Chapter 10: The First Encounter with a Cultivator of Mindfulness

  "Zhou Tao, young master, don't be discouraged today. As long as he recites it, the reward is his, no matter who the author is, unless the author stands up now. Ah Fu, give the reward to that young master!" Li Xiu raised an eyebrow and looked at Zhou Tao with a slight frown, then nodded slightly apologetically at Shi Sheng.

  Shi Sheng shrugged indifferently, took the money bag with twenty taels of reward, but his heart was blooming with joy. A well-known couplet on Earth, exchanged for twenty taels of silver here, it seems that making money in this place can't be forced, and one's strong points are still needed.

  The man called Zhou Tao furrowed his brow, especially when he saw Li Yan smiling and chatting with Shi Sheng. Zhou Tao's eyes flashed with a cold light as he spoke to Shi Sheng: "This young master's couplet is so well-crafted, dare you to compose a poem with me? Since we're all here for the birthday celebration today, let's each create a poem on the spot!"

  "Sorry, Shi came only for the reward, goodbye!" Shi Sheng had no interest in competing with others on poetry.

  "Wait, since it's for the sake of a lucky start, I'll add a bit more. How about this: we each recite a poem, if you win, I'll give you 40 taels of silver, and if I win... hehe, just hand over those 20 taels of silver and consider yourself lucky." As soon as Zhou Tao spoke, the people around him couldn't help but show their disgust.

  What kind of person is Zhou Tao? Zhou Yuanwai is the eldest son of a wealthy family, and his family's financial resources are probably more abundant than those of Li Yuanwai. Taking out 40 taels of silver is as easy as turning over one's hand, but Shi Sheng's 20 taels of silver are almost all of his savings.

  "This young master is afraid, that's all!" Zhou Tao hastily added, seeing Shi Sheng remain silent.

  "Good, Brother Zhou, please recite a poem!" Just as everyone was whispering to each other, Shi Sheng unexpectedly agreed. Others thought it was just Shi Sheng's youthful arrogance, but in his heart, he was overjoyed - free money delivered right to his door, what a profit!

  "The sea of life changes, but people remain young at heart. May the blessings of fortune bring peace and prosperity to future generations! May family harmony and prosperity forever flourish! I only wish that every year we can celebrate another birthday!" Zhou Tao said with a faint smile, and everyone immediately burst into applause, not only blessing the elderly, but also praising the younger generation together, and the ever-changing world has not aged, also cleverly highlighting the longevity of the birthday star.

  At this time, Shi Sheng had already entered the night, and it was still raining heavily. He really didn't have the heart to listen to others' praise, and before anyone could finish commenting, he opened his mouth and said: "Alas, alas, why is it that today's rain is so heavy, heavy..." Shi Sheng's poem hadn't even finished when Zhou Tao angrily interrupted him.

  "Shut up! Today is a birthday celebration, and you're repeating this nonsense again. You even dare to mention the heavy rain, it's simply asking for a beating!" After Zhou Tao finished speaking, the people around him also shook their heads in dismay.

  This poem has nothing to do with the birthday in terms of context and wording, and it sounds extremely negative. Who would be happy on their birthday when it's pouring rain? Today is indeed a bad day, with continuous heavy rain that completely ruins the birthday atmosphere, making everyone feel depressed.

  Li Yan furrowed her brow slightly and said, "This young master, if you're not prepared, then so be it. Don't make a fool of yourself by speaking nonsense." After Li Yan finished speaking, Zhou Tao waved his folding fan in his hand, striking a elegant pose.

  "No, let this kid finish!" Li said with some curiosity.

  "Thank you, Mr. Li. I hope that before I finish reciting, no one will interrupt me. I don't know who these gentlemen used to study with, but it's very impolite to interrupt someone else's work before they're finished!" Just as Zhou Tao was about to retort, Shi Sheng began to recite his poem.

  "What's the point, what's the point, and what's the point again? What's the point of today's heavy rain? The heavy rain is a blessing for Mr. Li's longevity, and his longevity will be even more abundant than the heavy rain!" As soon as Shi Sheng finished reciting this poem, the people around him were immediately shocked.

