1890: I'm in Hextech Brawl in America

Chapter 11 Xiaolin, Sugar Cube, and Leng Hu

Fang Jianqiu turned his head to look alertly.

It turned out to be that skinny child again, who was picking up sugarcane as he approached, peeking out cautiously.

He noticed Fang Jianqiu watching him, so he looked around again to make sure the overseers had just left, and then immediately jogged over to Fang Jianqiu's side.

"Little brother, is there something you need?" Fang Jianqiu asked gently.

The child's expression froze when he heard him call out like that:

"I don't... uh, big brother, just call me Xiaolin. My sister asked me to come over. This... this is for you..."

With a solemn expression, Xiaolin rummaged in his pocket and finally pulled out a dark brown, square-shaped object, which he then handed over.

She then stole a glance at the older boy in front of her, and only felt relieved when she saw that he didn't suspect anything.

"Phew, my older sister said I shouldn't say I'm a girl, I almost blurted it out!"

This was the first time Fang Jianqiu had ever heard this child speak so much in one breath. His voice had the ethereal and clear quality unique to children his age, but... it was a bit too spoiled?

He didn't think much of it, after all, he hadn't had much interaction with children before.

He looked at the browned cube in Kobayashi's hand and recognized it as a sugar cube made from boiled cane sugar, which he had seen in the shop yesterday.

This one costs 20 cents!

An adult male laborer's monthly salary is ten dollars, but due to various penalties and deductions, he's lucky if he gets half of that.

In other words, these people, who might spend their entire lives working in the sugar factory, have to treat even a piece of sugar as a luxury.

Fang Jianqiu looked at Xiaolin and saw that her face was full of reluctance, but she still tried her best to stretch out her hand and hand over the candy.

A love for sweets is in every child's nature.

Fang Jianqiu smiled, took the candy from her hand, broke it in half with a forceful snap, and then said:

"My name is Fang Jianqiu. I'll keep half of this as a thank you gift, and the other half as a greeting gift for meeting Xiaolin. Please accept it."

Upon hearing this, Kobayashi looked over in surprise and asked:

"Brother Fang, are you really going to give me half of this?!"

Fang Jianqiu nodded with a smile.

Xiaolin happily accepted the half of the sugar cube, but then tried to break it in half like Fang Jianqiu.

Unfortunately, she was too weak; her face turned red from straining, but the half-sugar cube remained motionless.

She could only look to Fang Jianqiu for help:

"Brother Fang, I want to make the candy like you, and give the other half to my sister!"

Fang Jianqiu stared at her blankly for a while before nodding seriously, taking the candy from her hand, breaking it in half, and handing it to Xiaolin.

Xiaolin stared at his palm for a while before putting a slightly larger piece of candy into his pocket, leaving the smaller piece, and carefully licked it with his tongue.

A joyful expression immediately appeared on his face, which was covered in mud and ash.

Fang Jianqiu looked at her, and the surging excitement he felt after just obtaining the power of the Hextech runes subsided. A question began to emerge in his mind:

What can I do? Or rather, what should I do?

The two, one big and one small, didn't talk for long before they went back to their work before the supervisor arrived.

......

As evening approached, Fang Jianqiu's efficiency in cutting sugarcane had decreased considerably, given the scorching sun and the harsh conditions in the fields.

Even machines need overheating and cooling, let alone people.

Fang Jianqiu naturally didn't stubbornly speed up the felling. Unlocking the runes was important, but he couldn't afford to damage his own body.

Fang Jianqiu also discovered another piece of bad news: the experience required to unlock runes had increased.

After unlocking the first rune, he chopped down nearly a thousand sugarcane stalks.

However, the experience bar only increased by a quarter, but a rough calculation shows that the experience points have doubled!

In other words, to unlock the Prismatic Tier runes, he needs to cut a total of 4000 sugarcane stalks.

"I wonder if the experience gain is so high with each level up? Or is it because the next rune to be unlocked is a Prismatic Tier rune, which requires so much experience? If it's the former, that's bad news..."

Although he had some worries, Fang Jianqiu was not discouraged. No matter what, he had to unlock the Prism-Tier Rune first. The experience gained now was just another day of being a beast of burden.

Moreover, the afternoon wasn't all bad news; there was also a pleasant surprise.

Not far from Fang Jianqiu, a large rat lay sprawled on its side, spitting blood, clearly already dead.

It suddenly appeared from the field not long ago, darted to Fang Jianqiu's feet, and he instinctively kicked it, dying on the spot.

To this, Fang Jianqiu could only say:

"Brother Mouse, your legs feel great!"

Of course, this unexpected gain didn't mean that Fang Jianqiu would get an extra meal tonight, but rather that after Fang Jianqiu killed the rat with one kick, his experience bar visibly increased.

After a rough calculation, Fang Jianqiu concluded:

One mouse equals fifty sugarcanes.

If he had eighty mice to kick, he could immediately get the Bright Sword Hextech Gunblade...

Whether the conclusion is accurate or not is not important. What is important is that it confirmed for Fang Jianqiu that killing animals can also provide experience!

One mouse is equivalent to fifty sugarcanes.

That......

What about people?

......

The sun disappeared below the coastline right on time, and the sky grew dark. The thousands of laborers in the plantation could finally enjoy the cool night breeze.

They continued to work wearily until the moon was high in the sky, at which point the bronze bell signaled the end of the workday.

Fang Jianqiu hung the large rat on his waist, intending to take it back and exchange it for some vegetables.

As he blended into the main group, he saw Kobayashi not far away.

I wanted to greet her, but she seemed very uneasy. She just kept her head down and walked quickly, occasionally looking up but only in one direction.

Fang Jianqiu looked around but couldn't find the mute girl. He had a bad feeling.

Since they lived in different places, they quickly separated, and Kobayashi soon disappeared from his sight.

This feeling of wanting to do something but being unable to make Fang Jianqiu feel increasingly frustrated.

He looked at the laughing and joking foreigners by the dirt road, and at the long guns and short cannons they carried.

I could barely contain my urge to lash out.

But the more he acted this way, the more indifferent, even vacant, Fang Jianqiu's expression became.

It's a state where all emotions are buried deep inside, leaving only a calm demeanor.

Before he transmigrated, Fang Jianqiu, who was about to go on stage to fight, would always do this whenever his master and he went to challenge those famous martial arts schools.

I remember after a fierce fight, one of my master's old friends pointed at Fang Jianqiu, who was still wiping his sweat, and said:

"This kid usually seems quite clever, so why does he freeze up as soon as he gets on stage? He looks really dazed."

The master simply smiled and replied calmly:

"This kid is definitely stubborn, but while others are stubborn oxen, he's a stubborn tiger!"

"A tiger makes no sound before it pounces on its prey."

So from then on, people in the martial arts circles of Yan and Zhao began to add the words "Leng Hu" (愣虎, meaning "clumsy tiger") before his name.

......

Fang Jianqiu stared blankly at the foreigners for a while before looking away.

Now, his tiger teeth and claws are sharp enough, but his tiger skin and bones are not yet strong enough.

We need to wait a little longer... just a little longer...

......

The large group of laborers staggered back to the camp.

Fang Jianqiu had no interest in wandering around elsewhere and went straight to the house.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he entered the door, he saw a familiar figure.