Chapter 53: Willing to Lose the Bet

( ) Chapter 64: Willing to Lose the Bet

Yan Qiu moved tables and chairs from the house, opened a rather large green umbrella, and when a fresh pot of fragrant flower tea was brewed, Li Bucai was there eager to try.

Li Bucai said, "You've been busy all day; I don't want anyone to say I'm taking advantage of you, so let me go first. You can go over there and wait while drinking tea. Come, pour the tea for her." He called out, summoned the others down, and let them sit under the umbrella to enjoy tea while also serving as witnesses.

Li Bucai stretched his muscles, set a round log on a stand, picked up a saw and began working; when he successfully split the whole log into ten planks, he asked the judge Yan Qiu for the time, and it had taken exactly one hour.

Averaging six minutes per plank, Li Bucai was fairly satisfied with his result, but his body was still weak; exerting himself for an hour left him drenched in cold sweat.

Qiaoer couldn't help being surprised by his speed and asked Yan Qiu, "Has the Lord dealt with wood before?"

Yan Qiu shook her head, hurried forward to wipe Li Bucai's sweat, pulled him back into the shade, and poured a cup of tea.

"How's that? Not too shameful. Your turn—if you lose, you have to do the heavy labor," Li Bucai said enthusiastically.

Qiaoer, full of confidence, said, "The Lord already has this speed on his first try—truly astonishing. If it had been two days ago, I would probably have lost to the Lord, but it's a pity…"

"Pity what? Don't get cocky too early. Look, the log I'm sawing is the thickest and longest; if you saw a log of the same size, I doubt you could beat me."

"If the Lord doesn't feel embarrassed, beating the Lord wouldn't be hard."

"Now this is a fair contest, just you and me, no master‑servant distinction; you don't need to worry so much. You aren't saying you know you'll lose and using this as an excuse, implying the loss is because you gave me a break, are you?"

Qiaoer fell silent, gave a faint smile, went to the center of the arena, selected a log similar to his from the pile, set it up, and began sawing from one end. As sawdust flew, after a short while the saw reached the log's base, easily cutting a plank, which she set aside and started sawing again.

Yan Qiu glanced at the time over there; it was exactly three minutes.

Repeating this, after sawing seven planks it had taken only half an hour. Qiaoer began to ponder: Though the Lord says it's a fair contest, if I beat him he'll have to do half a day's heavy labor—will he keep his word? Even if he does, will he harbor resentment? I'm his servant; I can't offend anyone and also offend my master, or later he might pose a huge problem for me.

Her speed was too fast, clearly outpacing Li Bucai by a margin; the other two girls who came with her also felt a knot of anxiety for her. The construction worker Peier cleared her throat deliberately, trying to remind her that even if she wins, she shouldn't win too much, otherwise it would be detrimental to her.

Qiaoer's speed noticeably slowed; when the tenth cut was finished, Yan Qiu announced over there that both had taken the same one hour, resulting in a tie, and declared the competition over.

Qiaoer let out a long sigh, approached Li Bucai and said, "The Lord truly is extraordinary; I didn't expect that after five days of hammering, I still couldn't surpass the Lord. I just spoke rashly earlier; please, Lord, don't take offense."

Li Bucai replied, "Now you may state your request."

Qiaoer was startled and said, "I've been laboring like this for years; the Lord matching me on his first try is impressive. If we must talk about win or loss, it should be I who loses…"

"You think I don't want to win? Count again—how many boards did you break, and how many did I break?"

Yan Qiu laughed, "The Lord sawn exactly ten planks, while Qiaoer made ten cuts; within the same time she produced one extra plank, which should mean Qiaoer wins. But I think the Lord, despite being ill, still has such astonishing stamina, so I declared it a tie."

"Losing is losing, disease or not. Besides, do I look sick now? Li Bucai never makes excuses when he bets with anyone; win or lose, a loss is a loss. Whatever your request, as long as it's within my ability, I will fulfill it without fail."

