Chapter 110: Gao Yiye and the Bow
Third Update for Holy Monday
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Early that morning, Li Daoxuan lay in bed, chatting on WeChat with Manager Puding from Ningyang Toy Company. “Buddy, you truly can’t make 1:200 toy hand crossbows?”
“No, we can’t,” Puding replied. “At this scale, the hand crossbow is simply too small. We can’t make the mechanism small enough to fit that size, not even the simplest mechanism.”
Li Daoxuan considered, “Alright, so that means only bows are possible?”
Puding replied, “Yes, bows are no problem. The limbs of ancient longbows are usually 1.5 meters long; a 1:200 scale toy would be 7.5 millimeters. We can easily make plastic toy bows of that size. In fact, we’ve already made them. We hope you can feature them in your next video and sell them via a shopping cart link. The samples have already been sent to you; they might even be arriving as we speak.”
“Oh? That fast?”
Li Daoxuan heard the doorbell ring. He ran out to open the door, and the courier handed him a box. He opened it to find, indeed, a box of toy bows.
The bow limbs were 7.5 millimeters long, tiny and adorable, with ultra-fine rubber bands stretched as bowstrings. They were absolutely captivating.
These were specialty toys. Their target audience was niche; only those who enjoyed watching "The Daily Life of the Little People" would buy miniatures of this scale. They were meant to be used with plastic miniature figures, allowing people to set up vast ancient battlefields at home. Toys with this theme had been selling quite well lately, and Li Daoxuan had earned a decent commission.
Li Daoxuan himself was part of this niche demographic; he was tempted to buy a few boxes for himself first. He casually pulled a toy bow from the box and passed it into the Diorama Box. “Yiye, find any villager and have them try if this bow works.”
“Any villager? But I *am* a villager!” Gao Yiye decided to try it herself first. Using her delicate arms, she drew the bowstring...
She had expected that a bow of this size would be too much for her to draw fully, but to her surprise, she managed to pull it open.
“Wow, Heavenly Lord, I can actually use this bow!”
Li Daoxuan chuckled. The girl seemed to draw the bow with ease. He thought about it carefully and realized why. Traditional longbows used high-quality wood for the limbs and taut ox-tendon for the strings. Naturally, drawing them required immense strength, and the arrows they fired were incredibly powerful.
But this toy bow used plastic limbs and loose rubber bands. Of course, it was easy to draw, but an arrow shot from it wouldn't have any real force.
“Tighten the bowstring a bit, find the tension that suits you best, and then you'll be able to shoot powerful arrows.”
“Got it!”
Gao Yiye untied the bowstring, tightened it, and rewrapped it around the bow limbs.
This time, she tightened it too much. The girl put all her strength into it, but still couldn't draw the bow fully. She was left puffing and panting, her cheeks puffed out with exertion.
Li Daoxuan found it amusing. The way the girl bit her lip and puffed out her cheeks... made him want to kiss her.
Just then, Li Daoxuan's peripheral vision caught sight of something. There were new visitors to Gao Family Village. This man's face was unfamiliar, but his attire seemed somewhat familiar. After a moment's thought, he remembered: It was the county magistrate's Shaoxing secretary.
San Shier had already been informed by the sentries and was already at the fortress gate to greet them. Both men were secretaries, and as soon as they started talking, witty and playful banter filled the air. They chatted for a good while, exchanging pleasantries without getting to the point. Li Daoxuan couldn't be bothered to listen, and simply shifted his attention back to Gao Yiye, watching her with the bow.
She loosened the bowstring a little more. This time, when she drew the bow, she could finally pull it fully open without too much effort.
Li Daoxuan didn't have any arrows to give her—this box of bows didn't come with arrows—so Gao Yiye found a round-tipped bamboo stick herself. She nocked it on the bowstring. Then she drew the bow to its fullest extent and released it...
“Ouch!”
A cry of pain echoed from a distance. Gao Yiye jumped in surprise. “Oh no, I hit someone!”
Li Daoxuan followed her gaze and chuckled. “Don't worry, you hit the county magistrate's Shaoxing secretary, not one of our people. Besides, it's a round-tipped hollow bamboo stick; it won't cause any harm. He just got a scare when it hit his chest.”
Gao Yiye let out a small “Pfft!”
She had long sensed it: the Heavenly Lord was extremely protective of his own. His 'little people' were all precious treasures, while outsiders were treated with complete disregard.
Mr. Wang taught about "Journey to the West," in which the immortals indulged their pets to cause mischief in the mortal realm. When Sun Wukong came to settle scores, they never punished their own pets, simply taking them home and considering the matter closed. It seemed all deities behaved this way.
Gao Yiye whispered, “The Heavenly Lord is truly kind.”
Li Daoxuan didn't hear clearly. “Hmm?”
Gao Yiye said loudly, “I'll go check on San Shier. Perhaps he'll need me to convey the Heavenly Lord's decree.”
Li Daoxuan said, “Oh! Go on.”
The girl slung the bow over her back and scurried over, her footsteps pattering.
Li Daoxuan directly shifted his attention to them...
San Shier accompanied the Shaoxing secretary, strolling casually through Gao Family Fortress. The two walked and talked.
The Shaoxing secretary said, “I was truly scared to death just now! Thankfully, it was just a round-tipped bamboo arrow.”
San Shier replied, “I don't know which child was being naughty. I'll be sure to scold them thoroughly later.”
The Shaoxing secretary waved his hand. “Forget it, forget it, it's a minor thing. Don't scare the child. I've come to the Li family this time, by order of the county magistrate, specifically to request to borrow some weapons from the Li family...”
San Shier raised an eyebrow. “Borrow weapons?”
The Shaoxing secretary rubbed his hands together. “I know this request is a bit... *ahem*... but San Shier must have heard. The bandits from Luochuan County and Yichuan County have gathered on Huanglong Mountain. Their strength is formidable, numbering at least five or six thousand. If such a large force of bandits were to invade Chengcheng County, I fear the county seat would be indefensible... *sigh*... And by then, your Li family would likely find it difficult to remain unscathed.”
San Shier had already received word from Bai Yuan, so he wasn't surprised. But when he heard the words 'county seat indefensible,' he still jumped. Although Gao Family Village was safe, his own wife, Mrs. San, was still in the county town's City God Temple, 'saving the world.' If the bandit army were to attack the county seat, his beautiful, fair, and plump wife...
Oh, the consequences would be too dire to imagine.
San Shier argued, “Bai Family Fortress is positioned directly below Huanglong Mountain. If the bandits can't breach Bai Family Fortress, how could they possibly reach the county seat?”
The Shaoxing secretary sighed. “San Shier, you're imagining these bandits as regular soldiers. Only regular armies attack cities one by one. Bandit forces, however, don't care about such things. If Bai Family Fortress proves too difficult, they'll simply find another path out of the mountains, bypassing it entirely and swarming directly into the rear. If they break through Fengyuan Town, they'll head straight for the county seat. That's why the magistrate wants to organize another militia force and establish a second line of defense.”
San Shier exclaimed, “!”
There was truth to his words. If Bai Family Fortress held, the bandits would just scatter and rampage elsewhere, which would also be extremely problematic.
Li Daoxuan listened to their conversation, and after a brief thought, he spoke. “Yiye, tell the Shaoxing secretary that we can lend him five hundred longbows.”
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