The Elixir is for You, The Poison is for Me

The shopkeeper of the firewood store still seemed hesitant upon hearing this, muttering, "Isn't it just taking advantage of the boss's soft heart?"

In the end, he sighed again, "Forget it, we haven't been able to recruit anyone for two or three days. Seeing that you seem honest enough, go and give it a try. But let's make it clear first, we won't hire you if you don't meet the requirements."

This book is first published on 𝚝 𝚠 𝚔 𝚊 𝚗 . 𝕔 𝚘 𝕞 on the entire network.

"Alright," Lu Jing nodded.

Subsequently, the shopkeeper wrote a note for Lu Jing, instructing him to go to the charcoal kiln two miles east of the city and find a man named Ma Zhongbao, who was the manager of the charcoal kiln.

Having obtained the note, Lu Jing went straight to the kiln without stopping.

Before he even arrived, he could see several dome-shaped structures resembling burial mounds from afar, with plumes of black smoke rising above them. Lu Jing knew that was the charcoal kiln.

In front of one of the charcoal kilns, several kiln workers with faces covered in soot and ash were surrounding a man with a red birthmark on his right eye, seemingly arguing about something.

Both sides looked agitated, especially the kiln workers, who were on the verge of turning around and leaving.

The man with the red birthmark on his right eye was also sticking his neck out, his face flushed with anger.

Lu Jing approached and tentatively called out, "Manager Ma?"

"Who are you?" The man with the red birthmark on his right eye sized up Lu Jing with a wary gaze, but his rhetorical question indirectly admitted that he was indeed Ma Zhongbao.

The kiln workers, seeing a stranger approach, temporarily stopped talking, but they didn't disperse, clearly determined to argue with Ma Zhongbao today.

"Oh, I'm here to help chop wood," Lu Jing said, handing over the note as he spoke.

Ma Zhongbao's gaze towards Lu Jing was similar to that of the firewood store shopkeeper, as if they both felt that his small frame couldn't possibly handle such heavy work.

However, he didn't immediately question him like the old shopkeeper, mainly because he was currently overwhelmed with annoyance. Half of the twelve people who were previously responsible for chopping wood had suddenly left within three days for some unknown reason.

Ma Zhongbao had been unsuccessful in retaining them, and had to hurriedly recruit new people. As a result, he was having bad luck. Even though it was considered the off-season for farming, the charcoal kiln couldn't seem to attract any new workers.

Yesterday, he had no choice but to personally pull four people from the village, promising that they would come to work early this morning. However, it was already late morning, and none of the four had shown up.

The kiln workers responsible for burning charcoal had also had to help chop wood these past few days, and their dissatisfaction had been growing. The helpers that Ma Zhongbao had promised still hadn't appeared today, and the kiln workers felt like they had been tricked. Thus, the dissatisfaction that had been accumulating finally erupted!

They surrounded Ma Zhongbao, demanding an explanation.

Ma Zhongbao, annoyed beyond measure, put on a stern face and shouted, "What are you all yelling about? I said someone would come today, didn't I?"

The kiln workers already felt like they had been deceived, and hearing Ma Zhongbao say this made them feel like he was lying through his teeth. The leading kiln worker kept sneering.

"This kid is the helper you were talking about, Manager Ma? Good, good, good, then let's see today how your helper chops out the remaining wood needed for half a kiln. If things are delayed, Manager Ma, don't blame us."

Of course, Ma Zhongbao didn't think Lu Jing really had the ability to do it. What a joke! The wood needed for one kiln is about two thousand four hundred jin, and half a kiln is also one thousand two hundred jin. Even for a veteran, chopping three hundred jin of wood a day would be considered the best.

Looking at Lu Jing, Ma Zhongbao suspected that he couldn't even chop one hundred jin.

However, he had already been pushed to the limit, and after being provoked like this, he could only continue to argue stubbornly, "Just watch and see!"

After Ma Zhongbao finished speaking, he looked at Lu Jing again, "The wood is in the shed over there. You… go chop it then." However, his momentum softened during the second half of the sentence, clearly knowing that he was just saying that out of anger.

He needed to think of another way to get the remaining half-kiln of wood chopped before dark, so he didn't have time to bother with Lu Jing. After speaking, he waved his hand and let Lu Jing do as he pleased.

"Okay." Lu Jing, however, didn't care about the argument between Ma Zhongbao and the kiln workers. He was only here to earn money and to burn off some internal energy, so after hearing Ma Zhongbao's words, he went straight to the shed.

In the open space in front of the shed, six burly men with bare upper bodies were already sweating profusely.

The oldest of them stopped swinging his axe after seeing Lu Jing and waved at him.

"Then watch me first." After saying that, the man didn't waste any more words and swung his axe again, splitting a long piece of wood in half with one blow, then splitting one of the halves in two again. Then he said, "See? The thickness should be about the same as your forearm, and the length should be one fist longer than your forearm. Only then will the charcoal produced be of good quality and easy to place in the kiln. Also, remember to chop off any small branches around it."

"Mm-hmm." Lu Jing nodded, and after watching for a while, he felt that he had remembered almost everything, so he grabbed an axe and started working on his own.

The man who taught him earlier was worried that he hadn't learned it properly, so he kept glancing at Lu Jing's side while chopping wood.

The result was similar to what he had expected. Lu Jing's first few pieces of wood weren't chopped very well, with different thicknesses and lengths. Each piece looked very unique. However, even so, the speed at which Lu Jing chopped wood still caught his attention.

At first, he thought it was because the young man was eager to show off and didn't know how to conserve his strength, so he estimated that Lu Jing's arms and shoulders would soon be unable to handle it. Therefore, he specifically reminded him.

However, Lu Jing agreed very quickly, but the speed of his hands didn't slow down at all.

Moreover, after the initial awkwardness, his wood chopping finally began to look decent.

Then, Lu Jing sped up again. He saw pieces of wood quickly turning into the wood needed for the kiln in his hands. After half an hour, the pile of wood stacked beside his feet had already exceeded the height of his calf.

The others in front of the shed were already starting to feel tired at this time. Even the man who had instructed Lu Jing earlier had decided to rest for a while to relax his arms. As a result, he saw Lu Jing still working enthusiastically.

At this time, everyone's eyes in front of the shed had been attracted to him.

Many people were horrified. What terrifying strength and stamina was this?!

Basically, every piece of wood was dealt with by Lu Jing with one axe, as easily as chopping tofu skin. Looking at the position and angle of his axe, he was clearly still an amateur who didn't know how to exert or conserve his strength.

But precisely now, when everyone was already tired, Lu Jing seemed to have only just finished warming up.