Land reclamation looks like manual labor, but in reality, it’s all about coordination.
In her previous life during hospital rotations, Su Jinxiu had seen far more complex department scheduling. Managing a dozen laborers was, to her, overqualified work.
Early the next morning, bright white lines appeared on the rocky slope.
They were division markings drawn with lime powder.
“Brother Zhang, take four men and focus on prying out these big rocks. Move them to the low area on the east side to fill the pits,” Su Jinxiu instructed, holding a rough map drawn in charcoal. “Zhao Laosan, you take five men to sift the gravel and lay the road. The remaining soil should be loosened.”
Such clear task division was something the villagers had never seen before.
Normally, everyone just rushed in together, swinging tools randomly, wasting effort and often getting in each other’s way.
“Whoever that is, take the weeds to the downwind side and burn them. Keep the ash for fertilizer—don’t waste it!”
Standing on a large boulder, Su Jinxiu’s voice wasn’t loud, but it carried clearly across the field.
Huo Chen didn’t sit in the wheelchair today. Instead, he leaned on the crutches Su Jinxiu made for him.
His black short robe had been washed until slightly faded, but it only made his tall, upright figure more striking.
Although his right leg still couldn’t bear weight, the moment he stood there, those hawk-like eyes sweeping across the crowd made every man instinctively work harder.
No one dared slack off.
“Lady Su’s method is amazing!” Zhang the butcher wiped his sweat, looking at the orderly scene with genuine admiration. “In just half a day, we’ve done more than two days of blind work!”
“That’s called professionalism,” Su Jinxiu said proudly, lifting her chin. She turned to Huo Chen. “How about it, husband? Am I doing my ‘foreman’ job well?”
Huo Chen didn’t answer.
His gaze, however, drifted past the busy crowd toward the edge of the woods.
There was a figure peeking out furtively like a ghost.
Li the widower.
Yesterday’s incident with the gambler Li having his hand broken clearly hadn’t taught him a lesson—if anything, it had deepened his resentment.
Huo Chen’s eyes returned to the field, landing on three newly arrived laborers.
They had come early this morning, claiming to be refugees from a neighboring village.
They looked thin and malnourished, but Huo Chen immediately noticed something off.
Their hands.
Truly farm-working hands have thick calluses on the palms and tiger’s mouth. But these three—although their palms were deliberately smeared with dirt—their fingertips were smooth. Instead, faint calluses were hidden between their fingers.
That was the mark of someone who frequently rolled dice or held daggers.
More importantly, although they were swinging hoes, their eyes kept drifting toward Su Jinxiu, exchanging subtle signals.
“The three of them are a problem,” Huo Chen said quietly beside her, low enough that only she could hear. “The one in gray on the left, the pockmarked one in the middle, and the one-eyed man in the back.”
Su Jinxiu’s eyes flickered, but her expression remained calm. She still smiled.
“How so?”
“They have unstable stances but hidden strength. They’re thugs who’ve learned a few tricks,” Huo Chen said flatly. “And they’ve been watching where you keep your money pouch.”
“Li the widower’s people?” Su Jinxiu immediately guessed the mastermind. “That old lecher really doesn’t give up.”
“Want me to cripple them now?” Huo Chen’s fingers subconsciously tightened on the top of his crutch, where a sharp iron spike was hidden.
“No need.” Su Jinxiu stopped him, a cunning light flashing in her eyes. “Free labor delivered to my door—I’d be wasting it otherwise.”
“That rocky area no one wants to touch? Perfect. They look energetic.”
Lunch time arrived.
Today’s meal was cabbage stewed with vermicelli, mixed with large chunks of crispy pork cracklings. The aroma was so rich it made people’s mouths water instantly.
Su Jinxiu stood by the food barrel with a big ladle.
“Come, come, new brothers! You’ve worked hard—I’ll give you extra portions!”
She smiled warmly and generously served each of the three men a heaping bowl, even adding extra pieces of crackling.
The three men were flattered, exchanging glances, secretly mocking her foolishness.
“Thank you, Lady Su!” the pockmarked man said, pretending gratitude, while his eyes brazenly scanned her body.
