But in the blink of an eye, Master Liu's deep, impatient voice came: "Chang Lili, where's the tea I ordered?"
Chang Lili immediately ran over to serve the tea, saying, "Coming right now, coming right now!"
I'm always busy with these miscellaneous things during the day, and I can only repair weapons at night.
But when evening came, Chang Lili stood in the much emptier military workshop and suddenly realized that she had no tools and no blacksmith's workbenches.
She was bewildered in the wind.
Several experienced workers had already left, but the others were still busy. Chang Lili looked at them and suddenly felt a little discouraged.
She saw that Xiao Liuzi, who could still chat with her for a while, was wiping his sweat. He had already packed his things and seemed to be preparing to rest.
He then noticed Chang Lili sitting dejectedly on a stool to the side and couldn't help but ask casually, "What's wrong? Aren't you going home yet, it's so late?"
Chang Lili pointed to the spear in her hand.
Xiao Liuzi laughed and said, "I think you should give up. Give this to me tomorrow, and I'll help you out since we've known each other for a while."
Chang Lili suddenly grabbed Xiao Liuzi's arm, her eyes flashing with a fierce light, which frightened Xiao Liuzi into shrinking back.
"You don't believe me either, do you? None of you believe me," Xiao Liuzi hurriedly said no, no. He hadn't expected Chang Lili, a girl, to be so strong. Chang Lili continued to press, "You don't believe me, do you?"
Xiao Liu shook his head like a rattle drum.
"Then lend me your tools and blacksmith's table," Chang Lili said quickly.
"Huh?" Xiao Liuzi didn't react for a moment.
After Xiao Liuzi left, Chang Lili came to his blacksmith's workbench and started working with great enthusiasm.
"Let me tell you, you absolutely mustn't say that I lent it to you voluntarily, I...I..." Xiao Liuzi said before leaving, his face slightly red.
Chang Lili understood immediately, agreed repeatedly, and pushed him away.
Standing in front of the blacksmith's block, touching the tools, Chang Lili looked engrossed, feeling the cool breeze and all the fatigue of the past few days disappear.
She examined the spear carefully and began searching for materials to repair it.
The others in the military equipment department left one after another.
The torches burned on their own, and under the moonlight and starlight, Chang Lili rolled up her sleeves, sweating profusely.
On the first night, she repaired the damage to the spear.
In her busyness, she lost track of time. When she saw that there was no one else in the military workshop, she was greatly alarmed. Fearing that her mother-in-law would worry, she hurriedly put away the spear and ran back.
When she ran back to the general's mansion, panting, she saw her mother-in-law standing in front of the door, looking even more devout than the Waiting-for-Husband Stone.
She was old and her eyesight wasn't very good, but when she saw that figure in the distance, her face lit up with joy as she walked towards Chang Lili, calling out, "Lili, Lili!"
Ignoring the pain in her feet, Chang Lili ran even faster and rushed into her mother-in-law's arms like a child.
"You're finally back! I was so worried about you!" Grandma patted Chang Lili's back and breathed a sigh of relief.
Chang Lili broke free from her embrace and said in a coquettish tone, "Grandma, why did you come out? You've only just recovered."
"I'm still worried about you. You're a young woman, and you still haven't come home," the mother-in-law said with a sigh.
"It's my fault for making my mother-in-law worry. The military manufacturing department is too busy, and I wanted to help out as much as possible. Once I got busy, I forgot the time."
Her tone was charming and her expression was quirky, which finally made her mother-in-law laugh.
Inside the house, her mother-in-law was still keeping the food warm. Chang Lili smelled the aroma of the food and felt unbearably hungry. She picked up the bowl and wolfed down the food.
"Slow down, slow down," the mother-in-law said with a helpless smile.
Seeing Chang Lili working so hard and putting in so much effort, she felt worried and heartbroken.
But seeing the undisguised happy smile on Chang Lili's tired face, she felt that this was quite nice.
People are always like this: when doing what they love, no matter how hard or tiring it is, they feel sweet inside.
She still hoped that Chang Lili could live freely and do as she pleased.
For the next few days, Chang Lili did the same thing: when everyone else finished work in the evening, she would continue to modify the weapons using Xiao Liuzi's tools.
To grind grooves on both sides of the spear, a dovetail milling cutter is needed.
This military workshop is truly incomparable to any other blacksmith shop. Even a small craftsman like Xiao Liuzi is fully equipped. Chang Lili searched through a pile of tools for a while before finally finding the dovetail end mill.
Then she began to carefully polish both sides of the spear's blade with a milling cutter. By the agreed five-day deadline, Chang Lili had finished modifying the spear, and the grooves on both sides of the blade were now finely polished.
That night seemed to be the busiest time of the day, but it was also her happiest day.
The following day at noon, Lu Ming came to collect the spear as promised.
"Master Chang!" Seeing Chang Lili busy at work, Lu Ming waved and called out to her, but Chang Lili didn't hear him. "Master Chang! Chang Lili!"
After calling her name several more times, Chang Lili, who was serving tea, water, and towels to others, finally looked up at her.
"Lu Ming, wait for me a moment!" Chang Lili said, handing the tea to Master Liu.
Looking at this scene, Lu Ming found it really strange. Chang Lili's behavior was just like that of a maid serving others.
After serving the tea, Chang Lili hurriedly ran into the armory, took the exquisite spear leaning against the side, and handed it to Lu Ming.
But he didn't have time to say a few words to Lu Ming before rushing back to do odd jobs.
Lu Ming hesitated, looking at Chang Lili's back, and then looked at the spear in her hand first.
The original damaged area has been repaired perfectly, leaving no trace. The two grooves on both sides of the spear are exactly the same.
This far exceeded her expectations. The groove was exquisitely crafted, and its destructive power was self-evident.
These two grooves, which should have looked out of place, seemed perfectly natural, as if this exquisite gun had always been like this.
She stared intently at Chang Lili, only to find that the small figure was constantly wandering among the group of foundry workers, helping them carry things and doing trivial things unrelated to forging.
She wanted to thank Chang Lili properly, but now that she was filled with doubt, she was even more reluctant to leave.
When Chang Lili finally had a chance to rest, she caught a glimpse of Lu Ming calling her and waving at her.
"Why are you here again? Are you not satisfied with the renovation?" Chang Lili asked, wiping the sweat from her forehead.
Lu Ming shook her head: "No, I'm very satisfied. It's really great. The repairs were done very well. I feel like my spear is reborn. I just want to thank you properly."
"No need, this is what our military manufacturing department should do." Chang Lili was overjoyed to receive such recognition, but she still said modestly.
“However…” Lu Ming hesitated for a moment, then pulled Chang Lili aside under her questioning gaze.
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