Chapter 216: Harvest Season Arrived
Chapter 212 of "The Great Ming in the Box" introduces new challenges: Young Master Bai chuckled, a mysterious grin spreading across his face. âI didnât look too... Keep following!
Young Master Bai chuckled, a mysterious grin spreading across his face. âI didnât look too closely; it was just a quick peek back then. But after glancing at just a tiny bit, it felt like the entire world shifted before my eyes. Everything I saw became utterly different. Heh heh heh! That book is the true divine scripture of the heavens, unraveling all the universeâs mysteries. If we master it, weâll reign truly invincible across the lands.âThird Missâs eyes sparkled joyfully. âThen we must quickly finish Elementary Math and wonât need to peek anymoreâwe can gaze upon that divine book openly!â
Young Master Bai grinned broadly. âJust one last section to go. Keep up the fight!â
Witnessing the two youthsâ fervent enthusiasm, Li Daoxuan felt pleased within. His thoughts drifted: Young Master Bai will likely be Gaijia Villageâs pioneer in physics, making him destined as its first Physics Representative.
Heâd soon need to impart physics to others as Heavenâs proxy instructor. Such burdens weighed heavily on a youth still growing. Teaching both physics and math risked exhausting him entirely.
Once Young Master Bai became Physics Representative, a Math Representative would need appointing. Li Daoxuanâs gaze lingered on Third Miss.
Twelve years old. A girl. Could she bear this responsibility?
Women of antiquity shunned the public eye. Even those willing faced scolding, shackled by social virtues. Forcing her into such duties as âteacherâ might crush her spirit⌠yet if she accepted willingly, heâd deploy Heavenâs decree to bolster her. Let anyone who condemned her face unified village retribution, backed by divine mandate.
So be it.
His attention shifted from the book-well to village outskirts.
By the wheat fields, commotion stirred. Forty-two of Gaojia Villageâs old residents crowded the fieldsâ edge. Even the aging chiefâwhoâd long embraced leisureânow walked the fields once more.
Villagers watched as the Old Village Chief stretched a skeletal hand, stroked a wheat ear, and plucked one grain. Chewing it slowly, his face brightened. âItâs timeâharvest begins now!â
With cane uplifted, he declared with booming laughter, âThree years! Three years have passed since grains flourished here! Tomorrow, we reap!â
âTomorrowâharvest begins!â The Gaojia natives erupted in cheers. Soon, Zhengjia Village voices joined: âOur Zhengjia wheatâs ready too!â
By mid-fifth month of Chongzhen Year One, harvest came to both villages first blessed by Heavenâs rain-summoning Dragon King. Jubilation surged.
Villagers already planting sorghum clutched tightened fists: Today you celebrated; autumnâs triumph would be theirs.
Refugees, short-term laborers, and Qingjian County wanderers gazed enviously before lifting chins: Their hand-earned wages rivaled farm yields. Hereâabsent officialsâ greed, under Heavenâs shieldâindustrious hands would forge better days.
At dawnâs first glow, Gaojia and Zhengjia folk charged wheat fields. Young, old, male, femaleâbodies bent, sickles flashing.
Gao Sanwa skipped class that morning, sickle in hand amid crops. Mr. Wang stormed the fields, discipline ruler brandished. âGao Sanwa! Villainâreturn to class!â
Gao Sanwa screamed in fear, darting through wheat stalks taller than youth. âMaster, spare the rod! Iâm laboring for my kin! Delay harvest and rains could ruin cropâweâd lose the yearâs food!â
Mr. Wangâs beard bristled in fury. âFool! When last did rains fall? Without Heavenâs Dragon King, would you even have sown seeds? Rain fears? Let parents manage this. Back to class!â
He wheeled to Gao San Niang. âThree Mother, discipline your son! Reading and writing promise futures beyond soil-digging. Squander learning for farm toilâyou doom him!â
Trembling under rebuke, San Niang seized her boy and flung him toward Master Wang. Rushing to Short-term Workers Village, she cried, âHire help! Harvest urgentlyâwages are negotiable!â
Meanwhile, at militia headquarters, Cheng Xuâs roll call stalled. âWhereâs the third idiot? Zheng Gouziânew Zheng recruitâis missing too. Anyone know where either fled?â
Gao Chuwu raised his hand. âInstructor He, who are the three idiots?â
âClearly our densest trio!â Ground Rabbit declared, chest thrust out. âZheng Daniu and Gao Chuwu are locksâbut the third? Someone dull-witted. Not myself, surely.â
Silent stares pierced him.
Just then, Zheng Daniu lumbered up, panting heavily.
His sight eased Cheng Xuâs scowl: âAll idiots accounted for. Whereâs Zheng Gouzi?â
Daniu saluted: âReport, Instructor! Zhengâs father hauled him back to Zhengjia Village at dawn for harvest! I argued for drill duty, delaying him here.â Ná´w novel chapters are publÉŞshed on NoveI-Fire.É´et
Rage ignited. âUnauthorized absence from training? Desertion for farmwork? Does discipline mean nothing? Right turnâmarch! To Zhengjia Villageâpunish the fool!â
One hundred strong, the militia sprinted down the cement road, an iron serpent toward Zhengjia Village.
Sipping thin porridge, Li Daoxuan inwardly sighed: Zheng Gouziâs sin dwarfed Gao Sanwaâs truancy. Militiasâhowever informalâwould become armies. Unreported desertion? A cardinal breach.
Heâd watch Cheng Xuâs justice unfold.
His vision shifted with the convoy. Traversing six li of cement road meant little to trained bodies. In moments, they reached Zhengjia Village.
Instantly spotting Zheng Gouziâsickle wildly arcing through grain as he aided parents.
Cheng Xuâs bellow tore across fields: âZheng Gouzi! Criminal! What defense for desertion?â
The new recruit froze mid-motion. Turning, his face blanched. The sickle clattered to earth.