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Chapter 67 0065 [The Coolest Guy on All the Major BBS Forums]

Chen Jiayong, who was admitted to Peking University through the New Concept Writing Competition, gave up his postgraduate admission to Peking University last year and became a reporter for the Shanghai Morning Post.

He volunteered to help this year, and last night he notified the contestants to meet with the admissions officers. Half of the calls were made by Chen Jiayong.

He also represented the Morning Post in covering the entire New Concept Writing Competition.

He drank at the dinner party and, feeling dizzy, took a taxi back to his rented room.

Halfway there, my cell phone rang.

"Hello..." Chen Jiayong answered the call with squinted eyes, half-lying on the back seat of the taxi.

My college roommate's voice came through: "Old Chen, it's me, Qiangzi. Did you go to the New Concept Writing Competition?"

Chen Jiayong sat up straight: "Just left."

"Someone named Chen Guiliang wrote two poems? One of them was even composed in seven steps?"

"How did you know that?"

"I'm just asking you, isn't that right?"

"I guess so. How do you know? You don't even pay attention to this kind of thing."

I saw this on Peking University BBS.

After chatting with his college roommate until they got off the bus, Chen Jiayong sobered up considerably. Once back in his rented room, he logged onto Peking University's Weiming BBS.

There were several related posts, and he randomly clicked on one.

This post is quite interesting. The commenters are either lovers of classical Chinese poetry or top students of Chinese language and literature. They are arguing about Chen Guiliang's "illegal use of the '孤平' (guping) character".

"The third sentence must be changed; changing just one word will perfectly balance it out. Damn it, my OCD is about to flare up if it's not changed."

"Yes, it's like a fly on a cake."

"Is it possible that the author originally used '如逆旅' (like a traveler) but felt it wasn't free enough, so he changed it to '本逆旅' (this traveler)? He abandoned the meter for the sake of artistic conception."

"I can't accept this. Changing just one character would have made it perfect, so why did they have to commit the 'isolated level tone' (孤平)? And that guy did it on purpose!"

“It was definitely intentional, otherwise the tonal patterns of the third and fourth lines would be too coincidental.”

"Hey everyone, let's not be so harsh on a high school student. There are very few people studying classical poetry these days, and it's not uncommon for a young guy to emerge. Why are you all making such a fuss?"

"Big sister, it's one thing if he doesn't understand, but this kid clearly does. He already managed to salvage it, and then he deliberately changed the words. He's really driving people with OCD crazy!"

"A bunch of lunatics. Have you all gone mad? Is writing poetry about following the rules of meter, or about expressing emotions and letting your true feelings flow? Even in Tang poetry, you can find examples of isolated level tones. Why don't you revise every single poem in the Complete Tang Poems?"

"Li Bai, Du Fu, and Gao Shi also made the mistake of using a solitary level tone. Take Li Bai's 'Sending Off a Guest in Nanyang' for example. You only need to change the word 'gui' (贵) to save both lines. But Li Bai just didn't change it because he couldn't find a better word to replace it!"

"Damn, a high school student can't compare to Li Bai? Don't try to scam me."

"Does writing poetry depend on fame or status? Does it have to be someone like Li Bai to be allowed to use the 'isolated level tone' (孤平)? Can't ordinary people use it in their poetry?"

"Seven steps to compose a poem, seven steps to compose a poem, how many more times do I have to say it? Who wants to try walking seven steps?"

"..."

Chen Jiayong was sitting in front of the computer, amused by the group of arguing alumni.

Both sides have valid points, and arguing won't lead to any conclusion.

But it can really drive perfectionists crazy. The poem only has four lines in total, and two of them have metrical problems. If you just changed one word, both lines would be fine, but Chen Guiliang just wouldn't change them.

Is it really that difficult to change "本逆旅" to "如逆旅"?

Regardless, the name Chen Guiliang has become famous.

The more fiercely these people argued, the more firmly they remembered Chen Guiliang.

Chen Jiayong clicked into another post, where most of the comments were full of amazement and praise, with only a few replies expressing sour grapes.

"You're telling me this is a high school student's assigned essay?"

"Even my usual writing is excellent. But this is a competition essay, and from the theme and style to the word choice and writing, I can only say it's superb. Minor flaws can be ignored."

"Stop blowing, it's disgusting."

"Bragging? You try writing one yourself. Using the topic given in the competition, I'm not asking you to finish it in two or three hours. I'll give you two or three days to slowly consult reference books, and you write one for me to see!"

"Those who say it's just praise probably didn't appreciate it carefully, or they simply didn't understand it. There isn't a single superfluous sentence in the entire poem; the structure is very clean, and there's no sense of piling things up."

"The last sentence of the preface and the poem gave me goosebumps."

"The last line of the poem does not rhyme."

"The momentum and emotion have already reached their peak, why would we need to rhyme?"

"I come from humble beginnings and possess nothing of value, yet I hope that my faint light may illuminate the Milky Way." I love this line. My parents were both laid-off workers. Although high school was tough, my passion never faded. What do we poor students have besides ambition and passion? One day, we will shine brightly!

"And there is also the line, 'Even in the smallest of places, there is a spirit that can support the heavens and the earth!' This is the main theme of the entire poem. Reading it made my blood boil and my scalp tingle."

"Using objects to express one's aspirations, the emphasis is on expressing those aspirations. The youthful spirit in this poem is bursting forth; it's almost overflowing my computer screen!"

"This poem is indeed good, but it's not as miraculous as you all say. We should view it rationally, without exaggerating or belittling it."

