At 30, showing sharp edges

  Wei Chi Jing De was standing at the door and saw Zhen Ming Ku coming out, took a glance at the things in his hand, and looked at him with confusion: "Are you all set?"

  Zhen Ming nodded: "Ready."

  "Let's get started."

  Zhen Ming slowly walked to the front of the stone lion, tied a rope around it, and hooked those strange small iron wheels onto the rope.

  There were about a dozen in total, lined up evenly from the head of the stone lion along its back to its tail.

  There is an iron hook at both ends of the small pulley, which is exquisitely crafted and can be seen to be made by a skilled craftsman.

  Everyone stared at Zhen Ming in confusion as he struggled with all this, having no idea what his next move would be.

  Wei Chi Jing De's face gradually became solemn, although he still didn't know what this slender young man wanted to do. But he faintly felt that Zhen Ming's efforts were not just pretending to be mysterious. This young man gave him a very strange feeling, which couldn't be put into words and was unrelated to power.

  He has a hunch that anyone who underestimates this person may end up getting knocked off their feet.

  He somewhat regretted agreeing to Zhen Mingshu's request to find some materials in the ironwork shop earlier, as the strange gear in Zhen Mingshu's hand was not something from his own store, and it was clearly newly forged.

  Being able to create so many strange gadgets in just half an hour, this craftsmanship is already enough to be a ordinary craftsman in an ironwork shop.

  Wei Chi Jing De silently watched Zhen Ming busily working in the distance, his face no longer bearing the scornful expression from earlier.

  Zhen Ming had a hard time binding the stone lion, and then set up two tripods with several rounded logs that had been prepared in advance at both ends of the stone lion's head and tail, and placed a thick wooden beam on top of the two tripods.

  "Is he going to dry clothes?" The surrounding discussions were in an uproar, and some people even burst out laughing.

  Zhenming bitter no panic no hurry, self-own way will be left with a dozen or so wheels tied between the two tripods horizontal beam.

  After doing all this, he squatted on the ground, using a branch to scribble some formulas that others couldn't understand and drew some pictures that others couldn't comprehend. When finished, he stood up and wrapped the last piece of hemp rope in his hand around the lion's body and the round pulley on the beam according to the circle diagram drawn on the ground.

  Before long, everything was ready.

  He turned around, smiled at Wei Zijian and wiped the sweat from his face, saying: "We can start now."

  Zhu Zi burst out laughing: "He can't be thinking of hanging the stone lion with a rope, can he? This kid is really stupid, he probably doesn't even weigh 100 pounds himself, yet he wants to hang up a 400-pound stone lion. Is he crazy or what? Hahaha..."

  "Zhù zi, bì zuǐ!" Wei Chi Jing De growled. From start to finish, he didn't understand what Zhen Mingshu was doing, but he didn't think Zhen Mingshu would be stupid enough to try to lift the stone lion with his own body weight. This young man didn't look stupid, and judging from his confident appearance, it seemed like he had absolute confidence that he could lift the stone lion by himself.

  He vaguely sensed that those iron wheels were not simple.

  He stared at Zhen Ming for a long time, nodded and said: "Let's begin."

  Zhen Ming sighed and didn't say much, turned around, walked to the stone lion that weighed over 400 pounds, and grasped one end of the rope with one hand.

  He gently pulled the rope and wrapped it around his arm in a circle.

  Under the gaze of everyone's stunned eyes, as Zhen Ming struggled to pull the rope, the stone lion weighing over 400 kilograms slowly left the ground and rose more than a meter high.

  The triangular wooden frame that supported both sides creaked under the weight of heavy objects, and the originally straight horizontal beam on the frame was also pressed into an arc shape by the weight of the stone lions.

  Besides a slightly reddened face and a few coughs, there was no sign of exertion.

  Including Zhu, who had just mocked Zhen's bitter fate, everyone was stunned.

  The scene before their eyes had already exceeded their understanding range.

  Until Zhenming bitterly put down the stone lion slowly, a burst of exclamation and applause erupted from the crowd.

  The fatty in the crowd was so excited that his fat body shook violently, and he grabbed the person next to him, unable to contain his excitement, shouting loudly: "This is what Brother Zhen said, 'four ounces move a thousand pounds', it's Tai Chi! It must be Tai Chi! He's my brother, I know him!"

  Applause erupted, and Wei Chi Jing De also came back to his senses from the shock, walking to Zhen Ming Ku's side, quietly sizing up Zhen Ming Ku who was a whole head shorter than him.

  After a long while, he finally asked: "What's your name?"

  "A bitter fate."

  "Welcome to join Wei Chi Ironworks."

  ……

  The broken temple by the Luo River at night was extraordinarily lively.

  Fei Long and his fellow villagers sat around the bonfire, on which a small fat lamb was being roasted, filling the air with fragrance.

  Fei Long held in his hand the one or two silver coins that Zhen Ming had given him, so excited he could hardly speak. One or two silver coins was equivalent to a thousand copper coins, which meant 200 bowls of Zhang's soy milk. Even if he drank two bowls a day, it would last him three months. To a beggar who lived by begging, one or two silver coins was an astronomical sum.

  Fei Long's voice trembled: "Zhen Ge, you won't need that much, aren't you still going to see a doctor? Leave some for yourself to buy some tonics and nourish your body."

  Zhen Ming smiled wryly and said, "All of this is what you deserve as payment. I should also thank you for helping me build such a warm and cozy wooden house that can shield us from the wind and rain. Tonight, let's eat to our heart's content, but starting tomorrow, I'll be working at the blacksmith's shop. This house we've built will be yours to use. As for me, it's inconvenient for me to move around, and since I need to start work at the blacksmith's shop, I think it's better if I rent a place near there. Fei Long, you're more familiar with Luoyang, so tomorrow, take me to find a rental house that's reasonably priced."

  Fei Long hastily said: "No problem, Zhen Ge, whatever you need, just say it. We may not be good at anything else, but when it comes to gathering information, helping find people or places, I can guarantee that no one in Luoyang City is better than us. I'll get you a great house for a very cheap rent."

  "Then I'll thank you first. Come on, let's have a big bowl of wine and a big chunk of meat tonight, put all the unpleasant things behind us for now, and drink to our heart's content!"

  "We won't leave until we're drunk!"

  Eating roasted mutton and talking about the interesting things that happened in Luoyang City, Fei Long was already slightly drunk, holding a bowl and constantly clinking cups with Zhen Ming.

  "Zhen Ge, you really showed off in front of those people today! You have no idea, the people from Wei Chi's blacksmith shop are all arrogant, normally they don't even bother to look at us, let alone acknowledge our existence. To them, we're not even worth a pile of dog shit. But you, you made them swallow their pride! You gave us a great outlet for our frustration! You have no idea, when you lifted that stone lion with one hand, those people's eyes were wide with shock, they could only stare blankly, it was so satisfying! Haha! Is this the 'four ounces moving a thousand pounds' of Tai Chi you told me about?"

  Zhen Ming smiled bitterly and shook his head: "This has nothing to do with Tai Chi Fist, it's just a few pulleys."

  "What is a pulley group?"

  "It's hard to explain right now, I'll tell you in detail later. I drank too much tonight and my head is spinning, I really can't hold on anymore, so I'm going to go sleep first. You keep drinking with them for a while, don't save money for me. If you get drunk, just sleep here tonight and don't go back home. Tomorrow, take me to find an apartment."

  "Count on me!"