Hey, the Yangzhou caravan threw a "sweet-as-can-be global village party" today! Merchants from all nations packed the Yangzhou docks, and Ali from the Western Regions hoisted a lion-patterned banner that sprayed fire, shouting, "Miss Xiao! Our Abbasid Sultan wants to weld the 'Persian Lion' onto the outer walls of the royal palace!" Grand Merchant Kim from Silla bounced up and down, clutching a bamboo-and-chrysanthemum brocade that could recite texts, and chattered, "Our king says we should carve the sweet phrases of the *Analects* into paving stones!" Dawa's yak caravan from Tibet carried coarse silk blankets that practically breakdanced, and the yaks even had "green-ox dark-pattern" sugar skewers dangling from their tails.
"Huwa! Hurry up and bring out the 'Four Sweet Treasures'!" Pei Hongxiu stood at the bow and waved a hand. Huwa was already crouched behind the colorful canopy rubbing his hands together when his rainbow candy dropped into the fountain with a plash—he had poured a ring of "pop-sparking fireworks candy" into the dark-blue lion-patterned fountain, and as the water columns surged, they crackled and burst into cumin-scented fluorescent blossoms, startling a camel into sneezing out a shower of sugar stars, until even the stone lions at the dock smacked their lips and licked at the sweet water.
The most extraordinary part was the custom-made "Four-Piece Sweet Set" for the international celebration:
Chapter 441