Chapter 40: Making Inventions in the Tang Dynasty

Just as Xu Chengyue was analyzing her own creative process, ranging from background settings and character psychological analysis to the conflict within the novel, a sudden commotion from the adjacent private booth interrupted her train of thought, pulling her back from the fictional world of her story.

"Look at that! None of you dared to wait in line, and only I managed to buy it. Hahaha! Now watch me eat from above." It was the triumphant and boastful voice of someone who had successfully queued for the pastries.

"It is merely a pastry; is it truly worth spending two or three hours standing in line?"

"Whether it is worth it is naturally something only I can experience. You lot might as well forget about it."

"..."

"Oh! This chewy glutinous rice skin, filled with that substance they call cream—truly as light and smooth as a cloud. Ah, and it is infused with cherry jam. The flavor is indeed as legendary as people say." The speaker smacked their lips in appreciation while deliberately teasing their companions.

"Oh, give it a rest. It is undoubtedly mediocre, which is why you claim otherwise, just so we might waste our money and time along with you." Someone feigned a tone of disdain.

"The salted egg yolk pastry is indeed even more breathtaking! The crust blends the fragrance of egg and wheat, while the filling bears a slight resemblance to delicate rice cakes, yet with the addition of salted egg yolk, the flavor profile is far more layered. A mere hint of saltiness accentuates its sweetness; the two intertwine seamlessly without the slightest hint of awkwardness." This passage was recited directly from the book's description.

Such a blatant display of boasting provoked both the anger and the appetite of the group. Disregarding any notions of friendship, they immediately reached out and snatched the food.

"I bought all of these! You bunch of animals, if you wish to eat, go queue yourselves! What kind of hero steals from others?" the victim cried out in indignation.

The others quickly shoved the pieces into their mouths, chewed hastily twice, and were instantly mesmerized by the flavors blooming within their palates.

"It actually seems rather delicious?"

"Indeed, it is quite like eating a cloud. It appears Er-ya did not deceive us—ah, no, it seems Master Yue Ming did not deceive us."

"Do not fret, do not fret. At worst, we shall simply compensate you double next time."

The robbed person quickly calculated the price in their mind, along with the doubled amount.

They were making a fortune! This was a lucrative business. Perhaps he should buy another batch and let them snatch it again?

The soundproofing of the private booths was rather poor, and Xu Chengyue, resting in the neighboring room, heard every single word with utmost clarity.

A sense of delight and quiet pride welled up uncontrollably within her heart.

She knew it! No one could possibly resist snow-skin mooncakes and salted egg yolk pastries!

This was her own little personal indulgence inserted into the story, as she genuinely loved both treats. Going to great lengths to recreate their flavors back in the Tang Dynasty had cost her a tremendous amount of effort.

Take the cream, for instance. To produce this item, she had taken up invention and creation in the Tang era, manufacturing a primitive version of an eggbeater herself.

After all, whipping it entirely by hand was exceedingly exhausting, required proper technique, and was terribly slow. Even after just a single attempt, her arms remained too sore to lift the following day.

*Tap, tap.*

Someone knocked on the door of the private booth.

Upon opening it, a young maid with double-buns in her hair appeared, holding a wooden box and peering curiously into the room.

"Greetings, ladies. This humble one comes under my father's orders to deliver some pastries," the little maid said timidly.

"Might I ask who your esteemed father is?" Xue Zhenrui, the social butterfly of the group, asked first.

"My father is the proprietor of the Heavenly Fragrance Pavilion next door," the little maid replied briskly, showing no shyness.

She had read the books written by Master Yue Ming and held her in long-standing reverence. Upon hearing that her father had previously gone to negotiate business with Master Yue Ming without taking her along, the little maid had been thoroughly displeased and threw a prolonged temper tantrum.

This time, she had finally seized the opportunity—when her father sent someone to deliver pastries, she spotted them and hijacked the errand.

To think that Master Yue Ming truly was a young lady!

The little maid was far from disappointed; rather, she grew even more excited. She pondered inwardly which of them could possibly be Master Yue Ming.

Fearing that staring too overtly would be offensive, she could only steal glances and guess in her heart.

Suddenly, her gaze locked onto a single figure, and at that very moment, she became overwhelmingly certain that this was the one.

For no other reason than that her aura stood out too brilliantly from the crowd; her poise and demeanor differed from ordinary women, and everyone around her subtly looked to her as their leader.

Her heart instantly swelled with pink bubbles, and she felt an urge to shriek with excitement.

The surging emotions rendered her momentarily speechless. "M-Master Yue Ming, this humble one has adored you for a long time—no, not adored, admired—"

Flustered and speaking out of turn, the little maid blushed so fiercely she felt like biting off her tongue.

"Shh." Xu Chengyue extended her index finger, touched it gently to her lips, and glanced toward the adjacent booth, signaling that walls have ears.

She lowered her finger and remarked with playful teasing, "To be favored by such a fair maiden is my good fortune."

Watching the blushing, excited "fair maiden" of about ten years old alongside the rather roguish Lady Xu, the others couldn't help but feel a sudden sense of deja vu—resembling a dissolute young lord flirting with an innocent girl!

A unanimous glare of condemnation was cast straight at Xu Chengyue.

The little maid did not feel harassed at all; instead, she was even more delighted, mentally wringing her little handkerchief and wishing she could leap three feet into the air.

*Wuwuwu*, Master Yue Ming did not blame her for misspelling her words and even said it was her good fortune!

How fortunate *she* was to receive such words!

"Is that whipping bucket useful?" Xu Chengyue inquired about her own invention.

This whipping bucket was a primitive beating device she had modified based on the principle of fire-making via wood-drilling. The upper mechanism imitated a bow-drill fixture secured inside a wooden bucket, while the lower portion was woven from bamboo strips, fashioned into a conical head modeled after her memories of an eggbeater from her past life.

