blood contract

She was aware of the blush on her neck, but she didn't know what happened and didn't dare to mention it in front of her, lest it hurt her again. She wanted to comfort her but was rejected. At this point she didn't know what to do to make her feel better.

After an unknown amount of time, a warm and generous hand rested on her shoulder. Without raising her head, she reached out and hugged him, burying her whole head in his arms, "Brother Qi...does Sister Zhizhi not want us anymore?"

Qi Feng was startled and felt quite complicated.

During these days, he also felt the changes in Zhizhi. She was more clinging to him than before, and she would intentionally avoid contact with Xiaodouzi. Sometimes she even looked at them with very cold eyes, as if she was not her.

He immediately patted Xiaodouzi's back and gently comforted her: "...No...we give her a little more time, she will get better."

~~

The next morning.

The sky was overcast, and although there was no sun, it was unbearably hot.

Xiaodouzi and Qi Feng were at the old house, preparing to go out to work as usual.

Li Tieshou's voice came from outside the door, "Qi Feng! Qi Feng!"

Xiaodouzi and Qi Feng looked at each other and frowned.

Xiaodouzi raised his eyebrows, and Qi Feng understood instantly, nodded and walked out, smiling at the visitor and saying: "Uncle Li, what's the matter?"

Li Tie waved his hand, "Ah! It's not a big deal. I just want to tell you that you don't need to go to the quarry outside the town to collect goods today."

"Huh? Quarry?"

"Yes. The town leader's birthday is coming soon. We need to prepare some stones. There are not enough manpower there, so Mr. Chen will let you go."

"...Ah. Okay, I'll go now." Qi Feng agreed, glanced sideways into the room, and was about to leave when Li Tieshou asked, "Has Xiaodouzi left?"

"Oh, no. In the house..."

Li Tieshou hummed and walked towards the house with a smile on his face. As he walked, he called out, "Xiaodouzi, do you have any good suggestions for tomorrow's game?"

~~

quarry.

They were divided into two groups of people to cut the stone. One side was made up of ordinary people, ranging from six or seven years old to eighty or ninety years old. They all worked hard. If the amount of stone was not collected in one day, they would have no money and no food.

They used awls, hammers, crowbars, yellow hammers and other tools. First, remove the surface layer of the mountain, and use two methods of tapping and climbing according to the quality of the rock mass.

Paidang, according to the quality of rock strata, is broken and crossed into rough materials. For climbing, the craftsmen use tamping, traversing, and rock vibration (that is, holes made with hammers) according to the available stone length (three to six feet) and thickness (six inches for a book, one foot for a thick one). The craftsmen are responsible for making three to six yellow hammer holes. Each time a stone is taken, eight to ten craftsmen need to grasp their own rows of holes and shout in unison: Hum! Hammer together, hammer once, check once. A master will use a hammer to explore and listen to the sound at the entrance of the stone. If a certain row of holes is not enough to reach the common advance point, he will make up for it with a hammer.

On the other side are the practitioners, who can complete the Paida and Climb alone. Although it takes some martial energy, it is still much faster than ordinary people.

After Qi Feng finished the prescribed amount of quarrying, he sat on a pile of rocks, wiped his sweat, drank water and rested.

The sounds of chiseling stones, hammering sounds of drilling holes, humming sounds of pulling stones, and the scolding of guards could be heard all around.

The sultry weather was particularly annoying. He frowned and looked up at the gloomy and dim sky. A heavy rain was about to come.

"Grandpa! Grandpa!" A childish boy's voice came to Qi Feng's ears. Looking sideways, he saw an 80-year-old man falling to the ground, and all the gravel on his back was scattered. , a boy of about seven years old knelt aside and tried desperately to help him up, but he was not strong enough and could not help him up after several attempts. The anxious little boy almost cried.

The people around him didn't pay much attention and just worked hard on their own tasks. This kind of thing happens here all the time. They have become accustomed to it and have become numb and indifferent.

Qi Feng stood up and walked over, helped the old man up, put the scattered rocks on the ground into the bamboo frame, and put them on the old man's back again.

After the grandfather and grandson bowed to thank him, the old man fell down again after walking a few steps.

"..."

Qi Feng felt disturbed. He didn't want to be a bad person, but when he met someone, he felt really uncomfortable if he didn't help him.

What a dilemma!

After a moment, he scratched his head severely, frowned and sighed, then turned around and walked towards the grandfather and grandson.

"How many have not been moved?"

The old man was stunned for a moment, and pointed to a large pile of rocks with a trembling hand.

Qi Feng saw that it was just a cup of tea for him. He took out the water bag and handed it to the boy, "Give your grandpa some water and wait aside." After saying that, he turned and walked towards the pile of rocks.

"Thank you, thank you big brother." The boy held a water bag in his black hands and said thank you with choked sobs.

Grandpa hasn't eaten for two days because of him.

As soon as he used his martial spirit, a guard came towards him and scolded him, "Hey, boy, do you understand the rules? The cultivators are over there, why are you here as mortals?"

The words came out, attracting many eyes in the stone field to look here.

Qi Feng bowed slightly and said respectfully: "Brother guard, I saw that the old man was hungry and didn't have much strength, so I wanted to help him."

Hearing this, the guard looked him up and down with great interest and asked, "New guy?"

Qi Feng nodded, "Yes. He said there are not enough manpower here, so he called over to help."

"Oh, it's temporary. No wonder you don't understand the rules. Are you done with your work?" the guard asked angrily.

"It's over, it's over. Look over there." As he said that, Qi Feng pointed to a high pile of stones in the distance.

"...Hey, it's quite efficient...Boy, this kind of thing happens all the time. Can you help me?" The guard pointed at the grandfather and grandson in the distance behind him.

Qi Feng scratched his head with a smile and lied, "There is also a grandfather and a younger brother at home, so..."

Looking at his stupid look, the guard rolled his eyes and began to faintly caress with his fingers. The expression on his face was righteous and he said: "It's not impossible to help if you want..."

This meaning couldn't be more obvious.

The corners of Qi Feng's mouth twitched and he cursed: Damn it. If you don't make any money, you still have to pay back. It’s hard to be such a good person!

Busily, he took out some broken silver and secretly stuffed it into the guard's hands.

Holding the broken silver, the guard was secretly happy. Sure enough, practitioners are richer than ordinary people! A move is his day's wages.

He collected the money and said with a chivalrous heart: "You are willing to help these mortals, which is already a good deed. I will help you. Just don't use force. If you hurt these mortals, you will be in trouble."

"Okay, okay." Qi Feng nodded quickly and whispered, "Brother, guard, please take care of me."

The meaning of his words is also very clear, that is, let him take care of it, and don't let the second guard come to him for money. This kind of thing happened all the time, so Qi Feng gave the guard some more money.

The guard nodded, waved his hand and walked away.