*
The Grand Scholar touched his scholar's necklace, the dozen or so metal pieces swaying gently around his neck. He smiled and said, "Sir Kevan, you haven't been in the Westerlands recently, so you're unaware of the strange and incredible changes that have occurred to Sir Gregor..."
"...What else is happening in the Demon Mountain...?...astonishing changes..."
"Strictly speaking, his change occurred about a month ago, triggered by a severe headache."
"I know he has always had headaches and needs to drink a lot of poppy milk."
Tywin interjected, "Poppy milk shouldn't be consumed in large quantities. What I know is that Eddard Stark in the North almost never drinks poppy milk when he's sick or injured."
"Yes, poppy milk can treat illnesses, help with sleep, and relieve pain, but excessive consumption can lead to serious dependence and harm the body," the scholar said.
"So what exactly was wrong with Gregor's headache?" Kevan asked.
"He has fallen into a coma and has a persistent high fever," the scholar said.
"I thought he was going to die, and I've already made arrangements for his funeral." Tywin waved for the servants to take away the bowl of 'bitter' bacon soup.
"But the Mountain is perfectly fine now!" Kevon said.
"Yes, he woke up three days later. After resting and recovering for a few days, he seemed different. He became taciturn and barely responded when the Duke spoke to him. Then one day, he suddenly suggested that he go back to Clegane Castle to rest and recuperate. Fearing that something might happen to him, the Duke sent Junior Secretary Potter to accompany him, along with his three loyal subordinate officers."
"Sweet-talking Ralph, executioner Dunsen, and suicide bomber Pollyver," Kevan rattled off.
"Yes, those three people accompanied him back, along with the young scholar Potter, sent by the Duke. According to Scholar Potter, after the Mountain returned to Clegane Castle, he stopped drinking poppy milk and instead bound himself to a stone bed to forcibly break his dependence on it. He didn't get up from the stone bed until two days later. Perhaps it was from that moment that he suddenly seemed to become enlightened, inexplicably becoming wiser..."
"Wisdom? The Demon Mountain? How is that possible?" Kevan was unwilling for the maester to use 'wisdom' to glorify the Demon Mountain.
Tywin interjected, "The Mountain himself said it was because of the Seven Gods, and he even commissioned craftsmen to build a shrine to the Seven Gods. He said he received the light of the Seven Gods, which suddenly made him understand a lot of knowledge he never knew before."
"The Father God is judgment; the Mother God is nurturing; the Warrior God is battle; the Maiden God is purity; the Blacksmith God is craftsmanship; Death is a stranger; and only the Old Woman God represents wisdom. If he receives wisdom and knowledge, then he can only receive the light of the Old Woman, not the light of the Seven Gods." Kevon expressed his disbelief in the Mountain's words.
"I believe he received the light of the Seven Gods," Tywin said.
Kevan opened his mouth as if to speak, but was frozen by Tywin's words. He was speechless for a long while before finally saying, "Well, I believe what the Mountain said about receiving the light of the Seven Gods."
"Don't be so skeptical, the Magic Mountain also has some very ingenious military inventions." Grand Scholar Potter smiled and raised his long eyebrows.
"military?"
"Let's not talk about the sentry post for now, let's get the noodles," Tywin said.
"Yes, sir." The three servants waiting on the side immediately brought over the noodles that had been prepared in advance.
The noodles were short, thick, and slippery, like loaches, quite different from the white noodles of Earth's civilization where he had transmigrated into a science and engineering student at Gregor University. To be precise, they were more like knife-cut noodles. However, these noodles were not knife-cut, but handmade, so they varied in size and had extremely irregular shapes.
Kevan noticed that the servants had placed a small, flat, carved wooden box, about the length of a dagger, in front of the Maester and the Duke of Tywin, while in his own noodle bowl, as usual, was a knife and fork.
"You don't have knives and forks in your bowls?" Kevan asked, his face full of confusion.
According to custom, noodles are not served at this time. Moreover, roast meat, grilled meat, bread, lettuce, honey, fruit, wine, pastries, desserts, etc., are all not served, completely violating the order and rules of serving dishes.
"We'll use what's in the box," the scholar said with a smile.
