The most secure job in Dajin

Chapter 40: Reverse Tiangang
[The Complete Collection of Cannon Scriptures (Perfect): Cannon Scriptures 6543/10000]
Hua Changxi glanced at the data, then looked at the more than 30 baskets of ironwood roots piled in the yard, and said to Manager Qin who was still telling her, "The task is heavy, we must prepare all of these ironwood roots today," "I'm going to work."

It was obvious that she went back to the sixth bureau to rest at 4:45 yesterday and did not work overtime or stay up late, which made Grandpa Bao feel that he had not squeezed her enough, so he increased the workload today.

The apprentices in the same group looked solemn as they saw that there were more Tiemugen in the yard than yesterday, but thinking that most of the Tiemugen yesterday were concocted by Hua Changxi, they did not show any emotion immediately.

On this day, Hua Changxi once again sped up the process of preparing Tiemu root. Yesterday, she was thinking of leaving some Tiemu root for the apprentices in the apprentice hall to prepare, so she intentionally controlled the process. But there was no need to do that today.

At four quarters past the hour of You, Tiemugen in the yard had once again used up all his weapons.

Under the somewhat wooden gaze of Manager Qin, Hua Changxi got off work on time and returned to the Sixth Bureau to eat and rest.

The apprentice in the apprentice hall also had a somewhat stiff expression on his face, but he still followed her awkwardly and quickly left the first office.

"What? Hua Changxi's group left early again?"

Eunuch Bao looked at Manager Qin in surprise. Even if it was not the end of the year, the first office would usually go on duty around the hour of Hai (21:00) on weekdays.

This Hua Changxi, his job as a choreman is too easy.

"There are more than 1,500 ironwood roots in more than 30 baskets. Have they all been processed?"

"Hua Changxi and the others didn't do things perfunctorily, did they?"

Manager Qin shook his head: "They have all been processed, and every one of them has met the standards."

Eunuch Bao was silent, then sighed, "Xiao Luzi is so lucky to have such a capable servant."

Manager Qin: "Eunuch, Hua Changxi has prepared nearly 2,000 ironwood roots in the past two days. Together with what we prepared before, it is enough to hand over to the Ministry of Heaven."

Eunuch Bao thought for a moment and asked, "How many Tiemugen are left in the warehouse?"

Manager Qin thought for a moment and said, "There are probably more than 2,500 plants left."

Eunuch Bao smiled and said, "Send them all to Hua Changxi tomorrow. Tell her as usual that she is not allowed to leave until the work is done."

"We want to see if she can increase the speed of concoction."

"If she really finishes processing all the ironwood roots tomorrow, you can give her all the difficult-to-process herbs stored in the warehouse the day after tomorrow."

Steward Qin took a quick look at Eunuch Bao and understood that Eunuch Bao wanted to "use" Hua Changxi to the greatest extent possible and make sure to make the best use of her.

The next day, Hua Changxi was the first to arrive at the office at the end of the morning as usual.

As soon as I stepped into the yard, I saw baskets of ironwood roots stacked up in the yard, so piled up that there was almost no room to step. I understood more about Eunuch Bao's greed and exploitative nature.

[The Complete Collection of Cannon Scriptures (Perfect): Cannon Scriptures 7892/10000]
After taking a glance at the data, Hua Changxi said nothing in front of Manager Qin as usual, and walked straight into the room to start working.

The apprentices in the same group looked at this scene with complicated expressions.

"This is what menial work is like. When you show off your abilities, you don't get any appreciation, but instead you get squeezed to death."

"Isn't it said that Hua Changxi has a bad temper? She will beat up anyone who dares to provoke her. Eunuch Bao is ordering her around like this, which is obviously exploiting her. Why doesn't she refuse?"

"Don't you see who Hua Changxi beat up before? Those people were just like her, low-ranking servants. Of course, she didn't dare to say a word when facing Bao Gonggong, who was higher in status than her. Are people like her rare?"

