Tang Li crouched beneath the courtyard wall, staring blankly at the oil-paper wrapped “Xuan Paper Cake” in her arms.
This was the survival plan she had racked her brains to come up with after arriving in this world, all in order to repay that sky-high debt of one hundred taels.
By combining modern cake-making with ancient aesthetics, using the simplest ingredients, she had created a pastry tailored for these impoverished scholars. It was elegant, beautiful, and filling.
But would someone like Young Master He, a man of this ancient world, actually like something so novel?
Behind her, the creaking sound of the wooden gate rang out.
“Young Master He! Please wait!”
Holding the oil-paper package, Tang Li quickly caught up to the scholar who was already heading up the mountain road to the private school.
He Sheng wore an old blue scholar’s robe, a book box in his arms. Hearing her voice, his steps paused slightly. After a moment’s hesitation, he turned back, his gaze landing faintly on the oil-paper package in her hands, identical to yesterday’s. A barely noticeable frown appeared on his brow.
“What is this?”
His tone carried a trace of distance as soon as he spoke.
Tang Li, oblivious to the subtle change in him from yesterday, still smiled brightly, trying her best to sell it. “Young Master He, don’t you recognize it?”
“I refined it again after yesterday. Scholars like you study so hard, it must be mentally exhausting. This improved Xuan Paper Cake is perfect for breakfast. Why not give it a try?”
He Sheng looked at the wrinkled oil-paper wrapper and fell silent for a moment before shaking his head.
“No need.”
Tang Li froze. Her smile stiffened at the corners of her mouth.
“You haven’t even tasted it, how do you know it’s not good? I stayed up all night improving it. I reduced the sugar by thirty percent, made the icing crisp yet light, it melts in your mouth and isn’t cloying at all…”
She still refused to give up, leaning closer as she asked, “Did your grandmother not like it yesterday?”
The scholar did not answer. His gaze lowered slightly. It was a light look, yet it pressed on Tang Li’s heart like a heavy stone.
“It is too flashy and impractical. I do not like it. In the future, there is no need for you to go through such trouble.”
With that, he gave a polite bow, then turned and left without hesitation, leaving only a cold, retreating figure behind.
“Hey!”
Tang Li panicked and chased after him a few steps, urgency in her voice. “Young Master He! Don’t go! I can change it! If your grandmother doesn’t like sweet flavors, I can make it savory! If that doesn’t work, I can add dried fruit or meat floss!”
He Sheng walked quickly, unwilling to respond. Yesterday, he had returned full of hope, only for his grandmother to fly into a rage. It was his own wishful thinking that caused disappointment. He felt ashamed and embarrassed, how could he continue to give others false hope?
Tang Li stood frozen in place, watching his retreating figure, feeling deeply unsettled.
“If he doesn’t want it, fine!”
A sharp voice suddenly came from behind a crooked plum tree. Wang Cuihua emerged holding a bamboo basket, with A’Niu silently following behind her. Early that morning, she had already sent him out to buy vegetables.
“In modern times, cakes like that would sell for a fortune, and people would still line up to buy them.”
Wang Cuihua glanced at the dejected girl in the middle of the path and snorted.
“No taste!”
Behind her, A’Niu, carrying a bundle of fresh vegetables with his face half-buried in the leaves, nodded along though he clearly did not understand. In his motion, a few vegetables even fell to the ground.
Wang Cuihua’s heart ached as she hurriedly bent down to pick them up, scolding him not to move around recklessly.
Tang Li bit her lip, lost in thought.
Though Wang Cuihua’s words were harsh, they had struck a chord. He Sheng was the most famous scholar within ten li. If he approved, this Xuan Paper Cake could become a refined delicacy among scholars. If he disapproved, no one would even dare to try it, not even beggars by the roadside.
The Xuan Paper Cake she had worked on through sleepless nights had ultimately failed.
Not only had her efforts gone to waste, but she now faced the terrifying prospect of being erased by the System.
The more she thought about it, the more distressed she became. She crouched by the courtyard wall, head lowered in defeat, not even noticing the plum petals stuck to her damp fringe.
Why was this happening?
Was it because she had not done well enough?
Or did people in this world simply not like Xuan Paper Cake?
She went home, and once again spent a sleepless night.
