Gasp! She's a Time Traveler Using Modern Tech to Improve Ancient Life-Chapter 524 - 523: Cousin, Make Peachwood Charms

Amidst the sound of firecrackers, a year is gone, the spring breeze sends warmth into the Tusu Wine.

In a thousand households the sun rises, everyone replaces old charms with new peach ones.

This is the New Year’s poem by the Northern Song poet Wang Anshi, which fits well in the Tang Dynasty. Whether firecrackers, Tusu Wine, or peach charms, these are all customs from the Great Tang.

Little Qingyu played until the hour of Hai before being caught by Lin Wanwan from the singing and dancing crowd of exorcists and taken home to sleep.

Although the ancient custom of "enjoying oneself to the point of overturning the pot, and seeing the stars transverse at night" exists everywhere on New Year’s Eve — meaning getting drunk on a thousand cups and sleepless through the night.

But little children not sleeping is definitely not okay; letting little Qingyu play this late, Lin Wanwan already felt she was indulging her.

The little one was still not willing to return to the room, reluctant to leave the excitement outside. After being forcibly washed, undressed by Lin Wanwan, and stuffed into bed, she hugged Lin Wanwan’s arm, refusing to let go.

"Mom, Mom, give me your hand!"

Who knows when it started, but little Qingyu liked to sleep holding Lin Wanwan’s arm before falling asleep.

Originally, they had already started sleeping in separate rooms, but now it turned into Lin Wanwan having to tell her stories on her bed every day, accompanying her until she fell asleep before leaving.

No one else’s arm would do for the little one, only Lin Wanwan’s, a real clingy kid.

The little one insisted on staying up with the adults, saying she wasn’t tired at all, but as soon as she lay in the soft bed holding Lin Wanwan’s arm, she fell asleep within less than five minutes.

In fact, she was long tired, even while playing she kept pulling off her mask to rub her eyes, just unwilling to leave the festivities.

The exorcism activities on New Year’s Eve were meant to last the whole night, yet little Qingyu was the type of person who, once into a sweet sleep, wouldn’t wake up even if thunder struck.

Therefore, Lin Wanwan wasn’t worried at all that she would be awoken by the noise outside; seeing her asleep, she gently withdrew her arm and left.

Tonight, in little Qingyu’s room, attending to her is A-Jing, since Rongrong and Song Sulan were indeed too young, Lin Wanwan wouldn’t assign night duties to Yun Shang for them.

Even if they were the little maids of the house, they were also children, and Lin Wanwan couldn’t bring herself to exploit children like that.

When Lin Wanwan went downstairs, Dugu Di and Xiao Ce had already drunk too much.

As for Xiao Yixun, of course, she followed upstairs to her room when Lin Wanwan accompanied little Qingyu to bed.

She refused to stay in the same room as the uncouth men.

To Xiao Yixun, there weren’t many clean people in this world; everyone was full of schemes and copper stink. The cunning Xiao Chong was the darkest under the sun; she hated him most!

Xiao Ce was again performing the bold act of reciting poetry before the window and to the moon, whereas Dugu Di, once drunk, simply slept on the dining table.

As for Xiao Chong, he was now well-versed in all the wines from Lin Wanwan’s home. Today, Lin Wanwan prepared the wine nobles of the Great Tang would drink on New Year’s Eve — pepper wine, which wouldn’t make him drunk.

This guy never seemed to lose control, always embodying the demeanor of having everything under control, having only ever once fallen for the high-proof red wine Lin Wanwan brought out for the first time.

Lin Wanwan even filmed a video of that embarrassing moment, but unfortunately couldn’t openly show it to tease him.

Xiao Chong, seeing Lin Wanwan come down, his peach blossom eyes full of amusement: "Did you coax the little girl to sleep so quickly?"

Lin Wanwan nodded: "She was already very tired."

Then she glanced at Dugu Di and Xiao Ce, calling to the servants behind: "Brother Xiwen and Brother Shi Heng drank too much, quickly come in and help them down to rest."

"Yes!"