Lu Qingling listened to her classmates' idle chatter, looked at Hua Changxi who was working hard, and a look of disappointment flashed across her eyes.

Most people in this world are like this. They only dare to attack people around them, but once they face someone of higher status, they immediately become spineless.

She had heard before about Hua Changxi teaching someone a lesson. Although she thought she was too impulsive, she still admired her courage in her heart. Now it seems that she is just a person who bullies the weak and fears the strong.

[The Complete Collection of Cannon Scriptures (Perfect): Cannon Scriptures 10000/10000]
At four quarters past the You hour, Hua Changxi placed the last prepared ironwood root into a special wooden box. Looking at the data changes in his sight, the corners of his mouth couldn't help but rise.

She finally inherited the "Complete Collection of Cannon Classics" completely. Now, she knows all the theories and methods of processing mortal plants, spiritual plants, divine plants and Taoist plants.

Next, all that remains is:

[Meridian Mapping (Perfect): Disintegrating and Grinding Medicinal Materials 5511/10000]
[Fusion (Perfect): Prepare Fusion Pill 4672/10000]
[Alchemy (Perfect): Condensed Pill 4672/10000]
[Sealing Technique (Perfect): Sealing Pill 4672/10000]
As long as these four things are upgraded to perfection, her alchemy heritage will be completely inherited.

When Hua Changxi was thinking about data upgrade, he didn't notice Eunuch Bao coming over.

Eunuch Bao looked at the prepared ironwood roots and his eyes lit up when he looked at Hua Changxi. He said directly, "Hua Changxi, we have some medicinal herbs that need to be prepared. Come with us."

Since the first day of helping, Hua Changxi has always been on duty at 4:15 pm. Now Eunuch Bao has come in person to ask her to work overtime. The apprentices in the apprentice hall are a little curious about how Hua Changxi will react.

Hua Changxi looked at Eunuch Bao and said directly: "Eunuch Bao, I'm afraid I can't help you." As he said that, he raised his hands.

"Today, in order to quickly prepare the Tiemugen, I was inevitably a little anxious during the preparation process. As a result, I was stabbed by the Tiemugen."

Only then did everyone notice that Hua Changxi's hands were red. It was obvious that he had prepared the medicinal materials improperly and was burned by them.

However, other people who were stabbed by Tiemugen would break out in cold sweats and shiver, but why did she only have red hands after being 'poisoned'?

Compared with the doubts of the apprentices in the apprentice hall, Eunuch Bao directly saw through Hua Changxi's intention. Hua Changxi deliberately made his hands like this.

What she said before about him doing whatever he told her to do was all fake. It was not that she did not resist him, but that she hit him directly at the vital point with her first strike, leaving him with no reason to order her around.

What shocked Eunuch Bao the most was that Hua Changxi's control over the "toxin" of the medicinal materials was so precise that it only made his hands turn red, and had no effect above the wrists.

Having managed the First Department for many years, Eunuch Bao also understands pharmacology, even better than the apprentices in the Apprentice Hall, so he is more aware of Hua Changxi's power.

"How could you be so careless? You were injured in the First Department. I will definitely be responsible for it."

Seeing his father-in-law looking at him with concern, Hua Changxi was moved and unceremoniously listed several names of medicinal herbs.

"I know you are a busy man, so I won't waste your time. Ask Steward Qin to give me the herbs and I will take them back and make them myself."

Eunuch Bao's mouth twitched. The first department had all the medicinal herbs Hua Changxi wanted, but those herbs were very expensive. If they were to be purchased at a drugstore outside, one would cost at least dozens of taels of silver.

This Hua Changxi is such a black heart!
"Manager Qin, go get the herbs Hua Changxi wants."

The words had already been spoken, and Eunuch Bao couldn't embarrass himself, so he could only reluctantly ask Steward Qin to get the herbs.

