Chapter 134: Wang Ge, the Logistics Craftsman

Wang Ge finished twisting the straw ropes just as the early morning hours began. Accustomed to labor and caught up in the tension of the competition, she felt no fatigue.

"Candidate passed."

She gave a polite bow and moved forward with joy.

However, her joy turned to anxiety after she found no suitable templates on several of the equipment racks. The rack immediately following the straw ropes held a straw cloak and a straw basket. The basket’s materials consisted of three types: reeds, willow stems, and cattails. If she chose this set, there was no guarantee she could finish before the exam ended.

The next set of templates: a large straw mat and two more straw baskets like the previous one.

Then: five pairs of ordinary straw sandals and three straw baskets.

Wang Ge was deeply frustrated: Could it be that the government was in such desperate need of straw baskets that they were pairing them with everything else?

She finally encountered a restroom. It was a small space, occupying a gap between equipment racks. Since it already had partitions on both sides, adding panels to the front and back completed it. But what was the meaning of the hole in the panel serving as the front door? As she pushed the door open, she realized the hole aligned with the latching bar.

She understood: there must be a mark on the inside of the bar. When latched from within, the mark would be visible through the hole outside, indicating that a candidate was occupying the stall.

Tsk, tsk, tsk—how advanced. The only inconvenience was the single large wooden tub inside; she nearly had to do the splits to use it.

After coming out, she reached the next rack. Wang Ge was pleasantly surprised, her eyes widening. There was just a small straw basket containing two wheat cakes. She hurriedly picked up the basket, but why were there no materials on the ground? And were the cakes props? Where should she put them?

The patrolling officer opposite her tried hard to suppress a laugh, his face looking exceptionally fierce. "This is not an equipment rack; these are leftover evening meals for candidates. Take one cake and put the basket down!"

"Oh." Wang Ge, long since accustomed to being thick-skinned, immediately raised her hand and asked, "Is there water?"

The officer tilted his chin toward the area in front of her.

Wang Ge bowed. Taking a few steps forward, she found, as expected, the next rack lined with bowls of water. The cakes even had meat fillings, and plenty of them. Oh no, why were more candidates coming from behind?

Could they be coming from the bamboo or woodwork sheds?

Wang Ge gulped down two bowls of water and headed forward, devouring the cake.

The next few racks were empty.

Then she saw the next set of templates: two pairs of square-toed sandals tied together, with the bottom pair being slightly larger. By eye, both pairs appeared identical in style and material. The design was of the "full-ear" straw sandal type with a heel strap; the materials were kudzu vine and cogon grass, with a wide body and a single sole.

They were exactly the same square-toed sandals she had made at the temporary workshop in Qinghe Village after her craftsman exam.

She had asked Huan Zhen about them; most of these straw sandals were worn by ordinary soldiers during military marches. To ensure lightness and durability, the area under the soles was woven thickly, while the heels were thinner.

At this moment, the candidates behind her encountered the same frustration as Wang Ge, mistaking the basket of wheat cakes for a template.

Wang Ge clutched the two pairs of sandals and crawled under the equipment rack.

Yes, the space under the racks was where the candidates slept. A straw mat was laid out to separate them from the dirt floor. She lay down and fell asleep almost instantly.

*Dong!* The sound of the fame-announcing drum echoed in the distance.

Wang Ge’s face showed a flicker of struggle, but she could not open her eyes. In her dream, the sound of the drum appeared as well. In the dream, the wind was fierce, and no matter what, it could not blow away the fog that obstructed her vision.

"I walk south alone... beneath the forest..."

I walk south alone, beneath the forest...

In the fog, thousands upon thousands of voices seemed to rise up, each one ruffling her hair and pulling at her skin, dragging her into the mist. She felt pain all over, as if she were about to shatter.

Wang Ge was terrified. Yet, even in her panic, she knew she was dreaming, but she could not scream and could not wake up.

Who are you? Who are you? Her questions were stuck in her throat, choking her more and more.

Suddenly, a crisp metallic ring! It was the carving knife she had used most in her past life! It fell from above, transforming into a massive blade that split a fissure in the path ahead. The fog surged into the path of the blade.

*Dong, dong, dong...*

The drumbeats grew clearer as the fog thinned, no longer sounding as if muffled by an urn.

