Chapter Fifteen An Order Arrived

  "Master Zhang, are you looking for us?"

  Qin Hai stood up from the stir-fry stall and shouted to the familiar person who was rushing over, who turned out to be Zhang Lao San, the blacksmith who had provided them with quenching tools the day before.

  "Ah, Master Qin, what a coincidence! I was worried that I wouldn't be able to find you. I heard that you are from Qingfeng Factory and was just thinking of going there to ask about you." Zhang Lao San wiped the sweat off his forehead as he spoke to Qin Hai and the others.

  Qin Haila pulled over a small stool, inviting Zhang Lao San to sit down and asked: "Master Zhang, have you eaten? If not, let's sit down and eat something together."

  "Ah, good, I haven't eaten yet anyway." Zhang Lao San said, taking out a 10-yuan bill from his pocket and shouting to the stall owner: "Boss, stir-fry a bowl of noodles for me, add more chili peppers, and bring a jug of wine, some small dishes, and put their bills on my account too."

  "This won't do." Qin Hai hastily stepped forward to intercept, but before he could say a word, Zhang Lao San invited him to dinner, which was quite embarrassing. Moreover, eating from someone's mouth is short-lived, and looking at Zhang Lao San's demeanor, it seemed like he had some business to discuss with them.

  Zhang Lao San was an old blacksmith, and his arm strength was not something that Qin Hai could compare to. He used one hand to hold Qin Hai back, then used the other hand to stuff money into the stall owner's hands. The stall owner didn't care who paid the money, seeing the money made him smile with joy, and he immediately brought out wine and a few cheap dishes to go with it.

  Ning Mo was smiling and watching Qin Hai and Zhang Lao San exchange pleasantries. When the vendor brought over some small dishes, he casually picked up a salted boiled peanut and tossed it into his mouth, asking lazily: "Zhang Lao San, do you have something to ask of my brother? Is this wine just for him, or is it for all of us?"

  "Of course, it's all on me. You and Master Qin are together, aren't you? Come on, fill up your glasses, wine and cigarettes are not divided among friends." Zhang Lao San said with a smile.

  That's the cleverness of a small businessman, a matter of a pot of water and wine, there is no need to distinguish between far and near relatives. From yesterday's brief contact, Zhang Lao San has already seen that Qin Hai is a man who values loyalty, if he is enthusiastic towards Qin Hai alone, but cold towards Ning Mo and others, Qin Hai will definitely be unhappy, and may even refuse to help him.

  Yu Haitao and Miao Kei both chuckled and poured themselves a cup of water wine to drink. This type of water wine has a low alcohol content, in the rural south it is considered an ordinary beverage, equivalent to people's habit of drinking beer in later generations. Zhang Lao San was not anxious to talk about his own affairs, but instead held his cup and made a round of toasts with everyone, finally returning to Qin Hai again.

  "Come on, Master Qin, let's have another drink. This is my way of thanking you for teaching me the technique of quenching fire yesterday. You are my teacher, and I'll take a shot first to show respect." Zhang Lao San said.

  Qin Hai touched his bowl with Zhang Lao San, drank half a bowl of wine, and took advantage of Zhang Lao San's continued pouring to ask: "Master Zhang, did you come to Dongjiao this time to find us for something?"

  "Never mind, never mind, let's have a drink first."

  Qin Hai smiled and said: "Drink slowly, if Master Zhang has anything to say, just speak up first, it's better for me to have a clear mind."

  "Haha, it's fine this way." Zhang Lao San had actually been waiting for Qin Hai to say that. He put down the wine jug and said somewhat bashfully: "This matter, actually wasn't brought up by me, but rather that barbarian... Barbarian, you remember who it was, right?"

  "Ah, it was that master who asked us to process the axe head yesterday." Qin Hai nodded in understanding.

  "That's right, it's him." Zhang Lao San said, "This guy is quite arrogant, his mouth isn't reliable, he likes to brag, I've told him many times before, but he never changes, all these years, he's been suffering losses because of that mouth of his."

  "Hmm... being straightforward isn't a bad thing, whether it can be changed or not is irrelevant." Qin Hai didn't know why Zhang Lao San would bring up the topic of Ba Meng's personality, seeing that the other person was speaking enthusiastically, and not wanting to pour cold water on the conversation, he could only respond perfunctorily.

  "Ah, yes, I quite like his straightforwardness... Oh, right, I was saying that Zhang the Third, he took those farm tools you had tempered back to the village yesterday and started bragging everywhere, even challenging others to a contest to see whose pickaxe is more durable."

