novelraw Chapter 167 The System Has an Extra Screen
Chapter 167 The System Has an Extra Screen
Chapter 167 The System Has an Extra Screen
Gu Lai'an's face darkened, and he glared at Gu Ping'an with unfriendly eyes. Gu Ping'an was not afraid of him, bent down to pick up the firewood behind him, and threw it next to him.
"Hurry up and chop! Don't try to procrastinate like this. I know how much firewood you can chop in two hours, and so does your father. If your father comes back and sees that you've only chopped this much, be careful he doesn't chop you up like firewood!"
These words left Gu Lai'an furious but unable to speak out.
He knew perfectly well that Gu Ping'an wasn't bluffing; his father really would do such a thing.
Suppressing his anger, Gu Lai'an tried to pull out the axe again, but it still wouldn't budge.
Seeing his clumsy attempt, Gu Tang was truly impressed: "Look how clumsy you are! Shake that axe left and right a few times, use a little finesse, and you can slowly pull it out. If you grit your teeth and try to force it, you'll exhaust yourself and still not be able to pull it out!"
This wasn't just idle talk; the original owner had chopped wood before and knew some of the techniques.
But Gu Lai'an didn't listen to her at all. He felt that Gu Tang was scolding him, and he was furious and frustrated.
He had just been scolded by Gu Ping'an, and now he was cursed by Gu Tang. There was no one else as unfortunate as him.
Taking a deep breath, Gu Lai'an wished he could raise the axe and chop the siblings on the head!
If he weren't afraid that his father would really kick him out to be a beggar when he came back, he would have left immediately. This job is not for humans!
Seeing that Gu Lai'an wasn't listening to her at all and was still gritting his teeth and struggling with the firewood and axe, Gu Tang rolled her eyes and turned to leave.
Gu Ping'an stopped urging him, picked up a few pieces of firewood, stacked them together, and sat on them to wait patiently.
When his father comes back, he will definitely come to check. Don't be afraid of being punished, just let him slowly wear him down.
Gu Tang returned to the front yard, went to her room, lit the stove, and opened a window, instantly brightening the room.
They carried the small stone mortar into the house from the kitchen, along with the kettle and various small bamboo bowls, and placed them inside for later use.
Oh, by the way, she also cut out five palm-sized pieces of gauze, which she kept as spares.
These things are used to make incense and extract dyes.
Now that she's far away from the Gu family, she can make incense at will, no longer afraid that the Gu family will be jealous and ruin her plans.
He took out the fragrance recipes from his system backpack, picked and chose four: Teasing Fragrance, Spring Memories in Snow, Spiritual Connection Fragrance, and Cypress Fragrance.
The "Teasing Fragrance" is made from flowers, using a variety of floral materials. It begins with spring-blooming flowers to define the fragrance, then adds summer flowers to complete the aroma. The scent is sweet, pure, and joyful, with a lingering, murmuring fragrance. ①
"Spring Tidings in Snow" is a fragrance recipe personally blended by the great scholar Su Dongpo. When lit, it's like ten thousand plum trees blooming in the snow, a cool yet warm sensation. ②
Lingxi incense is a health-promoting fragrance, primarily herbal, with aromatic properties that relieve depression, dispel dampness and heat, and improve appetite. ③
Cypress incense is also a health-promoting fragrance; its aroma is mellow and sweet, refreshing and soothing, and can nourish the heart and kidneys. ④
After memorizing the selected incense recipe and putting it back in her backpack, Gu Tang washed her hands and began to mix the incense.
Aphrodisiac fragrances of peony, rose, jasmine, lotus, magnolia...
Sandalwood, sage, cloves, musk... in the snow.
Lingxi Xiang contains cloves, spikenard, patchouli...
Cypress seeds, etc.
She has all kinds of spices for the last three fragrances and can mix them all, except for the aphrodisiac fragrance, which is missing peony and rose.
Gu Tang gathered all the flowers used for the love potion into her arms, repeatedly muttering: "I want peonies, I want roses, I want peonies, I want roses..."
Next, bring up the system panel and use up today's check-in points.
[Ding! Congratulations, host, for completing today's check-in! You have received one "Random Flower Gift Box"!]
Gu Tang pursed her lips. It was time to try her luck again!
Once the gift box is opened, you might get both peonies and roses if you're lucky.
If you're unlucky... you either have to use other flowers to replace peonies and roses, or you have to put it aside for now and choose another fragrance formula.
Carefully placing the flowers in his arms, Gu Tang rubbed his hands together, took out the incense his father had bought for worshipping Buddha, and lit three sticks.
Then he prayed to the Jade Emperor, Buddha, Jesus, Mary, and others.
