Chapter 65: The Underground Passage Beneath the Dry Well

Does Yang Qing care about these?

He simply doesn't care; the chef's rank is too high, and a high rank means needing a lot of time to study, which he fundamentally lacks the time and conditions for.

In the past, to learn a skill one had to follow a master, and following a master entailed a three‑year apprenticeship and two years of service.

Learning a trade consumes five years regardless of whether you actually learn anything.

Nowadays it's even more troublesome.

Because everything is state‑owned, jobs are fixed—one works until death, so the term is endlessly extended; for example, Ma Hua studied for over ten years.

Sha Zhu isn't unwilling to teach; if he taught, his master would starve to death.

Job positions are fixed, Ma Hua can't leave, and once he's finished learning he risks taking Sha Zhu's position.

With Ma Hua pressing in, could Sha Zhu's life get any better?

Let it be—if his own life is hard, not letting him would mistreat the apprentice and create conflict.

So under these conditions, for Ma Hua to learn Sha Zhu's skills fully, he can only wait until Sha Zhu retires.

(In the past many did it this way; the saying "teach the apprentice and starve the master" is deeply ingrained, many novels use it to criticize Sha Zhu, but if it were you, you'd be the same—grabbing food from one plate, if you don't guard against it you could really be squeezed out, and Sha Zhu would definitely be squeezed out because his temper is too foul.)

Only if Yang Qing were crazy would he toss and turn like this.

Besides, he doesn't have those conditions—at the very least he'd need a formal worker position.

Therefore, becoming the backbone of the substitute‑shift world is his dream.

He seeks to be broadly competent, all‑round.

Xiao Li watched Yang Qing and also felt a bit puzzled.

"He even snatches the assistant chef's work—who would dare keep him?"

"His brain must be broken."

"Wouldn't it be better to help others as a handy hand? That way you'd have no benefit conflict with anyone, and if a chance came you could just stay."

"If you do this, who will speak for you?"

"The head chef? No, they have their own crew."

"Assistant chef? No, you're here to steal business."

She also didn't warn Yang Qing, after all the two sides are competitors.

Once everything was done, Yang Qing started pulling strings.

"Brother, if you need a substitute, find me at South Gong and Drum Lane No. 95—I'm Yang Qing."

"Brother, urgent matters don't leave the post—I can handle washing, cutting, and seasoning; we can do it all."

"You know the textile mill, right? Everyone there who does substitute work calls me."

"Nothing else—just one condition: we don't delay the work."

Squad Leader Han watched Yang Qing darting left and right, his eyes twitching.

Turns out this guy wants to do substitute work.

You should have said earlier—it looks like you're here to steal a job.

Dang dang dang……

Mealtime arrived, and Yang Qing also settled down.

He kept busy until half past one, when the window finally closed.

The cooks took out the vegetables they'd saved and began to eat.

Squad Leader Han also followed the old rule and said to Yang Qing,

"You two, there's still some leftover vegetable soup—make a bit, each have a vegetable bun, eat it and you can go."

They still had to prepare for tomorrow, so they had to work until off‑time.

Yang Qing came to wash vegetables; after washing he could leave, but if he stayed he could scrounge a meal at noon.

Yang Qing washed down a vegetable bun with the leftover soup and left.

Xiao Li didn't leave; she wanted to stay and help clean, hoping to leave a good impression—maybe she'd get a long‑term temporary‑work quota.

Yang Qing walked out of the canteen all the way, eyeing the metal pieces placed outside with envy.

These years the push to produce steel to catch up with England and America has left civilian steel in short supply.

Up to now Yang Qing doesn't even have a handy tool in his hand.

That leaves him uneasy about leaving the city, with refugees everywhere and anything possible happening.

No choice—he'll go back to make bamboo spears, which also counts as a deterrent.

All the way home he brought the basket he'd woven and lifted a bamboo pole.

Yang Qing headed toward the northern part of the city.

At that time the northern city still had many deserted places, many spots littered with ruined walls and broken walls.

These are exactly the places Yang Qing was looking for.

Yang Qing came to a ruin, lifted a stone, and a palm‑long centipede crawled out.

He grabbed bamboo tongs, swiftly clamped the centipede, then tossed it into a small cage.

Occasionally he'd also find a snake, press its head with the stick, and stuff it into the bamboo basket.

Upon finding a gecko, he'd stuff it into the basket.

Don't worry about them killing each other—they're not in the same basket; now Yang Qing's waist has several small bamboo baskets hanging from it.

Yang Qing searched and gathered along the way, occasionally finding a cricket, which he also accepted with a smile.

Crickets, also called earth dogs.

Without realizing it, Yang Qing walked farther and farther, arriving at a ruin overgrown with weeds.

Judging by its scale, this was probably a decent residence, but now it's become a damp, gloomy ruin.

Such places have the most centipedes, and if you're lucky, you can also find some treasures left behind by the owners.

In times of war, hiding treasure is actually quite common.

Usually the host hides a bit here and a bit there, just to avoid those warlords who are looting for supplies.

But after hiding and hiding, some people forget how much they themselves have hidden.

These riches become treasures waiting for a destined person.

Yang Qing searched all the way and found many centipedes and a few scorpions; at this time the scorpions are not plump and unsuitable as rations.

"Let's take it back and see if the pharmacy wants it."

He put it into another small basket.

At this moment, Yang Qing heard a few frog croaks.

Yang Qing thought he had finally stumbled upon a big meal.

Following the frog calls, he found a well.

The well was already dilapidated; looking inside, it was seven or eight meters deep, already dried up, and no one knows when it was filled in.

A well?

Yang Qing recalled many stories of treasure hidden at the bottom of wells, which sparked his desire to explore.

"Want to go down and have a look?"

After hesitating a bit, Yang Qing still decided to go down; the treasure is of no use to him now, but it will surely be useful in the future.

"I'll just take a look to see if there's anything, and not take anything—it's fine."

He looked around and made sure no one was there.

He gathered some grass from all around and then wove it into a rope.

He wedged a bamboo stick into the well opening, then tied the grass rope to it.

Following the grass rope, Yang Qing descended into the well.

The well was built of brick and stone, covered in moss.

At the bottom there was some mud, and a few frogs that sat in the well watching the sky croaked "wawa," expressing their displeasure at this uninvited guest.

Yang Qing reached out, grabbed them, and stuffed them into the bamboo basket.

"Extra dinner tonight."

Afterwards he began to feel around.

The result was that aside from a hole in the well wall, he found nothing else.

Yang Qing stared at this pitch-black hole that could fit a person crawling inside, and hesitated.

"Is this a tunnel dug by the militia or a treasure vault dug by the master's family?"

He dared not be certain.

In this era, having a hole in a well is very common; you know about tunnel warfare, right? It took place in North River.

Yang Qing remembered that in his previous life, as a child he often crawled through the tunnels in dried-up wells in the village.

Later, the wells were gradually filled in, and the tunnels gradually disappeared.

Now, what kind of hole is this that he faces?

He observed it carefully.

They are all old bricks, old bricks and old stones stacked together.

It probably wasn't dug by the militia.

In other words, this is very likely a treasure vault made by the master's family.

Yang Qing hesitated a moment, but still did not crawl in.

"Let's talk about it next time I come; we need to bring a flashlight, because it's too dark inside."

He convinced himself and climbed up the dry well.

Actually he has a bit of claustrophobia.