Chapter 335 - Talented Person

"You are unreasonable!"

In utter exasperation, that was all Guan Yilin could say in response to Xiao Luo's astute counter-argument.

"I'm only presenting the evidence, and therefore, I am reasonable. But, even if what you say is true that Sima Yi saw through Zhuge Liang's empty-city stratagem, it would only mean that Zhuge Liang had expected Sima Yi to recognize his ruse, thereby forcing Sima Yi to obediently withdraw his troops—this showed his deep understanding of Sima Yi's predicament; that is 'when all birds are shot, the bow will be set aside, and when all hares are killed, the hounds will be stewed and eaten.' From this perspective, Sima Yi was already at a disadvantage. So, it is inaccurate to say that Sima Yi was the foremost strategist during the Three Kingdoms period," Xiao Luo said indifferently.

No one really expected Xiao Luo to be so eloquent and knowledgeable about literature, and he made the top student of their class look like a fool in comparison.

Guan Yilin was speechless and could only stare blankly at Xiao Luo with wide eyes. She quickly sat back down in her seat, unable to believe that Xiao Luo's study of the Three Kingdoms was profound. Her childish scheme to ridicule Xiao Luo had backfired.

"Sorghum, beans, wheat, and millets; out of these hybrids, which one are you[1], sir?" A girl who was very close to Guan Yilin suddenly challenged Xiao Luo with the first part of a couplet.

D*mn, this kid is actually cursing Xiao Luo with a couplet!

Yu Jiangu was galled with his students' behavior, but at the same time, he was somewhat amazed at the talents on display.

The class was stunned at her audacity, and everyone drew a deep breath. The one who posed the derogatory couplet to Xiao Luo was a gifted girl, Shen Shiya, who excelled at poetry, painting, and literature. Without exception, everyone felt that she was taking the wrong major and should have pursued Chinese Arts instead. The couplet blatantly called Xiao Luo out for having no self-awareness, and shamelessly regarding himself as a success on account of minor achievements.

Xiao Luo laughed lightly and replied, "Poetry books, I-Ching, the Book of Rites, the Spring and Autumn Annals; with myriad scripture on hand, why the need to ask Lao Tzu [2]?!"

When Xiao Luo furnished the second half of the couplet with aplomb, everyone was astounded and gazed at Xiao Luo with dropped jaws. His second line not only matched the first part of the couplet but he also cleverly countered Shen Shiya with a rhetorical question that contemptuously placed her status beneath his. It had the makings of an exciting battle of wits and captured everyone's undivided attention. They no longer dared to mock Xiao Luo.

Shen Shiya was slighted and delivered a scathing riposte. "Mice consider themselves to be 'old' regardless of their size[3]!"

Xiao Luo shook his head and laughed. "Turtles consider their surname to be Black regardless of their gender[4]."

Neatly matched up again!

The entire class was enthralled and found it hard to believe how sharp Xiao Luo was, he was simply amazing. Sitting at the back of the classroom, Guan Tong gawked at the unfolding scene and blinked a few times.

"People without their face will certainly be invincible[5]!" Shen Shiya fired in a particularly nasty one.

"Trees without their bark will certainly be withered[6]." Xiao Luo doused her fiery line with consummate ease.

"Y-you…"

Shen Shiya's face was flushed, and she felt like she was just being toyed with. She gritted her teeth and glared at Xiao Luo with angry eyes. Inwardly, she was stunned by how easily he had responded to those verbal attacks of hers.

Grudgingly, she conceded that Xiao Luo was the better scholar, there was no comparison when it came to literature knowledge.

"F***king cool!!!"

Guan Tong's eyes were watery and filled with deep admiration. He had always wanted to be a talented person, and now, he'd found a role model in Xiao Luo. The kind of vigor and innate self-confidence, and the kind of aura of that made others cower in his presence—the qualities that made him wish he was like Xiao Luo.

"Senior Xiao, you've really enlightened us, and I greatly admire your literary prowess."

Guan Yilin stood up as she complimented her opponent and said, "I wonder how well you've mastered the requisite technical skills, shall we compare our AutoCAD skills?"

The corners of Xiao Luo's mouth lifted into a smile. He originally intended to just say a few words casually, but he didn't expect these people to continually provoke him. Since he had already participated in the battle, there was absolutely no reason to stop midway.

Calmly, he asked, "How shall we go about comparing it?"

"Let's do the engine that's specified in the textbook. All the engine design parameters are provided in the book, so we just have to use the AutoCAD software to draw the model."

