Chapter 42

Ji Guanghui, who was directing the neighborhood residents to set up lights to illuminate the area for customers, heard someone calling out.

He hurried over, saying, "I'm right here!"

Seeing him approach, Yu Jingshan handed over the letter, "Your mail."

Grasping the envelope with his aged hands and looking at the powerful, vigorous handwriting on it, Ji Guanghui felt a sudden ache in his nose.

[To Ji Guanghui, from all the soldiers.]

He pressed his lips together to steady his emotions, then carried a small stool over to sit under the nearby lamp.

Ji Guanghui did not tear it open immediately; instead, he gently stroked the envelope. The paper was not as fine as modern stationery, but it was neat and perfectly clean.

With utmost care, he opened the letter, his heart pounding with excitement and nervousness.

Meanwhile, Yu Jingshan suddenly leaned in toward Xia Zhui, "Stall owner, did you write a letter?"

Xia Zhui watched as customers picked out their own merchandise. "I did."

"To whom did you write?" Yu Jingshan asked with a trace of curiosity. For someone as mysterious as the stall owner, who on earth would she write to?

If it were someone in the future, she'd probably be writing to a high-tech pioneer.

As for the past...

Yu Jingshan honestly couldn't imagine.

Xia Zhui curled the corners of her lips into a smile, "Qin Shi Huang."

"He appointed me as Grand General."

Yu Jingshan: "!!!"

"You can even do that?"

Although the stall owner was extremely concise, he could piece it together from her words.

Presumably, the stall owner had written a letter to Qin Shi Huang, and Qin Shi Huang had appointed her as Grand General!

Damn it!

What a massive missed opportunity!

Had he known, he would have written a letter to Li Shimin to get himself appointed as an official. That was something he could brag about for a lifetime!

Yu Jingshan glanced back at the stall owner's expression, only to see a faint smile on the corners of her mouth, utterly calm and unruffled. Truly terrifyingly poised!

This was an appointment bestowed personally by Qin Shi Huang the Great, yet the stall owner acted so nonchalantly.

He silently gave a thumbs-up, vowing to emulate the stall owner's demeanor from this day forward.

Xia Zhui rubbed her cheeks. *Haha! Shocking, aren't you?*

*Fall down in worship!*

*The Grand General of the Qin Dynasty is right before your eyes!*

Under the warm yellow lights, the old street's residents had all come out to help, while some leaned over their second-floor windows to watch the commotion.

Yu Yan hurried over with her parents, letting out a sigh of relief when she saw the queue wasn't too long.

"Good, good, good thing we came early," Yu Yan panted, then tapped the shoulder of the person in front of her. "Handsome, what's the stall owner selling this time?"

The young man ahead of her had only just arrived as well. "Seems to be some kind of spacetime mailbox. Look, everyone's writing letters."

Yu Yan looked puzzled, "Spacetime mailbox?"

She glanced over the people writing letters. They were all seated on stools, pen and paper in hand, though who knew what they were scribbling.

Suddenly, her gaze lingered on an elderly man. The man had just pulled something out of an envelope, and under the light, the glint of tears could be seen shining in the corners of his eyes.

Ji Guanghui cupped the cap badge that had been sent in the envelope. The badge was somewhat old and stained with dust.

He gripped the five-pointed star tightly for a long while before carefully placing the badge back into the envelope and unfolding the letter to read.

[Respected Comrade Ji Guanghui:

Hello!

I write this reply to you on behalf of all the soldiers. We have seen your letter; this message spanning across spacetime has allowed us to catch a glimpse of the dawn of the future amidst the dark night.

When the soldiers read in your letter about the beauty of the future, everyone smiled happily. I believe all of this is worth it.]

Ji Guanghui's hands holding the letter paper trembled slightly. Every single stroke here was written eighty-five years ago by martyrs who perhaps had already passed away.

[I originally thought your letter should be answered by our regiment commander, but unfortunately, we are presently miles apart from him. The company commander said that since it was written to Ji Mingtian—meaning your father—your father should be the one to reply.

As you know, your father still doesn't know a single character, so I am the one who has to write this for him.

Perhaps you have heard of my name, though you have never laid eyes on me. I am your godfather, Pan Jinglong, sigh.

It is a true pity that I never got to see what you looked like when you were born, nor could I ever give you a greeting gift, but there is nothing to be done about it.

Perhaps in the future, I will be able to see you. If so, I must check whether you are a big, chubby boy just like in the photograph.

Oh, and your father is saying right beside me that he doesn't quite know what to think about suddenly having such a grown son. Then he asks why you didn't write clearly about how your father and mother met, leaving him clueless about whether he'll even run into your mother now...]

Reading up to this point, Ji Guanghui wiped his tears with his sleeve. His father had met his mother after returning to his hometown, and the two of them had lived a peaceful, blissful life together ever since.

He was old now, and his eyesight was a bit dim, so he had to fish out his reading glasses and put them on to continue reading.

His godfather's reply was not long. The letter also mentioned that the details of future military campaigns Ji Guanghui had written to them were of immense help.

He believed that this time they would be able to drive out the invaders even faster, and that their Huaxia nation would grow even stronger.

