Chapter 19

This Force stuff...

In a sense, hers really was unlimited-she had never used any, which amounted to the same thing.

No one lingered around the logging yard, though.

Unlike the scavenger community, nowhere here was habitable except for the small patch occupied by the logging yard.

The loggers went into the forest to cut trees during the day, came back to collect their wages in the evening, and returned to the community to rest before dark.

Of course, those who could operate machinery were not loggers, but regular employees of the conglomerates. They lived in the outer city and never interacted with the refugees of Garbage Mountain.

Qiu Shuyu led Song Xiaozhu toward the forest. "Cutting trees

takes technique. First, you have to start by choosing a tree..."

Song Xiaozhu listened intently. She never underestimated anything. Logging sounded like a matter of swinging an axe, but it actually required considerable skill and experience. With trees that easily reached twenty meters tall, hacking away at random would probably leave her drenched in sweat without producing any suitable timber.

"Xiao Qiu?" A booming male voice rang out. "Better to arrive at the right time than early! Come on, come on! There's a special job today. I'll take you along to make some money!"

His voice arrived before he did.

Only after he finished speaking did a tall man reach them. He stood nearly a meter ninety and had a burly build. Never mind the small, skinny Song Xiaozhu-even Qiu Shuyu, who was nearly a meter eighty, looked delicate in front of him.

"Huh? Who's this girl?"

"Morning, Brother Tian. This is my little sister, Song Xiaozhu."

Qiu Shuyu then introduced the man to Song Xiaozhu, who obediently greeted him in turn. "Brother Tian."

Tian Man looked Song Xiaozhu over and frowned. Without saying anything else, he merely nodded, then told Qiu Shuyu, "Lao Mu has an urgent order for large-diameter timber. The purchase price has shot up to three times the usual rate!"

Qiu Shuyu's eyes lit up. "That high?"

Tian Man said, "You bet. Usually it's only ten or twenty percent extra. Who knows what's going on today? When I heard the price, I thought I'd misheard. We need to hurry. They aren't buying much, so we can't let someone else snatch the order."

Qiu Shuyu was sorely tempted, but then she remembered Xiaozhu and hesitated. "Um... I'm supposed to show my little sister around the logging yard today. She wants to learn too, so later on..."

Tian Man cut her off. "Show her tomorrow. This order won't wait. I happen to be one person short. If you aren't coming, I'll go find someone else."

Before Qiu Shuyu could speak, Song Xiaozhu said quietly, "Sis, go do your work. I'll figure things out myself. There's no rush to do it today. You can teach me tomorrow or the day after, whenever you're free."

It wasn't that Qiu Shuyu insisted on teaching Song Xiaozhu to cut trees today. She just worried about leaving her alone...

But Tian Man certainly wouldn't be happy if she brought her along.

For timber a meter in diameter, they would have to go deep into the forest and take a vehicle to get there. Renting the vehicle cost money, and seats were limited. Why would they bring someone who wasn't working?

Song Xiaozhu saw what was on her mind and squeezed her hand. "It's fine. I'll go back to the shack when I'm tired."

What she meant was that, at worst, she could skip logging today, go back to Garbage Mountain to scavenge, and wait for her to return.

Qiu Shuyu thought it over and agreed.

This opportunity was too rare. In just half a day, she could earn what normally took several days. It would be such a shame to miss it.

"All right, then..." Qiu Shuyu reminded Song Xiaozhu, "Try figuring things out yourself, and go home when you're tired."

Song Xiaozhu nodded repeatedly.

Tian Man urged her on. "Let's go, Xiao Qiu! We're racing against time!"

Qiu Shuyu gave Song Xiaozhu a few more reminders before finally following Tian Man away, looking back every few steps.

Song Xiaozhu wasn't afraid of anything here. She could look after herself on Garbage Mountain, so this place was even less of a problem.

Although Tian Man didn't like her, there had been no unsettling malice in his appraising gaze. He mostly seemed to think she was too small and frail to survive on her own.

In an environment like this, no one could like someone who had to depend on others to stay alive.

When people could barely fend for themselves, who would willingly take on an extra "burden"?

Song Xiaozhu was certainly no burden.

So she paid no mind to Tian Man's somewhat disdainful look.

Qiu Shuyu hurried after Tian Man and climbed into the truck, only to discover that what she was carrying was the stone axe Song Xiaozhu had made...

Well, this...

What use was a stone axe for cutting down trees that thick?!

Chapter 19

The vehicle was a truck, and the workers eager to get to the logging site were all crammed into the back. Besides Tian Man and Qiu Shuyu, there were two other men.

They were all skilled hands at the logging yard and knew one another. One man with a long, thin face spotted Qiu Shuyu's stone axe and chuckled. "Brother Yu, what's with that axe? You brought a kid's toy to work?"

The speaker was Liu Mu, who usually didn't get along with Qiu Shuyu.

As a man, he resented being unable to outwork a woman.

Once he spoke, Tian Man noticed it too.

He had been in such a hurry earlier, renting a truck and rounding up workers as soon as he got the order. When he spotted Qiu Shuyu, he had only thought about how immensely strong and capable she was and hurried her aboard. He really hadn't noticed her axe.

She had actually brought a stone axe...

This was far too frivolous.

Tian Man frowned and asked, "Xiao Qiu, where's your axe?"

Qiu Shuyu said nothing.

Tian Man thought back, then raised his eyebrows. "You gave your axe to your little sister? You... you... ah!"

He let out a long sigh, not entirely because Qiu Shuyu hadn't brought her axe, but more because of her trusting nature. It was lucky she was strong and capable, or she really could be swindled to death.

Liu Mu asked in surprise, "Brother Yu has a little sister? Did she come from the city?"

He knew Qiu Shuyu had previously been one of the city's "lower-class people" and had fled to Garbage Mountain because she couldn't bear the humiliation.

Tian Man was still sighing. "You can tell at a glance that girl's a shrewd one. She probably saw how honest Xiao Qiu was and latched onto her. See? She's already talked her out of a good axe... And Xiao Qiu even said she'd teach her to cut trees. That girl's arms are as thin as hemp rope..."