Thud… thud…
Tang Li’s head knocked repeatedly against the wooden boards of a swaying red bridal sedan.
A sharp pain jolted her awake.
Something was wrong… there was also a strange sense of restraint around her body.
She lowered her head and saw that her hands and feet were tightly bound with hemp rope, leaving her completely unable to move.
She had been dressed in a bright red wedding gown, a large red flower hung on her chest, and a heavy hairpin pressed down on her head. The tassels before her forehead blocked most of her vision as the sedan jolted forward.
Through a small window covered in red cloth, the wind lifted a corner, revealing trees rapidly retreating outside.
She seemed to be in a mountain forest, being carried somewhere unknown.
Joyful wedding music echoed around her. Suona instruments pierced the sky, followed by drumbeats and celebratory sounds, as if a grand wedding procession was underway.
On any normal day, Tang Li would have been happy to send blessings.
But now, it felt deeply strange.
The problem was, she was not getting married!
She had stayed up for days working on Xuan Paper Cake, been rejected by Young Master He yesterday, and had fallen asleep exhausted in frustration.
So why was she here? She wasn’t the bride at all!
Plop!
A faint dripping sound suddenly echoed inside the empty sedan.
The sticky sound mixed with the festive music, crawling into her ears.
Cold sweat broke out all over Tang Li’s body. She closed her eyes tightly and silently recited every deity she could think of.
Then suddenly—
The dripping sound stopped.
Replaced by a cold mechanical voice.
[Congratulations, Host. You have triggered a hidden storyline: “Bridegroom of Paper Nightmare.” Objective: survive 24 hours. Please enjoy the hope brought by food~]
Tang Li’s eyes snapped open.
What the hell? That damned System was acting up again! Who was the paper bridegroom? What nightmare?
She struggled desperately, but the ropes would not budge.
“System! System teacher! Don’t leave me!”
She frantically tried to call out.
“Let me out! I’m not playing anymore! I want to go home! I don’t want to die!”
[Scanning host vital signs. Status: very safe.]
Save my foot! Do I look safe right now?!
But she had no time to argue. She urgently tried to salvage the situation.
“Exchange points! I want to exchange points!”
[Debt of one hundred taels detected. Users are blacklisted. Emergency assistance granted: ropes will be untied. The monster has awakened. Please begin escaping~]
As the voice fell, a sharp golden hairpin dropped from her head, followed by the System going offline.
…
Tang Li gritted her teeth in fury, but survival came first. She grabbed the hairpin, and after a few frantic movements, managed to cut the ropes free.
Just as she stood up, the sedan suddenly stopped.
The festive music outside also vanished as if cut off.
The air turned eerily still.
Then a raspy voice rang out.
“Please, bride, exit the sedan…”
A pale hand lifted the curtain and reached inside.
This was not a living person.
The fingers were twisted and wrong, not human at all.
“Please, bride, exit the sedan…”
Seeing no response, the voice grew impatient and fully pulled open the curtain.
“Don’t come any closer!”
Terrified, Tang Li shut her eyes and blindly stabbed forward with the hairpin.
When she finally opened her eyes again—
A paper-made bridal attendant stood before her.
Its face was painted with exaggerated red rouge, its expression grotesque. Hollow eyes stared at her as if observing a stubborn child.
“The bride… why are you still not getting out of the sedan…”
Tang Li screamed and shoved it away, bursting out of the sedan.
Only then did she realize the horrifying truth.
The sedan bearers were all paper figures too, crudely made, some missing arms or legs.
Yet all of them turned to stare at her with hollow eyes.
Tang Li bolted into the night, running for her life through the forest. The wind howled past her ears. Even her university fitness test had never felt this intense.
After gaining some distance, she tore off part of her restrictive wedding dress and pulled out the heavy hairpin, scattering them along a winding path to fake her escape toward the mountain foot.
The monsters would chase downhill.
While she would go the opposite way.
She crouched in the bushes near the uphill path, holding her breath.
As long as she survived until dawn, when woodcutters came up the mountain, she would be saved.
Her heartbeat thundered in her chest.
The forest was dead silent.
Then—
A pair of cold hands landed heavily on her right shoulder.
Tang Li stiffened and turned around.
The paper bridal attendant stood behind her, head tilted, smiling.
Crimson powder fell from its face as it spoke.
“Finally… found you…”