Mecha Era, Punch the Stars

The story takes place eight hundred years before Earth entered the era of divine mechs.

At that time, most civilizations on Earth were still in the feudal era of dynasties, with low productivity and reliance on the weather for sustenance. In the event of floods or droughts, most people would go hungry.

Heng's story begins in a poor mountain village in the Hexi region.

On this day, Ah Niu simply prepared the bodies of his deceased parents. In order to raise money for their funeral arrangements, he set off before dawn and headed towards the nearby town. He traveled for most of the day and finally arrived at the town when the sun was high in the sky.

The town is called Juyangji, and it is famous because of a well-known sheep farm on the outskirts of the town.

This sheep farm is said to belong to the Zhou family, a prominent local clan, and it employs hundreds of strong servants, making it a powerful local family.

Ah Niu's goal was to sell himself into servitude to the Zhou family.

He had no choice; if there were a way to survive, he wouldn't want to sell himself into slavery.

But in this world, the poor don't have enough to eat, and the rich are too full. In order to survive and to make arrangements for his parents' funerals, he had no other choice but to do this.

Arriving at the mutton stall in the town, Ah Niu couldn't help but swallow hard at the sight of rows of bright red mutton racks hanging there.

"Third Master, I am Chen Aniu from Chen Lao Er's family, do you remember me?"

The gang's stall wasn't doing much business. A burly man with bare chest was sitting on a bench, fanning himself with a palm leaf fan. Hearing this, he turned his head and looked at the stall. He saw a skinny boy of about sixteen or seventeen years old staring at him with longing eyes, and he smiled.

"I remember you. What's up? Something good happening at home today? Are you having a feast?"

"Third Master, not buying meat, but selling yourself. I heard you have connections to sell yourself to the Zhou family."

Third Master narrowed his eyes.

"Can't we make ends meet anymore?"

"Yes, yes." "The Zhou family doesn't just take any Tom, Dick, or Harry anymore. These days, you can't get a good price for selling yourself. What can you do?"

"He can herd sheep and hunt sparrows."

Ah Niu patted his chest hard, making a thumping sound:
"Although I'm thin, I'm very strong. I can lift a sheep weighing about 60 pounds with one hand!"

"Who are you lying to?"

"Third Master, do you have anything heavy? Let me grab it and show it to you."

"Alright, then this desk next to me will do. If you can hold it up for a moment, I'll introduce you to it."

On the table next to Third Master was half a boneless mutton. The table was made of solid wood and was square. The edges of the table were covered with old bloodstains, and there were many bits of meat that could not be cleaned out in the crevices.

Ah Niu estimated that the entire worktable, including the mutton, the cutting board, and several meat and bone cleavers, weighed at least thirty pounds.

Holding onto it for 15 minutes is much harder than lifting a 60-pound sheep with one hand.

Moreover, although Ah Niu was exceptionally talented and his thin body possessed considerable strength, whether he could actually lift a 60-pound sheep with one hand was merely a boast; he had never actually tried it, but he felt he should be able to do it.

However, since things had come to this point, he couldn't back out. He agreed and walked around the desk, observing which spots were suitable for gripping.

"Third Master, shall we get started now?"

"That's right, hurry up! If there are customers later, you can't put down the counter; you have to keep it open for a quarter of an hour. If you can do that, I'll introduce you to someone, understand?"

"Understood, thank you for the opportunity, Third Master."

Ah Niu looked up at the sundial in the distance, checked the time, then gripped the table and slowly lifted it. (End of Chapter)