Studying at Western University starts with a knife-forging competition

Chapter 93

Lin Yuan thought for a moment. "Have him send over a detailed cooperation proposal, including weapon selection, timeline, and specific terms for profit sharing. We'll decide after we've reviewed it."

Matt nodded, noted it down in his memo, then turned and went back to his office to type a reply.

On Friday morning, Zhang Yue sent a second email. This one was much more detailed than the first; she had compiled data from four platforms into a table. On Bilibili, the video had reached 110,000 views with over 4,000 comments and bullet comments combined; on Douyin, it had 160,000 views; and the data on Xiaohongshu and Weibo was also increasing. She specifically mentioned in the email that a Bilibili user had spontaneously created subtitles, translating the English narration and on-screen annotations into Chinese, and posted them in the comments section, where they were pushed to the top spot.

After reading the email, Lin Yuan replied to Zhang Yue: "Thank you for your hard work. You can handle everything on the domestic platform. Just let me know if you need my cooperation."

Zhang Yue replied instantly with a "Received" emoji, and then added: "After the finished products of Nielsen and Jason's orders are completed, could you take some high-resolution pictures? Bilibili wants to post a status update to generate buzz."

Lin Yuan replied with "Okay," then put his phone back in his pocket, walked to the workbench, picked up the Bowie hunting knife blank, and began fine-sharpening. The heat treatment of both knives was complete, and the hardness after tempering met expectations. He tested the edge of the blade with a file, and the file slipped, indicating that the hardness was not a problem.

He turned on the belt sander and started grinding again from the coarse grit. After heat treatment, the blade surface is covered with oxide scale, which needs to be cleaned with coarse abrasive to expose the underlying metal layer, before fine polishing with fine grit. The Bowie hunting knife has a long blade, and during fine grinding, the curves on all four sides need to be kept symmetrical to prevent the edges from shifting. He repeatedly ran his fingers along the blade to check the smoothness of each transition surface, then switched to fine grit abrasive to begin the second pass.

The camping knife was sharpened much faster than the Bowie hunting knife. The smaller blade was easier to control, and he completed the entire process in just over an hour. After the fine-grit sanding, the cloud-like pattern on the blade's surface showed a uniform metallic luster.

After finishing the fine grinding of the two knives, he stepped back and looked at the two knife blanks placed side by side on the workbench. One was long and sharp, the other short and rounded, the pale gold layer of the silver-iron alloy faintly visible in the light, forming a clear contrast with the dark layer of 1085.

He took a few photos with his phone and sent them to Nelson and Jason respectively, along with a brief progress update: "Fine grinding complete, handle and fittings to be finished next week. Expected to ship by the end of next week."

Nielsen's reply was the first one to come in, and it was just one sentence: "Looks great. Can't wait." Jason's reply included an emoji, a thumbs-up, and then added, "Take your time but not too much."

"time".

Lin Yuan put his phone back in his pocket and walked to the office area to sit down next to Matt. Matt was editing a trailer for a video, the footage of the forging process of Nelson and Jason's two knives. He had filmed some of it before the video of Godskin Stitching was released, but at the time he didn't plan to make a standalone video. Now that the data was coming in, he felt he should strike while the iron was hot.

"Send me those two photos you just took," Matt said. "I'll put them in the trailer as an ending, a preview of next week's update."

Lin Yuan sent him the photo, then stood up, walked to the furnace, and turned off the blower. The flames gradually died down, and the coke faded from bright orange to dark red. The exhaust pipes ran for a few more minutes before stopping, and the forging workshop became quiet.

He walked to the corner, pulled the leather sewing needle out of its protective case, and examined it under the light. The cool white base color and the very pale blue layer were more pronounced under the fluorescent light than near the hearth. The layered cloud patterns and the silver-gray texture of the fittings complemented each other, making the overall visual unity of the sword better than he had expected.

He sheathed the sword and leaned it against the wall. Daniel had already started packing up his tools, arranging the pliers and steel brushes by size and closing the quenching tank. Matt closed his laptop, put it in his backpack, and stood in the doorway waiting for him with his equipment case on his back.

Lin Yuan locked the gate and got into the car. The car drove out of the parking lot and onto the highway. The streetlights were already on, their orange glow streaking across the windshield. Matt didn't play any music; the only sound in the car was the low hum of the tires rolling over the road.

"After we finish working on Nelson's Bowie hunting knife, should we film a separate video?" Matt asked.

"We can film it, but not as long as a 'skin stitching' video, five minutes or less is fine. The forging process for a client's order doesn't require such a long video."

"Okay. I'll edit it according to the pace of a short video."

Lin Yuan leaned back against the headrest and closed his eyes. The light from the streetlamp brushed past his eyelids, flashing on and off. Nelson and Jason's orders would be finished next week, and once they were all delivered, his schedule would be clear, allowing him to start taking on new orders.

The YouTube channel's data is trending upwards, and Zhang Yue is also managing the domestic platform; every step is progressing according to plan.

Four days after the video was released, Matt projected the data table onto the TV screen in the dormitory living room and pointed it out to Lin Yuan one by one.

"Your YouTube video has 62,000 views and it's still going up. Someone on Instagram has shared your knife photo over 300 times. Your Reddit post has over 200 replies, mostly discussing your forging technique."

Lin Yuan leaned back on the sofa, holding a can of cola, looking at the numbers on the screen.

"And this too." Matt switched to the next page. "Three serious custom inquiries, all with budgets. One is from California, wanting a hunting knife similar in shape to the short crossbow you made for Doug, with a budget of five thousand dollars. Another is from Texas, wanting a camping knife, with a budget of three thousand. The third is from New York, from a game collector who wants a replica of the God Leather Stitch, with a budget of eight thousand."

After listening, Lin Yuan put the cola on the coffee table and sat up straight.

"Five thousand dollars?" He looked at Matt. "The short sword I made for Doug sold for fifty thousand. And these guys are coming to me with only five thousand dollars?"

Matt laughed, leaning back on the sofa and spreading his arms. "I knew you'd say that. My first thought when I saw the quote was, 'Did they forget to write a zero?'"

"It's not that I forgot to write a zero, it's that they don't know my prices," Lin Yuan said. "The order for Doug's knife was negotiated on the set of the show, not made public. Nelson and Jason's orders were also for 20,000. Now that people outside have seen my videos on YouTube, they think I'm a new international student and my prices should be cheaper."

Matt nodded. "So we need to decide on a pricing strategy. Should we focus on volume or the high-end market?"

"Of course it's high-end." Lin Yuan didn't hesitate. "I don't make mass-produced products. From material preparation to finished product, a knife involves dozens of processes, the cloud-patterned steel technique, the silver-iron alloy formula—these things can't be covered by five thousand US dollars. Material costs, equipment depreciation, my time—if you calculate it all, five thousand US dollars would be a loss."