At night, a bonfire was set up in the open space of the mine, and the blazing flames dispersed the darkness and brought warmth.
The blue sheep and other prey that Qin Yun had hunted during the day were skinned and set up on the fire for barbecue. A mine chef carefully applied the seasonings, and the air was filled with a mouth-watering aroma.
The originally deserted mine suddenly became extremely lively due to the arrival of the large team of people. The miners were busy making preparations before resuming work under the command of the mine supervisor.
After a winter, the iron ore stored in the Foundry Hall has been basically exhausted, and new materials are urgently needed.
"In two days, more people will come, and the family has decided to expand the scale of this black iron mine." Manager Wang handed the wine gourd to Qin Yun: "But you will definitely not be able to see it!"
Qin Yun was not polite and took the gourd and took a sip.
As a result, I almost choked to death on the spot - the wine in the gourd was so strong that swallowing it down my throat was like swallowing a stream of fire that flowed into my stomach.
Manager Wang laughed loudly: "My gourd contains 20 years of aged wine. You have to take a small sip when you drink it for the first time."
This guy must have done it on purpose!
Qin Yun really didn't know whether to laugh or cry, but he couldn't argue with the other party. It was just a small joke.
Taking the wine gourd back from Qin Yun's hand, the rough and arrogant steward of the Forging Hall took a sip.
Wiping the foam from his mouth, he said with some emotion: "Very few young people today are willing to come to the mountains to exercise. They prefer to stay in the comfortable city. Qin Yun, although you are...how to say
Come on...it’s a blessing in disguise!”
Speaking the truth after drinking, although Manager Wang was not drunk yet, he obviously had something to say to Qin Yun.
"A blessing in disguise? Please ask Manager Wang for advice!" Qin Yun couldn't help but feel curious.
Manager Wang smiled and lowered his voice and said, "Did you know? This winter, our Qin family has five mines that have problems and will not be able to resume work for at least two or three months. The owner of the family will be furious, and many people will be in trouble!"
"What went wrong? Was it attacked by a monster? It's not like we won't be able to resume work for two or three months!"
Qin Yun was very surprised. If he was attacked by a monster, the most casualties would be the guards. Wouldn't the monster destroy the mining facilities?
"Don't underestimate the monsters in Manglong Mountain. There are several kinds of monsters that can burrow into the mountains. It's easy for them to destroy the mines!" Manager Wang said, "But they are not all monsters. There are also our mortal enemies.
Wu’s evil intentions."
"But I heard that they were also unlucky. A direct descendant of the family took people into the mountains to hunt. As a result, no one is alive or dead, and no corpses are found, haha!"
Qin Yun's heart skipped a beat and he said with a smile: "There is such a thing, it can be regarded as their retribution!"
"Yes!" Manager Wang said happily: "I heard that the boy is very favored by the elders in the clan. The Wu family has offered a reward of 100,000 silver to find him. It is estimated that many people will go into the mountain to search during this time."
"But you have to go back. The mine you are guarding is intact. There should be extra rewards for the family after you go back!"
Over a sip of wine and a mouthful of meat, Qin Yun and Manager Wang sat and chatted. From each other's mouth, he learned everything that had happened in the family in the past few months.
For the new disciples, the most important things should be the new promotion assessment in March and the Dao Hall competition in September.
The new promotion assessment is the first major test for the newcomers, which is related to their status in the hall in the second half of the year.
The content of the new assessment includes two parts, one is family meritorious service, and the other is sword competition.
If a newcomer has obtained enough family merit before three months, he can successfully pass the new promotion assessment.
This is exactly what Manager Wang meant when he said Qin Yun got a blessing in disguise.
And if there are not enough family merits, the newcomers can also compete in sword competition, and the winner will naturally pass the new promotion assessment.
As for the newcomers who have no merit and are inferior to others, the family will not abandon them immediately, but their family rations will be cut in half, and the remaining portion will be distributed to those who pass the new assessment.
Survival of the fittest! If a family does not raise useless people, they will not be able to contribute to the family. New people with no potential cannot be carefully cultivated.
Of course, the sword competition is only for the martial arts hall and the foreign affairs hall, while the weapon making hall and the elixir hall are competing for the ability to refine weapons and elixirs.
Since their personal interests are at stake, the newcomers in each hall are either immersed in training or working hard on tasks. No one wants to become a loser in the new promotion assessment.
In the early morning of the next day, when the mountains and forests were still shrouded in mist, Qin Yun followed Manager Wang on the way back to Qianchao City.
When he returned, he carried much more luggage than when he came, enough to load a pack horse.
Most of them are the furs of wild beasts hunted in winter. Dozens of fine snow wolf pelts made Manager Wang admire them in admiration.
Seeing that Manager Wang liked it, Qin Yun generously gave him three wolf skins, which made him smile from ear to ear.
The Golden Needle Beehive, Snow Fox Xiaoyao, and Qin Yun were placed in animal skin rattan baskets. These two items were not easy to see, so it was necessary to cover them tightly.
