In times of chaos and famine, I traded one pound of rice for two royal flushes.

"Qin Shaolang?"

The girl's name was Zhang Qiao. He kept repeating this name, his vigilance remaining unchanged.

The name Qin Shaolang was a notorious joke throughout the entire post station and even the surrounding towns. Spendthrift, gambler, good-for-nothing... these labels stuck to him like leeches.

Why would someone like that appear here carrying a bow and arrows?

"I know you," Zhang Qiao's voice was clear, but with a rusty edge. "You're General Qin's son. What are you doing here? We don't have any money for you to gamble!"

Qin Shaolang ignored her hostility and looked past her, his gaze landing on the old blacksmith groaning in pain in the corner.

Old Zhang—this person existed in the original owner's memories. A taciturn but highly skilled blacksmith. When he was a child, Qin Baisheng had brought him here, and Old Zhang, finding him amusing, had given him a spun top made of iron.

"I'm not here to ask for money." Qin Shaolang held out the broken bow in his hand. "The bowstring is broken, and I'd like to ask Uncle Zhang to help me fix it."

Zhang Qiao glanced at the bow, her pupils shrinking slightly.

She was the blacksmith's daughter, and had followed her father in forging iron and casting tools since childhood, so she had a keen eye. She could tell at a glance that the bow's frame was made of the finest ironwood, soaked in tung oil for forty-nine days, and that the bow arms were inlaid with cow horns. It was a top-quality military bow, one in a hundred.

Unfortunately, the bowstring broke, and there were several fine cracks on the bow itself, clearly caused by improper maintenance and being forced to draw the bow to its full extent.

"My father is injured and can't be repaired," Zhang Qiao coldly refused, gripping the hammer even tighter and standing firmly in front of Old Zhang.

"I know he's injured," Qin Shao-lang said calmly. "He has a fractured radius in his right arm, and it's an open fracture. Wrapping it with bandages like this will only cause infection and prevent the bleeding from stopping. In another hour, his arm will be useless."

His words struck Zhang Qiao's heart like a heavy hammer.

The girl's face changed instantly: "You...how did you know?"

She only said that her father was injured, but she didn't say where he was injured or how badly he was injured!

"I'm a doctor," Qin Shaolang explained calmly, then pointed to a barely noticeable pool of blood and several bloody bone fragments in the corner. "There's blood and bone fragments there. The way he leaned against the wall clearly indicates he was protecting his right arm. The area and color of the blood seeping through the cloth suggest a significant amount of bleeding, and it's arterial blood. Most importantly..."

He paused, looking at Zhang Qiao, "Your father's breathing is short and weak, which are typical symptoms of severe pain and blood loss."

Zhang Qiao was completely speechless.

She felt as if she were transparent in front of this man. He saw through her and her father's greatest crisis in just a few glances.

Is this still the legendary spoiled brat?

"It was Zhao the Crippled Dog who did it!" Old Zhang, who had been silent all along, gritted his teeth and squeezed out a few words. His face turned a deep liver color from the pain and anger.

"Father! Please don't speak!" Zhang Qiao cried out anxiously.

"Let him speak." Qin Shaolang went in and squatted down in front of Old Zhang.

Old Zhang, panting heavily, recounted the events in fits and starts.

Just as Qin Shaolang had guessed. Yesterday, Zhao the Crippled Dog brought his men to the shop and took a fancy to a fine iron dagger that Old Zhang had just forged, insisting on buying it for five taels of silver. That dagger was made by Old Zhang using hundred-times-refined steel, taking him half a month of painstaking effort; the cost alone was more than ten taels.

Old Zhang refused to sell, so Zhao the Crippled tried to rob him outright. Zhang Qiao fought desperately to protect him, but Zhao the Crippled's men resorted to dirty tricks, breaking Old Zhang's arm with a stick, taking his knife, and threatening to burn the shop down if they didn't leave within three days.

"It's him again." Qin Shao-lang's face turned cold.

Inner monologue: [Is this Zhao the Crippled Dog some kind of leech? Why is he everywhere? There's only one boss in the starting village, are you trying to farm him repeatedly?]

He stood up and said to Zhang Qiao, "Go find some clean, sturdy planks of wood. Also, boil a pot of water, find the sharpest pair of scissors, and some clean strips of cloth. Quickly!"

His tone carried an unquestionable command.

Zhang Qiao was stunned for a moment, and subconsciously wanted to refute, but seeing Qin Shaolang's calm yet powerful expression, she nodded as if possessed, and turned to look for something.

Soon, everything was ready.

Qin Shaolang first scalded the scissors and his hands with boiling water, and then carefully cut open the strip of cloth on Old Zhang's arm that was already stuck to his flesh and blood.

The wound was horrifying. The stark white broken bone pierced through the flesh and was exposed to the air, while the surrounding muscle tissue was already somewhat red, swollen, and blackened.

"Bear with it, it will hurt a lot," Qin Shaolang said to Old Zhang.

Old Zhang was a tough guy who had spent his whole life dealing with steel and fire; he could endure this pain. He gritted his teeth, veins bulging on his forehead, but he didn't utter a sound.

