"Uncle, wake up—I want to sign up."
Her voice was loud and clear, startling the middle-aged man who was half asleep and half awake, almost causing him to fall off the stool with a thud.
He quickly adjusted his hat: "Who, who wants to sign up?"
"Sang Xuanqing, you should sign up for this stonemason recruitment."
She quickly moved her face closer, hoping the recruiter, whose eyesight wasn't very good, would be able to see her.
"Oh, Sang Xuanqing, right? Hmm, that name sounds familiar?" The middle-aged man couldn't remember for a moment. He squinted and glanced at her a few times before shrinking back. "You're Sang Xuanqing? No, no, we only hire male workers. We don't want women."
He waved his hand and shook his head in refusal.
Zheng Quchi exclaimed, "It wasn't me, it was my second brother!"
The middle-aged man then realized his misunderstanding. He picked up his brush, intending to write it down: "Oh, is this your second brother? He's a stonemason? Which village is he from? Has his rank been officially recorded?"
Zheng Quchi blinked: "He's a carpenter, but he can also do stonemasonry."
"Hey, you little brat, how dare you try to play tricks on me? No way, a carpenter is a carpenter, and a stonemason is a stonemason." The middle-aged man's face was full of anger, and he slammed down his pen to refuse decisively.
Although they are all craftsmen, their crafts are classified into different categories, so how can they be confused?
Stonemasons are actually more respected than carpenters.
Because stonemasonry is a more difficult craft, ordinary people with a better financial situation would prefer sturdy stone houses to wooden houses if given the choice. The scope of stonemasonry also includes building walls, carving stone tablets, cutting raw stones, etc., which is relatively more physically demanding among all craftsmen.
Despite being rejected again, Zheng Quchi was not discouraged. Anyone who has ever attended a job fair knows that high-paying jobs are hard to find, and the more competitive the position, the more it tests a person's adaptability. She would not back down because of one or two failures.
Just thinking about the three people in her family who were crying for food, and the first year's unmarried tax that "Sang Xuanqing" owed, she couldn't just watch the ten strings of cash fly away like that.
She racked her brains and finally remembered something important.
She placed her hands on the table and asked the middle-aged man recruiting, "Uncle, is Foreman Mu one of the supervisors for this construction project?"
Upon hearing this, the middle-aged man's eyelids creased, and he exclaimed in surprise, "You know Eunuch Mu?"
Judging from his tone, Engineer Mu should be here too. That's great.
“I don’t know him, but my second brother does. Could you please tell him that Sang Xuanqing wants to participate in this project?”
"Does your brother really know Engineer Mu?" The middle-aged man still seemed somewhat skeptical.
"It's true. My second brother was building a camp at Changxun Slope with Engineer Mu a while ago. If you don't believe me, why don't you go and ask him?"
"Building camps, Sang Xuanqing..." These words were like an electric shock, instantly illuminating the previously hazy consciousness of the middle-aged man.
Ah! He remembered.
Isn't Sang Xuanqing the same Sang Xuanqing that Mu Gongguan mentioned who built the "earth-lifting device"?
Thinking of this, his gaze towards Zheng Quchi changed somewhat.
Is she Sang Xuanqing's younger sister?
He stroked his beard and nodded: "Alright then, I'll ask for you. But why didn't your second brother come by himself?"
"Oh, he went to visit relatives and asked me to register for him."
The middle-aged man didn't pay close attention to the contradictions in those words; his mind was elsewhere.
He felt that Sang Xuanqing was indeed quite capable, and since Engineer Mu had praised Sang Xuanqing highly, helping him out wouldn't be a difficult task.
When Sang Xuanqing goes to assess the craftsmen's levels in the future, and they really become successful, he might have to ask them for help one day.
When Mu Gongguan heard that a minor official had been recruited to help deliver the message, he was somewhat stunned.
Sang Xuanqing?
How did he manage to get the stonemason's spot?
No, isn't he a carpenter?
"What's going on?" he asked Zhang Mi, the recruitment clerk.
Zhang Mi was the middle-aged man who had previously dealt with Zheng Quchi.
He said, "It was a black girl who came, saying she was registering for her second brother."
"What else did she say? Her second brother is Sang Xuanqing, but isn't he a carpenter?"
"She said she was a carpenter, but she also knew how to do stonemasonry."
Mu Ke pondered for a moment, then suddenly laughed and said, "She's blinded by money, isn't she? She has no idea how difficult it is to build this city wall. If the truth were to be announced to the outside world, I'm afraid no matter how much money is offered, no one would dare to try."
"Yes, it was so difficult. Back then, I don't know how many people died from exhaustion, hardship, or falls. Now, if anyone can repair the Ghost Slope city wall in Fuxian, it will be a blessing for generations to come."
"This matter... I still need to go and report to the higher-ups in person. Sang Xuanqing's situation is different; whether it's approved or not depends entirely on the higher-ups' decision."
——
Sangzhai
Shortly after Zheng Quchi left for the county town, Yuwen Sheng took the letter from the gray pigeon, read it, and also disappeared from the Sang residence.
Long-trained Camp
"General, where is the lady?"
Wei Yao looked behind him.
Yuwen Sheng's narrow eyes, hidden behind his mask, glared at Wei Yao: "She's your mother?"
Otherwise, why would he care so much about whether she's there or not?
"...It is my honor."
Wei Yao thought to herself, as long as I have thick skin, I'm not afraid of the general's sharp tongue.
Wang Zebang then stepped forward and said, "General, the catapult platform of Julu Kingdom is almost complete. Would you like to take a look? Also, the chariots that were transported back earlier are still under construction. The craftsmen are afraid to dismantle them without permission, fearing that the damaged structure will be impossible to restore. We were just about to ask you for instructions."
"Then let's go take a look."
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