Chapter 1991: Fame
To the three of them, this matter was as strange as not knowing what rice was.
Feng Zongping was choked by the strange looks of the three people and was speechless.
Zhao Liulang and several of his classmates had already listened to the poems below. Although they were not very good at writing poems, they were able to appreciate them. They gathered together and devalued their poems to only half a penny. Then they encouraged the best students among them, Bai Shan, Yi Ziyang and Yin Huo, to write poems together and submit them for selection.
"Let's ask for a lucky start. We haven't had a lucky start at Zhuangyuanlou yet."
As he was speaking, a loud announcement came from the floor below: "Today's first prize in the chrysanthemum-themed competition is won by Lu Xiaofu from the Imperial College..."
Bai Shan and the others exclaimed "Huh!" and leaned over the windows to look down. They saw Lu Xiaofo standing at the edge of the second floor, bowing to everyone around him. Immediately, a waiter sent a lucky gift over.
Feng Zongping said, "Lu Xiaofo is not bad."
Manbao pointed to a place and said, "Brother Bai!"
Bai Erlang leaned over to take a look, "It really is my brother."
He put his hand to his mouth and yelled to the crowd, "Brother, sing a song!"
The people downstairs heard the sound coming from the third floor and couldn't help but look up. Bai Dalang also looked up. Although his eyesight was a little bad, the idiot who was almost leaning out of the window and waving at him excitedly was his younger brother, right?
Bai Dalang lowered his head, trying to pretend that he didn't know this guy.
But the classmates sitting next to him had already recognized Bai Erlang, and also saw Bai Shan and Zhou Man beside him.
There was no other way. They were classmates, and there were only twenty people in a class. It would take less than a month to find out who was what and what their family background was. When Bai Dalang was admitted to the Four-door Academy, his brother was admitted to the Imperial College right after him. In addition, the three of them became so famous later, it was hard for the classmates not to know.
So they grabbed Bai Dalang, who lowered his head and pretended not to exist, and said, "Zhengjian, this is your brother."
"They're on the third floor. I thought I saw Uncle Zhao. Should we go up and say hello?"
Bai Dalang didn't want to go.
Zhao Liulang and the others upstairs also happily gathered at the window to look down. The few who didn't like reading were particularly good-looking and reported to everyone in real time, "Hey, hey, hey, your brother lowered his head. He must feel embarrassed."
"Bai Er, call out again."
"I think your elder brother must be eager to put you back into your mother's womb."
Bai Erlang laughed and scolded, "Get lost! My brother doesn't feel ashamed at all. He writes poems better than us. The teacher even praised him for his spirituality. My brother is just embarrassed."
Zhao Liulang asked, "Does your brother have a name?"
"Yes, my father gave it to me. Right!"
Feng Zongping was stunned for a moment, then couldn't help but burst out laughing, saying, "Your father saved himself some trouble. Your eldest brother's name is Zhi, and his courtesy name is Zhengjian. So, do you want to take the courtesy name Xin in the future?"
Although a character is a further explanation of a name, not many people choose a character directly based on the analysis in Shuowen Jiezi.
Bai Erlang didn't think there was anything wrong with this. He said, "When my father named us, he originally chose words from Shuowen Jiezi. He carefully selected the words 'zhi' and 'cheng'. He thought my eldest brother was upright and honest, and I was honest and beautiful. What's wrong with just using the explanations from Shuowen Jiezi?"
Everyone listened and thought about it, realizing it was true, so they stopped laughing. Zhao Liulang even shouted to the crowd, "Brother Zhengjian, sing a song!"
The people downstairs didn't know who was being called "Big Brother" at first, but when Zhao Liulang called out this, everyone in the building who knew Bai Dalang turned their heads to look at him.
Bai Dalang: ...
He stood up with a helpless look on his face, bowed to everyone before saying, "My little brother was naughty and disturbed everyone's fun."
There were eight judges sitting up there, five of whom were professors from the Imperial College. They knew Bai Zhi was a student there, so they were very tolerant and said with a smile, "It's Mid-Autumn Festival, so it's natural to have some fun. Since everyone is asking you to do one, why don't you do one? No matter how good it is, it'll be fun at least."
Bai Zhi responded respectfully, staring at the newly posted topic for a while before turning around and picking up his pen to write a poem.
At that moment, a waiter brought the manuscript of the poem up, and the judges read it out on the spot for everyone to comment on.
Many people nodded secretly, thinking that Bai Zhi had done a good job. One of the judges said, "Everyone, please begin. The prize for this round of Zhuangyuanlou is a pot of Zhuangyuanhong."
When everyone heard this, they all started writing.
In the end, after everyone evaluated the results, they found that Bai Dalang's was slightly better, so he took the prize.
Before Bai Dalang could do anything, the people on the third floor started to make a commotion, as if they had won a prize.
Zhao Liulang had just finished a glass of Zhuangyuanhong and felt a little unsatisfied. "Why don't we invite your eldest brother up here so we can split his prize?"
Everyone thought this was a good idea, so they pushed Bai Erlang to hire someone.
Bai Shan couldn't help but glance at Zhao Liulang. After exchanging a glance with Manbao, he simply stepped forward, put his hands on his and Bai Er's shoulders, and led them down. "Let's go down together."
The three of them went downstairs together. After going down a few stairs, Bai Shancai stopped and looked at Zhao Liulang with a smile, asking, "Tell me, what do you want us to do?"
Bai Erlang, still looking excited, asked blankly, "What?"
Zhao Liulang put his arm around Bai Shan's shoulder and said with a laugh, "You're worthy of being the best student. You're really smart. Nothing can be hidden from you."
Zhao Liulang looked up and down, and seeing no one around, he lowered his voice and said, "I have something to ask of you."
Bai Shan thought that his cousin had become famous not only in the whole capital, but at least in the literary circle. If he added some more fuel to the fire, he would have a great advantage when he took the imperial examination next year.
So he nodded and said, "You speak first."
"Borrow some money from you."
"How many?"
Zhao Liulang stretched out a finger.
Bai Shan took a look and nodded, "One hundred taels, no problem."
"What one hundred taels, one thousand taels!"
Bai Shan: "...What do you need so much money for?"
Bai Erlang also came back to his senses and interrupted, "No, what does asking my brother to go upstairs have to do with borrowing money?"
Bai Shan said: "Just stay still for now."
Then he turned to Zhao Liulang and asked, "You have to explain. Otherwise, if you continue to do evil and later find out the money came from us, we will be held responsible. And can you afford one thousand taels?"
"You underestimate me, don't you? I can't pay it back now, but in two years I'll be leaving Chongwenguan and seeking an official position. Won't my father give me some assets? Then I'll be able to pay it back. But you can't charge me interest on this thousand taels."
He said, "If you agree, I will not only bring your eldest brother and his classmates to the third floor for a tour, but I can also take him to Princess Xiangyang's flower viewing party tomorrow. How about that?"
Bai Shanyi was moved, and Princess Xiangyang married the nephew of the empress dowager. In June, because the empress dowager was seriously ill, she returned to Beijing. The princesses loved to hold literary gatherings, poetry gatherings, flower appreciation gatherings, etc., and many literati were vying for participation.
See you at 9pm
(End of this chapter)
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