Chapter 251: Poria Cake

This dish received unanimous praise from the entire table, and Li Fubo indicated he would come often. Although this master craftsman wasn't very good with spice, having to drink three cups of wine to soothe his throat after two bites of the dish, he was truly addicted to the spiciness and had to wipe his nose with a soft handkerchief several times.

Lady Ying pulled He Lingchuan aside and whispered, "It's delicious, but it makes the guests lose their composure with the spiciness." Guests eating this dish were all red-faced with runny noses; what kind of high-end banquet was this? It was fine for family dining, but for hosting guests, it was a bit...

He Lingchuan nodded repeatedly. "Mother is right!"

He also saw red-oil stir-fried field snails at other tables, showing that the new item was very popular with diners.

The city had only been reopened for three days, and Hesulou was packed again; he could almost hear the clinking sound of silver entering the accounts.

Speaking of which, ever since the army sent out by He Chunhua won the first battle, eighty or ninety percent of the civilians who had fled Dunyucheng had returned, but the original order had been almost completely disrupted. With so many houses, shops, fields, and industries changing hands, and so many goods fluctuating from plummeting to skyrocketing, it would take some time for this turmoil to subside.

This had actually caused huge trauma to Dunyucheng. Not to mention anything else, theft, robbery, quarrels, and fights occurred frequently.

The prefecture office was prepared for this, and He Chunhua's orders were issued one after another, aiming to suppress the disputes.

As long as the people were still there and had confidence in the new administrator, the wounds would heal sooner or later.

Everyone understood this point.

￥￥￥￥￥

Putting down the scroll and rubbing his sore eyes, He Lingchuan stretched a long yawn, his joints popping and cracking all over.

If he could read so diligently, he must be in a dream.

Yes, he was currently in the Wenxuan Pavilion of Panlongcheng in his dream, which was the largest library in the area. Over the past five days, he had finished reading hundreds of books.

Yes, the past five days.

In the past, when he dreamed, he would return to reality in a day or two. But He Lingchuan found that this time was different; the dream world had already undergone five cycles of day and night, and he was still here.

During several short naps in between, he thought he would return to reality, but upon opening his eyes, he still faced the bookshelves of the Wenxuan Pavilion.

Having to read even in a dream—this life was too hard! However, complaining was complaining, He Lingchuan still opened the next book.

Reading with spiritual sense was faster than the normal speed in reality; browsing a page or two per second was enough. Moreover, the books here were thin, with few large volumes.

These past few days, Panlongcheng seemed quite peaceful. The monster tide brought by the last descent of the Emperor's Flowing Plasma had basically passed; the newborn monsters were either smart enough to recognize who the boss of the Chipa Plateau was, or the Panlongcheng patrols beat them until they recognized reality.

This kind of operation happened every few years, and everyone was familiar with the process. Incidents of villagers being attacked and farmland being destroyed had basically vanished, and the Chipa Plateau had returned to peace.

Under these circumstances, He Lingchuan's workload as a patrol guard was greatly reduced, and he didn't need to be deployed for many days.

Skinny complained about this constantly.

These past few days, apart from replenishing necessities, buying food and drink, and going to the Martial Arts Hall to fight, He Lingchuan spent his time charging up at the library.

Fighting too frequently could also lead to weariness, and Meng Shan was still recuperating and hadn't returned to action, so He Lingchuan planned to change his taste.

There were many people in the Wenxuan Pavilion, all thirsty for knowledge, and people were often huddled in corners, arguing in low voices about something.

It was said that some scholars and cultivators would come to the Wenxuan Pavilion from time to time to hold lectures.

However, He Lingchuan was a little disappointed; the collection of books in the Wenxuan Pavilion didn't seem to be as vast as he had imagined.

This was a tall tower, divided into six floors from top to bottom. Except for the top floor, which housed ancient books and certain secret materials, the other five floors were open to the public. But there was one point: no borrowing was allowed unless you obtained a special permit.

The bookshelves on each floor went from the floor to the ceiling. If you wanted to take a book from a high place, you had to climb a ladder.

However, the bookshelves were still half empty.

He Lingchuan discovered that travelogues, encyclopedias, and miscellaneous records were very rare here, and the dozen or so volumes that did exist had been flipped through until they were tattered.

The most numerous were political records and military history—that is, works recording the politics, economy, and figures of surrounding countries, as well as analyses of various famous battles from ancient to modern times, which could be described as varied and dazzling, making one's eyes spin.

He had been reading the most of these types of military books these past few days and had benefited greatly.

There were also various myths and strange tales from the medieval period, profound and exotic, which felt incredible to read today.

But He Lingchuan vaguely felt that some of the content he wanted to see couldn't be found in the Wenxuan Pavilion.

For example, works on divination and calculation.

Honestly, he had collected some in reality, but after reading them, they were either dazzling or lacking something. Perhaps he simply wasn't the material for learning this.

But in the Panlongcheng Wenxuan Pavilion, there wasn't a single such work.

His eyes were dizzy just from looking at the book catalog.

Was he unfamiliar with this place and didn't know how to search, or was it because the books he wanted to see were all locked on the top floor?

He picked up the books he had read, preparing to return them, when a figure flashed by in front of him, which actually looked somewhat familiar.

