Chapter 18: A Flying Start

The warehouse of the Labor Hall was immense. By Hua Changxi's estimation, it was at least as large as a stadium from her previous life, and there was more than just one such warehouse.

Carloads of medicinal herbs were being pulled into the warehouse incessantly from the outside, and then the herbs inside were being hauled away in carloads to various departments within the Labor Hall for processing.

Walking into the warehouse, Hua Changxi's eyes lit up instantly at the sight of the vast variety of medicinal herbs.

Seeing Hua Changxi staring blankly at the herbs with a look of pure shock, the warehouse guard assumed she was unworldly and let out a sneer. "What are you standing there for? How many herbs are you here to collect?"

Wanting to gather some information about the warehouse, Hua Changxi immediately looked at the young man with a smile. "Hello, big brother. My name is Hua Changxi, and I'm new here. I've never seen such a massive warehouse before; please don't blame me for my lack of experience."

Seeing that Hua Changxi was cute, well-spoken, and had a good attitude, the young man's tone softened significantly. "Eh, this is nothing. You'll know what real scale is once you go to the medicinal estates; their warehouses are truly massive."

Hua Changxi showed an expression of amazement. "So all these herbs aren't even the entirety of the Medical Bureau?"

The young man said proudly, "Of course not. This is only a very small portion."

Hua Changxi's eyes widened. "The herbs here are top-tier specimens I've never even seen outside, and they aren't even everything?"

The young man laughed, mocking her for making such a fuss. "What kind of 'good' herbs are these? The truly excellent ones are sent directly to the various medical clinics in the Nine Streets. What we store here are just ordinary medicinal herbs."

Hua Changxi was astonished. "There are even better herbs than these?"

Seeing Hua Changxi's eyes shining with admiration, the young man felt quite flattered and continued, "Of course. I'm telling you, over the past two years, local government offices and various martial arts halls have discovered many new medicines. Many of those herbs have miraculous effects; those are the true treasures."

Hua Changxi looked longingly. "I really want to see what these 'treasure herbs' look like."

Hearing this, a mocking smile appeared on the young man's face. "Go on, go on. You're just a lowly laborer; don't go having such delusions."

Hua Changxi's expression stiffened, and she looked somewhat awkward and embarrassed. "I was being overconfident and ignorant of the world."

Seeing the young girl like this, the young man felt he might have been a bit too harsh, and his tone softened. "How many herbs do you need to collect? I'll help you move them."

Seeing that the young man didn't want to talk much more, Hua Changxi didn't press further. Realizing there was only an hour left before lunchtime, she decided to collect only two hundred stalks of herbs.

"Big brother, I'll take two hundred stalks."

The young man sized up her small frame. "You guys have to process five hundred stalks every day now, right? Can you even finish cleaning them all?"

Knowing that one must demonstrate value at the right time in the workplace, Hua Changxi gave a confident smile. "Big brother, don't let my age fool you; I have plenty of strength."

The young man chuckled, clearly not taking her seriously. "I'll find you some herbs that are easy to clean, then."

"Even though it's all just cleaning herbs, there's a knack to it. Some are easy to clean, and some are difficult."

"You're lucky you ran into me. Otherwise, since you're arriving so late, you'd definitely end up with the difficult ones."

Hua Changxi nodded with a smile. "I know. I must be very lucky today to have met such a benefactor like you."

"Big brother, please give me a little bit of every kind. I'm still new, and the supervisor isn't very strict with me yet. I need to take advantage of this time to quickly familiarize myself with the cleaning methods for various herbs."

Since it wasn't a big deal, the young man didn't refuse, and she ended up with dozens of different varieties for her two hundred stalks.

Seeing this, Hua Changxi's eyes crinkled into a smile. "Big brother, you are so kind. Can I come find you again the next time I collect herbs?"

Seeing how much the young lady liked him, the young man feigned annoyance. "Fine, fine. Since you're so young, just come find me. I'll look out for you in the future."

Hua Changxi looked incredibly happy. "Thank you, big brother! Oh, I don't even know your name yet?"

The young man helped load the herbs onto the cart. "My name is Yu Hui. You can call me Brother Yu from now on."

