The Villainous Classmate is My Lucky Star Chapter 160
edit: it’s a cliffer
Translated by Pure
Chapter 160 Buffed Luck with the Ladies (3)
On their way back, they passed by a brothel surrounded by people. Bursts of cheers came from inside, attracting Wen Yantong attention as she suddenly stopped in her footsteps.
She looked towards the lively scene and noticed the brothel was covered with vermilion square lanterns. These lanterns were stringed and held by bamboo frames, illuminating the surrounding area brightly.
The crowd by the bamboo frame was full of men. Something was going on inside, causing bursts of laughter from the viewers.
Wen Yantong was conflicted. Seeing her entangled, Chi Jingxi was just about to tell her to go when Wen Yantong suddenly turned her head, "Hmph, I’m not interested at all."
She was about to leave when a voice came from the crowd, "...Even if Chaoge’s gifted scholar were here, he would also fail."
Wen Yantong immediately halted and said angrily, "How outrageous! How dare they be so arrogant, it's time for him to taste the cruelty of society!"
After finishing speaking, she turned her head and asked, "Isn't that right, Little Marquis?"
Chi Jingxi smiled and nodded faintly.
So his guards pushed aside the crowd, and the two walked towards the brothel.
‘Chaoge’s gifted scholar’ actually referred to Chi Jingxi. This was because Chi Jingxi was famed for his talent in literature, when he was seven years old, Li Boyuan gave him the palace examination questions. After Chi Jingxi completed it, Li Boyuan mixed his papers into the real examination papers to be graded. Without knowing, the Ministry of Rites actually placed his paper into the 2nd rank of candidates who passed the imperial examination (not too far below 4th place).
From then on, people started calling him the gifted scholar.
Wen Yantong couldn't bear the arrogance of someone stepping on Chi Jingxi's reputation. After entering the crowd, she saw a short man standing at the entrance of the brothel. The man had a long manchu mustache, with a brocade cloth wrapped around his head, and proudly waving a fan in this hand.
Why wave a fan in the middle of winter, are you mental?...
Wen Yantong couldn't help but inwardly slander the weird man. Curious, she asked a person beside her, "What’s happening here?"
The man laughed and answered, "Rhyming couplet [1]! It's hosted by Ivory Brothel. If you can come up with the first verse of a couplet that they can’t complete, they will give you a prize."
"What’s the prize?" Wen Yantong asked.
The man smiled mischievously. "A golden house[2]."
A golden house? A house made of gold?
A palm-sized golden house immediately appeared in her mind, the kind that glistened in the light.
Wen Yantong’s interest was now truly hooked. It happened that the strange man also noticed them and spoke first, "You two guests have come front, do you have a couplet for us?"
Wen Yantong looked at Chi Jingxi, and then said to the man, "Of course, but I just heard someone say that even Chaoge's gifted scholar would fail. Was that you who said that?"
The man smirked. "Yes, if you disagree, you can recite a couplet."
Wen Yantong snorted. "Quite arrogant huh. Then you better listen well."
"Willow pond locked in smoke[3]." Wen Yantong said the first verse word by word.
This ancient couplet was infamous in the modern world and there was no second verse that could match it.
Wen Yantong was quite confident that the shorty in front of her would not be able to finish it.
Sure enough, as soon as this first verse came out, the people around began to contemplate. A few even shouted ‘wonderful’ three times in excitement!
Chi Jingxi looked at Wen Yantong and quietly reiterated her words, his eyes shone with surprise.
The short man in front of her mulled over and over as he paced back and forth anxiously. He opened his mouth to speak multiple times but stopped abruptly; it was a rather funny sight.
"Hahaha." Wen Yantong laughed and cruelly added, "You can’t think of a second verse? Damn dwarf, how dare you dare to compare yourself with Chaoge's gifted scholar? Wake up!"
The man was so livid that his face was reddened. In the end he finally admitted defeat, "This humble one is lacking in literary talent. So, gongzi, please tell me what is the second verse?"
