Having finished admiring the wood carvings and reading the book, the four of them began tasting the bubblegum imprinted with designs.
"Crystal-clear candy with exquisite patterns—now it's got top marks in appearance, flavor, and texture. I just wonder how many we'll sell later." Since this had to do with the public acceptance of slimes as an ingredient, Xiangling was very invested.
Chongyun picked a piece with a Mint pattern and popped it into his mouth. After chewing a few times, he looked satisfied. "This refreshing flavor might actually replace ice cream to help suppress my pure yang body. At the very least, I'll definitely support the bubblegum business."
"You could go for the chewing gum—more refined. You can chew one piece for over half an hour thanks to its hardness," Xiangling suggested.
"But chewing gum can't be blown into bubbles! Just chewing it is boring. It doesn't compare to bubblegum at all."
Victor Wang thought for a moment, then nodded in agreement. "In my dream, bubblegum was for kids, chewing gum for adults. But now that I think about it, bubblegum really seems better all around."
"Right? And there's the flavor issue. Sweet Flower, Apple, and Mint are all great. Lots of people like spicy food, so Jueyun Chili I can understand. But… Onion flavor? Will anyone really buy that?"
"What's wrong with onion? I love it!" Xiangling protested firmly.
She picked up a piece of onion-flavored bubblegum—easily identifiable as the one nobody else had touched in any of the taste tests—and chewed it while muttering, "It's for the ceremony, okay? These were the first five flavors I made. It just felt wrong to drop any of them. If no one really likes it, I'll just make less…"
Hu Tao, usually even more energetic than Xiangling, had stayed quiet for a while after finishing The Butterfly Lovers. Only after chewing a piece of Jueyun Chili-flavored bubblegum did she regain her spark. "It's almost lunchtime. Let's see how many we sell."
"Exactly, I need to go make more!" Xiangling hurried back to the kitchen.
"It's lunchtime already? I got so caught up in the book that time just flew… I should go see if Xingqiu's been released yet." Chongyun left too.
That left just Hu Tao and Victor Wang, two idle people quietly blowing bubbles—their first truly peaceful moment alone together.
Hu Tao picked up The Butterfly Lovers again and read it from the beginning. When she reached the part where the two became butterflies, she sighed once more.
"Victor, when you said you were a writer, I didn't take it seriously. I never expected your story to be this good."
"No need to dwell on that. When you said you knew how to carve, I didn't expect your carvings to be this good either."
In truth, Victor Wang had guessed it.
When Hu Tao said she could carve, he immediately thought of the guest room in Wangsheng Funeral Parlor filled with blank spirit tablets—most of which were likely carved by her. But saying so wouldn't have been half as tactful as what he just said.
"Since you're a writer, will this book be published?"
Victor Wang couldn't quite tell what Hu Tao was thinking, so he answered honestly. "I wrote it for you. If you want it published, then I'll publish it. Otherwise, just keep the original manuscript."
"Of course it should be published! A story this good shouldn't be kept from others."
"Then I'll publish it. Once Xingqiu finishes reading it, I'll look for a publisher. Oh, didn't Lanxi say she wanted to read it too?"
"Big Sis Lan? I'll bring her a copy next time we head to the Border."
They fell into silence again.
"You blow really big bubbles," Victor Wang said, trying to break the quiet.
"Hmph~ This Hall Master is naturally gifted. If there was a bubble-blowing contest, I'd definitely win first place!"
"A bubble-blowing contest, huh? That'll have to wait until bubblegum gets a little more well-known. The problem is, none of our squad has organized anything like that before—we've got no experience with rules, judges, prizes, registration…"
"Ask Zhongli—he definitely knows!"
"Well, yeah… that's true."
Silence returned, broken only by the sound of bubbles being blown and popping.
Victor Wang couldn't help but think—if Paimon were here, there'd be no awkward pauses at all.
He tried again to break the silence. "You seem a little distracted. Is something on your mind?"
"I used to really like The Book of Five Springs's story," Hu Tao said with a troubled look, "but after reading The Butterfly Lovers, I realized The Book of Five Springs is kind of lacking."
"Oh, that's what you're worried about. There's no need to compare. There's no 'number one' in literature—you can like both stories. They're not in conflict… Honestly, I thought you didn't like The Butterfly Lovers."
"I like it, of course I do. Especially the ending—how did you come up with the butterfly transformation?"
"I chose it especially for you."
Now that was a moment of silence that truly needed no words.
But just as lunchtime hit, customers suddenly flooded into Wanmin Restaurant like waves crashing ashore, and the place instantly became lively…
"Xiangling's in the kitchen again today? We're in for a treat!"
"Can't believe she stayed put for so many days!"
"Hey now! What, are you saying my food isn't good?" Chef Mao interjected.
