Chapter 77: This Ancient Building Can’t Be Pierced Even By Shells!
The car moved forward, and Chen Kai also saw a young couple waiting by the roadside.
He naturally recognized them as the Chen Family Head and “Xiao Yu Za”. Now both young people were internet celebrities.
Seeing the car arrive, Xiao Yu immediately guided it toward the parking lot.
After Chen Kai got out, someone from the county introduced the identities of Chen Han and the other person.
Chen Han also stepped forward to greet him. “Director Chen, welcome to our Chen Clan for guidance.”
“Family Head Chen, you are too polite.” Chen Kai smiled and shook his hand, then said with anticipation, “Would you mind giving us a tour of the Chen Clan?”
He had watched the promotional video shot by “Xiao Yu Za”. That video was truly excellent and very attractive, so this time he also wanted to ask what filter the Chen Clan had used.
If the Linhe County Culture and Tourism Bureau could use such a filter when filming ancient building videos, promoting the videos should attract many tourists.
In this regard, their entire culture and tourism bureau was inferior to the Chen Clan.
The people at the bureau had studied it for several days without figuring out this filter.
“Director Chen, please come in!” Chen Han invited, leading the group into the Chen Clan.
Only now did Chen Kai seriously look at the Chen Clan ancient architecture, and with just one look, he was captivated.
No filter?
He could hardly believe it. Previously, he had always thought the Chen Clan’s promotional video used filters, but now, looking around, the scene before his eyes was exactly the same as in the video.
The shock was imaginable.
As the person in charge of culture and tourism in the county, especially with Linhe County being an ancient county whose main focus was ancient buildings, although many had been demolished into pieces, he had approved and inspected the restoration of the remaining ones. Compared with those, the Chen Clan’s buildings were simply unmatched.
Even the ancient temples and ancient Daoist temples in the townships and on the mountains did not give this feeling.
Those places were indeed old, but had lost their simple and unadorned quality; purely in terms of viewing degree, they were not high.
With just one glance, he knew that the county’s ancient buildings were absolutely not as good as the Chen Clan ancient architecture.
“Family Head Chen, your Chen Clan ancient architecture should rank first in our Linhe County.” Chen Kai could not help sighing with emotion.
After entering the ancient architectural complex and being surrounded by ancient buildings on all sides, the feeling grew stronger.
The Chen Clan’s simple and unadorned style seemed to naturally carry the experience of hundreds of years of wind and rain, yet still preserved its original foundation and charm.
Moreover, that pleasing-to-the-eye feeling seemed to carry a simple, timeworn quality while exuding charm, enough to instantly immerse people in a rich atmosphere of history and culture.
He was able to confirm that there was probably no ancient building anywhere in the country that could compare with those here at the Chen Clan.
Before long, a rich tea fragrance drifted over. Chen Kai saw bamboo leaf tea being stir-fried. “Family Head Chen, this should be the Thunder Bamboo Spirit Tea from your video, right? Does this bamboo tea really have the effects shown in the video?”
As he asked this, he was very curious. When he first followed this tea online, ordinary grade was priced at 5,000 per jin, and premium grade at 50,000 per jin.
In the past two days, it had already risen to 10,000 per jin for ordinary grade and 100,000 per jin for premium grade.
“Director Chen, this way please. I will brew a pot for you to taste.” Chen Han invited, leading him toward the crucible.
As for explanations, there was no need. If one did not believe, no amount of talk would help; once tasted, one would naturally know.
“Xiao Han.” Uncle Dagou saw him and greeted him with a smile.
Chen Han introduced, “Uncle Dagou, this is Director Chen from the county culture and tourism bureau. Please brew a pot of premium Thunder Bamboo Spirit Tea for him to taste.”
“Director Chen, hello, please wait a moment.” Uncle Dagou, full of surprise, spoke to Chen Kai, then went to the side, took a kettle and a tea set, used some stir-fried premium Thunder Bamboo Spirit Tea to brew a pot, then poured several cups and handed them to Chen Kai and the others.
When Chen Kai saw that they were really brewing Thunder Bamboo Spirit Tea, he knew this tea was definitely not simple. Otherwise, where would their confidence come from?
After he took the cup and drank a sip, an expression of disbelief appeared on his face.
The refreshing sensation in the stuffy heat, the rapid disappearance of fatigue, and the feeling of comfort were simply indescribable.
After one cup of tea, his whole body seemed to enter an excellent state. He subconsciously looked at the county staff and asked, “How do you feel after drinking it?”
The people from the county also wore looks of disbelief.
“Director Chen, this tea is too miraculous.”
“Yes. If I had not tasted it myself, I would not believe this is tea.”
