Chapter 2: The Wind Rises from Zhongshan Mountain Chapter 11: The Snow Wave Monk
Inside the Wei Ji Xian restaurant.
Amid exclamations, everyone rubbed their eyes, looking as if they had seen a ghost.
But the girl standing on the piano platform, bowing slightly towards them, had a slender figure like a willow in the wind, and beautiful eyebrows and eyes like spring willows and early orioles. Although she was not a stunning beauty, her expression was cheerful, elegant and unworldly, which made people feel happy when they saw her.
If it’s not Ma Xianglan, a rare and elegant prostitute living by the Qinhuai River, then who else could it be?
These scholars, wealthy young men and wealthy people are mean at heart. The more flowers they cannot see or touch, the more precious they are. Seeing Ma Xianglan, who always turned them down, actually appear in this small restaurant, they suddenly felt unreal.
"Pinch me, are you dreaming? Hey, don't really pinch me!"
"I know, it must be Master Xuelang who invited Miss Ma here." Someone clapped his hands and said, "As expected of Master Xuelang, he was able to invite Miss Ma here."
"I am not the guest invited by the master," Ma Xianglan said softly with her red lips, her voice like a nightingale, "I am the zither player of this restaurant."
"Ah?" Everyone was so shocked that they couldn't close their mouths. They didn't expect that she was actually invited by the owner of this small restaurant.
Someone immediately shouted, "Miss Ma, no matter how much they offer, I will pay double and invite you to sing at my house!"
"I'll pay three times as much!"
"Five times!" These wealthy young men from Wuling became competitive regardless of the occasion.
"The boss didn't pay me. I came here to play the piano voluntarily." Ma Xianglan smiled and said, "Please don't argue. If you want to listen to Xianglan playing the piano, just come to Weijixian often."
As she spoke, she sat down slowly and plucked the strings of her zither gently. As the music started, all the scholars quieted down and each found a place to sit down and listen to the music.
"This Miss Ma is really dedicated..." Zhao Shouzheng couldn't help but whisper to the shopkeeper: "As long as she is here for one day, Weijixian will have no worries about business."
"Hey, who knows how long he can stay?" Shopkeeper Fang couldn't help but smile bitterly. He didn't believe that a prostitute who was famous in Qinhuai could stay in this small Caijia Lane for a long time.
…
Xuelang was forcibly dragged by Gao Wu into the private room called "Chun" upstairs.
Zhao Hao had been waiting there, with his arms folded and a gloomy face, looking at the hateful bald man.
"Master Zhao, why are you doing this?" Xuelang straightened the folds of his brocade robes and asked curiously, "Is there anything you can't say down there?"
"What are you doing?" Zhao Hao glared at him and said, "I asked you to help invite gourmets to dinner, not to invite people to a literary gathering!"
"How can inviting people to dinner be as classy as holding a literary meeting?" Xuelang said as if it was a matter of course: "I never attend dinner parties in Jinling City, let alone invite people to dinner. It's vulgar, so vulgar."
"You wanted to eat some vegetarian food that day..." Zhao Hao rolled his eyes and believed his nonsense.
"Donor Zhao is of course an exception." Xuelang smiled and interrupted, "Besides, how could I neglect what Donor Zhao asked? The dozens of people invited today were all carefully selected. They love to eat, are rich, have many friends, and are famous. If you can conquer them and let them help you become famous, this delicious food will be famous in Jinling overnight!"
"That's better..." Zhao Hao's expression eased a little, and he looked at the sky outside. It was still early for noon. "Then you go and greet them. I'll ask the shopkeeper to serve the meal earlier."
"Mr. Zhao, as the store owner, doesn't want to show up?" Xuelang widened his eyes.
Zhao Hao rolled his eyes at him again, thinking that this monk would not be done until he killed himself.
But today he still had to count on Xuelang to help hold the stage, so he had to be patient and said to Xuelang with a fake smile: "Monks are so ignorant, do you think they will be happy to see me?"
"Why would I be unhappy?" Xuelang asked in confusion, "Every time I see Mr. Zhao, I feel extremely happy from the bottom of my heart."
"Ahem, that's you." Zhao Hao had no choice but to patiently make up a story: "Because you are a monk, you don't fight for power and fame, but those laymen downstairs are young and aggressive. If they knew that "Dielianhua" was written by a 14 or 15-year-old kid, they would definitely be disappointed."
"It's hard to avoid feeling disappointed." Xuelang nodded in agreement and said, "Even I, after reading those five poems by Mr. Zhao, feel that I should not call myself a 'poet monk' anymore."
"That's not necessary. You can order your own food." Zhao Hao coughed dryly and finally said, "If they are disappointed, they will lose their appetite. Then the food I worked so hard to prepare will be wasted."
"That makes sense, that makes sense." Xuelang nodded and said, "I didn't think it through properly. It's right for Mr. Zhao not to show up."
"Right." Zhao Hao secretly wiped the sweat off his forehead, opened the door, pushed Xuelang out and said, "Go and help me greet the guests."
" Wait a minute , I have something to say." Xuelang walked to the door, but suddenly stopped and said:
"Donor Zhao, you may not show up, but please give me a poem to make today's poetry gathering more exciting."
"Don't you still have five songs?" Zhao Hao increased his strength.
Xuelang held the door frame with both hands and said, "Those five poems were written last night. Please, Mr. Zhao, let them bloom again today."
"I've already told you, I can't compose poetry." Seeing that he was not as strong as this pretty monk, Zhao Hao gave up closing the door in frustration.
"Donor, I am also doing this to add more color to the poetry world of the Ming Dynasty." Although Xuelang did not dare to go in again, he kept chattering at the door: "Please give me a poem. I promise that I will not ask for poems again within a month."
After a pause, he said in a rather shameless manner: "Otherwise, I will not go down."
"Don't bother me for three months." Zhao Hao knew that if he didn't come up with something today, he wouldn't be able to get rid of this bald donkey.
"Deal." Xuelang was overjoyed and wanted to enter the private room, but Zhao Hao slammed the door.
The private room was equipped with the four treasures of the study, so that the diners could leave their calligraphy works if they were interested. Zhao Hao wrote a poem at random, handed it out through the crack of the door, and said:
"Take it, and don't bother me again!"
Xuelang felt like he had found a treasure and couldn't wait to read it.
"I don't praise you to everyone. You are also wild, chivalrous, and gentle. You shine like the moon in Qin Dynasty, and send me love like clouds on the mountain..."
"What a good poem, 'It shines like the moon in the Qin Dynasty, and sends my love like the clouds on the mountain'. Mr. Zhao is indeed a genius, and he can come up with such a beautiful sentence at will."
Xuelang shook his head and pondered for a long time before he saw a line of small words below: "Presented to Master Xuelang of Da Baoen Temple". It turned out that it was written to him by donor Zhao!
The master's heart warmed and his face turned red. He murmured to Zhao Hao in the private room: "I am ashamed. I have not done enough. I will pay more attention to Mr. Zhao in the future."
"Get out!" Zhao Hao inside said madly, "If you say another word of nonsense, I will give this poem to someone else!"
"That won't do! My name in history depends on this poem!" Xuelang was hit so hard. Fearing that Zhao Hao might regret it, he quickly put away the poem and fled downstairs.
If someone wants to become famous through poetry, besides being a poet, he can also be a poet's friend. Once he is mentioned in the poet's poem, his fame will naturally be passed down through the ages along with the poet's works.
Such as Wang Lun, Li Guinian, Yuan Er and others.
But what Master Xuelang didn't know was that he could actually become famous for all eternity on his own, and he didn't need to ride on Mr. Zhao's popularity.
