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Chapter 06. Post Personnel Adjustment (岗位人事调整)
The newcomer sure is diligent, in just a while she has chopped enough firewood for the day, in uniform size, neat and tidy, guaranteed quality, so Aunt Hong boast about it to everybody, and Lei Lei’s name became well-known, even Caretaker Zhao looks at her with a much pleasant expression.
The next morning, the young man had only just reached the practice grounds, but Lei Lei was already waiting there, with six blocks of wood laid beside her.
“Can you chop all of them into eight pieces each in one move?”
With one more block, the task is more difficult, very challenging, the young man felt that it helped a lot with his training, so without hesitation, he swung his knife out of the sheath, and chopped all the wood accordingly in a blink of an eye.
“Good effort good skills, there’s progress!”
“I’ll do it, you continue to practise.”
“Thanks for the trouble.”
On the third morning, similarly Lei Lei was waiting in the bamboo forest, laid out beside her was seven blocks of wood.
The young man swung his knife, splitting them into fifty six pieces as required.
As expected of “Xiao Bai”, Lei Lei smiled happily as she left with the firewoods.
On the fourth day, Lei Lei was waiting with eight blocks of wood.
Eight blocks of wood should have been chopped into sixty four pieces, but in this move, there were only fifty eight pieces.
Lei Lei praised as usual: “Good! Good skills!”
Pushing his limits, the young man was not really satisfied with the results, and felt ashamed: “I can only do this much, always one step behind.”
“No worries no worries,” Lei Lei waved her hand, and encouraged him, “It’s already very good to be able to do this, just practise more in the future, and strive for sixty four pieces in a single move!”
However the young man was restless, thinking that in order to accompany him to practise his sword technique, this lady would always work hard at arranging the props and clearing up the mess at the end, and thus he was determined to practise hard, and use the wood to the fullest: “I’ll try again.”
Before Lei Lei could react, the wood on the ground flew up again, there were flashes of light before their eyes, he did not move at all, but it was as if the knife was alive, dancing in mid air, sawdust flew everywhere.
In the blink of an eye, half of the firewood wiped out.
“Don’t——” Seeing that he was not adhering to the requirements, Lei Lei pounced on him and hugged his hand in a frenzy, “Don’t, don’t chop! If it’s chopped any further it can no longer be burned!”
The young man was stunned: “Burn?”
Lei Lei let go of him, bent down to collect the leftover firewood, and reproached him: “You, you should have told me if you wanted to chop more, I would have went and brought over a few more blocks, look, how can these be burned if they are chopped to this state!”
The young man finally sensed that something was amiss, his face turned black: “You were trying to chop firewood?”
Lei Lei realised she had a slip of the tongue, straightened up, raised a piece of firewood in each hand, and explained: “You have practised your sword technique on it anyway, it’d be a waste for these wood to be thrown!”
The young man held his precious knife tightly and took two steps forward, he said coldly: “You made me use the Feng Ming Dao to chop firewood?”
Thinking that he wanted to slaughter her, Lei Lei was so frightened that she dropped the wood, took two steps back, and spread her hands: “What do you mean chop firewood, of course I wanted to help you practise, but since you finished practising, these firewood shouldn’t be wasted, might as well just give it to the kitchen to be burned, no extra effort.”
The young man took another two steps forward, with subtle anger in his voice: “The knife is a weapon, how can it be treated like that!”
Lei Lei took another two steps back, and retorted: “A knife can be used to slice vegetables and slaughter chickens, why can’t it be used to chop firewood?”
The young man got angry, yet he did not know how to refute, after a long while he said: “Xiao Family’s Feng Ming Dao is used to uphold justice, punish evil and promote good, it is famous in the world, countless number of evil people died under it, how can I let you tarnish it like this!”
Lei Lei insisted on her point: “How would you know this is tarnishing, while it is good to punish evil and promote good, helping to chop firewood is also a good deed, look, I would need to spend a whole day’s effort to chop all these, whereas it is easy work for you, we can save on both time and effort, after you are done practising, there would also be enough firewood for the kitchen for the day, killing two birds with one stone!” After swallowing her saliva, her tone went back to being gentle as she consoled: “In any case if you don’t chop firewood you would be chopping bamboo, isn’t it the same?”
“How can it be the same?” The young man was angry.
