Chapter 6

The woman then asked, "What did they come for?"

The village chief said, "They asked about the situation with the golden bamboo forest and whether we only supply the Lian family."

The man and the woman exchanged glances again, their eyes filled with deep vigilance.

The village chief continued, "You just asked us to supply 20,000 pieces every month. To be honest, we can manage that quantity. But if the Qi family also wants to order the golden silk, we won't be able to supply it."

He didn't say it outright, but the two from the Lian family were well aware of the strength disparity between the Qi family and the Golden Bamboo Village.

They fell silent for a moment, and the woman said, "The communication with the Qi family, you leave it to us. You don't need to worry about it; just deliver according to our requirements!"

The village chief was straightforward, "Alright, 20,000 pieces this time, or from next time onwards?"

The woman asked, "Do you have that much?"

The village chief said, "We've been lucky. We have a new silk cutter in the village, and the quantity this month has indeed increased. But he's about to become an apprentice to a mechanism master and won't stay in the village for long."

Mechanism apprentice! The man and the woman were both startled. The woman followed up, "Who is it? Can we meet him?"

The villagers had gone out early in the morning to cut bamboo, and by the time they returned, the women had already prepared the meal. Chang Ming, preoccupied with his thoughts, finished his meal and headed to the big tree, watching from a distance. Besides being concerned about the Qi family, he was also thinking about the belt wrapped around the woman's waist—this belt seemed to hold many things, and he wondered if she was also a...

He was casually peeking when he saw the village chief waving at him. Chang Ming was taken aback and quickly walked over, just in time to hear the village chief introduce him, "This boy is Chang Ming. His grandfather was an old friend of our village and used to visit often. Now that his grandfather is gone, the boy has stayed in our village. His ambition is to become a mechanism master, and he will soon go to the city to become an apprentice."

The woman gave Chang Ming a deep look, and he felt her gaze was sharp, the eyes of someone accustomed to focus. She said to Chang Ming, "Show me your hands."

The village chief nodded at Chang Ming, and he indeed extended his hands. The woman stared intently. Chang Ming's fingers were long and his hands were very well-shaped. However, the calluses on his joints somewhat marred this beauty, clearly the hands of someone used to work.

After a long time, the woman still hadn't let Chang Ming retract his hands, and he kept them raised. After about ten minutes, his hands remained perfectly still, very steady.

The woman nodded and said, "You have potential. But whether you have talent, we can't tell yet."

The village chief said proudly, "This boy, though young, is quite skilled at cutting silk!"

The woman seemed very interested and said, "Can we see?"

Chang Ming met her gaze and smiled, "I would be honored!"

He went back to his house to fetch his tools, thinking as he walked: Indeed, the status of a mechanism master in this world is extraordinary!

He clearly saw their attitude towards the village chief, polite but condescending. In their eyes, the old man, though the village chief, was already being treated with condescension. They came to discuss matters with the village chief, and once done, they would leave without a word.

But when they heard that he aspired to become a mechanism apprentice—something that hadn't even become a reality yet—their attitude changed, showing a hint of warmth.

Chang Ming had a feeling that if he really became a mechanism apprentice, these two would immediately try to recruit him.

With this thought in mind, he sat down under the tree, picked up his knife and bamboo rod, and his expression changed. At that moment, all杂念 disappeared from his mind, and his eyes were only on the knife and bamboo rod in his hands!

With one pull, two shakes, a long, fine golden silk thread appeared from the bamboo rod, pulled all the way through. The entire fine thread was perfect, and more importantly, Chang Ming's movements were incredibly effortless, as if following a specific rhythm, extremely pleasing to the eye.

The woman showed a look of surprise, and Chang Ming's movements didn't stop. He continued cutting one after another until the entire bamboo rod was done.

The woman had only intended to watch a demonstration, but unexpectedly, she watched for a full fifteen minutes, completely absorbed, forgetting to interrupt him!

Only when Chang Ming finished cutting the last piece, with a pile of long threads on the ground and a mottled piece of bamboo in his hand, did the woman exhale and ask, "Why don't you go to the city for the exam immediately?"

This meant, Chang Ming would definitely pass? A hint of joy flashed across the village chief's face, but Chang Ming seriously raised the mottled bamboo in his left hand, "Because my skills are not yet perfect. Look, there are still many residual pieces on it..."

To the woman, his skills were already very strong, but she didn't expect Chang Ming to still find them unsatisfactory!

