8,000 Votes!

  First Pce!

  Absolutely incredible!

  Tang Ju is a legend!

  Gu Zhinan was mentally cheering for the original poet. This was insane!

  He checked the time, it was 11 AM when the poem was posted, and now it was 2 PM. 8,000 votes in just three hours!

  It proved that people who understood romance existed in every world. Amazing!

  Gu Zhinan gnced at the second-pce poem, Early Summer, which had 6,000 votes. He was ahead by a full 2,000 votes!

  Excited, he clicked on the comments thread for the poetry competition. The discussion thread for Crossing Dongting Lake was already blowing up, with over 10,000 comments and more pouring in every second.

  "Drunk, unaware of the sky reflected in the water, a boat full of dreams pressing against the Milky Way."

  "Wuwuwu, I can already picture this scene—it's too beautiful!!!""The poet is unbelievably romantic!! That st line has stolen my heart! I'm printing this poem out!"

  "I've already set the st two lines as my status message!!! I love it so much!""Reading this poem, I don’t feel like I’m floating on Dongting Lake—I feel like I’m rowing across the Milky Way, surrounded by starlight, lost in a dream!""Damn, I don’t get the deeper meaning, I just know it sounds amazing!""I’m bringing people here to witness what real poetry is!""Same! Let’s show them what true romance looks like!""Bro, I copied this down to use as a pick-up line.""Wait, hold on, I was about to do the same thing!"

  Gu Zhinan scrolled through, seeing endless praise for the poem’s beauty and depth—though some were clearly pnning to use it to flirt. Others shared their interpretations.

  "The poet paints such a dreamlike world, so enchanting it feels like a fairy tale. But in the end, it’s just a dream—when you wake, only endless longing remains. The first two lines reflect the mencholy of autumn, hinting at a sense of missed opportunities. The st two, dreamy and intoxicating, contrast fantasy with reality. Every line is essential—without the setup, the finale wouldn't be as breathtaking. Thank you, 'Straight Guy' (the author) for letting me experience such beautiful poetry!"

  "I've read many poems about dreams, but none as elegant and emotionally rich as this. It’s romantic yet profound, light yet powerful. This is true art! ‘Straight Guy’ is truly amazing!"

  Cough, cough!

  Gu Zhinan kept a straight face. He was merely helping to pass this poem down through generations! As for all the praise? He accepted it on behalf of the original poet.

  "Huh?" He suddenly noticed comments recognizing him as an author.

  "I know who 'Straight Guy' is! He wrote Qin's Moon! I’ve been reading it forever! This damn author keeps dragging out the word count—I’m reporting him!""Exactly! He milks us dry with filler content, yet has time to write poetry? Damn!""Come on, give him some credit! At least he updates daily! And I never expected him to write such a beautiful poem—I’m crying, I love it so much!"

  Gu Zhinan was speechless. His identity on the literature site wasn’t even a secret—anyone could check. The author of Crossing Dongting Lake was clearly listed as a Chinese web novel writer.

  As he read, his votes suddenly jumped by another 2,000. He had over 10,000 votes now, completely dominating the rankings. When he exited the comments, he was shocked—he was leading second pce by 3,000 votes!

  Final Standings So Far: 1? Crossing Dongting Lake – 11,000 votes 2? Early Summer – 8,300 votes 3? Gazing at the Sea – 5,600 votes 4? Mulberry Fields – 5,400 votes 5? Climbing Mount Huang to Watch the Sunrise – 5,300 votes 6? Spring Dawn – 5,100 votes 7 Yangzhou Bald – 5,000 votes 8 Unfulfilled Ambition – 4,800 votes 9 Labor – 4,700 votes10 A Hundred Years of Solitude – 4,400 votes

  The rankings were tight—except for Crossing Dongting Lake, which was in a league of its own.

  And this week-long appreciation event had just begun.

  Gu Zhinan decided to ignore the updates on the poetry site. He had to focus on writing, he couldn’t let his loyal readers down! He vowed not to drag out his word count anymore… probably.

  But while Gu Zhinan ignored it, the fans of Crossing Dongting Lake didn’t. People everywhere were sharing the poem, quoting the lines “Drunk, unaware of the sky reflected in the water” and “A boat full of dreams pressing against the Milky Way.”

  Curious readers tracked the poem’s origin, nded on the competition site, and cast their votes.

  Others, following the poet’s alias Straight Guy, discovered Gu Zhinan’s web novel. Floods of comments and generous rewards appeared in his test chapter.

  His book, Qin’s Moon, suddenly exploded in popurity, even appearing on the reward leaderboard. Readers were confused, wasn’t this an old novel? Why the sudden surge?

  Meanwhile, Crossing Dongting Lake was trending on Weibo, ranking in the top three searches.

  People saw, “Drunk, unaware of the sky reflected in the water” trending. “A boat full of dreams pressing against the Milky Way” trending. Intrigued, they clicked, discovered the poem, and ended up on the poetry site or Gu Zhinan’s book page.

  Titles like, “The Most Beautiful Poem Ever Discovered!”, “A Romantic and Dreamlike Masterpiece.”, “An Ordinary Start, But an Ending That Stuns the World.”

  The poetry competition itself even hit the trending list, gaining unprecedented attention.

  Poetry contest organizer Cheng Mengxi was stunned. They hadn’t even heavily promoted this event, it was only advertised within literary circles. Yet, it has skyrocketed to fame?

  And all because of one poem?

  Dressed in a sleek business suit, her golden-framed gsses resting on her nose, the intellectual beauty whispered the lines to herself, "Drunk, unaware of the sky reflected in the water, a boat full of dreams pressing against the Milky Way."

  She froze. A vivid image fshed in her mind—a vast, starlit river, where she y drifting, half-dreaming, half-awake.

  Beautiful.

  She checked the rankings.

  Crossing Dongting Lake – 90,000+ votesEarly Summer – only 60,000 votes

  How could anyone compete with that?