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This turned out to be a rather literary demon, perhaps a distant relative of Sun Wukong, as both were born from stone.

Ning Ning nodded and looked at Yun Duanyue beside her. "You were here first; I won't cut in line."

Yun Duanyue kept her head down, not looking at her. Merely being spoken to caused a faint, unnatural flush to rise to the tips of her ears, and she pursed her lips.

"This girl cannot provide a matching line."

As they spoke, a yellowed, old book appeared in the woman's hand. Amidst the rustling sound of turning pages, the unhurried voice of Shi Zhongling rang out: "Let's start with something simple: Chimei Wangliang (Demons and Monsters)."

Ning Ning blurted out, "Meat pies and wontons."

She clearly felt the smile at the corners of Shi Zhongling's mouth stiffen.

But the other party was, after all, a stone raised under the influence of literature and could keep her composure. After a pause, she said again, "Small path, west wind, lean horse."

Ning Ning, perhaps recalling some image, touched her stomach and let out a low laugh: "Big platter, eastern land, fat beef."

Shi Zhongling: ...

Shi Zhongling laughed in spite of her anger. "You girl, how can every sentence be about food?"

Ning Ning was perfectly serious. "Didn't we agree not to dwell on tone patterns or artistic conception? As long as the characters match, isn't that enough?"

She was quite righteous about it, too.

Shi Zhongling hadn't recited poetry or matched couplets with anyone for a long time. Having finally encountered someone, she ended up with a real troublemaker.

Since that was the case, she would increase the difficulty. She didn't believe that with more advanced couplets, this girl could continue to throw out a pile of food and drink while still maintaining perfect parallelism.

"My third couplet: Cold pond, crossing crane's feet."

The other party was indeed stunned for a long moment.

She figured this girl only had a bit of cleverness; once she encountered a harder sentence, she would inevitably reveal her true colors—

This thought had barely crossed her mind, not even fully formed, when the girl's crisp voice rang in her ears: "Hot pot, stewing pig's trotters."

Shi Zhongling's face twitched.

Hot matches cold, stewing matches crossing, pig's trotters match crane's feet. Not only did the radicals and character structures correspond, but the meanings and parts of speech were also surprisingly well-matched. Although it sounded fine at first glance...

But she couldn't help but feel that her own opening line had been tainted.

How can I think of anything but the smell of stewed pig's trotters now, you bastard! Were you a cooking pot in your past life? Your brain is filled with nothing but eating, eating, eating!

"You, you girl!"

Shi Zhongling gritted her teeth. "The tone patterns and artistic conception are all wrong! It's as if you're playing a Wuqing Dui!"

The so-called Wuqing Dui, or "heartless couplet," is a highly unique format in couplet writing. It does not require the content of the upper and lower lines to be related, nor does it require the grammatical structures to be symmetrical; it only demands that the individual characters correspond in category. Consequently, it inevitably looks awkward and comical, creating a bizarre and unpredictable sense of dissonance.

For instance, Zeng Guofan once wrote, "The peaches and plums of the public gate vie for glory in the day; France, the Netherlands, and Belgium." During the Republican era, there was also, "Three-star brandy; fifth-month plum rain."

Ultimately, this is merely a minor technique in couplet writing, a word game that nitpicks at characters.

"What's wrong with a Wuqing Dui? Wuqing Dui are so much fun."

Ning Ning admitted it quite frankly: "'Extreme poverty' matches 'nothingness,' 'excuse' matches 'talk back,' 'sailor' matches 'ham,' 'wood ear' matches 'flower heart'—didn't you say as long as the characters match, it's fine?"

Shi Zhongling was left speechless by her words. After taking a deep breath to soothe the helpless frustration in her chest, she continued: "Try again! 'Rhododendron, Rhododendron' (Ying Shan Hong)."

Rhododendron is the name of a plant, and the character "Ying" (reflect/face) can also be used independently as a verb.

After she finished speaking, she raised her eyes and glared at Ning Ning: "You aren't allowed to say 'stewed pig trotters, stewed pig trotters' or 'roasted duck webs, roasted duck webs'! The artistic conception of this couplet must match."

"...Oh."

With her lines stolen, Ning Ning felt a bit dejected for a moment. Seeing her standing there looking downcast, Shi Zhongling couldn't help but hook the corner of her mouth into a smug, light smile.

She couldn't play her little tricks this time; she must be at her wit's end.

"This couplet is very interesting, but my learning is shallow."

Ning Ning's voice drifted over gently, just as she had expected, and the woman's smile deepened.

Actually, this little girl was quite interesting. Although the Wuqing Dui was a minor technique, it wasn't easy to play it in a way where every character related to food. If she were a bit sweeter with her words later, it wouldn't be impossible for her to obtain the Heaven Heart Grass.

She thought this and nodded in agreement, but unexpectedly, at the same moment, that same voice sounded in her ear again: "—I only came up with two, though both have some flaws."

Shi Zhongling looked up abruptly.

"First is 'Spring-welcoming flower, spring-welcoming flower.' Using a flower for the couplet, in terms of imagery, it fits the scene of mountain flowers in full bloom from the upper line. The Rhododendron blooms in autumn; one in spring and one in autumn, they also correspond to each other from afar. It's just a pity that the parts of speech for 'spring flower' and 'mountain red' don't match very well, making it a weak point."

Ning Ning said unhurriedly: "Second is 'Yu Meiren (Poppy), Yu Meiren.' The character 'Yu' can mean to entertain; using a flower to entertain a beauty, while it has a lively and spirited feel, it is still inferior to the previous couplet."

Shi Zhongling parted her lips slightly and said slowly: "Not bad."

"Since you enjoy couplets so much, Senior, it just so happens that a gentleman from my hometown wrote a couplet that is known as a 'difficult-to-match' absolute couplet. I wonder if you would like to give it a try?"

Seeing the woman's eyes brighten, Ning Ning smiled: "The upper line is, 'The little thief steals, steals, steals things.'"

This couplet looks like simple, plain language, but it is actually a very interesting word game. The four "steals" contain three different meanings, not to mention the need to consider the reduplicated words and the coherence of the sentence.

In the world where Ning Ning originally lived, descendants over hundreds of years had tried thousands of matches, but only managed to come up with, "History books record, record, record ancient and modern times."

As soon as the upper line was out, Shi Zhongling's expression tightened, and she frowned, bowing her head in deep thought.

However, no matter how she turned it over in her mind, she couldn't come up with an answer. After pondering for a moment, she let out a loud laugh: "Wonderful... simply wonderful! I thought that having thoroughly read Nianhua Dui, I would no longer be troubled by matching, but it turns out I am still far off. Very well, you have bested me today; take the Heaven Heart Grass."

Ning Ning blushed from the praise and waved her hands repeatedly: "I didn't write this couplet, and what's more, I couldn't match it myself. I only borrowed something from those before me; it can't be called a win."

Shi Zhongling's expression remained unchanged. She flicked her fingertips lazily, and the Heaven Heart Grass in the corner floated up out of thin air, drifting straight into the hands of the young girl not far away.