Top Scholar

Chapter 197 The Second Grandson

"Hahaha!" Young Master Li burst into laughter, "I didn't expect you to be such a stubborn guy!"

"You could also think I'm bluffing," Su Lu smiled slightly, not angry at all. Instead, he turned to Bai Sanshao, Deng Dengdeng, and the others, saying:

“I’ve thought about it, and what you said earlier makes sense. It’s a holiday, and it’s just a game. Whether it’s who calls whom ‘Grandpa’ or who loses a hundred taels of silver, it’s all a bit much.”

“That’s right.” Deng Dengdeng nodded and said, “However, we were the ones who provoked you first and disturbed your enjoyment. It’s normal for Brother Hongzhi to be angry.”

Deng Dashao then said to Li Zongbao, "Let's stop here."

"Brother Deng, wait a minute. What I mean is, if you don't want to play anymore, you can quit, and we can be friends." Su Lu stopped Deng Dengdeng, glancing at Li Zongbao as he said:
"Those who want to play can stay, I'll keep you company to the end! Of course, you should call me grandpa, otherwise you'll have to pay up!"

"Don't worry, I'll play along with you to the end!" Could Li Zongbao resist such provocation?

"I'm not playing anymore. We're classmates." Bai Yunshan felt he had already saved face after what happened earlier. He was the first to quit, saying, "I'll still need to ask Brother Hongzhi for guidance in my studies in the future."

"No problem," Su Lu nodded with a smile.

“I’ve also withdrawn,” Deng Dengdeng said with a smile. “My brother’s studies have been greatly aided by Brother Hongzhi, and I can’t afford to offend him.”

“Then I won’t play either.” Wang Jingze laughed. “My dad told me to get closer to Hongzhi…”

“My brother’s studies have also benefited from Brother Hongzhi,” said Lei Shengjian, the second young master of the Lei family, as he got up to leave. “I’m too busy thanking him to even think about it.”

"Since you're all withdrawing, I won't be the bad guy either." Seeing this, the young master of the Han family also stood up and stepped out of the circle, smiling at Su Lu, "I'm just here to make up the numbers..."

Su Lu smiled and nodded. Now only Li Zongbao and his brother Li Zongsheng remained in the arena...

"Brother, how about we call it quits? The atmosphere's a bit off." Li Zongsheng whispered to Li Zongbao, "Even if we win this round, there's still a third round. Do you think the two of us can beat him?"

"I already said I'd fight to the bitter end!" Li Zongbao said through gritted teeth, and grabbed Li Zongsheng to stop him from leaving.

"What? If we're going to die, we'll die together?" Li Zongsheng said dejectedly.

"Don't worry, he's just bluffing," Li Zongbao said in a deep voice. He harbored the deepest resentment towards Su Lu because he not only considered Huang E his dream girl, but also believed himself worthy of her…

As a result, Huang E's riddles during the Lantern Festival not only humiliated him but also shattered his dreams... Young Master Li blamed all of this on Su Lu.

If Su Lu hadn't been riding high, had the Zhu family as his backer, been the prefect's favorite, and even become a disciple of the old Hanlin scholar, he would have sent someone to deal with this kid long ago...

Su Lu is untouchable now, but we have to get revenge first no matter what!

"No regrets?" Su Lu was still giving him a chance, or rather, deliberately provoking him.

"Stop bluffing. If you can come up with the answer, I'll call you grandpa!" Li Zongbao said, enunciating each word clearly. "Hurry up and answer!"

"It's been around for a while. Listen carefully—" Su Lu laughed loudly, raising his voice:
"A boat glides leisurely through the twilight, the distant shore bathed in the glow of sunset, magpies filling the islet!"

"Hiss..." The two brothers were stunned. They didn't expect him to actually come up with the answer.

"Excellent, excellent, excellent!" Bai Sanshao, who had now become a spectator, was the first to applaud: "'Snatching the Evening Boat' is a perfect match, snatching is paired with magpie, evening is paired with full, and boat is paired with island! Not only is it a perfect match, but its artistic conception is also much stronger than my couplet."

