Chapter 37 Of Course, You Drink Happy Fat Water in Summer
The Heavenly Lord's temple was being constructed at a feverish pace.
Following the Heavenly Lord's playful intervention with the soldiers, the new villagers were profoundly shaken, and almost in the blink of an eye, they transformed into devout zealots of the Heavenly Lord Daoist Sect.
And when people become such ardent believers, they work for their faith with an almost desperate fervor. Even though many didn't yet have homes of their own, they dedicated themselves to building the Heavenly Lord's temple with all their might.
A bustling, enthusiastic atmosphere permeated all of Gao Family Village.
This atmosphere had persisted for six days; today was the seventh.
Noon.
The sun was scorching!
Temperatures were once again climbing towards 40 degrees Celsius.
Li Daoxuan had just moved his face over the box, intending to observe the little people's daily lives, when he heard Gao Yiye call out loudly from below: “Heavenly Lord, the two uncles who sculpt the statues wish to speak with you.”
Sure enough, the two sculptors approached. First, they respectfully knelt and kowtowed, before reporting: “Heavenly Lord, the clay sculpture of you that we've been working on, and the wooden statue of the Victorious Fighting Buddha you requested, are both complete and ready for coloring.”
“Excellent.” Li Daoxuan had been waiting for this day. He had already made his preparations. He took out a small piece of aluminum foil, placed it inside the box, and flattened it in front of the two sculptors. Then, using a pre-prepared straw, he drew up a tiny bit of red paint and dripped it onto the foil.
The drop of paint he released was barely five millimeters in diameter, but to the two sculptors, it appeared as a paint sphere three inches across. It splattered onto the 'foil plate' with a startling 'pat-a' sound, spreading out quite intimidatingly.
The two sculptors cautiously approached the puddle of paint. They dipped a small stick into the red paint, sniffed it, and exclaimed: “So this is what divine paint from heaven is like! It's far superior to our earthly paints.”
The traditional Ming Dynasty paint, known as *xiūqī*, was a natural lacquer made from the sap of lacquer trees mixed with pigments and other ingredients. While it was quite advanced for its time, it still suffered from issues of flaking and a lack of luster. Consequently, after painting, a layer of tung oil often had to be applied to protect the lacquer and enhance its sheen.
In contrast, the modern paint Li Daoxuan provided was a high-quality product developed after the advent of polymer compounds in the 20th century. Sounds impressive, right? Yet, a small can only cost him 15 yuan! It boasted stronger adhesion, more vibrant colors, and superior brightness. Once applied, it shone like the forehead of a greasy middle-aged man, with no need for an extra layer of tung oil, completely outclassing Ming Dynasty lacquer in every aspect.
After just two glances, the two sculptors confirmed that this was indeed divine paint, available only in the heavens.
“You have red now! Next, I'll give you green, blue...”
Li Daoxuan dripped a single drop of each color, which was more than enough.
When he first started sending items to the little people, he hadn't yet grasped the concept of proper dosage. This led to comical missteps, like dropping an entire egg, which resulted in significant waste of resources. But now, he understood how to control quantities and conserve resources.
Seeing the abundant array of paint colors, the two sculptors couldn't help but become immensely excited. Before, in their profession, only three to five dull colors of lacquer were available. How could they have imagined such a rich palette of choices?
Especially gold lacquer, which was far too precious. It was always personally overseen by agents sent by the gentry. They would only be allowed to use it under strict supervision, never directly given such a large quantity.
The Heavenly Lord is truly generous, giving us so much gold paint.
Now they could unleash their creativity without restraint.
They picked up their brushes, dipped them in paint, and enthusiastically began to color the wooden blank of the 'Supreme Treasure' version of Sun Wukong, clearly enjoying their work.
Li Daoxuan didn't disturb them. His gaze shifted to the side, to the workers toiling under the fierce midday sun, constructing the temple.
No sooner had he looked than he saw a villager carrying stones stumble, almost falling. His companions quickly steadied him. The villager put down his stone, clutched his forehead, and sank to the ground with his companions' support, clearly unwell.
“Heatstroke?”
Li Daoxuan immediately realized.
In the peak of July summer, amidst a great drought, at midday, temperatures were soaring. It was no surprise that villagers working under the blazing sun would suffer from heatstroke. In fact, it was a miracle that it took three days for someone to collapse from heatstroke. How had they endured the previous two days?
San Shier also came over. He quickly directed villagers to fetch water from the pond. A crowd of people circled anxiously around the afflicted little person.
