Translator: WQL Editor: Geoffrey Walking out of the grocery store, Zhang Tie kept Donder’s words in mind . Thinking of Donder’s words, “soft tongue is sharper than any weapon as it can break hard bones and smart brains!”, the depressed teenager felt a bit better .
When Zhang Tie passed the flea market, carbide lamps along the street were ignited one by one . Lamplighters in the Blackhot City were shaking bells on their four-wheelers and parked them in front of each lamp . They climbed onto the poles, removed the lampshades, added fuel, and ignited them . When they left, sexy women with half exposed breasts appeared under the shadows of carbide lamps close to the railway station as the passersby ogled . A couple of those women gathered and talked about something to their companions . Following that, some of them laughed presumptuously and madly .
Zhang Tie walked and peered at those women under lamps . They made him upset and gradually aroused his desire .
“Baby, come here to your aunt . Let me teach you how to be a man . . . ” a forty-odd year plump and enchanting woman with red curly hair greeted him at the end of the alley beside a lamp pole . Zhang Tie could see her clearly . Looking into Zhang Tie’s eyes, the woman slightly lowered herself so that Zhang Tie could notice her magnificent white breasts . She squeezed the two exposed balls outside the collar and groaned slightly, “Mmm……” . She then opened her mouth and slowly licked one finger . Seeing this, Zhang Tie felt that a muscle in his throat was shaking like a rubber band, his blood had rushed to his brain, and his crotch instantly rose up . Zhang Tie escaped under the lecherous laughter of the women .
The flea market beside the railway station became really noisy at night . People from all walks of life appeared when the darkness arrived . Zhang Tie recovered his composure when he was almost 100 meters away from that terrifying and alluring woman; however, the untamed thing was still raising high . In order to avoid embarrassment, Zhang Tie had to pretend to hide his hands in his pockets so as to press down the wild thing .
The moment Zhang Tie walked out of the flea market, a voice from a roadside stall slowed him down .
“Boss, you got all these things from the ruins?”
“Of course, look at this book . The characters on it are Chinese and Andaman City-States Alliance has no such publishing . Look at its cover . it’s an abacus from a Chinese clan, a computing tool that could date back to several thousand years before the catastrophe . How could it be preserved so well if not from the ruins?”
“We are not idiots, I also know that this is Chinese; however, nobody recognizes it . Bullshit, what motherf**king abacus . Nobody uses such an antique at all……”
“I’m telling you the truth . . . ”
Zhang Tie was attracted by the word “Chinese” . He moved over towards the stall and squatted together with the other two in front of the roadside stall . Many things were placed on a water-proof cloth in a disorganized way . The cloth was no larger than two square meters . The only attractive goods were daggers and copper wrist guards on the four corners of the cloth . In the flea market, each stall owner would declare that their odd goods were from the ruins after the Catastrophe, and even idiots would never trust their words . . .
One of the two beside him purchased a nice sheathed dagger for 8 silver coins and 60 copper coins . Then, the two went away, leaving Zhang Tie alone .
The stall owner was a sixty-odd year obscene man with a red brandy nose . Once Zhang Tie spoke to him, he could directly smell the smell of hedge wine . The old man reminded him of an animal — a mouse .
After Zhang Tie glanced over the stall casually, he took an abacus book and asked, “How much?”
“This is a treasure from the ruins, so at least twenty silver coins . . . ” replied the old man treacherously .
“What’s it used for?”
“Well, it may be a technical book on how to compute using an abacus!” the old man was also not sure about it . He had read it, but didn’t understand its contents at all . He also invited an alleged expert to authenticate it; however, the expert could only identify some simple numbers inside . The contents were strange number arrangements like three three two two five five six six . . .
“What is it used for? Teach me how to count sheeps to fall asleep?”
“Erm, well . . . Sixteen silver coins, no less!” the old man added reluctantly .
“Do I look like an idiot? The book is no more than sixteen pages in total which is not even enough for me to clean shit . You want sixteen silver coins? No way! I asked about it out of curiosity,” Zhang Tie threw the book angrily . He was familiar with the flea market . If you didn’t bargain aggressively, you would be ripped off by them .
“So how much can you afford?”
“Eighty copper coins!”
“Eighty copper coins?” the old man sprung up like a mouse having its tail stepped on . “Boy, at least ten silver coins . I got this out of the ruins!”
“What motherf*cking ruins, I am not an idiot . There is no ruins within one thousand kilometer radius of Blackhot city . Even if there truly were some, they would have long been removed . It was never your turn . Eighty copper coins!”
“Nine silver coins, no less!”
“Well, as I respect you, ten more copper coins! ”
“Ninety copper coins?” exclaimed the old man like a pig being slaughtered . “It’s even lower than my price!”
“One silver coin!”
“Seven!” the old man gritted his teeth . . .
After a ferocious bargaining for two minutes, Zhang Tie directly stood up and left instantly . Surprisingly, the old man shouted anxiously after Zhang Tie took five steps, “No, don’t leave . As you said, pay me four silver coins and the book is yours!”
