"Is this Qingyang Market?!"
Standing on the street of Qingyang Market, Little Shiba looked at the endless stream of people shuttling back and forth. He had not seen such a scene for a long time. Although Qingyang Market was not as good as a small town in his previous life, at least it gave him a taste of the civilized world, which was much better than the small mountain village he used to live in.
Three days ago, his second uncle once again came to his house and brought up the matter of letting Boxer and Little Shiba go out to explore the world again. Old Zhou agreed.
There was nothing he could do about it. Although his life was good, he had four sons after all. Buttface had reached the age of marrying, Boxer and Little Shiba were about to reach the age of growing up, and their appetites were constantly growing. Boxer was fine, but Little Shiba was much more troublesome. It could be said that he could not live without meat. If it were not for the care of Wang Tianlei's family, Old Zhou's family would really be impoverished by Little Shiba.
It was better to take this opportunity to send Little Shiba out. He did not expect Little Shiba to pay for his family's expenses, but at least he could support himself. Moreover, Qingyang Market was not far away, which was about 40 or 50 kilometers away from the village. Therefore, after a careful discussion, Old Zhou finally agreed to let his second uncle take Little Shiba out to explore the world.
"Hehe, I'm afraid Qingyang Market is still under the control of the Black Dragon Triad. But the Black Dragon Triad's First Elder is dead, and its strength is greatly weakened. I'm afraid it has no intention to run this place!" Looking at the dark buildings in the southwest, Little Shiba's face flashed a trace of an interesting smile. Although he had only inherited some fragments of Li Haoran's memory, he clearly understood Li Haoran's feelings for the Black Dragon Triad, which also affected him. Therefore, he was now very interested in the Black Dragon Triad.
However, with his current age and status, the Black Dragon Triad was still an unattainable existence, and there was no need for him to have any relationship with such a Jianghu gang at this time.
"Little Shiba, the ironware shop of the Wu's is just ahead. When you get there, you have to be a good boy and learn a craft. I had to pull a lot of strings to find a way to send you there. Don't let me down!"
Along the way, Little Shiba's head was about to explode due to his repeated exhortations, but he still listened patiently with a humble smile on his face, nodding his head as he listened. He was very well-behaved, which made Little Shiba's second uncle very satisfied.
"Hehe, I almost forgot. Little Shiba now has a famous name. It's Zhou Bao!" Second Uncle seemed to have thought of something and laughed. He touched Little Shiba's head and said, "Your father's name is really good. From now on, I can't call you Little Shiba anymore. I'll call you Junior Leopard!"
Little Shiba, no, Junior Leopard had a bitter smile on his face. He didn't care whether it was Little Shiba or Junior Leopard, but it made him very uncomfortable to be touched on the head by others.
The Wu's ironware shop was very famous in Qingyang Market, or in other words, the whole Wu's was very famous in Yunzhou of Great Jin.
The Wu's in Yunzhou was an iron-smelting family.
A blacksmith, an individual blacksmith, was just a craftsman, an ordinary craftsman. At most, he was just a little bit stronger, but it was not a big deal.
However, craftsmen were also divided into different ranks. When a blacksmith could make sharp weapons, he could leave the scope of craftsmen and be called a craftsman, and he could live a good life. When a craftsman could make magic weapons, he could be called a master. They would no longer be like before, sweating profusely in a shabby blacksmith's shop, bare-chested, fighting for the iron bell and striking alone. They would be like Gan Jiang and Mo Xie in ancient legends, who would become guests of high officials and nobles. They would specially make specific weapons for specific people, using materials that ordinary blacksmiths could not imagine. In their lifetime, they might only be able to make one or two items, but with these one or two special items, their name could be passed down to later generations. This was the so-called master.
And like the Wu's, which had a unique secret skill, there would be one or two masters every few generations. A family that could mass-produce craftsmen, their own status was not lower than that of an ordinary well-known family.
The Wu's ironware shop in Qingyang Market was only a small branch of the Wu's. In Yunzhou, every small town had a Wu's ironware shop. The Wu's monopolized 70% of the ironware business in Yunzhou, ranging from knives, arrows, bows and arrows to kitchen knives and spatulas. The Wu's were responsible for 90% of Yunzhou's armaments and ironware. Similarly, in the markets outside Yunzhou, the Wu's ironware was also very popular, occupying a certain proportion. That was why they were called one of the four great smelting families in Great Jin.
Of course, although they were called a well-known family in name, in fact, the Wu's blacksmiths were not all members of the Wu's. Think about it, there were so many ironware, so many shops, including ironware for armaments. No matter how many people the Wu's had, they could not afford it all. Even if the Old Lady, who was over 80 years old, was equipped for the job, she would probably be exhausted to death.
An ironware aristocratic family like the Wu's generally accepted disciples widely. Of course, these disciples only received ordinary smelting methods. The real profound smelting methods were kept by the core figures of the Wu's. Only a few disciples could be taught, and these people were the elites of the entire Wu's.
Now, Zhou Bao just entered an ordinary ironware shop of the Wu's as an apprentice. There were countless ironware shops like this in Yunzhou. They trained ordinary blacksmiths. Occasionally, they found apprentices with good aptitude and talent in ironware. Only then could they be recommended to bigger ironware shops to learn more profound smelting methods and become the real disciples of the Wu's.
