novelapdf Chapter 17 Quarrying Conflict
Chapter 17 Quarrying Conflict
"Fan Zhou, is he going to cause us trouble?" Liu Ergou asked.
Fan Zhou withdrew his gaze, his expression calm as usual. "He can't cause us any trouble."
"Alright, let's go to the meeting point first. It seems there have been some changes to the work this month. Let's see how Senior Brother Han arranges things."
"All right."
Although Liu Ergou was a little puzzled, he didn't ask any more questions and followed Fan Zhou to find Han Jiangyue.
Han Jiangyue was right by the square, where her team members were gathered, waiting to be assigned tasks.
Seeing that everyone had arrived, Han Jiangyue said solemnly:
"This month we are in charge of quarrying stone, and each person's daily workload must be no less than 500 jin (250 kg)."
"What? Go quarrying!"
"You have to work on 500 jin (250 kg) every day?"
"Isn't this going to kill me?!"
As soon as Han Jiangyue finished speaking, the team members' expressions changed drastically, and they started shouting and making a fuss.
It's understandable that they are doing this, since quarrying is incredibly hard and tiring, and the workload is far greater than logging!
Not to mention the workload of 500 jin per day. Even if they have cultivation, they are not oxen or horses. If they work like this for a month, they will probably peel off three layers of skin.
Seeing the reluctance on her subordinates' faces, Han Jiangyue frowned as well.
Although he knew that quarrying was hard work, it was for the purpose of building the weapons forging workshop, so he had to take it seriously and complete the task no matter what.
"No need for extra rewards this month. Just complete the tasks. With my help, it won't be a problem."
Han Jiangyue was about to speak when Zhang Kai stepped forward and raised his hand to signal everyone to be quiet:
"Please listen to me first."
Everyone turned their attention to him, wondering what he was going to say.
Zhang Kai cleared his throat and said righteously:
"Gentlemen, this quarrying work is indeed hard, but it's a rotating job. Even if it's not our turn today, we'll have to do it next month. It's better to finish it sooner rather than later, so we don't have to suffer in the cold next month. Don't you all agree?"
His words drew agreement from the crowd, and even the loudest person fell silent.
Zhang Kai was pleased. He had been treating people to meals and trying to win them over, and today's meeting proved it had worked.
He continued, "As everyone knows, this quarry is for building the weapons forging workshop. This is a top priority, and we, as disciples of the sword furnace, should be working hard. How can we complain?"
Han Jiangyue nodded repeatedly; this was exactly what he wanted to say.
"Zhang Wuzhang is right!" a tall young man in the squad shouted in support.
His name is Cao Biao. Like Zhang Kai, he is at the third level of the Fetal Breathing Realm and is one of the strongest members of the team.
With Zhang Kai and Cao Biao taking the lead, and with Han Jiangyue's identity exerting pressure, everyone finally nodded in agreement.
Han Jiangyue was also happy and looked at Zhang Kai with satisfaction.
"Although this person is a bit glib, he's actually quite capable."
He was about to offer some praise when he saw Zhang Kai, with a serious expression, bow to him and say:
"Don't worry, Senior Brother Han, I'll definitely lead everyone to exceed our targets this month and won't let you down!"
Upon hearing this, Old Sun's face darkened, and he said, "My old bones can only mine a maximum of 500 jin a day. I'm not going to join you! If you want to exceed that, you can do it yourselves!"
Cao Biao's eyes widened immediately:
"Hey, you old man! Everyone agreed to work hard, and you're still thinking about slacking off? Senior Brother Han didn't make you a squad leader so you could retire!"
Old Sun also lost his temper, glaring at Cao Biao: "Who are you calling 'little old man'! A grown man with no manners at all!"
"Alright, alright, stop arguing!" Han Jiangyue quickly tried to mediate.
He looked at the crowd below with their varied expressions, and finally said softly, "Don't push yourselves too hard, everyone. I'll treat you all to a meal at the end of the month."
"Senior Brother Han, you're too kind! This is what we should do."
Cao Biao quickly chimed in, saying that he had also been trying to improve his relationship with Han Jiangyue these past few days.
Zhang Kai glanced at Lao Sun and sneered, "If you don't want to do more work, fine, but if you drag everyone down, the brothers won't stand for it."
Old Sun, meanwhile, smoked away the welding fumes without uttering a sound.
"Brothers, grab your gear and let's get to work!"
Zhang Kai didn't bother arguing with him. With a wave of his arm, he led everyone to the warehouse to collect tools.
Fan Zhou followed silently behind.
Several people walked past him, muttering under their breath:
"Damn it, he did us a favor, but we have to do all the hard labor."
"Who can blame them for being so quick-witted?"
.........
The group received wedges, hammers, hoes, gloves, and other supplies, and went to the quarry on the mountain to get to work, their hands clanging and clattering.
Fan Zhou and Liu Ergou took several iron wedges, first splitting the large rock, then smashing it into smaller pieces with a hammer, and finally putting it into a basket.