"Didn't you notice? There are many details in this poem that we can dig into. The 'withered branch' that the black bird carries should be taken from the Fusang tree. I'm not just guessing, the author wrote it explicitly: 'Wings sweep across Fusang for thirty thousand miles, beak holds a withered twig of Taiyi.' Fusang is the Fusang divine tree. Taiyi is Taiyi, which is the Dao, the origin of heaven and earth."

"Haha, this black bird has quite a background."

"Born from a branch that represents the very essence of heaven and earth, breaking through the primordial chaos, how could this bird not have some extraordinary origin?"

"..." Chen Jiayong stopped writing press releases and just sat there browsing the comments.

Besides Peking University's Weiming BBS, other prestigious university BBSs also saw people reposting the messages, indicating that information is shared among various universities.

Tsinghua University's "Shui Mu Tsinghua", Fudan University's "Ri Yue Guang Hua", Shanghai Jiao Tong University's "Yin Shui Si Yuan", Zhejiang University's "Hai Na Bai Chuan", Wuhan University's "Luo Jia Shan Shui"... Well, these schools all have very nice BBS names.

There are also those with unique art styles.

For example, the Terracotta Army at Xi'an Jiaotong University, the Little Lilies at Nanjing University, the Blue Starry Sky at Sichuan University, and "I Love Nankai" at Nankai University...

These university BBS forums were incredibly popular in the early days of the internet, even attracting many netizens from outside the university to stay.

It's winter break now, and many teachers and students are idly browsing BBS. Chen Guiliang's two poems and a preface have become the topic of their discussion.

Moreover, the gimmicks of "composing a poem in seven steps" and "universities vying for students" attracted a large number of uninformed people.

……

Sister Furong is a frequent visitor to Tsinghua University and Peking University's Weiming BBS.

She was a student at Shaanxi University of Science and Technology, had served as a class leader, and had received scholarships. However, she chose to suspend her studies and repeat her senior year, hoping to get into Tsinghua or Peking University.

On the eve of the college entrance examination, he was in a car accident and returned to Shaanxi University of Technology to continue his studies. After graduation, he entered a machinery factory.

Then I resigned and took the postgraduate entrance exam.

She failed the entrance exam for Peking University's graduate program for two consecutive years and ran out of money, so she took an editing job to continue preparing for the exam.

My dream of attending Tsinghua or Peking University was shattered, so I can only try to fulfill it on their BBS forums.

She's already posting photos, but they're not particularly abstract yet, so they haven't attracted much attention.

After getting off work and returning to her rented room, Sister Furong logs onto Peking University BBS as usual.

Several popular posts caught her attention, and she quickly clicked on them to read them carefully, expressing her admiration for the authors.

Sister Furong had an idea. She found her favorite photo, posted it, and added some rather outrageous comments:
"My alluring and sexy appearance, combined with my pure and innocent temperament, makes me the center of attention wherever I go."

"I am the most beautiful, no one can surpass me."

"A talented man deserves a beautiful woman. I feel that the authors of these two poems are my perfect match. But the age gap is causing me distress..."

Add a picture and click send.

Sister Furong kept refreshing the webpage, hoping to gain more attention.

Someone did reply...

"Where do you think you're going, you monster? Take this from my old Sun Wukong's staff!"

"It's that narcissist again."

"Is this woman crazy?"

"Go for it, OP! We support you in going to Sichuan to confess your feelings to Chen Guiliang in person!"

Chen Guiliang: Don't come any closer, or I'll kill myself.

"OP, are you trying to make us laugh to death, or are you trying to disgust us to death?"

"..."

Sister Furong replied: "If the black bird can carry a dry branch across the sea, why can't I pursue my dreams? I like Chen Guiliang's words, 'Hoping to illuminate the Milky Way with a faint light.' Everyone has the right to shine in this world."

"The black bird in this poem has experienced countless hardships and tribulations. I dropped out of school to repeat a year of high school, and was in a car accident before the college entrance examination. I quit my job to take the postgraduate entrance examination, and failed twice in a row. What are these difficulties? They cannot stop me from pursuing my dreams."

"I will continue to work hard, and I am confident that I will be admitted to Peking University's graduate program next year. I would like to quote a few lines of poetry by Chen Guiliang to express my aspirations: 'The fierce winds of the heavens tear at my wings, yet I cling to the withered branch, refusing to break.' 'Stars hang upside down in a cup of water, the universe turns upside down before my eyes.' 'Today's people are also like those who carry branches, the raging waves and turbulent tides are like calm plains.'"

Sister Furong is very clever; she has been deliberately playing with abstract concepts.

He started to abstract art while working in the factory, and even gained some local fame, occasionally getting a few commercial performance opportunities.

Otherwise, where would a girl from a rural area get the money to quit her job and take the postgraduate entrance exam?

She knew that normal conversation wouldn't attract attention, so her posts became increasingly outrageous. But after reading "A Journey to Yingzhou" today, she felt compelled to speak her mind.

She truly resonated with this poem.

I almost cried when I read it a second time!
Articles can move people and give them strength.

Sister Furong didn't read the replies anymore. Instead, she took out her notebook and copied down the poem along with its preface.

After copying "A Journey to the Seas," she refreshed the webpage again, and the post had received new replies.

"You can do it, come on."

"Stop trying to get into Peking University for graduate school, just find a good job."

"Take my advice, it's not easy to get into Peking University's graduate program."

"We'll be waiting for you by Weiming Lake."

"..."

Sister Furong felt very warm after reading those replies.

Reading Chen Guiliang's poems again gave her even more motivation, and she decided to increase the abstractness of her future posts!
Compared to the timeliness of the internet, traditional media is much slower.

Chen Guiliang was on the train, almost arriving in Chengdu, when the first batch of reports finally came out.

(End of this chapter)