Upstairs, the glum expression had finally vanished from Ren Chongmo's face after he had had his fill of wine and food.
He was very satisfied with today's meal, and even more pleased with chatting with a group of like-minded people.
Discussing ancient and modern times in such a setting really felt great.
Geng Lishan, slightly drunk, had the dishes cleared from the table and, flourishing a brush, copied down Lu You's famous lines praising fish:
"The wine is like nectar, the fish is like flowers!"
After writing, he switched to a smaller brush and added two lines to his signature:
"In the late autumn of Renyin, along with literary friends at Lin Ji's Food tasting Silver Shrimp Soup, we spoke jovially, got drunk, and thus I copied this famous line from Fang Weng to cover the cost of the alcohol."
Professor Xu grinned and said,
"Lishan, sir, with those last four words, you've insulted all of us poor scholars."
Ren Chongmo, however, was quite pleased with these words:
