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Chapter 388 - 389: Absolute Palindrome_1

Chapter 388: Chapter 389: Absolute Palindrome_1

While the other contestants were still deep in troubled thought, Li Changlin felt a smug satisfaction.

"Little kids, you also want to compete with The Nearly Divine Tycoon? Really clueless."

It’s just that nobody knew what was going through Li Changlin’s mind at the moment, or they all would have wanted to fight him desperately.

"You cheater, how dare you look down on us? It’s so, so depressing."

"The response is correct." Soon, the judges gave their opinion. The couplet that Li Changlin matched was indeed powerful. The first line’s ’without mountain’ (’无山’) rhymed with ’Wu Mountain’ (’巫山’), and Li Changlin’s second line’s ’what water’ (’何水’) matched ’what water’ (’何水’), perfectly balanced and flawless.

"Now for the sixth question." Having answered two questions, Li Changlin had already earned two points. The host quickly continued, and the judges asked Elder Gu to pose the next question.

Elder Gu thought for a bit. Perhaps he felt that the previous questions had been too easy, so he recalled a first line posited by several experts from the National Literary Federation that no one had been able to match yet.

Honestly, even Elder Gu wasn’t confident about this first line; he didn’t know if the contestants could match it.

But he had heard the noise from the audience before, so to make everyone feel that the event was fair, he had to make the contestants slip up.

Although this was a bit unfair to the contestants, to ensure the rigor of the event, Elder Gu could not care too much about it.

Thus, after clearing his throat, Elder Gu took the microphone and began, "My first line is in palindrome form. It was posed by Mr. Ke Hongzhuang, the vice-chairman of the National Literary Federation, and so far, nobody has matched it. Therefore, if any contestant can match it, I will personally add an extra point to that contestant’s score."

Elder Gu honestly didn’t have high hopes for any of the six contestants, Li Changlin included.

However, to boost everyone’s morale, that’s why Elder Gu mentioned the rule of extra points.

"Elder Gu, are you thinking of using that first line?" Hearing Elder Gu’s words, several judges were slightly startled.

They had heard about Elder Ke’s first line.

Even to match it, Elder Ke had announced that anyone who could come up with a matching line would be accepted as his disciple.

This promise was quite significant.

Just consider that becoming Elder Ke’s disciple could arguably save someone twenty years of struggle in life.

Elder Ke was older than Elder Gu and was already eighty-two years old.

At his current level, setting aside wealth, just his connections alone were beyond what ordinary people could compare with.

Just imagine, once someone becomes a disciple of Elder Ke, if they were to mention their teacher’s name out loud, who wouldn’t give them due respect?

So, when they heard that Elder Gu was going to challenge them with Elder Ke’s first line, the four judges all appeared very surprised.

Honestly, this first line was indeed too difficult. It had been ten years since Elder Ke came up with it, and still no one had managed to match it!

"That’s right," Elder Gu nodded, and of course, he wouldn’t explain his own reasoning.

"But, isn’t this first line too difficult?" The judges were a bit apprehensive.

After all, those participating in this event were amateur enthusiasts.

To demonstrate the fairness of the event, all members of the Literary Federation were barred from competing.

Because this event was meant to be a bit of fun with the people.

If members of the Literary Federation were to get involved, it would lose its intended meaning.

Thus, the four judges were quite nervous, using a first line that even members of the Literary Federation couldn’t match to test these amateur couplet aficionados was really asking too much.

"I have my reasons," Elder Gu was well aware of the thoughts of his colleagues.

However, his own reasoning was not something he wanted to share publicly, as he was actually hoping to stump the contestants, including Li Changlin.

Therefore, without further explanation, Elder Gu took the microphone and stated, "Please listen carefully, here is my first line: ’A monk paints the lotus on the canvas.’"

To ensure the contestants understood clearly, Elder Gu deliberately repeated it twice.

Moreover, to get everyone to take it seriously, Elder Gu even went as far as to explain the concept behind the first line.

Actually, there was no need for Elder Gu to explain, because he had already given everyone a hint before.

This first line was in palindrome form, meaning it maintains the same pronunciation even when read backward.

Understanding this, the contestants were prepared.

However, once Elder Gu had finished, all five contestants were completely baffled.

"My goodness, seriously? With such a difficult first line, Elder Gu, are you sure this isn’t a professional Literary Federation event?"

It’s just too overwhelming!

Everyone was feeling frustrated; the first line was so challenging, it was unbearable!

Suddenly, all five contestants showed bitter smiles on their faces.

Then, they each closed their eyes, beginning to ponder intently.

No choice, even though they knew they probably couldn’t match it, nobody wanted to give up right away.

Truth be told, although they hadn’t heard about Elder Ke’s promise of discipleship, Elder Gu’s recent promise certainly was concrete.

If they could match this line, it was equivalent to gaining two points.

For the sake of those two points, they indeed had to give it their all!

Go for it, everyone, this second line was obviously not going to be easy to come up with.

Seeing the five opponents with eyes closed, the corners of Li Changlin’s mouth curled up in a sneer.

Absolute? Difficult to match?

Nonsense, with the System in hand, this first line was a piece of cake for Li Changlin.

Ling’er had relayed the answer to him before Elder Gu had even finished repeating it the second time.

To him, it was not at all challenging.

It was for exactly this reason that he hadn’t responded right away.

Now, seeing that two or three minutes had passed and the five opponents were still squinting and frowning, Li Changlin didn’t want to wait anymore.

"Got it!" Suddenly, he smacked the table with his hand, took the microphone, and shouted, "Hosts, judges, I have thought of a second line."

"What?"

"No way, he figured it out!"

"Damn, inside job, there must be an inside job!"

Li Changlin’s statement shocked everyone, both on stage and off.

Startled by the sudden knock, the five contestants opened their eyes in confusion.

They all turned to look at Li Changlin, eyes filled with shock.