At the end, his godfather mentioned that the company commander had given his own cap badge to Ji Guanghui. They didn't have anything else on hand to give him, and he hoped Ji Guanghui wouldn't think them stingy.

He added that many comrades now wanted to become his godfather; Comrade So-and-So would teach him how to draw later, and Comrade So-and-So would teach him how to sing tunes later...

[I really want to see the Huaxia nation you spoke of sooner. It must be very beautiful, right?

And I hope to see you soon too. This time, I certainly won't break my promise!]

Ji Guanghui gazed at the letter. At the bottom was a signature along with a thumbprint, which his godfather explained was because his father didn't even know how to write characters, so he simply stamped his finger.

He cradled the letter slowly to his chest, an old man with entirely white hair closing his eyes and weeping like a child.

Seeing this, some neighborhood residents hurried over to check on him. Ji Guanghui was quite old, after all, and could hardly bear such emotional strain.

Yet Ji Guanghui merely waved a hand, a smile on his face while his tears sparkled unusually bright. He turned the letter over and carefully pulled out the cap badge to show everyone.

Only then did the neighbors understand why he was weeping.

After a long while, Ji Guanghui walked toward his home, holding the letter and the cap badge.

He was going to keep this letter safe and sound so his returning sons and daughters could have a good look at it.

The night was still long, and Xia Zhui planned to keep selling until eleven o'clock before packing up to go home.

After all, the people of the old street needed to sleep too, and customers buying things here would surely disturb their rest.

And right through the night, videos of the stall owner's new products had already been circulating widely online.

The video featured a cute little girl—none other than Tang Fu.

Tang Fu wore her hair in double buns, dressed in a school uniform, and faced the camera. She waved the fairy magic wand in her hand, "Wind!"

A gust of wind blew past, though it wasn't very strong.

She spoke again, "Balala the Little Fairy, full transformation!"

In a flash, a burst of light suddenly materialized around Tang Fu, enveloping her.

The light lasted for about three seconds, and when looked at again, her school uniform had transformed into a starry, galaxy-like princess dress.

The dress was very fluffy, its fabric shimmering like flowing stars and moons, the dark blue surface shifting dynamically.

Tang Fu giggled as she lifted the hem of her skirt with one hand and continued to wave the fairy wand with the other, "Fire!"

A burst of flames ignited behind her. She stood amidst the fire as if completely immune to any pain.

She even reached out to touch the flames, yet her little hands remained tender and fair.

"Bubbles!" Tang Fu called out again.

In the video, numerous bubbles suddenly appeared around her, with one large bubble right in front of her.

Tang Fu reached out and passed through the bubble without it bursting, then hopped directly inside. The bubble floated in the low air, and Tang Fu inside looked utterly thrilled.

Watching this video, Wen Xue wished with all her heart that she were in Jiangchao City right now.

Unfortunately, due to work commitments, she couldn't get away these past two days. Fortunately, her work would wrap up tomorrow.

She only hoped the stall owner would still have some in stock when she arrived.

She tapped open the comment section to take a look.

[Ahhhhhh! Why didn't things like this exist when I was a kid?!]

[Goodness, a magic wand! A real magic wand that even does costume changes! Help, I want to buy one, I want to buy one!]

[Little kid, let me tell you, this kind of magic wand has radiation for children. I suggest you mail it to me; adults like me aren't afraid of radiation.]

[Where did this transformation outfit come from? Is it really magic? Does that mean I'll have endless clothes to wear from now on?]

[Wake up, upstairs! You don't even have a magic wand, and besides, there are only two skirts loaded in this wand, and the skirts seem to be random. Her dress is so pretty; mine is a butterfly fairy princess dress.]

[Can it really conjure fire? Isn't that a bit dangerous? Not suitable for kids to play with.]

[No way, the stall owner's products are all suitable for anyone from three years old to a hundred-year-old grandpa, okay? This fire is just something like a phantom projection, purely special effects.]

[I'm crying, I'm crying! Why am I not in Jiangchao City?!]

[I heard housing isn't expensive in Jiangchao City. I'm planning to move and settle down there. There's a river and the stall owner, how wonderful!]

[Are there any other new products?]

[There's a spacetime mailbox! Go into this blogger's homepage and check it out; her daughter wrote a poem to Li Bai, and Li Bai even replied. I'm dying of envy!]

Seeing this, Wen Xue widened her eyes. She quickly clicked into the homepage and found that video.

In the video, an envelope was placed on a table, accompanied by a piece of paper with a poem written on it.

The blogger's caption read:

[A reply letter to little Puffs from the Poetry Immortal Li Bai. Starting today, I will definitely urge her to practice her calligraphy (grin)]

Gazing at the handwriting above, Wen Xue was reminded of the genuine calligraphy by Li Bai she had once seen in a museum; the style didn't differ too much from what was shown here.

She only wondered what little Puffs had written to Li Bai, causing him to restrain his handwriting somewhat when replying so she could actually read it.

The comment section at this moment:

[Releasing the dark, crawling ghost shrieks: Li Bai!!!!!!!! Li Bai's autograph letter!!!!!!!!]

[Is there anyone knowledgeable enough to verify if it's real or fake?]

[Don't rush, upstairs, the professionals have already authenticated it. Check the trending searches, this is indeed genuine handwriting.]