"Go on! Tell me whatever you want. If I can grant it, I'll do my best."
Feeling Uncle Angie Turner's gaze on him, Li Xing leaned back in his chair.
"Uncle, before the traveling merchants arrive, I'd like to leave early whenever I finish my work ahead of time, so I can help Lucy take care of the children."
Angie Turner was surprised by Li Xing's request and asked him in return.
"Why? I remember you said you had no intention of pursuing Lucy. Why do you suddenly want to take care of those orphans?"
Li Xing answered without hesitation.
"There's no other reason. I'm just helping my first friend in Hunter Town. She asked for help, after all. As a friend, I can't just watch her struggle and only look after myself."
Seeing the clarity in Li Xing's eyes, Angie Turner nodded and agreed to his proposal.
"All right! Lucy and Aniekra are both strong-willed children. There's only so much we elders can do to help! Since you're willing, I'll naturally support you.
"But you must make sure that you improve the quality of your forging while completing your work!
"Can you do that?"
Faced with this demand, Li Xing knew Uncle Angie Turner was testing whether he was confident he could learn and master all the forging techniques in the shortest possible time. It might be exhausting, and it would place extremely high demands on his mental strength.
But as one of the many students from the four Shanhe provinces who had been through those trials, he had already developed his mental strength in high school.
Thus, Li Xing confidently agreed to Uncle Turner's condition. "Yes! No problem."
At that, Angie Turner burst into hearty laughter.
"Hahaha! Looks like Lucy has a good eye for choosing friends."
After a short rest, Li Xing resumed using his professional skills to forge the products Uncle had requested.
Time gradually passed.
Inside the smithy, a shout of "Done!" rang out.
Li Xing brought the forging hammer in his hand down hard on the metal atop the anvil.
Bang!
As the sound of the hammer blow rang out, the metal he had struck transformed into a shortsword.
Looking at the result of his forging, Li Xing took a few steps back. He dropped into the chair behind him and began gasping for breath.
Watching the sweat-soaked Li Xing from the side, Angie Turner placed a dampened towel on his forehead.
"Catch your breath first. There's water and food on the table beside you. I'll go check the finished product you just made."
As he spoke, he examined the shortsword on the anvil.
"Hmm! Good, very good. The luster is excellent, and the shape matches what I described. The blade's weight is just right, and the overall balance meets the requirements too. Nice! You've even saved me the trouble of polishing it this time!"
Hearing Uncle Turner acknowledge his work, Li Xing grinned at him and continued gulping down water.
"You can go now! The extra work you did today has already made up for the sword I gave you earlier. From now on, I reckon I'll have to start paying you wages."
"Thank you, Uncle Turner. But after work, could I use your forging equipment and tools to make some things I need?"
After taking a few more gulps of water in his chair, Li Xing hurriedly added,
"Of course, you can deduct the costs of using them directly from my wages. Is that all right, Uncle?"
Uncle Angie Turner sat down as well, felt the steel flask tucked against his chest through his clothes, and replied with a smile.
"That's fine. But Li Xing, my only condition is that whenever you forge something good in the future, like this little flask, save one for me! Do you agree?"
As he spoke, Angie Turner pulled the flask from his robes and carefully rubbed it with his hand, holding it before his eyes.
Seeing this, Li Xing readily agreed.
And so, after chatting in the rest area for a while, Li Xing recovered and left the smithy, heading for Lucy's house.
At Lucy's house,
Lucy, who had already prepared the cooking ingredients, was talking with the children about the time Li Xing had spent with them the previous night.
When she learned that Li Xing had told the children bedtime stories, Lucy felt she might be able to glean some information and asked them what the stories were about.
As the children recounted them one by one, Lucy gradually found it difficult to maintain her composure.
But seeing the happy smiles on their faces, she controlled her expression and kept smiling throughout.
"Big Brother Li Xing is here!"
At the shout, Lucy, who had finished listening to the stories, went to open the door and welcome Li Xing.
When the door opened, Li Xing saw Lucy looking at him with a complicated expression.
"Wait! What's with that look?"
"Did you make up those bedtime stories?"
"Oh? ... Oh! You mean those fairy tales I told last night!" Realizing what she meant, Li Xing hurried to explain.
"I didn't make them up. I heard them while traveling on another continent. Why? Did I tell them badly?"
"You... told them very well. Don't tell them again!"
With those words, Lucy turned and left the entryway.
"What's wrong now? How strange."
After muttering to himself, Li Xing closed the door behind him, went into the hall, and began preparing the meal.
Li Xing felt quite comfortable cooking at Lucy's house.
There was no other reason: the spices here were relatively plentiful. Although the selection wasn't complete, it was generally enough. At least it wasn't like when he was in the little wooden cabin, making stews and meat broths with the few spices he had...
He put the red-braised pork he had made into a basin prepared in advance.
After tasting a bite himself, he had mixed feelings. After all, the spices here weren't as complete as the ones from before he transmigrated, but there were substitutes for most of them. As a result, the dish had a distinctly local flavor.
Li Xing's assessment of his dish was, "It doesn't match the authentic flavor from before I transmigrated, but it's much better than the version made on television following Su Dongpo's method."
Once he felt it was ready, he carried it and the flatbreads he had made earlier to the center of the courtyard.
"Lucy! Tell the children it's time to eat!"
Then, under Lucy's direction, the children lined up orderly to receive their food and eat. Li Xing had already started enjoying his meal off to the side, holding his bowl and chopsticks and some flatbread.
After finishing his meal, Li Xing watched the children eat happily. Lucy, having finished serving the food, came and sat beside him.
"I've been meaning to ask!"
Lucy pointed to her bowl and chopsticks.
"Do people where you come from eat with these two wooden sticks?"
Li Xing: ...