Chapter 26: Promoting New Food [Jinjiang Authentic Edition·Palace Banquet]...
"The little fellow recently reunited with the Black Bird in his dreams, and brought back several prescriptions for governing the country and ensuring peace for the people from the Black Bird."
"The palace kitchen has developed some new dishes based on the recipes carefully selected by the black bird. I would like to invite all of you to a small banquet in the palace later so that you can taste them together."
The eyes of the kneeling civil and military officials lit up instantly upon hearing this. While it was too late for breakfast and too early for dinner, this was a palace banquet bestowed by His Majesty! And it was freshly prepared using the "Xuanniao Food Recipe"! It was truly a dream come true!
All the officials immediately stood up from their seats and bowed to His Majesty excitedly, saying, "Thank you, Your Majesty."
The First Emperor also stood up from his seat and said to the officials with a smile:
"Please move with me, my lords."
"promise!"
…
About a quarter of an hour later, all the officials followed the Emperor to the side hall. They lifted their robes and knelt on the seats neatly with small pads for their heels. However, when they saw the palace servants who came in one after another and bowed to hold the tableware in front of them, they all widened their eyes in shock.
Since the Shang and Zhou dynasties, Jijin utensils have been a symbol of the nobles' class status. There are even extremely strict restrictions among nobles on how many Jijin utensils they can use in a meal based on their status.
But what did all the officials see today?
In front of the Emperor, the palace servants brought ceramic bowls, cups, wooden spoons, and chopsticks. Every low-key yet luxurious table was filled with a uniform array of grayish-brown ceramic utensils, the kind used by common people. It was like a golden nanmu box filled with fish instead of pearls! What was His Majesty trying to do? Was he trying to punish all officials, to reduce them to commoners?
Suddenly, countless officials began to recall their recent activities and looked up anxiously. However, when they saw that the palace servants, bending over to serve the tableware, had placed ceramic and wooden tableware on the emperor's table, their nervousness gradually subsided, but was immediately followed by a deep sense of confusion.
Could it be that Your Majesty has eaten too much meat and fish and has lost interest in simple porridge and small dishes? Is it that after being accustomed to using precious metal utensils, he has become curious about the tableware of the common people?
Some of the royal Qin clan and old Qin nobles who were born with a silver spoon in their mouths immediately looked down carefully at the pottery and wooden tableware on the table, racking their brains to dig out the hidden advantages of these simple tableware, thinking that if His Majesty praised the tableware used by the common people later, they would also be able to follow His Majesty's words and praise them.
Most of the new nobles who came from outside the Great Wall were impoverished aristocrats who had risen again in the Qin State. Before becoming the new nobles in Xianyang, pottery and wooden tableware were their daily utensils. At this moment, they were not very surprised, but were thinking deeply about the intention of Your Majesty's move.
Wei Liao was always meticulous. He looked at the tableware on His Majesty's desk, then glanced at Li Si beside him. He saw that the old man was still happily showing off his exquisite crystal cup, and he didn't look at the ceramic and wooden tableware on the desk in front of him, which was completely unbecoming of his noble status. Thinking of the recent uproar over the "Book Burning Order", the eldest son Fusu was sent by His Majesty to inspect the three places of the Great Wall outside the Great Wall, and the fact that Court Justice Li Si was taken into the inner hall by His Majesty for special meals after the court was dismissed, he couldn't help but stroke his gray beard and frowned in thought:
[Is Your Majesty planning to use this small banquet to have the nobles replace their tableware? And use all the saved copperware to forge weapons?]
The Emperor, unaware that his own Grand Marshal had already made a connection to the war effort simply by observing the change in tableware, sat at the head of the main seat, observing the complex expressions of the ministers below, some confused, some shocked, some worried, and some terrified. Only after all the ceramic and wooden tableware had been placed on the tables did he sigh and say,
"I imagine you, the nobles, are very confused by the ceramic and wooden tableware set out for this banquet today. This isn't because the palace servants were too hasty to prepare the auspicious golden utensils, but rather, a few days ago, the Black Bird, through Changsun Ying, told me a great secret."
When all the officials heard the word "secret", they immediately shifted their attention from the simple tableware on the table and looked up. They found that there was a hint of regret on the emperor's face. They immediately pricked up their ears and listened with extreme attentively.
