Chapter 36: The Collection of Flaws

"As expected of a boorish person; the poems I wrote at eight years old were better than this..."

"Never mind the poem, look at his calligraphy—crooked and twisted, without sinew or bone. It's simply like the hand of a child just beginning their studies; it's an eyesore."

"Brothers, since we have nothing to do, why don't we add a tail to this doggerel by Shopkeeper Lin?"

"Splendid. I'll go first: 'Before the bed, the moonlight gleams, suspecting it's frost upon the ground. Raising my head to gaze at the bright moon, lowering my head to look at your mother!' Ahahaha..."

A group of scholars burst into uproarious laughter, and the surrounding commoners laughed along with them. Aside from a few literati, most of those around were commoners who didn't understand poetry; they just thought it was fun and laughed accordingly.

"Lowering my head to look at your mother"—it was catchy, and after going home, it would be enough for them to use poetry to curse others.

"No, no. 'Lowering my head to look at your mother' is too vulgar. It would be better to change it to 'lowering my head to think of a beautiful maiden.' It echoes the 'before the bed' at the start of the poem and invites imagination—wouldn't that be much more beautiful?!"

"Brother Gu has great literary talent. With a single 'thinking of a beautiful maiden,' you've forcibly turned a piece of doggerel into a masterpiece..."

"Raising my head to gaze at the bright moon, lowering my head to look at your mother!"

"Raising my head to gaze at the bright moon, lowering my head to curse your mother!"

Hearing the scholars' sequels, the children found it fun and ran to the entrance of the restaurant one by one, singing and making a ruckus; they didn't even sing "You love me, I love you" anymore.

"Master, your train of thought is good, but the poem you wrote is truly not up to par. Let me do it!" Deng Li Buduo suppressed his laughter. "You writing poems here is already affecting the shop's business."

Lin Bai glanced at him and wrote down the second poem:

"If life could always be like our first meeting, why would the autumn wind grieve the painted fan?

It is easy for the old heart to change, yet one says the old heart is easily changed.

After the words at Mount Li, the clear night half-spent, tears like rain on the bells, yet in the end, no regrets.

How can it compare to the fickle brocade-clad youth, and the vow of the day to be like wings of a bird or branches of a tree?"

This was a complete poem.

Even though Deng Li Buduo knew nothing about poetry, and even though he didn't understand the allusions within it, he was still shocked.

He carefully compared it to the poems he had studied, and in an instant, a layer of fine sweat seeped from his forehead; he couldn't find a single one that could compare to it.

Have the NPCs in the game become intelligent to this extent?

Deng Li Buduo hung up the poem in a daze. Only at the end did he remember that this poem had no title. He turned back and asked Lin Bai, "Master, what about the title?"

"There isn't one."

Lin Bai didn't even lift his head; he had already started writing the third poem.

Ancient poetry is extraordinary. Sometimes, if one or two lines are missing, the overall style of the poem drops. But if only one or two characters are missing, the parallel structure makes it very easy for experts to fill them in, failing to achieve the effect of a Flaw.

Therefore.

Some poems should be written in full if they are to be written at all.

Only when a poetry collection is filled with excellent poems, and one is reading with a relaxed and happy mind, will a sudden, abrupt appearance of one or two incomplete ones achieve the best effect.

When all the poems in a collection are masterpieces, if the poem you fill in doesn't measure up to the others of the same type, causing your status to plummet, would you still have the nerve to fill it in?

Are you looking to be ridiculed for filling it in?

In the crowd.

The scholars who had just been laughing and joking were staring at the newly posted poem, unable to say a word. They were the ones who studied this; even if they couldn't write it, they still possessed basic appraisal skills.

They read the newly posted poem over and over again, yet they couldn't find a single flaw in it; they couldn't even change a single character.

Is this still the boorish person they mocked?

If Lin Bai is a boorish person.

What does that make them?

After a long while, one scholar said indignantly, "The calligraphy is too ugly; it doesn't match this poem."

Another scholar's eyes turned red: "Such an exquisite poem could never have been written by him. It must have been plagiarized from somewhere."

Once these words were spoken, they immediately drew a chorus of agreement: "Exactly, exactly, it must be plagiarized..."

But before the words had even faded.

Another poem was posted:

"Ode to the Willow

Dressed in green jade, a tree stands tall, ten thousand branches hang down like green silk ribbons;

I know not who cut out the fine leaves, the two..."

Looking at the abruptly stopped brushstroke, the hand with which Deng Li Buduo was grinding ink began to tremble: "Master, the two what?"

"That's all there is!" Lin Bai smiled. "Go post it."

"Magpie Bridge Immortal: Thin Clouds Play with Skill

Thin clouds play with skill, flying stars transmit hate, the Silver River is far and crossed in secret. When the golden wind and jade dew meet, they surpass the countless encounters in the human world.

Tender feelings are like water, the beautiful time is like a dream, how can one bear to look at the return path of the Magpie Bridge? If two hearts are..."

