Siheyuan: Living in the People's Community, with a Heart for the Red Star

Pudar led Lao Yang to a storefront with a plaque on the door that read "Tongtou Restaurant". The two tied the horse reins to the crossbar outside the hotel and saw that there was no feed in the trough, indicating that not many people were eating.

After the two entered the hotel, Pudar came to the counter and told the shopkeeper to feed the horses. The two sat at the table near the window. The shopkeeper came over with a pen and paper and asked them what they wanted to eat.

"Your Excellency, what would you like to order for dinner today?"

Pudar looked at Lao Yang, and after seeing Lao Yang nod to him, he started ordering food.

"Tomato scrambled eggs, mashed potatoes, roast chicken, fried fish fillet, fried peanuts, a bottle of blue and white wine, three steamed bread, that's all, boss, come up quickly, we're in a hurry!"

"Okay, Your Excellency the Bishop. I'll arrange it for you right away. Please wait!"

The shopkeeper put away the paper and pen and quickly returned to the counter. He turned around and went into the kitchen, telling the chef to prepare the dishes quickly.

Not long after, the shopkeeper came over with a tray on which were a pair of wine glasses, a bottle of wine, a plate of fried peanuts, and a plate of pickled vegetables.

After the shopkeeper had set the table, he said, "Your Excellency the Bishop, you two can drink first, the hot dishes will be here shortly!"

After saying this, he bowed, turned around and left, then stood behind the counter again waiting for customers to come.

Pudal picked up the bottle and poured a glass of Blue and White Wine for Lao Yang and himself, while introducing the origin of Blue and White Wine.

"Sir, there is only one small city on the seventh floor, called Tal City. Below it are three small towns and twenty villages with a population of less than 10,000. They mainly grow cash crops and raise cattle and sheep. There is a plant that can be seen everywhere here. It has green flowers and can produce thumb-sized fruits. The taste is spicy, but the wine brewed from it is extremely fragrant. It is this blue and white wine.

The blue and white wine is also one of the best in the entire temple. The output has always been low and can only meet the needs of upper-level missionaries and knights. A hundred years ago, according to the decision of the top leaders, the entire seventh floor, in addition to self-sufficient agricultural products, was planted with this plant called blue and white fruit for winemaking. This is why this floor is not populated. Only when the blue and white fruit is ripe will the population increase greatly. Usually, there are only some native residents.

This Tongtou Restaurant is the only old hotel in the city. It has been in existence for many generations. It is the only hotel that provides unlimited supply of Qinghua wine. The rule is that you can only drink it here and cannot take it away. As for other food, this hotel really has no special features! ”

Lao Yang held the Qinghua wine in front of his nose and smelled it. A fresh aroma flowed into his lungs through his nasal cavity, and the taste of alcohol was not strong. Lao Yang drank it in one gulp, and there was a fresh fragrance that flowed between his taste buds, giving him the feeling of being in the midst of the fragrance of flowers. Lao Yang swallowed it in one gulp, and the refreshing feeling went down his esophagus. There was no burning sensation caused by strong liquor at all, and the alcohol smell that came out of his mouth and nose was all lightly fruity!

"Well, the wine is really good, very suitable for women to drink. I want to take some of this wine when I go back. Where can I get a large amount of it?"

The low alcohol content and fruity aroma of Qinghua wine aroused Lao Yang's interest. He could take a batch back for his wives to drink, but Lao Yang had no intention of keeping it for himself and selling it. Lao Yang didn't need that little money, and this good thing could only be enjoyed by his own family!

Pudar thought for a moment and said, "Except for the wine sent to the temple for storage after the wine is brewed, there are only some stocks in the wine cellars in the three small towns. There is not much wine in the small town, and most of it is in the wine cellar of the Tongtou Winery. If you want, we can go to the wine cellar of the temple to collect it. In addition to Qinghua Niang, there are also some good wines such as Sanlejiang, Liangliangchun, and Guozixiang."

Lao Yang felt that it was indeed very convenient to accept Pudar as the traitor. At least there would be someone to help him when he needed to find some things!

"Just as you said, after we return to the temple we will go and empty the temple's wine cellar. Can you tell me if there are any special items on this floor?"

"Reporting to the Lord, I was born on this floor, and was not sent to other floors for training until I was eighteen years old. I have never been back since I became a bishop. As far as I know, the seventh floor has more cattle and sheep in captivity besides blue and white wine, and there is nothing special about it!"

