Chapter 10: Unaware of Where He Was a Stranger

  Zhong Wenbo said in a low voice to Shu Tong who was holding the money: "Give it to him! Take out another string of cash, and let's do it again!"

  The boy holding the book had no choice but to hand over the money to Xiao Jiading. He took another string of cash.

  This immediately showed that Zhong Wenbo had lost.

  An unknown scholar unexpectedly won a poetry contest against the number one talent of Yizhou in public! This was big news, and soon the message spread, with scholars from all around coming to watch the commotion. Even the scholars who were drinking flower wine inside the Cuiyu Building came out, instantly surrounding them in three layers inside and out.

  Xiao Jiading took over the string of coins and hung them on the banner, smiling faintly: "Sorry, now the stakes are two strings!"

  "Zong Wenbo angrily said: 'How dare you raise the price arbitrarily?'"

  "You don't have to come if you don't want to. I won't force you."

  Zhong Wenbo stared at Xiao Jia Ding's smiling face, gritted his teeth and said: "Alright! Two strings are two strings! Take it out!"

  Shu Tong had no choice but to take another tael of silver from the servant who was following him, and together with the one in his hand, he now had two taels.

  "Mine is the three questions you just asked: mine, yours, and everyone's mood here. Hurry up! Seven steps to a poem! Quick!"

  Xiao Jiading smiled and said, "I'll compose a poem to suit my own mood." He began to pace slowly, stopping at the seventh step. Turning around, he swept his gaze over the surrounding scholars and said, "As a traveler in a foreign land, I inevitably feel some homesickness. Fortunately, there's fine wine and beautiful women. If you win my money, you can use it to buy drinks in this Emerald Jade Tower. That's the carefree mood I'll write about!" He then loudly recited Li Bai's famous poem "Poem Composed in a Foreign Land":

  Grapes wine tulip

  Jade bowl filled with amber light.

  But what makes the host drunk is the guest

  I don't know where is his hometown.

  This poem was written by the great poet Li Bai when he was living in Lanling, East Lu, so the original first sentence was "Lanling beautiful wine and osmanthus fragrant", Xiao Jiading changed the first two words to grape, which is borrowing from the famous phrase "grape beautiful wine night light cup". Although this poem writes about the homesickness of a traveler, it does not have a sad or despondent tone, precisely because there is beautiful wine to indulge in and get drunk, so that one cannot even think about being away from home.

  As soon as the poem came out, there was a burst of applause in the field, and the scholars surrounding Xiao Jia Ding looked at him with surprise, admiration, and jealousy.

  Zhong Wenbo's face turned iron-green, wanting to find fault with the opponent's poem, but couldn't find any. He stood there speechless.

  Xiao Jiading chuckled and said, "It's my turn to set the topic now. My topic remains the same, asking you to write about your or my mood, as well as the mood of everyone present. Seven steps to complete a poem. I'm giving you this topic again because you've already thought for seven steps earlier, plus the current seven steps, that's fourteen steps in total. Hehe, I'll give you a discount and count it as seven steps. Please go ahead!"

  He saw that Zhong Wenbo didn't have any hesitation earlier and didn't change the topic, still bringing up this question. He believed that even if his opponent was really formidable and managed to compose a poem, it would definitely not surpass the great works of the Poet Immortal Li Bai. Therefore, he had already secured an unbeatable position for himself.

  As expected, after taking seven steps, Zhong Wenbo still had a red face and couldn't think of a good phrase. The ancients composing poetry also needed to deliberate and ponder, like Cao Zhi who could compose a poem in seven steps, such people are rare, and Zhong Wenbo was naturally not one of them.

  Xiao Jiading stretched out his hand, but didn't say a word.

  Zhong Wenbo gritted his silver teeth and said, "Give it to him!"

  Shu Tong could only stare blankly as he handed over the two strings of cash to Xiao Jia Ding's hands.

  This shows that the great Yizhou's number one talent has lost again! In an instant, the surrounding crowd buzzed with discussion, this time, however, they were all gloating as they stared at Zhong Wenbo, watching him make a scene.

  Zong Wenbo's face turned red and white, he didn't even look at the onlookers, and angrily shouted: "Come again! --- Take two strings of cash!"

  Xiao Jiading smiled and shook his head: "Sorry, the bet is now four strings!" After that, he hung the two strings of copper coins in his hand on the flag again. The four strings of money weighed about 20-30 kilograms and had already bent the flag.

  Zong Wenbo's old face turned red with rage, and he shouted: "Four strings are just four strings! Are you afraid of not becoming one? Bring it here!"

  Shu Tong had no choice but to reluctantly take out another four strings of copper coins from the box that his servant was holding.

  Zhong Wenbo looked around for a suitable topic. Then he heard the sound of singing, guqin and flute coming from the Cuiyu Building, the flute sound was melancholic, full of homesick feelings. Probably the guest was thinking of home, so let the songstress play it.

  "Good! Let's use these three sounds - the song, the zither and the flute - to compose a poem. Start now, quickly!"

  All three have written many Tang poems. Xiao Jiading heard this topic and couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief, his face was serious. He started to pace slowly, thinking about which poem to use. The sound that made him most nostalgic was the flute's homesick voice, reminding him of his parents and loved ones, making him feel a little heartache. Before he took seven steps, he began to recite Li Bai's "Spring Night in Luoyang Hearing the Flute":

  Whose jade flute is secretly flying with sound

  Dispersed into the spring breeze, filling the city of Yicheng.