  "Isn't this a sickness?" Ning Mo sat beside him, listening with great amusement. "No wonder his name is Man Muo, he really has the temperament of a cow."

  "That's right, and then trouble came." said Zhang Lao San.

  "What's going on? Has someone been killed?" Qin Hai asked anxiously, thinking to himself that this barbarian wouldn't have actually used an iron shovel to try something out on someone's head, would he?

  "That's not it," said Zhang Lao San, "it was just that he brought back a knife from his village and had it broken. To be honest, this thing is also the fault of his nephew, who insisted that his own knife was the best steel-edged one, definitely better than Man Ge's iron hoe with a steel edge. Then the two of them tried it out, as a result, Man Ge's iron hoe chopped off a small notch, while his nephew's knife had a big notch broken off."

  "This isn't a big deal, is it? If you're going to gamble, you have to be willing to lose. Can his nephew still ask him to pay for the knife if he loses?" Qin Hai said disapprovingly. The steel they used to make farm tools was already good quality, and with Qin Hai's unique heat treatment process, the iron shovel blades that came out were naturally top-notch. It wasn't unexpected that they would knock a big hole in someone else's knife. Since the other side had initiated the challenge with the Bull Demon King, they couldn't just welch on their debt if they lost."

  Zhang Lao San said, "His nephew didn't ask him to compensate for the knife, but he took a liking to the steel material of his iron shovel and insisted on finding someone to use the same steel material to make another knife for him."

  "Isn't this still going to be a loss?" Qin Hai said with a smile.

  Zhang Lao San said: "It's not compensation, his nephew is willing to pay, whatever amount he says is fine."

  As soon as he heard the word "money", Ning Mo's eyes lit up, and before Qin Hai could say anything, he chimed in: "This is easy, let him bring 10 bucks, I'll go get a piece of steel and help him make a knife."

  "Wait, Master Zhang, what kind of knife does Meng's nephew want to make?" Qin Hai stopped Ning Mo and asked Zhang Lao San. Not everything in the world can be done with just money; some things still need to be clarified."

  Zhang Lao San picked up the small cloth package he had been holding in his hand and placed it on the dinner table, opening it for Qin Hai and others to see. Qin Hai took a glance and shook his head, saying: "No way, no way, we can't make such knives, Master Zhang, don't get us all into trouble."

  It turned out that Zhang Lao San's bundle contained a self-made military dagger, with blood grooves on both sides, exactly like a controlled knife.

  "Are you trying to harm us, Zhang Lao San? If the police find out about this knife, they'll take all of us away!" Miao Lei also shouted. Although these people were idle and not considered progressive youth, having experienced two rounds of severe crackdowns, they still had some understanding of what could and couldn't be done. This shoddy military dagger was once very popular in society and was a must-have for street thugs in Pingyuan. However, during the severe crackdown period, too many friends were taken away by the police for carrying this kind of dagger, so they all knew its pros and cons.

  Zhang Lao San slapped his forehead, as if he had thought of something, and hurriedly said: "Ah, I was confused. I didn't make it clear to you, this nephew of the Mo family, since he's in the army, there's no problem with him carrying this kind of knife."

  "What's with the troops?"

  Qin Hai finally put his mind at ease, he picked up the military dagger from the table and examined it carefully. The blade of this dagger was polished to a shine, obviously its owner used it frequently. On one side of the blade, there was a dazzling notch, which should be the scar left after comparing with the iron shovel of the barbarian, as Zhang Lao San said.

  In terms of material quality, the steel used for this dagger has a high grade number, but the smelting process is not up to par, resulting in the steel's strength failing to meet design requirements. The subsequent heat treatment was also inadequate, so this military sharp tool actually broke under a farm tool from the countryside.

  From Zhang Lao San's narrative, the owner of the dagger must have been extremely confident in its quality, otherwise he wouldn't have taken it out to challenge Mo Niu's iron shovel. The dagger was chopped by the iron shovel and a clear cutting mouth appeared, which was apparently beyond the expectation of the dagger's owner. As for how this person reacted, whether he was ashamed or furious, Qin Hai didn't know. When he discovered that the steel mouth of an iron shovel was actually better than his beloved dagger, the owner of the dagger asked Mo Niu to find someone to help him remake a new dagger.

  "Master Zhang, this knife, are you planning to have us do it or will you do it yourself?" Qin Hai asked. Doing business is like this, and this job can be considered as one that Old Zhang has brought in, so we'll see what Old Zhang means by it.