Chapter 004: Concealing One's Talents

Little did he know that after writing just two or three characters, he had already astonished Old Wang into exclaiming in surprise

Gao Gan, are you being too jealous by saying this? The most important aspects of poetry are the atmosphere and the artistic conception

"Why is it me again?" Yang Tang expressed a bit of dissatisfaction

Here, the term 'world' is a single word, so it should relate to 'past and present', do you understand? Old Wang educated, 'There are few true scholars in the world, but many unsatisfactory matters throughout history... Only in this way can one bring out the charm of using the past to illustrate the present in the couplet!

Shouldn't we write something practical?

Yang Tang clearly recognized the appearance of the other person, and after a moment of daze, he recalled that Bai Keqing was the class representative. In his previous life, she was one of the few students from the class who managed to go to the capital. In terms of looks, she was not inferior to the class monitor, Lu Qin; the main difference was that her personality was not as outgoing as Lu Qin's, which was why she was unable to be elected as class monitor during the initial election.

Yang Tang, sitting in the audience, was momentarily taken aback, and then recalled that the language examination in this world also required the study of couplets. Each exam paper would include four fill-in-the-blank couplets, with each couplet worth five points, totaling twenty points. In other words, couplets (20) plus poetry (25) plus essay (45) would account for sixty percent of the total score in the language examination.

Four positions, one, two, three, four. Yang Tang is in position two, Jia Li is in position three, and Bai Keqing is in position four. Upon hearing Lao Wang's urging, Bai Keqing immediately turned around, picked up the chalk, and began writing the fourth couplet on the blackboard, clearly having thought of the answer in advance

Yang Tang did not pay attention to the expressions of her classmates in the audience; she merely stole a glance at Old Wang and found him also in a daze at the scene, so she cleared her throat and said, "Teacher Wang, I have finished reading."

Eh?

Jiali, having ambition is a good thing. I do not expect you to reach the level of Bai Keqing; as long as you can achieve the standard of Yang Tang, scoring three out of five in the first round is sufficient

Yang Tang had not yet had the opportunity to review the connection, and thus remained noncommittal. Following Jia Li's suggestion, he changed his position, which provoked a glare from Xie Yihan in position one.

Also, Jia Li, you come up too

However, Old Wang did not care; after he finished speaking everything that needed to be said in a flurry, he directly wrote "Four Connections" on the blackboard, in a format similar to that of previous years' college entrance examination papers, and then called on the students to go up and answer.

Yang Tang quickly feigned a look of sudden realization

Ah?! A chubby man, resembling the character Bao Pi from the movie "Young and Dangerous" with round black-framed glasses, screamed as he stood up, "Teacher Wang, can I not go on stage?"

What am I doing

Old Wang, aware of his loss of composure, abruptly snatched the paper from Yang Tang's hand and glanced again at that humorous poem, his face darkening to an extreme, nearly erupting in fury: "So you treated the paper as a draft?"

Old Wang smiled with his lips but not with his eyes, gave a slight grin, and without explanation, continued to call out: "Bai Keqing!"

Yang Tang really wanted to tell him, "I am not familiar with you," but before she could say the words, Lao Wang's instructions came: "You four each take one question, write it below the old answers, and be quick about it!"

Yang Tangxin was well aware, yet showed no sign of it. She glanced at the third couplet on the blackboard, where the first line read, "True scholars are few in the world"

Yang Tang, having listened to Old Wang's sarcasm, decided not to wait for Jia and Xie any longer. He picked up a piece of chalk and began to write: "Unfulfilled ... ... "

Well, I have offended this person again

Yang Tang was well aware of what the people around her were laughing about, yet she turned a deaf ear to it, behaving as if nothing was amiss

If that is the case, as long as one has a bit of good luck, it seems that the subject of Chinese language is not too difficult to pass!

A delicate and gentle girl stood up from the window seat in the fourth row and confidently walked to the podium

Indeed, without the essence of poetry, it becomes clichéd

Hmm? Have you finished reading? What did you read...

