This upper couplet by Bai Shixi took him many days to come up with, and seeing the students clamoring about its difficulty, he turned his gaze to Su Jingchen.
But just as Su Jingchen made a move, Zheng Yuanfeng quickly interjected, "Dean, the student has a matching lower couplet."
Bai Shixi, seeing how quickly Zheng Yuanfeng produced the lower couplet, smiled brightly, "Go ahead."
"Not yet out as 'armor,' all out as 'shen,' the armor-shen monkey is impatient, the impatient monkey pursues 'shen,'" Zheng Yuanfeng quickly recited, then gave Su Jingchen a provocative look.
"Good, well matched."
Bai Shixi nodded with satisfaction, "Sixty years make a cycle, 'shen' belongs to the monkey, part of the twelve; it also corresponds in meaning with the upper couplet's 'youth, life, old, examination.'
Su Jingchen, unwilling to lag behind, immediately stepped out, "Dean, the student has thought of two matching lower couplets."