Old Yang looked out the window and looked at the surrounding buildings. He had the illusion of traveling back to ancient times. At this location, he could see a pillar that connected to the sky. That was the passage that Old Yang and Pudar had teleported through.

Old Yang looked at the sky and asked Pudar, "Do you know what the sky is made of? Just the light all over the sky consumes a lot of energy. Has it never been broken?"

Pudar shook his head and replied, "From the beginning of records to the present, there has not been a single record of the sky being damaged. This canopy is said to be made of pure gold collected from outer space by the gods. It stays bright all year round and has never gone out. The maturity period of plants in the temple is shorter than that outside the temple, so these dozen layers of land can support so many of our believers, giving us more time to pray to the gods and contribute our faith."

Old Yang picked up the glass that Pudar had filled for him and drank it again. He picked up a spoon and scooped a few peanuts into his mouth, chewing them while continuing to ask, "The damaged walls in the temple will automatically repair themselves. You know this, right? Can you make such metal?"

Pudar also drank the blue and white wine in the glass, closed his eyes and savored it, answering Lao Yang's question: "My Lord, you think too highly of us. Before, we were in the original buildings of the temple, which have the ability to self-recover. The restaurant we are in now is a building we built ourselves, just like the outside world. It will collapse and be damaged over time, but the temple will not! It has always been like this and has never changed. We also had a professional team to study it, but we could not find the principle behind it no matter what. Later, we attributed it to the fact that gods cannot be desecrated and the temple is a small world. We disbanded the research team and attributed everything to the power of God!"

Pudar opened his eyes, filled Lao Yang's glass with wine, then filled his own glass. He picked up the fork on the table, picked up a piece of pickled vegetable, put it in his mouth and chewed it, looking very enjoyable.

Out of curiosity, Lao Yang picked up a pickle and put it in his mouth. It tasted crisp and delicious, similar to radish, and indeed had a special flavor.

Curiously asked: "What is this dish made of? It feels similar to radish!"

Pudar took another piece and chewed it, answering Lao Yang's question: "Your Excellency is right. This is a kind of radish, but it has been cultivated in the temple for hundreds of years and has mutated from the radishes outside. The radishes here are bigger, more juicy, and richer in nutrients. Not only radishes, but many vegetables and grains are better than those outside. There is no naturally formed wind and rain in the entire temple, only nutrients sprayed from the top and wind blowing from the sky from time to time.

All plants and animals are blessed by the gods, with favorable weather and good harvests. They can be planted and harvested all year round. So after so many years, the land has never lost its fertility, and all kinds of plants and animals are still growing vigorously! "

Old Yang began to envy the believers living in the temple. Such a perfect world is an ideal utopia! This made Old Yang have an urge to pack up the temple and take it away. Unfortunately, there can be no living things in Old Yang's space, otherwise he could really consider transforming it into a space like the temple. Fortunately, Old Yang discovered the temple. As long as he finds a way to control the entrance and exit of the temple, he will own the entire temple.

Just as Lao Yang and Pudar were drinking Qinghua wine and chewing peanuts, there was a sound of hooves hitting the ground outside the hotel. Lao Yang looked across the street and saw a team of four people riding four huge deer-like creatures running over. When they approached the Tongtou Restaurant, they began to slow down, as if they were also heading for the Tongtou Restaurant.

Soon, the four people that Lao Yang saw walked in from the hotel entrance. They scanned the lobby and then found a seat near the entrance and sat down.

The shopkeeper came over as the four of them sat down, holding a pen and paper and began to ask them what kind of food they wanted.

"Pudal, do you know what kind of deer the four of them are riding? It looks just as good as a horse!"

Old Yang looked at the deer at the door that was stronger than the two horses and began to ask Pudar.

"Sir, the deer these four people are riding are called Hamid deer, a type of mount for knights, and a specialty of the eleventh floor of the temple. They are gentle, good at running, and have great endurance. Most Radiant Knights like this type of mount. If you like, sir, we can go to the eleventh floor to catch some."

Pudar introduced the Hamid deer at the door without any concern.

"You mean there are a lot of these deer on the eleventh floor?"

Old Yang asked with some confusion.

"Yes, sir. The eleventh and twelfth floors are mainly the production areas of various mounts. The big wind horse we rode and the few Hamid deer are all specialties of the eleventh floor. There are also hurricane wolves, white bears, yellow tigers, green cows, mammoths, etc.

