"This Red Gold Crane Beak Hoe is pretty good. I'll take it."
Yang Ling nodded in satisfaction and fastened it to his waist.
With an Official Saber and a Red Gold Crane Beak Hoe hanging from his waist, the combination looked awkward no matter how you looked at it.
Seeing this, the smile in Fang Qingyang's eyes grew even wider.
"Besides this Red Gold Crane Beak Hoe, the rest are all Fine Steel Crane Beak Hoes. Each one adds 5 points of Strength. They may not be white-tier equipment, but that's a plenty good boost for Players."
Yang Ling turned to Chen Xu and the other man.
"You two should each pick one, too."
The two had been eager to get started, and immediately chose a Fine Steel Crane Beak Hoe each.
"There are still over a hundred left here..."
Yang Ling looked at Fang Qingyang. "Get some people to pack them up and send them all to my place."
"Uh..."
Fang Qingyang froze for a moment, his expression turning strange.
"Supervisor Yang, each of these Fine Steel Crane Beak Hoes can sell for 3 taels of silver..."
Yang Ling asked, "Are they yours?"
"No, they're property of the Ore Vein."
Fang Qingyang answered at once.
"Exactly. I'm the Supervisor, so I decide how they're distributed."
Yang Ling said, "Get some people to pack them up and send them to my place. There are 103 Fine Steel Crane Beak Hoes here in all. Don't let even one go missing."
"Also, give me a map of the Mine Shaft here. Don't try to fob me off—I want the most detailed, up-to-date version."
"...Yes."
Fang Qingyang said no more and nodded silently.
Half an hour later, all 103 Fine Steel Crane Beak Hoes, along with the Mine Map, were delivered to the courtyard where Yang Ling was staying.
"Yang Ling, what's this?"
Xu Qing seemed to have just finished practicing the Mountain River Heart Method. He walked out of his room looking refreshed, then froze at the sight of all the Crane-Mouth Hoes on the ground.
"Senior Brother Xu, these are all assets of the Red Gold Mine. I plan to distribute them properly."
Yang Ling smiled and cupped his fists.
"You're planning to hand them straight to the miners? That could work, but this isn't nearly enough for everyone."
Xu Qing frowned. "Besides, even if the miners get these, they might still slack off."
"Don't worry, Senior Brother Xu. I'll have Chen Xu and the others pick out miners who are willing to earn money and work toward improving themselves.
"I guarantee they won't slack off. They'll even work hard and put in overtime."
Yang Ling said, "We'll test it out for three months. If it works, great. If not, there's nothing we can do."
Chen Xu and Chen Guoqing nodded to themselves. How could any Player not work hard after getting something this good?
They all needed to Level Up, after all. What's more, the Fine Steel Crane Beak Hoes were astonishingly effective.
The moment they'd held them, they'd felt as though their strength had nearly doubled!
"That's true. We should try every approach. Hmm, judging by the way you're dressed, are you planning to go down into the mine yourself?"
Xu Qing noticed the Red Gold Crane Beak Hoe at Yang Ling's waist.
"Senior Brother Xu, this is a Red Gold Crane Beak Hoe. It'll definitely make mining much faster.
"I plan to give it a try and see how much Red Gold I can mine in a day."
A hint of excitement crept into Yang Ling's voice.
"Good. I knew I was right about you. You were born to love mining."
Xu Qing nodded happily.
After exchanging a few pleasantries with Xu Qing, Yang Ling took Chen Xu and Chen Guoqing to the Ore Vein.
He'd inspected the area that morning. There were quite a lot of Players here—over a hundred.
Some had already raised their Strength Attribute above 5, which showed they'd been working hard at mining. They weren't like the likes of Lin Guoliang.
A small number of them, however, looked listless, as if they were just waiting around to die.
Those Players would normally have been eliminated.
But for the sake of production, he planned to watch them a little longer. If necessary, he could make them some promises to fire them up.
"Isn't that Supervisor Yang? What are they going to do?"
Several managers had quietly gathered behind Fang Qingyang.
One of them looked at Yang Ling and the others in the distance, his expression odd.
"Go down into the mine."
Fang Qingyang smiled. "Our Supervisor Yang seems to love mining. Maybe he thinks he can boost Red Gold Mine production all by himself."
"This?"
The managers looked at one another, then couldn't help laughing.
"There are thirty-six Mine Shafts here, and every one is far more complicated than the ones at the Fire Crystal Mine."
"Let's start with Mine Tunnel No. 1."
Yang Ling opened the map and left it open as he led the other two into Mine Tunnel No. 1.
Quite a few miners already knew that the newcomer was the new Supervisor.
Seeing what he was doing, they couldn't help wondering.
"Everyone, what do you think our Supervisor Yang is doing in Mine Tunnel No. 1?"
"Could he be planning to clear out the Mine Worms and Mine Bandits inside so we can mine there?"
"No way. Whoever wants to go can go. Haven't enough people died in the mines over the years?"
"Who wants to earn money only to die before they can spend it? I'm not going."
One of the miners immediately spoke up, while also watching how the others reacted.
Seeing them grow increasingly wary, he was satisfied.
Mine Tunnel No. 1.
This time, Yang Ling walked with a torch in hand.
He no longer needed to sneak into the mine.
As the Supervisor, he could do whatever he wanted out in the open.
About an hour later, at a recessed spot, Yang Ling found Red Gold Ore glowing with a golden light.
"Look around nearby, but don't go too far."
Yang Ling said.
Chen Xu and Chen Guoqing nodded at once and began searching for Red Gold Ore as well.
"You're the one. Here I go!"
Yang Ling gripped the Crane-Mouth Hoe. His Strength had reached 21 points!
He swung it with all his might, and it cut through the air with a sharp whistle.
The Red Gold Crane Beak Hoe slammed into the Red Gold Ore.
Clang—
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