"Student Li Xiaobai pays his respects to the two teachers." Li Xiaobai walked onto the stage with great courtesy.
Great Scholar Shen smiled at him and nodded.
Meanwhile, Mr. Jiang of the private school asked, "Xiaobai, do you have any poetry?"
A faint worry showed between Mr. Jiang's brows. This Li Xiaobai possessed mediocre talent and wisdom. Hopefully, he had accumulated something in his daily life; otherwise, judging by his usual standards, he would inevitably disappoint everyone.
It would have been fine if he only disappointed Mr. Jiang normally. But now, this was before Great Scholar Shen... especially since the earlier stages of this contest had already been utterly splendid and would surely become renowned throughout the world. If the later stages lost their luster, even if the world knew of Mr. Jiang's scholarship, they would secretly laugh that he was not a good teacher.
"Teacher, this student indeed has a poem," Li Xiaobai immediately answered, looking confident.
"Then recite it for us." Mr. Jiang relaxed slightly.
In this Hua Grotto-Heaven, poetry flourished to an extraordinary degree.
That was because as long as one composed a good poem or lyric, even if no one praised it, heaven and earth would reward it!
Thus, knowledge of poetry and lyrics was exceedingly important. It concerned people's food, clothing, daily needs, even their status, reputation, and future.
Generally speaking, most people accumulated material in their daily lives. They had some fine phrases and lines that might not yet form poems, but they kept them pressed at the bottom of their chests, waiting to complete them in the future.
There were also many who had composed fine poems and lyrics but did not reveal them. They did so to conceal their strength and deal with the endlessly frequent contests.
In such an environment, it