After paying homage to grandpa's grave, the group of people walked to Ink City together.
Qin Hu was holding hands with Sun Aji, jumping up and down and walking in front.
The little guy has short legs, but he jumps very fast, and has a lively personality. He squats down to pick up stones, and chases butterflies flying by the roadside.
Sun Aji was dragged by him and staggered, shouting "slow down", but with a smile on his face, looking at him was like seeing his own brother.
Zhou Nan and Qin Tiexin walked side by side at the back.
Along the way, Qin Tiexin found that Ink City had changed a lot.
The city wall is still the same city wall, with gray bricks and gray seams, and the arrow marks on the crenellations are still there.
But there were many carriages and horses at the gate of the city, coming and going, and the dust was flying. From far away, you could hear the grunt of wheels running over the stone slabs and the shouts of the handlebars.
Several rows of new shops were built outside the city gate. Shops selling groceries, food, and ironware were sold one after another. They hung their banners on bamboo poles and dangled in the wind, shouting one after another.
On the official road, trucks hauling iron ingots and transporting coal and stone were seen one after another. The buckets of the trucks were piled up, and the ruts made the road bumpy. The rainwater from the previous two days had accumulated, and the feet of the pants were muddy when stepped on.
Introduction to Zhou Nan and Qin Tiexin: Heavenly Craft Workshop has developed rapidly with the full support of Lady Xue Lineage. Nowadays, most of Ink City's household knives and military knives are supplied by Heavenly Craft Workshop.
Knives for cutting vegetables, axes for chopping wood, sabers and spears in military camps, seven out of ten are made from Heavenly Craft Workshop stoves.
Due to the development of Heavenly Craft Workshop, Ink City has become a well-known iron city.
Businessmen from other places came here to stay for ten and a half months, waiting to pick up their goods. Even Ink City people's lives have improved a lot.
All this must be attributed to the owner of Heavenly Craft Workshop - Lady Xue.
When Lady Xue is mentioned, that gentle woman flashes in Qin Tiexin's mind.
After Zhao Xuan was taken away by the law enforcement team, Lady Xue came to the door that night with a thank-you gift. The gift boxes were stacked three layers, wrapped in silk and satin, and tied with ribbons. He spoke softly and was polite.
She agreed on the spot on the cooperation model with the blacksmith shop: Heavenly Craft Workshop for batch orders, and Qin Household Blacksmith Shop for customized orders.
Qin Tiexin wanted to leave to find Lin Feng, and did not want Zhou Cang to add another enemy to them, so he agreed.
At that time, he felt that this woman knew the current affairs, did not make enemies, and did not kill them all. She was a person who could deal with others.
Thinking about it now, what was beneath that gentleness was probably much more powerful than he imagined.
Qin Tiexin asked Zhou Nan how the shop was.
Zhou Nan said it was not good.
He sighed and kicked away a piece of gravel with his feet, which rolled to the side of the road.
In the two years since Qin Tiexin left, when Zhou Cang was still in good health, the blacksmith shop had made a name for itself by taking on the work of customizing weapons, especially the production of armor.
During that time, there were many wars in Great Xuan. Many wealthy children who joined the army came to Zhou Cang to make a pair of armor so that they could survive the battlefield safely.
The old man's craftsmanship is very good, and the pieces of the armor he punches fit together and are tempered just right. Ordinary swords and guns cannot penetrate it at all. The probability of survival on the battlefield is greatly increased, and there is an endless stream of people who come to customize it.
At that time, the reward for wearing a good pair of armor was enough to last for a year.
But slowly, Great Xuan, there were fewer wars, and peace became more peaceful in the north. The government issued a ban again, preventing people from making crossbows and armor privately, and those caught doing so would be fined money, or even imprisoned.
If there are more than three pieces of armor hidden in the house, it will be punished as treason.
No one is making armor anymore, and the old man's best skill is useless, so he can only make a living by making some swords.
My income is down a lot, but it's still enough.
The old man had a lot of savings, and Qin Tiexin also left a lot of money before he left. In addition, Tu Dazhu came to help from time to time. The two of them spent very little, so they spent sparingly, and the shop was able to sustain itself.
Two years ago, Zhou Cang's old disease relapsed, and the prosthetic limb became useless. In addition, the old man was already sixty-five years old and could no longer swing a hammer.
