A hint of disdain crept across Jin Hongyue's lips as she glanced indifferently at Jiang Linbing. Both of them chuckled dismissively, yet feigned concern as they asked, "What suggestion? Tell us."
Li Yang sneered inwardly and said, "It's actually very simple. It's just a drinking game where you deliberately mispronounce a Tang poem. The first line of the poem must contain a wrong character, and then you have to use another Tang poem to make a reasonable explanation for the wrong character."
Li Yang paused deliberately to observe the crowd's reactions, only to find them all looking utterly bewildered, clearly having been fooled.
Cao Xin also looked at Li Yang with a look of surprise. Obviously, among so many people here, she was the only one who genuinely hoped that Li Yang could become successful. Everyone else hated Li Yang so much that they wanted to stomp on dog shit.
Li Yang smiled at Cao Xin, which only made the group of animals around him glare and bristle with anger.
"Let me give you an example. Let's start with 'Leaving home young, returning old.' This is a poem by He Zhizhang. The original poem is 'Returning old.' We're deliberately saying it wrong here, and then we'll explain it with another line of poetry, 'The eldest daughter married a merchant,' which is a line from Bai Juyi's 'The Song of the Pipa.' With this explanation, the first line of poetry is correct. How about we play this drinking game?"
Li Yang looked at everyone with feigned ease, as if to say, "I don't really understand, I'm just offering a suggestion casually, and you can all definitely do it. You're all experts, aren't you?"
Cao Xin stared at Li Yang in astonishment, her eyes sparkling with excitement. She was clearly amazed and excited by Li Yang's drinking game.
Damn, that's nonsense. I have so much poetry in my belly I could spew it out and choke you idiots. I could whip up a hundred more poems like that in a heartbeat. I'll make you regret it! Damn!
"Did you all understand? Okay, I'll go first." Li Yang didn't care what these dumbfounded, clueless animals were thinking. Damn it, if this still can't intimidate you, then I've wasted my life. I might as well cut off this head that the immortal repaired and use it as a chamber pot.
“‘The rapeseed flowers still smile in the spring breeze,’ only because ‘the peach blossoms have all faded and the rapeseed flowers have bloomed!’” Li Yang picked up his teacup, took a leisurely sip, and glanced at everyone indifferently.
"The peach blossoms still smile in the spring breeze" is a famous line from Cui Hu's poem "Written at the Southern Village of the Capital," but the deliberate use of "rapeseed flowers" is a reference to Liu Yuxi's poem "Revisiting Xuandu Temple." If these idiots can come up with a matching line, they'll be truly geniuses among geniuses, incredibly awesome!
This is a drinking game that Li Yang came up with on the spot using his super memory. If you can keep up with it, you're all masters of waving your hands in the air!
Chapter 215: So wet!
As expected, the moment Li Yang uttered this drinking game, the atmosphere immediately turned cold and awkward. Clearly, these so-called literati and scholars had fallen silent, rendered speechless by Li Yang's very elegant drinking game.
Cao Xin was naturally very happy with a bright smile. Li Yang had really made her look good and supported her. How could she not be happy?
Jin Hongyue and Jiang Linbing were both frustrated. They exchanged a glance and saw the frustration and resentment in each other's eyes. However, no matter how hard they racked their brains, they couldn't come up with a drinking game to Li Yang's suggestion, so they had no choice but to accept their defeat in frustration.
However, the two of them were shameless and utterly shameless. Jin Hongyue paused for a moment, then immediately left Li Yang aside and said, "Let's just write lyrics instead. There are no restrictions on the lyric form, as long as it describes the things in this private room!"
"Then I'll go first." As soon as Jin Jianren finished speaking, he immediately rattled off a poem, a poem about wine: "Partridge Sky": "Of all things in heaven and earth, wine is the most supreme, neither sweet nor bitter, its taste divine. One cup can transform the sorrowful mountain's hue, three cups can completely dispel the cold valley's spring. After joy comes laughter, in anger comes rage, upon waking, one remembers not the cause. In ancient times there was a Tao Yuanming, who understood that one should forgive a drunkard."
As soon as that bastard finished speaking, Jiang Linbing clapped and cheered, and the others joined in. Then Jiang Linbing recited a strange and ridiculous poem, which made Li Yang's ears itch.
Damn, I don't know if these bastards made it themselves or plagiarized it, but they're shaking their heads like it's actually true.
Li Yang felt a headache coming on. Damn it, although he had memorized a lot of poems, at least eight hundred or a thousand, he didn't know anything about rhymes or meter in front of these experts. What if he made a mistake in rhyme or meter in front of them? Wouldn't that be incredibly embarrassing?
This caused Sister Xin to lose face greatly, and I felt utterly ashamed and humiliated. Will I ever again see Sister Xin in her bedroom, on her bed?
But these bastards are masters of manipulating words. In the blink of an eye, whether they really understood, were just showing off, or had copied and memorized, it reached Sister Xin in no time, and next up was Li Yang! What a pain in the ass!
Sister Xin glanced at Li Yang with concern, smiled faintly, and said with captivating charm, "I'll sing 'Butterfly Loves Flowers' then. Whether it's good or not, please listen and let everyone judge!"
