Sure enough, it seems the news of the stone bridge being transformed into a wooden bridge has already spread here.

As soon as Joey returned to the construction site, he saw a lot of workers gathered outside the foreman's tent, making quite a commotion.

"Why was the wooden bridge rebuilt? That's not what the job posting said back then?"

"Yes, we put down our other jobs to come and do this, not just for these two months, right?"

"They want us to finish this month? That's utterly ridiculous!"

...

The workers were very dissatisfied and extremely indignant about the foreman's last-minute changes to the contract. They gathered there to demand an explanation from the foreman.

But the foreman hid in the tent and never showed up again. Perhaps he was afraid of angering the crowd and suffering retaliation, or perhaps he didn't have the support of the city hall officials here. After informing everyone about the matter, he went into hiding.

"Joey, should we go over there?"

The bearded man jumped down from the carriage, unsure whether to join the group of workers demanding an explanation. He walked over to Joey and asked him a question.

"Why did you go there? Do you think that more people mean more power?"

"Sometimes, having more people doesn't necessarily mean having more power; it can actually make things easier to give away for free!"

"These are all short-sighted manual laborers who only think about what's right in front of them. They should know that going against capital will never end well!"

"If they actually stormed in and beat up the foreman, I would admire them and even risk everything to work alongside them!"

"Big Beard, remember this: without organized leadership and a concrete action plan, no matter how many people you have, you're just a disorganized bunch who can't accomplish anything and are of no use!"

Joey also got off the carriage, but he only felt sympathy and understanding for his fellow workers' behavior and had no intention of joining them.

"Then Joey, why don't you organize them and formulate some specific guidelines?"

The bearded man's habit of asking questions has returned.

"Shh(?_?)っ?_?)!"

Joey quickly made a shushing gesture, looking at the big, silly guy in front of her, feeling both annoyed and amused.

"Do you think just anyone can do this? I can't reach that level. If this goes wrong, and those old men above misunderstand and make a big deal out of it, I might even lose my life!"

Joey didn't think he was capable of doing the work of a great man. He had thought about helping others succeed, but he never thought about becoming that dragon himself. His past life's experience told him that the path was not easy, and he didn't have the ability!

"Is it that serious?"

Seeing how terrifying Joey's words were, the bearded man lowered his voice, as if afraid that others might overhear their conversation.

"Doing your job well, adjusting your approach as needed, and skirting the edges of the rules—that's the ultimate level of slacking off!"

After saying this, Joey began to lead the grooms to unload the timber.

The bearded man's strengths became apparent at this point. Although he didn't understand what Joey was saying, he was willing to listen to him and started helping out.

The commotion soon caught the attention of the group of workers, who stopped their rant against the foreman in the tent and turned to walk over to Joey.

"What are you two doing? Can't you see we're talking to the foreman?"

A dark-skinned, burly human man stepped out of the crowd, ran up to Joey, and questioned him.

Upon seeing this, the bearded man immediately dropped the piece of wood he was holding, stood in front of Joey, and looked up at the human who was a head taller than him.

"I was doing my work, I didn't stop you from talking business, did I?"

Joey wasn't intimidated at all. He pushed aside the big beard blocking his way, rolled up his sleeves to reveal his equally muscular physique.

He had anticipated this scene. These disorganized workers were currently just a group of opportunists who bullied the weak and feared the strong, always looking to take advantage of others. Seeing that the foreman didn't come out, they didn't dare to go in either, so they could only come to Joey and the other two who hadn't joined to vent their authority.

"You...you...you...I...I...I...I..."

The burly human man was taken aback by Joey's confident attitude and instantly lost his nerve, stammering as he spoke. He looked behind him but no one came to his aid; they were all just watching the show!

Joey seemed to see a message on their faces: "Whoever wins the argument, we'll help them."

"The foreman hired us to build a bridge. A wooden bridge is still a bridge. As for why the project was changed, he doesn't need to explain it to us. We're just ordinary workers!"

"I'll do whatever he tells me to do, and if he doesn't pay me, I'll be the first to make trouble for him!"

Joey had already spotted two short, fat figures emerging from the tent, craning their necks to look in their direction, and his voice immediately rose a few decibels.

"Is there anything else? If not, I need to get to work!"

After Joey finished speaking, she ignored him and turned back to unloading the timber from the wagon.

The burly man was momentarily embarrassed, unable to advance or retreat.

Being a hero isn't easy. If you don't have the skills, don't take on the job. Otherwise, you'll only make things worse and end up as a coward instead of a hero.

The outcome was clear, and the fact that the crowd only sided with the winner made the onlookers have their own plans.

The crowd behind the burly man began to stir. They looked around and saw that some of them had already stepped out of the line, passed by the burly man at the front, and walked to the carriage to help unload the timber.

Seeing that some people had already "betrayed" them, the others began to waver, and more and more people joined in unloading the timber.

"The herd mentality, I'm familiar with it. Sometimes all you need to do is dig a small hole in the dam, and the subsequent collapse will be a natural consequence!"

Joey looked at the group of people and began to mutter to himself, "How could these people from another world possibly understand the hardships and lessons learned from the experiences of countless working people in my past life? How could you possibly know how tough working people in the 21st century are!"

The happiest person now was not the foreman behind the crowd, but the bearded man. His admiration for Joey had risen to a new level, now flowing like a mighty river, unstoppable.

"When we eat later, give Joey and that bearded guy extra food!"

The foreman in front of the tent was overjoyed, but his eyes, which were already small due to the fat on his face, were now completely squinted into slits when he smiled.

He gave his instructions to his dwarf wife beside him, then crawled back into the tent, ready to get a good night's sleep. He had indeed gotten up a bit early today; after the celebration, getting up at seven o'clock was not something a foreman should do.

The dwarf woman responded, and looking at Joey's back as he worked, she smiled shyly.