The inspiration came from a video she had seen in her past life on Bilibili about a primary school student's invention, which used a similar method for washing clothes.

"Useful! Extremely useful," the little maid nodded repeatedly. "It is just that there are so many people; the bowstring is practically rubbed until it sparks!"

As soon as this novel contraption arrived at the Heavenly Fragrance Pavilion, it immediately captured everyone's attention. Hearing that it was invented by Master Yue Ming, the little maid had joined the crowd, observing for a long time and occasionally letting out gasps of awe, unable to understand how the cream gradually multiplied bit by bit.

"That's good then." It proved she still possessed a sliver of talent for invention and creation.

Though... sparks? Did it actually turn into drill-a-fire-with-wood?!

After chatting with the little maid for a few more moments, the girl skipped back out joyfully.

After the meal, the group strolled through the West Market to digest their food, purchasing miscellaneous daily necessities, rouge, powder, and jewelry.

Xu Chengyue's gaze was suddenly drawn to a teahouse where a storyteller was recounting the tale of the Three Kingdoms, specifically reaching the part where Liu Bei visits the thatched cottage three times to enlist Zhuge Liang.

Logically speaking, these storytellers usually wrote their own scripts, cultivated their storytelling skills in the wild, or stole secrets by listening to others.

Although Xu Chengyue was not excessively arrogant, given the immense popularity of her scripts, she ought to have caught the storytellers' attention and carved out a niche within the storytelling trade.

Besides, she considered the themes she wrote to be neither overly refined nor difficult to narrate, making them exceptionally suited for vernacular storytelling among the populace.

Could it be that the storytellers of this era possessed such advanced thinking that they already had copyright awareness, knowing they shouldn't casually misappropriate others' intellectual labor?

She voiced these thoughts to Lü Hongzhuo, who instantly wore an indescribable expression.

"Lady Xu, while these storytellers make a living by telling stories, they do not consider it shameful; rather, they retain a certain backbone, deeming your scripts too vulgar. They are only willing to narrate tales of troubled times and heroes, Qin Shi Huang unifying the realm, or founding emperors fighting for the Central Plains."

Lü Hongzhuo had entertained the idea of storytelling ever since Xu Chengyue praised the innkeeper's potential for it. He had previously spoken with storytellers frequenting taverns and teahouses, but the moment they heard his objective, they all shook their heads and waved their hands in refusal.

They simply looked down on it entirely.

From Lü Hongzhuo's perspective, they were purely driven by jealousy.

"Surely not everyone is like that? Could there really be people who bear grudges against money?" Xu Chengyue asked in bafflement.

"Naturally, there are those willing to tell them, but they are invariably—those who loiter around the village entrance all year round."

No wonder Xu Chengyue had not spotted any.

***

"Five burly men surrounded Wang Xiaoliu, demanding the repayment of his debts. Penniless, Wang Xiaoliu shivered and claimed he had a wealthy cousin who would certainly be able to settle the account."

"Shamelessly, Wang Xiaoliu arrived outside the Han family gates. However, the gatekeeper did not recognize him in the slightest and drove him away."

The storyteller struck his gavel with a loud *clack!*

"With a single heavy thump, Wang Xiaoliu was cast out mercilessly beyond the gates."

"Well told!" At the most captivating part, the surrounding villagers burst into cheers.

Interspersed were the murmurings and discussions of the crowd.

"Served him right; it is profoundly satisfying. Such a heartless, ungrateful dog!"

"Who told him to gamble? When he needs money, suddenly he has the nerve to beg."

"Indeed. Why does the storyteller never finish the whole tale at once? Having to wait day after day—who can endure this? It drains all motivation for farmwork," someone complained.

The storyteller had been lecturing in their village for quite some time now. He did not confine himself to just one village, but rotated among several settlements in the vicinity.

Previously, things were manageable, but ever since this story began, everyone watched the village entrance every single day, praying for his early arrival.

"You wouldn't know this, would you? The author has yet to finish writing it, so naturally the storyteller has nothing more to narrate," said someone who fancied himself better informed, wearing a smug expression.

Seeing that he was an insider, the surrounding listeners crowded around him, eager to extract more details.

Only a group in a certain corner remained chillingly quiet, their gazes drifting subtly toward Granny Wang standing in the crowd.

Note: Granny Wang, not the fictional Mother Wang from the book.

As for why everyone was eyeing her, it was none other than the fact that she was notoriously prejudiced in favor of boys, happened to have three sons at home, and a second granddaughter commonly known as Er-ya, who also possessed an arrogant and willful younger brother.

Although Granny Wang did not abuse her granddaughter the way the book depicted—not even denying her sufficient food—frequent scoldings, beatings, and bossing her around at the slightest displeasure were ordinary occurrences for her.

Therefore, while certain details varied slightly, the sheer coincidence of these conditions lining up made it impossible for anyone to believe there was no connection.

*Tsk*, could her Er-ya truly have encountered some wondrous destiny? Heavens, they would have to properly butter her up then.

Someone quietly pondered whether they had ever bullied Er-ya in the past, and upon receiving a negative mental answer, visibly exhaled in relief.

According to the book, anyone who had bullied Er-ya never met a good end.

Taking a sip of water to moisten his throat, the storyteller resumed his narrative.

Taking advantage of the moment when everyone's attention was captured by the storyteller, Granny Wang stealthily slipped away from the crowd and headed home alone.

Walking along the rugged, uneven farmland path where loose gravel constantly bruised her feet, a murmur of doubt stirred within her heart.

Not entirely for her granddaughter, but even more so because her sole grandson, Wang Pinggui, increasingly seemed destined to turn into the very Wang Xiaoliu from the story.