“Eat more. There’s heavy work this afternoon,” Su Jinxiu smiled even brighter—though the smile didn’t reach her eyes.
In the afternoon, she directly assigned them to the northern section of the rocky slope.
It was the hardest area—solid embedded boulders that couldn’t be dug out with hoes alone. They needed iron rods and brute force.
“This area is yours,” Su Jinxiu said, pointing. “We pay per piece. If you clear this section today, each of you gets an extra ten wen.”
Hearing there was money—and after a full meal—the three didn’t think twice. They grabbed heavy hammers and started working.
From a distance, Huo Chen sat under the shade of a tree, watching them swing hammers under the blazing sun, sparks flying off the stones.
A faint, almost imperceptible curve appeared at the corner of his mouth.
He had examined that slab of blue stone before. Its texture was hard and its grain complex. Forget those three half-baked men—even experienced stonemasons would have to shed layers of skin to work it.
“You’re tricking them,” Huo Chen said flatly as he watched Su Jinxiu walk back.
“This is called rational use of resources,” Su Jinxiu replied, handing him a pot of cold tea. “Since they want to cause trouble, we might as well make them generate some value first. By the time they finish chiseling this stone, they won’t even have the strength to stir up trouble.”
Sure enough, less than an hour later, the three men could no longer hold on.
This kind of high-intensity labor was simply not something idle loafers could endure. The man with the pockmarked face had his hands split open from the shock of the hammer, his palms covered in blood. The one-eyed man was completely exhausted, collapsed on the ground, gasping for breath.
“I’m done! Is this even human work?!” the gray-clothed man cursed, throwing down his hammer and preparing to collapse.
“Hey? Sir, that won’t do.”
Butcher Zhang had appeared at some point, holding a butcher knife in one hand and slowly sharpening it against a whetstone with the other. The grinding sound was slow and steady—shhh, shhh.
His tall, muscular frame and full face of flesh made him look like a iron tower standing in the way.
“Lady Su said it clearly—take the money, eat the meat, and finish the job. Anyone who quits halfway…” Butcher Zhang grinned, revealing a row of white teeth. The butcher knife in his hand flashed coldly under the sun. “Then you’re ruining my reputation, Old Zhang’s.”
The three thugs looked at the gleaming blade, then at the “cripple” watching them from afar, and immediately thought of Li the Scoundrel’s miserable fate.
They couldn’t win. They really couldn’t win.
“We’ll work… we’ll work, alright!” the pockmarked man gritted his teeth, tears in his eyes as he picked up the hammer again.
Su Jinxiu watched from a distance and nodded in satisfaction.
“Looks like Butcher Zhang has talent for being a supervisor.”
Huo Chen took a sip of tea. The slightly bitter taste turned mellow in his throat.
“Evil people need other evil people to restrain them. You’re quite skilled in this,” he said.
“That’s right. To deal with scoundrels, you have to be even more unreasonable than they are,” Su Jinxiu stretched lazily. “But I think this is only the appetizer. That widower Li is very devious—he’s definitely still planning something.”
Huo Chen’s gaze drifted again toward the hidden corner of the forest. No one was there anymore.
But the air seemed to carry a faint trace of malice.
“No matter what he plans,” Huo Chen said calmly, his fingers lightly tapping his crutch, “if he dares reach out, I’ll chop off his claws.”
The words were spoken lightly, almost casually—but they carried a chilling decisiveness.
Su Jinxiu turned to look at him.
In the sunset, his sharp profile stood out clearly. Even in his current fallen state, there was still an edge to him that made him impossible to ignore.
Strangely enough… she found him a little pleasing to the eye.
“Alright then, I’ll leave my safety to you, Security Captain.”
“Security?” Huo Chen frowned. “What kind of strange word is that?”
“It means… a great hero who keeps peace,” Su Jinxiu improvised smoothly, smiling as she shoved the teapot into his arms. “Another cup? Warm your throat. We’ve still got a tough battle tonight.”
PS: That old fox Li is really persistent, huh! Everyone, should we let him send more manpower for free labor, or cut him down cleanly and decisively?