Jiuye walked along the road, wondering if he could find somewhere to work and earn a little money. You really couldn’t get by in a place like this without any cash.

He looked around. The vendors at the stalls seemed more relaxed than one another. If they had a customer, they’d get up and serve them; if not, they’d take a break. They weren’t busy at all. There was no way they’d need someone to come up and offer to work for them.

Jiuye frowned, but in the end he walked over to a fruit stall run by a big, fat man.

“Excuse me, sir. Do you need a hand? I can work for you for a day. How about one silver coin?”

For the sake of money, Jiuye had no choice but to swallow his pride. He put on a smile and spoke with utmost sincerity.

He’d thought that acting this way might earn the man’s sympathy and leave room to negotiate. Who knew…

“Get lost.”

That one simple word from the big man completely shattered Jiuye’s hopes.

Damn, that answer came way too fast. He hadn’t even thought about it! Jiuye was furious, but there wasn’t anything he could do. Without money, a nobody stayed a nobody, and the big shots stayed big shots.

Rather than waste any more time there, Jiuye turned to the fruit stall beside the man’s. It belonged to a middle-aged woman.

She was old and ugly, but she had a kind face. Maybe there’d be room to negotiate.

He smiled at her and was just about to speak.

“Get lost.”

“…”

Jiuye was completely dumbfounded. Damn, he hadn’t even said anything yet. Why was she telling him to get lost?

Before the young man could speak, the big man glanced over at the woman.

“Honey, don’t pay any attention to this poor kid.”

Heh. So after all that, they were husband and wife. No wonder they both looked so rough around the edges and had the same temperament.

Giving up on that idea, Jiuye went and sat down by the roadside.

“This won’t do. If things keep going like this, I really will be sleeping on the street tonight.” Jiuye sighed miserably.

Just then, the steady clang of hammering from across the street caught his attention. He looked up and saw a blacksmith’s shop.

Jiuye’s eyes suddenly lit up, as if he’d discovered a whole new world. He got to his feet and hurried over.

The smithy didn’t look very big, and there were only two people working inside. Judging by the sweat glistening on their dark skin, they must’ve been exhausted.

One was a sturdy, middle-aged man. The other looked a few years older than him. They were probably father and son.

The middle-aged man noticed Jiuye running over and lowered his hammer.

“What can I get for you?” He assumed Jiuye had come to buy a weapon.

Jiuye gave them both a sheepish grin.

“Sir, I don’t need anything. You two look like you’re working hard at the forge. Do you need a hand?”

The two men looked at each other, then turned their eyes to Jiuye.

“Can you even lift a hammer with a build like that? Ha ha!” the middle-aged man laughed.

Jiuye was fairly tall, and his build was more or less average. But compared to the bulging muscles of the two blacksmiths in front of him, he didn’t stand a chance.

Even though the two men looked down on him, Jiuye didn’t bother explaining. The best way to prove himself was to show them.

“Sir, could you lend me the hammer? Let me give it a try.”

The middle-aged man laughed again, then actually handed Jiuye the hammer.

Jiuye looked at the hammer, which weighed dozens of pounds, as the man passed it to him with both hands. Without a second thought, he reached out with his right hand and took it with ease. Then he raised it and brought it down on the glowing red piece of iron.

His movements were clean and fluid, without a pause. The hammer, which weighed dozens of pounds, might as well have weighed only a few in his hands. He swung it with effortless ease, leaving the father and son staring wide-eyed.

Before long, Jiuye had hammered the glowing piece of iron into a thin sheet—and kept making it thinner.

“Hey, young man, stop! If you keep going, it’ll be too thin to make a weapon!”

The sheet of iron was almost as thin as paper. The sight alarmed the man, and he hurriedly called for Jiuye to stop.

Jiuye stopped and set the hammer aside.

“Well? I’ve got a real knack for blacksmithing, don’t I?”

The two men had watched with their own eyes as Jiuye hammered the iron block into a “sheet of paper.”

The middle-aged man smiled. “Young man, I take back what I said earlier. I’m sorry.”

Jiuye shook his head. “It’s fine. The truth is, I only came here because I wanted to help you with the work. I just arrived today and spent all my money, so I need to earn some. Would you be willing to let me work here? I can work for a day for just one silver coin.”

The middle-aged man burst out laughing and clapped Jiuye on the shoulder. “Of course! With you here, we might even manage to forge one or two weapons today. Young man, work for us for a day and I’ll pay you two silver coins.”

“Then thank you, sir!”

One silver coin was worth a hundred copper coins, so two meant two hundred. Just imagine how much beef noodle soup that could buy. Jiuye couldn’t help feeling secretly pleased.

For the rest of the day, Jiuye helped out at the smithy. With him there, they actually managed to forge a weapon by the time the shop closed that afternoon. It hadn’t been decorated yet, but that was already impressive.

The two silver coins they’d agreed on somehow became three in the end.

As Jiuye was leaving, the man told him to come back and help again the next day if he had time. He hadn’t met many people who could work the forge one-handed like Jiuye. With someone like that around, their efficiency would improve several times over. Any other blacksmith shop owner probably wouldn’t let a talent like him slip away so easily.

They each had their own reasons. As for Jiuye, he was naturally happy with the arrangement. He still had to stay in Gran City for a few days, and he couldn’t do that without money.

By the time Jiuye left the smithy, the sky had grown noticeably dark. After working for so long, it was time to find an inn and get some rest.

Three silver coins weren’t much. A luxurious inn was out of the question, but it was more than enough for an ordinary one.

In the end, Jiuye stopped outside a modest inn with few guests. He peered inside, then walked in.

Aside from the innkeeper, there were only a handful of guests inside.

When Jiuye came in, the innkeeper greeted him with a beaming smile.

“Welcome, welcome! Are you looking for a room, sir?”

Jiuye nodded. “Could you get me a room, please?”

The innkeeper wrote down his details, then handed Jiuye the room key.

“There’s a deposit of thirty copper coins for the room. I hope that’s all right, sir.”

Jiuye took the key, then reached into his pocket, pulled out a silver coin, and handed it to the innkeeper.

“No need for change. Use the rest to get me a bowl of beef noodle soup—with extra beef.”

…