Chapter 18: A Good Start

The warehouse of the Miscellaneous Affairs Hall was enormous. To Hua Changxi’s estimate, it was at least as large as a sports stadium from her previous life, and there was more than one such warehouse.

Carts of medicinal herbs were continuously pulled in from outside, while the herbs inside were carted off to various departments within the hall for processing.

Hua Changxi walked into the warehouse, her eyes lighting up at the vast variety of herbs on display.

The warehouse keeper saw Hua Changxi staring blankly at the herbs, looking completely awestruck, and sneered at her lack of worldly experience. “What are you gawking at? How many herbs are you here to collect?”

Wanting to gather some information about the warehouse, Hua Changxi immediately smiled at the young man in charge. “Hello, big brother. My name is Hua Changxi. I’m new here. I’ve never seen such a huge warehouse before. Please don’t mock me for not knowing better.”

Seeing that Hua Changxi looked innocent and spoke sweetly, the young man’s attitude softened considerably. “Heh, this is nothing. You should see the herb estate—now that’s what I call a real warehouse.”

Hua Changxi’s face showed amazement. “All these herbs aren’t even the full stock of the Medical Department?”

The young man puffed up with pride. “Of course not. What we have here is just a tiny portion.”

Hua Changxi’s eyes widened. “These herbs are the finest top-grade herbs I’ve never seen outside, and they’re still not everything?”

The young man laughed at her astonishment. “These are nothing special. The truly good herbs are sent directly to the nine streets’ medical clinics. What we store here are just ordinary herbs.”

“There are herbs even better than these?” Hua Changxi asked in surprise.

Seeing her eyes shining with admiration as she looked at him, the young man felt gratified and divulged more. “Of course there are.”

“Let me tell you, in the past two years, the local government offices and martial arts schools have discovered many new herbs. Some of those herbs have miraculous effects—those are the real treasure herbs.”

Hua Changxi looked wistful. “I’d really love to see what those treasure herbs you mentioned look like.”

Hearing this, the young man sneered. “Forget it, forget it. You’re just a lowly handyman. Don’t even think about that.”

Hua Changxi’s expression stiffened, looking a bit awkward and embarrassed. “I was being too presumptuous.”

Seeing such a young girl like this, the young man felt he might have been a bit harsh. His tone softened. “How many herbs do you need to collect? I’ll help you carry them.”

Noticing the young man didn’t want to talk more, she didn’t press further. Since it was still an hour until lunch, she decided to take only two hundred herbs back.

“Big brother, I’ll take two hundred herbs.”

The young man sized up Hua Changxi’s small frame. “You people have to process five hundred herbs a day, right? Can you even wash that many?”

In the workplace, it’s important to show your value in time. Hua Changxi gave a confident smile. “Big brother, you may think I’m young, but I have plenty of strength.”

The young man chuckled, clearly not taking her seriously. “I’ll pick some herbs that are easy to clean for you.”

“Don’t think washing herbs is all the same—there’s a trick to it. Some herbs are easy to clean, others are hard.”

“You’re lucky you ran into me. Otherwise, with how late you came, you’d definitely get the tough-to-handle herbs.”

Hua Changxi smiled and nodded. “I know. I’m really blessed today to have met a benefactor like you, big brother.”

“Big brother, just give me a little bit of each type. I’m still a newbie, and my supervisor isn’t too strict on me yet. I need to use this time to get familiar with all the different washing methods.”

That was no big deal, so the young man agreed. The two hundred herbs included several dozen varieties.

Hua Changxi’s eyes crinkled into a smile. “Big brother, you’re so kind. Can I come to you again next time I need to collect herbs?”

Seeing how much the young girl liked him, the young man pretended to be a bit impatient. “Sure, sure. Since you’re so young, just come find me. I’ll look out for you from now on.”

Hua Changxi looked as happy as could be. “Thank you, big brother. By the way, I don’t even know your name yet.”

The young man helped load the herbs onto a cart. “My name is Yu Gui. You can call me Brother Yu from now on.”

This batch of two hundred herbs had many varieties, but they were all small in size, so they could be carried in one cart load.