She looked deeply at Chang Ming and introduced herself, "I am Lian Yingxue, a mid-level mechanism master."

Chang Ming's eyes lit up—indeed, he had guessed right, this woman was indeed a mechanism master!

The village chief was somewhat shocked. First, after so many dealings with this woman, he didn't know her real name, and now she simply told Chang Ming. Second, a mid-level mechanism master, such a person in the Lian family would be a mid-level manager, yet she personally came to the Golden Bamboo Village every month to collect goods.

Lian Yingxue said, "Your skills have basically reached the standard of a mechanism apprentice. However, if you want to further improve before the exam, I won't force you. But when you pass the test, I hope you will come to our Lian family. To upgrade from a mechanism apprentice to a junior mechanism master, or to advance further, requires a lot of money and materials. Relying on your own abilities alone is very difficult! If you are willing to join the Lian family, we can provide various kinds of support based on your abilities and contributions!"

Her words contained several meanings.

According to her judgment, Chang Ming's skills had basically reached the standard of a mechanism apprentice, but whether he could pass the test, Lian Yingxue was not certain. Otherwise, she wouldn't have let Chang Ming go to the Lian family only after passing the test and becoming a mechanism apprentice.

Additionally, as the village chief said, a mechanism apprentice needs a lot of money to advance, which a family can support, but an individual cannot. However, even if he joined the Lian family, it wouldn't be a guaranteed position; he would still have to work hard, even risk his life.

But this was normal, so Chang Ming agreed readily, "Sure, I'll consider it. Let's wait until I pass the test!"

Just considering it, Lian Yingxue was somewhat dissatisfied. But a person who hadn't even reached the level of a mechanism apprentice, just someone with potential, wasn't worth her excessive attention. So she just nodded and said, "Sure, think about it carefully."

She then turned to the village chief and said, "Please check the quantity of the golden silk. We'll take whatever you have this time!"

Clearly, her attitude was even more polite, obviously still considering Chang Ming.

Tsk, tsk, mechanism masters are indeed remarkable...

The flying wing soared into the sky again. The village chief watched the distant wings and pondered, "Why did they suddenly increase the quantity? Is something going to happen in Zihua City?"

He thought for a moment, then shook his head, "Let's not worry about that now. Everyone, get to work! Hurry up and make more, earn more money!"

"Alright!" The voices echoed from all directions in the village, and the villagers responded loudly.

***

Over the next few days, Chang Ming cut over 1,200 new bamboo threads, earning 12,000 copper coins, or 12 silver coins. The income from just these few days was enough to support a family of five in the village for a month.

With the goal of becoming a mechanism apprentice and the motivation of money, Chang Ming worked even harder.

He started cutting silk day and night, and the golden silk flowed from his hands like water, reaching the hands of every household. Under his influence, the speed at which each household processed the bamboo threads also increased.

The speed of cutting silk was limited, and the amount of bamboo threads that could be soaked and mixed at a time was also limited. Everyone started working non-stop, otherwise, the processing speed would fall behind the cutting speed.

Chang Ming was incredibly focused. In fact, although he worked day and night, he didn't work non-stop. After cutting each bamboo rod, he would stop and carefully examine the remaining bamboo flesh.

Each time, there would be some mottled bamboo skin left on the bamboo flesh, which he saw as a sign of imperfect skills.

How could he make it finer, faster, and with less residue?

He constantly thought about what could be improved in his movements and made continuous improvements when cutting silk the next time.

Now, he still maintained a speed of one bamboo rod every fifteen minutes, but the number of threads he could cut from each rod had increased to 45, far exceeding the skills of Old Ping, who had decades of experience.

Three days later, when he stopped again, he suddenly let out a惨叫.

He felt a needle-like pain in his wrist, and not just his wrist, but also his neck and waist, and even his thighs felt like they were cramping.

Working day and night, maintaining the same posture for too long, the fatigue accumulated in his body, finally turning into pain.

He still lived at the village chief's house. The village chief was alarmed and quickly called Old Ping.

Old Ping was silent, using his knee to support Chang Ming's waist and forcefully pulling his arm backward. Chang Ming let out a deafening scream, followed by another arm, both legs, and his neck, five consecutive screams. He immediately felt his body become more relaxed. Although there was still a faint pain, compared to before, it felt like heaven and earth.

Old Ping released his hands, straightened up, and looked down at him, suddenly saying, "You can't become a mechanism master!"

Chang Ming was startled, staring at Old Ping with a mix of shock and doubt!

***

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