The twelfth floor is filled with mounts that missionaries like, such as unicorns, barefoot cows, red flame deer, Arctic reindeer, blue-faced lions, etc.

When every knight or missionary takes the test, they have to go to the temples on different levels to tame a mount of their own. Since there is no war, generally a knight or missionary can only tame one mount in his lifetime. After all, mounts also need food and drink, and it is very troublesome to serve them.

My mount is a green-skinned cow. It is easy to tame, eats grass, and has a short lifespan. It has been dead for more than ten years, which saves me a lot of trouble!"

While eating peanuts, Lao Yang looked at the four people at the door and asked, "Do you know what these four people do?"

Pudar looked at the four people at the door, observed them for a while and said, "These four people should be Holy Light Knights. They should have just passed the assessment not long ago and are still quite concerned about their mounts. Judging from their outfits, they seem to be knights responsible for patrols."

"Haven't you been getting along well? You all share the same faith, so there shouldn't be any conflicts. Then what's the point of these knights patrolling?"

At this time, the shopkeeper came over with a tray, placed the ordered hot dishes on the table one by one, and then went into the kitchen.

Pudar picked up a knife and fork and started to use it on the fried fish and roast chicken. Lao Yang was still a little unaccustomed to the knife and fork. He used the fork to pick up a piece of fried fish, then stretched out his hand and tore the roast chicken into pieces. Then he conjured up a ball of water out of thin air, washed his hands and threw it out of the window. Pudar was full of envy and admiration, and quickly filled Lao Yang's glass with blue and white wine and raised his glass to toast.

"Your Excellency is truly a god! You are the greatest person I have ever met, and I believe you are the person closest to a god in this world! Your servant Pudar offers you a glass of wine, and wishes that Your Excellency can achieve godhood and attain the throne as soon as possible!"

After Pudar finished his glass, he looked at Lao Yang eagerly. Lao Yang picked up the glass and drank the wine in it, then gestured to answer the previous question under Pudar's happy eyes.

“Your Excellency may have some misunderstandings. Wherever there are people, there will be disputes. Although there is only one sect, the Holy See, in the temple, there are five gods of faith within the religion.

Over the past thousands of years, although no major conflicts of faith have broken out, there are occasional disputes among the believers of the five gods, and hundreds of people die accidentally every year.

Among the top leaders, there are five divine messengers, one hundred bishops, one hundred sunlight knights, nine hundred oracles, nine hundred shining knights, nine thousand apostles, and nine thousand holy light knights. These people have established complex forces, and below them are the aristocratic families, who will fight each other even if they believe in the same god!

Even believers would have conflicts over trivial matters, so missionaries had to be arranged to manage cities and towns, and knights had to be arranged to patrol cities and towns to avoid accidents. Especially in floors with many beasts, incidents of beasts injuring people occurred frequently. "

Old Yang nodded in response while drinking.

"What you said is correct! Even the same belief can give rise to different parties, and the same party can give rise to different selfish motives. It is a rare miracle that the management class in the temple can exist for thousands of years!"

The two of them drank and ate, no longer chatting, and focused on the food.

The shopkeeper entered the back kitchen, came over with a plate of steamed bread, and said:

"Your Excellency the Bishop, the food you ordered is here. Please enjoy your meal!"

After saying that, he turned and left to serve the four people who came later.

The four knights who came later each ordered a bottle of Qinghua wine, and chatted with laughter while chewing peanuts. They drank Qinghua wine so heroically that Lao Yang wanted to teach them a lesson. The good wine was wasted by four reckless men!

Fortunately, each of the four people only ordered a bottle of Qinghua wine, and after drinking it, they started to eat the staple food, and successfully escaped a beating.

After the four knights finished their meal, they called the shopkeeper to settle the bill. Each of them took out four shining silver coins and handed them to the shopkeeper. Then they rode away on the Hamid deer, which was also well fed.

"Pudal, what currency did the four of you use to pay the bill? Do you have it? You and I won't eat a free meal, right?"

Lao Yang asked Pudar who was still eating.

"Don't worry, sir! Believers use silver coins, gold coins, and divine essences to spend with each other. When you arrive at the Sunlight Knights and Bishops, you can sign the bills. We will settle the bills at the temple every month. I'll sign the bill later!"

Old Yang nodded without saying anything. He turned his head to the window and thought silently about how to control the temple and make it his secret base.