Food gives me an entry, I will be invincible if I stay alive

Chapter 288 A great uproar ensued, the whole city was in turmoil.

Early morning of June 16th.

Chen Xu has not yet truly appeared, but he has left behind a legend in Pingyang City.

Whether it was encountering the Water Spirit of Lake Shining Star during the voyage, drawing wisps of smoke on paper to confront it from afar, or finally having the Water Spirit of Lake Shining Star send them off with a gentle breeze, allowing the nine hundred miles of waterway to be traversed in a single night—

All of these things are like myths and legends.

Any one of these elements alone would be enough to make people talk about, let alone all of them together.

Chen Xu did not appear, yet it was as if he had.

For a time, neither Mo Huaizhang, who wrote "Mengyang Dianshi", nor Zhou Huan, who became famous in Tiannan for his various benevolent and righteous deeds, could help but be overshadowed by Chen Xu's legend and appear somewhat dim.

Only Ning Siyu, who wrote "The Water Classic of the Southern Regions," still enjoys a strong following and is not easily swayed.

Countless betting shops have already opened in Pingyang City, each offering bets with varying stakes, all betting on who will win the top prize!

Today, Chen Xu and Ning Siyu are equally renowned.

The two were the most favored to win the imperial examination, with odds of one to one for each.

Mo Huaizhang's odds are 1.2, Zhou Huan's odds are 1.3, and Song Chengye's odds are also 1.3.

In addition, there are some less famous but talented individuals who also have their own odds on the betting market.

Although these talented individuals were not as famous as Chen Xu and others, they each had their own strengths and could be considered outstanding within a certain scope.

Life is unpredictable, so who can be sure that these less famous but talented scholars will definitely not be able to pass the provincial examination?
Even Cui Yunqi from Yunjiang Prefecture was well-known in the gambling world of Pingyang City.

However, Cui Yunqi's odds of winning the top scholar title were as high as 2.6, indicating that although he was famous in the betting market, he was not truly favored.

To this, Cui Yunqi could only sneer inwardly: "The whole city is full of mediocrity, oblivious to the vastness of the sky and the thickness of the earth, only adding to the ridicule!"

He then instructed Cui Fu to place bets at various gambling dens, betting solely on Chen Xu, not on anyone else.

Each gambling den wagered 10,000 taels of silver, totaling 40,000 taels across the four major gambling dens.

He spent so lavishly that he directly spent most of the private savings he had accumulated over the years.

Cui Fudu was somewhat alarmed and couldn't help but say, "Young master, with such a large bet, how can those people be willing to easily pay out the full amount when the profits are realized later?"

He wasn't worried that Cui Yunqi had bet on the wrong person; he was only worried that Cui Yunqi's bet was too big and he wouldn't be able to get his money back.

This statement immediately made Cui Yunqi raise the corners of his mouth and chuckle: "Who dares not to give it?"

These four simple words perfectly capture the grandeur of a prestigious family.

However, after a moment, Cui Yunqi sighed again: "Still not strong enough."

If he were strong enough, why would he have spread 40,000 taels of silver across the four major gambling dens?

If he were strong enough, it wouldn't just be a bet of 40,000 taels; he could invest all his private assets!

Thinking of this, a fierce determination rose within Cui Yunqi, and he instructed Cui Fu:
"Uncle Fu, I'm going into seclusion. You just need to arrange for people to welcome Brother Chen."

Unless there is news about Brother Chen, or the major gambling houses lower the odds for him again, you are not allowed to disturb me for any other reason.

His odds for Cui Yunqi are 2.6?
Brother Chen's odds are actually the same as Ning Siyu's?

The powerful families of Pingyang Prefecture look down on others in such a way; it is truly hateful!

On that day, Chen Xu drew up the blueprints for the dragon-bone waterwheel on the ship, and wisps of smoke rose into the sky from the paper. Unfortunately, the specific contents of the blueprints were never revealed, so although others vaguely understood the meaning of the blueprints, they could never be certain of their true value.

This wasn't the first time Chen Xu had attracted attention with his writings, but in the past, all of his writings had been inspired by poetry.

Poetry and practical works ultimately have different meanings. Since the world has not seen the true face of the blueprints, it is understandable that they dare not lower the odds for Chen Xu.

In Pingyang City, a great uproar ensued, and a new kind of information war, in a different sense, was once again raging fiercely.

Unbeknownst to anyone, in a secluded courtyard in Pingyang City, Ning Siyu held a slightly unbalanced drawing in his hands, his face showing an expression of extreme amazement and regret.

"Excellent, excellent, excellent dragon bone waterwheel!"

Ning Siyu held the blueprints in his hands, which depicted a dragon-bone waterwheel.

However, the proportions of this dragon-bone waterwheel are slightly odd, and the details are also quite blurry.

Naturally, this was not the original drawing by Chen Xu, but rather a drawing made from memory by some people who were on the ship that day and saw the phantom of the dragon-bone waterwheel in mid-air.

Due to Chen Xu's mysterious disappearance, the original blueprints could not be disseminated.

On that day, there were thousands of passengers on the ship, but some people had better memories and were able to draw parts of the exterior of the dragon bone waterwheel.

Ning Siyu was different from others. He devoted himself to studying the waters of southern China and paid special attention to all matters related to water conservancy. His insight was also much more profound.

Now, holding the blueprints in his hands, he looked at them again and again, but the more he looked, the more regretful he became. Eventually, he even beat his chest and stamped his feet, getting angry at himself.

"I'm so angry! I was staying in Langxi County, Yunjiang Prefecture, and I clearly heard Chen Xu's voice. I even went to look for him, but I missed him several times!"

Why was I so foolish back then, not realizing that the poem "The Moon of Today Is Not the Moon of Ancient Times" was actually written by Chen Xu?
Alas, if only I had met him then and had a long talk with him, would my "Tiannan Water Classic" still be unfinished to this day?

Yes, that night Ning Siyu heard the little hedgehog reciting poetry. He followed the sound, but only heard the voice and did not see the poet's true appearance.

Although Ning Siyu felt a little disappointed at that time, he did not dwell on the matter too much.

Life is full of regrets, and missing one or two chance encounters is really nothing.

At the time, he thought that the poem "The moon of today is not the moon of ancient times" was written by a senior Confucian scholar, but he did not expect that the author was Chen Xu.

Later, on the first day of the sixth lunar month, the divine tortoise reappeared at the Milky Way Ferry, and the "Records of the Splendor of Dali" was updated to its latest version. Only then did Ning Siyu realize that the poem about the moon was actually written by Chen Xu.

Chen Xu published new poems, but he did not promote them himself. However, the Da Li Feng Hua Lu (Records of the Splendor of Da Li) collected them everywhere, thus indirectly promoting them for him.

Ning Siyu sighed with regret and tossed and turned anxiously.

Holding the blueprints in his hands, he sighed deeply in the courtyard and said, "However, Chen Xu and I are ultimately rivals."

I am determined to become the top scholar in this provincial examination.

No matter how much I admire this person, I will give it my all and never back down.

But even if he goes all out, is Ning Siyu guaranteed to win?

Ning Siyu's heart was still filled with some gloom.

He originally possessed an indomitable spirit and was full of confidence in himself, but after several "acquaintances" with Chen Xu, this confidence was eventually affected.

Ning Siyu strode towards his study in his secluded courtyard, finally making up his mind.

He said, "Yunfeng, prepare a calming and mind-clearing pill for me. I need to go into seclusion."

(End of this chapter)