Studying at Western University starts with a knife-forging competition

Chapter 111

Matt spent two days refining the lottery event plan into a complete execution document.

He sent the document to Zhang Yue and simultaneously posted a teaser on his Instagram and YouTube channels—a 30-second short video showing the rough forging and pickling process of a civilian-style hunting knife. The video didn't show any of the key forging steps, temperature control details, pickling ratios, or time; everything was blurred using fast-forwarding and camera cuts.

The footage only shows the steel billet turning red-hot in the furnace, the sparks flying as the hammer falls, and the moment the pattern emerges after pickling. The pace is fast, the music is upbeat, and the ending is a title in black text on a white background—"Monthly Lucky Draw."

Two slots. First come, first served. (Monthly lucky draw. Two slots available. First come, first served.)

The video was simultaneously released on InstagramReels and YouTubeShorts.

Matt propped his phone up on his desk and refreshed the feed every few minutes. Less than an hour after posting, the Instagram post garnered over 20,000 views, and the comments section was flooded with messages like "howtoenter" and "pick me." The YouTubeShorts post was a little slower to get views, but it was still steadily climbing.

"The response is better than expected." Matt turned his phone screen towards Lin Yuan, pointing to the comments in the comment section, "Look at this one—'I've been following your channel since the Godskin Stitcher video.'"

I've been waiting for something I can actually afford. (I've been following your channel since the Godskin Stitcher videos. I've been waiting for something I can actually afford.) And this one—3000fora

A Damascus hunter? That's cheaper than most custom makers. Sign me up.

Lin Yuan was working on the rough shape of the hunting knife from California when he heard Matt's words. He stopped what he was doing, walked over, and glanced at the screen. "There are too many comments. How are we going to handle the giveaway?"

"One comment will be randomly selected; one Instagram comment will be randomly selected; using a random number generator: selected by post number. Screen recording will be provided as evidence; posted in the community feed." Matt opened the implementation document, pointing to a section, "The rules are clearly stated. Selected individuals have forty-eight hours to contact us. If they fail to do so, their spot will be forfeited, and we will draw again."

"What's the registration deadline?"

"Within two weeks of each video's release. Then, one week is spent processing the lottery and confirmations, and the following week, forging begins."

"A one-month cycle perfectly matches the channel's update frequency." Matt closed his laptop and leaned back in his chair. "That way, we won't have to worry about channel content. High-quality content will be updated irregularly, and the general audience's giveaway will be held monthly. The update schedule will be stable, and fans will have something to look forward to."

Lin Yuan nodded and returned to his workbench to continue working on the rough blank. The craftsmanship of this California hunting knife was indeed much simpler than that of high-end products—1084 and 15N20 were stacked alternately, forged twice, and the number of layers was controlled to just over two hundred.

There's no silver-iron alloy, no special proportions of cloud-patterned steel, and even the fixtures use readily available standard parts. From material preparation to finished product, it can be completed in less than a week at most.

Daniel walked over from the materials shelf, carrying a folder with several sheets of printing paper inside. He placed the folder on Lin Yuan's worktable and pointed to the first page with his finger.

"Matt asked me to help compile the registration list. I exported the comments from Instagram and YouTube in chronological order, and there are almost a thousand comments on the two videos combined." His tone was calm, but there was a subtle smile at the corner of his mouth. "When I used to work on Magna's accessories line, it was nothing like this. We didn't get as many orders in a year as you get in a single day."

Lin Yuan took the folder and flipped through it. The messages came from all over the world: the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, and several email addresses ended in Switzerland and Norway. He closed the folder and handed it back to Daniel.

"Keep organizing. Once Matt finalizes the lottery rules, you can just number the comments based on the floor number."

Daniel nodded, took the folder, and walked back to the office area. He sat down at the computer and began entering the messages from the printed paper into a spreadsheet, checking off each one as he entered it. His movements were slow but meticulous, as if he were checking a parts list during quality inspection in a factory.

Matt walked in from outside the forge, carrying two cups of coffee. He placed one on Lin Yuan's worktable and took the other to the office area, handing it to Daniel.

"How's the registration list coming along?"

"Almost a thousand entries. And new ones are still coming in." Daniel took a sip of his coffee, pointed to the table on the screen, and said, "I've put email addresses in a separate column for easy contact later. Some people left their emails directly in the comments, and some didn't; they'll need to contact me privately after winning."

Matt leaned over to glance at the screen and nodded in satisfaction. "Thanks for your hard work."

He walked back to his workbench, opened his laptop, and began editing the trailer for the next video. The content would be the forging process of a budget camping knife—from material preparation, stacking, forging, acid washing, handle attachment, and finished product display—all kept under five minutes long, much faster-paced than the previous video.

Lin Yuan took the rough California hunting knife blank out of the furnace and placed it on the anvil to begin the final polishing. The sound of the belt sander echoed in the workshop, and the surface of the blank gradually became finer as the belt was pushed forward, transitioning from a coarsely ground matte gray to a finely ground metallic sheen.

After acid pickling, the more than two hundred layers of ordinary Damask pattern emerge under the light. It is not the flowing, cloud-like pattern of the cloud-patterned steel, but a more regular, parallel wave pattern, with dark and light layers arranged alternately, presenting a clear black and white contrast under the light.

Lin Yuan picked up the knife blank, examined it, and then placed it on the workbench. He picked up a piece of desert ironwood from the tool rack and began making the handle plating. Desert ironwood is warmer in color than black walnut, with dark stripes on a reddish-brown base. After polishing, it will have a texture close to amber.

Matt walked over and glanced down at the hunting knife that was being completed on the workbench. "The grain on this knife is much worse than Nelson's Bowie hunting knife."

"Of course. The price difference is four times." Lin Yuan clamped the handle patch in the vise and began to use a file to shape it. "High-end products are made of silver-iron alloy with cloud-patterned steel, while this is a standard stack of ordinary 1084 and 15N20, with only a little over two hundred layers."

The cost difference is several times, so the results are naturally different. But for clients in the three to five thousand US dollars price range, this effect is sufficient.

Matt thought about it and agreed. He took out his phone, snapped a few photos of the half-finished hunting knife, and posted them on Instagram.

The limited-time post included the caption: "The affordable sample is almost complete. The giveaway starts next week."

Within ten minutes of the post being published, dozens more comments appeared in the comment section.

Daniel peeked out from the office area, mouse still in his hand. "The registration list has exceeded 1,200, and it's still growing. It's growing faster on Instagram than on YouTube."

Matt leaned against the materials shelf, watching the constantly refreshing comment section on his phone, unable to suppress the smile on his face.

"This activity can continue indefinitely."

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