The Cellar

After Xiaoguo left, the men finally stopped holding back and revealed their true colors.

In an instant, the chopsticks on the table started dancing. One moment, a big prawn was flying, and the next moment, a crab was sliding over. Within the next instant, a piece of pumpkin was falling into the bowl…

In such a chaotic environment, Jiang Danhe did not forget his role of a virtuous father. It was his job to refill the children’s bowls with food and rice.

He didn’t have a choice. The two children were still young. Even if they wanted to fight with the men for food, they couldn’t. Any food they picked up was destined to be taken away.

Li Shouji let out a huge burp after eating his fill. In the end, under the disdainful gazes of the others, he licked away the last grain of rice stuck to his chopsticks.

“Eeks…”

Zhuang Zhuang and Wen Xiaoyi exclaimed in disgust at the same time. Although it was a good thing to conserve food and not waste it, he had eaten too much and had gone through many bowls.

“What’s wrong? Aren’t you guys the same?”

Li Shouji said nonchalantly. He even showed them the bowls in front of him. All of them were licked clean. There was no need to wash them. They could be kept away immediately.

When the rest heard his words, they blinked in embarrassment. Indeed, they had no right to despise Li Shouji. They were all the same in this case.

When dinner was over, it was time to clear the dishes. Usually, the kitchen would send someone to deliver food and also collect the empty plates. However, this time, the meal was prepared by themselves, so no one would come by to pick up the dishes. They must gather all the plates themselves and get someone to collect them or send everything back themselves.

Of course, no matter which option they chose, they had to sort the empty bowls, chopsticks, and plates, and place them back on the tray.

As for who was going to do this job, the few of them were each hatching their own ideas. After all, nobody felt like moving after having a full meal.

The strong will always bully the weak.

The three men were thinking the same thing. Children should exercise more. A hundred steps after a meal, gives one a lifespan of 99 years…

“Sigh, Xiaoyi, let’s go study.”

Zhuang Zhuang was observant and quick-witted. Seeing that the situation was not looking good, he immediately pulled Xiaoyi, who was still in a daze, back into the house.

The three men looked helplessly at the backs of the two shrimps. With such an excuse,it was hard for the men to stop them. After all, the kids did have to spend time on their books..

Since the kids couldn’t do the work…

“Sigh, I still have a lot of things to do. I’ll take my leave first.”

Seeing that he might be implicated, Shao Zhan hurriedly stood up and used the word “zhen”1 to suppress the other two men. Looking at them swallowing their anger without saying anything, he went back to sleep in satisfaction.

The pressure of clearing the table instantly landed on Jiang Danhe and Li Shouji.

“I…”

“The general, which is myself, has some things to deal with, so I’ll… Haha.”

Li Shouji bit his lower lip and rolled his eyes at Jiang Danhe, who was leaving. The emperor and the general have already spoken. What else can he do? He had no choice since he was just a lowly official.

Now that he was left on his own, he reluctantly began to clear the table. Just as he was picking up a pair of chopsticks, an idea came to him. He ran out immediately. At this hour, almost everyone was finishing their meals. The staff who were in-charge of clearing the plates were still busy doing their jobs.

Once Li Shouji stepped out, he spotted many servants walking around. He stopped someone and asked her to help clear the plates. After watching her leave with his own eyes, he turned around and left. He rubbed his round belly and went back to sleep.

—-

Xiaoguo had basically explored all the places on the island. It had been more than half a month since she got here. And during this time, she had almost explored every corner of the island. The only thing she had not tried was to swim in the sea.

Although it was scorching hot outside, Xiaoguo couldn’t feel it. And that was because of the ice cubes. Baskets and baskets of ice cubes were brought into the house on a daily basis. Before the ice cubes started melting, the servants would replace them with new ones.

Seeing the servant leave with another basin of ice, Xiaoguo’s interest was piqued. She was really curious to know how they stored ice, so she followed the servant out.

The young girl was about fifteen or sixteen years old. Xiaoguo walked beside her and thought that she was a little reserved, so she lowered her voice and chatted with her.

