The Axe Is Mine

"Brother Li!"

Li Dazhuang and Shi Yong had long since finished their respective tasks and were sitting in the shade by the wall, drinking water and chatting.

Hearing the shout, both of them looked over, somewhat puzzled.

"Mo Chen?"

"Brother Li, can I borrow your axe?"

Mo Chen crouched down and pointed at the axe in front of Li Dazhuang.

Li Dazhuang was slightly stunned. "You want to borrow my axe?"

Mo Chen nodded with a smile. "Yes! I think the handle of my new axe rubs my hands a little, and I'm not used to it. Your axe handle looks pretty smooth, so I wanted to try it."

Li Dazhuang and Shi Yong exchanged a glance, then burst into laughter.

"You brat, why not just sand down your axe handle?"

Mo Chen spread his hands with a bitter smile. "The problem is... I don't have the strength to sand it down now."

Li Dazhuang snorted and waved his hand. "Take it, take it. It's just a lousy axe. Use it however you want."

As far as Li Dazhuang was concerned, he had used this axe for seventeen or eighteen years. It was badly worn, and no one would even want it if he tried to sell it. If Mo Chen wanted to use it, then let him. It was no big deal.

Seeing Li Dazhuang's indifferent attitude, Mo Chen immediately got an idea.

"Brother Li, how about this? I'll trade my axe for yours. From now on, you can use my new axe, and I'll use your old one."

Mo Chen held out his own axe, his eyes fixed intently on Li Dazhuang's face.

"There's such a good deal?"

Li Dazhuang's eyes lit up.

He had wanted to replace his axe for a long time, but Steward Liu would not approve the money, and he himself could not bear to spend money on a new one.

So all this time, he had always felt that his own axe did not sit quite right in his hands.

And lately, he did not know what had happened, but his axe had been getting lighter and lighter the more he used it, making Li Dazhuang frown.

But he had never expected Mo Chen to take the initiative and offer to trade axes with him. It was like someone delivering a pillow just as he was getting sleepy.

Even if he sold it, a new axe would be worth more than his old one. Naturally, Li Dazhuang was delighted.

He snatched the axe from Mo Chen's hand and gave it two light swings through the air, praising it with satisfaction, "A new axe is still heavier. I like this kind of heavy axe. Not bad, not bad!"

Mo Chen chuckled and turned to Shi Yong.

"Brother Shi, do you want to trade axes? If you do, I'll talk to Little Five. His new axe can be traded for yours too."

Shi Yong had already been looking enviously at Li Dazhuang swinging the axe. Hearing Mo Chen's words, he immediately asked in surprise, "You can persuade Little Five?"

The corners of Mo Chen's lips curled up. "Of course! Just wait a moment."

With that, he ran straight toward Little Five.

Little Five was currently sprawled on the ground, exhausted and resting. Seeing Mo Chen approach, he asked weakly, "Brother Mo, why did you bring Brother Li's axe over?"

Mo Chen glanced back at Li Dazhuang and Shi Yong, crouched beside Little Five, and said in a low voice:

"Little Five, listen to me. Trade your axe for Brother Shi's axe. From now on, you'll use Brother Shi's axe to chop firewood."

"Huh?! Why should I trade with him?" Little Five's eyes widened as he looked at Mo Chen, utterly confused.

His new axe had only been used for a year, while he knew Shi Yong's axe had already been used for seventeen years.

Mo Chen lowered his voice. "Listen to me. I won't cheat you! If you find out later that I cheated you, I'll compensate you with a new axe."

Hearing that, Little Five nodded heavily without the slightest hesitation.

"Alright, I'll listen to you!"

As soon as he said that, Little Five handed his axe to Mo Chen.

Mo Chen smiled faintly and, without another word, went to find Shi Yong.

"Brother Shi, I convinced Little Five. He's willing to trade."

Shi Yong was overjoyed. He hurriedly took the axe and fondled it with such affection that he could not bear to put it down.

"I've had my eye on Little Five's axe for a long time. That blacksmith from more than ten years ago really wasn't as good as the blacksmiths nowadays."

Hearing Shi Yong's words, a glint flashed through Mo Chen's eyes. Putting on a bitter smile, he said, "Brother Shi, don't be in such a hurry. I haven't finished speaking."

Shi Yong quickly said, "Go on, go on."

