Xiaoyuan Village is located in Sunmei County, adjacent to Laihu City. It is a secluded small village with a population of only more than 400 people. Most of the villagers are farmers, raising livestock and poultry, or growing vegetables to be self-sufficient. They would take their own livestock and vegetables to sell in other cities.
The most admired people in the village are Dr. Na Wen and his family. Dr. Wen originally lived in a big city, but moved to Xiaoyuan Village more than 20 years ago. He has excellent medical skills, and from time to time some patients from other places come to seek treatment.
There is a large courtyard outside Dr. Wen’s house, with square low tables arranged neatly. On it are some vegetables and melons given by neighbors to dry in the sun. After drying, Dr. Wen’s wife Li will pickle these vegetables and melons. , and then distribute them to neighbors.
A pretty girl was using big chopsticks to turn over the half-dried vegetables one by one.
The girl is in her early twenties and her name is "Wen Yuxue". She was the daughter born to Dr. Wen and Mrs. Li two or three years after they moved to Xiaoyuan Village.
"Sister Yu Xue, you are turning too slowly!" A young man hung on the trunk of the big tree in the yard and shouted to Wen Yuxue.
Wen Yuxue smiled at him, combing her sweat-soaked hair with her jade fingers, and said, "It can't be done without turning it over. This kind of cabbage has a lot of water, so it won't taste good pickled if it's not dried in the sun."
The boy, about fifteen or sixteen years old, shouted at the top of his lungs: "Sister Yu Xue, your skin is so white. Aren't you afraid of getting tanned if you roll over for pickles in the sun every day?"
Wen Yuxue stopped and said, "So I want you to help me make a double-sided grid. Have you done it?"
The young man jumped down from the tree and ran towards Wen Yuxue. He said excitedly: "It's done, but it's so hard under the sun. I cut the branches and tied them into a frame. It took several days to do it." Well, you have to give me something in return!"
Wen Yuxue smiled and said, "What kind of reward do you want?"
The young man thought for a while and said, "I want to marry Sister Yu Xue as my wife. Is this okay?"
Wen Yuxue laughed, stretched out her hand and pinched the young man's nose: "You brat, you want to get a wife at such a young age!"
The young man replied: "I think so! But I just want Sister Yu Xue to be my wife. The other girls in the village are all aggressive and dirty, and they are covered in mud from playing all day long. Sister Yu Xue is so beautiful, gentle and wise. , only then can I take her home as my wife!"
Wen Yuxue snorted: "I need to be replaced by one grid frame. You are too treacherous."
The young man lowered his head and thought about it, and said: "That's right, that's good. My father has not been feeling well these days. I want to make a trip for him to Laihu City to celebrate Mr. Wang's birthday and buy some materials. This trip will take many days, so you can make a protective doll for me to carry with me, and I will treat the doll as sister Yu Xue and care for you, as a token of our love, is that okay?"
Wen Yuxue smiled: "It's okay to make a protective doll for you at night, but it's not a token of love. Please bring the grid quickly, I'm dizzy from the sun."
The young man laughed, turned around and ran towards his home, turning back from time to time and shouting: "I said it's a love token, it's a love token!"
The young man ran through several alleys, climbed over a low fence, and jumped into his yard. An old dog got up from the shadow of the eaves and greeted the young man with his tongue sticking out.
"Ah Xi, don't get in the way!" The young man chuckled and reached out to touch the neck of the old dog called "A Xi" randomly. Ah Xi turned over and exposed his belly to the boy, but the boy had already run away. , walked around to the other wall, lifted up the large grid he had built for two days, and ran to Dr. Wen's house.
The young man took two steps with the net frame, put it down, took a breath, suddenly remembered something, slapped his head hard, kicked the net frame, and murmured: "Ah! I'm so stupid, I will This net frame is so heavy that I find it difficult to lift it, let alone Sister Yu Xue?"
The young man angrily took out a long brown wooden block with a handle about five inches long and one inch wide from his clothes. The two ends of the wooden block were locked with iron screws. The side looked like layers of thin metal sheets. In the gap between the pieces and the metal pieces, there is a metal object that looks like a weapon.
The young man touched the edge of the small piece of wood, clasped his fingernails on the small protruding groove on the edge and pulled out a small knife. The blade was less than five inches and was also jet black. This black metal was the toughest "black steel" in the world. . Most of the top weapons in the world are made of black steel. However, for the sake of beauty, some swordsmiths will occasionally paint the swords made of black steel with other colors of paint to make the sword more beautiful in appearance.
The young man used the knife to cut through the knots on the grid like tofu, and hurriedly modified it. Sometimes he would pull the knife back into the wooden bar, and then pull out other tools such as screwdrivers and awls from the other end of the wooden bar. , repairing the grid.
