Chapter 81

Xue Dong was stunned, and the other veteran teachers were also dumbfounded. They were all mechanics, dealing with equipment all day, and they had built up considerable strength. However, none of them had the confidence to lift this heavy bookcase, and even if two of them worked together, it would be extremely strenuous. They never expected that Lu Xin, whom they always thought was weak and couldn't even lift a chicken, could effortlessly carry such a heavy object downstairs and even load it onto the truck. It seemed as if Lu Xin was carrying a plastic cabinet rather than an iron one.

Du Haibo walked out from a neighbor's house and, seeing everyone not working and staring at Lu Xin carrying the cabinet downstairs, laughed and said, "What's so interesting about this kid!"

Xu Yong smiled and recounted what had just happened.

Du Haibo burst into laughter and glanced at the electrician Xue Dong, "Old Xue, haven't you heard the saying, 'Don't judge a book by its cover'? This little Lu may look thin, but he's very strong. You misjudged him! Ha, Old Xue, you shouldn't be called Old Xue anymore; you should be called Old Lu. You lost the bet, so you should take Lu Xin's surname. But he can't have a son as big as yours!"

His words were far from kind to Xue Dong, who had been relying on his connection to Li Li, who in turn relied on his connection to the group's executive vice president, Li Zhonggang, and had shown no respect to Du Haibo, the deputy factory manager in charge of equipment.

Lu Xin placed the large alloy bookcase on the truck, turned around, and hearing Du Haibo's words, smiled slightly, "This was just a joke between me and Master Xue. It shouldn't be taken seriously." He wanted to show a bit more grace, so as not to create resentment among the older colleagues.

Du Haibo laughed heartily, "Old Xue, look at this. Lu Xin is twenty years younger than you, yet he has a much bigger heart. The quality of college graduates is different!"

The plump Du Haibo, resembling a Maitreya Buddha, spoke with hidden sarcasm, making Xue Dong feel utterly humiliated.

Xue Dong's face turned red. Although Lu Xin had seemingly helped him out of the situation, he hated Lu Xin even more. Narrow-minded people never thank those who let them off; instead, they hate them even more.

Lu Xin then carried down several more heavy pieces of furniture made of alloy from the third floor by himself. The other older colleagues felt much more relaxed, each carrying some lighter furniture downstairs.

Du Haibo praised Lu Xin highly, smiling at the older colleagues like Zhang Feng, "Look at how considerate Lu Xin is. He doesn't want you old masters to tire yourselves out. When it comes to the evaluation, you should all say good things about Lu Xin!"

Lu Xin had been waiting for Du Haibo's words and smiled gratefully at him. At that moment, he didn't say anything, but his gratitude was evident in his eyes and smile.

To be honest, Du Haibo, the deputy factory manager in charge of equipment, felt quite frustrated. The factory manager, Li Qiming, was very domineering and wanted to control everything. The head of the equipment department, Liu Jianhui, was a protégé of the equipment section chief, Li Minghao. The head of the maintenance team, Li Li, was a protégé of the factory manager, Li Qiming. Du Haibo's words often didn't carry much weight. He had long harbored the idea of grooming his own people to replace Li Qiming and then Liu Jianhui.

Du Haibo's confidant in the maintenance team was Zhang Feng. They shared a common interest in fishing and were fishing buddies. However, Zhang Feng was already in his forties, and his prospects for advancement had waned. Du Haibo then took a liking to Xu Yong, but Xu Yong was only a college graduate and had no other connections within the Sanjiang Group, so his prospects for advancement were slow.

Lu Xin was different. He had a degree from Jiangnan University of Science and Technology, and more than half of the management in the Sanjiang Group were graduates or had studied at Jiangnan University of Science and Technology. With this degree, Lu Xin's prospects for advancement were naturally better. Moreover, Lu Xin, despite his occasional brashness, was also warm and sincere. Du Haibo could see that the deputy general manager, Jiang Chunyu, and the specially appointed expert, Professor Lin Tao, both appreciated Lu Xin. Recalling that Jiang Chunyu was the cousin of the chairman, Jiang Zhenhua, and Professor Lin Tao was a close friend of the chairman, Du Haibo was convinced that Lu Xin had a bright future. Therefore, he was now making every effort to befriend Lu Xin, using his power to pave the way for Lu Xin's first promotion and to use Lu Xin as a new force to push out Li Li and Liu Jianhui.

Most of the furniture had been moved, leaving only a large desk made of hard solid wood. Lu Xin couldn't identify the specific type of wood, but it was very dense and felt very heavy, probably weighing around 140 to 150 pounds. This wouldn't have been a problem, but there was a layer of marble on top, making the total weight over 200 pounds.

The veteran teachers looked at Lu Xin with hopeful eyes, hoping he would carry the desk down by himself.

Lu Xin walked confidently to the desk, grabbed the tabletop, and tried to lift it. However, he found that the ease with which he had carried the metal furniture was gone. He could barely lift the desk and couldn't take more than a few steps, let alone carry it downstairs. If he forced it, he might fall on the stairs, and if the desk broke, it would be a problem.

He realized that his ability to lift heavy objects was limited to metal items, which he could lift to about five times his body weight. For other materials, he could only carry items slightly heavier than his own weight, and it wasn't particularly magical.

Lu Xin wasn't particularly discouraged. Metal items made up more than a third of all items, so being able to handle a third of the world's objects with ease was still a very powerful ability.

"Used up too much strength just now, let me rest a bit," Lu Xin deliberately panted and smiled at the veteran teachers.

The veteran teachers believed him and laughed, "You've carried half of the furniture by yourself. Of course, you're tired. There's only this one left, and we can help!"

They then carried the large desk to the truck and, along with Du Haibo, got on the truck and drove to Du Haibo's new home outside the Third Ring Road.

Du Haibo's new house was only a twenty-minute drive from the group company. It was a development by Vanke, with complete facilities. Many leaders in the Sanjiang Group had bought houses here, but these were mostly second or third homes. Only someone like Lu Xin, who had just graduated and had no capital to rely on, could only look at the houses with envy.

The truck drove into the residential area and parked far from the elevator, requiring multiple trips to move everything.

Lu Xin continued to carry the alloy furniture to the elevator. When carrying these alloy items, Lu Xin's hands were in close contact with the metal, and although there was a layer of paint or electroplating on the surface, the paint contained metal elements and did not block the mysterious energy from the metal inside. However, Lu Xin didn't absorb too much, as he couldn't completely drain the mysterious energy and make the metal structure extremely loose, which would be bad if the fat Du Haibo, resembling a Maitreya Buddha, sat on it and it collapsed.