Chapter 136: The Publication of "Poems for Prodigies"!

That day, the headquarters of Yunhai Media was just like any other, no different at all.

Wang Mo sat in the composition department, spending nearly the entire day greeting the spirits of the past.

There was no other choice—he had stayed up too late the previous night.

Seeing this, Liu Zhengwen kindly asked if he wanted to rest in his office, but Wang Mo declined. So, Liu Zhengwen somehow produced a blanket and draped it over him. "Get some good rest. Don’t catch a cold."

Wang Mo was touched. "Thank you, President Liu."

Liu Zhengwen grinned, "After all, if you get sick, it’ll affect your ability to help me make money."

Wang Mo was speechless.

He then asked, "President Liu, have you been spending a lot of time with Brother Xiong lately?"

"Yeah, why?"

Recently, due to Wang Mo’s involvement in projects and filming for "Where Are We Going, Dad?", Liu Zhengwen had been meeting with Yuan Xiong almost daily, discussing various work matters.

Their relationship had improved dramatically.

Wang Mo warned, "Stay away from him!!!"

Damn! Instead of learning from the good examples, everyone seemed to have picked up Yuan Xiong’s sly ways—including himself.

Though Yunhai Media was quiet on the surface, the internet was abuzz.

Last night’s “Shanyin Cup” continued to ferment online.

Opening Douyin, nearly half the videos featured Xilou’s dazzling performances from his live stream the previous night.

One person, two pieces of poetry!

One person, a duel against the two champions!

One person, so overwhelmingly dominant that more than a dozen poetry masters from the Shanshui Society couldn’t lift their heads.

And Xilou was merely an internet celebrity!

Such a display stirred the netizens’ emotions profoundly.

"That’s fucking amazing."

"Two poems, absolutely stunning!"

"The imagery in the first one is unparalleled."

"The boldness of the second made my blood boil—I literally jumped out of bed at midnight and plowed ten acres!"

"Douyin has talent like this? Unbelievable."

...

On Weibo, several trending topics appeared, although they ranked outside the top ten, unable to surpass the gossip of top-tier celebrities, yet still remarkably impressive.

[Douyin’s ‘Shanyin Cup’ Unveils a Talented Streamer]

[Two ‘Meeting Joy’ Poems Crush Poetry Masters]

[The Two Champions Silenced]

[Xilou’s Identity Revealed]

These trends brought even more attention to the "Shanyin Cup."

The strongest response came from Zhihu.

Unlike Weibo or Bilibili, where most users weren’t particularly interested in poetry, Zhihu’s audience tended to be cultured young people.

When Xilou’s two poems were shared on Zhihu, nearly every user was stunned.

"These two poems were really written by a Douyin streamer?"

"Wow? Even the two champions are no match?"

"‘Lonely parasol tree, deep courtyard locks clear autumn’ — and ‘There’s an extraordinary flavor in the heart’ — these are truly masterful lines."

"Not just masterful! The diction, the imagery, it’s incredible."

"Douyin streamers have this kind of talent? Seriously unbelievable."

"I don’t believe it!"

"Those two poems slap you in the face, and you still don’t believe it?!"

"Exactly, this stuff can’t be faked or plagiarized."

"I heard the ‘Shanyin Cup’ still has two more rounds to go. Looks like I have to watch."

"I’ve never downloaded Douyin before, but now I must for tonight’s live stream."

"Same here. Douyin’s already installed just to watch tonight."

"Let’s go together!"

…

Of course, many who didn’t understand poetry scoffed at the online frenzy, dismissing it as Douyin hype.

What a joke.

A mere internet celebrity, capable of such feats? They’d eat their words.

However... soon, astonishing news emerged.

Several top universities in China—Tsinghua, Peking University, Renmin University, University of Science and Technology, Beijing Foreign Studies University—had all issued announcements urging students to watch the Douyin “Shanyin Cup” live stream at 8 p.m. that evening.

Literature students were especially instructed by their counselors to gather in lecture halls for a unified viewing.

"I can confirm this is true—I’m a student at Tsinghua."

"I can verify too—I’m a counselor."

"I’m the lecture hall they’re talking about."

...

This revelation shocked many and forced a reevaluation of the “Shanyin Cup’s” significance.

With various parties promoting it,

At 8 p.m. sharp, the second poetry exchange of the “Shanyin Cup” commenced.

On Douyin’s official live stream, the viewer count surged at an astonishing pace, surpassing 100,000 within minutes.

Even more staggering was Xilou’s own live stream.

Within five minutes of going live, viewers exceeded 200,000, even outshining the official Douyin stream.

The barrage of comments was filled with viewers from all over checking in.

"Coming from Weibo to pay homage to the poetry master."

"Here from Zhihu—the streamer is amazing."

"From Xiaohongshu, the poems just keep growing on me."

"Bilibili folks checking in, waiting for tonight’s performance."

…

Seeing this, Wang Mo was quietly impressed but mostly pleased.

The more people tuned in, the more reputation he gained.

Soon,

At 8 p.m., the event began.

The official host smiled, "Tonight’s stream seems livelier than yesterday. Clearly, many are here for the face-off between Xilou and the Two Champions. Let’s get straight to the competition."

Refreshing!

Netizens began flooding the chat.

The host continued, "Last night’s opening poetry exchange concluded, and voting closed at noon today. The results: Xilou topped with 8.56 million votes, Teacher Feng Qi was second with 1.04 million, and Teacher Zhu Han third with 1.03 million. You can check the rest on the relevant pages."

The chat erupted.

Xilou’s votes were over eight million, more than eight times that of second place—a miracle.

