Chapter 1 What is This Thing Called?

"This thing is called a flush toilet. It's for use when relieving oneself. After you're done, just press here, and water will come out to carry away the waste."

Zhao Leya explained while demonstrating.

After she finished explaining, Zhao Zhen's expression turned strange. He looked at the three of them, a hint of luck in his eyes.

Zhao Xu, Li Wenwu, and Eunuch Sun's faces immediately flushed red, their stomachs churning, and they began to retch.

Seeing their expressions, Zhao Leya guessed what had happened. "I told you not to touch things here randomly. Wait for me to come back and explain. Who told you you couldn't even wait that long? Serves you right!"

Zhao Zhen touched his nose. It seemed he was the first to discover the place and said he wanted a drink of water.

Zhao Xu finally couldn't hold it in any longer and leaned over the toilet, vomiting violently.

He had been the one who drank the most earlier and even let out a satisfied burp.

Seeing him throw up, the other two couldn't help but join in, one after the other.

The three of them leaned over the toilet, forming a circle, their sounds rising and falling.

Finally, unable to vomit anything more, even the acid from their stomachs came out. Only then did the three of them stand up, pale-faced.

"Which immoral bastard designed the toilet like this?"

Zhao Xu said through gritted teeth, indignant. He hoped he wouldn't find out who it was, or he'd definitely make them taste the toilet water.

Once the three of them had recovered somewhat, Zhao Leya began to explain things to everyone.

"This is a mirror, made of glass coated with a silver layer. It's much clearer than a bronze mirror..."

"This is soap, you rub it on your body when you take a bath..."

"This mattress is very elastic and comfortable to sleep on..."

"If you need anything, pull this rope, and the waiter will come up immediately..."

She explained everything one by one, and the others listened, finding it all incredibly novel.

Only Li Wenwu had a fervent look in his eyes, as if a gold mountain were piled up before him.

In fact, the things before them were no different from a gold mountain.

He saw endless business opportunities.

That mirror looked more exquisite than a bronze mirror, especially since it was made of glass.

If this were brought to the capital, countless people would fight over it.

And the soap, he had examined it carefully. It had the same function as yizi (a type of traditional Chinese detergent), but it was much easier to use and had a fragrant scent.

If this were brought to the capital, it would probably cause another trend.

And the toilet from before... Thinking of this, he couldn't help but feel disgusted again.

After experiencing the convenience of the toilet, he had to admit that it was indeed a good thing, and even he wanted to take one back.

In short, there were too many good things here, dazzling him. If he could take all these things back, they would be a gold mountain that he could never spend.

Soon after, the group ate breakfast brought up by the waiter.

Zhao Leya decided to take them out for a stroll to broaden their horizons, so they wouldn't mistake a toilet for a washbasin.

"But let me say this first, if there's anything you don't understand, ask me first. Don't act on your own accord again. Otherwise, it's one thing to be laughed at, but what if..."

She paused here, glancing at the bathroom.

The others had a shadow in their hearts and immediately nodded repeatedly, promising never to mess around again.

Leaving the inn, the group began to stroll along the street.

They had come in a hurry before, and didn't have time to look at many things carefully. Now they finally had time to understand everything properly.

Along the way, the group was attracted by the novel things before them, frequently stopping to watch. When they encountered something they didn't understand, they quietly asked Zhao Leya for guidance, afraid of losing face.

Zhao Leya carefully explained everything to them, as if she knew everything like the back of her hand. If she didn't understand something, she would pretend to be calm and gloss over it. Anyone who didn't know better might even think she was a local.

She was almost acting like the owner of the place.

After talking until her mouth was dry, she finally stopped and let the others look around on their own.

Zhao Xu quietly left the group and went to a bookstore.

When he had passed by this bookstore earlier, he had caught a glimpse of it and been attracted by the books displayed in front. Now that he had a chance, he immediately slipped over.

"Boss, where's that *Water Margin* I saw earlier?"

He glanced around furtively and asked quietly.

"Sorry, that was the last copy, and someone just bought it one step ahead of you. If you want it, wait for me to get more tomorrow."

The owner was a middle-aged man in his early thirties, with a slightly balding head.

"However, *Water Margin* is already outdated. What's popular now are these two, *The Legend of Sun Wukong* and *The Blazing Three Kingdoms of the Late Dongyin Dynasty*."

The old man pointed to two of the books and recommended them to him.

Zhao Xu picked them up and flipped through them. "What are they about?"

"This *Legend of Wukong* is about a monkey born from a stone..."

"What's so interesting about a monkey..." Zhao Xu curled his lip, then suddenly saw the author's name. "It's written by Teacher Ye Fan! It must be a good book. I'll take these two!"

The owner immediately wrapped them up for him and asked, "So you also like Teacher Ye Fan?"

"Of course! I'm a loyal reader of Teacher Ye Fan. I've read his *Dou Di Legend* and *Nine Dragons Coffin*, they're so wonderful. It's a pity the updates are so slow, *Dou Di Legend* has only been updated to the fifth volume so far."

"What fifth volume? It's already been updated to the eighth volume." The owner shook his head. "You must be from out of town, right? It's slower in other places."

Zhao Xu was immediately surprised. "Is Teacher Ye Fan from Apricot Blossom County?"

"Of course!" the owner said proudly. "Teacher Ye Fan's books are all printed by the Apricot Blossom County Publishing House and then sold all over the country, so we always get the fastest updates. We read them before people in other places do."

Zhao Xu listened with envy. "Who exactly is Teacher Ye Fan? I wonder where he lives, I'd like to pay him a visit."

"I don't know. Teacher Ye Fan is indifferent to fame and fortune, no one knows his identity."

Zhao Xu was immediately disappointed. "What a pity!"

The owner took out a few more books. "These two are also written by Teacher Ye Fan, and they've been selling well recently."

"Let me see!" Zhao Xu took the books and glanced at the titles.

The two books were *The Personal Bodyguard of a Rich Daughter* and *The Legend of Light: Magistrate Ye Battles the Evil God Loki*.

He was immediately attracted by the titles and was about to pay for them as well.

At this moment, a voice suddenly came from behind him.

"What are you doing?"

Hearing the familiar voice, Zhao Xu's hand trembled, and he almost dropped the book. He stuffed the book onto the book stall, turned around, and put on a smile.

"Sister, I'm just looking around. I just happened to pass by here and took a few glances."

He averted his eyes. "If there's nothing else, I'll go take a look over there!"