Chapter 113: Popcorn

Chapter 113: Chapter 113: Popcorn

"One book is worth a thousand taels of silver? Are you serious?" Zhou Dashan had been called over by his wife, Li Cuilan, to help move books for Mr. Kong. He heard Yun Xiu’s claim the moment he walked through the door.

"More than that," Mr. Kong said. "Medical texts are hoarded by noble families. An ordinary physician might never encounter a single rare medical manuscript in their entire lifetime. I just leafed through them—these medical books brought by the Goddess contain treatments for dozens of ailments. Out in the world, they would be treasures fought over by the noble houses. We must guard these precious items closely, otherwise, the entire village will face complete annihilation. Thank goodness we have the Goddess with us."

The Goddess was an immortal. No matter how powerful the noble families, princes, and generals might be, they were still merely mortal flesh and blood. Their status and rank might intimidate ordinary people, but that didn’t mean they could do anything to an immortal.

"They’re that precious?" Zhou Dashan swallowed hard.

Mr. Kong sighed deeply. "I am old. My eyes and limbs are failing me, and my mind has grown rusty. Mastering two or three of these books is my absolute limit. I’ll leave the rest for my grandson and granddaughter to study. Fortunately, the two of them are clever and have an interest in medicine. Once they have learned enough, they can treat the villagers and pass down the medical knowledge in these books generation by generation."

A short while later, Tian Ergou also arrived. Together, the men carried the books to Mr. Kong’s home.

"Dashan, Er Gou, what are you carrying?" someone asked.

Everyone’s tent houses were situated close to one another, and the men were making quite a bit of noise moving the heavy load. Villagers poked their heads out of windows or stood in their doorways to watch.

"Books that the Goddess brought for Mr. Kong from the Immortal Realm," Zhou Dashan replied casually, knowing that most people had little interest in anything other than food and clothing.

He was right. As soon as the crowd heard they were just books, their curiosity quickly faded.

"Yun Xiu is a scholar, and the village chief’s sons know how to read, too. Why did she only give books to Mr. Kong?" someone questioned.

"Who knows?" a bystander replied. "The Goddess probably distributed a few books to everyone in the village who knows how to read."

"We have food, drink, and warm clothes now. Life is good," another person suggested. "Once the stone walls are finished in a couple of days, we’ll have a lot of free time. Why don’t we suggest to the Goddess that she bring more books? We could have the literate folks in the village teach the little ones how to read. At the very least, they should know how to write their own names. Let’s mention this idea to the village chief so he can bring it up with the Goddess."

By the time they finished moving the medical texts, the beef offal soup was ready. The village chief and Yun Xiu once again took charge of ladling it out for everyone.

Each person received a large bowl of soup. Brewed with rich spices, the broth was savory and aromatic. The beef tripe was crisp, the intestines soft and chewy, and the meat itself tender and deeply flavorful. With every bite of meat and sip of broth, the villagers ate to their hearts’ content.

"Before all this, we wouldn’t have eaten this much meat in an entire year," someone remarked with a sigh. "It’s all a blessing bestowed by the Goddess!"

The crowd shed tears of gratitude for the Goddess.

Yun Zhen ate her offal soup, which was packed with organ meat and small chunks of beef that were fragrant and tender with every bite. The savory broth tasted even better when poured over snow-white rice.

Eating white rice and beef soup while gathered around a warm stove in clean clothes, Yun Duo sighed in contentment. "These are the best days I’ve ever lived."

In a year of catastrophic blizzards, they were living more comfortably than they had during harvest years.

After finishing the soup, Li Cuilan came over to collect the crochet material kits.

Yun Zhen handed all ten kits to her. "Everyone just needs to make one for now. It’s hard to see clearly at night. You can hold onto the rest of the crochet kits for safekeeping."

Li Cuilan agreed and left with the materials.

Yun Zhen suddenly remembered that there was still food stored in the treasure land in her mind. There was the popcorn Grandma Sun had given her, as well as the four Zaizai lollipops she had received as change during her last shopping trip. She brought both items out.

Yun Duo sniffed the air. "What is that wonderful smell? It’s sweet, like fruit, but there’s also a milky scent and a rich aroma of grain."

Yun Zhen was stunned when she opened the bag. It smelled incredible!

Little Treasure crawled over to look. "Mother, is this candy? They look like little individual flowers, and they smell so good."