“…”
Chen Kai really did not know how to describe it. He had always thought Thunder Bamboo Spirit Tea was just some prank thing in those abstract videos they shot, but who knew it actually had miraculous effects.
Seeing their astonishment, Chen Han smiled and said, “Director Chen, our Chen Clan’s Thunder Bamboo Spirit Tea has not yet undergone guidance from the county…”
“For this kind of tea, what guidance could we possibly give…” Chen Kai hurriedly interrupted him, then said, “Family Head Chen, we do not go in for that kind of formalism. If you still remember that the county once supported the Chen Clan for free, please do your best with Chen Clan tourism and help bring more tourists to the county. Our county is really anxious now.”
“Uh!” Chen Han was taken aback, then also smiled and said, “Director Chen, rest assured, our Chen Clan will do our best.”
It seemed that although the demonic forces were growing stronger, the human world still belonged to the righteous path.
There were still people full of upright righteousness willing to contribute something to the lives of the common people.
Chen Kai continued, “Family Head Chen, take us to see that Feng Shui Room. It is very popular online now, and we can also take the opportunity to test the safety of the Chen Clan accommodation.”
“Alright, Director Chen, this way please!” Chen Han nodded and led the county people to the tourist service center, entering the area of the renovated Feng Shui Rooms.
Once there, Xiao Yu also went to lead the way in front, while Chen Kai turned and instructed the people behind him, “Xiao Kang, you can start testing the safety of these houses first.”
“Alright.” Xiao Kang nodded. He was the person in charge of safety inspection this time. This was his task, so he immediately had a colleague take out a machine and start it up.
At a glance, the Chen Clan accommodation was built from ancient bricks and stones combined with wooden structures. Therefore, they needed to inspect two parts: the ancient bricks and stones, and the wooden structure.
Such ancient bricks and stones had previously been commonly used for walls, pagodas, Daoist sect buildings, bridges, and other buildings that needed to be preserved for a long time, such as the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda and Zhaozhou Bridge.
Their characteristic was naturally strong compressive strength and resistance to wind and rain erosion, though this also had a time limit. According to the construction time of the Chen Clan ancient architecture, there might already be internal problems in these bricks and stones, and even slight large movements could cause them to crumble.
As for the wooden structure, over such a long time, it might have issues even earlier than the bricks and stones. Even if repaired, simple restorations would leave problems.
If many people came to the event the Chen Clan had applied for and something happened, everyone would be in trouble.
This was also why the bureau had concerns during their discussions.
Once the machine was ready, Xiao Kang had someone start testing the bricks and stones of one of the walls. After just a moment, the operator awkwardly said, “It seems the machine has malfunctioned. The detected data is a bit outrageous.”
“What is it? Is the crisis very serious?” Xiao Kang asked anxiously.
If so, even if Director Chen insisted on approving it and they did their utmost with safety measures, problems could still arise. If he falsified the inspection report and something happened, he would be the one in the most trouble.
Thinking of this, sweat began to bead on his forehead.
Could the Chen Clan ancient buildings really be that bad?
The operator quickly said, “It is not that the crisis is serious. The data shows that this wall cannot be blown open even by artillery shells!”
“???” Hearing this, Xiao Kang understood what “outrageous data” meant.
If the data were poor and the crisis great, he was prepared for that.
Now they were telling him that the ancient buildings, which the bureau had judged might pose a risk, could not be blasted through even by artillery shells. That was a bit ridiculous.
“Test the load-bearing wooden structure next.” Xiao Kang immediately ordered.
The person operating the instrument did not dare hesitate. He quickly used the device to test again, and after a moment, an expression of shock appeared on his face once more. “According to the data, I am afraid artillery shells still would not break it.”
“The instrument must be malfunctioning.” Xiao Kang’s expression turned a bit ugly. After all, Director Chen clearly attached great importance to this matter, and they had messed it up.
They had not even properly checked the instrument before coming out. Director Chen would definitely think he was incompetent.
Upstairs.
Xiao Yu had already brought Chen Kai to one Feng Shui Room and opened the door. “Director Chen, this is one of our Feng Shui Rooms. As soon as you go in, you will feel the refreshing and comfortable sensation of our Feng Shui Room.”
Chen Kai had seen the Feng Shui Room video posted by the internet celebrity Xiao Mi, and knew this room had a special air conditioning system.
After entering, he did indeed feel an extremely refreshing and comfortable sensation, truly different from any air conditioner he had known before.
“It is really very comfortable.” Chen Kai’s face was full of surprise. Then he curiously checked around the room, wanting to know where the special air conditioning system was installed.
He believed his experience was sufficient and that he should be able to figure out where the air conditioner was installed.
But after searching all around, he did not see any trace, and finally had to seek help. “Family Head Chen, where is the air conditioner installed in this room? I looked all around and could not find it.”
