Studying at Western University starts with a knife-forging competition

When Lin Yuan returned to the dormitory, the hallway still smelled of potato chips and energy drinks. He pushed open the door and saw Matt sprawled on the sofa looking at his phone; the TV was on but muted.

"You're back?" Matt peeked out from behind the sofa, his gaze immediately falling on the food container in Lin Yuan's hand. "What's that?"

"Your compensation." Lin Yuan placed the food container on the coffee table and opened the lid. Inside were ribs and several thick slices of sirloin. The caramelized patterns from the grill were still clearly visible, but the heat had completely dissipated, and the fat had solidified into a thin white film on the surface of the meat.

Matt sprang up from the sofa, went to the kitchen and grabbed two plates, two forks, and a stack of paper towels. He forked a piece of rib and took a bite. The meat was cold, but he didn't slow down at all.

"It tastes good cold too." His mouth was full of meat, and his voice was muffled. "You put in garlic, soy sauce, and that sweet stuff—not sugar, it's something else."

Brown sugar and apple cider vinegar.

"Yes, this is it." He took another bite, leaned back on the sofa, and asked, "What did the professor's guests say?"

"Nobody said it wasn't tasty."

"Of course. When has anyone ever said your cooking is bad?" Matt placed the cleaned bone on a napkin, then forked a piece of sirloin. "How was the party? Did you get anything else besides the barbecue?"

"Yes. The union issue has been resolved. The professor had a student named Peter who now works for the state government. He did a project in that factory area a couple of years ago and is quite familiar with the union members. He said he'd put in a good word for me."

"How much can you negotiate down?"

"We can get the rent down a bit, but the co-management fee is still the same as we agreed, which will be paid by the union. But Peter has already said that the union will recommend some reliable people, and they won't just give us anyone. I'll have to go back and interview them later."

"That's good." Matt placed his fork on the side of the plate. "To be honest, I was worried that Pat would send some weirdo into our group. The fact that they're willing to help you screen people shows that they know what they're doing."

Before Lin Yuan could reply, his phone vibrated. The screen displayed Peter Harrison's name.

"Peter."

"Lin Yuan, I just spoke with Pat on the phone. He gave me a fair price for the rent, much lower than what he quoted before. He won't charge you the co-management fee, and the hiring criteria remain the same—hire someone from the union list."

He recommended a guy named Daniel who used to do mechanic work on the parts line. He'd been there for over ten years, and after the factory closed, he'd been taking odd jobs locally. His skills are solid, and he's reliable. If you'd like to meet him, we can arrange to talk in person at the factory tomorrow.

"Okay, I'll go there tomorrow afternoon."

"Okay, I'll have him contact you directly. Pat also said that if you're not satisfied with this person, you can switch, and he'll find you a replacement. He doesn't want you to feel like he's just messing around on the first meeting."

"Understood. Thank you very much this time."

"No problem. If you encounter any procedural problems in that area in the future, just come to me."

After hanging up the phone, Matt had already forked the last piece of rib from his plate and was wiping his fingers with a tissue. "All done?"

"That's about it. Pat recommended someone named Daniel, who used to work in the parts line as a mechanic. We'll meet him at the factory tomorrow afternoon."

Before he could finish speaking, his phone vibrated again. This time it was an unknown number. Lin Yuan answered, and it was Pat Macaulay on the other end. His voice was still unhurried: "Lin Yuan, Peter told you about the rent, right?"

"I just finished speaking. Thank you for helping to coordinate."

"You're welcome. You're opening a forging workshop there, renting property from our community, and employing people from our community. If your business does well, you'll hire more people, which will benefit the community. That's the logic I'm using." Pat paused for a moment. "Let me briefly tell you about Daniel's situation. He's in his early forties and has worked on the parts processing line for twelve years, knowing everything from lathe operation to assembly."

He won't touch any shady stuff, he won't be late, and he won't cause trouble. If you hire him, I'll have peace of mind.

"I'll go there tomorrow afternoon and talk to him in person."

"Okay. I'll have him wait at the factory at three o'clock."

Lin Yuan hung up the phone, placed it on the sofa armrest, and leaned back against the sofa. The water stain in the corner of the ceiling was still in the same place, shaped like a bird with outstretched wings.

Matt finished the last bite of meat on his plate and wiped his fingers with a napkin. "You just said you had an interview later, and then the phone rang. If you had mentioned you had to go see the equipment tomorrow, Frank's list might have been sent over in the next second."

"The professor said he'd send it to my email tonight. I'll check the school's storage room tomorrow morning."

"Your schedule tomorrow is busier than my class schedule this week." Matt stood up, put the plates and bones into the kitchen, rinsed his fingers under the tap, and turned to the living room, saying, "I'll put the barbecue bill on Doug's knife. Once your forging workshop really takes off, I'll be your chief logistics officer."

"Logistics officer," Lin Yuan repeated the word, "you can't even buy the right ginger."

"That was before. I've been buying the right things every time since then." Matt came out of the kitchen, wiping his hands with a towel. "Besides, now I'm in charge of venue rentals, contract negotiations, and strategic material reserves—onions, ginger, and garlic are tactical matters, not my direct responsibility."

