When the moonlight of the hai hour poured into the Calligraphy and Painting Boat in Chongren Ward of Chang'an, Xiao Moli's abacus-bead ledger snapped shut with a sharp crack. The abacus beads bounced across the pages, forming the character "Refined": "Yifan! The average customer spend for the literati district at the hai hour has reached fifteen strings of cash, yet they are all one-off customers!" The protagonist chuckled, gently swaying his abacus-bead repeat-purchase compass: "Once scholars finish their tea, they go off to write poetry. Who would visit a second time in the middle of the night?" The abacus beads instantly bounced into the shape of the character "Sour," projecting the sour, pen-chewing faces of the scholars onto the compass.
Su Wanyue's wellness tea-house drifted with the osmanthus aroma of abacus beads, which bounced into the character "Stay" over the tea stove: "We need to make the scholars 'finish their tea and want to come back again'—" The abacus beads leaped into a teacup, spelling out "Refill," "and hide abacus-bead poetry slips in the tea. Finishing the tea lets them exchange it for Lady Xiao's calligraphy!" Xiao Moli raised an eyebrow, and the abacus beads had already arranged themselves into a formation of the character "Slip" along her wolf-hair brush, the tip automatically writing: "Bead tea retains guests, calligraphy is gifted to the wise."
Huwa came running over, holding a carved miniature figurine along with a tube of abacus-bead poetry sli…
Chapter 240