The longed-for village system

Chapter 200 Writing Poetry at Lou Wai Lou

Beyond the mountains, green hills rise; beyond the buildings, more buildings stand. When will the songs and dances of West Lake cease?
The warm breeze intoxicates the tourists, making them mistake Hangzhou for Bianzhou.

This poem was written by Lin Sheng, a poet of the Song Dynasty. Originally, the poem was satirical, describing how the Northern Song Dynasty continued its decadent and hedonistic lifestyle after the capital was moved from Bianzhou to Lin'an in the south, which is now Hangzhou, after being conquered by the Jin people.

However, the mood of a poem can vary depending on the context in which it is written. For example, the first line, "Beyond the mountains, green hills rise; beyond the buildings, more buildings stand," originally referred to the endless green hills and buildings surrounding West Lake. But now, people just think it refers to the Lou Wai Lou restaurant where they are.

The sarcastic question turned into a beautiful wish that peace would continue forever.

Everyone present shared this view and understanding; they felt that this poem was the perfect description of Hangzhou's West Lake.

"Excellent! Excellent! What a wonderful line, 'Beyond the mountains, green hills rise; beyond the towers, more towers stand.' Little Chen's poem is truly wonderful!"

Huang Sanshi immediately applauded and cheered for Chen Qing, saying that you don't know how talented Chen is until you push him a little.

"Impressive! Seeing is believing, Brother Chen is truly talented! I admire you." Hong Lei exclaimed with admiration.

"Xiao Chen, I truly understand you now. Teacher Xiao Chen, you deserve the title! You're really amazing. It's only been a short time, yet you've written such a wonderful poem." Xun Ge also expressed his sincere admiration.

Bo was very direct. He raised his water glass to Chen Qing and then drank it all in one gulp. He had worked with Chen Qing before and knew of Chen Qing's creative talent, but he did not expect that Chen Qing's attainments in poetry were also so profound. Once this poem is published, Lou Wai Lou and West Lake will become popular again.

Zhao Xiaogu remained silent throughout, her beautiful eyes fixed on Chen Qing with infatuation. She knew her life was over; this man's image was deeply etched into her soul.

If they weren't filming a show right now, she would definitely have jumped into Chen Qing's arms and begged him to cherish her, and then use her son to gain status.

The happiest people at the scene were undoubtedly Yan Min and the person in charge of Lou Wai Lou. They could be said to have gained a huge advantage, especially Lou Wai Lou, whose reputation would be further enhanced because of this poem.

Thirty delicacies in exchange for a timeless masterpiece – this is Lou Wai Lou's most profitable business ever, bar none.

"Director Yan Min, how is it? My brother Chen's poem is excellent enough, isn't it? We've completed our mission, right?" Hong Lei asked impatiently. If such a work still couldn't pass, he might as well be sent to the grave.

"Whether the work is approved or not is not up to me. Please welcome Mr. Zhang, the person in charge of Lou Wai Lou."

"Good evening, everyone. I am Zhang Guizhong, the person in charge of Lou Wai Lou, and a fan of your program. Of course, I also really like Ms. Zhao Xiaogu's TV series and Mr. Chen Qing's songs. On behalf of everyone at Lou Wai Lou, I would like to congratulate the newlyweds on their marriage."

As expected of a businessman, he's quite the smooth talker. He started by praising everyone. It's clear that the person in charge of Lou Wai Lou is no ordinary person.

You can't hit someone who's smiling, so it was really hard for the crowd to do anything to him. Even Brother Hong Lei could only sit there and wait for the other party's outcome.

“I really like this poem, so my decision is to approve it,” Zhang Guizhong announced with a smile. He then turned to Chen Qing and said, “Mr. Chen Qing, from now on, you and your wife can dine at Lou Wai Lou for free. This decision will remain in effect as long as Lou Wai Lou still exists.”

Everyone present was wealthy, and spending money at Lou Wai Lou was a breeze for them. However, the effect of spending money and Lou Wai Lou offering a free meal was completely different. This showed just how much Lou Wai Lou appreciated Chen Qing's poem. But no one was surprised. Regardless of how much Chen Qing and his wife spent, Lou Wai Lou profited from such a poem. After all, reputation is sometimes priceless. Of course, for the sake of the show, everyone had to put on an act.

After completing the task, Yan Min did not stop the staff from serving the dishes. In addition to the dishes that had just been served, the restaurant also prepared several other dishes. These dishes were not usually served; they were reserved for entertaining foreign leaders at the summit, which showed how much they valued Chen Qing.

Zhang Yixin, who was working in the kitchen, and Chen Qing returned to the dining table. When they heard that Chen Qing had won the opportunity to eat with everyone by writing a poem, they both agreed that Chen Qing was talented.

"Wow, Chen Xiu! You can do that too! Amazing!" He gave him a thumbs up in praise.

He felt his affection for Chen Qing skyrocketed, as he could enjoy so much delicious food without having to help in the kitchen.

Zhang Yixin was equally shocked. He had already been amazed by Chen Qing's musical talent before, but he never expected that Chen Qing could write poetry as effortlessly as he writes songs. This was not giving his peers from the same generation of the 90s any way out!

He had always thought that Teacher Huang and Brother Huang were already very capable, but now he felt that they were still a bit inferior to Chen Qing.

"Teacher Chen, you are really amazing! How do you study?" Zhang Yixin humbly asked for advice, hoping to learn something from you.

“Yixin, don’t follow Xiao Chen’s example. Teacher He and I both think his life is like a cheat code. It’s not easy for an ordinary person to master one thing in their lifetime, but Xiao Chen is proficient in almost everything. He can build a big house by himself using mortise and tenon joints, and writing songs and poems is as easy as drinking water for us. He is also proficient in all kinds of musical instruments.”

Learning from someone like that is not something an ordinary person can do. You might work yourself to death and end up finding that you haven't even learned the basics.

But who is Zhang Yixin? Although he is touted as a traffic star, he always has an indomitable spirit. If normal efforts are not enough, he will work twice as hard. If that still doesn't work, he will study instead of sleeping. He firmly believes that every bit of effort will pay off.

Moreover, he has gradually begun to see results in the past two years. Although he is still a popular idol, many people have recognized his identity as a talented singer and actor.

Zhang PD's identity is one of the best proofs of this.

"If my master is like that, I should learn from Teacher Chen even more! I don't want to learn so much, I just need to learn some music knowledge. Teacher Chen's composition skills are really amazing."

As Zhang Yixin's mentor, Huang Sanshi naturally knew his temperament. Once he made up his mind, nothing could change it. However, learning music composition from Chen Qing was also an option. If Chen Qing was willing, it might be an opportunity for Zhang Yixin.

"Brother Yixin, your music is also great. It's fine for us to exchange ideas and learn from each other, but please don't bother learning from me! I can't teach anyone what I've learned."

Chen Qing knew his own limitations. Although the system had given him the ability to create, all his songs so far were copied from his previous life. Most importantly, he was too lazy to bother thinking about them.

Why create new songs when there are already existing ones? Besides, the original ones aren't necessarily better than those by the original musicians, and it's also a great option for songs from another time and space to continue shining in this time and space.

(End of this chapter)