Chapter 45: The Young Man is Not Ordinary

  Han Yu went to Ping Shui County Wei Chi Village before going to the city. This time he also brought Liang Huan, first to pick up the weapons made by Guo Lao and others, and secondly to introduce Liang Huan to them.

  "Mr. Guo, from now on, Liang Huan will replace me to come here and take away the things you've all made, and be responsible for solving all your problems. If you have any requirements, just mention them to him, don't be polite." In the courtyard of the Guo family's house, Han Yu smiled lightly as he introduced Liang Huan to Mr. Guo.

  Liang Huan respectfully clasped his hands together and said: "I still hope that in the future, Elder Guo, Big Brother Guo will take care of me more."

  "Hey, kid, don't be so polite," said Guo with a gentle smile, waving his hand. "Now that you're here, it's just like being at your own home, no need to be so formal."

  With the money given by Han Yu, Guo Lao and his family could continue their ironwork career, and there were naturally many more smiles on their faces.

  "Little Rain, you two must stay here for dinner today. I'll get Qing Shan to kill a chicken and we can have a good drink together at noon." said Guo Lao warmly.

  "Let's do it another day." As soon as he heard about drinking, Han Yu's face couldn't help but change slightly. He was still feeling the effects of last night's drunkenness and his head was still hurting. How could he dare to drink again? So he hastily declined: "I have something to take care of today and need to go into town for a bit. Next time, next time I'll definitely accompany you and have a good drink."

  "Is it true?"

  Han Yu nodded and said, "Something's really going on!"

  "If you have something on, I won't keep you, but next time you must join me and the others for a good drink. You've helped me out so much, everyone's been urging me to host a gathering to thank you." Old Guo said in a low voice.

  Han Yu quickly agreed and at this time, Guo Qing Shan had already placed all the well-made weapons on Han Yu's Changhe car.

  There are eighty-three broadswords in total, each one sharper than the ordinary chopping knives on the market, and their toughness is also good. It's just that the shaping time is too long. As of now, it has been nine days since Han Yu last instructed them to forge broadswords, which means that a daily output of about nine broadswords per day has already approached the limit.

  But even a small brother who can cover the sky with one hand cannot do it, let alone such a strange knife, which would be very damaging if used to kill.

  Han Yu's eyebrows slightly furrowed, and she said softly, "Guo Lao, is there any way to increase production?"

  Guo Lao sighed: "I've thought about it too, wanting to unite everyone together to build something big, but first, there's no such large place, and second, there aren't enough people. In the end, nothing came of it."

  "If we build a specialized factory for producing knives, do you think it's feasible?" Han Yu thought to himself and said in a low voice: "We can purchase some machines to liberate the processes that don't require manual operation, such as tempering and smelting. In this way, perhaps the quality of the knives will decrease slightly, but the quantity will definitely increase."

  "Also, I can arrange for many apprentices to follow you and learn our traditional ironwork. You can also study how to combine the craftsmanship of our ancestors with modern time-saving machines. This way, efficiency is improved without losing your ironwork skills."

  "It's good, but it costs a lot of money!" Old Guo sighed lightly.

  "Don't worry about the money, I can take out 3 million yuan first," Han Yu thought for a moment before saying: "We can start with a small amount and develop slowly. This way, I'll give you and Qing Shan 5% of the shares, and each of the other masters in the village will get 1%. After a year, if someone wants to quit, they can sell their shares back to me. Additionally, based on the blacksmith's level, we can also pay a monthly salary of 3,000 to 5,000 yuan. What do you think?"

  "This, kid, I know you're kind-hearted, but can you still make a profit doing it this way?" A flash of excitement flickered in Old Guo's eyes. He too knew that manual ironwork was no longer suited to this era. It was just something passed down from his ancestors, and he really didn't want to give it up like this. That's why he cooperated with Han Yu, but now, it was clear that Han Yu wasn't satisfied with their speed either.

  He was still worried, but unexpectedly, Han Yu came up with an idea that surprised and delighted him.

  Guo Lao was very excited, he really wanted to agree immediately, but the kind old man couldn't bear to watch Han Yu dig his own grave and jump in, then fill the hole with dirt himself.

  Han Yu burst out laughing and said loudly, "You can rest assured about this, as long as our quality is there, even if we just slightly increase the speed, I'd be willing to lose money, but I'm afraid the money will still flow into my pocket."