Yu Gui wanted Hua Changxi to make two trips, but she smiled and declined. “Brother Yu, don’t worry about me. I can pull it.”

“I need to hurry back to work, or I’ll miss lunch. See you this afternoon, Brother Yu.”

Watching Hua Changxi actually pull away a cart loaded with herbs, Yu Gui gaped in shock. “Sister Changxi really does have some strength. Hmm, she’s good handyman material.”

People under the same supervisor always stuck together, and they usually worked side by side when washing herbs.

Hua Changxi returned to the Sixth Department, pulled her herbs over to an empty spot not far from Du Ruo’s group, unloaded them on the ground, rolled up her sleeves, and began working.

Soaking the herbs in the ditch, Hua Changxi plunged her hands into the water, using the water control technique from the Art of Purity.

In the next moment, the water soaking the herbs began to tremble, making it feel like the herbs were inside a washing machine.

Cleaning herbs like this made the whole process incredibly easy.

Hua Changxi carefully controlled the flow and stillness of the water, not letting anyone else notice the anomaly on her side.

By lunchtime, [Hundred Herbs Canon (Mastery): Taste Hundred Herbs 612/1000], [Cleansing Art (Mastery): Wash Medicinal Herbs 650/1000]

Hua Changxi not only thoroughly washed two hundred herbs, but also secretly tasted each variety.

Looking at the changing data, Hua Changxi felt very pleased inside.

After lunch, Hua Changxi pulled the washed herbs to the Second Office to hand them in, signed her name, then went to the storeroom to collect three hundred more herbs.

She found Yu Gui again, and this time Hua Changxi brought back several dozen types of herbs.

After washing all three herbs clean, the data changed once more.

[Hundred Herbs Canon (Mastery): Taste Hundred Herbs 692/1000]

[Cleansing Art (Mastery): Wash Medicinal Herbs 950/1000]

Seeing that Cleansing Art only needed fifty more washes to level up, Hua Changxi glanced around at the people in her group.

“Be careful!”

Seeing that the young woman who had reminded her to eat yesterday nearly slipped while carrying herbs, Hua Changxi quickly reached out to steady her.

“My name is Hua Changxi. Thank you for reminding me to eat yesterday.”

Lu Qingluo shook her head: “No need to thank me. We’re both under Manager Du, so we ought to help each other.”

Hua Changxi smiled and asked, “How should I address you?”

Lu Qingluo’s attitude was neither warm nor distant: “My name is Lu Qingluo.”

Seeing that she was two or three years older, Hua Changxi called her “Sister Qingluo”: “By the way, Sister Qingluo, was it you who left the steamed bun at my bedside?”

Lu Qingluo hummed in affirmation, then picked up new herbs and descended into the ditch.

Hua Changxi walked over beside her and said while helping her wash herbs, “I really can’t thank you enough. Otherwise, I would have gone hungry this morning.”

Seeing this, Lu Qingluo quickly said, “Bringing you a steamed bun was no trouble at all. You don’t need to help me wash herbs.”

Hua Changxi didn’t stop her hands: “Sister Qingluo, my work is already done. Helping you wash a bit won’t hurt.”

Lu Qingluo straightened up and looked at the cart on the bank filled with clean herbs, surprised: “How did you wash the herbs so fast?”

Hua Changxi laughed: “I’ve been helping out in my family’s medicine shop since I was little. Don’t let my size fool you—I’m an old hand at handling herbs, and I’m strong too.”

Even without using the Water Control Technique, Hua Changxi washed herbs very quickly.

Lu Qingluo watched her hands constantly moving through the water, washing each herb clean in rapid succession, and felt deeply impressed.

Not far away, Du Ruo observed the scene.

She had thought that since Hua Changxi woke up late today, she would be working until evening. But now she saw that not only had she finished her own task, she even had energy left to help Lu Qingluo.

It seemed that Manager Leng really had given her an outstanding menial worker.

[Cleansing Art (Perfect): Wash Medicinal Herbs 1069/]

After Cleansing Art reached Perfection, Hua Changxi immediately felt that her control over water and wind had improved by a large margin.

