Chapter 10: When Hunger Strikes, There's Only One Worry
Once arrangements were made, the village chief waved his hand decisively: "Distribute the rice! Everyone, eat your fill."
Forty-two villagers lined up outside Gao Yiye's home to receive their share of rice.
Each person received ten millstone-sized grains of white rice—enough to feed a family for many days. They struggled just to get them home, having to place each grain on the ground and roll it with their hands to save energy. It took ten laborious trips just to bring all ten grains back.
After the other forty-one had collected their portions, a massive pile still remained at Gao Yiye's home, likely dozens of grains more. Yet, no one dared accuse Gao Yiye of receiving too much. In the minds of these uneducated and superstitious villagers, Gao Yiye's status was now akin to a "Saintess" in any other religion.
A Saintess, naturally, was sacred and inviolable!
Each household began boiling water to cook their rice.
A millstone-sized grain of white rice couldn't be cooked whole, so they had to chisel it into fragments. A mere dozen pieces were enough to fill an entire family. However, eating pure white rice until completely full felt far too extravagant. They cooked only enough for a half-portion, mixing in wild vegetables, tree bark, and grass roots. This way, a single meal of the precious white rice could be stretched into two.
Through his magnifying glass, peering into their windows, Li Daoxuan watched them boil their strange hodgepodge of ingredients and couldn't help but shake his head. "I’ve given you grain; what in the world are you cooking?" he thought. "How can their bodies ever recover eating like this? They're being too frugal, aren't they?"
Should he just add more ingredients?
Never mind. He’d take it slow, gradually adjusting their diet.
The food that Li Daoxuan found so unappetizing was, to the villagers of Gao Family Village, a rare delicacy. They happily cooked their supper, no longer needing to hide from their neighbors while eating. Since everyone was partaking in the same bounty, they simply set up tables and ate outside their doors.
Their past habit of secretly snatching bites had strained their relationships, but now, with the pre-disaster atmosphere returning, the village felt much livelier.
"It’s been so long since I’ve had rice this good," the village chief murmured, scooping rice into his mouth by his doorway. "This Divine Rice is truly fragrant, far more so than anything we ever grew ourselves. It’s certainly a blessing from the Heavenly Lord."
Gao Chuwu, clutching a large bowl, ravenously devoured his meal. The young man, with his impressive physique, could eat more than anyone else. While others shared a dozen or so fragments of rice among their entire family, he alone consumed that much. He gobbled it down, as if he hadn't eaten in lifetimes, making one genuinely fear he might choke to death.
Gao Yiye sat alone on her doorstep, lost in thought, chewing slowly and thoughtfully, a single bite of rice lasting her half an eternity. As she ate, tears streamed down her face. "Mother," she whispered, "it’s a pity you can’t enjoy this."
Li Daoxuan was also having dinner. He’d ordered takeout tonight—a braised beef rice set, which, including the delivery fee, came to 29 yuan. A generous bowl of rice was topped with succulent braised beef and braised radish, accompanied by a side of pickles, and the restaurant owner had even included a complimentary 300ml cola.
Compared to what the little people were eating, his dinner was utterly superior in every conceivable way.
He took a bite of beef, then glanced at the little people in the Diorama Box. For some reason, the braised beef rice set, which he usually found only passable, tasted remarkably better today.
After dinner, as dusk settled, the villagers returned to their small huts to rest.
The entire Diorama Box once again became a still scene, with nothing left to observe.
As for the 'peeking at the little women bathing' mentioned by bored netizens, that was utter nonsense. The Diorama Box clearly depicted a drought-stricken land: rivers had run dry, all vegetation had withered, and the well water was barely enough for drinking, let alone irrigating fields. Where would there be any water for bathing?
None of the little people in the village had bathed; they even went to bed without changing their clothes.
Li Daoxuan pulled his attention away from the Diorama Box and stretched with a big yawn. That darn box; he could easily lose an entire day just staring at it.