“Both gets cut, what difference is there,” Realising that his expression was getting increasingly off, Lei Lei hurriedly shut her mouth, then as if she had understood something: “If you’re afraid of damaging your precious knife, next time I’ll find one that is a little worn out for you to use.”
“You!” The young man took two steps forward.
All reactionaries are paper tigers! Lei Lei no longer stepped backwards, for work to be smooth sailing going forth, she decided to convince him: “Actually the assignment of work in the manor is inappropriate, there are so many who knows martials arts, but you just have to get one without the skill to chop firewood, it is a waste of human resources and a waste of time, the point of learning martials arts, is to use it!”
“Martial arts are not used for chopping firewood!”
“Of course, martial arts are certainly used for chivalry reasons, but don’t you think it’s convenient to use martial arts to chop firewood? Not only can it save time, it can also be used as a practice…….”
The young man’s face was as black as charcoal, trying his best to control the urge to pinch her to death, he retracted the knife and sheathed it, then turned and left.
Lei Lei squatted down, and continued to grieve over the wasted firewood.
On the fifth day, the young man came to the bamboo forest as usual, saw Lei Lei waiting there again, his face immediately sunk, turned around and left.
“Don’t go,” Lei Lei rushed up to him to stop him, “I’ve thought it through, which line you learned from then you have to love that line, I understood your feelings, your knife is sacred, it is for punishing evil and promoting good, not to chop firewood, look, I didn’t bring any wood today.”
The young man turned around and saw there was really no wood, his expression softened slightly.
Lei Lei harboured intentions to be on good terms with this person, pointed at the Feng Ming Dao in his hand, and praised: “Good knife!’
A good knife indeed, the young man nodded.
Lei Lei touched the body of the knife: “Passed down from your ancestor?”
“Having used it for so long, did it become blunt?”
The young man gave it a thought, and finally organised his thoughts, and explained: “It is driven by internal force, so not a problem.”
A swordsman’s magical weapon does not require maintenance indeed, not a problem even if used by a few hundred generations, who said that diamonds were the best? Lei Lei clapped her hands and exclaimed: “Good knife! Good knife! Since your skills are superb, can you teach me a few moves?’
The young man took it that she was eager to learn, so he did not think much of it, after thinking slightly, he suggested seriously: “For knives, they are calm but fierce, and requires strength, females are weaker and softer, so only a handful can successfully master the skill, it would be better if you learn how to wield the sword instead.”
“No need, I don’t need to accomplish anything big, just a few moves would do.”
“A few moves?” The young man had an ominous premonition.
“Just the ones that you used to chop the wood,” Lei Lei explained, “Your knife cannot be used for chopping wood, but I can learn then chop myself, besides my knife is nothing sacred, from now onwards you focus on cutting people, I focus on chopping wood, this way it would be fast, highly efficient, and little effort.”
The young man was stunned, his expression slowly darkened, then he grunted and wanted to leave.
Lei Lei panicked and pulled him: “Not using martial arts, insisting on cutting slowly with an axe, don’t you find it stupid?”
“Let go.” There was forbearance in his voice.
Today’s wood has yet to be chopped, so Lei Lei refused to let go: “Just practise two more times……”
“Xiao Bai okay Xiao Bai, I can’t chop at all, help me with just two moves.”
The young man had finally lost his patience, he was so angry that he flung away her hand and left.
Lei Lei’s voice came from behind: “Hey, if you don’t chop today, there would be no lunch in the afternoon!”
The young master is angry! Like as if a shockingly big secret has been exposed, all the maids and servants passed the message around privately, then one by one they would walk past the room on purpose, everyone was appreciating the look on the young master; since young the young master had a strict upbringing, in addition the core teaching of the Xiao Xiao Feng Ming Dao requires one to have self control, never impetuous, hence he developed a prudent and reserved character, even if he got angry, he rarely loses his cool in front of others, so this has gotten everyone curious, exactly who was so capable to make him fume like this?
Very quickly everyone realised, when everyone in Bai Sheng Shan Manor had their lunch late by an hour.
Having lost his temperament earlier, now as he looked at Aunt Hong and Lei Lei, the young man was much calmer than before.
It was hard to cook without firewood, Aunt Hong had an expression of grievance and self-blame: “We ran out of firewood as we were cooking halfway, luckily Wu Shun went to chop more, otherwise everyone in the manor would need to starve.” Letting out a sigh, she looked at Lei Lei: “This lady was born with thin skin and tender flesh, also lacking in strength, not possible to chop firewood, better if she was assigned to help out somewhere else, she is not needed in the kitchen.”