Lin Yuan leaned back on the sofa, closed his eyes, and his lips twitched slightly. Outside the window, the shadow of the oak tree swayed gently under the streetlights, and the kitchen faucet, not turned on tightly, made a steady dripping sound.

Tomorrow morning I'll check the equipment, and this afternoon I'll check the personnel. Once those two things are done, the framework of the forging workshop can be set up.

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The next morning, Lin Yuan and Matt found the school's supply warehouse at the address Frank had sent them. The warehouse was located on the east side of the campus, a row of gray-white bungalows with a few withered ivy vines climbing the outer walls. Frank was already waiting at the door, holding a folder in his hand. Upon seeing them, he stepped aside from the access control and opened the door to lead them inside.

The warehouse was much larger inside than it appeared from the outside, with rows of steel shelves stretching from the floor to the ceiling, stacked with wooden crates, foam boxes, and pallets wrapped in plastic film. There was a faint smell of lubricating oil and rust-proof paper mixed in the air.

Frank led them through two rows of shelves and stopped at the far end of the warehouse. He reached out and turned on all the lights on the wall, pointing to a row of equipment covered with gray dust cloths. "That's it. Everything on the list is here. Take off the dust cloths and see for yourselves. Ask me any questions you have."

Matt grabbed a corner of the dust cover and yanked it off, revealing a floor-standing Rockwell hardness tester underneath. The gray paint on the machine body was intact, the button labels on the control panel were unworn, the indenter was so clean it shone, and the standard hardness blocks were neatly stacked in a small wooden box next to it.

Frank casually remarked that the machine had only been used for two teaching demonstrations and had been kept as a backup in a corner of the lab most of the time.

Lin Yuan removed the dust covers from the remaining equipment one by one.

A metallurgical microscope, with the eyepiece and objective lens still in their original foam trays, and the lens without any scratches.

On the shelf next to it were a benchtop belt sander and a small bench drill. The power cords of both machines were still tied with the nylon cable ties they came with at the factory, and there were no signs of wear on the plugs or sockets.

"This set of drill bits and cutting tools came with the bench drill. It arrived just in time for the lab upgrade, so most of them are still unopened." Frank opened the folder and glanced at it. "If you want them, these consumables are included in the total price, no extra charge."

Lin Yuan opened a box of carbide drill bits. The foam padding inside the box was still dry, and the metal surface had the very thin layer of anti-rust oil from the factory, reflecting a dull luster under the white light of the warehouse. He closed the box and then looked at the neatly stacked abrasive belts and saw blades next to him.

"What's the price of this batch of goods?" Matt asked.

Frank flipped to the last page of the folder and handed it to Lin Yuan. Lin Yuan glanced at the total price; it was less than a quarter of the market price for new equipment. He closed the folder and handed it back to Frank.

"How is it?" Frank put away the folder, took out a pair of reading glasses from his pocket, and wiped them.

"I'll take them both." Lin Yuan took out his bank card without asking any further questions. Frank took the card, swiped it a few times on the portable card reader, and handed the receipt and delivery slip to Lin Yuan. Lin Yuan signed the delivery slip and returned the pen to Frank.

"You don't need to worry about the moving. I'll arrange for the logistics team to deliver everything to the address you provided. I'll organize the instruction manuals and warranty cards for each piece of equipment on the list and put them in boxes to go with the equipment." Frank tucked the folder under his arm, took off his reading glasses, and said, "Use these carefully. These things are just taking up space in the warehouse; they'll only be truly useful once they're in your hands."

As Matt walked out of the warehouse, he glanced back at the row of gray-white bungalows and remarked that this was the most efficient transaction he had witnessed since coming to America. Lin Yuan didn't reply, but his steps were much lighter than when he arrived.

The two got back into the car, and Matt took a picture of the signed receipt and saved it to his phone's notes app before starting the car. "With so much equipment, we need to plan the factory layout in advance."

I asked Pat about the power supply. He said the factory used to do metal processing, and the main distribution box has enough capacity, so there's no need to upgrade it. However, the ventilation ducts need to be inspected to see if the smoke extraction is effective enough.

"I'll take care of the ventilation ducts and fire protection. Could you help me arrange for a certified electrician to inspect the entire power distribution system and clearly mark the load limit for each circuit? It will be troublesome to modify the wiring when there are more devices later. Please reserve a few circuit breakers in advance and mark their locations on the electrical box diagram."

"Okay. I'll call and arrange it this afternoon." Matt noted this down in his phone's notes.

Lin Yuan's phone vibrated. He glanced down at it; it was a message from Peter.

"Peter said he's already arranged for a lighting technician he knows to come to the factory this afternoon to check out the site." Lin Yuan scrolled down the message. "He said the lighting in the forging workshop can't all be ordinary fluorescent lights; we need high-temperature resistant industrial-grade lights near the furnace, and the area for filming the video needs adjustable color temperature LED panels. I said we don't have a budget for filming the video yet, and he said he'd come and take a look first, it wouldn't cost him anything."

"He's certainly thorough in his work." Matt turned the steering wheel halfway around the corner. "What are your plans after you inspect the venue this afternoon?"

"First, go back to the dorm and make a list of materials for Doug's knife. The blade blank needs to be forged in advance. Before the equipment arrives, let's get the preliminary heat treatment done at the professor's place in the next few days."