Qin Shaolang took a deep breath and supported Old Zhang's severed arm with both hands.

The next second, he suddenly crossed his hands, pulled, and pushed!

"Snap!"

A crisp sound of bones realigning rang out!

"Ugh..." Even a tough guy like Old Zhang couldn't help but let out a painful groan and fainted on the spot from the pain.

Zhang Qiao watched from the side, her heart clenching, tears welling up in her eyes.

But Qin Shaolang didn't stop. He quickly washed the wound with boiled and cooled water, then crushed the herbs he had brought and applied them to the wound. Some of these herbs were for stopping bleeding, and others were for reducing inflammation; he had picked them casually in the mountains.

Finally, a splint was made from a wooden board to fix the severed arm, and then the entire arm was tightly wrapped with clean strips of cloth using an extremely professional and complicated technique.

After doing all this, Qin Shaolang was also covered in sweat.

This body's physical fitness is still too poor.

He straightened up, looked at the injury he had treated, and said to Zhang Qiao, who was staring in disbelief, "It's done. Change the dressing once a day, and don't get it wet. Don't touch this arm for the next two weeks. Make him a soup with the herbs I left behind every day; it will help the bone heal faster."

He placed a bag of mushrooms he had picked and the remaining herbs on the table.

Zhang Qiao stared blankly at her father's breathing as it calmed down, then looked at his arm, which was bandaged like a work of art, and then at the packet of life-saving herbs and food on the table.

She finally couldn't hold back anymore, her eyes reddened, and she was about to kneel down with a "thump".

"Well, another one." Qin Shaolang swiftly caught her, looking utterly dejected. "Do the girls here think their knees are a magic key? If they can't solve a problem, they just kneel?"

Zhang Qiao was both laughing and crying at his words, her face turning bright red.

"Young Master Qin... I am deeply grateful. How much are these things worth? I..."

"No need for money." Qin Shaolang waved his hand. "When I was little, Grandpa Zhang gave me an iron spinning top, and I've always remembered it. Consider this returning the favor."

He picked up the broken bow again: "Now, can we talk about this bow?"

Zhang Qiao wiped away her tears and nodded heavily.

She took the bow, examined it carefully, and her brows furrowed more and more.

"The bowstring is easy to find; I have some excellent ox sinew here. But this bow body... is cracked. Even if I replace it with a new string, I can't draw it fully. If I force it, the bow will be ruined in less than three tries."

"Can it be repaired?"

"It can't be fixed." Zhang Qiao shook her head, but then she looked up, her bright, leopard-like eyes gleaming with confidence. "But I can print you a new one!"

"You?" Qin Shaolang was somewhat surprised.

"I've learned seventy percent of my father's skills!" Zhang Qiao's tone was full of pride. "If my father can't do it, I will! I guarantee I'll forge you an even better iron-framed bow than this one! As long as you trust me!"

Qin Shao-Lang looked at the girl whose face was covered in soot, yet whose spirits were high.

He smiled.

"Okay. I trust you." He pushed the package of food towards her. "Consider this a deposit. When will it be ready?"

"Tomorrow! Tomorrow evening, you can come and pick it up!" Zhang Qiao patted her chest and promised.

It's a deal.

……

After making the appointment with Zhang Qiao, Qin Shaolang turned and left the blacksmith shop.

He figured that with the new bow, his chances of survival on the way to the border would greatly increase. Plus, with Zhang Qiao, the blacksmith who possessed "core technology," he might be able to upgrade his equipment in the future.

This was a good deal.

He walked toward his dilapidated hut in a good mood.

However, from a distance, he heard a commotion and cries.

That voice belonged to Su Jin and Su Tang!

Qin Shaolang's heart skipped a beat, realizing something was wrong, and he immediately quickened his pace.

When he rushed to the hut, the scene before him made his eyes turn bloodshot instantly.

The door panel of the thatched hut, which had already been kicked off, was now shattered into several pieces.

Zhao the Cripple, that local thug, was blocking the doorway with a lewd grin. Behind him were seven or eight thugs, more than yesterday.

Su Jin was desperately protecting her younger sister behind her, clutching a sharpened wooden stick in her hand. Like a mother wolf driven to the brink of despair, she faced the group of people with a face full of determination and grief.

Her clothes were torn open, revealing her shoulder; her hair was disheveled; and there was a trace of blood at the corner of her mouth.

Her younger sister, Su Tang, was trembling with fear behind her, crying uncontrollably.

"Little beauty, stop struggling! Follow me, and I guarantee you'll live the high life!" Zhao the Cripple rubbed his hands together, about to grab Su Jin. "That pretty boy crippled my brother's hand yesterday, today I'll show him what happens to his woman!"

"You're dreaming! I'd rather die than let you touch my sister!" Su Jin's voice trembled, but she gripped the wooden stick in her hand even tighter.

"Then I'll kill you first, then I'll play with your sister!" Zhao the Crippled Dog had completely lost his patience. He waved his hand and shouted, "Get her! Arrest her!"

The two thugs grinned maliciously and pounced on him at the same time.

Just then, a cold voice, as if from the deepest hell, rang out behind them.

"Let her go."