Li Daoxuan felt a pang of sympathy for his little people.
What to do?
The answer was obvious!
He strode quickly to the refrigerator, pulled open the freezer door, and took out a tray of ice cubes.
There were tiny shards of ice clinging to the edges of the ice tray. He carefully picked up one such shard with his fingertip and placed it in front of the heatstroke victim.
At that moment, a large group of little people were fretting around the heatstroke victim. Someone had fetched a bucket of water from the pond, and others were dampening cloth fragments to cool him down. Suddenly, a large chunk of ice descended from the sky. The villagers first froze in astonishment, then immediately realized: “The Heavenly Lord has bestowed ice upon us!”
Someone quickly placed a damp cloth onto the ice. Once the cloth was thoroughly chilled, they placed it on the forehead of the heatstroke victim.
Others chipped off a small piece of the ice, put it into a water bowl, and then fed the ice water to the person suffering from heatstroke.
After a while of bustling activity, the heatstroke victim finally showed signs of improvement.
Li Daoxuan felt relieved. Since the heatstroke victim was stable, it was time to address preventing other villagers from succumbing to the heat.
What now?
The solution was simple!
He chipped off a small piece of ice from the block. He placed it into a mineral water bottle cap. Then he opened a bottle of cola and poured it into the cap.
Fizz!
A miniature, ice-cold cola was ready.
Returning to the diorama box, he slowly lowered the cap full of ice-cold cola in front of the little people.
The villagers stared dumbfounded at the large pool of strange, brown, bubbling liquid. In its center floated a massive block of ice, almost as tall as a man. The entire pool emanated a chilling aura, and standing near it, one could feel a refreshing coolness penetrate deep into their bones.
“What is this thing?”
“I've never seen anything like it.”
“I smell a sweet fragrance. There's sugar in this.”
“Sugar!”
“But it's making strange bubbles. It isn't poisonous, is it?”
“When has the Heavenly Lord ever poisoned us? To suggest it's poisonous is disrespectful to His Elder Self.”
“Someone! Beat this fellow senseless!”
“No... I was wrong... I didn't mean it...”
The villagers erupted into a commotion. They even temporarily forgot about their heat-stricken comrade.
“Stop causing a fuss, and no fighting,” Gao Yiye interjected. “The Heavenly Lord says this substance is called 'Happy Fat Water,' and drinking it can relieve heatstroke.”
The villagers were overjoyed. They quickly gathered around the 'pool,' cupped the cola in their hands, and poured it into their mouths.
“Ah!”
“Cough, cough, cough!”
“It's so potent, but for some reason, it feels incredibly refreshing.”
“I feel so happy!”
“No wonder it's called Happy Fat Water,” one marvelled. “I understand the 'happy' part, but what does 'fat' and 'house' mean? What exactly do those two characters signify?”
The group looked eagerly at San Shier, waiting for the learned man to explain.
San Shier cleared his throat and declared: “‘Fat’ (féi) means plump, but it can also be interpreted as large. ‘House’ (zhái) means home. When ‘fat’ and ‘house’ are combined, they refer to a large family. Thus, Happy Fat Water is water that can bring joy to an entire large family. Do you understand now? Such are the profound mysteries of the immortal realm!”
The villagers suddenly understood. “Master San is truly knowledgeable!”
San Shier burst into laughter, grabbed a large teacup, scooped a full cup from the pool, and gulped it down. His eyes immediately squinted shut, followed by a series of coughs, a gag, and a burp. “This taste is certainly strong,” he gasped, “but... oh, it's so refreshing, so joyful!”
The heatstroke victim, still lying on the ground, let out a faint protest: “How come... no one... cares about me anymore?”
The villagers exclaimed: “Oh? Quick, get him a cup too!”
Gao Yiye loudly interjected: “Stop! The Heavenly Lord says that those suffering from heatstroke should not drink Happy Fat Water. They should first drink plain water, and only after their condition improves can they enjoy the Happy Water.”
The heatstroke victim lamented: “Am I... not worthy... of receiving... the Heavenly Lord's bounty...?”
His head lolled to the side...
“Brother, don't die! Don't die!”
Several villagers quickly crouched down, only to discover that the fellow was feigning death. They burst into laughter again. “Looks like this rascal has recovered his spirits! He even has the energy to play dead. Haul him up and give him a small sip of Happy Fat Water...”
“Hahaha... *burp*... So... happy...”
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