The apprentices in the Apprentice Hall were very impressed when they saw that Hua Changxi actually got the medicinal herbs from Eunuch Bao. Everyone knew that Eunuch Bao from the First Department was a miser.

Lu Qingling took a look at Hua Changxi, who had made a fortune from eunuch Bao in public, and realized that her previous evaluation of her was a bit premature. This man's boldness was beyond her imagination.

After giving Hua Changxi the medicine, Eunuch Bao must take it back: "Hua Changxi, after you get the medicine, go back and rest quickly, and come early tomorrow morning."

Hua Changxi shook his head again: "Eunuch Bao, my hand is like this, I'm afraid it won't heal in a few days."

The "Compendium of Cannon Classics" is complete, and she doesn't need to continue preparing medicinal materials.

After hearing this, Eunuch Bao performed a Sichuan Opera face-changing on the spot, and his expression instantly became gloomy.

Hua Changxi didn't want to offend Eunuch Bao to death, so he continued, "My hand is like this, it's really inconvenient to prepare herbs. It's okay for me, but I'm mainly worried that if I prepare the herbs improperly, it will cause trouble for Eunuch Bao."

"If Master Bao thinks I can still be used, why not send me to cut or grind the herbs? I can do this even with my hands bandaged."

After hearing her say this, Eunuch Bao's face looked better. Cutting medicine is a technical job, and grinding is a physical job. He wanted to teach Hua Changxi a lesson, so after thinking about it, he let Hua Changxi cut the medicine.

He thought that Hua Changxi's hand was injured, so it would be inconvenient for her to move. He would assign her more tasks tomorrow and let her work all night.

Seeing that his goal had been achieved, Hua Changxi smiled and said, "Eunuch Bao, I will definitely come early tomorrow."

After taking the medicinal herbs brought by Manager Qin, Hua Changxi went straight back to the sixth game.

The medicinal herbs Hua Changxi wanted were all those that could strengthen qi and blood and replenish vitality. The New Year was approaching, and she wanted to refine some body-strengthening pills and give them to her family as coming-of-age gifts.

The next day, Hua Changxi was the first to arrive at the office at the end of the morning hour. Manager Qin had been waiting for her for a while: "Come on, I'll take you to the slicing room." As he spoke, he looked at Hua Changxi's hands which were tightly wrapped with cloth strips.

"Is your hand okay?"

"Thank you for your concern, Steward Qin. The medicine you gave me yesterday was very useful. My hand should be fine after a few days of care." Steward Qin was a little worried: "Can you cut herbs with your hand wrapped like this?"

Hua Changxi said confidently: "No problem."

As they were talking, Manager Qin brought Hua Changxi to another yard. As soon as they entered the yard, they could hear the 'bang bang bang' sound of chopping herbs.

Manager Qin led Hua Changxi directly into an ear room. There were only two middle-aged male servants in the ear room. They cut the medicine very quickly.

Manager Qin did not assign any tasks to Hua Changxi immediately, but instead asked her to watch the work procedures of two middle-aged male servants for a while.

As soon as the two of them cut a basket of herbs, someone came in to take them away. Then another servant brought in herbs that needed to be sliced. There was no moment of rest in between.

Hua Changxi looked at Manager Qin: "Manager Qin, how many herbs do I need to cut in a day?"

Manager Qin knew that Eunuch Bao wanted to punish Hua Changxi, so he thought for a moment and said, "3000 plants."

As soon as these words were spoken, the two middle-aged servants who had been concentrating on cutting medicine looked over at the same time, with undisguised surprise on their faces.

They are the most skilled chores in the slicing room. Depending on the size of the herbs, they can cut 1000 to 2000 herbs a day at most.

Manager Qin actually asked a young lady to cut 3000 medicinal herbs. This is too much!
Hua Changxi didn't bargain and just nodded in agreement.

Her reaction made Manager Qin hesitate. There was nothing he could do. Hua Changxi's speed in preparing medicinal materials simply overwhelmed his previous understanding.

