Chapter 21: Scan Code Payment

Xiao Sizi froze.

"Not worth money?"

"How could such a divine object be lowly?"

Lin Xuan explained patiently: "Because its raw materials are cheap."

"Guess what this thing is fired from?"

Xiao Sizi racked her brains.

"Crushed fragments of top-grade jade? Or perhaps crystal from the East Sea?"

Lin Xuan shook his head and answered with a smile: "Sand."

"Sand."

Xiao Sizi suddenly stiffened, her face inexplicably flushing red.

"Lin Xuan, you rascal!"

Lin Xuan was stunned: "Huh? I..."

Xiao Sizi's face turned even redder. "You... you made a pun, saying I'm a fool."

After understanding the misunderstanding, Lin Xuan gave a bitter smile and pointed to the soil in the flowerbed outside.

"I said sand, sand!"

"Sand from the river, sand from the seaside."

"Dig out the sand, mix in some soda ash and limestone."

"Throw it into the furnace and fire it at a high temperature of over a thousand degrees."

"The sand melts into a red liquid, flows out, cools and is flattened, and becomes Glass."

Great Tang, Taiji Palace.

"Sand..." Li Shimin stumbled back a step.

Glazed Ware, which the Great Tang nobility regarded as a rare treasure requiring piles of silk and gold to trade for in the Western Regions, its source was actually the cheapest, most common dirt in the world?

The Minister of the Ministry of Works knelt on the ground, his whole body trembling violently.

He managed all the kilns and construction projects of the Great Tang; he knew the killing power of these words better than anyone.

Turning stone into gold.

This was the true turning of stone into gold.

"Your Majesty!" The Minister of the Ministry of Works raised his head. "I request an imperial decree to seal all sand quarries across the land and conscript all great iron-smiths."

"Granted!" Li Shimin roared. "Convey my decree: outside Chang'an, by the Weishui River, build a hundred blast furnaces for me immediately."

"Cut down trees to make charcoal, raise the temperature for me!"

"If a thousand degrees is not enough, make it two thousand; if burning charcoal is not enough, burn coal."

"Regardless of cost, regardless of manpower, melt those sands for me."

Great Han.

Liu Che kicked over the bronze charcoal brazier before him.

"Sand fired into crystal... what incredible craftsmanship!"

Liu Che strode down the steps. "Commander of the Lesser Court, send people immediately to dig sand by the Yellow River and fire it day and night for me."

"Whoever can fire out the transparent Glass from that Sky Screen, I will reward them with ten thousand taels of gold and make them a Guannei Marquis!"

The Ministry of Works and the Palace Construction Bureau of every dynasty fell into complete madness at this moment.

Flames shot into the sky.

Hundreds of blast furnaces were ignited in an emergency.

Countless blacksmiths and kiln workers, bare-chested, poured baskets of soil originally used for paving roads into the furnace chambers where flames roared.

The bellows roared with a "whoosh," and flames leaped several zhang high.

They did not know the precise ratio of limestone, nor the method for refining soda ash.

But they had a direction.

As long as they knew where the destination was, the ancient craftsmen's near-obsessive spirit of exploration was enough to pile up miracles with time and lives.

The furnace fires did not extinguish for three days and three nights.

The night sky of the Great Tang was illuminated by the blast furnace flames as if it were day.

Modern shopping mall annex.

Lin Xuan saw Xiao Sizi's hand still pressed against the Glass and patted her back.

"That's enough, stop touching it; touching it more won't turn it into gold."

"Hungry? I'll take you to a big meal."

Lin Xuan pointed to a restaurant with elegant decor and large red lanterns hanging at the entrance. "That restaurant is good."

"Let's go, fill our stomachs."

Xiao Sizi reluctantly withdrew her hand.

She looked at the rain outside, then at this huge Glass wall.

She turned her head and trotted to catch up with Lin Xuan's pace.

"Lin Xuan, how fierce must the fire for burning sand be?"

Following behind, she couldn't help but ask again.

Lin Xuan answered casually: "Very fierce, hot enough to melt iron into water."

"Stop asking around—this is a skilled job you can't learn."

"Watch your step—there are stairs ahead."

The two walked in, one behind the other, entering the restaurant's reception area.

Red lanterns emitted a warm golden glow.

Lin Xuan pulled out a solid wood carved dining chair and let Xiao Sizi sit down.

The waiter brought over two steaming dishes.

One was sweet and sour pork loin, the other steamed grouper.

"Eat—it's been deboned."

Lin Xuan pushed a porcelain bowl filled with rice toward her.

Xiao Sizi picked up her chopsticks and lifted a piece of pork loin coated in translucent sweet and sour sauce.

The sour-sweet flavor mixed with the meat's aroma filled her mouth.

She ate quickly, her cheeks puffing as she chewed.

Recovering from a serious illness and having traveled half the day, she was truly starving.

Half an hour later, both dishes were empty.

Xiao Sizi put down her chopsticks and took a tissue from the table to wipe her mouth.

She turned her head to look around, her gaze landing on an empty table a few steps away.

The guests at that table had just left.

The table held leftover scraps, but not a single silver coin or copper cash in sight.

She turned back, staring at Lin Xuan's pocket.

Before they left, she had seen clearly.

Lin Xuan had changed clothes; apart from a keychain and that glowing black Glazed Ware block, he carried no purse.

"Lin Xuan," Xiao Sizi whispered, "we've eaten their food—did you bring silver or gold?"

Lin Xuan picked up his teacup, took a sip, and shook his head.

"If you carry no money, isn't that eating without paying?"

Xiao Sizi's face tightened, her expression growing anxious. "The Tang Code says: those who eat and run get thirty lashes."

"What punishment awaits here for breaking this law?"

She glanced left and right, fearing the restaurant staff would summon constables to drag them away.

"Who said we ate without paying?"

"Waiter, check, please."

Lin Xuan set down his teacup and snapped his fingers.

A young female waiter in uniform approached with a small black device.

"Hello, your total is one hundred eighty-five yuan."

Lin Xuan pulled out his Mobile Phone, opened WeChat, and brought up the Payment Code screen.

A square black-and-white matrix pattern appeared on the screen.

He flipped the screen toward the waiter.

The waiter raised her small device; a red laser swept across the screen.

Beep!

A crisp electronic tone sounded; the device spat out a white slip of paper.

"Payment successful. Welcome again."

The waiter tore off the Receipt and handed it to Lin Xuan, then turned away.

Lin Xuan took the Receipt, slipped it into his pocket, and stood up.

"Let's go—we've paid."

Xiao Sizi sat frozen in her chair, legs locked in place.

She stared at the departing waiter, then at Lin Xuan's Mobile Phone.

Not a single copper coin had been pulled out, not a single grain of silver weighed out.

Only that small Magic Artifact had emitted a "beep," and the cost of the lavish meal was settled.

"You…" Xiao Sizi swallowed hard, "did you use that Glazed Ware block to cast a mind-control spell on her?"

Lin Xuan laughed, yanking her up from the chair.

"What mind-control spell? I paid."

Lin Xuan pulled her toward the exit.

"Where's the money?" Xiao Sizi pressed, hurrying after him. "I saw no silver, no copper coins—not even a flying money contract!"

Lin Xuan tapped his Mobile Phone screen. "It's in the system."

"Our money here isn't silver, gold, or copper."

"It's a string of numbers."

"What I just did was tell the bank to transfer one hundred eighty-five of the numbers belonging to me to the restaurant owner."