Old Wang glared at him and scolded, "Then I will just tell Director Jia about this later"

Wow, with Old Yang's writing, how did the style of the school's music building and small auditorium suddenly become so elevated

Therefore, it is no wonder that Old Wang was perplexed.

Finally, thank you, Xie Yihan

"Couplet!" Old Wang exclaimed, staring wide-eyed.

Old Wang said: "True scholars are few in the world, while unsatisfactory matters are many on the ground... You read it yourself, is this couplet well-matched in terms of parallelism?"

Ah? At!

To know, "Uncle" Yang Tang can be considered half a literary youth. Although he has been a stay-at-home husband, living off his partner for many years, he would practice calligraphy whenever he had free time at home, especially the slender gold script of Zhao Ji, which he has mastered to a considerable degree. However, the lineage of Zhao Kuangyi has long been eradicated by Zhao Dezhang, leaving no trace of Zhao Ji, and naturally, the slender gold script has also vanished.

On the stage, Old Wang began to speak at length

The female class monitor, Lu Qin, sitting two rows behind Yang Tang, stared with a pair of bright, large eyes without blinking for a long time, her delicate long eyelashes fluttering slightly, and her pretty face displaying a hint of disbelief

Yang Tang continued to feign ignorance, saying: "Heaven against Earth, above against below, isn't that right?"

Amidst the discussions, some express admiration while others find fault, yet Lü Qin furrows her brow lightly

Yang Tang immediately stopped, glanced at the words he had written on the blackboard, and then his expression changed slightly. The reason was simple; his chalk writing was filled with the essence of the slender gold script.

"Is there something wrong, teacher?" Yang Tang asked knowingly.

Yang Tang naturally understood what Old Wang was saying and what he was upset about. With a good poem at hand, he instead wrote a doggerel to fill the gap, which was simply a way of brushing off his teacher: "Teacher Wang, it's not what you think. It's just that during the quiz that day, I hadn't thought of the line 'Hearts that are in sync understand each other.' So I could only copy a more fluent one from my draft to make do..." It was simply a way of brushing off his teacher: "Teacher Wang, it's not what you think. It's just that during the quiz that day, I hadn't thought of the line 'Hearts that are in sync understand each other.' So I could only copy a more fluent one from my draft to make do..."

Are you distracted again? Hurry up and come up!

Old Wang took the opportunity to mock, saying: "The girls have all finished answering, can you three boys even manage it?"

Upon hearing this, Lu Qin shot a glare at the round-faced girl but did not respond to her. In fact, what surprised Lu Qin was precisely this point; Yang Tang had indeed written her a note, but the limerick on it was hardly commendable

Seeing this, Jia Li pulled Yang Tang and whispered, "Third Senior Brother, let's switch places."

There was a moment of profound silence in the classroom

It must be said that couplets, a form of wordplay that has been passed down for thousands of years, indeed possess profound connotations, and certain sophisticated couplets are imbued with deep meanings, with careful word choices that offer significant value for study. However, enabling seventeen- or eighteen-year-old boys and girls to flexibly use and correctly respond to couplets is not an easy task. There is an issue of "literary accumulation" involved, which requires spending extra-curricular time reading classics, and what high school students lack the most is time. However, enabling seventeen- or eighteen-year-old boys and girls to flexibly use and correctly respond to couplets is not an easy task. There is an issue of "literary accumulation" involved, which requires spending extra-curricular time reading classics, and what high school students lack the most is time.

As soon as these words were spoken, the classroom erupted in chaos

Isn't your perspective on the world a bit too rigid? Old Wang lamented with disappointment.