Hearing this, Chen Han did not conceal anything and spoke frankly. “Director Chen, there is actually no air conditioner at all, so of course you cannot find it.”
As this person was in charge of culture and tourism, they would inevitably interact later, so he did not mind showing him a bit of mysterious phenomena to reduce future trouble.
“???” Chen Kai was indeed confused by his words.
No air conditioner?
Then where did this refreshing coolness come from?
Chen Han continued, “Director Chen, to be honest, the positions of the three potted plants in this room correspond to the Li Palace, Zhong Palace, and Kun Palace of the whole room, and the three plants also correspond to the three palaces. Together, they form a special Feng Shui Pattern.”
“So, as long as these three potted plants are moved out of the range of the Three Palaces Position, this Feng Shui Pattern will be broken, and that cool and pleasant feeling will disappear.”
As he spoke, he stepped forward and moved the bamboo potted plant from the table. Sure enough, the cool and pleasant sensation disappeared.
Chen Kai was directly stunned and subconsciously said, “Family Head Chen, did that Xiao Mi’s video not say it was an induction system?”
Hearing this, Xiao Yu hurriedly explained, “Director Chen, that was because the Feng Shui room layout video I posted had no data. So Sister Xiao Mi changed her approach and used a scientific explanation, doing the opposite to make everyone believe in science. As a result, her video did extremely well and has now exceeded one hundred thousand likes.”
“…” Chen Kai suddenly felt his worldview wobble.
What did they mean? In that Xiao Mi video, she called it an air conditioning system and explained it in detail, telling everyone to believe in science, yet this here was real Feng Shui?
You are playing metaphysics under the banner of science, right?
Just then, he heard hurried footsteps. Xiao Kang rushed over. “Director Chen, there is a problem with our instrument. The data shows that the bricks, stones, and wooden structures of the Chen Clan residences can all withstand artillery bombardment.”
“What??” Chen Kai was speechless and demanded, “Did I not tell you before departure to properly check the detection instruments? What are you all doing?”
No wonder he was angry. He now attached great importance to the Chen Clan and was counting on them to drive some promotion so the county could benefit.
Yet they had botched such a small matter. How could he not be angry?
“???” Xiao Yu was also stunned to hear this and felt these people were unreliable. She did not even dare imagine the Chen Clan ancient buildings could withstand artillery bombardment.
Only Chen Han knew what was going on. It was all due to the system’s added sturdiness +2 attribute.
So he said with a grin, “Director Chen, could it be that our Chen Clan ancient architecture really can withstand artillery shells?”
“???” Chen Kai.
“???” Xiao Yu.
“???” Xiao Kang.
The three of them all stared at Chen Han, as if asking, what are you talking about?
Chen Han smiled and explained, “Director Chen, although our Chen Clan has declined now, in the past we had very powerful senior experts. Especially when building this Chen Clan family residence, the stone and wood were all treated with special methods, making them extremely hard.”
“Moreover, in the war years of modern times, invaders once drove tanks here to bombard it and could do nothing. Director Chen, you did not see any signs of damage or repair when you came in, did you?”
Anyway, there was also an added simple and unadorned +2 attribute that made any repairs indistinguishable.
Therefore, even if he made this up, it had to be true.
Hearing this, Chen Kai just felt it was too mysterious. He knew the Chen Clan was built a very long time ago.
For it to remain so intact for so long was already remarkable, and now they were telling him it could withstand tank bombardment and such. That was a bit too fantastical.
But he immediately thought of how the Feng Shui Room turned out to be real Feng Shui rather than an air conditioning system.
What if…
He immediately said to Xiao Kang, “Hurry and drill into the wall to test the material density and so on.”
“O… okay!” Xiao Kang nodded. After hearing the Family Head’s words, he also wanted to see at once whether it was true.
Chen Kai followed.
Chen Han leaned to his junior sister’s ear and whispered something, then followed along, and they, together with Chen Kai and Xiao Kang, arrived at the spot they had tested earlier.
Xiao Kang immediately handed over the instrument’s detection data for Chen Kai to look at.
Seeing the exaggerated data, Chen Kai was indeed astonished and immediately told Xiao Kang to perform core sampling for testing.
Xiao Kang nodded, took a special coring tool, and began drilling into the wall bricks and stones. But very soon, he was shocked to find that the coring tool could not do anything to the bricks and stones.
This left him dumbfounded.
Could it be that the instrument was not malfunctioning and that the detected data was real?
At this moment, Xiao Yu came over with a hammer in her hand. Seeing this, Chen Han directly took the hammer and passed it to Xiao Kang. “Try hitting the wall with this!”
“???” Xiao Kang.