"It seems that it really can't stump Young Master Su!" Everyone praised him highly, admiring him wholeheartedly.

"Hahaha! I knew it!" Zhu Ziming jumped for joy, and even Xiao Tiantian excitedly whispered:
"That's my brother..."

"Amazing!" Even She Yunluo, who looked down on Su Lu the most, was now convinced. She patted Su Tai's "lion's head" and said, "I knew it! You're born of the same mother. You're so perfect, it's impossible for him to be without any redeeming qualities!"

"..." Su Tai glanced at her but didn't say anything.

Huang E also breathed a sigh of relief. Despite her calm and collected demeanor, she was secretly worried for Su Lu.

Even she couldn't come up with a matching couplet.

In fact, Su Lu had put in a lot of effort. Twenty breaths were simply not enough time, which is why he talked for so long—both feigning composure and teasing the Li brothers—all to buy his brain more time to think.

Fortunately, my brain, which gets sharper with use, held up well enough to finally figure it out...

But on the surface, he always appeared calm and confident, giving people the illusion that he was unfathomable...

The young ladies were almost completely captivated by his effortless demeanor, their shouts turning into strained whispers:
"Su~ Lang~~~ Su~ Lang~~~"

Su Lu couldn't help but shudder, and asked the ashen-faced Li brothers, "Are you two still correct?"

“Right? Right my foot…” Li Zongbao’s head was a mess from scratching it, but while three rhyming characters were relatively easy, three rhyming characters were just too difficult! Not only did all three characters have to rhyme, but they also had to fit the mood; you couldn’t just force them together…

Furthermore, according to regulations, once a rhyme has been used, it cannot be used again. Other things are manageable, but the rhyme group containing the first character, the entering tone of the tenth rhyme group, has almost no usable characters left after several rounds of selection…

He finally couldn't hold back any longer, buried his head in his hands, looked up at the sky, and cried out in anguish:

"I don't know how to do this problem!"

“Brother, you are my own brother.” Li Zongsheng gave up resisting and said to Su Lu with a big smile, “For the sake of being classmates, I will call you godfather. Please don’t lower your son’s generation.”

"Haha, I was just kidding. Would I really make you call me grandpa?" Su Lu waved his hand magnanimously.

He then cupped his hands in a gesture of respect to the crowd and said with a smile, "Thank you all for coming. Let's call it a day."

"Let's disperse, let's disperse," Zhu Zigeng said, shooing people away. "You've trampled all our mats." Most of the onlookers obeyed and dispersed, still watching with great interest this rare and exciting battle from afar. They all felt it was even more exciting than the battle where seven tigers were shot down in succession during the Lantern Festival.

It's not that the previous match wasn't difficult, but rather that it was all a one-man show by Su Lu. How could it compare to this one, where Young Master Su fought against overwhelming odds with a powerful enemy, giving him a thrilling and back-and-forth battle?
As expected, although Bai Zhan did not use fists, feet, or weapons, it was still exciting, thrilling, and breathtaking!

Lei Shengjian approached Su Lu and first thanked him for saving him from embarrassment. He then sincerely invited Su Lu, saying, "I'll have Shengyuan arrange a time for you to come to my house. My father has been talking about you, my dear brother, for quite some time now."

"Alright." Su Lu smiled and cupped his hands in greeting, saying, "I'd be honored to accept your offer."

"Hey, why are you cutting in line?" Young Master Wang also came over and said to Su Lu with a smile, "Brother, you have to go to my house first. My old man invited you first."

She put her arm around his shoulder and whispered in his ear with a wink, "My sister really admires you."

Su Lu could only manage an awkward laugh, because Huang E was right next to him...

But Lei Shengjian was not about to back down, and shouted, "Don't I have any sisters? I have three!"

"You can only marry one wife, what's the use of having ten?" Deng Dengdeng chimed in, "My sister is truly wonderful..."

"Alright everyone, your words don't count, so stop fooling around here." Zhu Zigeng came to Su Lu's rescue, saying, "Hurry up and go back to where you came from, we're starving."

The young masters then dispersed, looking rather dejected.