  "If it's really like that, then it would be great." Old Guo rubbed his hands together and said repeatedly.

  "Can I join too?" Guo Qing Shan walked over and asked with a silly smile.

  Han Yu nodded and said: "Of course, you and Old Guo are the chief engineers I hired."

  As a man of action, Han Yu had made up his mind and immediately discussed the details with Guo Qing Shan. The cost of a dagger was around 300 yuan at that time, and it would be roughly the same price outside, neither making nor losing money.

  After being equipmentized and systematized, a lot of costs can be saved, so it's basically a risk-free business.

  "If we were to build a knife factory in our village of Wei Chi, would you think it's feasible?" Han Yu asked softly.

  "Indeed, it's feasible. Not to mention other things, just the iron ore in the back mountain alone, from top to bottom, has an absolute abundance of reserves. If we can take over the contract for the back mountain, there will be no problem with raw material supply."

  "Didn't you know about the iron ore in the back mountain?" Han Yu frowned and said.

  "How could you not know?" Old Guo said in a low voice, "It's just that this place has always been remote, and only two exploration teams have come here. Those iron mines are our livelihood, if they were all mined out by them, what would we use to make iron in the future? So the villagers worked together to fool them and send them away."

  "At the foot of the mountain, there is a cold pool with pure water quality, which is most suitable for quenching iron. It was said that Wei Chi Gong used the iron from the back mountain and the water from the cold pool to forge a pair of extraordinary weapons. However, Li Da Chui, the village head, is actually a tyrant who will likely demand money if he finds out you want to build a factory here! Last time you asked us to make a strange knife, he heard about it and was going to report you!"

  Han Yu couldn't help but laugh and said, "Tell me? Haha, this is truly a monk teasing an emperor, how bold! I was just thinking of finding him, Old Guo, you should know where he lives, right?"

  "He lives in the village committee, but there are always a dozen or so idle young people gathering around him, bullying men and women. It's just that some of them are afraid of Xiao Fan and Qing Shan. I'll let them go with you, so you won't be at a disadvantage." As he spoke, he didn't wait for Han Yu to refuse, and shouted loudly: "Little rabbit, how long do you plan to stay on the wall? Come here!"

  As soon as he finished speaking, a young man popped out from the other side of the wall, grinned and flipped over, landing steadily on the ground.

  Liang Huan's face changed slightly, and he quietly looked at Han Yu. Han Yu shook his head slightly, having already discovered that the other person was peeking through the gaps in the stone wall, but since he didn't have any malicious intentions, he didn't expose him.

  Unexpectedly, he was Xiao Fan in Guo's mouth. And his wall-climbing action was neat and efficient, even Han Yu felt very surprised.

  Han Yu looked at him with great interest, his face was pale and thin, his hair was messy, wearing a single layer of coarse linen clothes, exposing his long arms and legs to the cold sunlight.

  He was not very old, only about ten years old, with a pair of eyes that were clear and pure like a baby's, and his gaze at himself was even more curious.

  He not only has long arms, but also long fingers, giving a very agile feeling. On his waist, within easy reach, hangs a one-foot-long black dagger.

  In other people's eyes, this might be like a child's toy, but Han Yu was clear that this toy could kill.

  "He's called Zhuo Bufan, an orphan. This kid has been running wild in the mountains since he was a child, and can even catch wild rabbits on flat land." Seeing Han Yu sizing him up, Old Guo hastily introduced him in a low voice, then raised his voice to say: "Xiao Fan, this is..."

  "My name is Hei Yi," Han Yu smiled and said: "You can call me Big Brother Hei Yi."

  Zhuo Bu Fan glanced at Guo Lao, saw him nodding, and then snorted: "You think I'll call you Big Brother? Can you beat me?"

  Han Yu smiled and slightly waved his hand to stop Old Guo from getting angry. He chuckled and said, "Why don't you try it?"

  "Bring it on!" Zhuo Bufan's response was as crisp and dry as a well-dried radish, and with a cold hum, his body shot towards Han Yu like an arrow off the string.

  "Looking for death!" Han Yu hadn't even moved, when Liang Huan burst out from behind him with a millionth of anger, grasping a steel knife and slashing it towards Zhuo Bu Fan's head with a fierce killing intent.

  And there is another chapter...