Unfortunately,
that wish could not come true.
The fire lasted only five minutes before the raw materials were gloriously sacrificed.
What a waste.
Huang Xiaoxiao let out a soft sigh.
Sure enough, heaven was fair.
When it opens one window, it closes another.
Her plan to shock her family had fallen through.
Fortunately, she still had another type of material.
She had not used any of the materials for making explosive beads.
Explosive beads were the most basic form of weapon forging.
In her previous life, she had forged them hundreds, if not thousands, of times.
The entire process was already engraved into her memory.
Following those memories, she began working.
First, a small fire.
She lit the fire and immediately started shoveling snow.
Fortunately, if there was one thing this world had in abundance, it was snow.
Otherwise, she would have been in trouble.
As the flames gradually weakened, Huang Xiaoxiao quickly added the materials.
She did not dare relax for even a moment.
When the neighbors saw her shoveling snow again, they could not help coming out to watch.
“Come out, come out! That woman is at it again!”
“Which woman? Doing what?”
“Who else? That crazy woman!”
“The crazy woman? The one living in Major General Zhuo’s house?”
“That’s right, her.”
“Really? I’m coming! What is she doing today?”
People appeared upstairs, downstairs, in the yards, on top of walls…
In short, quite a crowd gathered.
Seeing everyone looking at her, Huang Xiaoxiao politely smiled.
Then she continued forging.
Once the snow around the cauldron was gone, she moved elsewhere.
In any case, she could not let the fire grow too large.
Just as success seemed within reach, excitement got the better of her and she forgot to control the flames.
Bang!
A muffled sound came from inside the cauldron.
Huang Xiaoxiao’s body trembled.
The crowd trembled as well.
With a dark expression, she lifted the lid.
The materials inside had turned into powder.
Still, a setback like this was not enough to defeat her.
“Come on!”
She clenched her fists and pumped them twice, cheering herself on.
Carefully pouring the powder into a box, she preserved it.
After all, it was proof of her efforts and success. It could not be wasted.
After cleaning the cauldron, she looked at the spot where it had originally been placed.
The surrounding snow had been completely shoveled away.
She decided to move it elsewhere.
The failure had definitely happened because there was not enough snow.
That was a lesson learned.
In the future, she would have to examine the environment before forging.
Huang Xiaoxiao summarized the reason for failure and wrote it down in her little notebook.
The second attempt began.
This time, she did not dare slack off at all.
The materials were expensive.
If she kept wasting them, what if Zhuo Yi stopped buying them for her?
She had to produce results.
Besides, she had just obtained such an incredible cheat ability.
She could not remain stuck on the very first step.
No matter what, she had to overcome this obstacle.
Unfortunately, heaven did not cooperate.
Just as she was about to succeed—
“Huang Xiaoxiao!”
The sudden shout startled her.
Her hand shook, and the snow on her shovel spilled onto the ground.
Immediately afterward—
Bang!
The familiar sound rang out.
Oh.
Failed again.
A chorus of sighs and groans rose from the crowd.
Seeing this, Zhuo Wenxuan’s face filled with anger.
This woman really was useless.
What a waste of materials.
Huang Xiaoxiao took a deep breath.
Then she turned around and displayed a perfect eight-tooth smile.
“May I ask if you need something?”
“What? Am I not allowed to come unless I need something?”
Zhuo Wenxuan sneered.
“So, what exactly do you need?”
Huang Xiaoxiao asked.
“Stop smiling if you don’t want to. Your smile is disgusting.”
Zhuo Wenxuan rolled her eyes.
“I heard my brother bought you a lot of forging materials yesterday. It’s a waste giving them to you. Hand them over.”
She stretched out her hand without the slightest politeness.
Heh.
You just said they were bought for me, and now you’re asking for them?
And what do you mean they’re wasted on me?
Do you even know how amazing I am?
Yesterday I created a storage space over a million square meters in size.
Over a million.
Do you know how huge that is?
You’d be scared to death if I told you.
“Hey! I’m talking to you! Are you mute?”
Seeing Huang Xiaoxiao lower her head and remain silent, Zhuo Wenxuan became even angrier.
“Oh, I’m out of materials.”
Huang Xiaoxiao lied without blinking.
“What? Out? How is that possible?”
Zhuo Wenxuan did not believe her.
There had been dozens of sets.
How could they be gone already?
Her eyes widened with anger.
“It was you! You wasted them all, didn’t you? I told everyone you were useless and couldn’t forge anything, but nobody believed me.”
Pointing a trembling finger at Huang Xiaoxiao, she said,
“You just wait.”
She would expose Huang Xiaoxiao’s true colors and make her brother divorce her.
“Then I’ll wait. Do you think I’m afraid of you? If you want my materials, keep dreaming.”
After Zhuo Wenxuan left, Huang Xiaoxiao leisurely took out a set of materials from her storage space.
“Didn’t she just say she was out?”
The people watching widened their eyes.
So this woman had been lying.
Well…
That was…
The crowd exchanged looks, not knowing what to say.
Huang Xiaoxiao moved the cauldron again.
What a waste of snow.
If this still failed, there would not be enough snow left in the yard.
She wondered whether it would snow again later.
Hopefully there would be a heavy snowfall.
Preferably one that covered the entire yard immediately.
Huang Xiaoxiao silently prayed.
The third attempt began.
Not only had the number of spectators not decreased, but there were even more now.
Huang Xiaoxiao glanced at them indifferently.
She felt these people were far too bored.
What was so interesting about watching someone forge?
Shovel.
Shovel.
Shovel.
As the snow on the ground gradually disappeared, the object inside the cauldron slowly took shape.
This time it had to succeed.
If it failed again, she truly had no solution left.
This was the thickest snow pile in the yard.
She tossed in the final shovel of snow.
Then she stood quietly and waited.
Fortunately, she was not disappointed this time.
The explosive beads were successfully forged.
As the flames died out, no sounds came from inside the cauldron.
“Did it succeed?”
“Was that a success?”
“There wasn’t any explosion. It should be successful, right?”
The crowd whispered among themselves, all staring curiously at Huang Xiaoxiao.
She did not disappoint them.
Opening the lid, she revealed half a cauldron full of explosive beads lying quietly inside.
“Haha! Success!”
Huang Xiaoxiao laughed loudly.
Finally.
It had succeeded.
That had not been easy.
She had practically shoveled away all the snow.
Now she wondered how effective they were.
Curious, she picked up one explosive bead and threw it at the ground.
Pop.
A tiny sound reached her ears.
If her hearing had not been good, she might not have heard it at all.
So it was just like before.
Freshly forged items were…
Well…
Basic versions.
They needed further refinement before their true potential could emerge.
“Did she throw something just now?”
Someone who had been watching her noticed the throwing motion but heard almost nothing.
“She did, but…”
The people standing closer wore strange expressions.
“What happened? Tell us!”
The curious crowd gathered around.
And so the news spread:
Huang Xiaoxiao was a useless spirit-forger.
The weapons she forged had no power whatsoever and were no better than children’s toys.
Even Lu Xiao, who rarely left the house, heard the rumor.
Not to mention the people in the military.
Lin Ruiyang glanced at Zhuo Yi several times, looking as if he wanted to say something but could not bring himself to do so.