"Alas, this secret is truly surprising to me. Xuanniao told Changsun Ying that the auspicious gold vessel used daily by the nobles from ancient times to the present is actually a poisonous vessel wrapped in honey."
"What? A poison weapon?!"
After hearing the secret that made His Majesty look regretful, all the officials regretted it instantly. They widened their eyes in horror, and some impatient ones even shouted out loud. Among the officials in the chaotic hall, the only two calm people were the Chief Justice Li Si and the General Wang Ben.
After Prime Minister Wang Wan came to his senses, he quickly reached out to support himself on the table and stood up. He tremblingly bowed to His Majesty who was sitting at the top and asked:
"Your Majesty, please forgive my impoliteness. This Jijin vessel is luxurious and beautiful, made of exquisite materials. Generations of nobles have used it for thousands of years. How could it suddenly become a poisonous weapon in the mouth of a black bird? Is this true?"
The First Emperor looked at Wang Wan with a gentle expression, nodded and sighed:
"Alas, Prime Minister Wang, Xuanniao did say so. He told Changsun Ying that the essence of the Jijin vessel is actually an alloy vessel, and there is a toxin called heavy metal hidden inside."
"This poison is difficult for imperial physicians to diagnose, and it accumulates slowly in the human body over a long period of time. Once it reaches a certain dose, it will cause irreversible and severe damage to the body. That is why I am replacing the tableware of all the nobles with ceramic and wood today."
Before one wave subsides, another wave arises!
His Majesty the Emperor's sigh was not loud and his tone was very gentle, but what he said was like a swift hurricane mixed with hail, whistling across the entire banquet and crackling down. The officials who were already uneasy about the word "poison weapon" felt even more dizzy and almost fainted on the spot.
Wang Wan's gray brows were furrowed to the point of knotting, his old face flushed with anxiety, and he was almost on the verge of tears:
"Your Majesty! What can we do? We, the old ministers, have been using Jijin utensils for nearly seventy or eighty years! Isn't it that we are already deeply poisoned and terminally ill?"
"Yes, yes, Your Majesty, what should we do? What should we do?!"
The old Qin nobles who were about the same age as Wang Wan were also looking around anxiously, wishing that His Majesty could find some imperial doctors to take their pulses on the spot.
Some of the relatively younger upstarts from outside the Great Wall also lowered their gazes, looking at the familiar ceramic and wooden tableware on the table with complicated expressions. They felt a strange sense of irony. Truly, the meaning of the auspicious gold utensils was too special these days! The old nobles were proud to be able to use auspicious gold utensils, and the new nobles had worked hard for half their lives just to replace the simple ceramic and wooden tableware on their tables with noble and beautiful auspicious gold utensils. But today, they heard with their own ears that the ceramic and wooden tableware was good! The auspicious gold utensils were bad!
This is such a mess, I don't even know what to say! After working so hard for most of my life, I've only managed to get "pearls" replaced by "fish eyes"! It's really frustrating!
Looking at the old ministers in their seventies and eighties below, each with a wrinkled face and flushed red, almost crying on the spot, the more powerful a person is, the more afraid of death they are when they get old, and the more reluctant they are to die. His Majesty understands the impatience and fear of these old nobles very well, so he raised his hand and pressed it down slightly, raised his voice slightly, and laughed out loud:
"Hahaha, my dear nobles, please don't panic like that."
Seeing His Majesty's relaxed and happy reaction, the old nobles couldn't help but sniff their red noses and looked at the First Emperor eagerly as if they were looking at a life-saving straw.
The First Emperor continued, "Everyone, the Black Bird is the patron saint of our Great Qin. Since it used An Guojun to point out the serious flaws of the auspicious gold vessels to the Qin people, it naturally also provided a corresponding antidote."
"May I ask, Your Majesty, what is the antidote that the black bird bestowed upon the people of Qin?"
Li Si seized the opportunity and spoke out to provide precise support.
Seeing that the eyes of the officials had become more anxious and expectant, His Majesty the Emperor looked at his Chief Justice with satisfaction, raised his hand and took out a white porcelain bowl and a crystal cup from the small mahogany box held by the palace servant beside him.
Amidst the ministers' mixed gazes of surprise, curiosity, confusion, and anxiety, His Majesty the Emperor slowly curled his lips and smiled to resolve their confusion:
"The black bird showed pity for the Qin people and specially gave them two methods of detoxification: one is 'physical therapy' and the other is 'food therapy'."