To become a disciple of the Wu's, there was hope to become a craftsman. This was the highest pursuit of every apprentice who entered the Wu's ironware shop. But this was not Zhou Bao's pursuit. He had no interest in ironware, he only cared about the treatment of the Wu's ironware shop. He was a person who practiced martial arts. As the saying goes, the poor study while the rich practice martial arts. People who practiced martial arts needed large amounts of meat to replenish the energy consumed during practice. That was why he could not live without meat. The Zhou's could no longer afford to support him, and this was his biggest problem. The Wu's ironware shop was blacksmithing. Blacksmithing also consumed a lot of energy, and also required a strong body. Therefore, even a small apprentice would have meat for every meal. In this way, his problem would be solved.
The workshops of Qingyang Market were all in the south of the town, but the Wu's ironware shop was different. They were in the center of the town, which was the most prosperous place in the whole town.
This ironware shop was the largest shop in the whole Qingyang Market. It was a shop in the front and a workshop in the back.
However, Qingyang Market was just a small place. The area of the Wu's ironware shop was relatively the largest, but it was still not enough. Standing outside the ironware shop, Junior Leopard could faintly hear the sound of blacksmithing in the back of the shop. He could even imagine in his mind the scene of those guys sweating and hammering iron in the back of the shop.
"Hehe, Old Butler Lin, this is my nephew. I've brought him here for you. Look, although he's young, he's very sturdy!"
Junior Leopard's second uncle smiled in front of a skinny old man who was about 60 years old and pulled Junior Leopard in front of him.
"Well, not bad!" Old Butler Lin glanced at Little Shiba and his expression changed slightly. "Not bad. It's rare for you to be so arrogant at your age. Let's go. Old Xing won't complain to me anymore." Butler Lin said to himself and pulled Junior Leopard behind him. Then he looked up and said, "You go to Little Yun and get a student contract. That's it. I'll take him to see Old Xing. That old guy has a bad temper, especially to outsiders. You don't have to go!"
"Yes, yes —!" Junior Leopard's second uncle nodded repeatedly and told Junior Leopard a few more words. It was nothing more than to be obedient in this ironware shop, to study hard, to fight for a good future, and so on. Junior Leopard had been tired of these words.
As for Butler Lin, he was smiling there. He had seen this kind of thing many times. Anyway, there was still a lot of time and he didn't need to worry. He waited for Junior Leopard's second uncle to finish all the words and then walked into the shop with Little Shiba.
Although the Wu's had a big business, Qingyang Market was a small place after all. Basically, its customers were townspeople, who didn't have high requirements for ironware. At most, they used kitchen knives to cut vegetables. Moreover, they didn't have much money and purchasing power. Moreover, the Wu's ironware was 10% or 20% more expensive than that of ordinary blacksmith shops. Therefore, their business was limited.
And their biggest source of business was the warriors who entered the mountain. These warriors used small towns like Qingyang Market as a place to rest and replenish their equipment. The Wu's also usually did business with them.
Of course, the Wu's Weapon Shop also accepted business from ordinary people, but it didn't accept many shops. Most of them were for the apprentices to practice their craft.
Junior Leopard followed Butler Lin into the shop and walked to the back of the shop. The further he went, the louder the sound of iron striking became. In the end, there was no other sound except for the "Ding Ding Dang Dang" sound of iron striking.
"Damn it, this is pure noise!" Zhou Bao secretly blushed with shame. He was a quiet person, and the Taiji Fist he practiced was also a kind of quiet skill. He didn't know if he could persevere in such a place all day long.
Butler Lin didn't care about his current thoughts. Seeing Junior Leopard frowning slightly, he couldn't help but laugh and say, "What's wrong? Are you afraid, boy? Let me tell you, iron striking is not an easy job. If you want to stand firm here, you have to put in a lot of effort!"
"Oh!" Zhou Bao nodded seriously, looking like he had learned something. In fact, the thoughts in his mind had already gone beyond the highest heavens.
"Is this the apprentice you accepted this year?!"
After entering the backyard, before Zhou Bao had time to observe, a pungent smell of alcohol rushed into Little Shiba's nose. He looked up and saw an old man with a brandy nose, holding a wine gourd in his hand and staring at him with bloodshot eyes.
This old man was about the same age as Butler Lin, but he was tall and burly. However, perhaps because he was too old, or perhaps because he had not been forging for a long time, the muscles on his body were a little loose, and the blood in his body was not vigorous. This was especially true for his right hand, where there was an extremely obvious knife scar that extended from his right wrist to his elbow.
"His hand is crippled?!" Seeing this scar, Zhou Bao's heart jumped.
Although the wound seemed to have healed, such a scar showed that the tendons of the old man's hand had been cut off, and the strength of his hand had been wasted. Although Little Shiba didn't know how to forge iron, he knew what a blacksmith would look like if he lost his right hand.
"This is Master Xing. He's a craftsman. You'll be under his charge from now on. You must study hard and live up to my Second Uncle's good intentions!" Butler Lin patted Little Shiba's head and said softly. "Master Xing is a craftsman.
… …
Third update, hehe, click, recommend, collect!
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