Zheng Quchi hoisted her two large bags onto her shoulders, which looked like a small mountain to others, but she seemed completely at ease.
“I went through a lot of hardship to get this plaque… You don’t know my situation. In the past few months, I’ve only managed to accumulate a few pieces of wooden furniture. I have very few things to show for myself. I’m already glad that the first assessment went smoothly.”
"These past few months? You didn't just pass the Level 1 Craftsman exam, did you?" Mu Gaoyi asked her.
Before that, wasn't she just an ordinary carpenter?
Zheng Quchi shook his head.
Just as Mu Gaoyi breathed a sigh of relief, he heard her say, "I originally didn't take the first-level craftsman exam, but the entry-level carpenter exam. I was just a carpenter in the village who did repairs and patched things up for others. I didn't have any wooden works and had never been assessed in the county. I never expected that I would skip two levels in one go and be promoted directly from a worker to a first-level apprentice craftsman."
The three of them walked and talked.
"Thinking that you have spent ten years honing your carpentry skills in a quiet village undisturbed by the world, without being impatient for quick success, I once heard an old craftsman say that anyone with perseverance who spends ten years sharpening a single cut will surely become a great craftsman."
"Ah Qing, only you can be so patient. Despite having amazing skills, you are not tempted by fame and fortune and have focused on honing your skills for so long."
Clearly, Mu Gaoyi and Shi Hetong did not believe that Zheng Quchi was truly incapable of taking the exam. Instead, they imagined that Zheng Quchi's actions must have had a deeper meaning.
Zheng Quchi: "..."
She didn't even realize that this was what she was thinking.
"Aqing, will you stay in our camp from now on?"
"Well... there are some things I can't make up my own mind about. For now, I can only take it one step at a time."
Upon hearing this, Shi He understood that she meant to stop, so he changed the subject and said, "I'm already looking forward to the Jichun Craftsmen's Guild tomorrow."
Mu Gaoyi immediately chuckled and said, "Me too."
Shih-Tung sighed, “We used to avoid this topic like the plague, but now we’re starting to look forward to it. Tell me, have we changed, or has something else changed?”
Mu Gaoyi looked at A Qing and said, "We have changed because our camp's artisan team has gained a genius, A Qing."
Upon hearing this, Zheng Quchi quickly declined the title: "I am not a genius. A real genius is not like me."
Judging from her expression, it didn't seem like she was being modest; rather, she genuinely believed it.
"Then tell me, what should a true genius be like?" Mu Gaoyi was curious about what kind of genius she envisioned.
Zheng Quchi thought of someone and said, "I don't know, maybe it should be like Gongshu Jiruo. He was so young, but he was already a household name."
Upon hearing this, Shi Hetong agreed, saying, "Indeed, Gongshu Jiruo is someone that every craftsman who mentions him admires and praises. Perhaps tomorrow we will have the opportunity to see Gongshu Jiruo at the Jichun Craftsmen's Meeting."
"That's great! I've never seen what kind of three heads and six arms Gongshu Kui has. I'll go and see for myself tomorrow." Mu Gaoyi's eyes lit up.
"Haven't any of you seen Gongshu Jiruo?"
As the head of all trades, he is essentially a public figure. People often talk about him, but he himself seems quite mysterious.
Mu Gaoyi was surprised: "Of course not. Have you seen him? He is the top craftsman, the Gongshu family of Beiyuan Kingdom. He never shows himself unless it is an important occasion. How could you see him so easily?"
But I actually saw it.
And they have two faces.
One was Gongshu Jiruo, who was wrapped up thickly and looked as round and clumsy as a polar bear; the other was Gongshu Jiruo, who wore someone else's face and impersonated someone else.
Perhaps, neither of the two people she met was the real Gongshu Jiruo.
She came to the Jichun Craftsmen's Association with three purposes in mind.
One reason is to make money.
Secondly, to fulfill Uncle Mu's last wish.
Thirdly, I came to see the real Gongshu Jiruo.
Back in Fuxian, he used the alias "Master Li" and repeatedly invited her to Yongchun in Julu to participate in the Jichun Craftsmen's Guild.
At that time, she did not know his true identity, and only felt that he was "suspicious".
He approached her, learned of her troubles, and said he would protect her and take her away from the vortex of trouble between Yuwen Sheng and the Mo family to repay her for saving his life, but she clearly refused.
But later, when he joined forces with Gongshulan to harm her, was it intentional or unintentional?
She didn't know.
She didn't want to overthink things. Now that she was here, she just wanted to make a clean break with him.
If she can't handle the situation, and Yuwen Sheng's forces can't handle it either, and the other party insists on avenging Gongshu Lan, then she will tell people that she killed the person and that it has nothing to do with anyone else.
She couldn't let the Gongshu family implicate her family and Fuxian County in this matter.
Of course, she wouldn't act rashly or say something foolish like "one life for another." After all, they were the ones who started it all, and she was almost killed. Couldn't she fight back?
If things ultimately cannot be resolved through reason, she can simply disappear, making "Sang Xuanqing" and "Zheng Quchi" vanish from the world, and then live in anonymity, starting anew.
To be honest, if this matter continues to drag on without being resolved, she will always have a knot in her heart.
"Well, since I'll see him tomorrow anyway, I'll definitely pray to him secretly and ask him to bless me with smooth sailing in my craftsmanship." Mu Gaoyi looked excited as if he was about to meet the ancestral master.
Zheng Quchi glanced at him sideways and said, "Then tomorrow, you should stay away from me and He Tong, so that others won't think that all the craftsmen of Ye Kingdom are unsophisticated."
This chapter is not finished, please click the next page to continue reading!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
