Hey, today the Yangzhou trade caravan ran into a "sweet-and-sour system-of-weights-and-measures crisis"! Ali from the Western Regions caravan and Chief Merchant Jin of Silla were shouting at each other on the deck, spit flying like sugar crystals—one bellowing, "My lion-patterned cloth is worth three camel-loads of dates!", and the other yelling, "This size is only enough for two baskets of glutinous rice!" Huwa crouched behind a counterweight and giggled, dropping the maltose candy in his hand right into a stack of measuring rules. He sewed a circle of "bursting-liquid scale candy" into the dark blue lion-pattern, and when he gave the middle a tug, scale lines with a hint of cumin came "fizzing" out, every single inch made of edible sesame candy segments.
"Huwa! Bring over the 'sweet rulers and sweet scales' right now!" yelled Pei Hongxiu. Huwa immediately poured a bucket of highland barley syrup into the loom, and the woven Abbasid astrolabe ruler began to report dimensions with a clacking sound: "Persian lion-pattern, three zhang and three chi, traded for Silla glutinous rice, three dan and three dou!" Chief Merchant Jin licked the character for "zhang", and his pageboy cried out in shock: "Sir! These scale marks taste like sweet-scented osmanthus!" Ali licked the unit for "camel" and beamed, "By the Almighty! My date-flavored scale lines are more accurate than the caravan's veteran accountant!" Huwa put his hands on his hips and laughed: "Trade wars too chaotic? What I'm…
Chapter 427