Quiet Weapons, Bows and Crossbows

Jiang You's lips twitched slightly. That man in the white shirt was a grown man, yet he was actually called Hua'er?

Still, this clearly wasn't the time to dwell on such things.

She nodded and said readily, "Yes, that's me.

"Hua'er told me you could customize some special weapons?"

Li Qiang raised an eyebrow slightly. "Do you have money? I have the goods, but they aren't cheap."

"I want to see the samples first. You must have samples you've made for other people, right?"

"Heh, little girl, you're pretty cautious."

Li Qiang chuckled and gestured for Jiang You to follow.

He then turned and went into the shop, entering a small room.

The room was furnished with all kinds of weapons. There were swords, spears, and halberds, as well as modernized weapons.

Li Qiang chuckled. "Everything in this room is just for show—pretty but useless. They're fine for cutting melons and vegetables, but in a real battle, they're all trash!"

He turned a switch on the antique display shelf, and an entrance to a secret room appeared before them.

"Come in."

Li Qiang looked at her with an ambiguous smile.

"Little girl, have you ever watched crime movies? Look at this secret room. Doesn't it look like a cage...?"

He stood beneath the dim lights, making his smile look gloomy as well.

He looked extremely criminal.

Jiang You glanced around, found the switch, and directly turned on the main lights.

As the lights came on, the eerie feeling instantly vanished. Li Qiang awkwardly smiled with his bearded face.

"Hehe, I was just... just making a little joke. Hahaha, don't you think it was funny?"

"I didn't expect you to be so humorous." Jiang You nodded politely.

"Haha, I really do have a bit of a humor gene in me!"

He was rather proud of himself, laughing as he entered the secret room first.

Jiang You followed behind him. Inside, she saw rows of neatly arranged crossbows and bolts, along with long and short blades, bows, and arrows.

At a glance, it was obvious that these things were completely different from those outside. Every one of them gleamed coldly.

The weapons outside were works of art, while those inside were genuine weapons.

Jiang You's target was crossbows and similar weapons.

Compared to the noise caused by firearms, silent crossbows had a more obvious advantage, whether for ambushes or concealment.

Moreover, crossbows, being cold weapons, were easier to reproduce.

Among the various crossbows, Jiang You ultimately chose an improved version of the Great Yellow Crossbow.

Seeing her stare at the Great Yellow Crossbow, Li Qiang explained, "The Great Yellow Crossbow is also known as the Yellow Shoulder Crossbow. It originated in the Han Dynasty. It has immense stopping power and a long range. 'Only those with great strength can use it.' Its demands on the user are quite high.

"If the user isn't exceptionally strong, they won't be able to bring out the Great Yellow Crossbow's true potential.

"Its original range was around four hundred meters, but I combined the advantages of the Great Yellow Crossbow and the Divine Arm Crossbow, keeping the essence and discarding the dross.

"After being improved, this Great Yellow Crossbow is smaller and lighter overall than the original, and its range can reach around six hundred meters.

"It can also be loaded with ten bolts at once and fire ten bolts in succession!

"Tell me, is that awesome or what?!

"Although my improved Great Yellow Crossbow is bulkier than a gun and isn't as convenient to carry around as a handgun, its power really isn't inferior by much!"

Li Qiang excitedly introduced his creation.

While he was still excited, he suddenly caught sight of Jiang You from the corner of his eye. Seeing how thin she was, he sighed in disappointment.

"But the Great Yellow Crossbow is still quite demanding of its user. Little girl, this type of bow and crossbow is suited to strong men.

"I think you could choose a lighter bow and crossbow."

Li Qiang picked up another Sleeve Dart. It was smaller and more delicately designed.

"This one is more suitable for girls. Look, it's small and compact, and I even painted it pink. Isn't it pretty?"

Jiang You frowned and looked disdainfully at the pink Sleeve Dart in his hand. Pointing at the Great Yellow Crossbow, she said, "I want this one."

Seeing that she refused to give up, Li Qiang moved a wooden post as thick as a water bucket out of the corner and raised an eyebrow.

"If you don't believe me, you can try it first and see whether you can handle this bow and crossbow."

He wasn't looking down on her. Even he found the Great Yellow Crossbow difficult to use.

Not to mention a skinny little girl.

Young girls these days probably ate nothing but vegetable leaves every day to lose weight, didn't they?

She was so thin she looked malnourished.

Once she tried the Great Yellow Crossbow herself, she would give up.

It was only suitable for truly burly men!

Li Qiang secretly waited to see this overconfident little girl fail.

Before he could even laugh, Jiang You directly picked up a small crossbow beside her, immediately aimed at the target, and fired.

With a whoosh, the bolt pierced straight through the wooden post and firmly embedded itself in the wall behind it, its tail buzzing.

Li Qiang had only just begun to show a look of astonishment when Jiang You shifted her aim and quickly fired two more bolts.

Clang!

The other two bolts also embedded themselves firmly in the wall. When Li Qiang approached to look, his pupils instantly contracted.