"As the name suggests, physical therapy requires you to replace the auspicious metal utensils you currently use for daily meals with ceramic or wooden utensils as soon as possible after returning home. This will prevent you from getting poisoned again."
"But Your Majesty, the tableware you are holding doesn't seem to be made of pottery or wood."
Li Si asked again at the right moment, caressing his crystal cup as he spoke, drawing the attention of all the officials to the object in His Majesty's hands. Taking a closer look, the officials finally understood what had happened to Li Tingwei, who had taken the wrong medicine today! It turned out that the crystal cup he had been flaunting all morning at the court meeting wasn't just a gift from His Majesty, but a gift from the Xuanniao to His Majesty and His Royal Highness the Grandson!
Damn Li Si! That old guy knows how to piss people off!
Looking at the crystal cup in Li Si's hand, which was exactly the same as the one in His Majesty's hand, the officials' eyes turned red with jealousy and envy.
The First Emperor also smiled and nodded:
"Indeed, the Chief Justice observed very carefully. Although the two tablewares in my hands are not made of pottery or wood, their materials are similar in function to those of pottery and wood."
"The white bowl in my left hand is called 'porcelain.' The crystal cup in my right hand is called 'glass.'"
"The materials of both are healthy and harmless, the tentacles are smooth and delicate, and the appearance is exquisite and beautiful. This is exactly the tableware used by the immortals in the outer world in daily life."
"boom--"
"Tableware from the gods?!" When the officials heard the golden adjective used by His Majesty, their eyes became even redder, and they even wanted to assassinate the Minister of Justice to steal the treasure!
The First Emperor looked at the envious expressions of the officials, and the corners of his mouth curled up even more. After whetting everyone's appetite to the highest point, he put the white porcelain bowl and crystal cup in his hand back into the small mahogany box under everyone's eager gaze.
Huh? Why did Your Majesty put away these two more exotic artifacts? Aren't you going to continue explaining them in detail?
The ministers looked eagerly at the opaque mahogany box, and then looked at His Majesty the Emperor with bitter eyes.
His Majesty the Emperor jumped directly to the second prescription: "After discussing the physical therapy, I will now explain the dietary therapy method in detail to all the ministers."
"There are many dietary therapy methods. Today, I will pick the most important ones to share with you all."
Upon hearing this, all the officials struggled to shift their gaze from the small mahogany box held by the palace servant to His Majesty.
His Majesty said with a smile on his face:
"Changsun Ying is so blessed! The Black Bird has bestowed upon my grandson several delicious recipes. It also told Ying that heavy metal toxins take a long time to accumulate and won't kill you immediately. Drinking more goat's milk on a daily basis can alleviate the toxicity of these toxins and help you recuperate. Eating more soy products and wheat in your daily diet will help you live longer."
The officials who were sad and distressed about not being able to own "porcelain bowls and crystal cups" felt a little relieved after hearing the "diet therapy" method, but their expressions became miserable again in an instant. They looked at each other, not knowing what expression to use.
If drinking goat milk alone could detoxify heavy metals, most officials would be fine with it. However, soy products and wheat products, made from beans and wheat grains, were simply unpalatable! Even common people would find it painful to eat, let alone these nobles who were known for their unparalleled delicacy.
If it was just to live a few more years, these people would be forced to give up the best food, pick up the ceramic bowls, hold the wooden chopsticks, shovel the bean rice that causes diarrhea, chew the wheat rice that makes the throat hurt. Well, this... it would be better to let them continue to eat the mutton stew served in the auspicious gold vessel, and let them be "poisoned" to death happily!
All the officials were silent now, feeling extremely conflicted.
His Majesty the Emperor, who was sitting at the top, admired the rapid switching of the two wonderful expressions of the ministers below, which were either "dying from the taste of bean rice and wheat rice" or "poisoned by the golden utensils". He said nothing, but glanced at Zhao Gao who was not far away.
Zhao Gao bowed hurriedly and walked out briskly. After a while, the palace servants who had just left came in one after another, carrying steaming hot food served in ceramic plates and bowls.
The officials who were still struggling and unable to make up their minds suddenly smelled an extremely overbearing and unprecedented fragrance, and subconsciously all looked towards the entrance of the palace.
