The carefree life of Yang Shuisheng, the village miracle doctor

Yang Shuisheng stopped and turned around.

"Is there anything else?"

The sales clerk smiled broadly, rubbing her hands together as she asked, "It's nothing serious, it's just that you bought so much stuff, I'm afraid it'll be difficult for you to carry it all back by yourself, won't it?"

"With all these bags and packages, walking a long way will be tough."

Yang Shuisheng weighed the object in his hand; it was indeed quite heavy.

Although he is strong now and it wouldn't be a problem for him to carry it back to Peach Blossom Valley, it would still be inconvenient to carry it all the way, and he also had to go to other places.

"It's alright, it's just Peach Blossom Pass, we'll be there in no time."

"Peach Blossom Valley?" The saleswoman's eyes lit up, and she clapped her hands. "Oh my! What a coincidence!"

"We happen to have some goods to deliver to Director Yu's house in Taohua'ao today."

"These are items needed for Director Yu's daughter's college entrance celebration banquet. A tractor will be going over later."

"Comrade, if you trust us, you can leave your things here, and we'll have a tractor take them over later. You just need to pay two yuan for the shipping fee."

"Once you arrive at Taohua'ao, you can easily pick up the goods at Director Yu's house with the ticket."

Yang Shuisheng thought about it and realized that this was a good idea.

Two yuan isn't much, but it saves him a lot of effort and prevents him from carrying heavy bags around.

Moreover, if he transports the items back first, it will be more convenient for him to go to the blacksmith's shop empty-handed.

"Okay." Yang Shuisheng nodded and carried the two large bags back.

The main thing is that he doesn't need those two dollars right now.

Seeing that he agreed, the sales clerk became even more enthusiastic and quickly took out a small notebook, wrote out a handwritten shipping label, tore it off, and handed it to Yang Shuisheng: "Here, this is the receipt, please keep it safe."

"Your name and a list of items are written on it. When you arrive at Director Yu's house, show this to the delivery person so you can take your things."

"Don't worry, our supply and marketing cooperative has a good reputation, it definitely won't be lost!"

Yang Shuisheng took the receipt and looked at it. It read in crooked handwriting, "Comrade Yang Shuisheng, a batch of goods to be transported."

The following are several major categories, stamped with the red seal of the supply and marketing cooperative.

He nodded, carefully put away the receipts, paid two yuan for shipping, and then left the supply and marketing cooperative empty-handed.

Next, he went straight to the blacksmith's shop at the other end of town.

Before you even get close, you can hear the crisp, loud clanging of blacksmithing, and a wave of heat and a faint smell of coal waft over.

The blacksmith shop was bustling with activity both inside and outside. Several farmers were gathered around, some waiting for newly made sickles, some repairing hoes, and others pointing and looking at the various farm tool samples hanging on the wall.

The furnace was blazing, and the blacksmith, shirtless and covered in sweat, was wielding a large hammer, working with his apprentice to forge a red-hot iron bar, sparks flying everywhere.

Yang Shuisheng walked in, his gaze sweeping over the sickles, hoes, machetes, and plowshares hanging on the walls, and then looking at the semi-finished products and scraps piled on the ground, but he did not find anything resembling a dart or a thin sheet of iron.

This was within his expectations, as darts are not commonly seen in the countryside.

After finishing his work, the blacksmith wiped his sweat and noticed Yang Shuisheng, a stranger looking around. He asked in a gruff voice, "Young man, what do you want to buy?"

"Buy a hoe, a sturdy one."

Yang Shuisheng walked to the wooden shelf displaying finished farm tools, pretending to select one, and casually picked up a hoe and weighed it in his hand.

"They're all pre-made on that shelf. Pick whichever one you like."

"Three yuan and fifty cents a piece, no bargaining." The blacksmith was very straightforward. He pointed to a wooden frame next to him and then turned around to get back to work.

Yang Shuisheng picked out a sturdy-looking hoe that seemed easy to handle, walked over to the blacksmith, and while paying, lowered his voice and asked in a tone only the two of them could hear, "Master, besides these farm tools, can you make some other small things for me?"

"What little thing?"

The blacksmith took the money, glanced at him, and asked in a gruff voice, "As long as it's iron, there's nothing I can't forge."

"I've been a blacksmith for thirty years, what strange and unusual things haven't I seen?"