After speaking softly, Sister Xin recited: "Butterfly Loves Flowers - Leaving the Frontier. The landscape of ancient and modern times is ever-changing, amidst the sound of bugles, herdsmen come and go frequently. Who can I speak to in this desolate scene? The west wind withers the maple trees. There must be countless sorrows from the past, the clash of swords and the iron horses, the road to the green hills at dusk. How deep is this lingering affection? In the deep mountains, the setting sun and the deep autumn rain."
As soon as Sister Xin finished speaking, the group of animals immediately showed expressions of shock and admiration, clapping and cheering, spitting everywhere, their hands almost broken from clapping. Li Yang, who was also amazed and wanted to cheer, felt a bit annoyed and stopped clapping, watching these bastards chatter on and on. Such sycophancy!
As everyone cheered loudly and the atmosphere became extremely enthusiastic, the damned Jin Hongyue saw that Li Yang kept his head down and didn't say a word, so she guessed that Li Yang definitely couldn't write lyrics, and a smug smile appeared on her lips.
"Young man, everyone else has one, except for you. Where's yours?"
"Yeah, if you don't have any, you'll have to drink three cups of wine as a penalty and you won't be allowed to eat any food!" Jiang Linbing chimed in, echoing the jerk. Damn it, they were determined to make Li Yang look foolish. Li Yang was practically shattered!
"Li Yang, are you alright?" Sister Xin looked at Li Yang with concern. After all, the current education system is all exam-oriented, and teaching useless things instead of useful ones is a waste of students' time and brain cells.
He doesn't understand these essences of traditional Chinese culture at all. Writing lyrics is a profound art, so it's perfectly normal that Li Yang doesn't know how.
Li Yang forced a smile, and when he looked up, he saw Sister Xin's concerned gaze, which secretly pleased him. Looking down, he caught a glimpse of Sister Xin's fair breasts, the deep cleavage incredibly alluring.
Li Yang thought of a few erotic poems and lyrics. "Damn it, you bunch of bastards, I don't know if you're pretending to be serious or not. I guess you're just disciples who do nothing but mess around all day. Your vision is narrow, you definitely don't understand this stuff. I'll just write a lewd poem, what can you do about it?"
Li Yang smiled faintly, glanced at the Jin Hongyue and Jiang Linbing duo, and said somewhat embarrassedly, "I'm really sorry, these are all I could think of on the spot, I'm just showing off."
"It's not ugly, it's not ugly. It's okay if you can't do it at such a young age. Even if there are some mistakes, they can be forgiven!" Jiang the scoundrel said, pretending to be magnanimous.
Sister Xin frowned and looked at Li Yang with concern, then whispered, "It's okay if you can't do it. After all, you're only in high school, so it's perfectly normal that you don't understand these things!"
"What? You're only in high school? That's such a pity!" Jin Hongyue was immediately excited when she heard this. It seemed like he didn't have much of a competitive edge!
But the name Li Yang sounds familiar... I've heard it somewhere before. But who cares? Anyone who tries to take Cao Xin from me, I'll play with knives!
Cao Xin glanced at Jin Hongyue with displeasure, then looked nervously at Li Yang.
Li Yang smiled slightly and began to recite: "I clapped my hands and left, a slight stain on my chest, two points of soul-stirring beauty. I was surprised by the faint shadow of white, like snow piled up on Mount Gusha, purple tips lightly blushing, like dewdrops on grapes. Don't talk about the creamy texture, don't boast about the sprouting beans, the jade-like smoothness and roundness of pearls are even more abundant. At the open lapel, the fragrance of powder is about to linger, the scent of flowers is hard to dispel."
In her youth, her hair was just beginning to unfurl. But as she grew taller and more robust, so too did she. After bathing in the copper tub, a silk scarf covered her face, embroidered stockings were wrapped around her, and a brocade sash was fastened securely. As the melon-ripening season approached, she slipped down her skirt, revealing a lover to whom Heaven would soothe her like wine. A secret joy was rekindled, abandoned for the sake of her beloved, her silk robes soaked through.
After reciting the poem, Li Yang couldn't help but give Cao Xin a lewd glance at her chest. Cao Xin naturally understood what he meant after he finished reciting, and her cheeks flushed red. She glared at Li Yang reproachfully, but she didn't actually get angry.
Some idiots didn't understand what he meant, so that scoundrel Jiang, who had leprosy, glared at them and said, "What kind of poetry is this? Is it praising the things in this private room?"
Jin Hongyue felt a wave of embarrassment. Although she was very annoyed that Li Yang had such talent and was a real lecher, she had to admit that he had overcome all obstacles and left everyone in the dust. He had not only completed the drinking game but also flirted with the only beauty.
The effect was remarkable; the beauty was not angry at all, but rather shy and hesitant to speak.
Jin Hongyue nearly fainted, her heart pounding. She glared at Jiang the scoundrel and said, "Old Jiang, that's not right of you. He clearly passed the test, and the thing he recited was the most beautiful item in the private room. How can you say there wasn't one? This 'Qinyuanchun' is incredibly erotic!"
Jiang Jianren was immediately confused after being reminded by him. Her face burned with embarrassment. She secretly glared at Li Yang, thinking that she wouldn't have lost so much face if it weren't for this kid!
Chapter 216: That Soul-Snatching Thing
In the following series of events, no one dared to challenge Li Yang anymore. This high school kid had surprisingly outshone a dozen or so top students who had graduated from prestigious universities, professors, entrepreneurs, and so on.