The little girl in front of me cannot be judged by ordinary people.

Worried that Hua Changxi might not have enough tasks assigned to her, Manager Qin called the servant who was in charge of delivering herbs to the ear room and said, "The herbs you send to that girl should be in large pieces."

In the ear room, Hua Changxi walked to the chopper for cutting medicine and sat down. Not long after that, the medicine delivery servant came over carrying a basket of herbs.

The medicinal herbs in the medicine basket are all very large, and they are all relatively hard rhizomes.

When the two servants in the same room saw this, they gave Hua Changxi a look of sympathy, but when they saw her bandaged hands, they shook their heads.

This girl, I don’t know how late she will be busy today.

Hua Changxi has already started working. Although her hands are bandaged, it does not affect the movement of her five fingers.

Hua Changxi cut the first basket of herbs a little clumsily, but starting from the second basket, her cutting speed increased.

For other servants, root and rhizome medicinal herbs are not easy to cut and require a lot of effort. But for Hua Changxi, whose realm points have exceeded 5000 points, even hard stones can be crushed into powder with a light pinch, let alone root and rhizome medicinal herbs.

The two middle-aged servants who lived in the same room saw Hua Changxi cutting the rhizomes of medicinal herbs like cutting tofu, with the speed getting faster and faster, and they all showed surprise on their faces.

At noon, Manager Qin also came secretly to see Hua Changxi's progress. When he learned that Hua Changxi had already cut more than a thousand herbs, he was so shocked that his jaw almost dropped.

After repeatedly confirming that the servant who delivered the medicine was following his instructions completely and that he was delivering large and hard rhizomes of medicinal herbs to Hua Changxi, Manager Qin went to see Eunuch Bao with a stiff face.

At four quarters past the hour of You, under the slightly dull gaze of two middle-aged male servants, Hua Changxi returned to the sixth inning on time, with a smile on his face when he left.

[Meridian Mapping (Perfect): Disintegrating and Grinding Medicinal Materials 8511/10000]
Very good, I will come to the First Office to help for a few days, and the "Meridian Diagram Encyclopedia" will be upgraded to perfection.

I will come back to cut medicine for another day tomorrow, and the "Complete Guide to Meridians" will be complete.

On the other side, when Eunuch Bao learned that Hua Changxi had completed the task, he was also a little dazed, and then he sighed again: "Xiao Luzi is really lucky, this Hua Changxi is born to be a handyman."

On the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month, Hua Changxi cut pills for another day and successfully inherited all the knowledge in the "Meridians Atlas Encyclopedia".

At this moment, the directions of the meridians of ordinary plants and beasts, spiritual plants and beasts, divine plants and divine beasts, and Taoist plants and Taoist beasts are all engraved in Hua Changxi's mind.

The twenty-ninth day of the twelfth lunar month this year is New Year's Eve. Hua Changxi got up early and went to the first office. He came here today not to help, but to get money.

The apprentices who came to help lined up in one line, and the servants who came to help lined up in another line.

The apprentice received ten taels of silver, while the servant received only two taels.

After Hua Changxi received the money, he saw that the person who distributed the money was Manager Qin, and he couldn't help asking, "We are doing the same work, why is there such a big difference in the money we are paid?"

Manager Qin didn't want to answer, but thinking that the First Department might need Hua Changxi in the future, he explained: "The status of an apprentice is higher than that of a servant. An apprentice knows pharmacology and medical skills. He will come to help and guide the servants of the First Department."

"As for the errand boys, they are just hard laborers. In the process of helping, they can also learn the techniques of preparing medicinal materials for free. The First Office can give the errand boys an extra two taels of silver, which is already a favor from the eunuch above."

"People, you have to learn to be content. Don't always compare yourself with others. You have to work down to earth. Do you understand?"

Seeing Hua Changxi looking at him expressionlessly, Manager Qin knew that she was doing as well as the apprentice, or even better. He could only lower his voice and say, "Eunuch Bao asked you to come over and talk." He winked at her as he spoke.