Is the music building and the small auditorium not real

Yang Tang saw that the situation was already set in stone, so he had no choice but to grit his teeth and continue writing: "Unpleasant matters ... ... " Upon reaching this point, he glanced at Jia and Xie, noticing that neither of them had started writing yet. Thus, he felt a desire to conceal his own shortcomings and instead of writing "many throughout history," he wrote: "many on the ground!" He then set down his pen, turned around, left the stage, and returned to his seat

Perhaps it was Yang Tang's expression that was very cooperative, after educating him, Lao Wang felt quite pleased. However, when he turned his head and noticed that Jia Li and Xie Yihan had not uttered a single word, his expression instantly shifted from sunny to overcast: "What are you two still doing up on stage? Get down, get down... Look at how well Bai Keqing performed, 'Pine leaves, bamboo leaves, all are green; the sounds of autumn and geese are all cold.' With this level of performance, during the college entrance examination, it would be difficult for the grading teacher to deduct points from her! Are you two even listening?"

It's quite ordinary

A boy of ordinary appearance, average height, and average build stepped onto the stage, standing next to Yang Tang, and whispered in a low voice: "I'm going to die, I'm going to die, Third Senior Brother, please help me if you can later!"

Let the discussion quiet down a bit, Old Wang raised his hand to gesture, "Alright, alright, we will conclude the analysis of the poetry topics here, and next we will talk about the issues of couplets!"

Upon hearing this, Old Wang found it reasonable; after all, good poetry is not something that can be created at will. He thus accepted Yang Tang's explanation and waved his hand to let him return to his seat

Yang Tang evaluated in his heart and was about to casually compose a couplet, but seeing that Jia Li and Xie Yihan had not yet put pen to paper, he pretended to be deep in thought.

Once Yang Tang sat down, Old Wang changed his critical tone and praised, "Did everyone hear the poem Yang Tang just recited? What do you think? Is it worthy of a perfect score?"

Everyone, please take a look at the paper. I will first provide an analysis, and then we will elaborate further

As soon as he sat down, Xie Yihan quickly nodded and said, "Yes, yes, yes, teacher!"

Upon hearing the name "Director Jia," Jia Li immediately abandoned the thought of negotiating the price: "Ah? No way, I can't go on stage!" After saying this, as he walked towards the stage, he muttered softly, "Why does he always use my dad to pressure me?" This elicited suppressed laughter from the classmates on both sides of the aisle

Couplet

It is worth mentioning that the history teacher, Jia Chengshi, is not only Jia Li's biological father but also the head of the senior three grade, so it is quite normal for the subject teachers to report Jia Li's behavior to him.

A man should never say it is impossible

Jia Li, sitting in another seat, also echoed, "Teacher Wang, you are absolutely right; I must seek more guidance from Bai Keqing!" As soon as these words were spoken, Bai Keqing, sitting by the window, subtly furrowed her delicate brows.

At that moment, the round-faced girl at the next table quietly nudged Lu Qing: "Hey, Qingqing, didn't Yang Tang write you a note last semester? What was it about? Was it on par with that poem from just now?"

It is precisely for this reason that Old Wang spoke passionately on stage, yet only about 30 to 40 percent of the audience could truly absorb what he was saying, while more than half of the people either appeared dazed and confused or were engaged in other activities

Upon hearing this, Jia Li raised his thick eyebrows and said with a tone of sarcasm: "Teacher Wang, my level in couplets can be on par with Yang Tang, but I cannot boast about my other achievements!" As soon as he finished speaking, the classroom erupted in laughter

... ...

There are many unsatisfactory things in life! Old Wang read aloud the chalk characters filled with the charm of slender gold script, shaking his head. He then suddenly came to his senses and said with displeasure: "Yang Tang, what kind of nonsense is this that you are writing?"

"It's the love poem on my exam paper!" Yang Tang interjected.

At this moment, Bai Keqing had finished writing her lower couplet and returned to her seat

Well, that's true, but the area to the east of the auditorium on the west side of the music building is just the size of a palm, and there is nothing there

At that moment, Yang Tang was secretly flipping through the English textbook at his seat, not expecting to be called out by Old Wang on stage: "Yang Tang!"

Why is it not neat, Teacher Wang

One after another, several people took the stage, and their answers were utterly dismal, causing Old Wang to roll his eyes in frustration, nearly cursing under his breath, almost on the verge of losing his temper.