Feeling that her sincerity wasn't enough after praying, Gu Tang knelt down and kowtowed three more times, hoping to be blessed with a perfect blind box on her first try!
After kowtowing, Gu Tang tapped the "Hundred Flowers Gift Box" and selected "Open".
Soon, countless petals of various colors exploded and fell on the system panel.
After the petals fell, leaving five buds, they began to bloom one by one, accompanied by the crisp electronic voice of the system:
[Congratulations, host! You have won one bag each of rosemary, lavender, night-blooming jasmine, iris, and calendula.]
Pretty!
Five types of flowers, but no peonies or roses—what a waste of time!
Gu Tang touched his forehead. Those three kowtows were real; he'd really lost out!
Five kinds of flowers, pick one at random to check, and it's still a 100-pound package; the system is always generous with the quantity.
Without peonies and roses, the aphrodisiac has only two options: either set it aside or replace it.
Gu Tang hesitated for a moment, then chose option two: Replace!
She replaced the peony and rose with lavender and calendula, wondering how the final taste would be.
Gu Tang took out the lavender and calendula and put them together with the other flowers, as she would need to sort them out later.
Some flowers need to have their hearts and stems removed, while others need only their stamen tips. This requires patience, picking out each flower one by one.
The other three types of incense are mostly processed semi-finished products, in powder form, which only need to be mixed with binding powder and then shaped.
Gu Tang didn't draw any sticky rice flour, nor could she buy any, so she chose to use glutinous rice flour instead.
Glutinous rice flour has no odor when burned, just like regular rice flour, so there's no need to worry about it ruining the overall aroma of the incense.
After mixing the spices of each fragrance and setting them aside, Gu Tang began to extract the dye.
She used the "Five-Color Series Gift Pack" she had previously received from checking in to extract five colors: red, blue, yellow, purple, and green.
After selecting the desired color, Gu Tang added water to the mixed spices and stirred them into a ball. Then, she randomly pinched off a small piece and kneaded it repeatedly in her hands.
The "fragrance-making machine skill" on his body activated on its own. His hands felt slightly warm, as if they had gained independent consciousness, displaying superb skill and unparalleled mastery.
Just then, the system panel suddenly popped up on its own, startling Gu Tang without warning, and she immediately stopped what she was doing.
Why did the system panel suddenly pop up?!
Just as she was about to close the system panel, her gaze suddenly sharpened as she noticed a smaller blue screen that had appeared next to the system panel!
Gu Tang was a little confused. When she woke up earlier, she had called up the system panel to check the time, but this blue screen was not there at that time.
So, this just popped up?
The blue screen was empty, with nothing on it. Gu Tang was very curious and reached out to tap it.
The next instant, the screen flashed, and a bunch of options appeared on it.
Upon closer inspection, these options are all related to incense, including the types of incense and the shape of the incense sticks, just like the options on the screen on top of the incense maker.
Seeing this, Gu Tang understood somewhat; the screen was probably related to her skills.
However, this is not the first time she has made incense since acquiring the skill. If it is really related to the skill she possesses, why didn't she appear before?
Was it because the skill had just been acquired and many functions had not yet been integrated?
Gu Tang shook her head, unable to understand what was going on.
However, from the current perspective, this change isn't bad; it actually makes incense making more convenient for her. Therefore, whether she understands it or not is no longer important.
Try silently reciting "Backflow Incense". The options on the blue screen will automatically change, and all the options will disappear, leaving only the "Backflow Incense" option.
Gu Tang's eyes lit up, and she silently repeated: Peony,
Soon, a peony flower appeared on the screen.
Immediately afterwards, a breakdown video appeared in Gu Tang's mind, showing how to sculpt a peony flower by hand, with tools used as aids.
There are no restrictions on the tools used; any sharpened stick will do.
Gu Tang searched the room but couldn't find a sharpened stick. However, she did have the "Endless Supply" sewing kit that she had drawn earlier.
There were needles and scissors inside, which Gu Tang took out as auxiliary tools.
With the help of the assistive tools, a peony was quickly created in Gu Tang's hands.
The moment it was completed, a line of text appeared on the blue screen: Backflow Fragrance, Flower Shape, Peony.
The peony held in the palm of the hand is about the size of an egg. The flower is full and the petals are layered. Even the stamen in the middle is lifelike.
Gu Tang felt that this time, when sculpting peonies, she was more skilled and fluent than when she sculpted four-leaf clovers. She guessed that as the number of times she made incense increased, her skill proficiency also increased.
Besides the increased skill level, the realism has also increased significantly. For example, the "peony" in my palm could be made into a real peony flower with just a little more color.
