Kitchen Dunzi, Chopping Wood

After Zhao Han and the other mine slaves finished disposing of the Black Wolf Gang corpses, they also dealt with the bodies of the Poisonous Snake Gang members and the mine slaves.

The Poisonous Snake Gang members' bodies were to be dragged back to the Poisonous Snake Gang's main sect in Blackwater County for processing, along with a shipment of iron ore.

The Black Wolf Gang members' corpses were to be dragged into the forest to feed the beasts.

The mine slaves' bodies were to be burned to ashes on the spot, then buried.

One could say the treatment was worlds apart.

After finishing the work, Zhao Han felt a bit sweaty, but his body wasn't very tired.

Having learned the Black Wolf Fist basics and worked as a miner for so long, he still had some adaptability.

If it were before, carrying several corpses heavier than himself would have exhausted him half to death.

Zhao Han's diligent efforts caught the leader's eye.

"You, the scrawny dark kid, and you, and you... all of you, come here."

Liu Gang pointed at a few mine slaves, all between ten and twenty years old, who worked quickly and actively.

"Leader Liu, what orders do you have for us little ones?"

A mine slave with a sweet tongue bent over, rubbing his hands together with a smile.

He put on a fawning, groveling demeanor.

"I see you few lads work hard. Since my Poisonous Snake Gang's Poison Dragon Hall lost so many members, I'll give you the chance to join the hall."

Liu Gang's tone wasn't one of negotiation, but of notification.

In his view, a bunch of muddy-legged peasants being able to enter the Poisonous Snake Gang was practically their ancestors' graves smoking with good fortune.

"Oh, thank you, Leader Liu!"

"For the Poisonous Snake Gang's Poison Dragon Hall, I'll go through fire and water without hesitation!"

"From now on, the Poisonous Snake Gang is my home!"

"If Leader Liu doesn't despise me, I'd like to take you as my adoptive father!"

Zhao Han and the others naturally jumped at the chance. The previously fawning mine slave nearly dropped to his knees to kowtow.

"Good. You don't need to work anymore. Follow me."

He led them away, picking three more along the way to make a full ten, enough to report.

"What are all your names?"

"Zhao Da, Li Er, Zhang San, Li Fei, Wang Wu... Zhao Han."

Next came the job assignments.

Liu Gang directly assigned work based on his first impression of each person—looks, skin color, and build.

"Li Er, Zhang San, you two haven't been at the mine long, still fair and clean. Go 'serve' the Hall Master. He's short on people to pour tea and fetch water."

Li Er and Zhang San's faces lit up with joy. Being able to get close to Hall Master Li Dalong meant limitless future prospects.

If Li Dalong took a liking to them, they might even become a leader.

Especially Li Er—Li Dalong shared his surname, so he might give him extra care.

Li Er looked at Zhang San, a cold glint in his eyes, already seeing him as a rival.

Zhang San didn't back down either, glancing at Li Er from the corner of his eye, thinking about how to compete with him.

Neither knew what kind of "tea" they'd be pouring or what kind of "water" they'd be fetching.

"Zhao Da, you're short and dark. Go guard the main gate."

Zhao Da's face fell. Guarding the gate—how was that different from death?

If the Black Wolf Gang attacked, the gatekeeper would be the first to die.

But still, he thought, it was better than being a mine slave.

The Poisonous Snake Gang also taught every member martial arts. Maybe after training for two and a half years, he could get promoted to Elite Gang Member.

"Zhao Han, I remember you said you were a farmer. You'll work in the kitchen as a helper—chopping wood, carrying water, cutting vegetables, and tending the fire, you can do that, right?"

Liu Gang finally assigned Zhao Han.

"Yes, I can, all of it. Thank you, Leader Liu!" Zhao Han couldn't refuse, quickly cupping his fists in gratitude.

The others were secretly gleeful.

Word was there were only two cooks now, with four helpers doing odd jobs, feeding several hundred people every day.