Tywin and the scholar opened the box and took out two small, round stick-like objects. These two strange objects were the same size and length, and were wrapped in bright silver silk, with a distinctive butterfly pattern tied in the middle with a red ribbon.
Kaivan stared, his eyes wide.
"What is it?" He could hear his own voice sounding a little strange.
This thing is so strange, I've never seen anything like it before.
Judging from the exquisite silk packaging, it must be a new item from the free trade city-state across the Narrow Sea.
"Chopsticks!" the scholar said.
"Invented by the Mountain. These are chopsticks he made especially for me." Tywin didn't even look up and started eating noodles with the chopsticks.
Kevon's mouth gaped open again, unable to close.
He was fifty-three years old and this was the first time he had ever heard of or seen 'chopsticks'. He looked at the knife and fork in his bowl and couldn't help but gently tap the bowl with them, making two clinking sounds.
The students also started using chopsticks to eat noodles.
Kevan understood why Duke Tywin hadn't served other meats and vegetables but instead brought out a bowl of noodles first—it was to show him how to eat noodles with chopsticks.
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Are there any chopsticks left?
"Yes, but don't be fooled by how convenient and easy it is to use for eating noodles. If it's your first time using it, I guarantee you won't be able to hold it steady, won't be used to it, and might even drop it. You'll probably prefer to go back to using a knife and fork. But if you persist for a little while and try it a few times, you'll quickly master the method of picking up noodles with chopsticks, which is ten times easier than using a knife and fork," the scholar said with a smile.
"It's also very convenient to eat, especially picking up vegetables and meat from the soup. Because it's made of wood, it's not afraid of high temperatures and won't burn your hands," Tywin said. He looked up from the bowl at Kevan, "I saw Gregor using chopsticks and found them very convenient and easy to use, so I decided to try them out. At first, they were indeed a bit awkward to use; I even dropped my chopsticks on the floor."
Kevan knew perfectly well that Tywin, with his competitive nature, would not allow himself to lose to Gregor. So the Duke quickly mastered the skill of using chopsticks and even grew to like this new type of 'tableware'.
"How can we be sure that chopsticks were invented by the Mountain and not a custom that the people of the East across the Narrow Sea had long ago?"
"The Mountain wouldn't lie to me!" Tywin glared at Kevan. "If someone on the other side of the Narrow Sea were producing and using chopsticks, I would have known before the Mountain did."
"Yes, Your Grace!" Kevan replied hastily. Tywin Lannister's words had dispelled his suspicions. He didn't doubt Tywin; he simply didn't want to believe the Mountain.
Tywin and the scholar finished a bowl of noodles with remarkable dexterity and speed using chopsticks, while Sir Kevon only ate a small portion. While one is accustomed to eating noodles with a knife and fork, it certainly cannot compare to the convenience and speed of chopsticks.
"From now on, the Lannister family will eat with chopsticks," Tywin said. "This is the wisdom of the old woman. No one in the Seven Kingdoms knows how to use chopsticks, not even the royal family. No matter how noble or ancient the nobles are, they have never seen or used chopsticks, but the Lannister family is an exception."
"But how do you cut roast meat with chopsticks?" Kevan realized a big problem.
"Gregor never cuts his own roast meat. He has a little adopted daughter named Julie who cuts the roast meat and boiled meat chunks for him. The cook can also cut the roast meat and plate it in the kitchen beforehand," Tywin said. "We don't have to cut the meat ourselves anymore."
"Yes, Your Grace." Kevan knew it must be Tywin watching Gregor demonstrate how to eat meat with chopsticks again.
"The Lannister family will set a new trend, and I believe other nobles will vie to follow suit and learn from it," Maester Potter announced in a song-like voice.
Upon hearing that it would lead to a new fashion trend, Kefon suddenly realized.
No wonder Lord Tywin summoned him back, no wonder he served noodles first today. If this truly inspires other nobles to follow suit, the Westerlands will gain more glory and cultural influence than the other six kingdoms, and not just because of gold. And this is exactly what Tywin has always hoped to achieve.
Oh, and there's also the unique snow salt. For nobles who appreciate fine food, once they start using it, snow salt is something they can't give up. And snow salt comes from the Western Regions.