Lei Lei explained: “If the task requires strength then I have not done it before, besides it is difficult to chop creatively, not suitable for me.”
What is to chop creatively, more like if nobody helped then you are unable to chop, the edge of the young man’s mouth twitched, almost forgetting that he was still angry over this matter.
Aunt Hong laughed upon hearing her words: “I should have known, born so delicately, with one look I should have known that you were born in a blessed family, you wouldn’t have done such manual labour, it’s enough as long as you have the heart.” Holding her hands, she kindly said: “Look, your hands have blisters now, just take a rest.”
The young man frowned: “Forget it, you just stay here peacefully, there will be people to do these tasks.”
As a traverse girl, Lei Lei was not willing to let her talents be buried: “Although I can’t chop wood, I can cook!”
The moment she said it, both the young man and Aunt Hong gave a suspicious look: “You?”
Lei Lei intended to show off, so she quickly fought for her chance: “I learned how to cook before, the taste shouldn’t be too bad, besides you won’t have tried the dishes that I can make.”
It seemed that it was a misuse of her talent, the two came to realise.
Seeing how Aunt Hong had no objections, the young man nodded in agreement.
The next day, Lei Lei was officially promoted to the cook of Bai Sheng Shan Manor, she held a ladle in her left hand and a knife in her right, tied around her waist was an apron, fully looking the part.
“You don’t know?” Aunt Hong was shocked.
“Forget it, I don’t need this.”
“Will the rice cook like this?” Aunt Hong was worried, “shouldn’t the steamer be used……”
“Yes, yes, no need for that.”
“Gosh it’s turned to paste, lower the fire! No no, add lesser firewood……”
“The dim sum that I made.”
“Too much pepper and pepper powder!” Aunt Hong could not help but cough, both eyes getting teary.
“Ah, is it not chilli powder?”
“Too much chilli as well, the Young Master won’t be able to eat, cough……”
Everyone in the kitchen was forced to leave the kitchen choking.
Finally, after everyone in the manor had waited for more than two hours, their lunch was ready——each table had a tub of rice that was hard enough to hit a chicken, a few weird looking dishes, colourful ones, which no one was able to tell what ingredients were used, and there was a plate with dark and burnt dim sum.
Everyone fiddled with their chopsticks, plucked up their courage and tried one mouth, then froze for a long while, and subsequently all left their seats.
Lei Lei herself sat down, picked up the food with her chopsticks and put it into her mouth, chewed twice, and spat it out, then used her hand to wipe her mouth, without changing her expression she concluded: “This dish should have been delicious, most likely it was because I am not used to the tools here, it’s a bit raw, can’t be help on the first try, it will be better with more practice.”
More practice? Countless eyes turned green.
[T/N: The author is trying to show the people felt sick, rather than the usual green eyes that depict jealousy.]
Someone outside the door reported, the young master’s food was returned untouched.
Lei Lei stood up and tied her apron: “Let me go cook dinner.”
Caretaker Zhao forcefully swallowed a mouthful of rice, upon hearing that his beard trembled, and immediately put down his bowl, forgetting about his perspective of her “leeching”: “No need to trouble the young lady, let Aunt Hong do it.”
“No problem, I’m happy to.”
Everyone’s face turned pale.
Aunt Hong rushed up to pull her: “It’s enough that you have the heart to do so, these tasks are too tough, best leave them to us, nobody will blame you.” Desperately winking at everybody: “Right?”
Lei Lei grimmed: “How could I?”
“Why not, everyone here knows, you are a kind lady,” Aunt Hong stripped off her apron, together with the maid who was burning firewood they pushed her out of the door, “actually the kitchen never needed help, the two of us would do, we can’t let you handle these manual work, just swing by when you are free, and chat with us is enough.”
Feeling that this meal did not allow her to showcase her talent, Lei Lei spread her arms open and grabbed the door frame, struggling: “I can also……”
Nobody intended to listen to what she had to say, chaotically pushing her: “Just go.”
“Hey, I really wasn’t familiar with the kitchen tools here,” Lei Lei was pushed outside unwillingly, she shouted, “just let me try a few more times, I will be able to make dishes that you’ve never tried before…...the most delicious food!”
Most delicious food? Everyone believed that it was possible in the future, but there was nobody courageous enough to be her guinea pig, so they blocked the door tightly.
