Hard work is hard to do
"What do you want to see the boss for? What kind of weapon or hardware do you want, be it a golden whip, snake spear, Daguandao, bronze sword, horse-slaying saber, iron rake, iron plow, hoe, sickle, kitchen knife..."
The muscular blacksmith said in one breath that he could make a dozen or so iron products, his generally flat face squeezed out an awkward smile, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth, and concluded: "As long as you can think of it, I can make it for you."
After he finished speaking, she smiled and asked: "I'm not here to buy anything, I want to ask if you're hiring?"
Muscular Da Han was taken aback, sizing up Zhen Mingsu from head to toe. His face sank, and the person in front of him was a good head shorter than him, with a weak and sickly appearance. Not to mention hammering iron, it would be a problem just holding an iron hammer. Then, he didn't even bother to say a word, stretching out one hand to gently push Zhen Mingsu's chest.
Zhen Ming was like a kite with a broken string, flying out of the ironwork shop...
Just about to fall to the ground, Zhen Ming's body slightly rotated in mid-air, stretched out one hand and gently supported himself on the ground, his body steadily standing up, avoiding being thrown into a sorry state.
What seemed like a gentle push caused the white gauze on his arm to seep out fresh red blood again, apparently the not-so-healed wound had cracked open once more due to excessive force.
Zhenming sighed and looked down at his wrist, then glanced at the faces of the shop assistants who were sneering at him. He helplessly let out a sigh, turned around and walked towards the next store.
"Wait a minute!"
Just a few steps away, another robust man with a large iron hammer in his hand, a face as black as coal, and eyebrows shaped like an inverted eight walked out of the store, calling him to a halt and sizing him up from head to toe.
Zhen Ming Suffering also measured him, this sturdy man's figure was slightly shorter than the giant called Zhu Zi earlier, about 185 cm tall, but his muscle lines were more perfect than Zhu Zi, without a single excess flesh on his body, half-naked from the top, revealing half of his chest, with an inverted triangle shape, and his eyes flashed with a sharp light that Zhu Zi didn't have.
He stared at Zhen Ming and asked bitterly: "What's your name?"
Looking at these two arrogant blacksmiths, Zhen Ming was unwilling to have any more dealings with them and said indifferently: "Since you're not hiring anyone, is it necessary to know my name?"
After finishing speaking, he turned around and left.
The burly man with a dark face didn't ask any more questions. With a light flick of his wrist, the large hammer in his hand flew straight towards Zhen Mingshu.
Zhen Ming had just experienced the power of a gentle push from the shop's ruffian, and this black-faced big man was obviously even more overbearing. He didn't dare to take it head-on, so he dodged to the side, and the iron hammer smashed into the ground beside him, creating a crater.
The people passing by were all shocked, and the iron hammer, which weighed at least 40 kilograms or more, was unexpectedly thrown over ten meters away by this big black-faced man.
Zhen Ming's eyes flashed with a hint of surprise.
"You're quite agile, but unfortunately, your physique is a bit lacking." The burly man with the dark face said in a deep voice, "You want to find work, don't you? If you can handle a hammer, I'll let you work at my shop!"
Zhen Ming bitterly heard the words and turned around, looking at the large iron hammer on the ground that had smashed a hole in the road surface, weighing at least 80 kilograms. He lowered his head to think for a moment, then raised it to look at the dark-faced big man: "Are there any restrictions?"
"Restrictions? With just one hand, you can't let others help."
"Is this really true?"
"Wei Chi Jing De never tells lies."
"Is it Wei Chi Jing De?"
Zhen Ming's eyes narrowed as he heard the familiar name, and he couldn't help but scrutinize the burly black-faced man before him. He was roughly the same age, with a physique that was all knotted muscle, broad shoulders, and sturdy arms adorned with an unusual emblem of a hammer and sickle.
He looked down at his right wrist, which had bled through, and he knew that if he forcibly picked up the iron hammer, the tendons in his hand, which had just healed, might rupture again. At that time, not to mention forging iron, he wouldn't even be able to hold a cup.
A crowd of onlookers had already gathered around, with many people putting down the loads they were carrying on their shoulders and sitting under a big tree, enjoying the cool breeze while watching this side, all wondering how this young man with a crippled leg and weak physique could possibly lift a heavy iron hammer weighing nearly 100 kg, especially considering that he seemed to have suffered severe injuries.
The other apprentices in the iron shop saw Wei Chi Jing De come out with a difficult topic, and they all stopped their work, came out of the store, stood behind Wei Chi Jing De, and looked at him with a look of watching a good show.
Zhen Ming thought for a moment, then looked up at Wei Chi Jing De and asked: "If I take it on, how much salary will you give me?"
"Wages?" Wei Chi Jing De was taken aback, "You mean labor fees? I'm doing manual labor here, how much copper coins do you think your strength is worth per day?"
Zhen Ming bitterly asked: "The more strength and effort you put in, the more you'll gain?"
"Of course."
"What is the highest salary in your store?"
"Five taels." Wei Zhengde turned around and gestured to the giant who had just pushed Zhen Ming out of the store, "Zhu Zi, go show him how much you're worth."
The burly man who had just pushed the life out of the store came forward from the crowd, grinned, revealing a sparse black and yellow big buck tooth, squeezed his chest muscles in front of him with force, and punched his fists on his chest several times, making a loud noise, like a strong and majestic adult gorilla, and the crowd couldn't help but burst into applause.
He is the second master of Wei Chi Ironworks, and has been working in the ironworks for over a decade.
Zhu Zi glanced at the large iron hammer beside Zhen Mingshen with a look of disdain, turned around and said to Wei Qide: "Wei Qide, that iron hammer is too light, it's not interesting, I'll lift that one."
As he spoke, he pointed to a stone lion at the entrance of the blacksmith's shop.
The onlookers were suddenly in an uproar.
The stone lion at the door was carved out of a whole piece of granite, and although it's not very big, it weighs around 400-500 catties. This strong man named Zhuangzi actually dared to boast that he could lift such a heavy stone lion, and judging from his confident look, he seemed to have a plan in mind.
"You're so arrogant! Go ahead, don't get too carried away." Wei Chi Jing De scolded with a smile, his dark face blooming into a flower. Clearly, he was also impressed by Zhu's bravery and saw this as a great opportunity to promote his blacksmith shop, so he wouldn't stop him.
Zhuzi got the order, swaggered to the stone lion in front of the shop door, swallowed two mouthfuls of saliva on his hand, took a horse step, and with a "pa" sound, tightly hugged the stone lion's body, shouting: "Rise!"
His two thick and sturdy arms had bulging blue veins, his face turned a deep crimson color.
In the midst of everyone's stunned gaze, the stone lion actually slowly rose into the air to a height of about half a meter, being held by the pillar, and stepped around in a circle in front of so many people before returning to its original position, only then did it land back on the ground with a loud "boom", shocking people's eardrums.
Applause and cheers erupted.
Zhu Zi turned around, glanced at the people around him, and raised his hand to signal everyone to be quiet. In a thick Shandong accent, he said: "Today, my brother's ironwork shop is hiring. If anyone present can lift this stone lion like I did, I'll reward you with one month's wages on the spot - five taels of silver!"
