Back in the 1980s, hiking in the mountains was also a way of life

Chapter 402: Spiked Collar

Blacksmith Luo was also one of those who fled here to escape famine. I don’t know his specific name, Wang An. To be more precise, I have forgotten it.

Anyway, in Kaoshantun, the older people called him the blacksmith, and the younger people all called him Uncle Luo.

Blacksmithing was Luo the blacksmith's side job. The main reason was that in those days in a small village, if one depended on blacksmithing for a living, he would surely starve to death unless there were special circumstances.

Blacksmith Luo lived in a rather remote place, but in just 5 minutes, Wang An reached Blacksmith Luo's house.

At this time, blacksmith Luo was smashing a red-hot iron block.

Seeing Wang An enter the yard, Luo the blacksmith did not put down his work, but just smiled and shouted:

"The fourth child of the old Wang family is here."

Wang An also smiled and greeted, "Yes, are you busy, uncle?"

Blacksmith Luo nodded, smiled, and continued to compete with the piece of iron in front of him.

After observation, Wang An discovered that blacksmith Luo was smashing the iron block into the shape of an ice pick.

After a while, the iron was no longer red, and Luo the blacksmith put down the pliers and hammer in his hands, and said to Wang An with a smile:
"What do you want to do, Xiao Si?"

So, Wang An first took out a cigarette and lit it for blacksmith Luo, and then told him about his plan to make some spiked collars.

As he spoke, Wang An drew on the ground with a branch.

A collar should be something that can be put on and taken off, so Wang An drew two semicircular spiked collars.

Blacksmith Luo took a look and knew what Wang An was going to do.

Looking at the pattern on the ground, Luo the Blacksmith pondered for a while and said:

"Unless you use a hot nail on this thing, the iron spike won't stick."

Wang An also knew that this thing looked simple, but it was really not easy to operate without electric welding.

However, what Liu Guilan said gave Wang An a lot of inspiration, and on the way here, Wang An also figured out how to do this thing.

So Wang An said:

"Uncle Luo, how about we use two long iron sheets, make holes in the outer layer, and then put the nails in, and then use the inner layer to hold the nails in place, and then we can lock the two layers of iron sheets together, what do you think?"

Wang An's words were simple and clear. As an expert blacksmith, Luo the blacksmith immediately understood the key.

After listening to this, Luo the blacksmith nodded with a smile and said:
"You young people have good brains. With this arrangement, this job is not difficult at all."

But then, Luo the blacksmith discussed and said:

"I still have a few ice picks that I haven't finished yet. They are busy using them. If you can make them yourself, why don't you do it first? I'll charge you some iron money when you're done. What do you think?"

Wang An thought about it and nodded.

This time of year is when every village is most busy catching fish, because this season is the real "lean period".

If there is no food to eat, you have to find a way. Not everyone can go hunting in the mountains, but everyone can catch fish.

Those who can cooperate will work together to chop ice, and those who cannot will have the whole family join in.

The main job is to chisel ice, which really requires a lot of strength.

Therefore, during this period of time, the demand for ice picks will increase significantly.

In fact, the ice pick will not break under normal circumstances. It can be said that this thing is like a permanent prison.

Just know that this thing is afraid of being lost. It's not that someone will steal it, but if you're not careful, it will fall into the ice hole.

A serious and heavy ice pick, once it falls into the river, there is almost no chance of finding it.

So I just thought it was lost. The collar must not be too heavy, and it must be made of two layers of iron, so the two layers of iron must not be too thick.

But these are not difficult for Wang An.

If there were materials and tools at home, Wang An would have turned around and gone home while on the road.

So Wang An and Luo the blacksmith started to get busy.

In fact, with the tools and materials, anything can be done quickly, so in less than half an hour, Wang An made one spiked collar at a time.

Just when Wang An was making the second collar, Mu Xueli and Wang Li arrived.

After a brief greeting, Mu Xueli explained the whole story.

It turned out that after Wang An left Mu Xue's home, Mu Hua and his wife and Mu Xue had a disagreement about whether to go and hunt the tiger.

But in the end, Mu Hua made the final decision and agreed to let Mu Xue leave to fight the tiger.

Then Liu Ruxin sent Mu Xueli to find Wang An to see what preparations needed to be made in the next two days. After all, the more preparations you make, the less danger you will face.

So Mu Xueli came over on horseback.

But Wang An was not at home, so Mu Xueqing asked Mu Xueli to go find Wang Li.

After all, the three of them have always gone into the mountains together. Since Wang An is making preparations, Mu Xueli and Wang Li should also be involved.

And just like that, these two people came.

But for Wang An, the arrival of these two people was a good thing, because someone was working!
Then, the three of them started working together.

I don't know why, but when there are more people doing work, the amount of work is the same, but it goes faster.

Take the example of Wang An and his two colleagues making collars. The speed is different when one person makes three collars alone and when three people work together to make nine collars.

Not surprisingly, the former is slow and the latter is fast.

However, the corresponding issue is eating. If a person is full after eating 3 bowls of rice alone, but 3 people together will eat 9 bowls of rice.

If you don't pick it up at all, it definitely won't be enough to eat.

Soon, Wang An and his two companions finished making 10 collars while boasting and chatting.

When checking out, blacksmith Luo didn't ask for much, only 3 cents for a collar. This was mainly because foreign nails were more expensive, so Luo bought them anyway.

After paying the bill, they carried the finished collars to Wang An's house.

When passing by the convenience store, a group of people were talking about it. The topic was: that tiger hurt people again.

Not only were people injured, but five dogs also died.

Fortunately, the injured people did not die, and they were not from Kaoshantun, but two hunter brothers from the Laoma family in Yangshutun.

The three of them simply listened to a few words and continued walking home.

However, after hearing the news, the three people no longer had the desire to continue bragging.

The reason is that, although the two hunter brothers of the Ma family are not gunners, the eldest brother has been a soldier, and he is also a well-known hunter in the surrounding villages.

The second brother is not a coward when it comes to hunting, and his marksmanship is also very good.

These characters, who are brothers, were both injured by this tiger. This shows how powerful and difficult it is to beat this tiger.

But Wang An and his two companions will soon be going to attack it.

Who would be in the mood to brag no matter who it is? Especially you, how could you not?

(End of this chapter)