"Old man, can you tell me more about it?" The old man's words immediately aroused Chen Xiaomu's genuine interest.
The old man said with a smile: "Master, even if you don't tell me, I will tell you, so that you won't be unable to use it after it's finished!"
The old man breathed for a while and then continued: "Actually, this pour-casting method was taught to me by my master when he was still alive. It was first used to cast jewelry for women. Later, the jewelry became difficult to sell due to the chaos of war. In addition, the hardness of objects made by the pour-casting method is relatively poor, so there are fewer and fewer places where the pour-casting method is needed. Most of our blacksmiths' profession has been changed to forging weapons and some agricultural tools for the court or farmers to make a living."
Chen Xiaomu was anxious, but he couldn't show it on the surface. He didn't want to listen to the old man's chatter, so he quickly used the time when the old man stopped talking to take a breath and asked questions like a barrage, "Old man, I want to know Using this pour casting method to cast the objects I painted, how long would it take to make them all? What kind of hardness can the objects achieve?"
The old man stroked his goatee and laughed at himself: "It makes the master laugh. I'm older, so I talk more nonsense!"
Chen Xiaomu smiled and said: "Old man, don't get me wrong, I'm a bit impatient!"
The old man sighed when he heard the sound, and said with emotion: "Master, to tell you the truth, I, Hu Wanli, have been working as a blacksmith all my life. I have come into contact with at least thousands of customers, but my status is so noble, and This is the first time I have encountered such a friendly customer. I am willing to use all the skills I have learned in my life to make all the objects painted by the owner in three days!"
Chen Xiaomu quickly raised his hands and said: "Old man, you are very grateful. What I did is just human nature, so don't praise me too much."
The old man coughed twice and said to Zheng Jiang: "Disciple, go to my storage room in the backyard and bring the magic iron lump that I collected for you."
Zheng Jiang bowed and said, "Yes, Master." Then he turned and walked out.
Chen Xiaomu didn't know why, and was about to ask, but the old man took the initiative to explain: "Master, a few years ago, by chance, I got a piece of iron that fell from the sky. It is said that the blacksmith in the sky was giving it to the Supreme Elder. When you were building the alchemy furnace, you accidentally fell into the mortal world by accident. Although it was not big, its texture was extremely hard. When I got it, I burned it with clean coal for almost a whole day, and finally I finally got it. Cut off a piece from it and give Lu Shangshu a Tiangang Sword that can cut iron as much as mud!"
"Oh! Old man, it was you who shot Lu Shangshu's Tiangang Sword?" Wei Yushang said in shock as soon as the old man finished speaking.
"That's right." The old man nodded slightly and said, "Back then, because my unsatisfactory dog became a deserter and was going to be beheaded when caught, an old friend of mine from Tolu Shangshu went to plead for mercy, but he was spared. To avoid death, in order to thank Lu Shangshu for not killing Quanzi, I made a sword with divine iron and named it Tiangang Sword, and asked Lu Shangshu's old friend to pass it on to Lu Shangshu."
"Oh, so that's it!" Wei Yushang suddenly realized, turned to Chen Xiaomu and said: "I have seen Lu Shangshu's sword. It really cuts iron like mud. If it is really forged with this old man's magic iron, The magic iron in my hands is really good!"
While he was talking, Zheng Jiangji came in with a piece of black coal-like object. Chen Xiaomu hurriedly greeted him and tried to reach out to catch it. Unexpectedly, the thing didn't look big, but it was quite heavy. Chen Xiaomu stumbled and almost fell down. On the ground, luckily Zheng Jiang didn't completely let go of his hand, otherwise this man would have been seriously embarrassed.
The old man saw this and smiled and said: "Master, I forgot to tell you just now. Even though this piece of magical iron is not big, it actually weighs nearly a hundred kilograms!"
Chen Xiaomu dusted his sleeves and laughed at himself: "Why is it so hard to pick up? It turns out this thing can weigh over a hundred kilograms!"
Wei Yushang couldn't help but sneer and said: "Teacher, don't show off, you are just a literati with no power at all."
"Who can tell?" Chen Xiaomu couldn't help but raise his arms and boasted, "Teacher is very powerful in group fights!"
Wei Yushang smiled and echoed: "Yes, yes, a group fight! If you win over there, you will stand over there. Isn't that how powerful you are!"
When Chen Xiaomu heard this, his face became stern and he pretended to be angry: "Yushang, do you understand how to respect teachers? Why are you exposing the teacher today? Be careful when you go back and hit your palms with a board until they are swollen!"
Wei Yushang quietly stuck out her tongue, quickly lowered her head and said obediently: "Teacher, if the student realizes his mistake, please stop hitting him!"
Chen Xiaomu had a serious face, hummed, and said, "It depends on your performance."
