Chapter 306: Chapter 127: From Despair to Tailai! The Newcomer of the Casting Department!_4
Indeed, Su Changkong was planning to sneak into the Dafeng Iron Cavalry’s army camp and hide for a year or a year and a half to evade the possible pursuit of the Mu Family. Among the skills he mastered was his old trade: forging!
The Dafeng Iron Cavalry had 400,000 men, all needing armor, weapons, bows and arrows which required the work of blacksmiths. Therefore, blending in with the military as a common blacksmith would not draw attention, nor would he need to worry about giving himself away, after all, he was truly skilled in forging!
Thus, Su Changkong decided to use this method to blend into the densely populated army camp, return to his old trade, hide out for a year or so, and wait for the Wood Snake Seal to fade away with time. At that point, he could find an excuse like needing to care for sick parents to resign and leave.
“Are you able to forge? That means you’re a blacksmith…” The man clad in black armor stroked his chin, considering for a moment. He was in charge of recruiting cavalry, not support personnel. But seeing Su Changkong’s confident demeanor.
After a while, the man clad in black armor said, “I’ll write you a letter of introduction. Tomorrow, you go to the South City army camp, show this letter to the soldiers there, and someone will take you to the Casting Department to be tested. Let the supervisor of the Casting Department decide if you qualify to join!”
“Thank you, sir!” Su Changkong exclaimed with eager gratitude.
The black-armored man then wrote a note for Su Changkong.
Watching Su Changkong leave joyfully, the black-armored man shook his head, “This lad is robust, could have been good martial warrior material, yet he chooses to be a blacksmith… To each their own, I guess!”
With the letter in hand from the man in black armor, Su Changkong knew he was already halfway to successfully joining the Dafeng Iron Cavalry!
The next morning, Su Changkong arrived early at the South City army camp of Dafeng State City, which was surrounded by high walls and patrolled by soldiers, causing passersby to detour and walk around.
“What do you want?”
Upon Su Changkong’s arrival, a soldier approached and questioned him.
Showing an air of caution, Su Changkong presented the note: “An officer referred me to the Casting Department for a test.”
The soldier took the note and scrutinized it carefully before nodding slowly, “Hmm, follow me, then. I’ll take you to the Casting Department!”
Under the soldier’s guidance, Su Changkong entered the army camp, seeing plenty of soldiers already engaged in morning exercises, practicing combat formations in groups of hundreds to nearly a thousand—quite an impressive sight!
Passing through a series of buildings and checkpoints, Su Changkong arrived at the Casting Department.
The so-called Casting Department was a large factory building. Even from outside, before entering, Su Changkong could already feel the heat inside and hear the ding-ding-dang-dang of hammers forging iron. This unexpectedly gave him a sense of nostalgia, reminding him of the time he spent in Black Iron Manor!
The soldier found the supervisor of the Casting Department—a middle-aged man with dark skin and a rough appearance, solidly built, clearly someone frequently involved in forging.
“My surname is Geng, named Geng Zheng. I manage this Casting Department. You came recommended by Centurion Liu Yi. You say you can forge? We don’t care about connections here; we don’t take idlers!”
The middle-aged man sized up Su Changkong before speaking.
“Well… I’ve been learning forging since I was a child, and I consider my craft to be not too bad.”
Su Changkong nodded.
“Then come and perform a test.”
Without further ado, Geng Zheng led Su Changkong into the Casting Department,
Inside the vast hall, men with bare upper bodies were sweating profusely as they forged weapons. It was noisy and busy, and no one had the spare time to pay attention to Su Changkong.
Coming to a forging furnace, Geng Zheng said, “Here we have some pig iron. Forge something and let’s see.”
The test was straightforward; the most fundamental skill for a Forging Master was the act of forging itself.
This was an extremely important step in casting and an essential skill to master. One only needed to observe Su Changkong’s basic forging technique to approximate his overall skill level.
Su Changkong didn’t waste any words and skillfully grabbed the iron tongs, placed a piece of pig iron in the furnace to heat until it was red-hot. Then, he took it out, placed it on the anvil, and, wielding the hammer, commenced his forging.
“Clang, clang, clang!”
The crisp sound of hammer striking metal, along with flying sparks, filled the air. Su Changkong occasionally flipped the piece of iron, continuously hammering it evenly, neither too fast nor too slow, with meticulous care and precision.
“Not bad!”
It didn’t take long for Geng Zheng to show a smile. With his experience, it was clear to see Su Changkong possessed rock-solid fundamentals, obviously having studied forging for many years, not someone who relied on connections to advance.
The Casting Department was not short of manpower, but it lacked smiths with superior skills, and this young man seemed to be just the talent needed!
After a while, Su Changkong stopped and looked toward Geng Zheng, his face full of expectation.
Geng Zheng’s face was already beaming with a smile, “Welcome to the Casting Department, young man. What’s your name?”
“My name is Su Tailai, ‘Tailai’ as in ‘from adversity to prosperity,'” Su Changkong scratched his head, answering with a simple and honest expression.
(Qidian Chinese Network update preview. The next chapter’s update time is at 22:00 on the 23rd.)