From then on, I could only sit in the shop and guide Zhou Nan with my mouth.
Zhou Nan has only a short time to learn blacksmithing, and his talent is relatively average. He can't control the temperature for quenching swords, and the number of customers is getting less and less.
Zhou Cang sighed and could only remove the signboard for customized weapons.
Later, Zhou Nan could only earn a few meager coppers by helping neighbors repair farm tools.
Qin Tiexin asked Heavenly Craft Workshop if he targeted the blacksmith shop.
Zhou Nan said, there really isn't any target.
After Qin Tiexin left, Lady Xue continued to introduce customized orders regularly as promised. Sometimes the shop was short of iron ingots, coal, etc., and would go directly to the opposite store to buy them, and the prices were quite affordable.
When Heavenly Craft Workshop purchased nearby shops a few years ago, he also deliberately avoided the blacksmith shop and did not mention the purchase.
It wasn't until Zhou Cang's old injury recurred and Heavenly Craft Workshop could no longer take the orders introduced by Heavenly Craft Workshop that the cooperation between the two parties gradually decreased.
However, Lady Xue has been visiting Master frequently since then. Every time he comes back, he brings everything, including snacks, drinks, medicinal materials, and cloth.
Lady Xue also invited Zhou Cang to work as a technical guide for Heavenly Craft Workshop. He did not need to do anything, he only needed to give advice to the blacksmiths below, and the reward was very considerable. However, Zhou Cang refused due to poor health.
Lady Xue is not annoyed either. Occasionally he sits in the shop and talks to Zhou Cang, asking about his health and the weather. The conversation goes back and forth, and in the end he always ends up with the sentence "When will Master Qin be back?"
In the past two years, I have been very diligent in asking questions. I even came here last month, and everything I said was clear - the government is under great pressure. If Master Qin doesn't come back, I'm afraid it won't be possible to keep the shop.
"It's okay. Now that I'm back, the shop can't be lost." Qin Tiexin said firmly to Zhou Nan.
As they talked, the two came to the door of Qin Household Blacksmith Shop.
It's still the same location, that brand, nothing has changed, but it seems like everything has changed.
The tofu shops and steamed bun shops that were around the blacksmith shop all disappeared and were now branded Heavenly Craft Workshop.
With gold characters on a black background, one by one, there are different stores for agricultural tools, weapons, daily necessities, etc., as well as shops for smelting iron ingots and buying and selling coal mining materials.
The whole street seems to have been rebuilt. All the shops have a unified style and regular form, and they are all facing Heavenly Craft Workshop opposite.
And the "Qin Household Blacksmith Shop" in the middle has an out-of-place flavor.
Zhou Nan and Qin Tiexin introduced that four years ago Heavenly Craft Workshop entered the third furnace and expanded the store. Xue Household bought all the surrounding stores and negotiated one by one. The price was fair and there was no dispute.
Except for Qin Household Blacksmith Shop, all the shops in this street have been negotiated.
Xue Household knocked down all the shops and rebuilt them in a unified style, making it what it is today.
A year ago, Heavenly Craft Workshop entered the fourth furnace. The government assisted in classifying the three nearby streets into a unified management area, saying that it would facilitate management and standardize operations.
After unified management, all the nearby neighbors who had taken care of the blacksmith shop all year round moved away. The tofu shop moved to the south of the city, the steamed bun shop returned to the countryside, the liquor store closed, and no one knows where they went.
Qin Tiexin Looking around, you can tell that the life of the blacksmith shop is getting harder and harder.
The whole street is full of Heavenly Craft Workshop signboards, with gold letters on a black background, neatly arranged.
Only the half-old wooden sign Qin Household Blacksmith Shop stood alone, with its patent leather lifted and the writing gray.
People were coming and going in the surrounding new shops, but the door of the blacksmith shop was deserted, with a thin layer of dust falling on the door plaque.
Qin Tiexin stood at the door and looked at it for a long time.
The door is still the same door, but some of the paint has faded.
The threshold has been dented by people who have come and gone over the years. The old door gods affixed to the door have faded, leaving only two vague human figures.
He reached out and pushed the door open.
The door shaft creaked, exactly as in the memory.