"My bad, my bad—Master Mao's cooking is also excellent. But Xiangling's is the student surpassing the master!"
That comment technically admitted Xiangling's food was better, but it made Chef Mao feel good, so he let it slide with a laugh.
Chongyun and Xingqiu returned as well, mixed in with the crowd. Even from a distance, they could hear Xingqiu's voice:
"Ugh, sitting there all morning nearly bored me to death—thank the Archons it's finally recessed."
Following closely behind them were Ningguang's three secretaries.
"Childe's lawyer was tenacious, but under the mountain of evidence and Ms. Yanfei's relentless arguments, I doubt they'll last through this afternoon."
The secretaries were clearly discussing Childe's trial. Judging from their presence, it seemed they'd come over with Xingqiu during the recess. Upon spotting Victor Wang and Hu Tao, they came over to greet them.
"Huh? What are you two eating? How are you making bubbles like that?"
"It's blowing bubbles, not spitting them. Here—Wanmin's newest item: bubblegum and chewing gum. One piece is just 100 Mora. You should buy some and try it out," Victor Wang said, giving a small pitch.
Marketing it would be easy. Hand out some bubblegum to kids at the dock or on the street, and it'd go viral in three days. But there was no need—bubblegum didn't need gimmicks. It had the strength to sell itself.
Naturally, if they worked with Ningguang, her three secretaries must've had sharp business sense. After exchanging glances, all three seemed to recognize the opportunity.
They sat at a nearby table and made the first official purchase of bubblegum and chewing gum…
Xingqiu and Chongyun also sat down. Xingqiu couldn't wait to pick up The Butterfly Lovers.
"This is the book Victor wrote? Let me see!"
His reaction matched the others exactly: laughter at first, then shifting expressions.
But once he finished reading, something still felt off. It wasn't the sadness of someone who'd just read a tragedy—his emotions were more complex, subtle, harder to explain.
He glanced at Victor Wang, set the book down gently, and nodded. "It's very well written. Definitely surpasses The Book of Five Springs…"
"…I'm planning to publish it. When we first met, you humbly called yourself a 'bookworm in a sea of books'. You probably know the most about the publishing scene around here. Do you know where I should go to find a publisher?"
Xingqiu hesitated. "Publishing? I—I'm not too sure."
His eyes shifted away. When he wrote A Legend of Sword, he had sought a publisher. So, what he just said wasn't entirely truthful. Unfortunately, Victor Wang knew this.
Maybe he was worried that A Legend of Sword would be discovered by a friend or someone from a publishing house—and that he'd lose face. Maybe… But Victor was certain the real issue was The Butterfly Lovers. He was watching closely.
"I see… then I guess I'll ask around at the bookstores?"
"The biggest bookstore in Liyue is Wanwen Bookhouse. Let's go after lunch and ask. I've never seen the full process of publishing a book myself," Hu Tao said, looking excited.
Chongyun agreed. "Yeah, me neither."
"You guys… Victor, do you have to publish this book?"
"I promised Hu Tao I would."
"Ugh…" Xingqiu scratched his head awkwardly. "But what if… what if it gets accused of plagiarism? Both stories are about families opposing love, both end in death… The similarities are pretty strong, aren't they?"
"There's still a big difference between this and The Book of Five Springs, right?" Hu Tao looked a bit annoyed at his pushback.
"That's not what I meant… sigh…"
Xingqiu kept giving Victor meaningful looks, but Victor didn't pick up on any of them.
Once the lunch rush was over, Xiangling happily counted up the day's bubblegum and chewing gum sales.
"A total of 79 sold—not bad for a brand-new dish. Especially considering we told everyone the main ingredient is slime. Six of those were onion flavor, so someone does like it!"
Chongyun didn't hold back. "It's clearly a niche flavor though."
"Ugh… let's not dwell on that. Let's go see how The Butterfly Lovers can get published."
…
"You want to publish? Oh, may I take a look first? If it's well-written, the publisher can cover the costs. If not, you'll have to pay for printing yourself."
"Please." Victor Wang handed the manuscript of The Butterfly Lovers to Ji Fang, owner of Wanwen Bookhouse.
"…I'm sorry. This book can't be approved for publication—it's suspected of plagiarism."
"What? Is it The Book of Five Springs?"
Ji Fang handed the manuscript back, frowning.
"No. It's something else entirely. Since you were able to write this, you probably already know which one I mean.
"If you ask me, the imitation was too obvious. Aside from changing names and tweaking the ending… sigh. I get that young people want to imitate sometimes…"
Hu Tao, Chongyun, and Xiangling all turned their shocked gazes toward Victor Wang.
And Xingqiu sighed—as if he'd known this was coming all along.