Wen Yantong pretended to be disdainful. "That’s for you to figure out. Where’s the prize? Why haven’t you handed it out yet?"
The man gritted his teeth, and suddenly tore off the mustache on his face. He announced, "I am the prize. I can't complete your first verse, so I admit defeat."
"What do you mean?" Wen Yantong was dumbfounded.
"You can redeem me with money." After the man tore off his beard, his face became a bit feminine. It turned out he was actually a woman.
Though, not a very good-looking one.
Wen Yantong cussed inwardly. What the f*ck!
"I won yet you still want me to redeem you with my money?" Wen Yantong was in disbelief, "Do you think I’m stupid? All this money could be used to fill my stomach up with delicious food!"
The people around quickly interfered and explained, "Little gongzi, you are misinformed. Liu Liu used to be the top courtesan of Ivory Brothel! Only by giving her a couplet that she can’t complete, can she be redeemed by another.
"This was a top courtesan?" Wen Yantong pointed at the woman tremblingly, "Then did Ivory Brothel get bankrupted soon after?"
The woman angrily retorted, "Do you think that everyone has this opportunity? If it wasn't for your couplet, I would never have given you this opportunity. Since you had no intention, why did you stand up?"
"Someone told me that the prize was a golden house..." Wen Yantong said.
"A golden house for a beauty!" The said ‘someone’ shouted towards her loudly.
Wen Yantong didn't find this situation amusing what-so-ever. She had never seen a manly looking top courtesan before; she was not even as good-looking as that girl beggar!
And so she said, "Top courtesan, you should choose another husband, I have no money."
The courtesan was naturally not happy. "I can pay for the ransom, you just let me follow you."
"Since you have enough for the ransom money, then you can go wherever you want!" Wen Yantong was in dismay, and didn't dare to look at Chi Jingxi's face.
"Only the person whose literary talent impresses me can take me out of this building." The woman replied. "I’ve been waiting for a long time, and that person is you."
Wen Yantong started shaking her head like a rattle. "No, that person is not me."
"No, it's you."
"No, it's not me." Wen Yantong indifferently rejected it. "I like men, we are not suitable."
Everyone was shocked, and the sound of gasping followed one after another.
The top courtesan's face turned cold. "So this is your excuse? Do you think I will believe you? If you refuse to take me away, I will call out Madam and force you to stay with me here!"
Wen Yantong gritted her teeth. It was the first time that she felt great animosity for her buffed luck.
If such peach blossom luck was given to any ordinary person, they would be overjoyed. However it was a disaster for her! Wen Yantong didn’t know when this would end, nor how to stop it.
If matters worsened and the authorities were alarmed, then Chi Jingxi's identity would also be exposed. Such a matter would cause a lot of inconvenience.
Wen Yantong turned to look at Chi Jingxi.
Chi Jingxi's complexion was dark and gloomy, he was looking at the top courtesan with frosty eyes.
After a momentary pause, she suddenly reached out and put her arm around Chi Jingxi's shoulder. Wen Yantong closed their distance, stood on tiptoe, and held his face with her other hand; their faces were almost touching.
Her breath brushed against Chi Jingxi's chin. Wen Yantong looked up at him and said softly, "Sorry Little Marquis."
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Footnotes:
[1] Rhyming couplet - this stuff is hard. but there's strict rules. So a 对联 or ‘Chinese couplet’ is composed of two lines. Each line must have the same number of characters; the characters on each line must have a correspondence with each other; the characters on each line must have opposite "tone pattern" (平 vs 仄).
[2] A golden house 金屋藏娇 - a golden house to keep one's mistress (idiom); a magnificent house built for a beloved woman
[3] Willow pond locked in smoke 烟锁池塘柳 - This one is a very well known impossible finish first verse. The reason being is that it is five characters and each one employs one of the five phases of Chinese philosophy: wood 木, fire 火, earth 土, metal 金, water 水. Moreover, these five words also form a scenic image, it's not random five complex words.
