Chapter 7: How Do You Hide 10 Apples In Your Crotch
Chen Han finished reading the two tasks, immediately stood up, and chased in the direction the little earth dogs had darted off, wanting to investigate the purpose of the dog demons gathering. To do that, he first had to know where the little earth dogs were gathering.
Unfortunately, by the time he came out of the pavilion, the little earth dogs had already vanished without a trace. Even after he chased forward for some distance, he still did not see them. Instead, his body started to feel unwell and he was panting heavily.
His current physical condition really put huge limits on him. In the past, even if he ran several laps around the mountain, he would still be full of vigor.
Now…
He simply went back to the Chen Clan to eat some breakfast. He had barely eaten anything last night; if he did not replenish a bit, his physical condition would collapse even more easily.
On the way, he looked at the other task: find the Work Hall elder to construct defensive facilities for the special spiritual aperture.
The figure of his uncle instantly appeared in his mind.
Given the shameless nature of the game system, even the aunt-grandmother in charge of incense offerings at the Heavenly Lord of Demon Subjugation Hall had become a family elder, so his uncle, who was responsible for the Chen Clan ancient architecture tourism as electrician, carpenter, bricklayer, breeder, and planter, should have no problem being a Hall elder, right?
Before long, he arrived at his uncle’s courtyard.
Seeing him arrive, Chen Lin greeted him, “Xiao Han, you’re here. The congee is just ready to eat.”
Chen Han nodded. After sitting down, he found an excuse. “Uncle, those three old elm trees now have identity plaques as ancient trees. Xiao Yu said our promotion has started to pick up a bit, and later there may be quite a lot of tourists. If too many people end up damaging the three old elm trees, then those tourists would be breaking the law.”
“If such a situation happens, it would not be good, so I think we should set up some protection and fence off the three old elm trees so tourists cannot get too close.”
Chen Lin did not think much about these things. If his nephew said to do it, then they would do it.
So he said, “Then we will build a fence wall around the three old elm trees. Later we can plant some green vines and vine flowers to twine around the fence wall, and it can also serve as a scenic feature.”
“But I still have to lead people to plant the new vegetable plots in the vegetable garden first. You go and get the bamboo ready. The bamboo forest on the west side of the village is all the Chen Clan’s private forest. Just go there and cut some, but you have to find those tough old bamboo.”
【You have discussed constructing defenses for the special spiritual aperture with the Hall elder. The Hall elder has decided to use Thunder Bamboo to construct the defensive formation of the special spiritual aperture. Please head to the Thunder Bamboo Forest to the west to collect mature Thunder Bamboo!】
“…” Chen Han was quite happy he had guessed correctly that his uncle was the Hall elder, which meant he somewhat understood the shameless nature of the game system.
But the setting of Thunder Bamboo and the Thunder Bamboo Forest really made him lose it.
For hell’s sake, seriously?
The key problem was his physical condition. Collecting Thunder Bamboo, and building a fence wall around the three old elm trees, would require far more than one or two stalks. He would need at least dozens of mao bamboo stalks.
With his current state, even cutting one and carrying it back would be hard work. Still, there is always a method for every difficulty. After eating his congee, he opened the Chen Clan family WeChat group.
Because he was the patriarch, he was also the group owner.
So he directly @everyone:
“Right now, I need two people to go cut several dozen stalks of bamboo with me. Each person gets 200 yuan in wages. Come meet me at my uncle’s place.”
Seeing this message in the WeChat group, Chen Lin could not help saying, “Xiao Han, you spendthrift. It’s just a bit of bamboo. Can’t you cut it yourself? Such a waste of money.”
Two people to cut a few dozen bamboo stalks, and 200 each was already a high wage.
Sometimes, rural laborers worked themselves to death for a whole day for just
Chen Han really wanted to say he could not do it, not even cut one, and even if he cut it, he could not carry it back.
But he did not want his uncle to know about his physical condition, so he put on an act and said, “Uncle, I am the patriarch. There is no need for me to do this kind of work myself. It’s good to give everyone a chance to earn some extra money. Besides, when the Chen Clan ancient architectural complex’s tourism is developed, there will be many such opportunities to earn extra. You should get used to it first.”