"Um…" Qiaoer hesitated, unsure what to do, looking at Yan Qiu, hoping she would help her out of the bind.

Yan Qiu laughed, "Since the Lord has agreed, Qiaoer need not have any more concerns—just go ahead and state it."

Although she said so, Qiaoer still felt a bit nervous, thought for a while, and didn't dare ask too high a request, trying, "Then… I am a bit dry‑throated, please the Lord grant me a cup of tea."

"Is it that simple?"

Qiaoer nodded.

Li Bucai said, "This can be counted as what I should do later; I allow you to propose another request."

"That's all, really nothing more."

Li Bucai also didn't want to trouble her further, said, "Fine, as you wish." He went to the table, personally poured a cup of fragrant flower tea, and handed it to Qiaoer with both hands.

Qiaoer was greatly startled, hurriedly knelt on the ground, trembling, and said, "I am just a servant; how could I dare to ask the Lord to personally pour tea? If the Lord wishes to kill me, please say so plainly."

Li Bucai, displeased, said, "Didn't we agree? When betting there's no master‑servant relationship, only you and I; just treat me as an ordinary friend. You're making it seem like I'm refusing to admit a loss; if this spreads, who will dare bet with me later? Are you trying to trap me in injustice?"

"How could I…"

"Then get up quickly and drink tea. In informal settings you needn't be so restrained; just consider me equal to you. Otherwise, if you keep isolating me, won't I suffocate? So now we're equal—treat me as your older brother, and an older brother pouring tea for his sister is nothing to be ashamed of."

Qiaoer finally stood, trembling slightly as she took the tea cup.

Li Bucai turned and poured two more cups, one in each hand, handed them to the other two, saying, "Qiaoer's request is too simple, so you're borrowing her favor. Still, since I lost the bet, I'll be doing heavy labor this afternoon; you let me pour tea, I can't refuse."

The three exchanged glances; not expecting the Lord to be so approachable, their hearts finally relaxed.

Li Bucai naturally wouldn't forget the others; now that they had become laborers, his first task was to serve tea and water to each of them so they could also enjoy being served.

Being served, the Lord still felt fresh, and the girls naturally felt moved.

The tea was finished, and everyone returned to their work stations. Li Bucai first helped Qiaoer deliver timber, then packed the sawn planks into transport bags, had the carriers deliver them to the watchtower, then assisted the construction worker Peier with ladder wedges and such, occasionally joking with them; for a moment the previous dullness broke, laughter echoed through the camp, and the girls were no longer as restrained as before.

With an extra capable helper and the natural balance of men and women, the group's progress sped up considerably; near evening, the four watchtowers were completed an hour ahead of schedule.

Accompanied by the girls, Li Bucai stood at the left‑front corner watchtower of the camp, looked around, even the movements on the opposite bank were clear, and the wooden fort seen from the school‑uniformed girls now appeared much more delicate.

In casual conversation, two fishermen carrying rods returned from the riverbank; when they reached the gate, Yan Qiu noticed their dejected expressions and asked from the watchtower, "How's today's catch?"

The two shook their heads; one replied, "In this water area, both families have been fishing and we've already caught all the fish. Even the few that will bite are scarce; we only caught a handful of finger‑length fish this half‑day, so we may need to move to another water surface to catch anything."

Yan Qiu nodded, then turned to Li Bucai and said, "These past days their fishing skill has improved to level 8, so they should be able to catch bigger fish, but this river is too small. A few days ago it was fine, but since yesterday it's hard to catch anything larger. Yuer said there's a wide Shalanjiang to the north, surely full of big fish; why not send them there to fish?"

Li Bucai shook his head and said, "That back‑and‑forth would be nearly 40 li each way, just walking all day, and the road is far; our guards are insufficient, so they'll inevitably face danger on the way. Let them rest a few days first."

It was the time to stockpile food, yet the big fish in the upstream river had been exhausted; the largest left were only finger‑length fish, yielding hardly any food units. They could only hope for land animals now.