Chapter 211 Heavenly Lord Sudden Whim Festival
At noon, Li Daoxuan sat before a bowl of Cantonese braised beef stew, heartily eating while browsing his video channel, "Diorama Dailies."
Yesterday, he had uploaded short clips of "Shaanbei Daoqing," and when he woke up today, he saw that the reception was quite good.
"The style of this Daoqing is so old-school!"
"This opera troupe is so incredibly rustic, brimming with local flavor. Did the creator really go to rural Shaanbei to find a makeshift troupe for this video?"
"It's not easy to be *that* rustic."
"Such old troupes are hard to find now. Hiring them probably wouldn't cost much, but finding them must have involved searching the Shaanbei countryside for ages, costing far more than their performance fees."
"Are you new here? You don't know this creator's style. He loves big investments! Every time he makes a video, he spends a huge amount of money on special effects and professional actors."
"I have no doubt he spent a lot of money on a carpet search in rural Shaanbei just to find such a local-flavored opera troupe."
The likes were pouring in, and his "little yellow cart" sold quite a few plastic stage models, along with many small plastic houses, netting him a small share of tens of thousands of yuan. Li Daoxuan used to get excited over earning money, but now, having made so much, he felt a little numb and didn't pay it much mind. He casually X-ed out of the page without looking closer.
He opened it to see a message from Cai Xinzhi: "There's a micro-sculpture art exhibition. Interested?"
Li Daoxuan was surprised. "What?"
Cai Xinzhi replied, "It's from that client who keeps ordering micro-sculpture Buddha statues from us. He just sent me a message saying Shanghai is hosting a micro-sculpture art exhibition, inviting artists from all over to participate. You can bring your own works to display for people to see, mainly for exchange. He thinks your stuff is amazing and qualified for the exhibition."
Li Daoxuan chuckled. "I don't have time to run off to Shanghai."
Cai Xinzhi said, "You don't have to go in person. As a master, a little aloofness is fine. Just find someone to take it for you."
Li Daoxuan asked, "Like you?"
Cai Xinzhi confirmed, "Exactly, like me! I'm also heading to Shanghai for an anime merchandise trade show. You've helped me earn a lot, so why shouldn't I help you with a small favor?"
Li Daoxuan hadn't planned on participating, but his gaze suddenly swept across his desk, landing on the "Dao Xuan Heavenly Lord's Abode" model. This was the Daoist temple built for him by over a hundred villagers when the second group of residents arrived. Later, to make space for the Hakka Walled House, it had to be relocated and was "collected to the heavens" by him.
Inside this miniature temple, there was a "Dao Xuan Tian Zun" statue, tiny incense burners, candle holders, tables, and chairs. He had even playfully placed a miniature "Pinyin" textbook on one of the tables.
This item, it seemed, wasn't bad at all.
It felt a bit wasted just sitting there. Why not take it to the exhibition, let everyone see something novel and enjoy themselves?
"Alright! I have a miniature Daoist temple here. Help me take it to Shanghai for the exhibition."
"Got it. I'll come pick it up tomorrow."
Closing WeChat, Li Daoxuan picked up his bowl again. Just then, a large group of people entered his field of vision.
Cheng Xu was back, and Bai Yuan had also arrived, followed by a large crowd of disheveled, sallow-faced, and exhausted common folk.
Over three thousand people—it was quite a sight.
Gao Family Village, currently only a thousand-plus strong, was understandably flustered by such a sudden influx. The villagers of Gao Family Village were startled, many of them pausing their work and watching warily until they saw the militia and Bai Yuan, at which point their guard relaxed.
San Shier and Gao Yiye also quickly went out to meet them.
San Shier called out from a distance, "Mr. Bai, you've brought all our fellow villagers from Qingjian County?"
Bai Yuan smiled in response. "Indeed! I am fortunate to have fulfilled my task, having finally done something for the Heavenly Lord. These three thousand people from Qingjian County departed from my Bai Family Fortress early this morning and have walked over two hours, more than thirty *li*, to get here. Everyone is tired and hungry. Manager San, please see to it that some food is prepared and they are settled."
San Shier smiled. "We have plenty of food, thanks to the Heavenly Lord's blessings, but as for cooking utensils..."
Dian Dengzi stepped forward. "Our people brought quite a few cooking pots of their own."
San Shier replied, "But... the firewood for cooking... We can't get enough in a short time. All the trees near Gao Family Village have been cut down; we'd have to go farther to get more wood. Preparing food might take some time, and the villagers from Qingjian County might have to go hungry for a while."
Everyone fell silent awkwardly.
From above, Li Daoxuan heard this and couldn't help but sigh. Indeed, for a small village of just over a thousand people to suddenly host three thousand refugees, resources of all kinds were bound to be insufficient, and bottlenecks would appear everywhere.
In such a situation, he would just have to intervene directly and lend them a powerful hand.
He happened to have a bowl of Cantonese braised beef stew on his table. Today, he would let the new "little people" feast on something wonderful, letting them experience what it meant to say, "Later, I traveled the world, but I never found anything this delicious again."
Li Daoxuan spoke up, "Yiye! Tell everyone that today is a festival, named the 'Heavenly Lord Sudden Whim Festival.' Let everyone come and share a good meal."
Gao Yiye immediately relayed the divine decree in a loud voice.
At her shout, the surrounding villagers of Gao Family Village immediately stopped their work and joyfully rushed over. The thousand-plus people quickly gathered, all adopting devout expressions, bowing to the sky in gratitude to the Heavenly Lord, and then, with eager, wide eyes, they peered at the low clouds in the sky.
They waited to see what the Heavenly Lord would "suddenly conjure" down.
The three thousand newcomers were a bit confused. Dian Dengzi, representing them, asked, "Who is the Heavenly Lord? And what kind of strange festival is this 'Heavenly Lord Sudden Whim Festival'?"
Bai Yuan smiled. "Just wait and see!"
Through a parting in the low clouds, a giant slab of meat descended from the sky. Just as it seemed about to land, it hovered in mid-air. Then, an odd piece of non-absorbent paper, which didn't soak up liquid, floated down and spread flat on the ground. The massive chunk of meat then settled onto the paper...
This meat was different from the "raw meat" the Heavenly Lord usually bestowed, such as raw chicken or pork, which the villagers would then process themselves.
This time, the Heavenly Lord had bestowed cooked meat, and it was even drizzled with sauce. From a considerable distance, the rich aroma of the sauce could be smelled.
"The texture looks like beef. Could it be... a huge piece of braised beef?"
San Shier, Bai Yuan, and Cheng Xu were somewhat knowledgeable, but this piece of beef, while resembling braised meat, had a subtly different scent. The spices added seemed far richer, and they knew immediately they had never tasted anything like it.
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