The Taming of the Ruffian Hero

Chapter 55 (To Die a More Glorious Death) Lin Wenxi Made Peace with Zhang Dong

The poem writing contest was considered to be the most challenging competition for liberal arts students, as most of them were not as talented as Cao Zhi. (Cao Zhi was an accomplished poet who lived in the late Han Dynasty in ancient China and was able to make a verse while taking seven steps.) A contestant had to write a poem in classical Chinese within 5 minutes on an assigned topic and then gave it to a hostess, who would read it out for the judges.

The topic for the first round of the contest was the wind.

Lin Wenxi was the last one to turn in his poem. The hostess read out all the poems one by one.

Here was Lin Wenxi’s poem:

Flowers and bamboo trees danced beside the pavilion.

Clouds and wild geese flew away from the land.

Full-sail boats embarked on a long voyage.

I walked away leaving the changing ocean tides behind.

The judges spent 15 minutes reviewing all the poems. Lin Wenxi got the highest score and entered the next round.

During the second round, the remaining contests were asked to write about flowers.

Lin Wenxi was the last one to turn in his writing again. When the hostess read out his poem, she pronounced every word in a sweat, mellow voice.

Bramble flowers withered away in the wind of the late spring.

Peach and plum blossom faded in the rain of the early summer.

I never regret missing the splendid peony blossom.

Only the red flowers of the winter plum are my true love.

Lin Wenxi got the highest score again and entered the next round. The audience was surprised, and the campus newspaper journalists all gathered near the stage to take photos of him. Gu Xi stood among the audience alone. He felt amazed as he perfectly understood these two poems written by Lin Wenxi.

Gu Xi disliked the complicated classical Chinese very much. Every time he heard Wang Xiang quote some lines of ancient Chinese poems, he would jeer at him. He thought that a real man should look heroic and determined like Zheng Kai.

This was the first time he had been deeply impressed by the charm of the classical Chinese. He had a brand new understanding of Lin Wenxi as well.

He exclaimed in his heart, “Lin Wenxi always looks so calm and composed when composing a poem. That’s really charming. I’ve never expected this melancholy young man to be so talented!”

Many people had already guessed the topic for the third round. It was the snow.

The judges just could not wait to read Lin Wenxi’s poem.

The moon and the stars were falling dark.

The north wind was ruthless.

The wind seemed endless just like my sorrow.

I drank in the wind until I got drunk.

The judges thought that this poem was too sad and not so well written as the first two poems, but they still let him enter the fourth round.

The fourth round was the last round of the contest, and the winner of this round would become the winner of the contest. The topic for this round was the moon.

The other remaining contestant quickly wrote out a poem, and then the hostess read it out with emotions. It was well written and impressed everyone. Lin Wenxi sat in a daze on the stage. When the countdown was about to be over, he abruptly stood up and surprised all the audience.

He picked up the microphone beside himself and read his poem out.

They say that Chang’e should regret stealing the elixir.

I believe that she just wants to get rid of the earthly world.

She has endured the loneliness for thousands of years.

This isolation gives her the chance to enjoy the clear and bright moonlight in return.

Only a few people applauded for him. It was within his expectations. This poem was not inflated with fine language. It was more about his own sorrows and pains. He slowly closed his eyes and thought, “That’s alright. I’ve just spoken my mind. Only someone who is able to endure isolation and break all earthly bonds can really enjoy the beauty of the moon.”

When the judges showed the scores, all the audience was surprised. The two remaining contestants got the same score. The organizing committee had prepared another topic for overtime, but now the staff could not find this topic anywhere. They were at a loss to know what to do.

Everyone was in a fix.

Suddenly, some girl among the audience thought of an idea and shouted toward the stage. “We can compare their total scores of the four rounds!” Everyone immediately echoed. Lin Wenxi found this female voice somewhat familiar. He turned to look at that girl and found out that she was Shu Xiaoman.

He wondered in surprise, “Doesn’t she have to go to the dancing contest?” Gu Xi was as surprised as Lin Wenxi.