This batch of two hundred stalks consisted of many varieties, but they were all small in size, so a single cart could carry them all.

Yu Hui wanted Hua Changxi to make more trips, but she politely declined with a smile. "Brother Yu, don't worry about me, I can manage. I need to hurry back to work, otherwise, I won't have lunch. See you this afternoon, Brother Yu!"

Watching Hua Changxi actually pull away with a full cart, Yu Hui's mouth hung open in surprise. "Sister Changxi certainly has some strength. Hmm, she's good material for a laborer."

People under the same supervisor tend to stick together, so when cleaning herbs, they usually worked close to one another.

Returning to the Sixth Bureau, Hua Changxi pulled her herbs over to Du Ruo's group, found a somewhat distant empty space, unloaded the herbs onto the ground, rolled up her sleeves, and began to work.

After soaking the herbs in the ditch, Hua Changxi submerged her hands in the water and employed the Water Control technique from her *Immaculate Art*.

In the next moment, the water soaking the herbs began to vibrate. For a moment, it felt as if the herbs had been placed into a high-pressure washing machine.

Cleaning this way made the task incredibly simple.

Hua Changxi carefully controlled the movement of the water to ensure no one noticed the anomaly on her side.

By lunchtime: [Commentary on the Classic of a Hundred Herbs (Great Success): Tasting Herbs 612/1000], [Immaculate Art (Great Success): Cleaning Herbs 650/1000].

Not only had Hua Changxi cleaned the two hundred stalks, but she had also secretly tasted a bit of every single variety.

Looking at the changing data, Hua Changxi felt extremely happy.

After lunch, Hua Changxi pulled the cleaned herbs to the Second Bureau to hand them in. After signing for them, she went back to the warehouse to collect another three hundred stalks.

She sought out Yu Hui again, and this time, she brought back dozens more varieties.

After cleaning all three hundred stalks, the data changed once more.

[Commentary on the Classic of a Hundred Herbs (Great Success): Tasting Herbs 692/1000] [Immaculate Art (Great Success): Cleaning Herbs 950/1000]

Seeing that her *Immaculate Art* was only fifty stalks away from upgrading, Hua Changxi glanced around at the others in her group.

"Watch out!"

Seeing the young lady who had reminded her to eat yesterday nearly slip while carrying herbs, Hua Changxi acted quickly and caught her.

"My name is Hua Changxi. Thank you for reminding me to eat yesterday."

Lu Qingluo shook her head. "No need for thanks. We are all under Supervisor Du; it's only right that we help each other."

Hua Changxi asked with a smile, "How should I address you?"

Lu Qingluo's attitude wasn't overly warm, but it wasn't distant either. "My name is Lu Qingluo."

Seeing that she was two or three years older than herself, Hua Changxi called her "Sister Qingluo." "By the way, Sister Qingluo, you were the one who left the steamed bun by my bed, right?"

Lu Qingluo gave a soft "mm" and picked up a new batch of herbs to lower into the ditch.

Hua Changxi walked over to her side and said while helping her clean, "Thank you so much. Otherwise, I would have gone hungry this morning."

Seeing her like this, Lu Qingluo quickly said, "Bringing you a bun was just a small gesture. You don't need to help me clean herbs."

Hua Changxi's hands didn't stop moving. "Sister Qingluo, I've already finished my work. It doesn't hurt to help you a little."

Lu Qingluo straightened up and looked at Hua Changxi's cart on the bank, which was piled with cleaned herbs. She asked in surprise, "How do you clean herbs so fast?"

Hua Changxi laughed. "I've been helping out in my family's apothecary since I was little. Don't let my age fool you; I'm an old hand at processing herbs, and I'm quite strong too."

Even without using the Water Control technique, Hua Changxi was incredibly efficient at cleaning.

Watching her hands constantly churning through the water, seeing stalks being cleaned one after another with such speed, Lu Qingluo felt a sense of admiration.

Not far away, Du Ruo observed this scene.

She had originally thought that because Hua Changxi had woken up late today, she would certainly have to work until nightfall. But now she saw that she had not only finished her own tasks but even had the energy to help Lu Qingluo.

It seemed Supervisor Leng really had given her an excellent laborer.

