Chapter 55: To Bend or Not to Bend
In this chapter, All the women in Gaojia Village became excited.Since the Deity descended and blessed Gaojia Village.The... Continue reading Chapter 53 of "The Great Ming in the Box" for the full story!
All the women in Gaojia Village became excited.Since the Deity descended and blessed Gaojia Village.
The men of Gaojia Village took on various tasks: today helping at the blacksmith shop with work, tomorrow building the city gate, the day after building a Taoist temple…
But for the women, it was awkward; there was nothing for them to do.hing, but reading and writing absolutely couldn’t stop. Otherwise, if their daughter grew up illiterate, what would become of her?
Thirty-Two crouched down, holding his head in frustration.
Li Daoxuan was reminded of something by the two of them. He spoke: “Yiye, go and speak a few words to Third Lady on my behalf.”
Gao Yiye heard the voice from the sky and quickly looked up. She saw the Deity’s face faintly appear in the clouds, so she saluted deeply, ran over to Thirty-Two and Third Lady, and began acting as a messenger.
Li Daoxuan said, “Third Lady, when your wife returns to the county town in a couple of days, you’ll be escorting her back and going to the county yourself, correct?”
Thirty-Two responded promptly, “I do plan on returning briefly, but I’ll only stay a short while—merely one or two days at most—then come straight back to Gaojia Village to handle affairs for you.”
Li Daoxuan said, “I want to ask: Is it possible to hire a teacher to come to Gaojia Village?”
Thirty-Two stiffened. He froze for a long moment before lowering his head, slightly ashamed. “Reporting to the Deity, teachers are very prideful. Persuading them to come teach in this mountain hollow, over thirty miles from the county town, would be extremely difficult.”
“Prideful?” Li Daoxuan said. “How prideful exactly? Try offering more money.”
Thirty-Two sighed. “Scholars, you see… they don’t bend for mere dou of rice… Even with large sums, they might not agree.”
“A dou of rice obviously won’t work,” Li Daoxuan said. “Show him this and see if he bends.”
With that, Li Daoxuan pulled out a pure 999 silver necklace from a drawer—it was for men, and extremely thick.
Back when he was a rebellious teen playing non-mainstream, he’d worn a ridiculous leather outfit, dyed his hair, and paired it with this big silver chain, making himself look like a rogue fighter.
Later, after leaving that phase behind, the silver chain became useless, even a dark secret.
He took off a small clasp from the necklace, a silver ring about one centimeter in diameter, and placed it before Thirty-Two.
Thirty-Two felt a dazzle before his eyes. A massive silver ring, its diameter taller than a person, appeared before him. Made of fine silver, it glittered blindingly, enough to blind anyone.
Thirty-Two, Third Lady, Gao Yiye, and everyone around who saw the silver ring all gaped, their mouths wide enough to swallow a kiwifruit, and they were unable to close them for a long time.
Though they had seen the Deity produce many large foods, this enormous chunk of silver shocked them all over again—it was silver, not a grain of rice or a piece of pork, but silver.
Li Daoxuan said, “Now tell me, will he bend?”
Thirty-Two stammered, “He’d break his own waist with a stick.”