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墨書 Inktalez
Li Zhoule was busy in the kitchen while Hall's Brothers were sharing their farewells. Mainly, Elder Brother Li listened to Wen Zixia and Li Yishu, feeling that his own experiences were not significant; what mattered most was whether his younger sister and brothers were doing well.
After hearing about the hardships faced by the Wen Family Three Brothers following their father's death, Elder Brother Li sighed. At that time, he had been powerless to save Wen Fu, which remained his greatest regret. He had long since resolved to do everything he could to help these three brothers succeed, as a way to comfort Wen Fu in the afterlife.
When he learned that the Wen Family Three Brothers had nearly frozen to death and that their younger siblings had almost starved, Elder Brother Li felt immense sorrow. He blamed himself for not being there for the children, allowing them to suffer so much and nearly losing them.
Wen Zixia quickly reassured Elder Brother Li, "Brother Li, you were helpless at that time; there was nothing you could do to come back."
"Yes, yes," Li Yishu chimed in. "Look at us now; aren't we doing well? We eat meat every few days, and our savings are this amount." He held up two fingers.
"Twenty taels of silver?" Elder Brother Li guessed.
Li Yishu shook his head. "Guess again."
"Two hundred taels?" Elder Brother Li exclaimed in surprise, impressed by how capable his younger siblings were to earn so much silver. Their parents had never had this much money when they were alive.
Li Yishu continued shaking his head. "Two hundred taels is what Brother Zixia and I earned from selling the recipes you taught us; the actual amount is much more than that."
Elder Brother Li was astonished and asked incredulously, "It can't be two thousand taels, can it?"
That would be too much. Even with Li Yishu and Li Zhoule being children and a girl added to the mix with Wen Zixia, they couldn't possibly earn that much. After all, a thriving shop in town could only make a hundred taels in a month.
Li Yishu laughed proudly, "It's not two thousand taels; it's twenty thousand taels."
Elder Brother Li gasped in shock and asked, "How did you earn so much money?"
Just as Li Yishu was about to explain, Wen Zixia interrupted him: "Zi Jue, go help Sister Zhou Le with the fire in the kitchen."
Wen Zixue pouted and reluctantly stood up to head toward the kitchen. Hmph! Just because of my age, they keep secrets from me? When I grow up and have secrets of my own, I won't tell them either.
Once Wen Zixue left the Hall, Wen Zixia signaled Li Yishu to continue.
Elder Brother Li chuckled, "Is there a secret that even Zi Jue can't be told?"
Wen Zixia replied, "It's mainly because I'm afraid of his age; he might leak the secret. This secret is truly significant."
Hearing this, Elder Brother Li's interest piqued. "What is this secret?"
Li Yishu asked, "Brother, do you remember the Porcelain Jar you picked up on the mountain before you left?"
Elder Brother Li couldn't recall and thought for a moment before saying, "I think there was something like that."
Li Yishu excitedly said, "That jar isn't an ordinary Porcelain Jar; it's a treasure from the celestial realm that can connect us to the immortal world and allow us to meet deities. The deities sent us plenty of food and clothing, helping us survive the cold winter with scarce resources. They also gave us many novel items that we sold for a lot of money!"
Elder Brother Li felt a stir in his heart as a vague idea emerged. "What kind of novel items?"
Li Yishu answered, "There are Glass Bottles, lighters, Soap, and Soap Operas. Plus, Jiang Family Young Master bought a music box to present to the emperor!"
Elder Brother Li was taken aback. "So it turns out there are no fellow travelers from another world; instead, there are noodle merchants here, and those noodle merchants happen to be my younger siblings."
"Take me to see the Porcelain Jar," Elder Brother Li requested.
"Okay." Li Yishu jumped off the chair and grabbed Elder Brother Li's sleeve, leading him toward the storage room.
As they walked, Li Yishu continued, "Sister Han is really nice; she sent us so many things. She also gave us many Celestial Seeds so that our village and other villages have grain seeds to plant, preventing land waste. Without harvests in autumn, we would starve in winter."
"Celestial Seeds? What are Celestial Seeds?" Elder Brother Li hadn't lingered in Jingyang County, so he was unaware of the grain situation. As they hurried along, he didn't pay much attention to the fields on either side. Occasionally catching sight of a sweet potato vine felt familiar but didn't provoke further thought.
“Celestial Seeds are called Sweet Potatoes. They are less picky than other crops and can withstand drought. Most importantly, one acre can yield up to One Thousand Jin,” Li Yishu said, releasing her grip on Elder Brother Li's sleeve and gesturing enthusiastically. “You can even cut the vines and stick them directly into the ground to grow! It saves a lot of seeds.”
“…” Elder Brother Li wiped his face, realizing it really was about Sweet Potatoes. Why weren’t there any corn or potatoes?
Li Yishu continued to promote her sister Han: how kind and generous she was.
