The firewood comes in various sizes, the smallest about three fingers thick, which only needs to be chopped into sections.

The larger pieces are numerous, some as thick as a person’s leg, others as wide as a bowl, all needing to be split into three-finger thickness.

Yin Le picked up the axe, which was quite heavy, but having gotten used to chopping wood in the canteen, wielding an axe wasn’t an issue for her.

However... the pile of wood to be chopped was taller than her!

Yin Le swallowed a gulp of saliva, her inner self screaming: Ah Wang, why did you go and bring back so much wood for no reason!

She put down the axe and went to look at the two leaky wooden buckets. There was water in the cistern, so she filled a bucket, and the water gushed out. Though the stream was thin, it flowed surprisingly fast; before a fifth of the incense stick had burned, the bucket was empty.

Therefore, to fill the cistern, each trip she took couldn’t take more than a fifth of the incense stick’s burning time.

Besides, a shallow layer of water was left at the bottom of the bucket, not completely drained.

So, she could run dozens of more trips, filling up the cistern bit by bit.

But neither of these options was a good one.

One would run her to death, the other would exhaust her to death.

The incense was half gone, and Yin Le dared not waste any more time. She immediately organized the issues she needed to solve and ran to the lounge chair to ask about the trick to chopping wood without tiring her arms, and how to keep more water in the buckets during the water-fetching.

The questions were well-asked, all crucial, and what she urgently needed to master.

Qin Yao demonstrated while observing Yin Le’s performance, suddenly realizing her apprentice still had some flair for comprehension.

Words from Ah Wang that day echoed once again in her mind.

"Yin Le is very smart, learns quickly, has a good memory, and can endure hardships. Although she’s a bit older, she has the aptitude for martial arts. Madam, perhaps you could give it a try."

Thus, on top of fetching water and chopping wood, Qin Yao added a five-kilometer evening run to Yin Le’s basic training tasks.

And after dinner, there would be randomized martial arts lessons, depending on her mood.

The apprentice was indeed too old for the basic skills of children, and Qin Yao didn’t have three to five years to exclusively train her.

So, a crash course became an unspoken agreement between the master and apprentice.

Considering Yin Le’s situation, Qin Yao decided to train her in short bursts of explosive strength.

Basic skills require accumulation; it takes three to five years to build solid physical strength and endurance.

So this could be integrated into daily life, such as fetching water and chopping wood as household chores.

The five-kilometer evening run was mainly to practice Yin Le’s lung capacity; to train her Qi so she could sustain longer in explosive bursts.

And speed is indispensable for sudden bursts.

Quick, accurate, and ruthless was Yin Le’s first lesson to master.

However, before that, she had to first choose a weapon suitable for her.

Coincidentally, the blacksmith from Lower River Village sent a message saying the eighty-pound iron rod Qin Yao ordered was ready and asked her to pick it up at her convenience. Qin Yao took Yin Le, who had just finished work at the canteen, along with her.

After days of sunshine, today’s rare cloudy weather brought considerable coolness.

Qin Yao didn’t drive; she quickly walked to Lower River Village with a tired-looking Yin Le.

First, to allow some time on the return journey to get familiar with the heavy iron rod.

Second... to have more conversations with her apprentice and understand the child’s current state.

However, upon glancing at Yin Le’s considerable dark circles and eye bags, Qin Yao clicked her tongue and slightly slowed her pace, asking: 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

"Have you adapted over the past few days?"

"No." Yin Le shook her head, answering honestly.

Even though she knew this answer wouldn’t please her master, she dared not lie, lest she suffers worse consequences.

Because the previous day, she had deeply realized the consequences of not speaking honestly with courtesy.

That day, when her master asked how the water-fetching was coming along, she falsely replied it’s going okay. Immediately, the hole in the bucket went from the size of a child’s little finger to an adult’s thumb!

Qin Yao acknowledged and asked with concern, "Where are you not adjusting?"

Yin Le: "Not getting enough sleep."

Yes, she could handle fetching water and chopping wood, and grit through the five-kilometer evening run; she could even endure the ’beating and extra practice’ after dinner.

But one thing only: a severe lack of sleep!

To fill the home’s cistern before Mrs. Li made breakfast, she had to get up at 1 a.m.; otherwise, there was no way to fill it using those two leaky buckets.

Finally completing the water-fetching task, it was already dawn. After hasty tidying to wash away the sweat, she had to rush to work at the stationery factory canteen, working nonstop until after noon.

After that, she had to chop wood, mending any irregular pieces, and before she knew it, it was time for the five-kilometer run.

After the run, she was so exhausted that it was fortunate her master allowed her to eat at home, sparing her the effort of cooking. Otherwise, Yin Le wouldn’t even want dinner, preferring to rest a bit before the nighttime extra practice.

After dinner, thanks to several delightful weather days, extra practice was naturally scheduled.

The extra practice wasn’t particularly tiring; chiefly she had to dodge her master’s stones or fists flying from all directions. Just stand still and use the techniques taught to evade.

However, her physical and mental energy were depleted during the day, with her brain frequently not in gear; these past few days, bruises from stones and fists covered any part her clothes could hide.

Still, her master set the rule: she couldn’t retire to bed without dodging her three attacks during nightly practice.

Thus, naturally, the return time changed from late afternoon (7 PM) to late at night (12 AM).

Roughly sleeping two hours, she had to get up and start a new day of water-fetching, wood-chopping, and working at the canteen. Yin Le admired herself for being able to wake up on time at 1 a.m.

Her face grew visibly wearier, and this morning, Sister-in-law He and Second Sister-in-law Qiu even asked, "Yue Niang, have you been fighting ghosts late at night?"

Not only do female ghosts love scholars, but male ghosts also admire beauties. This sinister romance is highly dangerous; thus, both Mrs. He and Mrs. Qiu watched Yin Le’s diminishing vitality with increasing concern.

After all, Qin Yao merely had Yin Le fetching some water, chopping some wood, and running around in the village at dusk. Not being in the situation, they couldn’t possibly know the pitfalls.

Yin Le wanted to explain but feared painting her master as some absolute demon, so she never explained the hardships in detail.

Let them misunderstand. Wait until I undergo a glorious transformation and leave them amazed!

Seeing her apprentice’s shift from looking utterly miserable to quietly pleased, Qin Yao affectionately patted her head, "Outstanding spirit."

Yin Le immediately perked up, "Master, rest assured, I absolutely won’t bring disgrace to our school!"

Qin Yao chuckled, slowed her pace further, and pulled out a bag of sugar from her bosom, "Sanlang and Si Niang saved these, leaving them for Senior Sister’s sweet tooth."

Yin Le, delighted, took the bag. Inside were light yellow pumpkin candies. She popped one into her mouth, letting the rich pumpkin fragrance fill her mouth, its subtle sweetness pervading her heart, alleviating much of her exhaustion.

"Tasty?" Qin Yao asked.

Yin Le nodded eagerly.

Qin Yao said, "The two mentioned wanting new hairstyles for school tomorrow."

Yin Le paused slightly, then burst into laughter, eating three pumpkin candies in one go, "No problem!"

She swore to make Third Brother and Fourth Sister the most dazzling children at school tomorrow!