A cockroach had been pierced through the chest on the tip of each bolt.

If he remembered correctly, the little girl had barely hesitated for a second between aiming and firing. The entire process had been as natural as eating or sleeping.

The crossbow she had used wasn't the Great Yellow Crossbow, but that accuracy... it was simply invincible!

Even he had only seen such precision and skill in one or two people.

Those two had both been elites of special forces. Yet the girl before him looked no more than eighteen or nineteen.

Had she started practicing archery from the womb?!

After seeing Jiang You's skill, Li Qiang immediately concealed the contempt in his eyes.

He stared in shock at the girl before him, who looked no more than seventeen or eighteen.

At that age, she had probably only just finished the college entrance exams this year, right?

Were kids these days really this fierce?

Jiang You said calmly, "Skills can be trained, and so can strength. Just because I can't use the Great Yellow Crossbow now doesn't mean I won't be able to use it tomorrow or the day after.

"One sentence: I'll pay. Are you selling or not?

"If not, I'll find someone else.

"I refuse to believe that if I have money, I won't be able to spend it!"

Her body hadn't yet caught up nutritionally. She was somewhat weak, and she hadn't begun training her strength.

After she intensified her training, she would be able to handle the Great Yellow Crossbow completely.

The man quickly suppressed his astonishment, shook his head, and pretended to look regretful. "I never expected my Xiao Qiang, whom I raised for eight years, to end up dying in your hands. Alas. But dying in one hit means he didn't suffer much."

He put on an exaggerated sigh. "I'll sell it, of course I'll sell it. The customer is always right! Hehe!"

The corners of Jiang You's lips lifted slightly. She was very satisfied with the bow and crossbow's performance.

She also ordered two of these smaller bows and crossbows.

Then she turned her gaze to the bows and arrows.

She tried several more bows and arrows, ultimately choosing one that suited her.

"How much do the bow and crossbow and the bow and arrows I just tried cost?"

"Twenty thousand for a crossbow, and twenty-five per arrow."

Jiang You frowned slightly.

"I'm not the kind of buyer who only purchases one or two. I need fifty crossbows.

"Fifty bows as well, plus some arrows. So I think you should adjust your prices."

She still had more than a million yuan, but judging from Li Qiang's prices, it clearly wasn't enough.

She had tried buying online before and had also looked at other shops. Although the things sold there were cheaper, you got what you paid for. Compared with the weapons in Li Qiang's hands, they were worlds apart.

Crossbows and bows both had limited service lives. Repeated repairs were of little significance, so she couldn't buy only a few.

Of course, buying too many would be useless as well.

As mutated plants and animals evolved after the apocalypse, weapons made from evolutionary materials would become more powerful in both strength and range in at most two years.

A major customer!

When he heard Jiang You say she wanted fifty bows and crossbows and fifty bows, Li Qiang's expression instantly turned serious.

"You're serious? You're not joking?"

Jiang You shook her head. "I don't have a humor gene. I don't joke."

Li Qiang immediately took out a calculator and tapped away at it.

A few minutes later, he wore an expression as if he were cutting off a piece of his flesh. "Fifteen thousand for a crossbow, and twenty yuan per bow!"

Hearing that price, Jiang You turned as if to leave.

Li Qiang stopped her. "When doing business, you name an outrageous price first, then the buyer bargains it down.

"You keep trying to leave at the slightest thing. Where's your sincerity?

"Name a price first. What if I agree?"

In an era when firearms were everywhere, no matter how well these cold weapons were made, they had little room to survive.

The controls were especially strict. Who would buy this kind of thing to take home?

Aside from a few enthusiasts, Li Qiang's business could be described as deserted.

He wasn't like Hua'er, who dealt in antiques—going half a year without a sale, then making enough in one sale to last half a year.

He was a craftsman who relied on his skills to make a living.

If he hadn't also enjoyed researching these things, he would have quit long ago.

He was already several months behind on his rent, and Li Qiang was currently having a headache over it.

Seeing a major customer show up, he admitted he had gotten a little carried away. His asking price might have been a little high, but how could she leave at the slightest disagreement?

At least make a counteroffer first!

Although the order was large, he had plenty of fellow craftsmen who could help make them.

As long as she paid, they could produce however much she wanted!

Jiang You thought of the way Ge Chunhua had haggled when buying clothes at the market.

She also remembered the golden rule of bargaining: "Cut it in half—cut it down to the waist!"

After hesitating for a moment, she said, "Ten thousand for a crossbow, and ten yuan per bow!?"

Was that too aggressive a bargain?

There weren't many people these days who could make high-quality cold weapons. It wouldn't be easy to find another source in such a short time.

Before she could raise her offer, Li Qiang nodded without hesitation.

"No problem!"

His crisp, decisive response left Jiang You with an indescribable frustration.

If only he had hesitated for a few more seconds, she wouldn't have regretted it so much.

Jiang You: Damn, I offered too much!

Li Qiang: Good thing there's still a profit to be made!