Gasp! She's a Time Traveler Using Modern Tech to Improve Ancient Life-Chapter 470 - 468: First Proper Birthday Celebration for Myself

Chapter 470: Chapter 468: First Proper Birthday Celebration for Myself

In modern times, it’s quite common for young people to throw a birthday party and invite a bunch of friends to celebrate and have fun together. But in the Great Tang, the custom of celebrating birthdays was still limited to Jiangnan, and the Central Plains were quite averse to it.

Before the Tang, even during the Sui, there were no birthday celebrations. The "Book of Songs" says, "Oh, how my parents toiled to give me life," and Yang Jian on his birthday would require everyone under heaven to eat vegetarian, as a way to commemorate his parents. Li Shimin had a similar sentiment and also refrained from birthday celebrations.

However, in Mao County, at the beginning of this year, Lin Wanwan was granted the title of Village Lady. After reconnecting with her Lin Family relatives, she had already attended several birthday banquets.

This shows that the cultural differences between Jiangnan and the Central Plains are quite significant.

With unification, cultural exchanges between the north and south became frequent, and this custom of celebrating birthdays will gradually spread from Jiangnan throughout the Great Tang.

Li Shimin’s descendants, such as Li Longji, not only held grand birthday celebrations but even created a holiday for his birthday called "Eternal Celebration Day."

Following the customs of Jiangnan, Lin Wanwan naturally wanted to throw a birthday banquet, giving everyone a reason to gather and celebrate.

She chose to hold the birthday banquet in Little Creek Town, mainly to accommodate the nobles she was in contact with.

After all, traveling to the remote Lin Family Manor in Wanghai Village was a long journey and carriages moved slowly, which the nobles did not favor.

Nonetheless, Lin Wanwan did not forget the people at Lin Family Manor and instructed Sun Chuyao to host a festival there, inviting the whole clan for a feast to celebrate together.

On her birthday, little Qingyu woke up and hugged Lin Wanwan’s neck, asking, "Mom, do I not have to study today?"

Lin Wanwan, not fully awake, smiled with her eyes closed, "Hmm, no studying today."

"Oh oh oh! That’s great!" Little Qingyu happily snuggled her head against Lin Wanwan’s neck and then leaned in with her little face and kissed Lin Wanwan on her unwashed cheek.

"Mom, I want to show Man Ting and the others my little kitty today, they all really want to see it." Little Qingyu couldn’t sleep anymore and was about to get up.

This little one always resisted getting up during school days, no matter how many times she was urged. She would keep her eyes closed and let the maids help her dress. But as soon as a day off came, she’d be up earlier than a rooster.

With the birthday banquet today and many guests coming over, little Qingyu was naturally more excited.

Lin Wanwan, who initially planned to lag in bed a bit, was stirred awake by little Qingyu and decided to get up, letting Hong Yan and others assist with her wash and grooming.

Lin Wanwan usually didn’t like wearing complex headpieces and accessories, as they were too heavy and made her scalp feel tense. But for today’s birthday banquet, she naturally had to dress up elegantly.

Nonetheless, Lin Wanwan didn’t want it too complicated, so she instructed Hong Yan to style her hair into a Lingyun Bun and add the elaborate, costly Dragon Pearl Hair Crown, which was enough to look elegant and dignified.

This crown was embedded with numerous pearls and gemstones, with the most precious being an orange Dragon Pearl resembling flames.

In a modern Hong Kong Island auction, a Dragon Pearl weighing approximately 20 grams once sold for 2.7 million US dollars, setting a world record for a single pearl sale.

Due to the rarity of Dragon Pearls, and even fewer of perfect quality suitable for making ornaments, globally there are probably just over two hundred, thus they haven’t formed a mature price system like other jewelry. Their sale price generally depends on what collectors are willing to pay.

Lin Wanwan is not short of money now, so she certainly did not consider selling her two rare Dragon Pearls, which represent little Qingyu’s good fortune!

She hired Zhu Baotian, a retired Imperial Goldsmith from Zhu Family Gold Building, to craft two crowns of different sizes, perfect for a parent-child style with little Qingyu today.

Having a daughter means you can dress up daily and wear matching outfits when going out, which is quite showy.

Today Lin Wanwan chose clothing that matched the hair crown perfectly, a fine piece from the Embroidery Workshop, comprising an apron-style champagne dress with a dark straight collar and lapel shirt with large sleeves, adorned with peony embroidery, elegant and noble.

Hong Yan has the most skillful hands, and her styled hair deeply pleased Lin Wanwan.

The Lingyun Bun was quickly done under her hands, and once adorned with the exquisite Dragon Pearl Hair Crown, Lin Wanwan instantly appeared ethereal like the Nine Heavens Profound Lady.

Little Qingyu watched, eyes gleaming, and persistently demanded the same hairstyle and clothes as her mom.

"Alright, alright, today our little Qingyu will wear a matching outfit with mom," said Lin Wanwan, who loved wearing matching outfits with her daughter, and naturally, little Qingyu did as well.

Lin Wanwan’s passion for matching outfits with little Qingyu and their equally high looks set off a wave of interest in matching outfits among Mao County’s high society.

While Lin Wanwan and her daughter were busy dressing up, the servants in the manor were up at dawn preparing under Yun Shang’s arrangements.

A lively and jubilant atmosphere enveloped the courtyard, with dragon-dancing decorations and colorful phoenix banners flying.

Fresh vegetables were picked directly from a garden converted into farmland in the backyard, while various meats had been stocked in the cellar since yesterday.

This manor, purchased by Lin Wanwan from the Yu Family, featured elaborate design, including a grand main hall, along with a Warm Pavilion, greenhouse, and fire walls.

Among them, the greenhouse was essentially the Great Tang’s version of a "hot house," surrounded by fire walls, with heated floors and pits for easy coal burning, almost rivaling the glass greenhouse Lin Wanwan had constructed at Lin Family Manor.

The design of the heated floor and fire walls made this greenhouse perpetually spring-like, with its former owner relying on it to produce fresh winter vegetables.

After inheriting the mansion, Lin Wanwan slightly upgraded the already strong greenhouse by replacing paper windows with glass and adding an entire piece of glass to the eaves, greatly enhancing lighting.

Those who saw the remodeled greenhouse couldn’t help but praise it.

Lin Wanwan planted various fruits inside, including tomatoes, strawberries, cherry tomatoes, papayas, and grapes.

For today’s birthday banquet, Lin Wanwan instructed Yun Shang to pick grapes and cherry tomatoes grown in the greenhouse to treat the guests—in fact, in addition to her own crops, Lin Wanwan also bought some directly from modern fruit stores to mix in.

For a birthday banquet, since there were fruits and vegetables and meats, naturally the birthday cake could not be absent.

Cake was one of Red Face Smile’s specialty pastries, available only to premium members.

Officially claimed as a Lin Family secret recipe, but of course it was all bought from modern sources by Lin Wanwan.

Although cakes frequently appeared in Mao County’s upper society, nobody had previously associated them with birthdays, and today Lin Wanwan intended to pioneer this trend.

Lin Wanwan and her daughter had barely finished dressing when, after breakfast with Xiao Yixun, the gatekeeper reported that several ladies and gentlemen from the Wang Family had arrived.

The Wang Family, being neighbors to Lin Wanwan, naturally arrived early due to their proximity.

Xiao Yixun, being introverted, could not withstand noisy environments, so when guests arrived, she excused herself and retreated upstairs.

Spending time alone in her room was something Xiao Yixun had long been accustomed to, as she rarely went out to see guests since childhood.