"It should be about half the size of a palm, a long, thin piece of iron. It needs to be hard, with sharp edges." Yang Shuisheng gestured with his hand to describe the approximate shape and size, giving a vague description without directly mentioning a dart.

Master Wang frowned and thought for a moment. A long, thin sheet of iron, sharpened...

"Do you want to make a box cutter? Or what?"

"Pretty much, somewhat similar, but more handy, and the throw needs to be more stable," Yang Shuisheng said vaguely.

Although Master Wang didn't fully understand what exactly he wanted to make, he understood the request.

He nodded confidently: "It can fight! Just like you said, a thin sheet of iron, sharpened, and hard."

Are there any portion size requirements?

"Each one should weigh no more than one or two ounces, so we'll make two," Yang Shuisheng said.

Too light and it lacks power; too heavy and it affects control—one or two ounces is just right.

"Okay, but there's a lot of work today. Look," Old Wang pointed to the people waiting next to him, "you have to queue."

"It will take at least tomorrow or the day after to print it out for you."

"You pay half the deposit first, two dollars."

"Come pick it up when it's done, and I'll give you the rest."

"no problem."

Yang Shuisheng readily took out another two yuan as a deposit.

Master Wang took a small wooden plaque, marked it with a red-hot thin iron rod, and handed it to Yang Shuisheng: "Here, this is proof."

"Come pick it up the day after tomorrow afternoon."

Yang Shuisheng took the wooden plaque and put it away, then left the blacksmith's shop with the bare hoe that had only one iron head.

I've bought the hoe, but I still need to get a wooden handle for it.

He wandered around the town for a while and found a general store that sold wooden and bamboo products.

The shop is filled with various carrying poles, baskets, wooden buckets, benches, and a pile of processed wooden poles, specially made for matching farm tool handles.

There weren't many people in the shop. The owner was a thin old man who was weaving bamboo baskets with his head down.

Yang Shuisheng went inside and rummaged through the pile of wooden poles for a suitable handle to make a hoe.

He was bending over to compare the thickness and straightness of the two wooden poles when a person suddenly rushed into the shop, seemingly in a hurry. He kept his head down and rushed inside, bumping into Yang Shuisheng's shoulder lightly.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, so sorry!"

The man didn't even look up, mumbled an apology, and quickly walked to the counter.

Yang Shuisheng was jolted by the impact but didn't pay it any mind and continued selecting wooden poles.

Finally, he chose a suitable thickness and a hard oak pole, and asked the boss to help him attach the hoe head and hammer it in firmly.

"Alright, try it out and see if it's easy to use?" The boss handed the assembled hoe to Yang Shuisheng.

Yang Shuisheng took it, swung it a couple of times, and found it to be a good feel for the ball and a good center of gravity.

"Okay, this is it. How much?"

"The wooden pole is 1.2 yuan, and the installation fee is 0.2 yuan, making it 1.4 yuan in total," the shopkeeper said, then enthusiastically pointed to other items in the shop, "Young man, would you like to take a look at anything else?"

"We also have newly made benches here; they're sturdy and durable!"

"Or how about a bed? A pine one, they're comfortable."

Yang Shuisheng looked in the direction the shopkeeper pointed, and indeed there were several newly made wooden beds and chairs in the corner of the shop.

Although the design is simple, it definitely looks much better than my old, dilapidated things.

He couldn't help but think of his dilapidated house, which had almost no decent furniture.

Should we... buy some new ones?

The thought had barely crossed his mind when he immediately suppressed it.

No, we've already spent a lot of money today. Just buying clothes and daily necessities for Liu Yulan, plus the big shopping trip and the custom-made darts, cost over two hundred.

Although he still had more than a thousand in his arms, that was meant to redeem Liu Yulan from her servitude.

Let's wait until later to buy furniture.

"No, maybe next time."

Yang Shuisheng shook his head, reached into his pocket to take out money, and prepared to pay for the hoe handle.

However, his hand reached into his pocket and found nothing.

He frowned and carefully touched the inner pocket next to his body.

There should have been over a thousand yuan there, along with the supply and marketing cooperative's shipping receipt and the blacksmith's wooden sign.

Now, it's completely empty!

Only a few loose bills remained in my pants pocket.

Yang Shuisheng's heart sank, and his face instantly turned cold.

The money was stolen!