Chapter 164: The Competition Heats Up-I Became a Master Craftsman by Weaving Straw Sandals(Wukong chews on candy.)

Walking alongside him were another craftswoman and two craftsmen. They all bowed in greeting.

Since the other party showed courtesy, Wang Ge returned the bow.

"My surname is Shen, and we are all from Shanyin County." Shen Datou smiled, looking rather simple and honest. "I am disturbing Master Artisan Wang for a moment. Could you please take a look and tell me if my drawing of the rolling lantern is correct?" He had already prepared some pebbles, and before finishing his words, he quickly sketched the candle tray, axis, and finally added the surrounding bamboo strips on the ground.

Since this person was sincerely asking for guidance, Wang Ge taught him generously. Firstly, the principles of the rolling lantern were easy to learn, and Craftsman Shen had actually understood most of it already. Secondly, in her past life, she had also gone everywhere seeking advice from others, and she could never bring herself to make things difficult for someone striving just like her.

When Wang Ge returned to the Fifth Bamboo Courtyard, a gloomy atmosphere permeated the area. All three craftswomen were busy in the production zone. Apart from Mistress Zheng, the other two might also be working on luck-based tasks.

Inside the quarters was only Mistress Mistress Meng, who had also just returned. She was currently placing her rewards into a basket, looked at Wang Ge with a smile, and said, "This morning I went to the Straw-Weaving Zone A first, thinking that since it's far from ours, there might be fewer people. Oh my, it was unbelievable, there were already five circles of people surrounding it! Upon asking, I found out that everyone staying over there are quasi-artisans from Shanyin County. Tell me, could these people have been waiting there before dawn?" She shook her head with a sigh, not really expecting an answer from Wang Ge. "So I went to Straw-Weaving Zone C instead, and it was a close call—I finally managed to grab a fixed task."

Mistress Meng showed that she had also obtained an oil lamp.

Wang Ge placed the unneeded reward into her basket. "Thank you for the reminder, Mistress Meng." The other party was clearly advising her not to go to Material Zone A early in the morning.

The two exchanged a knowing smile, each picked up their materials, and chose a spot to practice their craft.

Mistress Xu returned. She had failed to complete her fixed task, and her expression was unsightly. As she passed by Mistress Meng, she was still lost in a daze and didn't greet her.

Such a situation was perhaps inescapable for anyone. That was why time was so limited; the more one tried to grasp it, the faster it slipped away.

It was noon.

Wang Ge hurried to the kitchen and hurried back, set her bamboo tube aside, and resumed practicing. In order not to disturb others at night, she switched to practicing the technique of mortising boxwood during the day. Out of twenty pieces of wood, only five were left to be chiseled. Of course she was making progress, but after reaching a certain plateau, striving for further refinement inevitably required a long process.

This process was a severe test of an artisan's patience.

Some feared this test, but Wang Ge was the exact opposite! Once she entered the testing process, all the blood in her body would boil, like one blood cell pushing another, crying out their jubilation from the very marrow of her bones.

Thud!

The wooden mallet gently tapped the flat chisel, biting into the wood to scoop out the debris. The cut surface was straight and uninclined.

She switched to a narrow chisel.

Thud!

She changed sides, thud!

She changed sides again, thud!

She scooped out the wood chips from the mortise slot; it was barely acceptable. She continued.

Wang Ge was separated from Mistress Zheng by two production zones, a distance that, to Mistress Zheng, was practically nonexistent. Her temples throbbed, tormented by the ceaseless sounds, as anger and shame gradually drowned out her reason.

She felt truly discouraged. She hadn't slept well all night, hadn't managed to eat breakfast, and hadn't been able to drink a single drop of water all morning. The crane she had painstakingly carved looked more and more like a big goose with chicken legs the longer she looked at it.

It possessed an ethereal posture, but could it really be considered a crane?

For a moment, her memory began to blur: when people talked about celestial cranes in the past, what did they actually look like?

Finally, Mistress Zheng stood up.

Wang Ge's vision suddenly darkened as she looked up.

"Master Artisan Wang, you've finished your task for the day, but I haven't, and neither have the others. Your constant tapping hasn't stopped all morning—could you please show a little consideration for others? You could at least wait until the afternoon, until we've all finished our tasks, before you chisel!"

"Alright." During the day, the sound of lightly chiseling wood was hardly noisy at all, far quieter than the rustling of split bamboo. But Wang Ge did not argue. This was not the time for reasoning; Mistress Zheng's emotional state clearly wasn't right.

Snap!

That was Mistress Xu splitting bamboo. She had overestimated herself; her failure in the straw-weaving material zone today had left her dead last in the rankings, which was utterly humiliating. She had to step up her practice so she could snatch a task in the bamboo material zone tomorrow morning.

Snap, snap, snap... Following several consecutive sounds, Mistress Xu finished splitting the bamboo strips and began scraping off the green outer skin, making it even more grating.