The servants who had their own feast at the back had already heard the noise from the hall, but didn’t dare enter without Xiao Chong’s orders!

Now, with Lin Wanwan’s orders, they immediately went ahead, each supporting their master to the side rooms of the front study hall.

For a moment, only Xiao Chong and Lin Wanwan were left in the room.

Xiao Chong, finding something to say, asked, "Cousin, what made you think of putting word couplets on both sides of the door? Normally, aren’t they just written on peach charms?"

Today, he was made to write for a long time by Lin Wanwan. The Tang Dynasty didn’t have this custom; his mysterious cousin had so many ideas!

Upon hearing Xiao Chong’s question, Lin Wanwan suddenly had an idea, clapped her hands, and said, "Yes! The spring couplets and ’Fu’ character are already pasted, but the peach charms haven’t been hung yet! Why not? Let’s go, cousin, stop drinking, let’s go make peach charms."

"Ah, this..." Xiao Chong was like lifting a stone only to drop it on his foot, regretting asking why, knowing well that Lin Wanwan wouldn’t answer honestly.

Lin Wanwan pulled him along, and Hong Yan, who was sitting in the back, heard the noise and hurriedly pulled Shu Qi along to catch up and serve.

"Mistress, where are you going? It’s cold outside, put on your cloak." Hong Yan hurriedly wrapped a cloak around Lin Wanwan.

Shu Qi also put one on Xiao Chong.

Though there were courtyard lanterns in the front and inner courtyards today, none were placed in the back, and with the lake there, the cold wind blowing across the surface made it quite chilly.

"I remember that several peach trees were planted to the east of the back storage room, right? I want to pick some to make peach charms," Lin Wanwan said.

Xiao Chong laughed helplessly, "Cousin, you’ve barely had a few cups, yet you’re more intoxicated than Xiao. Fresh peach wood has too much moisture; how can it be used for peach charms?"

Lin Wanwan realized it too, immediately changing direction: "Let’s go, in that case, we should go to Third Uncle’s; he certainly has excess peach wood."

Hong Yan smiled, "Mistress, if you want to make peach charms, there’s no need to go to Third Uncle’s; Sister Yun Shang had already prepared some and stored them in the warehouse. I’ll go ask Sister Yun Shang to get them."

Lin Wanwan suddenly realized, "Indeed, I remember now, Yun Shang did report it to me."

It’s just that in this past month, too many things happened to Lin Wanwan, leaving her somewhat distracted, passing on account matters to Xiao Yixun and New Year’s supplies preparation to Yun Shang.

Hong Yan left to fetch the blank peach wood, and Lin Wanwan and Xiao Chong returned to the main hall.

Xiao Chong was usually smart about everything, but understanding the minds of girls wasn’t his forte at all and he couldn’t sense Lin Wanwan’s bad mood.

Although he noticed Lin Wanwan seemed emotionally unstable recently, he had no idea why.

After Hong Yan brought back the peach wood, Lin Wanwan lit several glazed lamps in the study, urging Xiao Chong to write quickly.

The brush and ink used were high-grade Tang Dynasty products Lin Wanwan bought by spending generously at a bookstore in Xiaoxi Town. After writing and hanging them, letting them weather the elements, they could be collected as antiques.

Never assume that in the industry-driven modern age, pens, ink, or pigments would be superior to those of the Tang Dynasty; it’s far from the truth, not even close.

The meticulous materials used for Tang Dynasty pens and inks are beyond the wildest dreams of most people today.

An ancient saying goes, "An ounce of gold for an ounce of ink."

Just speaking of ink, good ink materials included pine wood and tung oil, with ingredients consisting of various animal glues, fragrances, traditional Chinese medicines, and even musk, borneol, rhinoceros horn, pearls, and so on.

As for good pigments, they were equally precious, staying unfaded and true in color for millennia. Materials like red coral, gems, conch were the components for pigments, incomparable to those chemical products sold for a few dozen per box.

The colors of famous paintings from ancient and modern times cannot be fully captured in photos or videos; only by viewing the originals in person can one truly perceive the difference.