At this time, Zheng Jiang, under the signal of the old man on the bed, gently placed the piece of magic iron in front of Chen Xiaomu. Chen Xiaomu squatted down and gently touched the surface of the magic iron with his hand. It was as smooth as a mirror and refreshing, and seemed to be cooler than The snow falling outside was even colder. He estimated in his mind that this so-called magic iron was probably something like a meteorite falling from the sky. When it passed through the atmosphere, it rubbed against the atmosphere and was burned like this. However, according to his own experiment just now, The density of this iron block is indeed good, and the hardness should be better than the high carbon steel in the era he traveled through. Thinking of this, Chen Xiaomu couldn't help but feel a move in his heart. He thought that he wanted to make a gun all day long, but he couldn't find it. The material for making a gun, isn't this opportunity right in front of me now? Why not use this magical iron to make a few pistols and submachine guns to try, wouldn't it be fun!
The old man saw Chen Xiaomu caressing the magic iron with an almost obsessed expression. He didn't say a word for a long time, thinking that he was shocked by the magic iron. He couldn't help but look proud and said: "Master, in order to repay your life-saving grace, I am determined to cut off a part of this piece of sacred iron and melt it into the objects you want to cast to increase the hardness of the objects!"
Chen Xiaomu was startled when he heard the sound, and hurriedly stood up to stop him: "Old man, the hardness required for my items is limited, so don't waste such high-quality magical iron!"
The old man was stunned and said with a smile: "I will never forget the life-saving grace of my master. How about this, I use my magic iron to forge a good sword for my master, so that my master can use it for self-defense?" "
Chen Xiaomu bowed and clasped his fists and said: "Old man, I don't know martial arts. No matter how good the sword is, it's no better than a fire stick in my hand. I have a merciless request. I hope that the old man can be accommodating."
The old man said with a smile: "Master, you are my savior, but if there is a need, I will do my best to fulfill it!"
Chen Xiaomu hesitated for a moment, feeling a little embarrassed to speak, but thinking of his plan to make a gun, he still bit the bullet and said: "Old man, can you sell this piece of magic iron to me?"
"What?" The old man was stunned for a moment. He didn't expect that the master actually made this request, and then he began to feel unhappy. He thought to himself: "It's not that there is an urgent need for medical treatment. I can use this magic iron to make some profits." A sword can be sold to a knowledgeable person for twenty or thirty thousand taels of silver. Now, in order to repay your life-saving grace, I took the initiative to bring out the magic iron to forge a sharp sword for you, but you are too good to push it too far, and you actually want this from me. A whole piece of divine iron, so greedy! He really knows people but not their hearts!"
Chen Xiaomu saw the old man lowering his head with a sullen look on his face and was silent for a long time. Knowing that he was extremely reluctant, he said sincerely: "Old man, I'm putting you in a difficult position. Let's do this. You can make a price as you like, no matter how many taels of silver you want. I will never give you a second price!"
The old man raised his head and forced a smile and said: "Master, I have had this piece of magical iron for a few years. Even this time, it has only been touched twice. The first time was to save my son's life, and this time it was to repay the master. After saving my life, my family now wants to take away this magical iron. To be honest, I really can’t bear to part with it! I hope my family can understand my difficulties.”
Chen Xiaomu's heart sank. Hearing the old man's tone, he directly rejected his idea of buying this piece of magical iron. It seemed that his desire to make a gun would have to wait until the end of the Monkey Year! Chen Xiaomu was unwilling and determined to fight for it no matter what. He advised the old man: "Old man, this piece of magical iron is your treasure. I shouldn't take away the love of your old heart, but then again , if you keep this piece of magic iron for so long, no matter how good the magic iron is, in the end it will still be a piece of iron and will not play much of the role it should play. This means that if you insist on keeping this piece of magic iron, In fact, it doesn't have much practical significance. To put it bluntly, if you accidentally let those who know about it know that you have such a treasure, it might even lead to death! I think you should just put the magic iron on me. Wouldn't it be the best of both worlds to exchange this for silver and use it to support one's old age?"
The old man was shocked when he heard that. Although Chen Xiaomu did not directly threaten him, he could clearly feel the threat in his words like a mountain pressing down on him. Given the princess mansion where Chen Xiaomu was currently located, if he wanted to It probably wouldn't take much to kill him, maybe just a look would do the trick! "
After thinking for a long time, the old man sighed dejectedly: "Master, since you are interested in my piece of magic iron, I will give it to you! From now on, I just hope that my master can protect my whole family!"
Chen Xiaomu laughed when he heard this and said: "Old man, I don't want you to give it away. I want to spend money to buy your magic iron. Let's do this. Since you refuse to bid, then I will give you a price." Chen Xiaomu said and stretched out his hand. Palm: "How about I give you fifty thousand taels of silver? If you're not satisfied, you can add more!"
"Fifty thousand taels! If you're not satisfied, you can add more!" Everyone in the room was stunned when they heard that just a piece of black iron could bring out fifty thousand taels of silver. This man had so much money that he had nowhere to spend it. Still deliberately showing off his wealth, Wei Yushang was afraid that Chen Xiaomu would get hot-headed and wanted to remind him, so she quietly stretched out her hand and tugged on his clothes, but Chen Xiaomu stayed silent and quietly avoided him.