It turns out that this seemingly inconspicuous little piece of wood in the young man's hand has three layers of black steel sheets sandwiched between it. In the gaps between the layers of black steel sheets, a total of eight different tools are stored - knives, awls, and combs. , sharpening board, slingshot, fork, scissors and planer, can be pulled out from the groove on the edge of the wood block when needed, and pulled back when not in use.
"Eight Hands" is the boy's name for this ingenious tool. This is a gadget that he pieced together two years ago using several kinds of steel materials left over from his father's sword-making.
The young man's surname was Wei, and the Wei family was the world's most famous sword-making family.
"A Jing──" his father's voice called out from the door. Wei Jing quickly turned around and saw his father standing by the door with a sick face. He quickly put down the net frame and walked towards his father.
"Dad, do you have anything to tell me?" Wei Jing asked.
Wei Jing's father is called "Wei Wen", and together with his eldest brother "Wei Changqing" and second brother "Wei Kailai", they are the descendants of the great swordsmith "Wei Yunwu", but Wei Jing's eldest and second uncle are both. Opening a sword shop in a big city will lead to a prosperous business and a great reputation. Wei Wen has always lived in this small village. He usually repairs and makes hoe tools for the villagers in exchange for some daily necessities. Occasionally, he receives an order or two to make a few exquisite swords and send them to regular customers from out of town.
Although Wei Wen's sword-making skills are also excellent, his reputation is far inferior to that of his two brothers.
"I'm always worried when you come to the city this time, because I'm afraid you'll be playful and forget about business." Wei Wen stared at the weird Wei Jing in front of him and said worriedly.
"Dad, please be at ease! I am no longer a child. I will pass Wangchungang tomorrow and take a multi-carriage to the city center. It will take about a day and night to reach the city. La! Find a place to rest for one night, and on the third day I can deliver the sword to Fugui Residence and hand it over to Mr. Wang. Mr. Wang is kind and hospitable, and he is celebrating his birthday, so he will definitely keep me there for ten and a half days. Yue, I will listen more and watch more, and behave myself. When I have time, I will go to the iron shop to buy some sword-making materials, buy some snacks for my father, and then return to Xiaoyuan Village safely." Wei Jing said absently, Wei Wen asked him to recite this process and keep it in mind.
"There's no need for snacks. Laihu City has a large population, and dragons and snakes are mixed together. You have to be careful." Wei Wen reminded.
Wei Jing chuckled and rubbed his nose: "Dad, so you are worried that I will be bullied by bad people. Don't you know that I know Kung Fu?"
Wei Jing let out a roar, turned several somersaults like a monkey, and even punched and kicked his legs in a serious manner.
"Is this also called kung fu?" Wei Wen smiled bitterly, shook his head, and said, "If you really meet a bad guy, you will report yourself as a rich man. Mr. Wang is quite famous in Laihu City, and his adopted sons are all They have extraordinary skills and carry good swords. If you tell them their names, ordinary gangsters will not dare to make mistakes. After you receive your reward, Mr. Wang will also send a few escorts to escort you back to Xiaoyuan Village. These I have arranged all the trivial details for you."
Wei Jing hummed a few times, stretched out his hand, took out the eight hands at his waist, pulled out the black steel knife with a click, and played with it a few times.
"Dad, although my black steel sword is a bit short, it will not suffer at all when it encounters ordinary weapons. Besides, I also carry four excellent swords with me, one in each hand, where can I be a bandit bully? If they dare to cause trouble for me, I will make them crawl back one by one." Wei Jing laughed, waving his eight hands in a chopping and stabbing motion.
"A Jing! You are not allowed to cause trouble in the sea, and you are not allowed to play with those swords. We received a large reward from Mr. Wang to build a sword for him to celebrate his 70th birthday. How can you play with it at will?" Wei Wen asked. Face, he hesitated for a while, and then said: "Oh, I think I'd better go there myself, cough cough..."
Wei Wen coughed, bending over and retching repeatedly.
"Dad!" When Wei Jing saw his father angry, he quickly stepped forward and helped him into the bed, poured him a cup of hot tea and offered it to him, saying, "I'm just kidding, of course I won't play around with those four swords. Obediently send the sword to Fugui Residence and hand it over to Mr. Wang personally to celebrate his happy birthday!"
After that, Wei Jing went out and continued to repair his big net rack. Until night, he was finally done and modified the big net rack into three small net racks.
Those net shelves are made of several bamboo strips to form an outer frame, and then a fine mesh is tied to the frame. Each shelf can be closed like a book. When used, vegetable leaves are sandwiched in the middle and placed in the sun to dry. , when turning over, you only need to flip the entire mesh rack to turn over dozens of vegetable leaves at one time, and Wen Yuxue does not have to sweat profusely in the sun every day.
Wei Jing saw that it was getting late, so he didn't want to disturb Wen Yuxue anymore. He just hoped that she could concentrate on sewing a protective doll for him, and take it with him when he came to Lake Market. After smelling the fragrance, he was satisfied.
*******************
