The mineral water bottle cap was not large, measuring only 2.5 centimeters across and one centimeter deep.
But before the tiny people, it became an enormous pool more than seventeen feet across and over five feet deep.
The pool was filled to the brim with cooking oil produced using modern methods.
The villagers recognized it with the slightest twitch of their noses.
"Rapeseed oil."
"It's top-quality rapeseed oil."
"Heavens, such a huge pool of rapeseed oil!"
"I've only ever seen a tiny bottle of oil before."
"The immortals in heaven do everything on a grand scale."
It had been a very, very long time since the villagers had tasted rapeseed oil.
Three years earlier, before the drought struck, they had still been able to grow a little rapeseed and press a bit of oil to use during festivals and holidays.
But after three years of severe drought, they could not even keep food crops alive. Who could afford to grow cash crops like rapeseed?
Now, seeing enough rapeseed oil to bathe in, the villagers were truly beside themselves with joy.
Gao Chuwu was the first to speak. "Wow, we're using this to light lamps? I can't bear to waste it. Let's eat all of it instead."
"Shut your mouth!" The Village Chief immediately rounded on him. "Didn't you see that huge band of rebels passing outside the village last night? All you think about is eating! Under the care of the Heavenly... ahem... Dao Xuan Heavenly Venerable, our village no longer lacks food. What we need to think about now is how to protect ourselves properly."
Gao Yiye raised her voice. "The Heavenly Venerable has spoken. We'll eat half this oil and use the remaining half for lanterns. Every night, we must light a ring of lanterns along the walls and post sentries to patrol. We must never let our guard down. If any bandits approach, the sentries will ring the alarm bell, and everyone must take up weapons and defend the gate to the death, denying the villains any way inside."
The villagers replied, "As you command!"
Gao Yiye said, "The Heavenly Venerable has ordered that San Shier handle the arrangements for this rapeseed oil. Everyone else, return to your work. We still need to keep building the gate and making iron armor, and Li Da's New-Style Fire Lance requires a great deal of effort too. There's plenty left to do."
The villagers were rather surprised to hear that San Shier would be put in charge of the rapeseed oil. They had thought the Heavenly Venerable would let everyone divide it up as usual. Who would have expected him to leave it undivided this time and hand it over to the Third Secretary instead? How peculiar.
Curious though they were, no one dared question the decision. They obediently dispersed to get on with their work.
San Shier, meanwhile, secretly rejoiced. Ha! The Heavenly Venerable noticed my efforts and gave me a task. My soaring rise to success starts here. First, I'll help His Venerable Self with small matters, then bigger and bigger ones, until I finally become his right-hand man. Good heavens, that'll be something! It'll be countless times better than being a secretary at the County Yamen.
"San Shier!"
Li Daoxuan called out to him.
(From this point onward, assume Gao Yiye relayed his words.)
San Shier immediately lowered his hands obediently and awaited his orders. "What are your instructions, Heavenly Venerable?"
"You know why I put you in charge of the oil, don't you?"
"This humble one understands. The villagers of Gao Family Village are a heap of loose sand, each looking after only their own household. They can neither write nor calculate. If they handled the lantern oil allocations every night, it would certainly become a complete mess. Within days, errors and omissions would crop up everywhere, and some people might even steal lamp oil to use at home."
"Mm, good, as long as you understand," Li Daoxuan said. "Hmm? You're not tacking an idiom onto the end of everything anymore?"
San Shier scratched his head awkwardly. "This humble one added an idiom after every sentence to make myself seem learned in front of others. But before the Heavenly Venerable, my meager learning is like a candle flame facing the sun and moon. No matter how I put on airs, I'm still a..."
"All right, there's no need for a long-winded explanation." Li Daoxuan had long since seen through his habit of ending every sentence with an idiom, and merely smiled it off. "Can you tell what Gao Family Village lacks most?"
"People!" San Shier answered without hesitation. "It lacks people."
"Very good! I'm glad you see it."
Li Daoxuan gently extended a hand, and a little hill of flour balls appeared before San Shier. "Use this flour to bring in some people."
Overjoyed, San Shier hurriedly bowed deeply toward the empty air. "Rest assured, Heavenly Venerable. In these drought-stricken years, flour is more precious than gold. With this, this humble one is confident he can deceive... ahem... abduct... ahem... invite many people here."
Li Daoxuan said, "First, let me hear what you have in mind."
San Shier said, "Many villagers from Wang Family Village, Zhong Family Village, Zheng Family Village, and the villages around them have joined Wang Er's Rebel Army. But there must be some who stayed behind, unwilling to become rebels. Life must be even harder than before for those who remained. This humble one need only make a circuit through those villages with a single sack of flour, and I guarantee they'll all come to join us."
The corners of Li Daoxuan's mouth curved slightly upward. Excellent. This man's ideas matched his own perfectly without any prior discussion. Sure enough, having this fellow under him saved him an enormous amount of trouble.
He had read many historical accounts containing similar analyses: the secretary at the County Yamen was the one who handled practical matters, while the County Magistrate actually dealt in abstractions.
The County Magistrate usually did nothing but dream up ideas. Once he came up with a decree, he handed it over to the secretary at his side.
The secretary was responsible for "implementation." Every practical detail was completed under his painstaking supervision, as though he were raising a child through every dirty diaper.
The County Magistrate opened his mouth, and the secretary ran his legs off.
Thus, when it came to getting things done, the secretary actually left the County Magistrate a whole street behind. Many magistrates who did nothing but bury themselves in books and learn by rote could accomplish nothing once separated from their secretaries.
Li Daoxuan said, "Very good. I'll leave it to you, then."
After saying that, he fell silent. Gao Yiye watched his face slowly disappear into the clouds, seemingly no longer looking down upon the earth. Only then did she say, "The Heavenly Venerable has returned to the Immortal Realm."
San Shier let out a "Ha!" and jumped a foot into the air. "Wonderful! Today, I, San Shier, have become the Heavenly Venerable's secretary! Hahahaha! Hahahaha!"
He had wanted to burst out laughing like that for some time, but he dared not behave disrespectfully before the Heavenly Venerable, so he had kept his wild delight bottled up. Now that the Heavenly Venerable had gone, how could he hold it in any longer? He planted his hands on his hips and roared with laughter.
Gao Yiye also breathed a sigh of relief, relaxing her tense posture and stretching her arms and legs. She said to Third Madam beside her, "Oh, wearing these thick, heavy clothes and keeping such a solemn expression is so tiring."
Third Madam looked utterly envious. "You have no idea how much I envy you, yet you're complaining that the work is tiring."
Gao Yiye said, "Oh, I'm not complaining, I'm not! I'm just not quite used to it."
Third Madam said earnestly, "Miss Yiye, you are Dao Xuan Heavenly Venerable's Holy Maiden, responsible for conveying his words. The more dignified your bearing, the more others will respect the Heavenly Venerable. You must never forget that."
Gao Yiye tried hard to adopt a dignified air. "I understand."
Third Madam then turned to San Shier. "You old rascal, the villagers don't understand anything. After all this time, they still haven't thought to do something for the Heavenly Venerable. Shouldn't our family dip into our savings to build him a temple and fashion a golden body for him?"
Without even a second's consideration, San Shier answered unhesitatingly, "Build it! Even if we have to smash our pots and sell the iron, we'll get that temple built. But here in Gao Family Village, I'm afraid we'd struggle to find anywhere to spend our money..."
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