Seeing how she was dead set on not leaving, Aunt Hong suddenly had an inspiration: “Why don’t you go over to the Young Master, and see if he needs your help?”
Attend to “Xiao Bai”? Lei Lei no longer insisted: “Then…...okay.” She turned around and took two steps, then stopped: “If you need any help, do call me!”
Everyone heaved a sigh of relief: “Of course, of course.”
With strict training since young, it was not the first time that the young man went hungry, guessing that there would be a high possibility, that the lady might arouse public outrage, hence he decided to make a trip to the kitchen to mediate, but he did not expect that the moment he stepped outside into the courtyard, he saw that Lei Lei was being coaxed to leave the dining area by a group of people.
The ends of his mouth raised, then he turned around and went back.
“Xiao Bai! Xiao Bai!” A voice came from behind him.
The young man was feeling helpless, there was a huge gap between this and the etiquette education he had received as a child, Bai Sheng Shan Manor’s reputation stretches far and wide, everyone in the martial arts world would refer to him as either Master Xiao or Young Master Xiao, but now this lady just calls him loosely as Xiao Bai.
He stopped, and looked at her with his side profile.
Lei Lei said: “It’s like this, they say they don’t need help in the kitchen anymore.”
The young man was at a loss for words, how would they not need help, he figured that Aunt Hong would approach him later to request to hire another maid.
Lei Lei was happy: “They asked me to attend to you.”
His hair stood, how could he ask her to attend to him, so he shook his head: “No need, you should just stay here peacefully.”
Lei Lei said: “How could I, actually I could be of many use, like when you practise your sword technique, anything you would like to try, I can get it for you, of course I won’t ask you to chop firewood anymore, and also, your clothes are always only in two colours, too mature, you are only twenty four years old! Let me prepare clothes of different colours for you, your meals and when you sleep……” She stopped.
Sure enough, that handsome face suddenly blushed.
Lei Lei harboured evil designs, to think that such an upright good looking male would fantasise, and blush, should I pounce onto him and flirt frivolously?
Having seen the methods used by Qian Yue Cave’s sirens many times, and experienced bigger scenes, the young man’s concentration is extraordinary, he very quickly regained composure, most likely he felt embarrassed, without speaking, he just smiled at her, and left.
Actually when the young man smiles he had a very special charm, as if he was a different person, slightly pursed lips, curvy smiling eyes, but with a slight devilish flavour, a complete opposite of his usual stern image, but sadly after only seeing this amazing smile once, she rarely saw it again, seeing it now all of a sudden, charmed Lei Lei right on the spot.
A truly beautiful man, Lei Lei sighed.
In the days that follow, there was no one in Bai Sheng Shan Manor who approached her for her help, even Caretaker Zhao became much courteous towards her, totally fine with her freeloading, hence Lei Lei became the most idle person in Bai Sheng Shan Manor; of course, she was not satisfied with her current condition, and insisted on finding something to do, all day long she followed the young man wandering around, when he practised, she would clap, when he was thirsty, she would serve tea, greatly improving her observation skills; initially the young man felt very apologetic, but seeing her insistence, he said nothing further.
Today, Lei Lei wandered around aimlessly, when she was at the corner of the corridor, she heard a few people talking.
“I heard from Caretaker Zhao, I’m afraid that Leader He would only return after the Mid Autumn Festival.”
“He needs that long to investigate Jia Kong City?”
“The day before yesterday something big happened in Xi Sha Sect, Sect Leader Wen was met with an assassination, although it was a failed attempt, but they were bent on the assassin being sent by Nan Hai Sect, so the two big sects brought the dispute to Leader He’s attention, so he would need to put in much effort to mediate the situation.”
Turned out it was a group of servants sitting on the railing of the veranda and chit chatting, having been here for a few days already, Lei Lei more or less was familiar with the people of Bai Sheng Shan Manor, the current speaker was a follower of Caretaker Zhao called Wang Cong, he always brought back the latest news in the martial arts world, upon hearing “Nan Hai Sect” these three words, Lei Lei immediately thought of the beautiful male from the guest house who could possibly be “Leng Sheng Yin”, hence she emerged from behind the pillar.
Wang Cong sighed: “Just a mere longevity nut, caused such a big rift between the three big sects, causing everyone in the martial arts world to be delusional……”
Lei Lei butted in: “What is the matter about the longevity nut exactly?”
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