He opened his phone, pulled up the photo he’d taken earlier that day (for those who’ve forgotten, see Chapter 8), then navigated to his favorite historical military forum. Anonymously, he posted: “Everyone, please take a look at this photo. The village in the picture is called Gao Family Village, the young woman is Gao Yiye, the young man is Gao Chuwu, and there are five officials. What do you make of this picture?”
Reply 1: “The attire of those officials looks like Ming Dynasty yamen runners.”
Reply 2: “Gao Yiye and Gao Chuwu also sound very much like Ming Dynasty names.”
Reply 3: “Exactly, I could tell at a glance that this must be the Ming Dynasty. Too bad we can’t pinpoint the exact year.”
Reply 4: “This Diorama Box is pretty amazing! The little figures are so lifelike, faithfully recreating scenes of Ming Dynasty yamen runners oppressing common folk. Where did you buy this Diorama Box? I want one too!”
Reply 5: “That little figure named Gao Yiye is quite pretty. I want to peek at her bathing.”
Li Daoxuan: “Seriously, what is it with these morons? Can’t they ever get beyond peeking at people bathing?”
There was no point reasoning with that worthless bunch. Li Daoxuan closed the forum, but those replies had still given him a general idea.
The Ming Dynasty, eh?
My box, it couldn’t be looking down upon the Ming Dynasty, could it?
How could that be possible?
Forget it. Time for bed.
——————-
July 13, 2023 AD, Summer, Shuangqing City.
At seven in the morning, the temperature had already climbed to 33 degrees Celsius.
If this was already the case, wouldn’t the midday sun be murderous?
Li Daoxuan groggily climbed out of bed, his first glance going to the Diorama Box beside his bed.
The box had initially been by the door, then moved to the living room, but last night, before bed, he’d simply moved it to his bedside, placing it next to his computer, just so he could see it first thing in the morning.
Nothing seemed wrong inside the box; the little people were already awake.
Gao Chuwu, along with a few young villagers, was eating breakfast, and clearly eating their fill. They were due to go to the county town today to 'fetch' the master strategist, so they needed to be well-fed for the task. The village chief stood beside them, meticulously giving them instructions.
As for the other villagers, they were carrying bamboo baskets, preparing to head out and forage for wild vegetables.
Li Daoxuan couldn't help but feel both amused and exasperated. These little people just spent every day foraging for wild vegetables, tree bark, and grass roots. Were there no changes at all?
Well, he understood. They were doing everything in their power just to survive; how could they think of anything else?
Time to start today’s feeding. As long as he fed them every day, their anxiety about survival would naturally dissipate, and only then would they have the mental space for other matters.
Li Daoxuan pulled open his refrigerator and peeled off a leaf from the napa cabbage he’d bought yesterday. The leaf was quite large, at least forty centimeters long and over ten centimeters wide. Returning to the Diorama Box, he gently placed it in front of Gao Yiye.
At that moment, Gao Yiye was carrying a bamboo basket, preparing to leave the village to forage for wild vegetables. Suddenly, a gigantic hand reached down from the sky, placing an enormous cabbage leaf directly in front of her.
Gao Yiye looked at it: the cabbage leaf was thirty *zhang* long and ten *zhang* wide...
PS: Attentive readers may have already noticed that items from the modern world are enlarged 200 times when they enter the Ming Dynasty through the Diorama Box. As mentioned in Chapter 1, the little people are less than one centimeter tall. A 160cm tall person appears as 0.8cm in the Diorama Box, a 1:200 ratio. A 5cm egg, when placed in the box, becomes 10 meters. A 45cm cabbage leaf becomes 90 meters long, or thirty *zhang*. When volume is scaled up proportionally, mass increases exponentially, which is a constant struggle for me, a liberal arts student. I often get the calculations for food size and weight wrong, leading to frequent inconsistencies, so I ask for your understanding.
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