“Are you throwing away the ice?”

“No,” the girl said dryly, with a shaky voice. “We’re going to put it back in the cellar and freeze it into ice again.”

“Oh…” Xiaoguo nodded. She thought that it was a good idea. Recycling the ice means lesser wastage. “Can I go to the cellar with you?”

The young lady hesitated when she heard this. She stole a glance at Xiaoguo. “…Sure.”

Xiaoguo smiled happily at her and looked around. She must take note of her surroundings. Otherwise, she might have problems finding her way back later.

The little girl looked at Xiaoguo’s smile and secretly thought to herself that she was very beautiful. She didn’t look like a bad person, so it should be safe to bring her to the cellar.

The cellar was used for storing fresh meat, food, and fruits. So outsiders did not have access to this place. However, the girl felt that the lady in front of her was not a bad person, so she agreed to her request.

The two of them walked and made a few turns. The air felt colder the more they walked. Xiaoguo couldn’t help but rub her arms. The surrounding trees towered into the sky, blocking out the sunrays. It was no wonder that this place felt so cold.

After a while, she saw two guards standing guard by a door.

“Madam, we’re here.”

The little girl stopped and said to Xiaoguo.

With the young girl leading the way, she went past the front door easily. Beyond the front door was an oversized and ordinary-looking room. The cellar manager was seated inside. On the table was a stack of thick paper and beside it was a brush covered in ink.

The butler knew the young lady. When she saw Xiaoguo, she asked her carefully about her identity and the purpose of her visit. After confirming that there were no problems, she let her in.

In the middle of the room was a wide staircase that extended downwards. Both sides of the walls were filled with candles. The whole place was very brightly lit.

At this moment, no one was visiting the cellar. Their footsteps echoed in the empty cellar, making the place feel a little creepy.

However, the young lady looked like she was used to this place. Her expression was very normal. It was daytime now, so there was nothing to be afraid of. The cellar at night was more creepy. There were at least some people moving around during the day, but when night came, there was hardly anyone hanging in this place. However, if the servants had any errands to run, they still had to come down here no matter what. It was no use feeling scared.

Xiaoguo roughly estimated the length of the stairs. Based on the time she took to come down, this cellar was at least three to four meters deep.

As soon as they reached the cellar, a gust of cold air hit them in the face. The temperature in the air instantly dropped by at least ten degrees celsius.

Xiaoguo wrapped her arms around herself in discomfort, but the little girl didn’t seem affected. They went down the stairs and reached the floor of the cellar. An oversized thick curtain appeared in front of them.

The little girl parted the curtains in the middle, revealing the well-lit interior. She smiled and gestured. “Madam, please come in.”

“Thank you.” Xiaoguo thanked her and walked in.

The little girl followed closely behind and lowered the curtains.

An oversized cellar appeared in front of her. If Xiaoguo had to describe it, it was a cellar-shaped refrigerator. There were no candles here, but it was still bright.

Every corner of the cellar was filled with ice cubes. There was also an ice table with fresh meat and fruits stacked on it.

While Xiaoguo was admiring the place, the little girl had already brought the basket to a shorter block of ice. She tilted the basket and poured it over the ice. As soon as the melted water landed on the ice, it instantly turned into ice.

“Once we bring the broken ice back, we’ll pour it over the existing ice to freeze it. Then, when it is time to change the ice, we’ll chisel it into smaller pieces.”

The little girl explained to Xiaoguo.

Xiaoguo was shocked. The wisdom of ancient people was really endless.

“Why is it so bright in here?”

Xiaoguo looked around a few times but didn’t see anything that could illuminate the place. She couldn’t help but wonder about the light source.

“The light comes from the luminous rocks.” This cellar was dug out by the workers bit by bit. The interior was also done up in stages over a period of time. Therefore they are very familiar with the structure of the cellar.”

“Luminous… rocks?”

Xiaoguo repeated it curiously. “Is this the legendary luminous pearls?”