Wei Liao stared in bewilderment at the strange food the palace attendant placed before him. A fist-sized, slightly plump, upside-down bowl of food sat on a brown ceramic plate. It looked so soft and fluffy, like clouds in the sky, it was tempting to press it gently with your fingers to feel the texture. This lovely appearance even intrigued the Taiwei, who couldn't help but lean in for a sniff. This sniff startled him, his pupils dilating slightly—fragrant! It was the aroma of wheat!
This soft, cloud-like hemispherical dumpling is actually made of wheat?!
Before Wei Liao could utter a cry of surprise, another palace servant placed a small ceramic bowl in front of him. Inside was a bowl of light yellow hot soup with small light yellow bumps floating on the soup. Mist of steam wafted out, and when he got close he could smell the strong aroma of wheat.
Wei Liao, who was not very hungry originally, suddenly felt his stomach was empty and very hungry. He looked at the food on the table and swallowed his saliva uncontrollably.
In the next quarter of an hour, the palace servants swiftly placed steaming food on the tables. The hall became extremely quiet, and the sound of the officials swallowing their saliva was particularly clear.
After each table was set with two wheat dishes, two bean dishes, and one stir-fried vegetable, the First Emperor, who was sitting at the head of the table, took the wet towel from Zhao Gao and washed his hands. Under the expectant and anxious gazes of the ministers, he reached out and took a pale yellow hemispherical dumpling from the ceramic plate and introduced it to the officials with a smile:
"My Lords, this delicacy is called 'steamed buns,' also known as 'steamed buns.' It's a wheat-based food prepared by the palace chefs according to the Xuanniao recipe Ying brought back. The raw material is precisely hard wheat grains."
"What? This is wheat food?"
Upon hearing this, all the officials looked down in surprise at the half-ball dumplings on their ceramic plates. The next moment, His Majesty continued, "In addition to the steamed buns, the hot soup in your ceramic bowls is called 'Noodle Dumpling Soup' and is also made with wheat grains."
When the ministers heard this, their eyes widened even more. The Grand Commandant bowed to His Majesty and asked the thoughts of everyone present:
"Your Majesty, this is simply unbelievable! The difference between wheat and wheat rice is as huge as a chasm. I wonder what kind of magical method the palace chefs used to turn that hard-to-chew wheat into such a delicious wheat food?"
The officials who were a little slow to react followed Wei Liao's words and bowed to His Majesty the Emperor at the top and said:
"Your Majesty, please help us solve our doubts."
The First Emperor glanced at Zhao Gao, who hurriedly unfolded a large piece of white silk and slowly showed it to the officials.
All the officials looked at the cylindrical stone drawn on the silk and blinked in confusion, because they had never seen this strange cylinder before and had no idea what it was.
After Zhao Gao finished his presentation, he closed the scroll in his hand and quietly retreated to the big pillar to serve as a background. All the ministers looked up at the emperor with shining eyes, waiting for him to reveal the biggest answer to the mystery.
The First Emperor did not delay and revealed the secret directly:
"My Lords, of the five delicacies displayed on the table today, four were made using the utensils depicted in this scroll."
"The stone tool depicted in this scroll is called a 'stone mill.' Beans, when eaten alone, can easily cause stomach discomfort, and hard wheat is extremely difficult to chew. However, by adding a suitable amount of water and grinding these two ingredients into wheat flour, bean dregs, and soy milk with a stone mill, the unpalatable beans and hard-to-chew wheat grains can instantly become delicious bean and wheat foods."
Upon hearing this, all the officials looked at the two snow-white dishes on the table. The pale yellow food was wheat food, so the white food must be bean food, right?
Seeing the surprised looks of the ministers, the First Emperor nodded, tacitly agreeing with their guess. He then picked up a pottery plate and introduced it in detail to the officials:
"The bean food on my left is called 'tofu', and the bean food on my right is called 'tofu skin'. These two delicacies are both soy products made by the chef using a stone mill to grind beans and then reprocess them."
"This golden, fragrant dish is called 'Stir-fried Chicken'. It's stir-fried in hot oil in an iron pan. 'Stir-frying' is a brand new cooking method Ying learned from Xuanniao in her dream. The copper pots and Jijin utensils we use in our kitchens are actually made of similar materials, and long-term use is not good for the body. Therefore, I have three purposes for hosting this banquet today. First, I want to taste these five new delicacies with you, second, I want to replace the kitchen utensils and tableware that are no longer suitable for the Qin Dynasty, and third, I want you to work with me to promote and enrich the food culture of the Qin Dynasty!"