Guan Yilin appeared very confident as her AutoCAD skills were the best in the class. She was very familiar with this computer-assisted design software, and it was a skill that had to be mastered by engineers in her field. She knew it like the back of her hand, and she didn't believe that Xiao Luo could match her skills.

"Draw the engine?"

"That's an engineering drawing with a four-star difficulty factor!"

The students, being all from the same major, appreciated the difficulty of this challenge—there were various curves and slopes, the intersections of circumscribed circles and inscribed circles, and the scale of work was nothing short of intimidating. Were they really going to compete on this task?

"Yilin, I invited Xiao Luo to share his experiences and insights, not to compare drawing skills with you. Sit down and stop making a scene. I suggest you listen to Xiao Luo's opinions with an open mind. He is your senior and a pioneer who's already forged his way ahead of you. His opinions may prove valuable, and it'd only do you good."

Yu Jiangu intervened and did not want Guan Yilin to continue making a scene, and besides, he was afraid that Xiao Luo would lose. It was kind of Xiao Luo to accept his invitation to be there, but if this challenge were to cause his relationship with Xiao Luo to sour, then it'd be too late for regrets.

"Master Yu, comparing technical skills, is also considered a kind of sharing. Senior Xiao, am I right?" Guan Yilin's overweening attitude was on full display again at the moment. Despite being younger, she saw herself as an equal to Xiao Luo, priding herself with her ability to get an invitation from CITIC Bank while still in her senior year.

Xiao Luo nodded his head. "I agree."

Yu Jiangu coughed several times dryly and advised Xiao Luo not to play to Guan Yilin's tune. It would be fine if he won the contest, but he would be ridiculed by the whole class if he lost.

Xiao Luo gestured with his hand to say that it'd be fine, and he actually felt that these juniors were quite an interesting lot, especially this Guan Yilin, who was brimming over with self-confidence. It was a quality he quite admired but certainly didn't like. Being constantly challenged by his juniors, he had to continually prove himself to maintain his dignity and pride as a senior.

…..

Xiao Luo had to use Yu Jiangu's laptop, while Guan Yilin worked her own computer.

The data sheets of two engines were placed in front of them, and Guan Yilin immediately started drafting the engine design in AutoCAD according to the parameters described.

Xiao Luo didn't do it right away but instead read the datasheet thoroughly. Having had several years of experience working in the Huahai Group, his use of AutoCAD had reached a much more advanced level. He opted to use a holistic approach in his integrated workflow process, rather than working according to how the data was presented in the engineering datasheet.

Such an approach would be haphazard and would cause mistakes to be made as the designing process went on, hence, increasing his workload and forcing constant corrections. Xiao Luo's approach considered the overall scope and the steps and factors required to complete the task before defining the workflow process. Thus, he mitigated any risks of errors when he started drafting.

"Xiao Luo, hurry up! she has already drawn a third of the engine!"

Seeing the engine taking shape on Guan Yilin's computer screen, Guan Tong felt anxious for Xiao Luo.

"Surely it couldn't be that he doesn't know where to start drawing from, right?"

"Auto CAD is the required design software that we must master for our major, it's the most basic thing."

"Haha, if the senior doesn't know how to do it, it'll be a big joke!"

Some of the students began mocking Xiao Luo him, inwardly eager to see him embarrass himself.

Footnotes:

[1] a Chinese phrase that could mean "hybrid," in the context of the couplet, a pun that implies "b*stard."

[2] "Lao Tzu": the Taoist sage who wrote the Tao Te Ching, or a swear word meaning "your father." In the couplet, Xiao Luo applied a double entendre to elevate his status and swear at Guan Yilin.[3] "Lao Shu": in Chinese "lao," meaning "old" and "shu," meaning "mouse." Here, Shen Shiya implies that Xiao Luo attempted to use his age to his advantage, even when his knowledge was no better than his juniors.

[4] "Wu Gui" is the Chinese word for "turtles.""Wu" also means "black." Here, Xiao Luo implies that Shen Shiya and Guan Yilin were "behaving like turtles," meaning they were cowards. (Turtles being a metaphor for cowardice among Chinese as they withdraw into their shells in times of trouble.)

[5] in Chinese, literally, "Without face, one will be invincible," implying that one is shameless.

[6] in Chinese, literally, "Without bark, one will die," implying that "Keeping a good reputation is as essential as the bark is to a tree," hence if one is not careful with one's actions, then be prepared to lose one's reputation. It can also be construed as an insult, as the word "bark" has a direct reference to her "face."

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