Mo Chen looked troubled. "I talked to Little Five just now. He said trading axes was fine, but after switching axes, he would definitely need time to get used to it, and that makes things difficult. If it delayed the task Steward Liu assigned, he couldn't bear the punishment."

Shi Yong was slightly stunned.

Seeing his chance, Mo Chen smiled. "So I made a promise for Brother Shi. Brother Shi can help him chop three bundles of firewood every day. Once he gets used to it, Brother Shi won't need to help anymore. Only then did Little Five agree."

As soon as Shi Yong heard that, he laughed. "Ha! Isn't that simple? I agree!"

Compared to a more valuable new axe, chopping a little extra firewood meant nothing to Shi Yong.

Seeing Shi Yong agree, Mo Chen immediately turned to Li Dazhuang and chuckled. "Brother Li, look, I just traded axes too. Could you help me out...?"

Li Dazhuang stood up with a hearty laugh and patted Mo Chen on the shoulder. "It's only three bundles of firewood. Your big brother won't let you suffer for it."

Three bundles of firewood really were nothing to strong, sturdy men like them.

But for malnourished, sallow-faced children like Mo Chen and Little Five, having three bundles of firewood less to chop made things far, far easier.

A short while later, the sound of chopping firewood rang out in the wood shed again.

Only, the one chopping was neither Mo Chen nor Little Five, but Shi Yong.

Little Five stood off to one side, at a complete loss, his face full of shock.

At mealtime.

Mo Chen and Little Five each held a bowl, with two steamed corn buns clutched in their hands, squatting in the corner and wolfing down their food.

After finishing their bowls of rice, while the two stood side by side waiting to ladle thin porridge from the wooden barrel.

Little Five finally could not help tugging Mo Chen's arm and asking, "Brother Mo, how did you do it? Brother Shi and Brother Li are actually helping us chop firewood?"

Earlier, when Shi Yong had suddenly come over to help him chop wood, he had been completely dumbfounded.

If Mo Chen had not pulled him out of the wood shed, and Shi Yong had not smiled and told him to rest properly, he would have thought Shi Yong had taken the wrong medicine.

"Don't worry about that. As long as I'm not letting you suffer a loss, that's enough."

Mo Chen raised his brows and glanced at Little Five. He was fifteen this year, while Little Five was twelve.

With three years between them, Little Five was a full head shorter than him.

"Brother Mo, just tell me. Why did you trade axes with them?"

Little Five scratched at his ears and cheeks, extremely curious about what was really going on.

"You really want to know?" Mo Chen stopped walking and asked.

"Mhm, mhm." Little Five nodded repeatedly.

Mo Chen looked around. Only after confirming that Shi Yong and Li Dazhuang were nowhere nearby did he whisper:

"Little Five, you might not know this, but Brother Li's and Brother Shi's axes are a little special."

Little Five froze. "The axes are special?"

No matter how he thought about it, their axes seemed to be the same as Li Dazhuang's and Shi Yong's.

Other than being older and having a small section of wear on the blade, there did not seem to be any other difference.

Mo Chen lied through his teeth. "They've been used to chop firewood for so long that the blades have already been worn with grain patterns suited for splitting wood. You'll know when you swing it down later. These old axes are easier to use than our own new axes."

In truth, according to his understanding of the system's functions, a weapon's attributes applied to everyone.

The only difference was that, through the upgrade system, he could equip up to ten pieces of equipment. When the attributes of all ten pieces stacked together, they could produce unimaginable effects.

Besides, his true golden finger lay more in cultivating martial arts...

Seeing Mo Chen speak as though he had every detail at his fingertips, Little Five asked doubtfully, "Really?"

Mo Chen nodded. "Try it when you go up the mountain to gather firewood later. I guarantee you'll use half the strength you normally do."

Little Five asked in astonishment, "It can save that much effort?"

Mo Chen nodded with a smile and said nothing more.

He had already given the help he could. Whether Little Five believed him or not, he would find out when he chopped firewood.

After the meal.

Mo Chen had just wanted to lean against a stone block and doze off for a while.

When Li Dazhuang and Shi Yong came over, pushing wheelbarrows.

"Mo Chen, Little Five, up the mountain to gather firewood!"

"Alright, Brother Li!"

Mo Chen answered, immediately got up, pushed a wheelbarrow, and followed after them.

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