At Li Donglai's behest.

Chen Bin quickly found Lin Rui and briefly explained the whole story.

"A contest?"

"Didn't they say that the Shen family agreed to develop that piece of land in Cuizhu Mountain together with Uncle Li?"

"Does this mean the deal can't be done without a comparison?"

Lin Rui looked surprised.

Playing the zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting are all fine.

Now he has enough prestige to raise his skill level to six.

In this way, one can use master-level skill books for ancient musical instruments such as the guzheng and pipa.

If it's a master who has been famous for many years, then so be it.

But unfortunately, the other party was just a girl of similar age to him, and Lin Rui always felt that it was a bit like bullying a younger person.

"This deal will naturally go through."

"Since the Shen family has proposed to cooperate with my godfather on the development, it means that they are very willing to cooperate."

Chen Bin explained with a smile.

"Then why bother with a competition? Isn't that redundant?"

Lin Rui became even more curious.

"Two reasons."

"First, Mr. He Zhongting's calligraphy was rejected, and Mr. Lin's work was used instead."

"It's alright if Mr. Wakabayashi's work is of average quality."

"The problem is that Mr. Lin's repetitive palindrome poem is too astonishing."

"This will undoubtedly have a significant impact on Mr. He Zhongting's prestige, and the Shen family will also be affected."

Lin Rui's expression was somewhat strange.

The others all beat the younger ones first, then the older ones came.

This family is quite interesting.

The old man got beaten, and his wife stood up for him, even sending a younger brother to cause trouble.

Chen Bin seemed to see through Lin Rui's thoughts, and looked somewhat embarrassed, clearing his throat.

"As for the second point, it involves the issue of profit distribution."

"We have reached a cooperation agreement, but we must first determine who will take the lead, who will take the smaller share, and who will be the main stakeholders before the project is approved."

"So, on the surface, this competition is about the Shen family trying to get revenge on Mr. Lin."

"But in reality, it was a business game between the Shen family and my godfather."

After Chen Bin explained it this way, Lin Rui understood.

You should have said so earlier.

If it were just the Shen family trying to get revenge, Lin Rui really wouldn't want to get involved.

How can you beat up the elder and then have the younger one come out looking for revenge?

If this gets out, it will be disgraceful for everyone.

But since it involved the distribution of commercial profits, Lin Rui was less resistant.

After all, Li Donglai is a decent person.

They also find new ways to transport fruit from Panzhou every day.

There's a saying, isn't there?

He who eats another's food is bound to do so.

…

Purple Cloud Painted Boat.

Perhaps because the opening ceremony had ended, the streets, which were not particularly lively before, became bustling with people.

Even the number of literati and scholars entering and leaving the Ziyun Painted Boat has increased considerably.

Dancers sang and danced at the bow of the boat, women smiled charmingly, and some wild scholars raised their cups to the moon, trying to compare their height with the legendary figures of the past and present!

A myriad of lights illuminate the world, a prosperous and splendid era.

This was also Lin Rui's first time experiencing a multi-story ship.

The interior is extremely luxurious, with a thousand autumn colors to choose from.

Various kinds of food boats floated on the river, and the aromas they emitted were even more tempting to people's appetites.

Looking at the food that kept being delivered, Lin Rui felt a pang of regret. He realized that he had just wandered around the street stalls for nothing.

Compared to the delicious food in front of me, what I ate before was simply appalling.

Should life be like this?

Lin Rui made a brief horizontal comparison.

never mind.

Let's not talk about it.

"Are you hungry? Eat first. There's no rush for the competition."

Gong Jing looked at Lin Rui with a slight smile.

This was, in fact, the first time the two had ever met.

"Then I'll eat it."

Lin Rui didn't stand on ceremony, picked up the chopsticks on the table, and began to taste.

Not far away.

Even the usually shrewd and decisive Shen Jun couldn't help but chuckle at this moment.