Mistress Zheng took a deep, forced breath, unable to vent her anger on Mistress Xu. The other woman had it worse than her; she herself still had a fighting chance, but if Mistress Xu failed again tomorrow, she would have to leave the intensive training camp.

Wang Ge swapped out a piece of sweet bamboo stalk. Since Mistress Xu was already splitting bamboo anyway, one more wouldn't make a difference.

She deftly split a section of the bamboo stalk into over twenty strips. Without scraping off the green skin, she split the bamboo layers using her teeth, which produced a much quieter sound.

However, Mistress Zheng could no longer hold on. She suddenly broke down, collapsing over her workstation and sobbing bitterly. No one understood her suffering. Her uncles and husband all believed that merely passing the test to become a craftsman was already more than enough. Working in a craft workshop earned money, reduced the family's corvée labor, and lowered their land rent—wasn't that enough? Advancing any further was simply too difficult. Just leaving Hefang Township this time meant being away for half a year, leaving everything at home unattended. Even if she could become a master artisan, fine, but knowing full well she couldn't pass—everyone knew she couldn't pass—why put herself through this torment?

What was most terrifying and most unbearable was that Mistress Zheng actually knew she couldn't pass either. Yet, on second thought, what if she got lucky and passed? She had been a craftsman for eleven years; she envied those master artisans so much! Why couldn't she try just once?

After all, her parents loved her dearly; they had sold one hundred mu of land and pulled strings to secure her spot in this intensive training camp. The price of an entire hundred mu of fertile land had been wasted on a single failed task simply because an ordinary commoner family had never laid eyes on a crane. It wasn't that her skills were lacking! How could she not feel indignant?

In the evening, official Mistress Meng ignored Mistress Zheng's tear-stained face, rating her "Crane" sculpture as a failure.

Afterwards, official Mistress Meng took away the belongings of young Mistress Lin, announcing that she had been expelled from the intensive training camp.

People were different. Hearing this news, Mistress Xu instantly regained her fighting spirit. Mistress Zheng grew even more sorrowful; that night, her crying continued in fits and starts.

Wang Ge and Mistress Meng brought their bedding to the production zone early, lit their candle lanterns, and continued practicing. Mistress Xu did the same, borrowing the light from Mistress Meng's candle.

Another craftswoman emerged, borrowing the light from Wang Ge's candle.

Sigh... she mused. In the language of her past life, the rat race had truly begun.

Outside, Xie Yi and Officer Lu were still making their rounds, striking their night gongs. Noticing a faint glow emanating from the Fifth Bamboo Courtyard, they shouted, "Extinguish candles at the first watch!"

In fact, official Mistress Meng had already announced during the day that candles must be extinguished after the first watch.

Officer Lu lowered his voice and said, "These quasi-artisans from Duoyi County aren't as capable of enduring hardship as those from our Shanyin County."

Xie Yi replied, "The number of local artisans here is greater than all the other counties combined. Although the quotas for passing the apprentice and craftsman exams have increased, how much can those quotas really grow? Year after year, by how much does the number of artisans increase?"

"That's true. For years, the township military competitions have resulted in fatalities; the artisan exams are merely another way to gamble with one's life. However," Officer Lu asked in confusion, "aren't some of the luck-based tasks a bit too tricky? Take the crane sculpture topic for instance—even if you asked me, I wouldn't know how to do it. I've never even seen one."

Xie Yi said, "This topic tests an artisan's..." He tapped his head. "It is indeed carving a crane, yet it is also not carving a crane."

"Ah?" Officer Lu was even more baffled.

The crescent moon shone down upon courtyard after courtyard, each presenting a vastly different scene.

Courtyards One, Nine, and Ten were the areas where examinees from Shanyin County were lodged. In these three places, not only were the straw sheds crammed with people, but even the pathways were packed.

Shen Datou, who had sought advice from Wang Ge during the day, lived in the First Bamboo Courtyard.

The sounds of wood-chiseling, bamboo-splitting, and brazen requests for advice intertwined, echoing with the bustling noise of a craft workshop working through the night.

Shen Datou was currently taking advantage of someone else's candlelight to make a small rolling lantern. Their quarters housed fifty craftsmen. At first sound, one would assume it must be crowded, but it wasn't.

Because ever since the first day they arrived at the intensive training camp, not a single quasi-artisan from Shanyin County had slept inside the quarters at night. With so many examinees from their county, how rare and precious was the chance to enter the training camp!

Craftwork was not allowed inside the quarters, so they simply moved their bedding out into the courtyard, lying down right there whenever sleep overtook them.

Someone started chanting a passage: "When Shun was raised from the midst of the farming fields..."

Someone else picked up: "Fu Yue was raised among the builders' rammed earth..."

Shen Datou chimed in: "Jiao Ge was raised from the fish and salt fields..."

Voices gradually gathered: "Guan Yiwu was raised from the prison officers, Sunshu Ao was raised from the sea... Therefore, before..."

Everyone began reciting in unison:

To afflict their mind and will!

To labor their sinews and bones!

To starve their body and skin!

To deprive their person of supplies!

(End of Chapter)