Fortunately, these stones don't need to be transported down the mountain. They just need to be handed over to the disciples guarding the quarry to weigh and record the work done before finishing work. Once enough are accumulated, Liang Yong will come and collect them.
Even so, such heavy physical labor was still very strenuous, and the group of people were exhausted every day, their muscles and bones aching, and they were grumbling and complaining.
Fortunately, with the help of Han Jiangyue, a Qi Refining cultivator, the workload was greatly reduced, and everyone was able to persevere.
Old Sun led Fan Zhou and the others to work on time every day, mining 500 jin of meat at a time that was neither too much nor too little.
Everything seemed to be going smoothly.
However, an accident soon occurred.
Han Jiangyue led the work at the quarry for two or three days, then was suddenly called away by Boss Qin and never came back.
The workload for everyone suddenly increased.
In contrast, everyone's enthusiasm for work plummeted.
Zhang Kai and Cao Biao gave their subordinates several pep talks, urging everyone to continue working hard and strive to earn extra bonuses this month.
But no one responded to him.
Although no one has said it explicitly, the daily mining volume is steadily decreasing, which cannot be faked.
Old Sun watched from the side, smoking the welding fumes and mocking him.
"Just do your job properly, why do you have to be so busy looking for trouble?"
Fan Zhou and Liu Ergou didn't care about these things. They maintained their own pace, practicing swordsmanship every day except for working, never missing a day of the hour of Mao (5-7 AM) or You (5-7 PM).
…………
Winter Solstice has arrived in the blink of an eye.
That evening, Fan Zhou took out several jugs of soaked blood centipede wine from under the bed and heated them one by one on the stove.
These were all soaked by him before; except for one large blood centipede that was seven inches long, the rest were small blood centipedes.
"The colder the weather, the harder it is to catch blood centipedes. I wonder where they've gone."
Fan Zhou sighed helplessly, glancing at the Heavenly Crafting Furnace within his body. There were only three days left to store his essence blood.
"That's enough. With this much Blood Centipede Wine, we can start forging the Ten-Style Sword tonight!"
Fan Zhou was so excited that he picked up the warm Seven-Inch Blood Centipede Wine, tilted his head back, and poured it down his throat.
After drinking the entire pot, only one and a half days of replenished essence and blood remained from the three-day supply.
Liu Ergou watched from the side, swallowing hard, his curiosity burning.
Fan Zhou ignored him and drank two more jugs of Blood Centipede Wine, finally reducing the time for storing essence blood to zero!
Suddenly, the Heavenly Craftsmanship Furnace inside his abdomen turned, and blazing red flames emerged from the furnace wall, swirling around like clouds.
A line of burning writing then appeared before Fan Zhou's eyes:
[The forging of the Ten-Style Sword has begun!]
[Forging time: Estimated 30 days remaining.]
"Thirty days is just one month! By this time next month, I'll see results!"
Fan Zhou was overjoyed and handed the last pot of Blood Centipede Wine remaining on the stove to Liu Ergou:
"Ergou, it's all yours!"
Liu Ergou quickly took it and carefully tasted it.
"How is it?" Fan Zhou asked.
Liu Ergou smacked his lips, thought for a while, and said, "It doesn't taste as good as I thought."
"That's right!"
Fan Zhou laughed, took off his clothes, and went to bed.
Liu Ergou, holding the wine jug, suddenly said:
"Fan Zhou, when do you think the ginkgo leaves will turn yellow?"
Liu Ergou took advantage of a day off last month to go to Huang Yi and asked if he could learn swordsmanship from him and become a swordsman.
Huang Yi did not refuse, only saying that she would go to him when the ginkgo leaves were yellow.
Fan Zhou huddled tightly under the covers, with only his head sticking out, using the heat from his body's energy to keep the bed warm.
Regarding Liu Ergou's question, he simply replied casually:
"The ginkgo leaves will turn yellow when it gets cold, probably in the next few days, so don't worry."
Liu Ergou nodded, then took a sip of wine, somewhat discouraged.
"Fan Zhou, do you think I can really become someone like Uncle Huang? I don't seem to have any talent for swordsmanship at all..."
"I believe you can do it!"
Fan Zhou said earnestly, "After all, lacking talent is probably your smallest flaw."
Liu Ergou suddenly turned around and looked at Fan Zhou in surprise:
"Does that mean I have only one advantage besides this?"
"..."
…………
The temperature seemed to have plummeted overnight.
When Fan Zhou practiced his sword in the morning, he felt that the whole world was much quieter.
Perhaps, this is what winter feels like?
Fan Zhou felt something vaguely, but his attention was quickly drawn to Tian Youliang's words:
"Starting tomorrow, I will no longer be teaching you."
Fan Zhou was shocked. "Teacher Tian, what's going on? Did we do something to upset you?"