"It is as difficult to meet as it is to part, the east wind is weak and the hundred flowers wither.

The spring silkworm will only stop spinning silk when it dies..."

"Grape wine in luminous cups, wanting to drink, the pipa on horseback urges me on.

Drunkenly lying on the battlefield..."

"When will the moon be clear and bright? With a cup of wine in my hand, I ask the blue sky. I do not know what year it is in the celestial palaces above... At such heights, it is hard to endure the cold... People have sorrows and joys, partings and reunions; the moon has its dimness and brightness, its waxing and waning..."

In the span of a short while.

Over ten classic ancient poems appeared in this different world from the hands of Lin Bai, in a state of Flaw.

The sour remarks from the scholars had long since vanished.

The direction they stood in was deathly silent, and one by one, their eyes were so glued to the poems that they could not pull themselves away...

Yet, seeing the missing lines and characters, with their own talent, they could not fill in a single word, making them all the more anxious and frantic.

At this moment.

To say something as casual as "bowing my head to think of my beloved" again would be an insult to these masterpieces; they could not afford to lose face like that!

"A waste of heaven's treasures, a waste of heaven's treasures! Such absolute verses are actually being used by a merchant reeking of copper to solicit business; it is a disgrace to culture..."

"Any one of these, if brought out, would be enough to make us famous throughout the world!"

"I want to kill someone."

【Resentment from Deng Li Buduo; +1】

【Anger from Song Shiqing, Zhao Mengzu, and Qian Chong; +1+1+1...】

Lin Bai received the notification of Negative Emotion income in his mind; he glanced toward the scholars, smiled slightly, put down his brush, and stopped writing.

Seeing that he had stopped, a group of scholars walked out from the crowd.

Song Shiqing took a step forward, stood opposite Lin Bai with a livid face, and cupped his hands: "Shopkeeper, please complete the poems."

"And who is this young master?" Lin Bai asked.

"Song Shiqing of the North City Song Family." Song Shiqing looked at Lin Bai with disgust and said coldly, "Poetry is the essence of language and the treasure of literature. No matter where Shopkeeper Lin obtained these masterpieces, you should not use them here. Please complete them. I guarantee that Brother Lin will surely become famous throughout the world because of this. To be a renowned scholar celebrated in the literary world—is that not a grade higher than being a mere merchant?"

Are scholars really a grade higher than merchants?

Lin Bai sighed inwardly, but remained calm on the surface, cupping his hands in return: "Young Master Song truly has a sharp eye; you saw at a glance that these poems were not written by me."

"Since they were not written by you, you should all the more complete them," Song Shiqing said.

"If they could be completed, how could I, Lin, not want to complete them and let these masterpieces be passed down through the ages? Speaking of which, although I am but a merchant, I have always admired men of letters." Lin Bai sighed, "Young Master Song, it is not that I am unwilling to complete them, but that I am powerless to do so! I was entrusted by an old man to publish this collection of poems titled 'Collection of Heavenly Flaws' to the world..."

"'Collection of Heavenly Flaws'?" Song Shiqing was stunned.

"To tell you the truth, Young Master Song, this poetry collection has been incomplete since it appeared in the world. The reason I made it public is to seek out the wise men of the world to complete it, so that these pearls are not covered in dust," Lin Bai said. "I am of low status and little influence; if I had published the poetry collection rashly, I fear I wouldn't have even caused a ripple. I had no choice but to resort to this desperate measure. My Kitchen God Rice Divination and the incomplete couplets written at the entrance, using the Flaw to attract people everywhere—it was all to build momentum for the publication of the poetry collection. If there has been any offense to you young masters, please forgive me."

As he spoke.

Lin Bai cupped his hands and bowed to everyone in a circle.

With Lin Bai's words, the anger of Song Shiqing and the others vanished into thin air.

The look in their eyes as they gazed at Lin Bai immediately turned to admiration, and they all cupped their hands and bowed to Lin Bai simultaneously: "Shopkeeper Lin is of noble character."

【Admiration from Song Shiqing; +1+1+1...】

【Admiration from Zhao Mengzu; +1+1+1...】

Looking at the incomplete poems posted at the shop entrance, a trace of regret appeared in Song Shiqing's eyes, and he sighed: "Shopkeeper Lin, my Song Family happens to run a printing shop. For the publication of the 'Collection of Heavenly Flaws', I, Song, should contribute a modest effort. Please, Shopkeeper, do not refuse!"

Sigh! 【Deng Li Buduo】 sighed long and hard; the shopkeeper is lying again!

However, what is his purpose in making this 'Collection of Heavenly Flaws'? Is it also a plot quest?

Letting players continue the poems to increase their reputation?

But for the sake of a game plot, is it really appropriate to throw out so many masterpieces?

Wouldn't it be better for the Game Company to just take these poems and publish them directly?

(End of chapter)