Becoming an immortal against the will of heaven

"What?" Upon hearing Chen Tian's words, Shopkeeper Zhou, who had been secretly pleased, was instantly stunned. He hurriedly said, "Blacksmith Chen? Are you worried about the price? Don't worry, as long as you can forge a sword exactly like the one in the picture, I'll give you five hundred taels, no, a thousand taels! What do you say?"

Shopkeeper Zhou was a businessman, and he firmly believed in the saying 'Money makes the world go round.' He thought Chen Tian was just trying to bargain for a higher price.

Therefore, before Chen Tian could speak, Shopkeeper Zhou preemptively offered a very tempting price. Shopkeeper Zhou believed that in the face of money, Chen Tian would definitely compromise.

"One… one… one thousand taels! My heavens, how many meat buns could that buy?"

Upon hearing the price quoted by Shopkeeper Zhou, Erwa and his father gasped, their eyes widening.

Although life in Vegetable Basket Village was comfortable, the villagers were not wealthy due to its remote location.

When Erwa's father heard that Chen Tian's kitchen knives were being sold for one hundred taels each in town, he was already shocked. But now, hearing the even more shocking price of one thousand taels, Erwa's father felt he could no longer think, his mind filled with gleaming silver ingots.

Erwa also swallowed hard and leaned close to Chen Tian, saying, "Uncle Chen, just accept it. That's enough money to buy all the land in the village."

"Well, Blacksmith Chen, I've already shown my sincerity. Surely you'll agree now?" Although Shopkeeper Zhou owned more than a dozen shops, they were not his own but belonged to the gang. At best, Shopkeeper Zhou was just an employee.

That was why Shopkeeper Zhou was investing so heavily this time, determined to win the position of branch leader.

Originally, he hadn't considered looking for Chen Tian, but since last year, a batch of strange kitchen knives had suddenly appeared in the town.

Although these kitchen knives looked ordinary on the surface, they were incredibly sharp. Whether cutting vegetables or chopping bones, it took almost no effort to cut through bone and meat.

Even more amazing was that someone had used these kitchen knives to chop stones. With one strike, no matter how big the stone was, it would be split in two, and the knife would show no signs of damage.

Such a miraculous thing greatly exceeded people's imaginations, and soon the whole town was circulating legends about these kitchen knives.

Wealthy families were vying to buy them.

It even spawned a strange new custom: the more Chen's Blacksmith Shop kitchen knives a family collected, the richer they were.

Under such fierce competition, the price of kitchen knives produced by Chen's Blacksmith Shop rose from a few dozen copper coins to one hundred taels each, and there were faint signs of further increases.

As a businessman, Shopkeeper Zhou naturally noticed this phenomenon. After some inquiries, he learned that these kitchen knives all came from Vegetable Basket Village.

At that time, Shopkeeper Zhou already had the idea of giving a sword as a birthday gift and was worried about finding a suitable blacksmith to make it.

Now that such a forging genius had appeared, Shopkeeper Zhou felt that heaven was helping him, so he was determined to find this person to forge the sword.

However, Vegetable Basket Village was remote and surrounded by mountains. Without a local guide, it was very difficult for outsiders to enter.

However, Shopkeeper Zhou's luck wasn't bad. In one of the medical clinics under his name, there happened to be two people claiming to be from Vegetable Basket Village seeking treatment.

Upon receiving this information, Shopkeeper Zhou immediately contacted them, offering to waive their medical expenses in exchange for taking him to Vegetable Basket Village.

These two people were naturally Erwa's father and mother.

When Erwa's father heard that Shopkeeper Zhou could waive the medical expenses, he immediately agreed without thinking, and brought him to Vegetable Basket Village.

It could be said that all of this was carefully planned by Shopkeeper Zhou, and he was determined to succeed.

One thousand taels was not a small sum for him, but thinking of the branch leader position that was within reach, Shopkeeper Zhou was willing to go all out.

For a moment, everyone's eyes were focused on Chen Tian, as if waiting for him to make the final decision.

Faced with the expectant expressions of the crowd, Chen Tian still sat expressionlessly in his chair, raised the wine glass in front of him, took another sip of the sweet wine, and shook his head again, saying, "Chen only makes kitchen knives now. If you want to buy a kitchen knife, there are finished products outside, you can pick one at will. As for your request, I'm afraid I can't fulfill it."

Chen Tian's words once again caused everyone to be greatly surprised.

Shopkeeper Zhou, as if unwilling to give up, 'swished' and pulled out two silver notes from his chest, slapping them on the table with a 'smack': "This is a two thousand tael Huikong Bank draft, which can be used anywhere. Blacksmith Chen, I'll ask you again, are you going to do it or not?"

"Two… two… two thousand taels? Dad… am I dreaming?"

Looking at the two thousand tael silver notes that Shopkeeper Zhou slapped on the table, Erwa's eyes almost popped out of their sockets. Young as he was, he couldn't accept such a shocking thing.

Erwa's father was not much better. When the price of one thousand taels was mentioned earlier, his mind was already filled with gleaming silver. Now, seeing Shopkeeper Zhou raise the price to two thousand taels, he immediately felt that his brain was not enough, and the shiny silver seemed to overflow his head and spill all over the ground.

However, unlike the panic of these two people, Chen Tian was still calm and composed. He didn't even glance at the two silver notes, but drank his wine and said lightly, "Shopkeeper Zhou, you don't have to waste your efforts. No matter how much money you offer, I won't forge this sword for you. I'll say it again, if you want to buy a kitchen knife, then put down one hundred taels and pick one outside. As for anything else, don't mention it again."

Chen Tian's words were like a bucket of cold water, instantly calming the three people in the room.

They all looked at Chen Tian, their faces filled with shock, thinking, "Could this person be a fool?"