~~
As dusk fell, the young men and women, who had spent the day playing, finally began their journey home.

The farmers passing through the paddy fields had also finished their day's work, packed up their tools, and returned to their villages where smoke curled from their chimneys.

Everyone was a little tired, but still very excited, reminiscing about the exciting white battle.

"I knew you were strong, Hongzhi, but I didn't expect you to be this strong! Seven of the strongest representatives from each family couldn't beat you!" Zhu Zigong said with great admiration, "How is your brain structured?"

"These kinds of games all have tricks to them. As long as you master the methods and your mind works quickly, you'll be fine," Su Lu said frankly.

"What's the secret? Tell us quickly!" Everyone became interested upon hearing this.

Su Lu then explained his "word-by-word matching method" to everyone, saying, "...I think poetry is all about 'matching'; if you match them correctly, it comes out."

"..." After hearing this, everyone could only smile wryly: "We thought you had some kind of secret, but it turns out you're just a quick-witted person."

"There's no other way. I'm not good at poetry, I haven't done any special research on it, and my poetic talent isn't enough, so I can only make do with this clumsy method," Su Lu said helplessly.

"Do you ask people if they speak?" His explanation only made everyone angrier.

"Not good at poetry..." Zhu Zijing laughed and scolded, "I saw you playing around with Huang's daughter when you were picking her up, you don't seem like someone who's not good at this."

"Haha, indeed!" They moved on to the topic everyone was most interested in, forgetting all about poetry and literature, and winked at Su Lu, saying, "So, shouldn't you thank us?"

"Yes." Su Lu had to admit that this time his courage wasn't given by Liang Jingru, but rather inspired by the Zhu brothers...

"Am I right? They hit it off immediately!" Zhu Zijing put his arm around Su Lu's shoulder and earnestly advised him:

"Next, you just need to keep rubbing it until it's lit. Make sure it doesn't cool down halfway through, or all your efforts will be wasted..."

"Understood." Su Lu had no more pretense and nodded, saying, "I will do my best."

But then, unable to shake off his insecurity, he added, "However, Miss Huang didn't talk to me much this afternoon..."

"Hahaha, she's just shy!" the strategists laughed loudly. "You two have made great progress today. What if she doesn't back down and you look down on her?"

"Really?" Su Lu's anxious and uncertain demeanor was quite different from his usual image of being insightful and composed.

"Of course it's true!" Zhu Zigeng patted his shoulder and said, "Don't worry, I kept an eye on you—during your competition, Huang's sister's eyes were almost never off you."

He paused for a moment, then continued, "Only a few times, and it was other women who called your name. She turned around to see who it was..."

"I see..." Although Su Lu was still somewhat skeptical, she felt a little more at ease.

~~
The scene in the carriage ahead was quite different.

Miss Zhu was tired and lay down on the small table to doze off.

She Yunluo couldn't handle those literary topics either, and was only interested in exchanging cryptic remarks with Su Tai through the window.

Huang E couldn't find anyone to talk to, so she grabbed Xiao Tiantian and asked, "Did you understand all those poems today?"

"I don't understand." Xiaotian shook her head, a little self-consciously whispering, "I only know a few words..."

"That's great... Oh no, how can that be?" Huang E coughed lightly and said seriously, "We girls also need to study and understand reason. We can't let people say that we have long hair but short minds."

“Mmm!” Xiaotiantian agreed wholeheartedly. “I couldn’t understand any of the poems my brother wrote today, and it really worried me.”

"It doesn't matter if you don't understand, I'll teach you." Huang E then said happily, "From now on, I'll send someone to pick you up and take you to my house every other day. Would you like that?"

"Of course I'm willing!" Little Tiantian was overjoyed and excitedly patted her little chest, promising, "I will definitely study hard and live up to my sister's good intentions!"

"Okay." Huang E happily straightened her collar and said softly, "Good sister, I believe in you."

P.S. These poems took so much time. I thought they were just for fun and wouldn't be difficult, but I ended up getting myself into trouble and spent most of the day working on them over and over again... I'm exhausted! I'm asking for some monthly votes to console myself!
(End of this chapter)