4: Chapter 4: Ten-Year-Old Inventor Shocks the Old Blacksmith
The next evening arrived in the blink of an eye.
Lin Shi took Lin Tian to the Smith family farm.
Standing in front of a white-painted wooden house, Lin Shi knocked on the door and shouted, "John, old buddy, I've come to see you!"
Before long, a gruff voice came from inside the house.
"Oh, Boss Lin is here!"
As soon as he finished speaking, a middle-aged white man wearing old denim clothes pushed open the door and happily hugged Lin Shi.
"Hey, Bruce!"
The middle-aged man lowered his head and greeted Bruce, who was only as tall as his chest, with a smile.
This man was John Smith, Harvey's biological father.
Everyone around called him Old Smith.
He was a genuine California "redneck."
Hearing the commotion, little fatty Harvey shouted from inside the house, "Bruce, you're here!"
He rushed out as he spoke and hugged Bruce.
Afterward, Old Smith led the father and son into the house.
The furnishings in the house were very simple, consisting only of wooden tables, chairs, and a sofa.
A broken saddle sat in the corner, and some farm tools being repaired were scattered on the floor.
The most eye-catching items were a large deer head hanging on the wall and a rifle polished to a shine.
Lin Tian recognized the gun at a glance: a Martini-Henry single-shot rifle.
This gun was incredibly famous in the nineteenth century.
The British Empire was able to seize territory all over the world, and this gun played a major role in that.
Many fearless foreigners were riddled with bullets by soldiers wielding these long-range, fast-firing rifles.
It was even an advanced model that loaded bullets from the rear.
Looking at this gun, Lin Tian thought to himself, "It would be great if I could draw even more powerful weapons from the system later. If I could get Mauser rifles, bolt-action rifles, and everything else, I would definitely have to get involved in the arms business in the future!"
However, the most important thing right now was to get the razor made first.
After sitting down, Old Smith poured them both coffee.
Lin Shi explained the purpose of his visit.
"Old buddy, can you let me see the blueprints?" Old Smith asked.
Lin Shi quickly handed over the blueprints Lin Tian had drawn.
Old Smith stared at the blueprints for a long time, then silently calculated while comparing them to the dimensions on the page.
In fact, Lin Shi came today not only to ask for advice but also because he valued the name Smith.
The USA is an immigrant country, and surnames all have origins.
The surname Smith originally meant a blacksmith.
Lin Shi had known Old Smith for twenty years and knew that he had been a highly skilled blacksmith before coming to the USA.
He was an absolute expert when it came to machinery and forging.
If machines or farm tools broke on any of the nearby farms, everyone went to Old Smith to fix them.
After a while, Old Smith looked at Lin Tian with a face full of surprise and asked, "Lin Tian, did you really draw this?"
"Yes!" Lin Tian nodded vigorously.
Hearing this, Old Smith, who had watched Lin Tian grow up, couldn't help but exclaim, "Old Lin, you have truly raised an incredible son!"
Lin Shi's eyes lit up instantly, and he quickly asked, "John, is this business really viable?!"
"It's viable, and this safety design is too clever! Lin Tian, I'll go with you to the Patent Office tomorrow to get this thing registered first," Old Smith said readily.
Lin Tian looked at this white uncle with a heart full of gratitude.
He knew very well that if only he and his father, two Chinese people, went to the Patent Office, those white clerks would definitely cause trouble for them on purpose.
But with this hot-tempered "redneck" uncle following them, those clerks wouldn't dare to make a sound, even if they had the guts.
After all, no one wanted to risk their life against a "redneck."
In the nineteenth-century USA, private duels were very common.
In the lower class, dueling for the sake of face was a recognized rule.
If you actually killed someone in a duel, not only would you not go to jail, but others would also look up to you.
When encountering such cases, juries generally sided with the winner.
And "redneck" duels weren't like the ones in movies where people followed rules and fired guns; they preferred to fight dirty in hand-to-hand combat.
It was simply like beasts biting each other.
After the fight, the loser would either have their nose bitten off or their eyes gouged out.
Furthermore, given Old Smith's status in San Francisco, as long as he called out, he could immediately summon a large group of "redneck" brothers carrying guns.
By then, let alone the Patent Office, even if the police chief came, he would have to take a detour.
This was the most realistic version of the USA today.
Old Smith then asked about a few details.
Upon learning that Lin Shi had difficulty raising five thousand dollars, he decided on the spot to lend the Lin family one thousand dollars.
Lin Shi and Lin Tian both kept this gesture of providing help in a time of need in their hearts.
This business sounded promising, but no one could say for sure whether it would make a profit or a loss in the future.
After the Lin father and son left, Harvey asked curiously, "Dad, do you really think the razor can make big money?"
Old Smith told his son the truth: "Not entirely. Although I haven't read many books, I understand that doing business requires strategy. No matter how good a product is, it's useless if no one operates it."
He paused and continued, "I paid the money because I actually value that kid, Lin Tian! Being able to invent something at ten years old shows his mind is too sharp!"
"I can guarantee that Bruce will definitely be someone important in the future. Harvey, you must stick closely to him in the future and never betray him. Do you understand?"
Seeing his dad looking so serious, Harvey nodded quickly.
The next morning. "Ding... Congratulations to the host for drawing a pack of Weilong Spicy Strips!"
It had been three days of drawing prizes in a row; the first day gave toilet paper, the second day gave Longjing tea, and today gave spicy strips directly.
For a level-zero family, it was indeed impossible to draw good items.
Bruce tore open the package and took a bite. The spicy and fragrant taste of the Weilong Spicy Strips instantly spread in his mouth.
"The taste is really good!"
After breakfast, Lin Tian didn't go to school and went straight to the San Francisco Patent Office with Old Smith.
With Old Smith, who was carrying a single-shot rifle, following behind, Lin Tian felt very confident.
Sure enough, as soon as the Patent Office clerk saw the fully armed white strongman, he immediately put away any thoughts of making things difficult for the Chinese.
The clerk honestly helped Lin Tian complete the procedures and registered all the information, such as the appearance design.
The certificate would take a while to be issued.
After finishing their business, the two walked out the door.
On the other side, Lin Shi found a bank intermediary named Jack.
The economy in the USA had been poor in recent years, and many companies had gone bankrupt and been repossessed by banks.
Upon hearing that Lin Shi wanted to buy a factory, Jack, who was wearing a black suit, was very enthusiastic and took Lin Shi to see the goods on-site.
"This is a toy factory. The equipment is eighty percent new, and the asking price is fifteen thousand dollars."
"This is a rubber shoe factory. The machines have all been replaced, and the package price is twenty thousand."
After walking around a large circle, Lin Shi stopped in front of a factory building overgrown with weeds.
"This is a small factory that makes nails, with a package price of five thousand dollars."
Opening the rusty iron lock, Jack led Lin Shi inside. It wasn't large, about ten acres, but the machines inside were complete.
Lin Shi couldn't name the equipment, but he took a liking to this place at a glance. The most crucial reason was that it was cheap.
Five thousand was just the bank's asking price, and it could still be negotiated down.
According to Lin Tian's calculations last night, buying the factory and equipment would cost at most three thousand dollars, and the remaining money had to be saved for buying raw materials and hiring people.
Lin Shi didn't say anything and followed Jack out of the factory. Then they looked at two more, but they were either too expensive or too remote.
"Let's stop here for today. I need to go back and discuss it with my partner," Lin Shi said.
Jack nodded in agreement and left the phone number for the Citibank investment department.