Food gives me an entry, I will be invincible if I stay alive

Chapter 310: Full of twists and turns, ups and downs
In the classroom, I held "The Miracle of the Craftsman" in my hands, completely absorbed in reading it.

My classmates were making a lot of noise around me, some asking each other where they were going to play after school, others discussing the upcoming provincial examinations; in short, everyone had their own topics to discuss.

Sunlight slanted through the window frame, and the noise brushed past my ears.

Yu Zhi didn't care about any of it.

He was completely immersed in the world of "The Legend of the Condor Heroes," and for a time he strangely achieved the effect of "not hearing anything outside his window."

The only pity is that he wasn't reading any "sage's books," but rather lighthearted storybooks!

The pages of the book were turned one by one, and the wind rustled the paper as it passed by.

Yu Zhi read a scene where a farm boy visits the protagonist at night.

Upon hearing that the river level had dropped and irrigation of crops was becoming difficult, and seeing the farm boy in front of him covered in dust, looking haggard and pitiful, the protagonist Meng Zhou couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy.

"Sigh." Yu Zhi shook his head and sighed.

He was lamenting the excessive kindness of Meng Zhou, the protagonist of the book.

Why go through all that trouble?
There aren't many good people in this village.

Many villagers, influenced by Meng Zhou's stepmother, had secretly given Meng Zhou the cold shoulder.

The sage said: If you repay evil with good, how will you repay good?

What is Meng Zhou going to do?
But then Meng Zhou picked up his pen and, working through the night, produced dozens of drawings.

These dozens of drawings, when combined and connected, ultimately point to one thing: a dragon-bone waterwheel!

At first, Yu Zhi, like the farm boy in the book, was completely confused about the dragon bone waterwheel, seeing it but not understanding it.

Until Meng Zhou emphasized it again:
“Aman, if you trust me, then call your father and go to the Tiangong Division in the county. Give them ten taels of silver and this stack of blueprints, and ask them to help build the dragon bone waterwheel.”

"Once the waterwheel is completed, you will naturally know its effectiveness."

Aman hesitated and said, "Ten taels of silver? But Brother Meng, I... I don't have ten taels of silver."

Meng Zhou said, "I have ten taels of silver. I can lend it to you for now. Once you go to the Heavenly Crafts Bureau, they will definitely reward you."

After you receive the reward, remember to bring me back every penny of the silver; that will be your repayment for my help this time.

Aman was even more surprised, never expecting Meng Zhou to be so generous as to lend her ten taels of silver directly.

At the same time, he was also a little confused.

Meng Zhou's idea was that after Aman arrived at the Heavenly Crafts Bureau and received the reward, he would bring the reward back to Meng Zhou, which would be considered as repaying the debt of gratitude.

But shouldn't this reward have belonged to Meng Zhou in the first place?
No, that's not right. Why would the Heavenly Crafts Bureau give a reward?
If the Heavenly Crafts Bureau would offer a reward, why would they charge ten taels of silver to build the dragon bone waterwheel?
Ah Man was confused and full of doubts.

For a moment, my mind felt like it was a tangled mess.

On the contrary, Yu Zhi, as an observer, had already vaguely understood Meng Zhou's intention in giving up the ten taels of silver after reading the book.

Yu Zhi's emotions began to boil, and it felt like a fire was burning in his heart. He was full of anticipation for the upcoming plot.

Sure enough, Meng Zhou said:

"Aman, ten taels of silver isn't a reward for getting the Heavenly Crafts Bureau to do your bidding; it's your stepping stone to enter the Heavenly Crafts Bureau. Ha..."

He chuckled softly.

Outside the story, Yu Zhi, who had just finished watching, suddenly felt a shiver run through his body.

Yes, ten taels of silver is the key to getting started!
In the book, the Heavenly Works Bureau is the department that oversees all employment matters in the entire country.

It is somewhat similar to the Ministry of Works of the Dali Dynasty.

However, in the world of the book, ingenious craftsmanship is highly valued, so the status of the Heavenly Crafts Bureau is even higher than that of the Ministry of Works of the Da Li Dynasty.

The protagonist of the book, Meng Zhou, was exiled to a farm after his father broke both his legs, leaving him in dire straits.

With only his crippled legs, he had no chance of turning his life around on the farm.

Even if the villagers treat me with respect, what's the point?

At worst, one could simply laze around on the farm, wasting one's life. But Meng Zhou cleverly seized the opportunity; he was willing to give up his last savings—

Ten taels of silver.

We also need to encourage the village boy, Aman, to go to the Heavenly Crafts Bureau.

Ten taels of silver are not the real bargaining chip to enter the Heavenly Crafts Bureau; ten taels of silver may just be a stepping stone to get the gatekeepers of the Heavenly Crafts Bureau to do their bidding.

Meng Zhou's real bargaining chip was his complete set of blueprints for the dragon bone waterwheel!
Thinking about this, Yu Zhi couldn't help but feel a surge of emotion.

If Meng Zhou can gain the favor of the Heavenly Crafts Bureau by relying on the blueprints of the dragon bone waterwheel, and thus escape the quagmire of the Meng family, then what is ten taels of silver?
As for the cold looks I received in the village, those are nothing at all.

Dragons do not live with snakes.

When a person walks on the main road, why would they get angry just because an ant on the roadside rolled its eyes at them?
That's it!

Yu Zhi couldn't help but slap his thigh and shout loudly, "Good! Good, good, good! Hahaha..."

He burst into unrestrained laughter.

Just as they were laughing heartily, they suddenly felt that something was wrong.

It was an indescribable feeling of tension and excitement, like a thorn in one's back.

Yu Zhi's heart tightened, and he suddenly realized: Oh no, he's still in the school!

Although it is currently break time, it is not the end of school.

The teacher is still in the classroom...

Yu Zhi's heart was pounding, and he felt as if his heart was about to jump out of his throat.

He found that it was quiet all around him.

All the classmates fell silent at some point.

Pairs of eyes looked at him with pity, with sympathy, with condescending leisure... or with schadenfreude.

It's as if everyone's saying, "You little brat, you're in trouble now, hehehe..."

Yu Zhi's throat tightened and his neck stiffened, but he ultimately couldn't hold back.

So he slowly turned his neck, inch by inch, to look at the aisle beside him.

Then, caught off guard, he was met with a serious, cold face.

"Ah!" Yu Zhi cried out in surprise, narrowly avoiding kicking over the stool he was sitting on and falling to the ground.

But then a pair of hands reached out from the side.

He snatched the storybook from Yu Zhi's hand.

Yu Zhi couldn't help but exclaim "Ah!" again. He was getting impatient; he was really into the exciting part of the story and wanted to see what happened next—there were at least thirty more pages to go!
If Master Yuan were to confiscate his storybook, he would be reluctant to spend another three hundred coins to buy another book.

As the saying goes, poverty emboldens even the most timid.

Yu Zhi was torn by an internal struggle and almost mustered the courage to ask the Master for his books back.

But then the teacher let out a cold laugh and said, "Is it beautiful?"

Facing the admiring gazes of his classmates, who looked at him like he was a warrior, Yu Zhi forced himself to say, "Teacher, it's good."

"Ha!" Master Yuan sneered again, "I'd like to see..."

He then turned to the page that Yu Zhi had just turned to, and casually flipped through a few more pages.

Then, his hand, which was turning the pages of the book, suddenly stopped.

His brows furrowed.

“This…” Master Yuan looked surprised.

(End of this chapter)