  Tonight in the melody I hear the sound of willows being snapped

  Who does not feel nostalgic for their hometown?

  He changed the second sentence of Man Luo Cheng to Man Yi Cheng. This is one of Li Bai's famous hometown poems, which has been passed down for thousands of years and is naturally praised by those scholars. The expression towards Xiao Jia Ding was filled with admiration. As for Zhong Wenbo, his face turned pale, his lips trembled slightly, but he couldn't say a word.

  Xiao Jia Ding was confident that Zhong Wenbo couldn't write a better poem than Li Bai's, so he smiled and said: "My topic remains the same, still using your three topics - either song voice, piano sound or flute sound, seven steps to complete a poem."

  Zhong Wenbo gave him a sideways glance, closed his eyes, and slowly walked forward. His pace was much slower than Xiao Jia Ding's, almost every step had to stop for a good half day. As a result, those scholars saw that he was lazy and started teasing him.

  Xiao Jiading sneered and said, "This Brother Zhong, isn't it just four strings of cash? You're taking it so seriously? If you're so stingy with your money, then don't give it, no need to be so hesitant and slow like a turtle crawling."

  The onlookers burst into loud laughter. Zhong Wenbo's forehead was beading with sweat, his eyes still closed, but he quickened his pace slightly. Even if he slowed down, it would take no more than seven steps to reach his destination anyway.

  Zhong Wenbo finally finished his seven steps, but it took him more time than others would take to walk 700 steps, which made the onlookers burst into laughter. Zhong Wenbo pretended not to hear and stood there, slowly reciting:

  A beauty in a high pavilion plays a jade flute.

  The flute's edge is lined with a silk ribbon...

  He merely recited these two sentences, then Zhang Wenbo got stuck and couldn't continue. His face flushed red, he stood there, not knowing what to do next.

  Xiao Jiading waited for a moment before asking: "Brother, the time has already arrived. Are you going to give me this money or keep it for yourself?"

  His face suddenly turned red and white, although handing over four strings of cash was indeed a bit painful. He considered himself to be a man of honor, how could he go back on his word in public? He could only say to his servant: "Give it to him!"

  Shu Tong handed the money to Xiao Jia Ding's face. Xiao Jia Ding took it without hesitation. This time, there was no hanging on the banner, because the willow branch-made banner frame had no strength to bear these four strings of money, so it was hung on his arm.

  Zhong Wenbo gritted his teeth and said, "I don't believe in this evil, let's do it again! - How much will we bet this time? Four strings or eight strings?"

  Xiao Jiading smiled and said, "Of course it's eight mace of silver."

  As soon as Xiao Jia Ding put all his winnings on the table and continued to gamble, those scholar spectators were shocked beyond words.

  The young servant of the book owner smiled bitterly and said: "Young master, we don't have that much money anymore..."

  Zhong Wenbo turned his head and looked at Shu Tong. Shu Tong was holding a money box, with only one yuan left inside.

  Zhong Wenbo considered himself the number one talent of Yizhou, but now he had been defeated three times in a row by a young scholar who was even younger than him. He had to regain his face no matter what. So, like a gambler with red eyes, he stared at Xiao Jia Ding and suddenly pulled out a jade pendant from his waist, held it up and said: "This jade pendant was bought for nine guans last year, now it's worth seven guans after depreciation, plus the remaining one guan, how about we bet again?"

  Xiao Jia Ding shrugged and said: "You want it this way, I don't mind saying no. Winning money is not my habit. Please give the question!"

  Zhong Wenbo waved his hand and said, "This time we won't bet on the seven-step poem. Let's choose a topic that both parties agree on, with one incense stick as the limit, each composing a poem, and see who wins."

  Xiao Jiading thought to himself, a topic that both sides agree on, is to see if he can recall any of the Tang poems he had memorized. He had hundreds of famous poems by great poets like Li Bai, Du Fu, Bai Juyi and Li Shangyin in his mind, so what's there to fear from this little Yizhou's number one prodigy? He shrugged his shoulders and said, "Alright, you choose the topic, I'll listen."

  Zhong Wenbo's mouth curled up with a self-satisfied smile, pretending to be deep in thought. After a while, he said: "Previously, we were all based on the scenery and characters in front of us. This time, let's sing about how ancient people did it."

  "Which ancient person does brother want to praise?"

  "Out of the Great Wall, Princess Zhaojun!"

  Xiao Jiading was secretly delighted, as there were many poems about Wang Zhaojun. Among them were some of the most famous works in history. He wasn't afraid of losing to him. So he nodded and said: "Alright, but how do we decide who wins?"

  "What's your verdict, everyone present?"

  Because Xiao Jiading had previously proposed that both parties would ask the guests present to be judges, he generally secretly paid attention to whether the scholars in the arena were familiar with Zhong Wenbo. Through observation, it seemed that Zhong Wenbo indeed had a high reputation, but he was arrogant and didn't get along with ordinary scholars, so most of the surrounding scholars looked at him with a mixture of disdain and admiration, and when he deliberately delayed time, these scholars almost all jeered and ridiculed him, and also sincerely praised themselves, so they should not be biased towards Zhong Wenbo.

  Xiao Jiading said: "Let's go! Let's start!"

  The scholar with good news has already taken a joss stick from the Emerald Jade Building, lit it and stuck it in the ground.