[Immaculate Art (Perfection): Cleaning Herbs 1069/10000]

Once the *Immaculate Art* upgraded to Perfection, Hua Changxi immediately felt her control over water and wind increase significantly.

With a water droplet clinging to her finger, Hua Changxi flicked it lightly. The droplet instantly transformed into a sharp projectile, shooting toward the edge of the ditch.

*Boom!*

The spot hit by the droplet collapsed, leaving a crater over a meter in diameter.

The people nearby were startled by the sudden collapse, but Hua Changxi's heart was filled with immense excitement.

"I'll go fill that hole up."

Since she was the one who caused it, Hua Changxi quickly walked over to dig dirt and fill the pit.

With Hua Changxi's help, Lu Qingluo had finished her tasks for the day and came over to assist her.

The two of them quickly filled the hole.

"Let's go. Let's head to the Second Bureau to hand them in."

After two trips, Hua Changxi had delivered all her herbs to the Second Bureau. At this time, Lu Qingluo was still hauling hers, but Hua Changxi didn't continue helping her; instead, she ran to help Du Ruo move herbs.

Having cleaned herbs all day, Du Ruo was also exhausted, so she did not refuse Hua Changxi's attempt to curry favor.

When it came time for dinner, Hua Changxi ate with Du Ruo and Lu Qingluo.

In the dining hall, Hua Changxi looked at Du Ruo and then at Lu Qingluo, her lips curling upward.

Having just entered the Labor Hall, she had already befriended her direct superior and her colleagues. Even Yu Hui, the warehouse guard, greeted her with a smile. Her career path was off to a flying start.

After dinner, Lu Qingluo suddenly called out to Hua Changxi. "Changxi, could you do me a favor?"

Hua Changxi: "Tell me."

Lu Qingluo: "The dining hall doesn't allow people to take too many buns; five is the limit per person. There are several people in our dormitory who don't get to eat dinner every day. I was thinking..."

Hua Changxi understood her meaning. "No problem. I'll go get five buns too."

Seeing Hua Changxi return with the buns, a smile appeared on Lu Qingluo's face. Then, the two of them walked back to their dormitory together.

Upon returning to the room, Hua Changxi washed up and immediately climbed into bed. "Sister Qingluo, I'm going to sleep." With that, she lay face down on the bed and closed her eyes.

Having traveled back to the thirteenth year of the Great Jin Dynasty, today had been her most productive day. Even with her enhanced constitution from cultivation, she was utterly exhausted.

Seeing how quickly Hua Changxi fell asleep, Lu Qingluo was somewhat stunned. "Changxi falls asleep far too fast."

As darkness fell, people began to return one after another.

"Qingluo, why did you take so many buns?"

"I didn't take them all myself; Changxi took some too."

"Why is she sleeping again?"

"Changxi is only thirteen; she's at a growing age. She definitely needs more sleep than we do."

Because she had helped bring buns, the attitude of her roommates toward Hua Changxi improved significantly.

The next day, when everyone was heading out, Hua Changxi was still sleeping. Lu Qingluo hesitated whether to wake her, but remembering that Hua Changxi hadn't asked to be woken up last night, and considering how fast she cleaned herbs, she decided to stay quiet.

Hua Changxi slept until the hour of *Si* (around 9:00 AM) before getting up. After eating the buns Lu Qingluo had left for her, she went to the warehouse to find Yu Hui and collect herbs.

By the end of the hour of *Shen* (around 5:00 PM), Hua Changxi had finished cleaning today's five hundred stalks.

After handing the cleaned herbs over to the Second Bureau, Hua Changxi did not return directly to the Sixth Bureau. Instead, she detoured to the main gate of the Medical Bureau.

Today was the day the apprentice recruitment list was to be announced. Even though she had already entered the Labor Hall, Hua Changxi still wanted to see the list.

The Medical Bureau had recruited 200 apprentices this time. Hua Changxi read the names on the list one by one, but even after reading to the very end, she did not see her name.

Although she had known the outcome for a long time, she still felt a sense of stifled frustration in her heart.

After standing at the main gate for a while, Hua Changxi waited until her emotions settled before turning back toward the Labor Hall.

(End of Chapter)