After hearing this, Hua Changxi took two taels of silver and went to find Eunuch Bao.

When Eunuch Bao saw Hua Changxi, he first praised her highly, then took out five taels of silver as if doing a favor and threw it directly to Hua Changxi.

The angle of the throw was very tricky. Eunuch Bao's purpose was to make Hua Changxi bend down and pick up the silver from the ground.

Hua Changxi glanced at Eunuch Bao, hooked his foot, raised his leg lightly, kicked the silver up like a shuttlecock, and then grabbed the silver.

"Thank you, sir. I have something else to do, so I'll leave first."

Eunuch Bao was a little unhappy that he failed to achieve his goal, but what made him even angrier was Hua Changxi's attitude.

Hua Changxi was also unhappy. She knew that the status of a servant was not as good as that of an apprentice, but she didn't expect the difference to be so big.

What she didn't expect was that something even more unhappy was yet to come.

As soon as Hua Changxi returned to the sixth game, Du Ruo asked him to go see Manager Leng.

When Steward Leng saw Hua Changxi, he had a look that said 'congratulations on making extra money': "Eunuch Lu recommended you to help out in the First Office. Today is the New Year, shouldn't you show some appreciation?"

Hua Changxi was really speechless about their means of exploiting people. She took a deep breath, thinking that today was New Year's Eve and she should go home to celebrate the New Year with a good mood, and tried to speak in a gentle tone:
"Butler Leng, if there is such a good thing again in the future, please be sure to tell Eunuch Lu not to think about me. I am not worth it."

Manager Leng was stunned and looked at Hua Changxi in disbelief: "What did you say?"

Hua Changxi smiled and said, "Manager Leng, I wish you a happy new year. I still have to go to the Ministry of Internal Affairs to collect my monthly allowance, so I won't disturb you." After saying that, he left.

Manager Leng looked at her leaving figure and didn't react for a long time. When he came to his senses, he was furious: "Does Hua Changxi want to overthrow Tian Gang?"

The Miscellaneous Services Hall has seven days off during the Chinese New Year, from New Year’s Eve to the sixth day of the first lunar month.

Hua Changxi went to the First Office, and when she came back to collect her monthly salary, almost everyone else in the dormitory had left, leaving only Wang Yunchu.

"Hua Changxi, Happy New Year. This is the Ruyi knot I made and the window paper-cuts I cut myself. I'm giving it to you. Please don't despise it."

Hua Changxi looked at the Ruyi knot and window paper-cuts handed over by Wang Yunchu, was silent for a few seconds, and reached out to take them: "Thank you." After thinking for a while, he took out a porcelain bottle from his packed bag and poured out two body-strengthening pills.

She heard Shi's wife and others say that Wang Yunchu's mother died of complications during childbirth when giving birth to her brother, and her father remarried a stepmother. After the stepmother gave birth to the child, she treated her and her brother very badly. The siblings almost starved to death when they were young, and they had been hungry for years. The situation did not get better until Wang Yunchu came to work in the menial service hall.

"Happy New Year."

Hua Changxi wrapped the strengthening pill in paper and handed it to Wang Yunchu.

Wang Yunchu knew how valuable the pill was and didn't want it. She gave the gift to Hua Changxi just to express her gratitude for her previous help. But looking at Hua Changxi's calm eyes, she couldn't say no and reached out to take the pill.

"This is a tonic pill, it will strengthen your body."

Hua Changxi said as he quickly packed his things: "You and your brother should take good care of your health, and you will be able to make up for the loss in your childhood."

After hearing these words, Wang Yunchu felt extremely regretful. Why did she think that Hua Changxi was not a good person before?

Hua Changxi packed her things and saw Wang Yunchu looking at her with a look of hesitation. She didn't want to be a close sister, so she picked up her bag and said, "I'm going home. You should go home early too."

(End of this chapter)