If the food was bad, or if luck turned sour, Li Dalong might just kill them.

Among the helpers, the work was the hardest—they did everything.

Only slightly better than a mine slave, with no supervision, but far more exhausting than the other nine.

Of those nine, two were to "pour tea and fetch water" for Li Dalong.

Two of them went to guard the gate.

Three volunteered, claiming they could count with all ten fingers, tallying up to a hundred clearly, and could inventory the iron ore.

Another two were assigned to escort the iron ore shipments.

All of them had better jobs than Zhao Han, with more idle time to spare.

This was also because Zhao Han's looks weren't particularly striking—utterly ordinary.

Having been a farmer after his transmigration, he was sunburned, skinny, and rough-skinned, looking like nothing but a laborer destined for the fields.

Being allowed to help in the kitchen was already an immense favor.

"Alright, each of you go do your work. Now that you're part of the Poisonous Snake Gang's big family, don't slack off or play tricks."

"Also, every Poisonous Snake Gang member can claim a copy of the profound Snake-Style Deft Hand manual. Gather at the mine entrance tomorrow, and I'll give them to you then."

"As for whether you can make anything of it, that depends on your own talent and ability."

Leader Liu cast a disdainful glance at the ten men.

With his judgment, he could tell none of them had any future.

At best, they'd barely become Skin Refining Warriors, and without connections in the Poisonous Snake Gang, they couldn't even sit in a leader's seat.

"These are ten gang member wooden tokens. Keep them safe, then go to your posts and work honestly." With that, Leader Liu turned and left.

"Take care, Leader Liu!"

The ten watched Leader Liu depart, then exchanged glances with each other.

Their emotions were rich—envy, resentment, contempt, jealousy, hostility, delight...

Zhao Han was the first to turn and leave, heading toward the kitchen.

Arriving at the kitchen, he showed his wooden token to prove his identity. The assistant cook, Dunzi, and the chef visibly smiled.

One more helper meant the work would be much lighter now.

There were two chefs: one was a deputy chef with basic cooking skills, responsible for stir-frying in the big pot.

The other was more professional, only cooking for the Poison Dragon Hall Master and the two leaders.

Naturally, this professional chef was the kitchen's boss, Wang Dawei.

"Kid, what's your name?" Wang Dawei stared at Zhao Han and asked.

"This Humble One is Zhao Han. I hope Master Wang will look after me." Zhao Han bowed slightly with a smile.

"Easy enough. From now on, chopping and splitting firewood is your job, little Zhao. Come with me to the wood shed and take a look."

The wood shed? Was he going to be stuck splitting firewood?

Arriving at the wood shed, Wang Dawei shouted, "A Shun, starting tomorrow, you'll carry water. The new guy, little Zhao, will take your place."

"Uh..." Zhao Han was speechless. So much for being looked after?

Thinking about it, newcomers were always beasts of burden no matter where they went.

Without connections, you'd be assigned the hardest work. Only after doing it long enough for a new beast to replace you could you finally break free.

Still, it was better than staying in the mine tunnel, dark and sunless.

"Finally free. Hey, Zhao kid, come over here and chop tomorrow's firewood ready." A Shun grinned, tossed down the chopping axe, and walked off without looking back.

He didn't even tell Zhao Han where exactly to cut wood or how to split it.

A completely irresponsible display, dumping the whole mess on Zhao Han.

Wang Dawei did the same—gave his orders and left.

Scanning the wood shed piled high with firewood, and the open ground outside under a tarp sheltering logs waiting to be split, Zhao Han roughly knew what he had to do.

Chopping and splitting wood: one meant going into the forest to cut and gather firewood; the other meant splitting thick logs into thin pieces.

Sitting down in A Shun's spot, Zhao Han grabbed the chopping axe and started splitting.

Since he was here, he might as well settle in!

"Smack!"

"Crack!"

The log didn't split. He'd used too little strength. He tried again.