*Dong, dong, dong, dong, dong!*

The drumming intensified sharply. She felt the ground vanish beneath her feet, and she fell, finally waking up.

The sky was barely light. She gasped, lingering in fear, drenched in sweat from the dreadful dream. She picked up the sandals, crawled out from under the rack, and carried the materials to the production area. This type of single-soled straw sandal was called "ju" before the Han Dynasty, and "lü" after. When Young Master Huan had explained the square-toed sandals, Wang Ge had caught the hint: the imperial court was fighting a war somewhere and needed a massive quantity of them, just as the carpenters in Nanshan had been urgently hired to make arrow shafts.

She calmed her mind and sat on the ground. She twisted a long rope of cogon grass, using her own feet as a frame and tying the other end to her waist to create tension. This was the most primitive method of making straw sandals without any tools other than the grass itself—the same way she had done it during the "craftsman" competition in her village last year.

However, these square-toed sandals, which used two types of grass, were far more complex than those worn by ordinary farmers. Following the warp and weft structure of the template, she continued twisting the cogon grass, using two strands for a single rope to serve as the "warp" of the sole. She twisted the kudzu vine and cogon grass together for the "weft." Every time she wove a strand through, she pressed it toward herself to ensure it was tight.

Like straw ropes, straw sandals seemed destined to never grace a grand hall, but for the ordinary Jin Dynasty soldiers on the front lines, they did not need elegant art. They likely needed straw sandals every single day to reduce the agony of foot wear and tear.

Slowly, Wang Ge’s heart grew heavy with sorrow for those ordinary soldiers. This was not pretense, nor was it being overly sentimental. She had admired soldiers in her past life, and she did so now. Since she could not go to the front lines, she would offer more of her strength as a craftswoman for them. She decided that after this exam, whenever she had spare time, she would make these sandals, as many as possible. Once she had saved enough, she would donate them to the front lines through Nanshan or the Pavilion Chief Huan.

For now, she could only hope that her sincere heart, poured into these two pairs of sandals, would allow them to last a little longer for the soldiers.

Sunlight rose and set; another day passed.

May 17th.

Wang Ge walked out of the straw-weaving shed and began to run as soon as she emerged. Of course, she was not the only one running.

Upon returning to the starting point, she saw no candidates in the rest area who had finished early.

Should she enter the bamboo shed or the wood shed? Time would not allow her to choose both, so she chose bamboo! Since the candidates who entered the wood shed first would certainly be the most numerous, the easier tasks would surely be gone.

Inside, the first and second equipment racks were empty.

The third rack... Wang Ge hesitated slightly. It was a combination template: three bundles of counting rods. By eye, there were at least two hundred per bundle. Should she choose it or not? The materials included a full set of tools: a bamboo knife and a round-edged scraper.

Three candidates surged into the entrance. There was no time to hesitate; she immediately took the template into her material basket. The basket was quite large, filled with neatly arranged bamboo stalks.

In the afternoon.

Wang Ge passed the test again and chose another set of templates: a basket of arrow-shaped, curved objects made of moso bamboo that looked like armor plates. Each piece was three inches long and one inch wide, with holes punched at the top and bottom of both sides.

Both the templates in the basket and the bamboo materials on the ground had been specially treated, making them even sturdier than the naturally tough moso bamboo.

These must be bamboo arm guards for ordinary soldiers or local militia. The Jin Dynasty was in a state of recovery, and the management of blacksmith workshops was extremely strict (no matter how wealthy a commoner was, they were not permitted to operate one). Since ordinary soldiers and militia could not be fully equipped with iron or copper arm guards, they had to use sturdy bamboo alternatives.

The tools provided were very complete: bamboo knives, scrapers, awls, files, gloves, and wooden work boards. Wang Ge counted them; there were two hundred plates in total.

"Hoo..." She took a habitual deep breath, cheering herself on: Wang Ge, from now on, imagine you are on the battlefield. You are the craftsman in charge of logistics; you are a logistics soldier! The troops on the front lines are in urgent need of supplies and are waiting for you to speed up production. You cannot hold them back. Using your craft for a practical purpose is something to be even prouder of than making fine art!

Keep going! Logistics soldier Wang Ge!