As the sun sets, the entire capital city appears magnificent and golden. The streets are bustling with people, but no one notices this magnificent scenery.
The inn, which was decorated in an unusually prosperous way, was now completely silent, and no one noticed the beautiful scenery.
Inside the inn, a plain-dressed teenager looked innocently at the shocked waiter opposite him, whose mouth was twitching and confused. His dark eyes rolled around like beads, and he asked softly with a curled lip corner:
"Why, is that not possible? How about this: On Jingquan Mountain, the spring is quiet, and the sky is connected to the water's tail and the water is connected to the sky; or, on Jingquan Mountain, the spring is quiet, and the fog locks the mountain top and the mountain locks the fog."
The confused shop assistant heard this, his eyes turned red, and he almost cried!
It's unbelievable. Others can't think of a second line after thinking hard for a long time, but they are so happy when they come up with one. But the whole room can only think of three lines for this couplet! !
You changed one character and made one couplet, then two characters and made one couplet, then three characters and made two couplets, and now you throw out two more! You finished one couplet in the blink of an eye, and in the time it takes to finish a glass of water, you finished seven couplets with just one couplet!
Even drinking water is not that fast!
The shop assistant looked at Zhu Ping'an again with an innocent look on his face, and he felt as if he had seen a monster!
After Zhu Ping'an finished speaking, he turned his gaze to the shop assistant again, with an innocent look on his face and his mouth slightly open.
Seeing that Zhu Ping'an seemed to want to speak again, the shop assistant nodded quickly and said, "Okay, okay, okay." He was afraid that if he nodded too slowly, the boy would throw out a few couplets casually, and his little heart would not be able to withstand the blow.
The people in the store who were concentrating, thinking hard, and unable to figure out the problem, now all looked at the poor country boy in simple clothes in front of them with shocked expressions, as if they had seen a ghost.
The entire inn was silent.
However, a voice soon broke the silence in the room.
"Well, if you can write two couplets, you can get free food and lodging for one day, right?" After the shop assistant nodded, Zhu Ping'an paused and asked again.
The shop assistant's eyes were lifeless and he nodded numbly and mechanically.
Then, the shop assistant was shocked again, his eyes wide open, and he looked at Zhu Pingan in shock.
You, you... what are you going to do
That look was like a little girl walking alone on a remote path, suddenly being cornered by a strong man with bad intentions!
"Free board and lodging means you can eat whatever you want for free, right?"
The plainly dressed boy opposite him was delighted when he saw this. His dark eyes instantly became as clear as the summer sky, and filled with a fiery, honest and straightforward look.
The shop assistant nodded again, looking at Zhu Ping'an in shock, his hands trembling a little.
Then, the eyes of everyone in the hall were once again focused on Zhu Ping'an.
After getting an affirmative answer from the shop assistant, Zhu Ping'an slightly curled the corners of his lips, looked up at the couplets hanging on the railing on the third floor, and moved from the first couplet to the second couplet.
Then. Everyone was even more shocked, because when they were writing couplets in this inn, everyone chose the ones they thought were simpler from the six couplets, not in order. If they did it in order, it would be more difficult. For themselves, maybe the later ones would be easier than the previous ones. Now, seeing Zhu Ping'an looking at the second couplet in order, they were shocked.
This kid can't be pretending.
Regardless of what everyone thought, Zhu Ping'an's eyes were now on the second couplet. This couplet was much longer than the first one. It was much longer and more difficult. This couplet had a total of 28 characters and read as follows:
Baita Street, Huang the blacksmith. He lights a red furnace, burns black charcoal, emits green smoke, flashes blue light, and quenches purple iron, sitting north and facing south to forge things.
Judging from the content alone, this couplet should be a favorite couplet that the owner of this inn copied from a blacksmith shop in some corner. There are seven colors in this couplet: white, yellow, red, black, green, blue, and purple. The colors are embedded in nouns and verbs respectively. Then, the four directional words of east, west, south, and north are followed by the couplet. The most important thing is that this couplet strings these elements together, with a theme of blacksmiths forging iron. In this way, this couplet is very difficult to write.
"Has anyone else ever matched this couplet?" After reading the couplet, Zhu Ping'an pointed at it and asked the shop assistant next to him.
"Yes... there is one pair." The shop assistant's voice trembled a little.
"Oh, then read it out loud, so I don't have to repeat it accidentally. Don't worry, I won't change the words this time." Zhu Ping'an said with a slight curl of his lips.
"On Baita Street, the yellow blacksmith lights a red furnace, burns black charcoal, emits green smoke, flashes blue light, quenches purple iron, sits north and faces south to forge things; the ancients and the later ones read Zuo Zhuan, learn You Jun, worship the senior minister, sit in the central hall, command subordinates, become generals, become prime ministers, and be crowned as kings and dukes."
The shop assistant opened the booklet with shaking hands, turned to the second page, and read the couplet again. His voice no longer had the arrogance and contempt of the past, but was filled with shock and uneasiness.
"You have great ambitions and a great demeanor." Upon hearing this, Zhu Ping'an slightly curled the corners of his lips and praised.
A well-dressed teenager in the lobby nudged the teenager named Wensheng next to him and said with a smile, "That boy praised you for your lofty ambitions and good temperament."
The boy named Wensheng looked at Zhu Pingan and smiled indifferently, "I'm curious about what kind of couplet he can come up with."
"Are you so sure that he can come up with the second line?" The well-dressed young man looked at his good friend Vincent and asked.
"Don't you believe it?" The young man named Vincent turned to his friend and asked.
"Haha, I believe it." The well-dressed young man smiled with the corners of his lips curled up.
As soon as the two young men finished their conversation, Zhu Pingan in the field began to recite his own couplet in a low voice:
"On Baita Street, the yellow blacksmith, he lights a red furnace, burns black charcoal, emits green smoke, flashes blue light, and quenches purple iron, sitting north and facing south to forge things;
Zhoukoudian, Qin scholar, recites Han Fu, chants Tang poetry, writes Song lyrics, sings Yuan opera, reads Ming history, and reads the Spring and Autumn Annals through winter and summer. "
good!
As soon as Zhu Ping'an finished speaking, there was a burst of cheers in the lobby, and then many people slapped their heads in sudden realization, regretting why they had not thought of it earlier.
This young man creatively combined the names of the seven dynasties, Zhou, Qin, Han, Tang, Song, Yuan and Ming, which are familiar to us, with Han Fu, Tang poetry, Song Ci, Yuan opera, etc. Spring, summer, autumn and winter are the names of the four seasons, and Spring and Autumn correspond to forging things. The most important thing is that if the artistic conception of the first couplet is forging iron, then the artistic conception of the second couplet of this young man has risen to the realm of "everything is inferior, only reading is superior", which is simply amazing.
This young man is really extraordinary.
In the lobby, for the first time, everyone focused their attention on Zhu Pingan. (To be continued.)