After the arrangements were made, the Village Chief waved his large hand: “Distribute the rice. Everyone, have a full meal.”

Forty-two villagers lined up to receive rice at Gao Yiye’s doorstep.

The giant rice, each grain as big as a millstone, was given ten grains per person—enough for a family to eat for several days. Moving those grains home was difficult; they had to place them on the ground and roll them by pushing with their hands to save effort. It took ten trips just to get all ten grains home.

After the other forty-one people received their share, Gao Yiye still had a large pile left in her home, easily dozens of grains, but no one dared say she took too much. To these uneducated and superstitious villagers, Gao Yiye now held a status equivalent to the Saint Lady in other religions.

A Saint Lady was, of course, sacred and inviolable!

Each household began boiling water to cook rice.

One grain of giant rice was too large to cook whole at once, so they had to use a chisel to break it into pieces. Just cooking a dozen or so fragments was enough to fill a whole family. But eating pure giant rice until full felt too extravagant, so they cooked only half the amount and mixed it with wild vegetables, tree bark, and grass roots. This way, rice meant for one meal could stretch to two.

Li Daoxuan used a magnifying glass to peer through the window at the chaotic equipment boiling in their pot and could not help shaking his head. “I already gave them food—what kind of mess are they cooking? How can they stay healthy eating this? They’re too frugal!”

Should he add something extra for them?

He was about to put a chunk of pork into the scenic box, but on second thought, he reconsidered. “No, if I give rich food to these chronically starved villagers too suddenly, their guts might not handle it, leading to diarrhea. With weakened bodies, that could easily kill them.”

He gave up and decided to take it slow, gradually adjusting their diet.

The food Li Daoxuan looked down on was already a rare delicacy to the villagers of Gaojia Village. Happily, they cooked their evening meal, no longer hiding from neighbors while eating. Since every family was eating the same, they simply set up tables outside their doors and ate together.

Previously, secretly hiding to eat had strained the villagers’ bonds. Now, with the pre-drought atmosphere returning, the village liveliness improved.

“It’s been so long since we ate such good rice,” the Village Chief said as he shoveled rice by his doorway. “This divine rice is so fragrant—much more than what we grew ourselves. Truly a gift from the Great deity!”

Gao Chuwu held a large bowl, wolfing down rice with all his might. Young and big-bodied, he ate more than others. While entire families might eat over a dozen rice fragments, he alone polished off so many, gobbling like he hadn’t eaten for lifetimes. It was truly frightening, almost like he might choke to death.

Gao Yiye sat alone on the threshold, eating slowly and savoring each bite—a bite of rice took half a day to finish. Tears streamed down her face as she ate: “Mother, it’s a pity you can’t enjoy this.”

Li Daoxuan also had dinner: he ordered takeout today—braised beef set meal. Including delivery fee, it cost 29 yuan. A full bowl of rice topped with braised beef and braised radish came with pickles, and the shop owner even threw in a small 300-milliliter bottle of cola.

His dinner was an all-round crushing dominance compared to what the villagers ate.

Taking a bite of beef, he glanced at the figures in the scenic box. For some reason, the braised beef set meal, usually awful-tasting, seemed much nicer today.

After finishing their meals, the sky gradually darkened, and the villagers retreated to their small huts to rest.

The entire scenic box turned back into a “non-still scene,” with nothing interesting to observe.

As for what boring netizens said about “peeping at the girl figure bathing,” that was utter nonsense. The scenic box clearly showed a drought—river flows halted, plants dried to dust, and well water barely sufficed for drinking—not even enough to irrigate fields. Where was the water for bathing?

All the figures in the village skipped bathing and even went to bed without changing clothes.

Li Daoxuan pulled his attention away from the scenic box and stretched big. That damned scenic box—staring and staring, he could easily lose an entire day to it.

He opened his phone, pulled up the photo he’d taken earlier (readers who forgot can see Chapter 8), then went to his regular military history forum to post anonymously: “Take a look at this photo. The village is called Gaojia Village. The girl is Gao Yiye, the young man is Gao Chuwu, and there are five officials. From this, what do you think?”

Reply 1: “The officials’ attire looks like that of Ming Dynasty yamen runners.”

Reply 2: “Names like Gao Yiye and Gao Chuwu also resemble Ming Dynasty naming styles.”

Reply 3: “Exactly, I spotted it too—it’s likely Ming Dynasty. Pity we can’t tell which year specifically.”

Reply 4: “This scenic box is fantastic—the figures are so lifelike, vividly recreating Ming Dynasty officials oppressing common folk. Where did you buy it? I want one.”

Reply 5: “That figure called Gao Yiye is quite pretty. Want to spy on her bathing.”

Li Daoxuan: “Idiots. Why always bring up peeping baths?”

No point reasoning with such foolish people—Li Daoxuan closed the forum. Still, those replies gave him a rough idea.

Ming Dynasty?

Could his box be overlooking the Ming Dynasty?

How was that possible?

Forget it—time to sleep.

……

July 13, 2023 AD, summer, Shuangqing City.

By seven in the morning, the temperature had climbed to 33 degrees Celsius.

If it got this hot at noon, wouldn’t the sun be murderous?

Li Daoxuan groggily crawled out of bed, his first glance at the scenic box by his bedside.

The box started at the doorway, then moved to the living room. Before bed last night, he placed it beside the bed, next to the computer—all to see it first thing.

Nothing seemed amiss inside; the villagers were already up.

Gao Chuwu and a few young villagers were eating a filling breakfast because they were heading to the county town to “invite” the advisor today, so a full meal was needed for working. The Village Chief stood by instructing them word by word.

As for other villagers, they were hauling bamboo baskets to forage wild vegetables.

Li Daoxuan could not help but chuckle wryly: these villagers did nothing but hunt wild vegetables, tree bark, and grass roots—never showing a hint of change?

Well, he understood—they struggled just to survive, with no energy for anything else.

Time for today’s feeding. If he fed them daily, their survival anxiety would ease, freeing minds for other thoughts.

Li Daoxuan opened the fridge, tore off one leaf from yesterday’s big cabbage, nearly 40 centimeters long by 10 wide. Back at the scenic box, he gently set that leaf before Gao Yiye.

Just then, Gao Yiye held a bamboo basket ready to leave the village for foraging when suddenly, a giant hand from the sky placed an enormous cabbage leaf before her.

Gao Yiye looked it over: this cabbage leaf appeared thirty zhang long and ten zhang wide…