Gu Tang took the extracted dye and chose purple.
Using a brush, apply the diluted paint to the peony, carefully covering it inside and out. In no time, a purple peony is complete.
It looks a bit like Wei Zi, but the color is a bit thicker and richer.
As the paint gradually dried, the rich purple adhered perfectly to the "peony," with an oily texture, making it increasingly difficult to see any trace of application, just like a real peony that had just been picked.
This paint is wrong...
Gu Tang frowned slightly, dipped her index finger in the paint, and rubbed it with her thumb. Both fingers were stained purple, equally rich and thick, with an exceptionally beautiful color.
Beautiful as it may be, without the aid of modern technology, handmade dyes shouldn't produce such rich and vibrant colors.
Moreover, her method of extracting dye was very simple and crude; under normal circumstances, the resulting dye should not be of very good quality.
She thought it would take one or two hours to extract the dye, but to her surprise, the dyeing plants were very fragile when she got them.
She pounded the plants in a small mortar and pestle a hundred times, and the powder was crushed into a very fine powder.
After she filtered the dye through the gauze, it should have been air-dried before being mixed with seed oil.
But before she could let it air dry, she scooped out a lump of the damp dye and mixed it with seed oil to make a purple pigment.
I thought that the paint produced by such a crude method would have an incorrect color and be difficult to apply, but to my surprise, the paint was rich and oily in color and very easy to apply, without any sense of craftsmanship.
It seems that the dyeing plants provided by the system are different from what is expected.
To verify this conjecture, Gu Tang took out the purple gromwell root he had previously bought in Bei'an City.
She had just used the purple dye extracted from the purple gromwell given to her by the system, and now she was using the same dyeing plant and the same method to extract the dye again, and finally making a comparison.
The first step is to crush the dried purple gromwell root.
But soon, Gu Tang was defeated at this step.
The purple gromwell root she bought in Bei'an City was very difficult to crush; she tried for a long time but still couldn't get it into powder.
Since it can't be crushed, let's try another method—chop it up with a knife, add water, and boil it.
Go to the kitchen and get a knife, chop the purple gromwell root into small pieces, then put it in a kettle and boil it, and finally filter it.
After much effort, Gu Tang finally produced a small blob of dye.
I randomly dug out a piece of paint, mixed it with seed oil, and the resulting paint was neither right nor glossy. When I applied it to paper, the color was dull and lacked luster, and it contained many impurities.
It seems that the dyeing plants provided by the system are indeed unique.
She said, without modern technology or the various additives used in dye extraction, how could her crude and almost unbearable extraction technique produce such a beautiful purple?
It turns out the system they provide is good.
Gu Tang's heart stirred. The dyeing plants given by the system were unique. What about the other items?
For example, the various spices she drew?
Is it also unique in the same way?
Looking at the many spices on the table, it's unlikely that we could try them all.
Gu Tang pondered for a moment, then decided to treat them all the same, but each one unique, and sell them at twice the price!
Since she has a monopoly on the business, no one can negotiate a lower price with her, so she can set a high price and still sell the products.
With the purple peony as the starting point, Gu Tang then sculpted nine more peonies, making it a complete set.
Besides peonies, she also sculpted plum blossoms, bamboo, chrysanthemums, and orchids.
She had previously discussed with her father the plan to sell the first batch of backflow incense to scholars, using them as a springboard to gradually expand the business.
Since it is sold to scholars, the shape of this incense is naturally based on their preferences.
I believe that no scholar doesn't love plum blossoms, orchids, bamboo, and chrysanthemums, and they would certainly love peonies as well, since very few peonies can be successfully grown in Bei'an City.
Things are valued for their rarity; the less common they are, the more sought after they become.
Everyone loves peonies, and everyone buys items associated with peonies. This incense made in the shape of a peony will surely be sought after by everyone.
Gu Tang felt increasingly pleased with herself as she hummed a little tune while applying color to the backflow incense.
She plans to dye ten peonies red, yellow, purple, and green.
The plum blossoms are dyed red, yellow, and green. The bamboo is green and purple.
Orchids are whole flowering plants with green leaves and red, yellow, and purple flowers.
Chrysanthemums come in many colors: red, yellow, blue, green, and purple—all five colors are now available.
As Gu Tang made incense more and more, she became faster and faster, able to make several in a quarter of an hour. She made fifty incense sticks in total, and after some final refinement, it only took her a little over two hours.
If you knead the peony quickly, the coloring process becomes slower, especially for double-petaled peonies, where each petal must be carefully colored to perfection, without any flaws.
After applying the color, carefully place the backflow incense aside to allow it to air dry slowly.
①②③④ are all from online sources.