398: The two judges were stunned: these two poems were actually written by the same person!

After saying this, Shen Zizhen, who was one of the Grand Judges for this competition, shared the submission he held onto the Grand Judges Group Chat.

In fact, just like the preliminary judges had 'internal recommendation' slots.

Every Grand Judge also held five slots, and each slot led directly to the final review.

Generally speaking, Grand Judges would only decide which five works received slots after reading all the manuscripts.

But Shen Zizhen felt that the poem “flying bird and fish” in his hand was too brilliant, and he didn't think he needed to wait any longer.

Because this poem was absolutely going to take up one of the slots; there was no second possibility.

Moreover, after learning some insider information, he felt very disgusted.

Therefore, sharing “flying bird and fish” to the Grand Judges Group Chat first was actually a way of showing his stance.

Zhang Xi, who was beside him, gave him a thumbs up and said:

“Old Shen, you really aren't afraid of offending President Zhou, pushing this poem out now.”

“Old Zhang, we are the Grand Judges for this competition. Our role is to be fair and impartial, not to be sycophants. What do I have to fear?

Besides, we just reached a consensus that 'flying bird and fish' definitely has the strength to compete for the championship. There's no problem with me recommending it, right!”

“No problem, no problem, as long as you're happy. Anyway, I don't operate in your Modern Poetry Circle, so it has nothing to do with me! If you're not afraid, then I'm even less afraid.”

Zhang Xi chuckled and said.

That's right.

Although Zhang Xi was also one of the ten Grand Judges, he was not actually part of the Modern Poetry Circle; his identity was that of an essayist.

Of course, he still possessed appreciation skills; otherwise, he wouldn't have been invited by the Federation of Literary and Art Circles to serve as a Grand Judge for the competition.

Previously, this guy suspected Shen Zizhen of having some insider dealings, but Shen Zizhen didn't turn around and suspect him after hearing it, also because of this reason.

Since Zhang Xi didn't even write modern poetry, what kind of manipulation could he pull?

The two chatted briefly and were about to part ways, but just then, Shen Zizhen's email inbox flashed again.

He clicked it open and found that his student, Xiao Su, had internally recommended another work to him.

“What is Xiao Su up to? He hadn't internally recommended any work for several days, yet now he's recommended two in just ten minutes? Could this one also be a masterpiece worthy of an internal recommendation slot?”

Shen Zizhen muttered in confusion.

Zhang Xi, who was preparing to leave, stopped again at this moment and said with a smile:

“Hurry up and open it! See what masterpiece your precious student has internally recommended to you now!”

Shen Zizhen nodded and opened the internal recommendation email.

Soon, he saw the poem's title in the manuscript.

“'ode to the oak tree'? Another very interesting name. Is it really as I guessed, that Xiao Su has recommended another masterpiece to me?”

Seeing the title, Shen Zizhen impatiently clicked open the main body of the manuscript.

Then, he and Zhang Xi beside him simultaneously saw the verses of “ode to the oak tree.”

‘...Roots... tightly grasped underground...’

‘...Leaves... touching each other in the clouds...’

“Well written, truly well written! If it weren't for the short length, I would have thought I was reading a brilliant essay!”

This time, Zhang Xi was the first to comment.

Hearing this, Shen Zizhen nodded repeatedly and said:

“The poet uses a unique perspective to interpret the meaning of love for us. The choice of the two central images, the Kapok and the Oak, is truly distinctive.

Old Zhang, if I hadn't just seen 'flying bird and fish,' I might have considered 'ode to the oak tree' to be the undisputed choice for the championship.”

Zhang Xi also nodded slightly and said with a smile:

“You are a poet, and your appreciation for poetry is superior to mine, but undeniably, both of these poems are clearly extremely powerful works.”

“Yes, I personally believe 'flying bird and fish' has the strength to secure the championship, and 'ode to the oak tree' can at least make it into the top five, or even the top three!”

Shen Zizhen gave his evaluation.

Zhang Xi, who was standing by, asked curiously:

“Quickly check who the author of this poem is! Also, who wrote 'flying bird and fish' earlier?”

“Let me take a look. The submitter of 'ode to the oak tree' is 'Green Lotus Layman'? Obviously a pen name.”

Shen Zizhen was slightly stunned and then checked the information of the previous internal recommendation manuscript.

Then, he froze:

“The submitter of 'flying bird and fish' is also 'Green Lotus Layman'? These two poems were written by the same person?”

Seeing Shen Zizhen looking at him, somewhat dumbfounded, Zhang Xi quickly waved his hand and said:

“Don't look at me, I don't know either!

By the way, you are also a famous great poet. Have you ever heard of this 'Green Lotus Layman'?

Someone who can write the two poems, 'flying bird and fish' and 'ode to the oak tree,' shouldn't be an unknown figure, right?”

“I don't know. I have never heard the name 'Green Lotus Layman' before!”

Shen Zizhen shook his head and said:

“Either this is a new pen name taken by some famous master, or this person is simply a rising star.”

“Which possibility do you lean towards?”

Zhang Xi asked curiously.

Shen Zizhen pondered for a moment and said:

“I lean towards the latter possibility, because I haven't seen the style of either of these two poems anywhere else before.

In fact, the two poems themselves have very different styles. I am truly curious as to who this 'Green Lotus Layman' is!”

“Are you planning to share this poem to the group as well?”

Zhang Xi suddenly asked.

Shen Zizhen thought for a moment, shook his head, and said:

“We can wait a bit for this one. I've already submitted one. When the time comes, it can be put into the screening pool along with the other three.”

“That works too. Oh, right, Old Shen, go check if there are any comments in the group about the poem you just shared.”

Zhang Xi asked.

Shen Zizhen quickly logged into the Grand Judges Group Chat and found that the group was quite lively at the moment.

Unread messages directly displayed '99+'.

Zhang Xi leaned over, took a look, and suddenly said with a chuckle:

“Old Shen, it looks like you've stirred up a hornet's nest.”

Upon closer inspection, it turned out that all these unread messages were posted five minutes earlier.

This was just before Shen Zizhen shared the work “flying bird and fish” to the Grand Judges Group Chat.

After the poem he shared appeared, the Grand Judges Group Chat suddenly went silent.

The previous unread messages were all comments from several people praising another poem.

Shen Zizhen and Zhang Xi scrolled forward curiously, finally reaching the source of the unread messages.

It turned out that before Shen Zizhen shared “flying bird and fish,” another Grand Judge had also shared a poem.

This Grand Judge was precisely the current President of the Modern Poetry Society, Zhou Wenhao! He was also the 'President Zhou' they had mentioned earlier!