Chapter 66: The Deitys Divine Mirror
Chapter 64 of "The Great Ming in the Box" starts the action: Early in the morning, Mr. Wang climbed out of bed.He had eaten heartily the night... Find out what happens!
Early in the morning, Mr. Wang climbed out of bed.He had eaten heartily the night before, even enjoying meat and sugar, which he hadnât tasted in a long time, making him full of energy today. He looked back at the half-room filled with various foods, then touched the two big fist-sized silver pieces hidden under his pillow.
There was food aplenty and plenty of money!
Suddenly, Mr. Wang felt as if he had reached the pinnacle of life.
Taking someoneâs money meant carrying out their tasks; since the Third Lady had treated him well, he would teach her daughter properly. He opened the small bundle he had carried from the city, where the teaching materialsâlike âFour Books,â âFive Classics,â and âHundred Surnamesââwere all present.
Mr. Wang confirmed the teaching materials were complete, patted his face to perk himself up, and walked out of his small room.
Outside was a large courtyard, one of the wells in the Hakka roundhouse. As soon as Mr. Wang entered the courtyard, he saw Thirty-Two and Gao Yiye with about eight or nine children standing before him, with the Third Ladyâs daughter naturally among them; behind them were several youths.
These were all the people in the village willing to learn reading and writing.
Mr. Wang was startled and said, âHuh?â
The Third Lady smiled and said, âMr. Wang, please put in a bit more effort and teach all these people together.â
Mr. Wang was a bit stunned: These children were from peasant families, werenât they? The Third Lady was actually paying out of her own pocket to let othersâ children learn reading and writing; was she such a selfless person?
But however she felt, the tuition he had received was more than enough to teach a hundred times more children, so he cupped his hands and said with a smile, âI will certainly do my best.â
âThen letâs start teachingâŚâ
Mr. Wang had just uttered a word when Gao Yiye suddenly said, âAh, sorry, Mr. Wang, please wait a moment; the Deity has spoken. The great one says the children need to do some morning exercises to stretch their bodies before the reading and writing lesson; that is scientific.â
A huge question mark slowly appeared above Mr. Wangâs head: What does âscientificâ mean?
Gao Yiye said to all the children, âEveryone turn around and look in the direction of the watchtower.â
The watchtower was the highest three-story building in the Hakka roundhouse, and also Gao Yiyeâs residence. She lived on the third floor, which was the place closest to the Deity; standing on the balcony, one could overlook the entire compound.
The children all obediently turned around; even those youths turned together and looked solemnly at the watchtower.
Then they saw a rectangular, strange metal object slowly descending from the clouds and hovering right above the watchtower. It was ten zhang wide (about 30 meters) and over four zhang tall (about 14 meters), quite frightening.
Mr. Wang was greatly startled and said, âWhat is this thing?â
This thing was actually Li Daoxuanâs phone; he had placed the phone horizontally and stuck it into a box, so it hovered above the watchtower. Then, pressing his finger on the screen, it recognized his fingerprint and unlocked, and the phoneâs screen lit up suddenly.
Mr. Wang exclaimed in surprise, âAh? This thing is glowing.â
Gao Yiye said, âThat is the Deityâs divine mirror, used to teach the children techniques for strengthening their bodies. Everyone, watch carefully.â
What appeared on the phone screen was a group of children dressed in odd clothes, lined up in a square formation, looking serious.
Then music started playing: âBegin now doing the Seventh Set of Radio Calisthenics, first group, stretching exercises⌠1, 2, 3, 4⌠2, 2, 3, 4âŚâ
Gao Yiye said loudly, âBy the Deityâs order, all students, follow along.â
The children quickly started following the video, but it was their first time learning this, so their movements were nowhere near standard, twisting and turning haphazardly, messing around in various ways; some were even doing the wrong directions, and one motion knocked the person next to them over.
The scene was chaotic.
In fact, not only the children were in disorder: throughout the entire Hakka roundhouse, people everywhere were following along, so chaos reigned everywhere.
After a while, the video finished playing; the âDeityâs divine mirrorâ began to rise, flew into the clouds, and disappeared.
Everyoneâs movements came to a halt.
Gao Yiye spoke loudly: âToday was the first time, so it was okay if things werenât done right. The Deity didnât blame everyone. From now on, every day before class, everyone must do one set of the Seventh Set of Radio Calisthenics.â
Every person said together: âWe will respectfully follow the Decree of the Deity.â
Mr. Wang: âHuh? What? What what what? What happened? What exactly is going on?â
Thirty-Two patted Mr. Wang on the shoulder and said with a chuckle: âOur Gaojia Village has always been under the protection of a deity called Dao Xuan Deity. We can witness the Deity appear holy anytime, anywhere. You just saw it and will see it often in the future.â
Mr. Wang: âThe Master did not speak of ghosts and gods!â
Thirty-Two: âThe food and silver you got werenât actually mine; they were rewards given to you by the Deity.â
Mr. Wang: âAh, the Deity truly is a kind and good deity.â
Thirty-Two: ââŚâ
It was awkward; the scene was just very awkward.
After a good while, Thirty-Two came out of his stiff state and said: âAlright, now itâs up to Mr. Wang. I have a lot to do. After being at the county town for two days, plenty of mess piled up in Gaojia Villageâitâs chaotic everywhere. And there are many people being lazy about working or stealing cotton. I need to go scold those worthless troublemakers.â
When he spoke the words âstealing cotton,â Gao Yiye beside him instantly blushed, backed away two steps guiltily, and thought to herself: Oh no, Iâm about to be yelled at. Third Lady clearly hadnât been in Gaojia Village for two days; how did he know I stole cotton?
Then Thirty-Two said: âMiss Yiye, before, the cotton was stored in a broken house and people always came to steal it. I want to move the cotton into the watchtower and keep it on the second floor. The third floor above is where you live, and below that, the first floor is the ancestral hall. Weâll place the statue of the Deity on the first floor, so no one will dare to steal again. I donât believe anyone would risk sneaking past the Deityâs statue to take things. What do you think?â
A surge of utter confusion hit Gao Yiye: Oh no, youâre asking me? If the cotton stays right under my home, wonât that let me steal to my heartâs content? Ahhh! Are you doing this on purpose? You must be testing me intentionally!
Thirty-Two had no clue about Gao Yiyeâs busy mind: âMiss Yiye? Whatâs wrong? Say something!â
Gao Yiye gathered her courage and thought to herself, âFine, so Iâll be the fool; might as well go all out,â and then said: âOkay! Letâs put the cotton on the second floor.â
After getting the Saint Ladyâs agreement, Thirty-Two waved to gather the villagers: âCome over here, move the cotton! Shift all of it to the second floor of the watchtower. From now on, items granted by the Deity will be stored on the second floor. The first floor will display the Deityâs statue, and on the third floor lives the Saint Lady. I want to see who of you still dares to steal cotton from the second floor.â
The villagers responded: âWhere would we dare steal? We wouldnât dare.â
Thirty-Two laughed and scolded: âStill saying you wouldnât dare? After I was gone for two days, thereâs a huge hole stolen from the big cotton ball. Do you all think Iâm blind?â
The villagers replied: âWe truly wouldnât dare! With deities watching over us, we wouldnât dare act wildly.â
Thirty-Two demanded: âThen where did the cotton go?â
The villagers answered: âWe donât know either.â
Thirty-Two huffed: âHumph! The one who stole the cottonâthe Deity will punish them.â
Gao Yiye listened to their talk, sweating bullets.
Amidst the uproar, a sentry on the wall of the compound suddenly yelled out: âHey, someone in the mountains is running over here, stumbling along like heâs hurt!â