I've seen this movie, but I've forgotten its name. I had to search for it on Baidu, and it's called the Zi Wu Yuan Yang Yue, invented by the Qing Dynasty martial arts master Dong Haichuan. That was nearly 200 years after Yao Yao's era, so of course, she wouldn't know about this weapon.
"This weapon is excellent, versatile, good for both offense and defense. Shorter weapons are no match for it, and longer weapons are countered by it. Good, good! I want this one!" Yao Yao exclaimed excitedly.
Continuing to watch the video, it was just as Yao Yao said. The Zi Wu Yuan Yang Yue possessed a natural advantage whether facing the male lead's short saber or the later large cleaver.
Meanwhile, Zheng Bingbing was searching for a contemporary weapons forging master and actually found one: a father and son duo who had made a small fortune creating weapons videos. To attract more fans, they had moved into the mountains to use the most primitive methods of smelting weapons, making it seem more authentic.
However, looking at their Taobao link, they were selling replicas of weapons from TV shows and movies, priced in the high thousands.
It’s not that I'm bragging about having money, but what's the difference between weapons at this price point and the crafts from shops like Longquan Dao Jian?
They're probably just for show and not practical.
Yao Yao wanted to see the process of them forging weapons. Zheng Bingbing found a longer video for her. Yao Yao watched it like a movie, fast-forwarding, fast-forwarding, fast-forwarding to the crucial parts, then slowing down to watch carefully. After watching, she nodded, "Let's go with them. At least they know what they're doing."
I, for one, didn't see much.
Zheng Bingbing contacted the son of the father-son pair through their "For business inquiries, please contact xxxx." They would first test the quality with Yao Yao's Zi Wu Yuan Yang Yue. If it was good, they would then craft weapons for the other demons according to their preferences.
Upon hearing "Zi Wu Yuan Yang Yue," the other party dramatically increased the price, claiming it was difficult to forge and would cost eighteen thousand.
Yao Yao snatched the phone, "I'll give you thirty thousand, make me the best set."
My heart skipped a beat. Thirty thousand for one weapon, and there were eight more. They were really planning to empty my wallet!
The other party readily accepted, saying it would take a week, and then they would mail it over.
I was hesitating whether to give them the address when Zhao Nana called, saying Miss's car was back.
I had previously instructed Zhao Nana to inform me immediately if anyone came to this building. She was on the first floor, acting as both manager and doorman.
"Have them come to the conference room," I said.
Soon after, Chen Lu and the fox demon came up hand in hand, being so affectionate that I even felt a bit jealous. But for a moment, I didn't know who to be jealous of.
Trailing behind them were two more beauties. Chen Lu introduced them to me as two lecturers she had recruited from a live-streaming team in the city to provide training.
I had casually mentioned it, but I didn't expect my old classmate to take it seriously. That's fine, anyway, this group of people was idle. I asked the boss to call everyone over to participate in the live-streaming training. Yao Yao, Zheng Bingbing, and I didn't participate. We are now the decision-makers of the team and still need to discuss the next steps.
At ten o'clock in the evening, there was still no news from Old Ba. I asked about the situation again. Old Ba replied: "There's been no movement, but she saw Shen Xingyue's car and also came to Han Yin Temple. They should be meeting."
To lure the snake out of its hole, I decided to take a risk. I went downstairs, borrowed Chen Lu's car, and drove with Yao Yao and Bingbing to the provincial capital's urban area for a night market stroll. Once the signal was stable, I opened my old phone. There were many missed calls again. I didn't care about the others, I only replied to my aunt with a WeChat video call. She asked why I hadn't returned to Jinling and if my phone was turned off. I truthfully replied that I had resigned and discovered a good startup project here, which I was researching with my university classmates.
My aunt believed me and asked about my relationship with Shen Xingyue.
"It's just so-so," I said. "Our personalities aren't very compatible. Also, I don't know her attitude towards me. You could try to subtly ask her."
At this point, I turned the screen, "accidentally" including Yao Yao and Bingbing in the frame. My aunt naturally asked, "Who are these two beautiful girls?"
They pretended not to know they were being filmed and continued their conversation.
Yao Yao pointed ahead and asked, "What is this place? Why are there so many people?"
Bingbing replied, "This is Taiyuan Street, it's very famous. Yao Yao jie, I'll take you to eat something delicious!"