Chapter 180
"Three village nails, weighing three taels and three cents, two inches and five points long, and additionally five Meteor Hammers, needing eighty-one hammer nails, forty-nine Chain Rings, weighing five jin six taels and three cents, neither a bit more nor a bit less." Dressed in Zhongshan attire, Li Jing was sipping tea while muttering a series of complex numbers, as if for him, everything could be explained with the most precise figures.
The blacksmith hammered down the final time, then soused the shaped kitchen knife into cold water before stuffing it back into the furnace.
Only when he turned around could one see that this blacksmith, unlike others, didn’t wear thick gloves; instead, he was directly gripping the glowing-hot iron with his hands. His hands were so rough and dark that it was more apt to describe them as ’paws’ rather than human hands.
"I’m sorry, I don’t have the items you are asking for."
The blacksmith, with his towering figure, sat down, and the wooden stool underneath him creaked noisily for a while before it finally quieted down.
Men drink water, no need for a tea cup, different from Li Jing, the blacksmith simply picked up the teapot and drank directly from it, the tea gulped down into his stomach as his Adam’s apple bobbed.
"If you don’t have these, I’ll have to ask for something else."
"That depends on what you want. Maybe if I’m in a good mood, I can indulge you in this pot of tea."