Mr. Bolton became even more embarrassed. He stammered, “Well... I’m not sure if it’s appropriate. Besides, I don’t have much education—just finished elementary school—so I don’t know if I can learn…”

“If Master Bolton wants to learn, I’ll teach you.” Henry Carter replied cheerfully. “There are some theoretical issues you might not fully understand, but with your rich experience, you’ll definitely be able to grasp it.”

“Mm, mm, as long as I can pick up some practical experience, that’s enough for me.” Mr. Bolton said repeatedly, not caring at all that his words didn’t quite match Henry Carter’s. After speaking, he remembered something else and asked in a low voice, “Little Master, do you think... since I’m asking you to teach me, should I prepare a thank-you gift or something?”

Henry Carter waved his hands repeatedly. “No, no, I wouldn’t dare. I’ve only learned a little myself—how could I call myself a teacher in front of Master Bolton? Let’s just say we’re learning from each other. How about this, Master Bolton, there are some other farm tools here. Give me a hand, and let’s do the quenching for all these tools together.”

“Sure, sure, I couldn’t ask for more.” Mr. Bolton was overjoyed. For him, doing some work wasn’t tiring at all, and if he could learn Henry Carter’s techniques through this, it would be a huge gain.

Tubby had been inside the house for quite a while, and by now he was drenched in sweat, sitting under a tree gulping down cool boiled water. The other two young men, one tall and one short, admired Henry Carter’s skills but had no desire to learn them, so Henry Carter and Mr. Bolton went into the blacksmith shop together and began repairing the farm tools one by one.

Mr. Bolton’s blacksmithing experience was far superior to Tubby’s, so when it came to forging iron tools, Henry Carter hardly needed to step in. When it came to the heat treatment stage, Mr. Bolton let Henry Carter do the explaining, while he followed Henry Carter’s instructions step by step, and in the process, he grasped the essence of Henry Carter’s heat treatment technique.

“Mm, so this temperature is 900 degrees, right? I’ll remember this color…”

“Good, keep it insulated in the furnace ash—the ash needs to be at a certain temperature…”

“This water is called a triple-nitrate solution; it can be used to quench this kind of steel…”

Mr. Bolton absorbed the techniques Henry Carter provided like a sponge, and in some areas, he was even able to innovate and suggest improvements, which made Henry Carter click his tongue in admiration, secretly thinking that true masters are often hidden among the common people.

“This is great, absolutely thrilling!”

When a farm tool completed all the heat treatment steps in Mr. Bolton’s hands and was taken out of the quenching solution, glowing with a faint blue light, Mr. Bolton was so excited he almost lost his composure.

“Old Bolton, congratulations!” Butch said cheerfully to Mr. Bolton, for a craftsman like him, learning a new skill was truly something to celebrate.

“It’s all thanks to Little Master’s excellent teaching. I really misjudged before—Little Master is so young and already so skilled, truly an outstanding talent.” Mr. Bolton didn’t even know how to praise Henry Carter enough. Previously, he had looked down on Henry Carter, but thinking back now, it was laughable. Fortunately, Henry Carter wasn’t the type to hold a grudge.

“Hey, hey, master, I remember you said earlier that if our brother’s shovel could split a brick after quenching, you’d buy all our farm tools. You’re not going back on your word now, are you?” Tubby had finally drunk his fill and revived. He strode over with a swagger and said to Butch in a booming voice.

“Of course I’m not going back on my word!” Butch said, sticking out his neck. “As long as Mr. Bolton and this Little Master process all these farm tools, I’ll take them all.”

“All of them? Then we’ll have to raise the price.” Tubby said.

“Raise the price? Didn’t we agree on two and a half yuan per shovel?” Several farmers hurried forward to argue. These tools were so good that even without the previous bet, they had planned to buy them, but Tubby’s attempt to raise the price on the spot made them unhappy.

Tubby said, “Two and a half was the old price. Back then, we brothers weren’t skilled, and the products weren’t up to standard, so we had to sell them cheap. Now, with this… oh right, buddy, what’s your name?”

This last question was directed at Henry Carter. After all the help he’d received, he still didn’t know the man’s name, which felt a bit awkward. Besides, Tubby was thinking of inviting Henry Carter to join them in the farm tool business, so he had to ask.

“My name is Henry Carter. And you guys?” Henry Carter asked in return.

“I’m Mark Newman,” Tubby replied, then pointed to his two companions, one tall and one short: “This is Harold Young, and this is Leonard Miller.”

“Pleased to meet you.” Henry Carter cupped his hands in greeting, which made the three of them flustered for a moment. In those days, period dramas were rare, and this kind of cupped-hand salute was unfamiliar to most people.

“Right, I wasn’t finished…” After Tubby and Henry Carter exchanged names, Tubby turned back to the farmers and said, “Look, we use the best steel—Mr. Bolton’s steel isn’t as good as ours. Our quenching technique is also the best. Tell me, should our shovels sell for less than Mr. Bolton’s?”