"Currently, the edible crops we have in the Great Qin are too limited, and the yields are low. Wheat and beans are both crops grown in large quantities in the Great Qin, but in the past, we Qin people have not found the correct way to cook these two grains, so we have always eaten very coarse and miserable food. Now, Chang Sunying has brought us the pattern of a stone mill from the Xuanniao, the process of making delicious wheat and bean food, and the new cooking method of 'iron pan stir-frying'. I believe this will become a milestone in the development of the Great Qin, indicating that in the future, our Great Qin will have several more delicious dishes, which will comprehensively improve our crude food culture!"
"From this day forward, the nobles will no longer be harmed by the auspicious metal utensils, and will be able to better assist me in governing the Great Qin. Meanwhile, the common people will be able to use stone mills to grind beans and flour, turning hard-to-swallow beans and wheat grains into healthy delicacies suitable for all ages, thus better assisting me in building the Great Qin. This is a sign of the great prosperity of our Great Qin!"
Upon hearing His Majesty's high-level summary, all the officials were instantly overjoyed. They hurriedly stood up from their seats and leaned forward to shout:
"Black Bird! Protect the Great Qin!"
"Long live the Great Qin!"
"Long live His Majesty! Long live His Majesty! Long live His Royal Highness Changsun!"
“…”
“…”
At noon in midsummer, cheers filled with excitement and excitement floated out of the side hall and into the sky through the huge carved wooden windows.
At the end of the Wei hour, as the palace banquet ended, as all the officials left the palace and returned home, under the deliberate promotion of His Majesty, the words "wheat food", "bean food" and "iron pot cooking" spread throughout the city in an instant.
The entire Xianyang city has become bustling. Who can not like delicious food?
The stonemasons and blacksmiths, previously struggling with limited business, suddenly experienced a surge in orders. The influx of customers placing orders was all for stone mills and iron pots! This frightened the stonemasons and blacksmiths to death. They had only heard of the "stone mills" and "iron pots," but had never seen them in person. How could they possibly know how to make these magical "stone mills" and "iron pots" that had been hailed from the palace?
Just as the stonemasons and blacksmiths were scratching their heads in anxiety at home, feeling that they were going to miss out on this wave of wealth, they were urgently summoned by the head of their village. The head of the village then led them to find the pavilion chief. After seeing the master stonemasons and blacksmiths working in the palace's Shaofu, as well as the patterns and finished products of stone mills and iron pots drawn and made by these senior craftsmen, the common people's craftsmen began to breathe faster, and with their eyes shining, they hurriedly followed the craftsmen of the Shaofu to seriously learn the new skills.
In just one day, the patterns of stone mills and iron pots, as well as the methods of grinding beans and wheat with stone mills, spread rapidly throughout the world like rays, with the capital as the center.
Under the deep night, the starlight was a little dim, and the remnants of the six countries who were hiding in the small wooden house in the dense forest gathered again. Looking at the stone mill pattern spread out on the wooden table and the bamboo slips with detailed records of the methods of grinding beans and wheat, they couldn't help but look a little green in the face.
Although they had fallen into lower social status, they were all literate and educated. Even if they were rebels, they were still considered the smartest people of the era. They naturally knew how much impact this seemingly ordinary stone mill and the method of grinding beans and wheat would have on all counties in the world if it were really passed on to the homes of common people. It would also make many common people in the former Shandong states who originally hated Qin have a slight change of mind towards the First Emperor of Qin.
After all, food is the most important thing for people. Nothing in the world is more important than filling your stomach.
When the Qin army conquered cities and destroyed the six kingdoms, because the Qin military merit system was calculated according to the number of enemy heads obtained, the Qin god of war Bai Qi used "mobile warfare" and "annihilation warfare" to perfection. During the entire Warring States period, more than two million people died in battle, and half of them died at the hands of Bai Qi, the Marquis of Wu'an. Therefore, Bai Qi was known as the "God of War" in Qin, but was branded as the "Man-Slayer" and "God of Killing" outside Hangu Pass.