Upon seeing Shu Xiaoman in the crowd, he thought, “Well, Shu Xiaoman is just fond of excitement. Wait... Oh, no!” He grabbed Shu Xiaoman and asked, “Why are you here, Shu Xiaoman? Don’t you have to dance on the stage in your hot outfit now?” Shu Xiaoman was stunned and stood in a daze. The next moment, beads of sweat started to form on her forehead. Gu Xi guessed what had happened and hurriedly dragged her to the dancing contest.

When they arrived, Chen Wanxin’s team had already started their performance. Due to the absence of Shu Xiaoman, the team could not present a perfect 3-4-5 formation. Although their current formation looked quite strange, they danced very well and looked super energetic. As such, the dance did not look bad. In the end of the dance, they could clearly see Chen Wanxin’s smile froze on her face.

The staff of the poem writing contest quickly calculated the overall scores of the two contestants, and Lin Wenxi turned out to be the winner. He received the trophy and smiled slightly. He looked at the audience and failed to spot any familiar face. When he thought that he could not find anyone to share his happiness now, he noticed a familiar figure. That person wore a hat and stood behind the crowd. He believed that he would be able to recognize this person even when this person was burned down into ashes. That person left, and Lin Wenxi swiftly chased after him without knowing why he was doing this now.

After running for quite a long time, he heard Zhang Dong speak behind him. “You’ve been chasing after me for such a long time. Why not look back now?” Lin Wenxi clenched his fists and turned around, pale with anger.

Zhang Dong took a step closer to Lin Wenxi. He took off his hat and nodded his head while saying, “I’m really impressed by your performance today. I never know that you’re so talented.”

Lin Wenxi glared at him.

Zhang Dong walked even closer to Lin Wenxi and slowly reached out his hand to brush off some dust in the boy’s hair. He said, “It’s been a long time since that night. You’ve been depressed for all these years. I dare not to ask you to forgive me, but I beg you to treat yourself better. You can take my life whenever you want, and I promise that you’ll never be held accountable for that.”

Lin Wenxi pointed a finger at the busy road and smiled evilly while saying, “Here’s a chance. Just throw yourself under a fast-traveling car.” Zhang Dong turned to look at the road. There were many cars, and many of them were traveling at high speed. If he threw himself under a car, others would probably just consider him a careless pedestrian.

He was slightly stunned and then felt relieved.

Since joining the army, he had been awarded quite a lot of medals for his military accomplishments. He almost died twice before. He used to firmly believe that he would die a glorious death. He had never expected Lin Wenxi to ask him to commit suicide here. He thought, “As a soldier, I’ll definitely regret killing myself here instead of dying for my country, but if my death can make up for my fault and make Lin Wenxin pick himself up again, it’s still worthwhile.”

With this in mind, he chose a fast-traveling BMW and ran toward it.

The BMW driver reacted quickly and turned the steering wheel in time to drive in the center lane. The driver slowed down and honked the horn to show his dissatisfaction. After that, it sped off.

Zhang Dong felt somewhat annoyed and tried again. He pretended to be waiting for traffic lights at the roadside. When he saw a fast-traveling Porsche, he ran toward it while biting his lower lip nervously. He closed his eyes as he thought, “I never know that I”m so afraid of death.”

“Zhang Dong!” Lin Wenxi screamed at him. Upon hearing that, Zhang Dong stopped running and managed to fall on his back.

The driver slammed the brakes and looked back at Zhang Dong before driving away carefully.

Zhang Dong fell to the ground, his face pale. If it had not been for his agility, he would have been knocked down by the car and even gotten killed on the spot. He looked back and saw Lin Wenxi. The boy was running toward him, looking even paler than himself.

“Are you crazy?” Lin Wenxi pulled Zhang Dong’s collar and shouted.

“I meant it when I said that my life is yours,” Zhang Dong said flatly.

Lin Wenxi released Zhang Dong’s collar and shook his head while saying, “You should die in the battlefield. That’s more worthwhile. Why do you want to kill yourself for me? It’ll defile your glory!” With these words, he turned around and left.

“Lin Wenxi, I told you before. You’re not dirty. The dirty person is me!” Zhang Dong shouted loudly toward Lin Wenxi. Lin Wenxi ran into the gate of his university while covering his ears with his hands.

At this moment, Girls’ Dorm No. 213 was in a state of chaos.

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