After three days of trekking, the two finally returned to Qianchao City.
After not seeing each other for three months, Qianchao City felt much stranger to Qin Yun, but it was as lively and prosperous as before.
After returning to the city, Manager Wang and Qin Yun said goodbye and left.
Qin Yun first went back to the manor to put away his luggage, and then went to the Yaori Building of the Foreign Affairs Hall to hand in the task.
People were coming and going in the Yaori Building. Just as Manager Wang told Qin Yun, as the new examination is approaching, more and more children are eager to accumulate family merit.
Not only the newcomers in the outer hall, but also the official disciples in the inner hall are assessed every year, and their desire for family merit is no weaker than that of the newcomers.
The tired Qin Yun had just stepped into the gate of Yaori Tower when he was stopped by someone.
The face of the person who stopped him was very strange. Qin Yun did not recognize him at all, but his purpose was very clear: "Brother, do you have any extra family merits to sell? I will buy them at a high price!"
Family meritorious deeds can be sold privately, because there are black gold meritorious deeds, and some children who are short of money will sell a few of them for emergencies. Similar transactions are quite prosperous secretly.
Some clever children will even use the family's merits to buy and sell, and make profits from it.
The family and Mu Yangdao turned a blind eye to this and never interfered.
It's just that Qin Yun didn't expect that the other party was so bold that he would actually come to the Yaori Building to solicit business.
"Sorry!" Qin Yun shook his head and said, "I don't have anything extra."
"Two hundred taels for a merit card, two hundred and twenty taels will do!" The man who was rejected by Qin Yun still didn't give up.
Qin Yun ignored him, got rid of the entanglement and went straight to the second floor, but secretly marveled in his heart.
More than two hundred taels of silver are exchanged for one meritorious deed. This price has at least increased several times compared to the original price. If Qin Yun was not short of money now, he would really be tempted.
The second floor is the exclusive area of the Foreign Affairs Hall, and there are also many disciples inside. Qin Yun saw many familiar faces, most of whom were newcomers with him.
It's just that their expressions are different, anxious, happy, dejected...
Qin Yun waited patiently in line for a while and waited until he arrived at the original place to hand in the task.
Looking at the task book with the seal in his hand, the look in the eyes of the steward who once assigned the task of Dongshou Mine to Qin Yun was different. He was stunned, surprised, and unbelievable...
Qin Yun not only successfully completed this difficult task, but also received a good evaluation, which meant that the mine he guarded was intact.
Thinking of the other mines that suffered losses and the unlucky guards, he couldn't help but secretly praise Qin Yun's good luck.
"Qin Yun, a disciple from the Foreign Affairs Hall, has completed the task of guarding the mine in winter, with distinction!" The steward said loudly: "The additional reward is one hundred meritorious deeds, and the main hall will reward an additional fifty meritorious deeds, for a total of one hundred and fifty meritorious deeds!"
Rewards are clearly the rules of a famous family and are the basis for maintaining family inheritance. Those who want to deal with Qin Yun can secretly send him dangerous tasks, but once Qin Yun completes the task, he will deserve no less reward.
It is difficult for anyone to interfere.
The whole place was in an uproar!
One hundred meritorious deeds seems like a lot, but considering the three-month mission period and the dangers, it is definitely not much at all. Otherwise, this mission would not be regarded as a punishment.
But nowadays, family meritorious service is much more valuable. When faced with the new assessment, a hundred meritorious service is definitely eye-catching. Many children have worked hard all winter and still can't earn so much.
While one hundred meritorious deeds are only a rated reward, the main hall has also added an additional reward of fifty meritorious deeds, which is really enviable.
Many of the disciples, while jealous, also secretly regretted why they did not accept this task. Otherwise, with one hundred and fifty meritorious deeds in hand, there would be absolutely no problem in passing the new promotion assessment.
It's just that they have forgotten those who failed the mission, and they don't know what happened to Qin Yun in the mountains. If they had gone, they would have turned into a pile of withered bones in the mountains.
But the newcomers present today were destined to be jealous to death, because Qin Yun, who had just received one hundred and fifty meritorious deeds, then took out a medicine box.
There is a box full of green leaves inside!
After taking over the task of guarding the mine in winter, Qin Yun also took on the task of collecting blue leaf grass. When the snow began to melt half a month ago, he searched around the area around the mine.
Because the black iron mine is located deep in the mountains, many places have not been visited by anyone, so his gains are not small.
With this box of bileaf grass, he obtained twenty-five more family merits.
Those newcomers looked at Qin Yun with eyes that were so hot that they could almost melt copper and iron. Some of them just wanted to pounce on him and snatch away all the merits from Qin Yun's hands, with all kinds of envy and jealousy!
After putting away the one hundred and seventy-five merit medals, Qin Yun left the Yaori Tower and came to the Star-Zhaing Tower under the gaze of many strange eyes.