“…” Chen Lin was a bit speechless, but since Xiao Han, as patriarch, had sent this message in the clan group, there was nothing he could do.
Seeing the lively responses in the group, he also sent a message: “You must cut mature, tough bamboo. Don’t randomly hack around and cause trouble. Chen Dagou, Chen Shuisheng, you two come over. Once the bamboo is back, you’ll work with me to build a fence wall.”
Chen Han smiled when he saw his uncle’s message.
This was squeezing labor.
But his uncle still had prestige in the Chen Clan, and the two uncles who were called out immediately responded.
They were from a collateral branch and cousins to his uncle and father. They knew how to distinguish bamboo and were skilled in weaving bamboo tools.
The bamboo shoots from the Chen Clan’s private forest were processed into dried bamboo shoots by them leading everyone, either sold or kept for their own use.
It did not take long for the two uncles to arrive at his uncle’s place. From years of work, their skin was dark.
Chen Dagou was tall and sturdy, looking quite imposing. As soon as he came in, he said, “Xiao Han, we’re here. Are we heading out now?”
“Uncle Dagou, we’ll go to the bamboo forest now.” Chen Han did not want to waste time and left the Chen Clan with the two of them.
Their bamboo forest was on the west side of the village, and they had to pass through half the village to get there.
Shangyuan Village was not small. It was a mixed-surname village that had over a thousand households at its peak, but many people had since poured into the town to build houses or buy houses in the county. Many houses in the village were now unoccupied.
Also, almost all of the young and strong had gone out to work. Those staying behind were only the elderly and a few middle-aged people.
When the three of them passed by the village office, the village chief, Guo Zhen, greeted him very politely, “Chen Han, what are you all going to do?”
In the village, the Chen Clan was not only a major surname but also held great reputation. That whole ancient architectural complex was their private property.
In the past, the entire village listened to the Chen Clan.
Even now, during holidays and festivals, the villagers still had to go to the Chen Clan to follow the Chen Clan’s rituals to worship the Heavenly Lord of Demon Subjugation.
At least the older generation still deeply believed in these things.
As the current patriarch of the Chen Clan family, Chen Han naturally had to be polite and not put on airs.
“Village chief, we’re going to cut some bamboo.” Chen Han respectfully replied to the village chief, as he was an elder.
Entering the Chen Clan private bamboo forest, Chen Han was already a bit out of breath.
This body…
As expected, he could not even cut one stalk.
But he was quickly drawn to the game prompt that appeared again:
【You have brought two family experts into the Thunder Bamboo Forest. Please lead them to cut enough mature Thunder Bamboo and bring it back to the family Work Hall!】
“…” Chen Han was still speechless about the game system’s Thunder Bamboo Forest setting, but he was also surprised as he looked at the bamboo forest before him. He could see that in different spots, individual bamboo stalks were emitting a special guiding glow.
He had played many games and naturally knew this was a game indicator. These should be the mature Thunder Bamboo that met the task requirements and could be cut and taken back.
“Uncle Dagou, Uncle Shuisheng, I’ll mark the bamboo that needs to be cut. You just cut them and carry them back.” As Chen Han spoke, he began marking the bamboo that had the game indicators.
Chen Dagou and Chen Shuisheng looked at his actions with some surprise.
The reason Chen Lin had called them over was precisely because they knew how to distinguish bamboo and could cut back the mature stalks with the best toughness.
Did Xiao Han understand this too?
Watching Chen Han mark bamboo stalk after bamboo stalk, they walked over and tapped them with their cleavers, then both of them froze for a moment.
Chen Dagou even tried chopping one, and when he saw the cross-section, he was even more astonished.
Chen Shuisheng then took his cleaver to another stalk marked by Chen Han, tapped it twice, and also cut once. Then he looked at Chen Dagou in surprise and gave him a big thumbs-up.
Xiao Han really knew his stuff.
The two of them were quite surprised.
Among the younger generation, no one knew how to distinguish bamboo anymore. Even if you asked them to dig winter bamboo shoots before they emerged from the soil, they would not know where to look.