She knew that Lin Rui was not yet twenty years old.

But seeing it today still leaves me utterly shocked.

The Lin Rui before her eyes was completely different from the image she had constructed in her mind.

She couldn't help but glance at He Zhongting beside her.

The latter seemed to sense something, and met Shen Jun's gaze, his eyes revealing a hint of frustration.

A person's words and actions can deceive, but the eyes can hardly do that.

Whether it's Shen Jun or He Zhongting, their most direct impression of Lin Rui is, besides, that he's naive, naive.

Yet this incredibly naive little kid managed to completely dominate the Xiazhou entertainment industry.

His literary talent was so astonishing that it terrified everyone in the room!

As for Shen Xihua, she was looking at Lin Rui with her big eyes.

Suddenly, she chuckled.

Shen Jun immediately gave her a warning look, and Shen Xihua could only pout and lower her head.

"You got it on your lips."

Wipe your mouth.

"Eat slowly, be careful not to choke."

Gong Jing, looking quite interested, handed Lin Rui a tissue.

Li Donglai withdrew his gaze and looked at Shen Jun: "I'll confirm one last time, is this really going to be a competition?"

Shen Jun's gaze shifted back and forth between Lin Rui and Shen Xihua before he nodded: "Let's compete."

Li Donglai smiled, neither confirming nor denying.

Seeing Lin Rui eating with relish and without any nervousness, Li Donglai remained incredibly calm.

Just as Zhou Rongze described it.

Lin Rui is often unreliable, but when he is, he is more trustworthy than anyone else.

However, Shenxi was not happy about it.

In her opinion, Lin Rui's silly and cute appearance made it hard to bring herself to hurt him.

Since the Huaxia Literature and Art Association exposed the age of Fusheng, the new generation of young talents in Huazhou have begun to pay attention to Lin Rui.

Regarding the bamboo and rock painting posted on Weibo, Shenxi doesn't think Lin Rui can surpass her in painting.

As for calligraphy, I've seen quite a few recently. Putting aside the outrageous poems, just looking at the characters, they're really passable.

After all, Shenxi Hua entered the Daoist path through calligraphy and painting, and his skills already belong to the top second-tier artists.

Have you decided which one to choose?

Seeing Lin Rui put down his chopsticks, Li Donglai asked a question seemingly casually.

But in my heart, I was screaming wildly.

Please, please, don't play chess!

"The piano."

Lin Rui's answer did not surprise anyone present.

Upon hearing this, Li Donglai secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

"If I may add something, the 'qin' in 'qinqi shuhua' (琴棋书画, meaning the four arts of qin, chess, calligraphy, and painting) doesn't just refer to one musical instrument, does it?"

"Two hundred years ago, in Washington, it was already being used as a form of musical expression."

"So, does that mean I can choose any instrument I want?"

Lin Rui looked at Li Donglai.

Li Dong glanced at Shen Jun, whose expression remained unchanged. Not wanting to provoke her further, he nodded and said, "That's true, but only ancient musical instruments can be chosen."

After saying that, Li Donglai looked at Shen Jun again: "How is it?"

Shen Jun looked at Lin Rui and calmly said, "Okay."

"Then get me an ocarina."

"Ocarina?"

Not only Li Donglai, but everyone in the room had an extremely strange expression.

Kid, are you serious?

Even Li Donglai was starting to get restless.

This is going to be a demonic act!

Seriously, aren't the guzheng, pipa, and erhu good enough?

To put it another way, the zither, the xun, and the sheng would also work!

At worst!

Nobody will mind if you play the flute at the bow of the boat!

Why are you playing the ocarina all of a sudden?

Apart from Shen Xihua, everyone present had seen their share of great storms.

Even so, it was difficult for them to remain calm at this moment.

Li Donglai stared intently at Lin Rui for a while before waving his hand and saying, "Chen Bin, go ask the manager if this boat has any ocarinas."