It was precisely because countless relatives died on the battlefield at the hands of the Qin army, and even if they died, their heads would be cut off and their bodies would be mutilated. Seeing their relatives die without a complete body at the hands of the Qin army was so painful for the living. Therefore, the common people in the former territories of the six kingdoms called the Qin army "the tiger and wolf Qin army" and cursed them as "barbarians". Before unification, Qin had the worst reputation among the seven powers in the world. After unification, Qin Shihuang also had little support among the people in the former territories of the six kingdoms.
The remnants of the six kingdoms who secretly wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to start a riot, incite the people and rebel against the Qin Dynasty relied on the notoriety of the "tyrannical Qin" and the hatred of the common people of the six kingdoms towards the barbaric behavior of the Qin army. If this food method that can make "rottenness turn into magic" can really be spread to thousands of households outside the Great Wall, and the First Emperor can use countless wheat and bean foods to gather the hearts of the common people who are as scattered as a pile of sand, and let the common people of the six kingdoms be as loyal to the Qin Dynasty as the old Qin people, then how can they rebel with just a small group of nobles who have slipped into lower class!
"Master, what should we do next? Are we going to watch Ying Zheng spread this millstone pattern and the methods for grinding beans and wheat outside the Great Wall to win back the hearts of the six nations?"
The middle-aged man in green clothes, looking angry, looked at the silent head of the family sitting in the main seat and asked nervously.
The handsome man with a refined temperament narrowed his eyes slightly, curled his lips and said sarcastically: "Don't worry, although Ying Zheng's idea is beautiful, this matter may seem simple, but it is extremely difficult to accomplish."
A Chu man immediately laughed and said:
"That's right, Ying Zheng doesn't understand the common people! He's always so high and mighty, looking up at the sun. How could he possibly understand the suffering of the lower classes? He's so simplistic! Does he really think this millstone is just made by splicing two small roadside stones together?"
"The common people have beans and wheat at home, but they don't have money!"
"The stonemasons won't give away millstones for free! Common people can't afford to buy or make millstones. They don't even have the tools, so how can they grind beans or flour? I see this trend of wheat and bean food is quite strong, but when it dies down, they will only become the food for the nobles and wealthy. Haha - Ying Zheng wants to use this method to change the hostility of the common people outside the Great Wall towards him, haha - bah! He's really daydreaming!"
Upon hearing the Chu people's disdainful curses, all the rebels present nodded in sudden realization. After realizing the difficulty of the matter, they instantly relaxed their brows, slapped their thighs, laughed and mocked the whimsical First Emperor, and were ready to watch how this massive, top-down, and overwhelming propaganda for the production methods of bean and wheat food would fail miserably when the common people had no money to make stone mills!
However--
On the second day, after spending most of the night in the deep forest, reminiscing bitterly about the family's past glory, and cursing the First Emperor as usual, the rebels hurried back home to sleep near the end of the first hour. As they were closing their eyes in their mud and thatched houses to catch up on their sleep, they heard the sound of gongs "dong dong dong" on the winding loess road outside, accompanied by the high-pitched Qinqiang of the village chief. The entire dilapidated house was shaken by the loud noise that disturbed their sleep, and dust fell off.
"Attention! Attention! Everyone in Hanyangli! When you hear the gong, quickly gather under the big locust tree!"
"Gather! Everyone in Hanyangli, upon hearing the gong, quickly gather under the big locust tree!"
"Damn it! Zang Wu! Can't we even sleep so early in the morning?"
The rebels who were so sleepy that they could not open their eyes heard the loud shouting outside the door. They opened their bloodshot eyes and immediately climbed up from the earthen couch cursing.
Just as I turned my annoyed gaze to the wooden window, I heard the headman shouting:
"Everyone in Hanyang, gather quickly! May the Black Bird bless you! Great news has arrived! His Majesty the Emperor has sent someone to deliver us a fine stone mill made by the Shaofu!"
"What?!"
Last night, they gathered in the base camp and endured the night till late at night. They all laughed at and ridiculed the emperor Ying Zheng, who was sitting high on the throne. Of course, they could not have imagined that "the common people could not afford the stone mills at all". When the rebels from the six countries heard that His Majesty was going to give the common people the stone mills, they all widened their eyes in shock and subconsciously climbed up from the earthen collapse using their hands and feet. However, due to severe lack of sleep, their legs and feet were weak, and they all fell heavily to the yellow earth with a "bang". They struggled to get up, as if they heard a strange red rain falling outside the window. They hastily put on their clothes and staggered out of the house, running quickly towards the tallest and largest century-old locust tree in the village.
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