Chapter 114 - Miraculous Couplet Matching Miraculous Couplet! (1/2)

There was silence all around!

Hai shui cháo, zhao zhao cháo, zhao cháo zhao luò (the sea tide; it rises everyday; everyday it rises and everyday it falls)?

Fú yún zhang, cháng cháng zhang, cháng zhang cháng xiao (the cloud forms; it forms constantly; constantly it forms and constantly it dissolves)?

No one expected that the simple ‘chang chang chang chang chang’ Zhang Ye had written had a similar hidden catch to it!

The old man who was the third judge cried out with a hoa.r.s.e voice, “This… Someone really managed to match it?”

They could not believe it, but reality was placed right in front of them. Phantom Talent Elder Qian’s most difficult question had been matched. And it had been matched perfectly!

The video camera man for the online stream closed up on Zhang Ye’s face. He also stopped on the couplet that Zhang Ye had written for a long period of time!

Elder Qian looked at Zhang Ye. After several seconds, he burst out into laughter, “Good! A young person’s abilities must be respected! A young person’s abilities must be respected!”

After he stopped laughing, he stroked his beard. “You really exceeded my expectations. Today you have given me too great a surprise. Good. Young lad, I will barely pa.s.s you.”

Pa.s.s?

And only barely?

Everyone was puzzled. Didn’t he match it?

Zhang Ye looked at Elder Qian, but he was not angry. He laughed, “Why only barely?”

The second judge who was the old granny was also pondering over his words, “Old man Qian, didn’t he do a good job matching? There’s nothing to fault at his correspondence. The mood is also just right. What is there for you to pick on? I think it was matched perfectly!”

The third judge frowned as he gave it some thought, before suddenly saying, “Hey, does your first half of the couplet still have a hidden catch?”

Elder Qian smiled. “Yes, the first half has other ways of reading it. The meaning and mood are all different. So he can only be considered to have matched a tiny portion of it, hence I said that he barely pa.s.sed.”

There were still hidden catches?

There were still tricks inside?

Everyone was stunned. Did Elder Qian come out with a miraculous couplet?

They had originally thought that the couplet was extremely difficult. Yet they had underestimated it?

It was a miraculous couplet!

Xiao Lu exclaimed, “Pa.s.sing is good. Teacher Zhang is awesome!”

Hou Ge and Hou Di were also full of admiration. It was quite exaggerated to even match a portion of it. After all, they had not been able to understand the first half of the couplet just now!

Big Thunder felt his mind balance.

The other contestants also felt their minds balance upon hearing it!

Oh, so he did not completely match the first half. He still had other ways of reading the first half!

Elder Qian looked at Zhang Ye and pleasingly said, “If we follow strictly by the rules, I can’t let you pa.s.s based on your answer. Because this is the the Beijing Couplet Compet.i.tion, not only do we have to adhere to the rules, but it also has to fit the mood in all aspects. But because this first verse is very complex and complicated, and is a miraculous couplet, and the fact that you are still young, to be able match to this point is already a very good result. That is why I gave you a pa.s.s. I believe the other two judges won’t have any objections.”

The old granny said, “Of course I have no qualms. Pa.s.s him.”

The third judge said, “I would have had a problem with you if you didn’t pa.s.s him. Haha.”

But just as Elder Qian was about to pa.s.s Zhang Ye, Zhang Ye suddenly stepped forward and said with a laugh, “All of you might have no problems with it, but I have a problem with it. Elder Qian, you said that my second half had barely managed to match the first half. I can’t pretend I didn’t hear that. Hur Hur.”

Everyone burst into an uproar!

You still have a problem?

What problem can you have?

Elder Qian was amused, “Why? You aren’t convinced? Then I’ll read the other ways of reading my first half. I will let a young lad like you be utterly convinced after losing.”

Losing?

I will lose?

Zhang Ye said without fear, “What a coincidence. My second half also has many ways of reading it!”

It was time for Elder Qian and the rest to be shocked. “Eh? You also have?”

Xiao Lu shouted out, “What the h.e.l.l! Teacher Zhang, you really can do it?”

Zhao Guozhou, Hu Fei and company could hardly believe it.

Big Thunder scoffed. It was impossible!

He was amused in his mind at how Zhang Ye had made such an outrageous brag!

Big Thunder already understood the tricks behind the first half of the couplet. Hai shui chao chao chao chao chao chao chao luo?

In between the few ‘chao’ words, punctuation could be placed. And changing the p.r.o.nunciation, the meaning would be completely different. Even the message expressed would be very different. There were all sorts of knowledge intertwined in it. Hur, what a joke. What knowledge was there in your chang chang chang chang chang?

It was just a coincidence that the first verse was matched for this interpretation of the verse!

Why are you still bragging?

You’re full of yourself!

The internet streaming cameraman did not dare lose his focus. He kept the camera pointed in Zhang Ye’s direction.

The commotion had attracted a lot of people. More and more of the guests who had previously gone to the auditorium had returned.

“Someone has answered the last question?”

“What’s the situation? Who is that person?”

“It’s not considered as answered. Elder Qian’s first verse has a trick.”

These contestants who had gone through to the finals apparently found out about the situation here when their friends called. Their curiosities were piqued and they proceeded back here to see who had answered the 50th question. Those who had gone through earlier had all seen that question and no one was confident in answering it, but instead they all chose to match simpler couplets. Now that someone had solved one of the two most difficult questions, everyone naturally wanted to know who it was.

Amongst them was Zheng Anbang, who was from the Beijing Writer’s a.s.sociation and had partic.i.p.ated in the Mid-Autumn Poetry Meet together with Big Thunder. It seemed like he was also an expert at couplets and had already pa.s.sed the preliminaries earlier. When he reached the square, he b.u.mped into Big Thunder and asked him for the details.

Following that, Beijing Writers’ a.s.sociation’s Vice-President Meng Dongguo also arrived.

And Zhang Ye’s current Leader from the TV station’s Arts Channel, w.a.n.g Shuixin, also walked over. Director w.a.n.g was not a partic.i.p.ant. He probably had tickets to come watch the compet.i.tion, “Old Hu!”

Hu Fei went over, “Director, you are here, too?”

“What’s going on? Little Zhang answered it?” w.a.n.g Shuixin was very curious.

Hu Fei replied, “Not yet. Teacher Little Zhang and Elder Qian.. were just about to have a couplet duel.”

“A couplet duel with Elder Qian?” w.a.n.g Shuixin laughed loudly, thinking that the young one was too overconfident!

Ignoring the chattering around.