Writing Poetry Live, Shocking the World

After his soul crosses over to a parallel world barren of culture, Lin Chuan, a PhD in Chinese literature, is stunned.

There's no Li Bai or Du Fu here, no Su Shi or Nalan, yet you expect a fresh graduate like me to work a 996 grind?

Sorry, whoever wants this job can take it!

I'll open a livestream and rely on the wisdom of our ancestors to “scrounge for food and drink.”

A heartbroken big spender sends a rocket, so I return the favor with a verse: “If only our first meeting had lasted forever, why must the autumn wind paint the fan with sorrow?”

An entrepreneur sends a sports car, so I take up my brush and write: “There will come a time when the wind breaks the waves; I'll hoist my cloud-white sail and cross the vast sea.”

I thought I was just scraping by, but my poetry goes viral overnight.

From a hundred viewers to over a hundred million fans, from domestic trending lists to a worldwide sensation.

Then one day, a user with a special ID enters my livestream and, in halting Chinese, tells a story about war and peace...

My brush pauses, and I write: “Poor bones lie beside the unsettled river, while their wives still dream of them in springtime chambers.”

The next day, the United Nations website reposts a recording of my livestream.