"It’s popcorn," Yun Zhen said, recalling the scene of Grandma Sun making it. She had poured kernels of corn into a rotating cylinder, and after a flurry of CRACKLING AND POPPING, she opened it to reveal the fragrant popcorn.

Yun Duo’s imagination ran wild. "Popcorn? Is it like the roasted rice they sell in the county town? They use a low fire to roast the rice until it’s cooked, so does this popcorn use a high fire to make the rice explode? That can’t be right. Wouldn’t a high fire just burn the rice pitch-black?"

"It’s not regular rice; it’s corn—or ’jade rice,’ as it’s called," Yun Zhen explained. "It grows on a cob and can usually be boiled. It’s sweet and chewy, sticking to your teeth just like sugar cakes. You can’t eat the cob inside, only the kernels on the outside. Corn is golden yellow, though some are white. I’ve seen it at the vegetable stalls, but I don’t know the price."

Jade rice? Rice made of jade? The immortals in the Immortal Realm were truly extravagant. But wouldn’t rice made of jade chip one’s teeth? Although her daughter had explained it, Yun Duo still couldn’t quite picture it.

Yun Zhen was the first to taste the popcorn, and her eyes instantly lit up. "This popcorn is delicious."

Little Treasure grabbed a kernel. "Eat."

"It’s crunchy, rich with oil, and has a faint, sweet fruitiness. This popcorn is just as good as sponge cake!" Yun Duo was instantly amazed.

When Yun Xiu came in, Yun Zhen grabbed a handful for him and repeated everything she had just told her mother.

Yun Xiu was shocked. "Corn... it can fill your stomach too?"

Yun Zhen nodded.

Yun Xiu’s eyes filled with hope. "I don’t know when this blizzard will end, but when it does, Zhen Niang, you should buy more grain seeds from the Immortal Realm. We can plant them in the village and see if they take root and sprout. If potatoes, sweet potatoes, and this corn you mentioned can take root in our village, none of us will ever have to fear going hungry again."

The snow continued to fall outside without the slightest intention of stopping. All they could do was wait. The family of four shared a warm, cozy moment as they finished the popcorn.

"Once spring arrives and we build our houses," Yun Zhen decided, "I’m not only going to buy corn, but also the small rotating cylinder used to make popcorn. I want the whole village to be able to eat it."

After they finished the popcorn, Yun Zhen distributed the Zaizai lollipops to her family. Her mother got the strawberry flavor, and her father got blueberry. Little Treasure had the apple flavor, while Yun Zhen took the pineapple one.

Yun Duo asked, "Are strawberries, blueberries, and pineapples all fruits from the Immortal Realm? I can’t believe there are so many varieties of fruit up there. We’ve only ever had apricots, plums, and peaches. We didn’t even know what an apple tasted like until Zhen Niang brought a few home recently. The grapes were delicious, too."

Lately, the cafeteria only had baby mandarins. Yun Zhen would stuff a few in her pockets every day to bring back for her mother and Little Treasure.

"This candy is so sour it makes my teeth ache, but it’s not a vinegary sourness." Yun Xiu popped the Zaizai lollipop into his mouth, his face contorting from the tartness.

"Sweet!" Little Treasure narrowed his eyes in pure enjoyment.

The family of four happily enjoyed their candies together.

Right before Yun Zhen was set to leave for the other world, Li Cuilan brought over the crochet dolls everyone had made. Carpenter Zhao and Hunter Wang followed closely behind her.

Having washed up and changed into their new clothes, everyone looked entirely revitalized! Eating white rice and wheat noodles while wearing new clothes—such a good life only strengthened their resolve to work hard and make money.

"Goddess," Li Cuilan said, "we made sixty-two crochet dolls, two more than last night."

Carpenter Zhao’s face was glowing with vitality. "Goddess, I got up early to make wooden hairpins and jewelry boxes. Today, I finished thirty-five hairpins and five boxes."

Hunter Wang, sporting dark circles under his eyes, chimed in, "I made forty small wooden ornaments."

"Uncle Zhao, Uncle Wang, you don’t need to make so many. If you make too many, I won’t be able to sell them all. I only have two hours a day to sell my wares, and anything left over has to be brought back. It would be better for you to get proper rest. If you just make twenty or thirty wooden hairpins and ornaments and two or three jewelry boxes each day, I’ll be able to sell them all exactly within those two hours." Seeing that the two men were visibly exhausted, Yun Zhen offered some words of advice. "When you’re well-rested, you’ll be more meticulous and patient with your woodworking, and the finished pieces will look even better."