Xu Renyi's face darkened, and he immediately cupped his hands and said, "Since you find this place unclean and are unwilling to sit with ordinary people, then I will take down your poem to avoid defiling your handwriting." As he spoke, he reached out to take down the poem.

"Wait!" The scholar's expression changed drastically, and he hurriedly spoke up to stop him. It turned out that his seven-character quatrain was indeed quite good, and he had already received seven or eight votes. Although he could not compete for first place, he still had a good chance of winning fourth or fifth place. If he was removed from the list, wouldn't all his previous efforts be in vain?

"Ha! I'd like to ask you, when did you, a mere waiter, become the boss of this Yingke Restaurant? Go and fetch your manager! I want to see how she trains her servants, who dare to talk back to customers like this!"

Xu Renyi bowed and replied, "Sir, you flatter me. I am but a waiter, how could I dare to make decisions? It is only because the manager instructed that the rules of the poetry gathering must be followed. I am merely following the rules. Please calm down." As he spoke, he winked to the side, and immediately a clever young waiter quietly ran upstairs.

"If you think I have done anything wrong, sir, when the manager comes, I will gladly accept the punishment." After saying this, he turned to the burly man and said gently, "Sir, you may simply pay according to your own wishes."

To everyone's surprise, the scholar, feeling humiliated, became even more aggressive, daring to act so arrogantly as a mere waiter! He turned to the surrounding guests, his voice suddenly rising: "Have you all seen this? This is the way Yingkelou treats its guests! They have no respect for scholars, yet they fawn over this crude and uncouth man!"

He grew increasingly agitated, pointing at the burly man and saying, "This illiterate man is unworthy to comment on poetry and literature? He's utterly defiling culture!" He then pointed at Xu Renyi, adding, "And you, you unruly servant, if I don't teach you a lesson today..."