Chapter 23: When you can’t stand it anymore, you don’t need to endure
“Brother Yu, I’m here to collect medicinal herbs!”
Previously, when Hua Changxi came, even if Yu Hui didn’t greet her with a smile, he would respond familiarly.
However, today, Yu Hui merely glanced at Hua Changxi indifferently, casually pointed to a male laborer, and told him to take Hua Changxi to collect medicinal herbs, then paid no further attention to her.
“What are you standing around for? Come with me.”
Seeing Hua Changxi staring at Yu Hui without moving, the male laborer impatiently urged her.
Hua Changxi withdrew her confused gaze and followed the male laborer.
“You’re too late. Take these medicinal herbs back and wash them.”
The male laborer led Hua Changxi to a pile of hairy and thorny medicinal herbs.
Hua Changxi said nothing upon seeing them and began to move the medicinal herbs.
After moving them for a short while, the male laborer suddenly leaned close to Hua Changxi and said, “Sister, these medicinal herbs are difficult to wash. Do you want to exchange them for some that are easier to wash?”
Hua Changxi glanced at him indifferently and continued moving the herbs.
The male laborer continued to lean closer to Hua Changxi, saying, “Sister, Brother Yu doesn’t like you anymore, but Brother Mao likes you.” As he spoke, he reached out as if to put his arm around Hua Changxi’s waist.
“Ah~”
Hua Changxi grabbed the male laborer’s wrist and, with a slight exertion of force, made him cry out in pain.
“Bitch, let go of me!”
Mao Wei shouted with feigned ferocity.
Hua Changxi looked at him expressionlessly, “I’m strong. I’ve broken many people’s arms and legs when I was young. Brother, don’t touch me casually. I might not be able to hold back my strength next time.”
After speaking, she flung Mao Wei away.
Mao Wei stumbled back several steps before regaining his balance. When he felt his right arm was twisted, he glared at Hua Changxi, filled with both anger and shame, “You…”
Hua Changxi met his gaze with a detached expression, which made Mao Wei dare not utter any harsh threats.
“What are you still standing around for? Hurry up and move the medicinal herbs.”
Mao Wei only dared to curse and urge Hua Changxi to move the herbs quickly, keeping several meters away from her.
Hua Changxi loaded the medicinal herbs onto a cart and pulled them away. As she passed the storeroom entrance, she glanced at Yu Hui again. She didn’t believe he hadn’t heard the commotion between her and the male laborer, yet he had ignored it.
What was wrong with this person? Their relationship had been fine just yesterday, and she had even helped him. Why had he turned his back on her today?
Was it because she had asked for the withered herbs yesterday?
But the withered herbs were discarded. Her taking them wouldn’t cause Yu Hui any trouble, nor would it result in any loss of profit for him. What was there to mind?
She had helped with strenuous labor for an entire afternoon, and receiving the withered herbs as compensation was reasonable.
Could it be that this Yu Hui was someone who was unwilling to make even the slightest effort?
If that were the case, then such a person wouldn’t be worth associating with.
Later, when Hua Changxi came to collect medicinal herbs and saw Yu Hui, she would still greet him as usual. After he failed to respond several times, she stopped bothering him when she came to the storeroom.
The people from the Sixth Bureau saw Hua Changxi pull back a cart of difficult-to-wash medicinal herbs. First, they were surprised, and then they began to gloat.
“Lost favor so quickly?”
As Hua Changxi passed a ditch, a woman loudly sneered. This immediately caused a roar of laughter from the people on both sides of the ditch.
“Hua Changxi always wakes up late, and every day she brings back only easy-to-wash medicinal herbs. Look, she’s angered everyone.”
Wang Yun Chu said gleefully to her colleagues.
On the other side, after hearing the woman’s words, Hua Changxi took several deep breaths. She had intended to de-escalate the situation, but after enduring it, she still couldn’t suppress the burning anger within her.
Therefore, she could no longer hold back!
Hua Changxi put down the cart, walked expressionlessly to the woman, grabbed her hair, and kicked her lower leg forcefully. When the woman knelt in the ditch, she powerfully pushed the woman’s head into the water.
“Ah~”
“Gurgle gurgle~”
“Help~”
“Gurgle gurgle~”
“Help~”
“Gurgle gurgle~”
Hua Changxi held the woman’s head down. Just as she was about to suffocate, she pulled her out of the water. As soon as the woman took a breath, she pushed her head back into the water.
The people on both sides of the ditch were either stunned by fear or something else. At this moment, the entire Sixth Bureau was eerily quiet, with only the woman’s screams and her struggling in the water.
Hua Changxi waited until the woman had drunk enough water and was too weak to even call for help before pulling her out of the water. Looking at the drenched woman, she said in an unusually gentle voice:
“What did you just say? I didn’t hear clearly. Say it again!”
The woman trembled all over, already terrified and disoriented, “I… I didn’t say anything.”
Hua Changxi smiled, “Oh? Then I must have misheard?”
The woman shivered with fear and could no longer suppress the terror in her heart, crying out loudly, “I was wrong, I shouldn’t have spoken carelessly. Please spare me.”
Hua Changxi looked at her for a moment, “Sister, words can lead to trouble. You should take care of yourself.”
The woman nodded vigorously, tears streaming down her face, “I won’t speak carelessly again, and I won’t spread gossip about others anymore.”
Hua Changxi released the woman, returned to the cart, and pulled the medicinal herbs to the washing area designated for Du Ruo’s group. She placed the herbs in the water and began to wash them diligently.
Looking at Hua Changxi, who was washing the herbs with a calm expression, Wang Yun Chu and the others in her group exchanged glances and silently moved a little further away from her.