  "Excellent, it's really excellent! Not only is it a perfect match from beginning to end, but it also turns today's drizzle into something beautiful!"

  "Haha, no wonder there's this drizzle today, it turns out it's for celebrating Li Yuanwai's birthday!"

  "Even if the rain is pouring down heavily, it's still not as great as Li Yuan's birthday, haha, absolutely wonderful!"

  The people around him were full of praise, applauding and cheering, while Shi Sheng was secretly laughing in his heart. This poem was actually written by Zheng Banqiao back then. Although Zhou Tao's poetry is not bad, it can't compare to the poetry of Master Zheng Banqiao. Moreover, today happened to be a rainy day, which made Shi Sheng's timing perfect.

  "Come on, give this young man another twenty taels of silver, haha! This young man, thank you for your poem and couplet today. I'll personally visit you in the future!" Li Yuanwai said with a delighted face, as if he didn't find the drizzle so annoying anymore.

  "Thank you, Mr. Li!" Shi Sheng smiled slightly and looked at Zhou Tao before saying: "Young Master Zhou, if I lose the bet, I still have some matters to attend to. If the silver isn't enough, it's fine to send it over another day!"

  "Hmph, a mere 40 taels, I'll give it to you!" Zhou Tao took out 40 taels of silver notes and had Ah Fu deliver them to Shi Sheng. He then coldly snorted: "Let's have a poetry contest instead..."

  "Sorry, not interested!" Shi Sheng put away all the silver and silver tickets, turned around and left. Zhou Tao was so angry that his teeth were itching, but he didn't say anything else and started chatting and laughing with everyone, as if he hadn't taken the previous matter to heart.

  ……

  It's already nighttime and it's very dark outside.

  Shi Sheng was walking excitedly on the road, not expecting to have earned eighty taels of silver so easily, it was beyond his expectations. Before long, he suddenly heard some movement behind him and hastily put away the silver.

  "So soon? I've just earned some silver, and someone's already here to rob me?" Shi Sheng furrowed his brow, quietly pulled out an embroidered needle from his sleeve, and with a slight movement of his mind, the needle shot out with a whooshing sound, heading towards his back before hiding itself.

  "Hey, big brother, wait for me! Why are you walking so fast? Haha, you're really something today!" Just then, Shi Sheng heard Bai Ming's voice suddenly coming from behind him.

  "So it's you little brat. What, couldn't rob him successfully?" Shi Sheng said with a narrowed gaze as he looked at Bai Ming who had walked up to them.

  "No, no, I don't have the guts, boss. I'm afraid that sly Zhou Gongzi will play a trick on you, so I came to protect you, hehe!" Bai Ming said with a smile. Shi Sheng saw that he really didn't have any malicious intentions, but still didn't let his guard down.

  And so, the two of them walked towards Shi Sheng's home while chatting.

  "You're still so kind, alright, when we get home, I'll give you some pocket money, heh heh!" Shi Sheng smiled.

  "Thank you, boss... ah..." Suddenly, Bai Ming let out a loud roar, touched the back of his head with one hand, and with a white-eyed swoon, thudded to the ground.

  Just after Bai Ming fell unconscious, Shi Sheng suddenly saw a wooden dagger about the length of a ruler floating behind Bai Ming's back. Fortunately, it was made of wood; otherwise, Bai Ming would have been done for.

  "Hey, kid, do you think you can just walk away that easily?" A low voice came out, and almost at the same time, a figure appeared vaguely at the other end of the street, slowly walking towards Shiseng. However, he was always in the shadows, and since it was too far away, Shiseng couldn't see his true appearance.

  "Practitioner of Mind?" Shi Sheng glanced at the wooden dagger floating in mid-air, and a bad premonition arose in his heart. With his current half-baked skills, how could he possibly take on a true Practitioner of Mind?

  "Who are you? Do I have a grudge against you?" Shi Sheng narrowed his eyes slightly as he looked at the figure in the distance, and then vigilantly paid attention to the dagger in mid-air. (End of this chapter, next chapter will be more exciting!)

  New book is coming out, please collect and recommend tickets strongly support it, wow!