"Satisfied, satisfied!" After reacting, the old man nodded repeatedly. To be honest, just relying on his blacksmithing skills, he would not be able to earn so much money in ten lifetimes. Just as Chen Xiaomu said, This piece of magical iron had no meaning in his hands. It was just a big piece of iron after being there for so many years. In fact, from the bottom of his heart, he always wanted to exchange this piece of iron for silver so that the whole family could live without food and clothing. He is worried about a prosperous life, but what is helpless is that it is difficult for people at his level to know any rich people. Even if he happens to meet some rich people, there are only a few who know the goods. Furthermore, , except for the wealthy businessmen and military generals, who else is willing to spend a lot of money to buy back a piece of iron that cannot be cashed at any time. The reason why he rejected Chen Xiaomu just now was because he felt that it was impossible for a person with Chen Xiaomu's status to make a big fortune. The price comes to buy his iron block. In the final analysis, it is better to ask him for more ingredients. I can give him at most three to five hundred taels of silver to cover his face. Thank God, just like the woman who followed him and called him teacher. In his hand was a century-old wild ginseng worth more than 20,000 taels of silver. He asked for it and gave it to him with just a few words without spending a single tael of silver.
Chen Xiaomu looked at the heavy snow falling outside the house and joked: "Old man, this is a snowy day for us, a day for guests, no one will be spared, no one will be spared! At noon, our group will be here with you! How about it? ? Are you welcome?"
The old man nodded and said with a smile: "I have no reason not to welcome the distinguished guests who I usually can't invite. I will let my disciple buy the food and drinks. It's just that the old man is ill and I'm afraid I won't be able to enjoy the occasion with the distinguished guests. I hope that the distinguished guests will not blame you. !”
Chen Xiaomu quickly waved his hand, "Old man, don't go to too much trouble. Just prepare some food for us to eat. As for the wine? We won't drink it."
The old man insisted: "How can that be done? There is a saying that a banquet can't be complete without wine? It won't be complete without wine!"
Chen Xiaomu couldn't refuse anymore, so he turned to Wei Yushang and said, "Yushang, do you have any cash on you?"
Wei Yushang nodded, reached out from the embroidered bag on her body, took out a five-tael silver ingot and handed it to him. Chen Xiaomu took it, then immediately handed it to Zheng Jiang, saying with a smile: "Master Zheng, please excuse me. Could you please buy some food and drinks, and we’ll have a start-up dinner together.”
Zheng Jiang immediately widened his eyes, raised his hands and pushed Chen Xiaomu's hand out, and shouted: "Master, what are you talking about? Can't our Hu's Blacksmith Shop even afford a meal?" ?”
Chen Xiaomu shook his head, "Master Zheng, you are wrong. I didn't mean that your blacksmith shop can't afford a meal, but according to our rules in New Capital City, this start-of-work meal is really our master's meal!"
"This is definitely not a success." Zheng Jiang was about to refuse. At this time, the old man on the bed spoke, "Disciple, this is also the master's wish. It's getting late, so you should take the master's money and hurry up and do it." Come back with some food and wine!"
Zheng Jiang was stunned for a moment when he heard this, and then responded: "Hey, Master!" Then he took the money handed over by Chen Xiaomu, bowed his hand to Chen Xiaomu with a rather embarrassed expression, turned around and walked out of the house.
At this time, Wei Yushang walked to Chen Xiaomu and said quietly: "Teacher, we are all eating here, and Yu Xin is still outside in the car, what should we do?"
Chen Xiaomu smiled and said in a low voice: "Yu Xin doesn't want to get out of the car and meet strangers. I'll just buy the food and drinks later and give some to Yu Xin and Li Gui to send out."
Wei Yushang nodded and was about to go back when he was stopped by Chen Xiaomu, "Yushang, did you bring pen, ink, paper and inkstone in the car?"
Wei Yushang was delighted when she heard the sound and said, "Teacher, are you going to compose poetry again? I'll get it for you right now."
Chen Xiaomu laughed awkwardly, "You think that the teacher is a poet. If you want to compose a poem, just take out one. I want to use this free time to draw some more objects for this piece of sacred iron and ask the blacksmith to help me cast it as soon as possible. .”
"Oh!" Wei Yushang suddenly lost interest when he heard this. He opened the embroidery bag on his body in frustration, took out another exquisite small bag, and then took out pen, ink, paper and inkstone from the small bag. Chen Xiaomu was beside him. I laughed and thought, why are these girls the same since ancient times, they like to carry a bag everywhere. I don’t blame the big-name bags of later generations such as Hermès, Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Celine, etc., although the prices are not the same. However, there is an endless stream of buyers in the Philippines. Chen Xiaomu feels that when it stabilizes in the future, his business map must not miss this opportunity to make money from luxury goods.
