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Chapter 15: Three Questions

Day broke. Li Daoxuan stared, his eyes bloodshot, glancing at the dawn breaking outside his window.

Before he knew it, he had spent the entire night immersed in historical records, reviewing that humiliating period of the late Ming Dynasty. He now had a general understanding of the overall timeline, though many specific details still eluded him.

Moreover, historical texts often employed subtle and selective writing, much like the Spring and Autumn Annals, containing numerous contradictions that rendered them impossible to fully trust.

He double-clicked with his mouse, opening a file on his desktop. It contained the critical questions he had summarized throughout the night.

Question One: Items placed inside the diorama box enlarge by 200 times. While the volume scales up proportionally by 200 times, the mass seems to increase even more dramatically. As a humanities student, he couldn't calculate the exact ratio, but in any case, a 50-gram egg would transform into tens of thousands of pounds. Based on this, feeding one 'little person' would cost him mere cents each month. Sustaining the forty-two villagers was no problem; he could even provide them with luxurious food and a good life. However, trying to support tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands, of 'little people' would lead to his financial ruin in the real world. So, the question arose: What was his objective? Was it simply to save these forty-two individuals? Or to use his power to save as many late Ming commoners as possible? Or even to save the entire nation? If it was the latter two, his financial resources were insufficient, and he would need to rethink his goals.

Question Two: Amidst the chaos of the late Ming Dynasty, the villagers faced constant threats to their lives. Meanwhile, he had to eat, sleep, shower, and occasionally go on dates. It was impossible for him to guard the diorama box twenty-four hours a day. He might step out to buy groceries and return to find the forty-two villagers annihilated by imperial forces, the Manchu invaders, or even Li Zicheng or Zhang Xianzhong, the diorama box a ruin filled with corpses. This possibility was very high. Therefore, he had to enhance the villagers' self-preservation capabilities.

Question Three: The 2.5-meter-long, 1.5-meter-wide diorama box only provided a field of view 500 meters long and 300 meters wide. This barely covered Gao Family Village and its surrounding fields, meaning he couldn't directly influence 'unseen areas.' Was there any way to expand the field of view?

These were the most pressing issues he had considered that night, the ones most urgently needing solutions.

Of course, Question Three was a matter of metaphysics, and he could only let nature take its course.

His gaze settled on Question One. As someone who considered himself relatively kind-hearted, he naturally didn't intend to save only these forty-two villagers. If possible, he wanted to save as many impoverished commoners as he could, or even better, rescue the entire nation.

So...

He couldn't rely solely on dropping food into the diorama box!

That wasn't scientific. It would only foster a population of apathetic, unproductive dependents.

He had to mobilize the villagers within the box to grow their own food and actively face life.

With that thought, it was time to act!

The first thing to do was provide the villagers with water! They needed water to thrive.

How could he provide them with water? Simply aiming a running faucet into the box? That was clearly impractical. A stream of water magnified 200 times, rushing into the village, wouldn't be a water supply; it would be a flood.

Li Daoxuan's gaze shifted to his Lock&Lock container.

He picked up the Lock&Lock container and held it over an empty plot next to the village, measuring it with his hand. Good, it would fit here. He then reached out and dug forcefully into that spot, instantly creating a large pit...

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Early morning!

The villagers rose early. As soon as dawn broke, these diligent people began preparing for work.

But with a severe drought gripping the land, not a blade of grass grew in the fields. There was no farming work for them to do.

Normally, they would be up early to forage for wild vegetables. However, with over a hundred 'giant' grains of divine rice and several large cabbage leaves still at home, there was no immediate need to rush out for wild greens. So, after waking, everyone turned to various chores.

Weaving bamboo baskets, sharpening knives, mending clothes...

Gao Yiye also planned to mend her worn-out clothes. She took her needle and thread, carried a small stool, and stepped outside. Just as she was about to set down the stool and thread her needle in the morning sun, she heard a rustling sound from the side of the house.

She turned her head to look, and found it was San Shier.

"Oh? You're still in Gao Family Village?"

It turned out that last night, as instructed by the Heavenly Lord, she had given San Shier a hearty meal. Afterward, she warned him not to disclose what he had seen there and sent him back to the county town.

But San Shier, having seen the millstone-sized rice grains and the enormous cabbage leaves last night, was profoundly shaken, even though he didn't fully comprehend it. He wanted to stay in this village a while longer.

After leaving Gao Yiye's house, he had simply slept under the eaves.

As a pampered strategist, he was accustomed to a more leisurely routine and rarely woke so early. Startled awake by Gao Yiye, his mind was still foggy. He sat up with a start. "Huh? Is it morning already?"

Gao Yiye asked, surprised, "Didn't I tell you to return to the county town after you ate your fill last night?"

San Shier mumbled sleepily, "Oh? Why didn't I go back last night? It is called... utterly baffling."

No sooner had he finished speaking than Gao Yiye's expression changed.

She saw a colossal hand descend from the heavens, digging into an empty plot next to the village. The ground instantly rumbled and shook, and a massive pit appeared.

San Shier followed Gao Yiye's gaze. He couldn't see Li Daoxuan's hand, but he saw a giant pit suddenly appear in the ground. The earth, sand, and stones from the pit were lifted by an invisible force and deposited nearby...

The act was truly one of flying dust and scattering stones, shaking heaven and earth.

San Shier's mind reeled in confusion. "Ah? Did I wake up too fast? Should I go back to sleep for a bit?"

He even forgot his signature four-character idiom summary, his most practiced skill.

All the villagers were startled by this event, and they all rushed towards the empty plot.

Gao Yiye quickly jumped to her feet, shouting, "Villagers, don't go over there! Don't interfere with the Heavenly Lord performing his Divine Miracle!"

The villagers collectively stopped!

After stopping the villagers, Gao Yiye watched intently. She saw the Heavenly Lord's colossal hand dig into the ground several more times, creating a massive square pit, over thirty meters long, sixteen meters wide, and twenty-six meters deep.

Then, the colossal hand produced a transparent box, slowly lowering it from the sky. It settled perfectly into the freshly dug pit, and then compacted the earth around its sides...

San Shier and the villagers couldn't see the colossal hand, but they could see the large, transparent box. They watched as it slowly descended from the sky, landing perfectly, without a single deviation, into the enormous pit.

Everyone looked utterly bewildered, unsure of what was happening.

Li Daoxuan clapped his hands. "Excellent, the reservoir is built."

He picked up a cup full of water and slowly poured its contents into the Lock&Lock container...

Then, the villagers inside the box witnessed an extraordinary sight. A waterfall suddenly appeared in the sky, a massive torrent of water descending from above, cascading into the large box on the ground. Before long, the box was filled to the brim with water.

The villagers were utterly dumbfounded, and a long, long silence followed.

Only then did San Shier speak, "It is as if the Milky Way has fallen from the ninth heaven."

Gao Yiye said, "You exceeded four characters this time."

San Shier clutched his head. "No other poem could adequately describe its grandeur!"

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