at Wang Xuezhou, then at Wang Chengzu, and gave a cold laugh without saying anything.
“Please continue with the next couplet.”
At the proprietor’s urging, Wang Chengzu picked up his brush and assumed an expression of deep thought, though his eyes kept darting toward Wang Xuezhou.
Unfortunately, Wang Xuezhou was in a difficult position at that moment, because the young master who had wagered with him was staring fixedly at him.
“Great-uncle, I see you are out of ink. I will grind some for you.”
“I am indeed out. Then I shall trouble my nephew.”
The two of them put on an entirely convincing performance, but Zhu An was not fooled.
“Wait! Shop assistant, go grind ink for the gentleman above.”
Zhu An waved his hand, and the shop assistant at his side immediately stepped forward to take the ink stick and grind it.
“This shop assistant is a coarse fellow. How could he grind the ink evenly? Let my nephew do it instead!”
By now, Wang Chengzu’s back had begun to sweat slightly.
“Hmph! Since you look down on the shop assistant, I shall grind the ink for you myself. Let us see what else you have to say!”
Zhu An strode forward, took the ink stick, and began grinding it.
On the third floor, County Magistrate Zhu felt a pang of jealousy. Feigning anger, he said, “That boy has never been this attentive to me at home. Yet today he is grinding ink for some stranger. It truly makes me angry!”
Zhou Mingli replied calmly, “Your son is exceptionally gifted and stands above his peers. His previous studies must have kept him exceedingly busy, which is why he neglected to spend time with his father.”
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Hearing his son praised, County Magistrate Zhu’s lips lifted slightly. He spoke modestly.
“Brother Cunzhen, you jest. He merely passed the prefectural examination. Anyone with a good memory could have done so; he hardly deserves such praise. In my eyes, he is not even as impressive as this student of yours. He looks so young, yet possesses such extraordinary talent! And you, Brother Cunzhen, have kept him hidden away, unwilling even to mention him. You certainly do cherish your student.”
The two men on the third floor had a clear view of everything taking place below and naturally did not miss Wang Xuezhou’s little movements.
Teacher Zhou tightened his grip on the railing and said mildly, “Your Excellency is too kind. My student merely possesses a little cleverness, hardly anything worth mentioning to outsiders.”
“Is that so? At such a young age, he can answer a couplet of this caliber, and in your eyes that is merely a little cleverness?”
County Magistrate Zhu sighed inwardly. As expected of someone from one of Suzhou’s great families—even a licentiate’s learning and discernment surpassed those of a man who had merely attained the same rank as a presented scholar.
Zhu An was about to grind the ink, and Wang Xuezhou did not stop him. This time, he walked over openly.
“Great-uncle, I believe the lower line should be: ‘Books face Han characters; the Han Academy faces books.’”
Zhu An stared at him in disbelief.
“Impossible! How old are you? How could you possibly produce a couplet like that? It is impossible!”
Unlike Zhu An’s collapse, the crowd erupted in uproar.
“Painted lotus flowers, a monk paints them; books face Han characters, the Han Academy faces books! It matches! It matches!”
The difficulty of the couplet lay not only in its demand for precise parallelism and harmonious rhythm, but also in the fact that it was a homophonic palindrome: read forward or backward, its pronunciation remained the same, while its imagery and meaning still had to remain harmonious.
Even Wang Chengzu had not expected them actually to match!
His heart surged with excitement, but his expression remained as calm as still water.
“Regardless, the two of us have matched every line today. Young master, will you honor your word?”
“You cheated! It does not count!” Zhu An shouted furiously. “You did not come up with the final lower line yourself—he gave it to you! Besides, how old is he? How could he possibly have produced it?”
Since he had not relied on genuine learning, Wang Chengzu felt a pang of guilt, and his imposing air immediately weakened.
Looking at the other boy, who was puffed up with fury like an angry pufferfish, Wang Xuezhou gazed at him innocently.
“Is it really that difficult? I had no idea! I merely heard my teacher explain how to compose parallel couplets, and after seeing a few examples, I understood. I tried it casually just now, and who could have guessed it would actually match?”
He spread his hands, his expression carrying a trace of helplessness.
“Besides, what I said at the beginning was that we could match them—not that my great-uncle alone could do it. The two of us worked together and matched every line. Is there anything wrong with that?”
“Here, if you cannot afford to lose, then forget it. We can simply pretend nothing happened. Apologize to my great-uncle, and the matter will be settled.”
They were all still children, and the boy opposite him was proud by nature. Provoked by those words, he immediately flared up.
“Who are you saying cannot afford to lose?”