Liu Ergou quickly added, "Teacher Tian, if you think I'm stupid, then you can teach Fan Zhou separately!"
Tian Youliang looked at them, a slight smile appearing on his thinner face:
"Don't worry, it's not because of that."
"Why is that?" Fan Zhou asked.
Tian Youliang looked at Liu Ergou and raised his round chin:
"He brought in a better teacher."
Liu Ergou immediately understood and exclaimed with delight, "Master Tian, you mean Uncle Huang will come to teach us?"
Tian Youliang smiled and nodded.
"marvelous!"
Fan Zhou and Liu Ergou exchanged a glance and cheered happily.
Tian Youliang looked at them, sighed slightly in his heart, but still reminded them:
"Senior Brother Huang Yi isn't as easy to talk to as I am. You two must be careful to serve him and make sure you don't make him angry."
"knew!"
Fan Zhou and Liu Ergou nodded repeatedly, patting their chests in agreement.
…………
"Fan Zhou, do you think Uncle Huang will really come tomorrow?"
"Master Tian said it's definitely going to happen."
"Will Uncle Huang come in the morning, at noon, or in the evening?"
"...I really don't know."
Fan and Zhou walked towards the quarry.
Liu Ergou was worried about when Huang Yi would come to find him the whole way, afraid that he would miss the time and make his Uncle Huang angry and never teach him again.
"Don't worry, we'll know tomorrow," Fan Zhou said helplessly.
The two arrived at the quarry, picked up their tools, and began to work.
Old Sun also arrived and was sitting on a rock smoking.
This old man is never in a hurry. He works for a while, then rests for a while, and yet he always manages to finish his work before the end of the workday.
Upon seeing Fan Zhou and the others arrive, Old Sun greeted them, "You two don't need to rush to work. Come and watch the show first."
Fan Zhou walked over in confusion and followed Old Sun's gaze. He saw that Old Sun was looking at Zhang Kai and his group.
All these people came, but no one did any work.
They were watching, some sitting and some standing, as Zhang Kai argued with a chubby young man.
"What's wrong with them?" Liu Ergou asked, puzzled.
Old Sun laughed and said, "It's like dogs fighting."
Fan Zhou noticed a handprint on the fat young man's face, indicating he had been slapped.
"Did they have a falling out?"
"Pretty much. That chubby kid was scolded by Zhang Kai and Cao Biao for being a little late. He talked back and got slapped across the face."
Old Sun wore a gloating expression:
"That kid Zhang Kai forced them to do 600 jin of work every day. Now that Han Jiangyue isn't here, none of them listen to him anymore. Let's see what he can do."
On the other side, the chubby boy was furious. He threw down the hammer in his hand and yelled at Zhang Kai:
"Fuck you! I quit!"
Zhang Kai's face turned pale, veins bulging on his forehead with anger, and he roared:
"You've gone too far!"
He suddenly kicked the fat boy in the shin, knocking him to his knees. Then, he grabbed the boy's collar with one hand and slapped him repeatedly across the face with the other, slapping him more than a dozen times until his face was bruised and blood was flowing from his mouth.
"You fatso! Do you still dare to talk back to me?!" he roared, twisting the little fat boy's ear.
The chubby boy was trembling all over, his face was so swollen and red that his eyes were barely visible, and he seemed to be losing his mind, muttering:
"No...I won't...do it again, please...spare me."
"You son of a bitch, ptooey!"
Still not satisfied, Zhang Kai spat in the chubby boy's face, threw him to the ground, and glared fiercely at the people around him:
"If anyone dares to slack off like him again, this is what will happen!"
No one dared to look him in the eye, and they all picked up their tools and started working.
Zhang Kai withdrew his gaze, only to find his vision suddenly darkened.
A figure blocked his view, a wooden voice devoid of any emotion:
"Hitting someone is wrong. Apologize to him."
Zhang Kai panicked and couldn't help but take a step back.
But this retreat allowed him to see the person in front of him clearly; it turned out to be that silly boy, Liu Ergou!
Zhang Kai was immediately enraged and embarrassed:
"You idiot, how dare you meddle in other people's business! Believe me or not, I'll beat you up too!"
Liu Ergou remained expressionless, unfazed, and continued in a serious tone:
"It was wrong of you to hit him; you should apologize to him."
"I'll pay your grandma's head!"
Zhang Kai cursed and raised his hand to slap Liu Ergou as well.
But then a furious shout suddenly rang out:
"stop!"
Zhang Kai turned his head and saw that Fan Zhou had also come over.
Fan Zhou, holding a hoe, coldly stared at Zhang Kai:
"You dare lay a hand on me again!"
Zhang Kai roared in fury, "So, you're all going to rebel!"
Fan Zhou retorted without hesitation:
"Rebellion? Who do you think you are? To bully others at will? Do you think everyone is afraid of you?!"
Zhang Kai was startled. He turned his gaze and saw that everyone around him was staring at him coldly, their hands tightly gripping the quarrying tools.