Reborn as a Cube Man in the Late Ming Dynasty

Bai Li thought the mutton pie in her hand tasted even better.

Although it is sweet.

The children next to me had almost finished eating.

One of the children licked the syrup off his fingers and suddenly said seriously, "When I grow up, I want to learn from Redstone and build a candied hawthorn machine!"

Bai Li chimed in, "A candied hawthorn machine?"

The child nodded vigorously: "Yes! Once the machine is turned on, it can make lots and lots of candied hawthorns, just like chicken, they'll be everywhere! I'll make them every day and eat them every day!"

"And it has to be sold at an exceptionally low price, one tael note for one... uh, no, ten strings of tael notes!"

Bai Li silently took a bite of the biscuit.

Is the child's ultimate goal in studying the red stone so that he can eat candied hawthorn every day?

He was quite certain that this great goal of invention was most likely unattainable.

Nobody knows more about redstone than me!

At least for now.

Another child nearby, equally ambitious, declared: "Then I'll study electricity in the future!"

The first child turned his head away: "No, what's so great about electricity? You come with me to learn redstone, redstone is much more powerful, electricity is no good!"

The child grew anxious: "Electricity is also very powerful, as Young Master Bai and the teacher both said!"

"I want to build a candied hawthorn machine someday!"

"Then I'll use electricity to build an even more powerful one!"

Bai Li said calmly, "Who said electricity isn't powerful?"

Both children looked over at the same time.

Bai Li squatted down and looked at the child who liked electricity: "Electricity is actually very powerful. If you really want to learn it, then study hard. Once you understand it, you'll know how many things it can do."

The child blinked.

"Will I really be able to build something even more amazing than a candied hawthorn skewer machine in the future?"

"Whether you can build it or not depends on your own ability," Bai Li said with a smile. "But as long as you're willing to learn, you won't suffer any losses."

The child nodded vigorously.

Bai Li glanced at the quiet child beside her and added with a smile, "Of course, Hong Shi is also very capable. I'm waiting for you to build that candied hawthorn machine. Ten candied hawthorns for one coin."

"Then you wait," the red stone child suddenly perked up, clenching his little fists and saying earnestly, "I will definitely make it!"

"If we're going to build a candied hawthorn machine in the future, do we still need to eat pancakes now?" Bai Li grinned.

The two children looked at each other and perked up.

"want!"

Bai Li smiled and said, "Then let's eat."

"Give me a few more cakes."

"Alright!" the burly stall owner replied, and brought over a few more sugar cakes.

The children were overjoyed and began to eat the pancakes.

Bai Li looked at them and casually said, "Consider this my advance payment to you."

"remuneration?"

"right."

Bai Li nodded seriously.

"Aren't you going to build a candied hawthorn machine in the future? Consider this as an initial investment."

The child blinked, clearly not quite understanding.

But he supported me in building machines and even gave me sweet cakes; he was a good husband.

He smiled and nodded, "Okay!"

"Come on, how about you have two more?" Bai Li asked.

"Is it still edible?"

"Eat!" Bai Li waved his hand. "Eat your fill before you go to study. If you can't eat, take it back with you."

Bai Li was in a good mood, so she had the children wrap some mutton pies in lotus leaves and pack them up to take back with them.

He paid and finished his pancake, then naturally prepared to continue shopping.

The woman at the stall stood there, motionless, watching Bai Li slowly disappear into the crowd.

Seeing that she hadn't moved for a while, the burly man asked worriedly, "Girl, what's wrong with you? You were fine just now, why are you suddenly so absent-minded?"

The woman then came to her senses.

She crouched down and carefully picked up a discarded lotus leaf.

"Why would you still accept this?" the burly man asked.

The woman carefully placed the lotus leaf, afraid of damaging it, and whispered, "Take it back, wash it clean, and place it next to Young Master Bai as an offering."

Seeing his sister's unusual appearance, the burly man realized something and felt the hairs on his body stand on end.

Could it be...?

"Um."

The burly man swallowed hard and asked in a low voice, "How did you figure that out?"

The woman looked at the lotus leaf in her hand and said softly, "When the syrup fell just now, the young man's hands weren't covered in any sugar."

"All the candy fell to the ground."

The burly man stood there, stunned.

A moment later, he suddenly slapped his forehead.

"Oh dear, what happened in Chengcheng is true!"

It is said that someone in Chengcheng saw Young Master Bai with their own eyes last year.

I never expected to actually run into it today.

The burly man felt a chill run down his spine.

He murmured, "Last year it was Chengcheng, and this year it's our turn in Heyang?"

He looked down at the lotus leaf in the woman's hand, his expression becoming extremely solemn. He reached out to help the woman hold the lotus leaf, his movements even more careful than when he was tidying up the silver coins.

"We have to be careful with this; we need to make sure it's properly prepared."

"Wait, didn't that young man just say that mutton pies are better when they're savory?" the burly man asked, pausing in surprise.

The woman glanced at him and said, "Yes."

The burly man swallowed hard.

He recalled the words he had just spoken, patting his chest confidently.

After a while, he coughed lightly.

"Let me think about it carefully, salty is fine too."

"Lamb is supposed to be a bit salty and savory. It can be eaten sweet or salty, so from now on we'll make both, giving customers more options!"

The burly man glanced again in the direction Bai Li had left, and suddenly lost the will to continue setting up his stall.

"We're not selling today."

"Let's go back and enshrine this item first!"

……

After leaving the stall, Bai Li was unaware that she had been discovered again, and then wandered around deeper into the market.

The market in Heyang at the end of the year was quite lively.

Red paper lanterns were hung all over the streets, vendors shouted their wares, and passersby carried New Year's goods in their hands.

Bai Li bought things along the way.

He tried everything and said with a hint of helplessness, "Why is there candy in everything?"

Sugar cakes, candied fruits, and dried fruits are obviously sweeter than in previous years, which is acceptable, but even large steamed buns and large sesame seed cakes are being sweetened with sugar.

"Are you guys planning to replace all the salt with sugar?" Bai Li couldn't help but ask.

The stall owner laughed and said, "Sugar isn't expensive these days, so what's wrong with adding more? I used to be reluctant to add more, but now that we have such good stuff, I'll naturally eat more."

Bai Li: "..."

I am a sinner!

Bai Li wandered around the market again, bought some pastries and New Year's goods, and then, after much effort, finally found the genuine door gods among a pile of iron puppet door gods from the assimilated Heyang merchants and took them back with her.

Before leaving, he passed by the gold jewelry stall again.

The stall owner was still there, greeting customers.

A familiar child emerged from the crowd, being led by the hand; however, the person holding his hand had changed to a man.

The child spotted the gold ring immediately: "Dad, that's it!"

The stall owner recognized the child and laughed, "Oh, it's you! Your mother really liked it, but in the end she couldn't bear to buy it."

The man asked, "How much?"

"Twelve Treasure Notes"

The man didn't haggle, counted out some bills and handed them over: "Okay, wrap it up for me."

The child grinned and said, "Dad, Mom will definitely like it!"

The man smiled gently and said, "It's the New Year, and your mother has worked hard all these years, so she deserves a new gift."

"Let's go home."

"Um!"

"She didn't buy it herself, but someone remembered," Bai Li said with a slight smile. "At least she managed to buy it. That's great."

The stall owner happened to look up and see him.

"Hey, sir!"

He perked up, picked up the thick gold chain from the stall, and waved it in front of him in the air.

"You're back again. What do you think of this one you just tried on? Why don't you buy one too?"

"I'm not buying!"

"Oh……"