Just then, there were still water droplets on her fingers. Hua Changxi lightly flicked her finger, and the droplets instantly turned into sharp projectiles, shooting toward the edge of the ditch.

“Boom~”

The spot struck by the water droplets collapsed, leaving a pit over a meter in diameter.

The people around were startled by the sudden collapse, but Hua Changxi’s heart was filled with elation.

“I’ll go fill that pit.”

Since she had caused it, Hua Changxi quickly walked over and dug dirt to fill the hole.

With Hua Changxi’s help, Lu Qingluo had finished her day’s task and came over to help her as well.

The two soon filled the pit.

“Let’s go hand in our work at the Second Office.”

Hua Changxi made two trips and delivered all her herbs to the Second Office. By then, Lu Qingluo was still hauling hers, but Hua Changxi didn’t continue helping her. Instead, she went to help Du Ruo carry herbs.

After washing medicinal herbs all day, Du Ruo was also very tired, so she didn't refuse Hua Changxi's flattery.

When it was time to go to dinner, Hua Changxi ate together with Du Ruo and Lu Qingluo.

In the dining hall, Hua Changxi looked at Du Ruo, then at Lu Qingluo, a smile constantly tugging at the corners of her mouth.

Having just joined the Chores Hall, she had already gotten on good terms with the head supervisor and the colleagues; even Yu Gui, who was in charge of the storehouse, showed her a smiling face whenever they met—her career path had gotten off to a flying start.

After dinner, Lu Qingluo suddenly called out to Hua Changxi: "Changxi, could you do me a favor?"

Hua Changxi: "Go ahead."

Lu Qingluo: "The dining hall doesn't allow people to take extra steamed buns; each person can take at most five. In our dormitory, several people often miss dinner every day, so I was thinking..."

Hua Changxi understood what she meant: "No problem, I'll go get five steamed buns too."

Seeing Hua Changxi return with the buns, Lu Qingluo smiled. Then, the two of them headed back to the dormitory together.

After returning to the room, Hua Changxi went to wash up. As soon as she was done washing, she got into bed: "Sister Qingluo, I'm going to sleep." With that, she lay face down on the bed and closed her eyes.

Having traveled to Great Jin Dynasty thirteen years ago, today was her busiest day ever. Even with her cultivation enhancing her constitution, she was utterly exhausted.

Seeing Hua Changxi fall asleep in no time, Lu Qingluo was a bit tongue-tied: "Changxi falls asleep way too fast."

The sky grew dark, and people gradually returned.

"Qingluo, how come you got so many steamed buns?"

"It wasn't just me; Changxi got some too."

"How come she's asleep again?"

"Changxi just turned thirteen not long ago. She's still growing, so she definitely needs more sleep than we do."

Because she had helped bring back steamed buns, the other roommates' attitudes toward Hua Changxi improved considerably.

The next day, when everyone was leaving, Hua Changxi was still asleep. Lu Qingluo hesitated about whether to wake her up, but then remembered that Hua Changxi hadn't asked to be woken up last night. Besides, Hua Changxi was fast at washing herbs, so Lu Qingluo kept quiet.

Hua Changxi still slept until the Hour of the Snake (9–11 a.m.) before getting up. She ate the steamed buns Lu Qingluo had saved for her and then went to the storehouse as usual to collect herbs from Yu Gui.

By the end of the Hour of the Monkey (5:00 p.m.), Hua Changxi had finished washing today's 500 herbs.

After submitting the clean herbs to the Second Bureau, Hua Changxi didn't head straight back to the Sixth Office. Instead, she took a detour to the gate of the Medical Department.

Today was the day the list of apprentice recruits was announced. Even though she had already entered the Chores Hall, Hua Changxi still wanted to go see the admissions list.

The Medical Department had taken on 200 apprentices this time. Hua Changxi read the names on the list one by one, but didn't see hers even after reading to the end.

Although she had long known the outcome, she still felt a little stifled.

She stood at the entrance of the Medical Department for a while, waiting for her mood to settle, then turned around and went back to the Chores Hall.