ILSITM Chapter 20

I suddenly had a flash of inspiration and slapped my thigh, saying, “The woodworking shop!”

The name of the woodworking shop was given to him by Old Lin, called “Royal Carpenter,” and everyone said the name was well-chosen.

Zhu Youxiao spent his days sitting in the shop, focusing solely on woodworking. He often didn’t even have time to attend to customers. After operating for a period, the shop became deserted, and business was dismal.

I then came up with a way for Zhu Youxiao to attract customers, which was to livestream him doing woodworking every day.

This method proved effective. The next day, online orders poured in, and fans often came to patronize his shop.

“Royal Carpenter” seemed to become a popular internet sensation overnight, its reputation spreading far and wide.

One day, a female fan came to Zhu Youxiao’s shop.

Zhu Youxiao was bent over, intently working on a piece of woodworking, when he suddenly heard a sweet and soft voice.

“Brother, can you help me make a wooden Buddha statue ornament?”

Zhu Youxiao looked up and saw a woman standing in front of him, about twenty years old, with a sweet appearance and an elegant temperament, stunningly beautiful.

Ancient emperors all had three palaces, six courts, and seventy-two concubines. The Ming Dynasty Emperor Zhu Youxiao was no exception, surrounded by a crowd of concubines and beauties, but none were as beautiful as this woman.

He stared at her, forgetting to answer her question.

The woman smiled gently and repeated, “Brother, can you help me make a wooden Buddha statue ornament?”

Just listening to her voice was intoxicating, and her appearance was heavenly. How could Zhu Youxiao not be captivated?

Hearing the woman ask him again, Zhu Youxiao finally came back to his senses and hurriedly said, “Yes! Yes!”

The two chatted happily, exchanging glances and feelings that could not be contained.

This scene happened to be seen by Wen Rourou and me as we passed by. We couldn’t help but smile and intentionally tried to bring the two together.

Seeing that there was an endless stream of people buying wooden items in Zhu Youxiao’s shop, the woman often came to the shop to help him.

With one having the intention and the other being willing, the two quickly developed into a romantic relationship.

After Zhu Youxiao traveled to modern times, he was reborn, transformed, and thrived like a fish in water, becoming an internet celebrity. His business was booming, he was in love, and his life was going smoothly.

Now, we didn’t have to worry about food or clothing, and we had plenty of time. After staying in Jiudong City for too long, we felt bored, so we agreed to go cave exploring again.

Tonight, the four of us gathered in a local restaurant, drinking and discussing cave exploration.

“We only traveled through the innermost ninth cave of the nine underground caves beneath Jiudong City Pedestrian Street. We haven’t explored the other eight caves yet,” I said after taking a sip of wine.

“Why don’t we go to the eighth underground cave first and see if we can travel to a new place? I don’t want to travel back to the Ming Dynasty again, unless we run out of the two or three hundred pounds of Ming Dynasty wine we’ve stockpiled, and I’m so craving it that I can’t help myself. Then I’ll consider going to the Ming Dynasty to buy some wine back,” Old Lin, slightly tipsy, suggested.

“Anyway, I’m an old bone, not afraid of death, I’ll accompany you,” Old Zhang, his face flushed with alcohol, slapped the table and said loudly.

Wen Rourou looked at the two of them and chuckled, “You two are indeed old but vigorous, never changing your lifelong aspirations!”

“Exploring caves is definitely dangerous, but we must ensure our safety. I’ll accompany you two into the cave tomorrow morning,” I said after drinking the wine in my glass in one gulp.

“I’ll go too. A combination of men and women makes work easier,” Wen Rourou said, looking at me mischievously.

The next day, before dawn, the four of us arrived early at the entrance of the Pedestrian Street.

After putting on my equipment, I started the cave exploration livestream in advance.

Since the last time we brought Zhu Youxiao back to Jiudong City from the Ming Dynasty, I hadn’t livestreamed cave exploration for nearly two months.

During this time back in Jiudong City, I spent most of my time editing the videos I filmed while traveling to the Ming Dynasty.

The day before yesterday, I just finished producing the first season of the documentary “Beneath Jiudong.”

Yesterday, Wen Rourou helped me negotiate with a TV station and two video websites. Finally, I sold the copyright of the documentary to the TV station.

The leader of the TV station who signed the contract with me said that my documentary would be broadcast on several domestic documentary channels next month.

We climbed down into the manhole and crawled into the tunnel.

We walked from the first underground cave to the eighth underground cave and then stopped.

“The ninth underground cave seems to have a super strong suction force. We were sucked in by it, but why don’t the previous eight underground caves have this suction force? So, I think these caves are just ordinary ones,” Wen Rourou said.

“Although these previous underground caves are not dug deep, the light can’t reach the bottom of the cave, and there is no echo when the sound enters the cave. If you don’t go in and explore, how do you know it’s just an ordinary cave?” Old Lin said disapprovingly.

“The cave wall of this eighth underground cave is very smooth. Are we going to slide down directly, or jump in directly?” Old Zhang said with a smile.

“I think we can slide down along the cave wall. Didn’t we all bring hundred-meter ropes this time?” I said as I took out a bundle of rope from my backpack.

Everyone thought my method was feasible, so they also took out hundred-meter ropes from their backpacks, looking eager to try.

Old Zhang decided to go down first. He tied one end of the hundred-meter rope to the safety device on his safety belt, and the other end was firmly tied to a rock nail on the cave wall.

After putting on non-slip and wear-resistant gloves, Old Zhang slowly slid into the underground cave along the hundred-meter rope.

About ten minutes later, we pulled up the hundred-meter rope that had already entered the cave and felt it become light and fluttering.

“Why is this rope so light? Could Old Zhang have already slid into the cave?” Wen Rourou said in surprise.

The three of us decided to go down into the cave as well.

Old Lin first tied one end of the hundred-meter rope to the safety device on his safety belt, and the other end was firmly tied to another rock nail on the cave wall.

After putting on non-slip and wear-resistant gloves, Old Lin slowly slid into the cave along the hundred-meter rope.

Wen Rourou and I followed closely behind.

The cave was pitch black.

Although Old Lin and Wen Rourou were only one or two meters away from me, I couldn’t feel that they were on my left and right sides.

When I got twenty or thirty meters deep into the cave, my ears seemed to have gone deaf, and I couldn’t hear any sound.

I held the rope tightly, sliding down little by little. I didn’t know how long I had been sliding when, just as I was about to lose consciousness, I suddenly heard a “bang.”

I felt like I had just woken up from a nap.

I opened my eyes, and a blanket of light suddenly appeared before me.

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