Chen Han, on the other hand, did not realize that marking the bamboo according to the game indicators had caused his two uncles’ surprise.
After marking several dozen stalks in a row, he felt it was about enough. What also surprised him was that Uncle Dagou and Uncle Shuisheng were incredibly fast. Their speed cutting bamboo actually kept up with his marking.
However, after the bamboo was cut down, trimming the branches still took some time. He then found an excuse. “Uncle Dagou, Uncle Shuisheng, there is still something I need to do back at the Chen Clan. I’ll head back first and leave these bamboo to you.”
“Go ahead, leave it to us,” Chen Dagou said with a smile.
By the time Chen Han returned to the Chen Clan, he was panting heavily. He went straight back to the courtyard and lay down on the reclining chair. He had no idea when this life of becoming exhausted at the slightest movement would end.
He had only rested for a short while when his junior sister arrived, looking all excited. “Senior brother, I’ve finished editing the video we shot yesterday. Take a look. The effect is so much better than before. The architecture and scenery in the whole video are more ornamental. Even I couldn’t take my eyes off it.”
As she spoke, she showed off by handing him the mobile phone and played a video.
Chen Han’s eyes lit up as he watched.
He could naturally tell that the buildings and scenery shot yesterday were far better than before.
You could feel that antique charm through the video, and its ornamental value absolutely left current domestic ancient architecture scenic spots far behind.
He knew this was the attribute effect of the sect residence.
Simple and unadorned +2 and ornamental value +2 were not only visible to the naked eye; they were clearly reflected on video as well. This would definitely attract a huge wave of attention and might bring in many tourists.
Xiao Yu suddenly suggested, “Senior brother, that ancient technique you showed Mr. Zhao and the others was amazing. When did you learn it?”
Chen Han smiled and made something up. “My dad was able to teach you those Daoist sect sword techniques and fist techniques. As the Chen Clan heir, do you think he wouldn’t teach me a couple of trump cards at the bottom of the box?”
“That’s true.” Xiao Yu felt that made a lot of sense and suggested, “Senior brother, today’s video is a bit short. Let me shoot another video of you performing an ancient technique. I’m sure it will attract tourists to follow us.”
Chen Han did not refuse.
After all, upgrading the sect residence required reputation. They only had 14 reputation now, still far from They needed new tourists to farm reputation.
And they were also short on the money needed for upgrades. Only with tourists coming could they increase income.
However, he said, “Xiao Yu, I don’t have any props right now.”
“Leave it to me.” Xiao Yu left the courtyard and soon came back carrying a basin of apples, handing it to him. “Senior brother, here!”
There were more than ten apples in the basin, filling it to the brim.
Chen Han took the apples and was then pulled by his junior sister to stand beside an eight-immortal table in the courtyard.
After placing him in the right spot, she found her own position, pointed the mobile phone at him, and started recording. “Hello everyone, at the end of today’s video, ‘Xiao Yu Za’ will have senior brother perform an ancient technique to pad the runtime.”
As she spoke, she gestured for Chen Han to begin.
Chen Han smiled and, right in front of Xiao Yu, put away those ten-plus apples one after another into the warehouse in his mind. To cover it up, he made a showy palm-turning motion with each apple.
This left Xiao Yu completely stunned, her eyes wide with shock.
She had brought a basin of apples just in case, but she had never expected her senior brother to make all ten-plus apples disappear.
Even if he hid them in his crotch, he could not hide that many.
So when she saw the basin go completely empty, she was truly dumbfounded. She even subconsciously glanced at a certain part of her senior brother, but it was blocked by the table, so she could not see there.
She could not just go over and pull open her senior brother’s pants to check, right?
Besides, how did he manage to hide all ten so quickly?
While she was dazed for that brief moment, she saw apples appear again one after another in her senior brother’s hand, and very soon the basin was once again filled with apples.
“Senior brother, how did you manage to hide so many?” Xiao Yu could not figure it out no matter how she thought about it. But when she looked at the recorded video, she was even more shocked.
Even slowed down, you could not see any flaws.
Ten apples with such an effect, without anyone discovering where they were hidden.
Once this video was uploaded, it would definitely go viral!