The ten Third Stewards of the Sixth Bureau had all witnessed the scene just now.
Ling Xiao looked at Du Ruo angrily, “Du Ruo, how do you manage your people? How can you let someone under you arbitrarily beat others? You must give me an explanation, or we’ll go to Steward Leng to settle this.”
The woman who had just been dealt with was her subordinate.
At this moment, Du Ruo’s expression was also not good. She knew Hua Changxi was a bit of a loner, but she hadn’t expected that such a young woman would have violent tendencies and resort to physical violence at the slightest disagreement.
Another steward, Zhou Huilan, also spoke up, “Du Ruo, you really need to manage that newcomer laborer properly. Putting aside everything else, the fact that she sleeps until the hour of 4 AM to 6 AM every day is something that must change.”
“I know that the new laborer is very capable, but that’s no reason for her to break the rules. If others follow her example, how will we manage people in the future?”
Other stewards chimed in, “Exactly.”
Seeing that the other stewards were all criticizing Du Ruo, Ling Xiao was very pleased and added, “And that newcomer laborer and the people in the storeroom…”
Before she could finish speaking, Zhou Huilan interrupted, “Her being on good terms with people in the storeroom is also her capability. Just like you, Steward Ling, being on good terms with Steward Niu from the Fifth Bureau, we didn’t say anything, did we?”
Hearing this, Ling Xiao’s expression immediately turned ugly.
The others ignored her and dispersed.
Du Ruo returned to her group and first inspected the medicinal herbs washed by her subordinates. Finally, she came before Hua Changxi.
The medicinal herbs Hua Changxi brought back today were all very difficult to wash. Du Ruo had initially thought Hua Changxi would wash them slowly, but upon approaching, she discovered that the hairy and thorny herbs, which could easily injure one’s hands if not careful, did not affect Hua Changxi’s washing speed at all.
In just a short while, more than half of the medicinal herbs were washed clean.
Seeing Steward Du approach, Hua Changxi smiled and greeted her, “Steward Du, is there something you need?”
Du Ruo looked at Hua Changxi, who had recently subdued people from other groups in the water. Seeing that she was not showing any guilt but instead greeted her with a smile, Du Ruo admitted that she was inferior in terms of psychological fortitude.
“Your late rising is against the rules of the Labor Department. From now on, you must wake up before the hour of 5 AM to 7 AM.”
Hua Changxi was silent for a moment, then smiled and agreed, “Steward Du, I wash medicinal herbs very quickly. After I complete my daily tasks, can I arrange my time freely?”
Du Ruo nodded. Before leaving, she hesitated and then said, “The people in the Labor Department are very chaotic. Because the work is heavy, the identity verification is not very strict.”
“Don’t look down on the Labor Department being at the bottom of the Medical Affairs Department. The three bureaus and nine storerooms are not short of capable people. The male laborers are not short of martial artists, and the female laborers each have their own connections.”
“Don’t rely on your strength and disregard everyone else.”
“Also, some paths that seem like shortcuts are actually filled with pitfalls you can’t even imagine.”
“One must still live steadily and honestly. You are still young, so be careful not to take the wrong path.”
Hua Changxi knew Du Ruo was referring to the rumors of the past two days. She smiled and said, “Thank you for your guidance, Steward Du.”
After Du Ruo left, Hua Changxi sped up her washing. Since she had to wake up early from now on, she could only finish her tasks earlier and use the remaining time to cultivate.
Because Hua Changxi had acted fiercely and taught the woman who gossiped about her a lesson, her ears were finally clear. She no longer attracted pointing and gossiping wherever she went, and no one dared to spread rumors about her in front of her.
However, the attitude of the people in the storeroom towards her became even more hostile.
Every time Hua Changxi went to collect medicinal herbs, Mao Wei would assign her the most difficult ones to wash. For ordinary people, not only would they get injured easily, but due to their size, transporting them would require more than ten round trips, making it strenuous and time-consuming.
Seeing that Yu Hui did not stop him, Mao Wei became even more arrogant. He no longer dared to touch her, but he often teased Hua Changxi verbally in front of everyone.
“Brother Yu really has good taste. Look at our Sister Changxi, although she’s young, her chest is…”
“Crack~”
The people in the storeroom were listening with great interest when a figure flashed by, followed by a ‘crack’ sound. Upon closer inspection, they saw Mao Wei’s face being held by Hua Changxi, his jaw dislocated.
“Ah~”
Hua Changxi increased the force in her hands. Mao Wei whimpered in agony, blood flowing from his mouth, “Since you can’t speak human words, there’s no need for this mouth to exist.”
Seeing this, Yu Hui jumped up from his chair in shock, his eyelids twitching as he looked at Hua Changxi, stammering, “Stop… no, let go, let go quickly!”
Hua Changxi glanced at Yu Hui, then flung Mao Wei away, this time directly onto the ground.
Mao Wei lay on the ground, spitting out a mouthful of blood, mixed with a few broken teeth.
The people in the storeroom, seeing this, all instinctively moved further away from Hua Changxi.
“Brother Yu…”
Hearing Hua Changxi’s call, Yu Hui trembled.
Hua Changxi looked at him, “Brother Yu, I don’t want trouble, but if trouble finds me, I will never back down from it.”
She knew that she was in a vulnerable position in the Labor Department. She needed to stay in the Labor Department to cultivate and improve her medical skills. When faced with oppression, she should have endured it silently.
However, when faced with the storeroom people shamelessly making vulgar jokes about her, she simply couldn’t stand it.
If she endured even this, her Dao heart would be unstable.