A slight smile appeared on Zhang Tie’s mouth . Naturally, those outsiders didn’t know the name of the book; however, Zhang Tie was stunned when he saw it — . He skimmed over it and found a mental arithmetic method that was related to the abacus . He thought it was special and decided to buy it . . .
On the way home, Zhang Tie’s stomach was already growling; however, Zhang Tie was satisfied when he touched the book in his pocket . In this age, knowledge was expensive and any skill or knowledge acquired outside the school gate was unique and precious . Zhang Tie remembered that Donder watched him for more than three months before he taught him how to use the strange thing known as the abacus . Even then, he still felt reluctant to teach him . Whereas, Zhang Tie found that only a few people in the Blackhot City knew how to use the abacus . Ordinary calculations were usually made on paper . As for superior calculation methods, there were metal hand-driven calculators in exchanges and commercial firms . Thus, the abacus seemed useless . Still, it was a special skill that could not be easily gained . When Zhang Tie noticed the abacus pattern and pithy formula on the title page of the book, he recognized the value of this book . Generally speaking, Zhang Tie thought it was worth the price . Even if its value couldn’t be seen for now, Zhang Tie still felt it was valuable, let alone the fact that those silver coins weren’t even his to begin with .
“Learn more, at least it’s not harmful to you,” Zhang Tie’s dad always taught him when he was young .
His parents had always forced him to learn Chinese by slapping his hand with a bamboo clapper when he was young . It took him ten years to recognize all characters on the big-headed Chinese dictionary; it was Zhang Tie’s darkest period . A dozen years later, today, Zhang Tie finally found what he had learned to be useful . He was a little pleased about this experience .
Zhang Tie never trusted the old man’s word when he said that this book was from the ruins . As goods from the ruins were at least one thousand years old, this book doesn’t seem that old . He suddenly found several gloomy Chinese characters under the abacus pattern, “Recommended afterclass reading for students” . “I almost ready to enter society, yet I don’t know about this at all . What students?! After-class reading?! Comparisons are unpleasant!”
After being beaten inexplicably, he joined the brotherhood and lost face in front of Miss Daina . Besides that, he used his war trophy to buy a book .
On the way home, Zhang Tie recalled that he had spent money and gained money today; he didn’t even know whether he earned or lost today . . . Zhang Tie’s house was in the commoners gathering area north of Blackhot City . When the upper eastern area in Blackhot City was the backyard garden of the rich, the northern areas were the cozy nests of the regular workers and citizens . Compared with the upper eastern areas, blocks in the northern area were not beautiful; however, they were tidy and safe . The parasol trees on the two sides of streets here made it somewhat warm and ordinary . Through a dozen years of effort, his parents could only afford a building with less than 100 square meters on one side of a street . The building was attached with a small log cabin in the backyard . His parents opened a roadside rice brew store in the room downstairs . His dad was a worker in the mill, while his mother ran this store . The business was so-so as it was mainly taken care of by neighboring households, and the thin profit could only slightly improve their quality of life .
When Zhang Tie returned home, it was almost 9pm . His parents were not at home; he guessed that they were at church . The rice brew store was also closed . Supper was in warm water to keep the food warm . It contained a pot of mixed vegetables, a bowl of bacon braised with kidney beans, and a huge bowl of cooked white rice . A few slices of broad bean-like sliced bacon could be seen on top of the kidney beans . This was specifically left by his parents who always said that they didn’t like them as an excuse . Eating the supper, Zhang Tie felt somewhat moved . He vowed to himself that when he became rich in the future, he would provide enough fish and meat for his parents everyday .
He finished supper quickly and cleaned the kitchen . With a fatigued body, he went upstairs . When he arrived at the second floor, he could hear the rhythmed clashes and evidently depressed breath from his elder brother’s room, although the door was closed . This was not the first time, and Zhang Tie naturally knew what was happening . Silently passing, he moved to the hallway . At the end of the hallway, Zhang Tie touched the rope on the wall and slightly pulled it down . Then, a wooden plank glided from the ceiling at the end of the hallway, and a flight of stairs appeared on the other side of the plank which directly connected to the above attic .
These days, the pulley might be in need of lubricating oil, as there was a big creak when the flight of stairs was lowered . The rhythmed clashing from his brother’s room stopped for a few seconds before it continued more violently than before Zhang Tie had climbed up .
He finally reached the top and pulled the stairs back to reset the plank . The tiny attic with a triangular roof belonged to Zhang Tie .
The house was not large, and with a rice brew store opened downstairs, less space was available; therefore, Zhang Tie had no other choices but to live in the attic . Almost half of the tiny space was occupied by iron sheets and planks for sundries . As a result, the rest space was only available for a bed, a desk, and a small wardrobe . There was only enough space for one person to move in . The paint on the furniture had already started to fade . They were all second-hand commodities that Zhang Tie bought in the flea market and were worth less than two silver coins in total . . .
A room smaller than eight square meters and several second-hand furnitures were all that the miserable 15-year old teenager owned……
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