Chapter 110 - Beijing Couplet Competition Begins! (1/2)

Afternoon.

Zhang Ye was discussing with Xiao Lu about the program recording in a few days time, when suddenly, some people from the advertising department came.

“Teacher Zhang,” a youth said politely.

“Oh, Teacher Liu.” Zhang Ye went over. He had seen these people before. They had worked together on the public service advertis.e.m.e.nt.

“Don’t, Hur Hur, don’t call me Teacher. Although I’m older than you by about three years, I do not dare to be addressed as Teacher in front of you. Well, the results of the advertis.e.m.e.nt are out. The reception was extremely good. I believe that you must have heard of it. We came over to thank you. Thank you for all the help,” the youth said in friendly manner.

Zhang Ye smiled. “You’re welcome. It was nothing.”

Another lady chimed in, “If we encounter a tough problem in the future, we might even consult you. Please don’t be stingy when the time comes and give us your guidance.”

Zhang Ye replied helplessly, “I’m just a layman. How can I give any guidance?”

The third youth gave a wry smile, “If you are a layman, then no one in the country is a professional. I also saw the slogan for the lawn on your Weibo. Although it cannot be used, it was really well-written. Also, the electricity conservation public service advertis.e.m.e.nt’s creativeness are things we need to learn from. I don’t think that it is too much to write them in advertising textbooks. You have opened a new path for creativeness in advertis.e.m.e.nts. It is extremely meaningful!”

Zhang Ye waved his hands, “You are putting me on a pedestal. There’s no need. Really, there’s no need.”

After the people from the advertising department gave their grat.i.tude, they left.

Xiao Lu gave him a big thumbs up, “Teacher Zhang is indeed Teacher Zhang. This is the first time that I have seen people from the advertising department seeking someone from the program teams for advice.”

“Stop making fun of me.” Zhang Ye returned to his seat.

“Hey, look at Weibo!” Hou Ge shouted out suddenly. As he was very loud, no one was prepared for it, so they were greatly shocked.

“Weibo?”

“You gave me a fright.”

“What’s on Weibo, Hou Ge?”

A few people asked.

Hou Ge pointed to the computer, “I followed Teacher Little Zhang’s Weibo yesterday. I saw that many of Teacher Zhang’s fans were @-ing the Beijing Writers’ a.s.sociation, right? They wanted to get him into the Writers’ a.s.sociation, and there were people questioning why the Writers’ a.s.sociation did not let Teacher Little Zhang join. It seems like it has been stirring quite a buzz for days. Look, the Beijing Writers’ a.s.sociation’s official Weibo account has replied. They said that they have the intention of inviting Teacher Zhang to join and were doing the final inspection and approval. And the Beijing Writers’ a.s.sociation’s official Weibo even posted an invitation. It invited many people. Probably in the tens, and the last one is Teacher Little Zhang.”

“Entering the Writers’ a.s.sociation is good. With Teacher Zhang’s ability, he should have entered long ago. What’s there to inspect? There’s no need to inspect. Anyone with eyes knows Teacher Zhang’s literary foundation!” Xiao Lu said in a displeased manner.

Indeed, although this world’s Writers’ a.s.sociation’s admission criteria was stricter than in Zhang Ye’s world, with the minimum criteria very high, with Zhang Ye’s poems, essays, novels and fairy tales, the minimum criteria was not something that could faze him. Besides, the Beijing Writers’ a.s.sociation was just a province’s Writers’ a.s.sociation, so was there a need for them to take so long before they announced their intentions of inviting him? There was something subtle with their att.i.tude.

“Invitation?” Zhang Ye was concerned about something else.

“What invitation?” Dafei also asked.

Hou Ge was unable to explain it properly, “Aiyah, just check yourselves.”

Zhang Ye and the rest opened Weibo and understood!

The annual Beijing Couplet Compet.i.tion was being held tomorrow. It was held in Peking University’s newly renovated hall. It was a grand couplet compet.i.tion, jointly organized by the Beijing Couplet Organization, the Beijing Writers’ a.s.sociation and several other organizations. Every year, the leaders of the broadcasting companies, officials from the Beijing Education Ministry, members of the Couplet Organization and Writers’ a.s.sociation, etc would be invited as guests or compet.i.tors.

What was a couplet compet.i.tion?

To be simple, they were to match verses!

There were all sorts of one-to-one correspondence in matching the number of characters on a line, etc. It was very profound and had many rules to adhere to. It was a traditional component of Chinese literature and had more than a thousand years of history.

The traditional Chinese literature of this world may be inferior to commercial entertainment programs in terms of popularity, but compared to Zhang Ye’s original world, it was much superior. Chinese literature received a lot of attention. Although Zhang Ye’s world would have couplet compet.i.tions or poetry meets frequently, where they might even be on a national level, organized in various states, their scale was very small.

It was done very simply. Sometimes it would even be held in a c.r.a.ppy cla.s.sroom with about 20 people partic.i.p.ating. Even if it was a couplet compet.i.tion at a provincial level, there were not many who paid attention to it. However, this world was different. The number of people who paid attention to it was considerable and the scale was large. It was held in Peking University’s hall, and the entire process was broadcast live online. It was considered an annual grand meet in literature in Beijing. At least, many professionals paid a lot of attention to it.

Big Thunder?

Zheng Anbang?