The sun was beginning to peek over the horizon as Jin awoke. He gave a lazy yawn and a stretch. He slowly rolled out of bed and put his clothes on. Some people made fun of his clothes. They were old, tattered and despite several washings, were stained with dirt and sweat. Jin liked them though. They were worn and comfortable. He believed a man with worn looking clothes was an honest man. After getting dressed he meditated, as he always did.

After a short meditation, Jin wrapped his hands from elbow to wrist to protect him from the heat and cinders from blacksmithing. He walked to the front of his house that doubled as his shop. He gathered up some wood and started a fire in the forge. Once it was nice and hot, Jin opened up the bamboo shutters to let in the sunlight and any potential customers. While Jin usually had work to do, he always welcomed customers.

Today would be a fairly easy day for him. He only had a few farm implements to repair. The sun had already started to rise high into the sky. He figured if no one came in, he would be done before late afternoon. Perhaps he would walk down to the other merchants and see what they had to offer. Since it had been a fairly profitable month for him. He began softly humming to himself as he stoked the forge fire and prepared for his day.