Thinking his eyes were playing tricks on him, he rubbed them and looked again—it was correct.

He Lingchuan rushed over in two steps, and because his movement was too violent, he was forcefully "shushed" by the old man managing the library halfway there.

He caught up behind the figure and coughed lightly, not too heavy or too light. "Miss... Sun?"

The person ignored him.

He Lingchuan had to increase the tone of his voice. "Sun Fuling!"

The girl in front finally turned around.

Still the same snow-white skin and red lips, with apricot eyes shining.

She let out a soft "Oh!" seemingly very surprised. "Why are you here?"

"To read." He Lingchuan raised the books in his hand. "Haven't seen you for many days."

These five days, he occasionally went home, and Sun Fuling's courtyard was even more deserted than his.

"The Shumin Academy is organizing the year-end examination, and I am one of the question setters, so I haven't been able to step out of the academy for the past few days." To prevent the exam questions from leaking.

"And now?"

"The exam finished today, and I was just planning to go back." Sun Fuling exhaled. "The children are having a thirteen-day winter break, so I can rest too."

"Hard work. Is it a paid break?"

"No, no money for not teaching." Sun Fuling smiled. "However, the academy distributed a little rice, oil, and three jin of mutton to us."

Wasn't this more practical than giving money? An enviable winter break. "Do you still have to give private tutoring to the children during the break?"

"What private tutoring?" Sun Fuling blinked, not quite understanding this new term. "I don't know how to cook."

"..." Since arriving in this other world, this was the first time He Lingchuan had heard a girl say she didn't know how to cook so righteously.

"I mean, will you specifically tutor certain children?"

Sun Fuling shook her head. "The academy doesn't allow it; once discovered, there will be heavy punishment."

"Why?"

"Afraid that we will hide secrets in class and only teach the key points during tutoring, which would be unfair to the other children."

He Lingchuan went to return the books first, and when the two walked out of the Wenxuan Pavilion, he realized that Sun Fuling was actually still holding two books in her hand.

"You can borrow them?"

"Yes." Sun Fuling brushed her temples. "I am a teacher at the Shumin Academy."

Having privileges! Today the sun was bright, and the snow on the steps was also very thick, crunching as they stepped on it.

Outside the Wenxuan Pavilion was a long street with corridors on both sides, and the ground was also paved with polished bricks. In the weather of minus seven or eight degrees, small vendors weren't very willing to stand guard outdoors, but the shops were basically all open, and there were people coming out to solicit business.

He Lingchuan smelled the aroma of rice cakes wafting from the shops ahead from far away, and couldn't help but feel his appetite stirred. For the past few days, the most he had eaten was pancakes, wrapped with a little scallion and egg, which were fine both cold and hot, but he got tired of them after eating too much.

He asked Sun Fuling, "Are you hungry?"

Sun Fuling exhaled a puff of white mist. "Hungry. I've been eating at the Shumin Academy these past few days, and the food is just those few things back and forth; I've long been tired of it. Hmm, what should we buy?"

"How about this one?" The smell of the rice cakes was too fragrant; when the weather was particularly cold, he needed sufficient carbohydrates.

The two walked in and saw that the shop area was very small, but white steam was rising, making it particularly warm.

This was a bun shop, with flower rolls, steamed buns, meat buns, scallion sugar buns, and various flour pastries all waiting in the steamer.

But these were not the source of the aroma He Lingchuan had smelled.

He sniffed hard and walked to a round steamer. Opening the lid, he saw square white rice cakes inside, as clean as newly fallen snow, only they were piping hot and fragrant.

"I want this." After obtaining Sun Fuling's consent, He Lingchuan handed over a few copper coins.

"Okay, okay, you want Poria cake?" The auntie making the buns had a very round face, looking like a white steamed bun herself.

"Uh..." Sun Fuling's Poria?

Sun Fuling nodded first. "Yes, cut it into large pieces, even larger, and cut the dates on top into it too."

So the two walked out of the shop door holding Poria cake like square bricks. In the freezing weather, the pastry warmed their palms.

He Lingchuan ate happily; this thing was soft, dense, and hot, and besides the unique fragrance of Poria, there was the lingering sweetness of starch as he chewed. The shopkeeper had also added some dried longan meat inside.

Most importantly, it was truly filling.

Looking at Sun Fuling again, she held the cake in her hands, biting it in small, quick mouthfuls, which made He Lingchuan think of a chipmunk gnawing on a nut.

Looking at her eating style, one knew the food was truly delicious.

He walked side by side with Sun Fuling, walking in the endless crowd, and He Lingchuan actually felt lazy for the first time in Panlongcheng, feeling the small happiness belonging to ordinary people.

This city and these people were actually full of the atmosphere of life.

He couldn't help but let out a long breath.

Sun Fuling tilted her head and asked him, "What's wrong?"

"Have you ever been to the sixth floor of the Wenxuan Pavilion?"

Her voice was flat. "I've been there with others to move some materials."

"Are there many secrets?"

"Of course. Perhaps the authorities decided that some secrets are not suitable for public disclosure, or perhaps they were afraid of enemies stealing secrets, so they locked them away." Sun Fuling smiled. "Otherwise, why would that floor be locked and guarded?"

"Hmm, why do you ask this?"

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 252 =====