“The first time, Sister Han sent us a hundred pounds of Sweet Potatoes and a hundred pounds of high-quality rice seeds. We kept some for ourselves and shared the rest with the villagers. To prevent them from finding out about the Porcelain Jar, Brother Wen and I came up with a story about our ancestors showing signs,” Li Yishu chuckled. “Thanks to Sister Han, she gave us a Strong Flashlight. When we turned it on and shone it into the air, it created such a bright light that everyone thought our ancestors were showing signs. I’ve kept the flashlight in the house; I’ll show it to you later!”
“No need,” Elder Brother Li declined, recalling how much he had played with flashlights during his time in the Special Forces; they were standard equipment.
Undeterred by Elder Brother Li's rejection, Li Yishu continued, “Later on, people from other villages came to ours asking for seeds. We didn’t have enough for ourselves, so we couldn’t provide any to them. Seeing their disappointed faces made my sister and me unhappy, so I sought help from Sister Han. The next day, she sent us several One Thousand Jin of Sweet Potatoes, filling our storage room completely. Brother Wen, my sister, and I worked several nights to transport those Sweet Potatoes to the ancestral hall. Later, Village Chief Uncle took them to the county office, where the Magistrate distributed them to the other villages. The county magistrate even promised that if the Sweet Potatoes truly yielded that much at harvest time, he would commend our village and ask the emperor to reward our ancestors. You wouldn’t believe it; now people from nearby villages don’t worship their own deities anymore; they all come to pay respects to our Ancestors.”
Elder Brother Li found this interesting; it seemed that this otherworldly trader was quite kind-hearted.
He then heard Li Yishu say, “Later on, I don’t know how it happened, but the Porcelain Jar not only allowed us to transmit items but also enabled us to meet Sister Han in person. Although we couldn’t hear each other, we could communicate through writing. Sister Han’s place isn’t a fairy realm; it’s another world altogether. But we feel like it’s a fairy realm; otherwise, why would a Fairy Treasure like the Porcelain Jar allow us to communicate with Sister Han? Plus, there are so many rare and wonderful things in her world! Sister Han is so nice; I’ll introduce you to her later.”
“What’s your sister Han’s full name?” Elder Brother Li asked neutrally.
Li Yishu replied, “Sister Han’s full name is Hanno, which means A Promise is Worth a Thousand Gold.”
Elder Brother Li froze in shock and abruptly stopped walking. “What did you say her name was?”
“Hanno,” Li Yishu answered casually but noticed her brother's expression change and couldn’t help but ask with concern, “Brother, what’s wrong?”
Elder Brother Li didn’t respond but quickly quickened his pace toward the Porcelain Jar and asked Li Yishu urgently, “How do you connect for video?”
Li Yishu looked confused. “What video?”
Elder Brother Li suddenly remembered he was speaking with someone from ancient times and clarified, “I mean connecting face-to-face through the Porcelain Jar so you can see the person on the other side.”
Li Yishu let out a sound of realization and shook his head. "I don't know; every time it's Sister Han who actively shows the scene from her side."
Elder Brother Li felt both disappointed and anxious upon hearing this. Ignoring the expressions of his younger brother and the two behind him, he squatted down and reached out to touch the Porcelain Jar. As his hand brushed against the bottom of the jar, blue ripples suddenly appeared, and then he saw the image of another world...
...
Hanno happened to be in her rental apartment, enjoying the air conditioning while playing games. The temperature outside was too high, and she really didn't want to go out. However, if she stayed indoors, Mom Han would nag her about finding a boyfriend. To save her ears from the incessant chatter, Hanno took her laptop and hid away in her apartment. After just finishing a task at the tea house, Hanno had gone to Chang'an and was about to find someone to flag down when she suddenly sensed movement from the Porcelain Jar beside her. She quickly set down her computer and walked over, peering inside. Tears began streaming down her face.
The person on the other side was also crying, clearly looking at her while calling out her name: "Nono."
"Wei Feng!" Hanno cried out, "Is that you?"
The other person couldn't hear her words but understood her heart perfectly, nodding in affirmation. "Yes, it's me!"
Hanno reached out her hand, wanting to touch the other person's face; however, she only felt the cold surface of the jar. At that moment, she didn't mind much. After all, before this, if she wanted to touch that person's face, she could only do so through photos saved on her phone—stiff and lifeless—unlike now, where the person across from her responded with eyes full of tenderness.
Elder Brother Li gazed at the familiar face etched deeply in his memory with affection and guilt. "Nono, I'm sorry."
Hanno shook her head vigorously and quickly grabbed some paper and a pen from the coffee table to write: "There's no need to apologize. When I learned how dangerous your profession was back then, I didn't stop you; I had already prepared myself mentally. Besides, our master cares for us so much. Even though we are now separated in two different worlds, we still managed to meet."
Elder Brother Li snatched the paper and pen from Li Yishu and wrote: "But I can only watch you; I can't embrace you!"
"That's already enough. Just knowing that you're still alive makes me very content."
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