64: Chapter 64 Cured Meat, Level 4 Forging

"Head Manager Xie Dongdong, Head Manager Xie Dongdong..." Hu Gualing muttered to himself as he asked for directions along the way, finally finding Head Manager Xie Dongdong's home.

A thatched cottage with a fence for a courtyard wall.

It didn't look like much.

He walked up to the entrance and saw Head Manager Xie Dongdong sitting in front of the door. There was a small table in front of her with cloth and a charcoal pencil, likely used for recording something.

Head Manager Xie Dongdong was looking down, sewing something made of fur. Sensing someone in front of her, her eyes lit up, and she looked up to ask, "Young hero, are you here to consign or purchase goods?"

"I'll look at the goods first," Hu Gualing said casually.

"Very well, please follow me, young hero." Head Manager Xie Dongdong put down what she was sewing, picked up the cloth and pencil, stood up, and led Hu Gualing inside.

As soon as they entered the courtyard, they saw goods piled against the wall.

There were rice jars, a straw raincoat with holes in it, a hoe broken in half... It was practically a junkyard!

Hu Gualing suddenly spotted two strips of cured meat and walked over with great interest.

The two strips of cured meat looked pitch black and really didn't look appetizing.

However, Hu Gualing knew that the uglier the cured meat, the more authentic it was.

The ones sold in reality that looked bright red and yellow were actually inferior products with additives.

He leaned in to smell it, catching a rich pine scent mixed with a faint, fresh aroma.

It was indeed good stuff!

"How much?" Hu Gualing asked, pointing at the cured meat.

"250 copper coins each," a voice full of vigilance sounded from his waist level.

Hu Gualing turned his head to look and saw an NPC child named Xie Xiaotian. The boy was looking at him with a straight face, his expression suggesting he was afraid Hu Gualing would take the items without paying.

"Are you buying or not?" Xie Xiaotian asked, staring at him.

"Hah... what kind of attitude is that?" Hu Gualing felt looked down upon by this child. He grabbed Xie Xiaotian's hand and slapped half a tael of silver into it. "Buying! I'm buying both!"

Tearing down the two strips of cured meat and putting them into his backpack, Hu Gualing suddenly felt a pang of regret.

He wasn't getting paid as a blacksmith apprentice, and the ten taels of silver he had swindled from Tang Yao were dwindling with every cent spent.

Spending 500 copper coins all at once just to spite a brat was somewhat irrational.

However, seeing that Head Manager Xie Dongdong was already recording the transaction on the cloth, he felt too embarrassed to go back on his word.

Xie Xiaotian, however, changed his expression to a smile. "Great hero, see if you need anything else. We have nothing but good stuff here!"

Hu Gualing rolled his eyes speechlessly and began to browse the other goods on his own.

Among this pile of junk, the only things that caught his attention were the bamboo hat and straw raincoat.

Because these could be worn, they should count as equipment.

However, upon checking the item attributes, he was speechless once again.

While the items did indeed count as equipment, they only provided rain protection and gave no other stat bonuses.

So, Hu Gualing couldn't even be bothered to ask the price.

Just as he was about to leave, he noticed a long, black stone.

It was clearly not an ordinary rock, nor did it look like the Ore and coal he had seen in the Forging room.

He checked its attributes.

[Fire-Kindling Stone: A higher-quality flint that can be used to start fires or as a Forging Material.]

A Forging Material, is it used like Ore?

As Hu Gualing was thinking this, he heard Xie Xiaotian say, "Great hero, this isn't just any fire starter. With this, you'll never need another one in your life. And the price is cheap, only one tael of silver!"

One tael of silver?

Hearing this price, Hu Gualing decisively paid and took it, because... a single piece of Ore already cost two or three hundred copper coins. Buying this stone, which might be a special Forging Material, for one tael of silver might actually be a bargain.

After he left, Xie Xiaotian grinned. "Big Sister, I never expected that just after the Trading House opened, a sucker would show up. Usually, the cured meat in the village only costs a little over a hundred copper coins... and the fire starter is even more worthless, yet we managed to sell it for a whole tael of silver!"

"Show some respect to the customer," Head Manager Xie Dongdong scolded. "However, Dreamer is certainly generous..."

---

Hu Gualing returned to the Forging room. Looking at the raging furnace fire, he pulled a strip of cured meat from his backpack and waved it next to Wang Dachui.

"Old Wang, cook this cured meat for me."

"What do you take this place for?" Wang Dachui glanced at him out of the corner of his eye, slammed his hammer onto the anvil, and took the opportunity to grab the cured meat, then went to find an iron pot and added fresh water.

The furnace in the Forging room was burning brightly, saving the trouble of burning firewood to start a fire... The cleaned cured meat was placed in the pot, and soon, an enticing aroma rose with the steam.

Wang Dachui cut the cooked cured meat into two pieces, and he and Hu Gualing each took one and began gnawing on it.

The cured meat was firm and had a unique chewiness. Tearing off a piece with his teeth, he felt a rich, salty fragrance and a faint smoky flavor in his mouth.

"Dreamer, you're not bad, kid," Wang Dachui praised indistinctly while biting into the cured meat...

The two of them happily finished sharing a strip of cured meat and then continued working.

Just like yesterday, Hu Gualing was still doing the manual labor like working the bellows and smelting Ore, while the parts requiring technical skill were handled by Wang Dachui personally.

However, perhaps because of the bond formed by sharing the cured meat, Wang Dachui provided particularly detailed guidance today, even sharing little tricks on how to save effort while swinging the hammer and working the bellows.

Hu Gualing could feel that his Forging technique was improving rapidly. If nothing else, he could tell from the rapidly increasing [Forging] experience points...

The sky gradually darkened. Wang Dachui went back to his room to rest, but Hu Gualing was still in the Forging room, tirelessly swinging his iron hammer.

At some point, he had put his novice cloth clothes into his backpack, imitating Wang Dachui by baring his chest, with only a sweat towel hanging around his neck, which he used from time to time to wipe the sweat from his face so it wouldn't obstruct his vision.

From this, one could tell that blacksmithing was by no means an easy job; the strain on physical strength and willpower... was no less than when he was training at his most intense on the training grounds back in the day.

And the reason Hu Gualing was so willing to endure this was because he could see his experience points constantly increasing.

Although the growth rate was slow, under his relentless efforts, his [Forging] skill was almost about to reach Rank 4.

Clang! Another hammer strike.

A golden light flashed on the skill experience bar.

System Notification: [Forging] skill Rank increased to 4.

System Notification: Through long-term labor, your physical fitness has improved, Stamina +2.

[Forging (Rank 4)]: You have acquired a relatively solid Forging ability. In addition to smelting various basic Materials, you can now attempt to craft basic equipment.

Hu Gualing was overjoyed. He could finally craft equipment.

He put down the iron hammer to rest for a moment, went to the courtyard to draw a bucket of well water to drink, and sat quietly, waiting for his Stamina to recover...