As everyone marveled,

The host added, "Last night was just an appetizer. Tonight’s exchange will reach its true climax. As you know, the rule is free expression; everyone may present their best unpublished works for a showdown."

This rule was far more relaxed.

Everyone could now showcase their greatest strengths.

Unlike the first day’s opening poetry, which constrained many.

The host turned to the Two Champions, "Teachers, who will start the announcements today?"

Zhu Han glanced at Feng Qi.

Feng Qi stood, "Yesterday, the Shanshui Society went first. Tonight, let’s begin with the streamers. But... I hope to keep Xilou for last."

"Alright."

The host smiled, "Then we start with the streamers. First up..."

The screen shifted, settling on a profile picture: Qing Quan.

The host immediately said, "Please, streamer ‘Qing Quan,’ present your poem and recite it live."

No poems were submitted in advance.

Each participant was to read their own work live, preserving mystery and increasing engagement.

Thus, the excitement level was much higher than yesterday.

Qing Quan presented a seven-character quatrain.

Handsome and with a magnetic voice, his recitation caused some female viewers to go wild in the chat.

Soon, he finished.

Wang Mo softly murmured, "Hmm? Not bad."

To him, though the poem was still heavy on ornamentation, its parallelism and imagery were intact—an acceptable piece, considerably better than Qing Quan’s poem from the previous day.

Next was Bai Yun Youyou, a young woman, presenting a modern poem.

After her recitation, Wang Mo again murmured in approval.

Her poem was quite good.

From there,

Each streamer’s poem was above passing mark, noticeably better than the previous day.

Apparently, the freedom to perform boosted their abilities significantly.

Whether anyone had used others’ works, Wang Mo didn’t know.

Netizens grew excited.

"Huh? The streamers are doing better today."

"Not total amateurs like yesterday, more like semi-pros."

"Some poems are genuinely high quality."

"Impressive, impressive."

...

Soon, all streamers finished their recitations, and it was Shanshui Society’s turn.

This time, Wang Mo truly witnessed their real strength.

With the streamers’ improved level, the Shanshui members were, needless to say, even more formidable.

Tenderness,

Melancholy,

Boldness,

Sorrow.

Modern poetry, ancient poetry, classical lyrics—each piece could be considered top-tier.

Several works, even to those unfamiliar with poetry, rivaled Wang Mo’s own "Meeting Joy: Alone in Jinling’s Western Tower" from yesterday.

After hearing these, even Feng Qi and Zhu Han smiled.

In the live chat, comments flooded.

"Damn, amazing!"

"Yesterday I thought Xilou crushed the Shanshui Society and even the Two Champions were defeated—I looked down on them. But today, I see how strong they all are."

"Every piece deserves to be in this year’s poetry anthology."

"I’m from Tsinghua; I thought the teachers were making a fuss, making us watch an online poetry battle. Now I get what real skill means—respect!"

...

Seeing the comments, the Shanshui Society guests, who had been downcast after yesterday’s defeat and vowed to reclaim their honor, finally smiled again.

And the strongest, the Two Champions, had yet to perform.

When the Two Champions took the stage, they might not be weaker than Xilou.

Tonight, the Shanshui Society was determined to turn the tide.

Finally,

After another member finished,

Only Wang Mo, Feng Qi, and Zhu Han remained without presenting.

The host looked at them and asked, "Teachers, Xilou, who will go first?"

Wang Mo smiled, "You two are seniors; I won’t go before you. Shall I start? What do you think?"

Feng Qi and Zhu Han nodded, curious to see what Wang Mo would bring.

After returning home last night, the Two Champions, both accustomed to composing couplets, had unusually joined forces to prepare their strongest works to defeat Xilou in round two.

They even prepared multiple pieces each, so they could choose the most fitting response to Xilou’s offerings.

While victory wasn’t guaranteed, they aimed to remain undefeated.

The host’s voice rang out, "Xilou, are you ready?"

Wang Mo nodded, "Ready."

"Good, then let’s begin."

At that moment,

All eyes fixed on Wang Mo, awaiting his poem.

He took a deep breath, a rare seriousness shining in his eyes.

"Today, I bring you a poem titled ‘Encouragement to Study.’"

He didn’t use the original title, "Prodigy’s Poem," but changed it to "Encouragement to Study."

He wasn’t going to recite the entire "Prodigy’s Poem," which was lengthy and divided into three parts: encouragement to study, imperial exam success, and post-exam joy.

Today, he would present only the first part.

Hence, renaming it was appropriate.

The live viewers were momentarily stunned.

Hmm?

A poem?

Xilou’s second-day work was a poem?

Almost everyone had expected him to continue writing lyrics.

After all, his three previous works were all lyrics, so it was natural to think his talent lay there.

No one anticipated that in such a heated moment, Xilou would abandon his strength and switch to poetry.

"Is this... okay?"

"Could his poetry skill surpass his lyricism?"

"Impossible! Last night’s lyrics were already peak—he can’t write better poems."

"Then why change strengths?"

"Can’t figure it out!"

...

Wang Mo ignored the comments, his gaze sharpening.

Silently, he muttered, "System, adopt scholar’s demeanor."

In the next second,

His entire presence shifted—graceful, composed, eyes solemn.

His clear, resonant voice rang out:

"Encouragement to Study."

"The emperor values heroes; literature guides you all.

All else is of lesser worth;

Only study stands supreme."

His voice thundered through the live stream, piercing every listener’s ear.

This ancient text, passed down for over a thousand years as a foundational educational scripture, renowned alongside the "Three Character Classic," was now revealed on Blue Star for the first time!

(End of chapter)