Chapter 14

The next day, when Zhang Tie woke up in bed, he immediately discovered two things that made him regret deeply. The first was that he didn't hear the alarm clock, and he was probably going to be late this morning. The second was that he had forgotten to extinguish the oil lamp in the small house, which had burned all night, wasting a lot of oil. These oils cost money.

He quickly turned off the oil lamp and hurriedly put on his clothes. As he was about to go down the stairs and leave the attic, Zhang Tie took two steps down, then turned back and threw the "remains" of the two pieces of pyrite into a broken box in a corner of the small house where no one would notice. Then he ran down the stairs.

At this time, his father had already gone to work, and only his mother was at home. The porridge she had prepared was still in the pot, kept warm with water. Hearing Zhang Tie rush down the stairs to wash up, his mother came out of the rice wine shop and took the porridge out for him, muttering as she did so, "Did you go to bed too late last night? You should take better care of your body. By the way, I washed the underwear you hid in the drawer yesterday. In the future, if you don't have time, just put the underwear in the laundry basin!"

Zhang Tie, who was gargling, was suddenly choked by the water when he heard his mother's last words. He coughed for a long time before he could catch his breath. He didn't know if it was from being choked or embarrassed, but his face turned red. He couldn't help but call out, "Mom, I've told you more than three hundred times, I can wash my own things. Don't keep going through my stuff, okay? I'm not a kid anymore!"

The underwear had some traces from the night before when he had a wet dream. In the morning, Zhang Tie didn't have time to wash it, so he hid it in the drawer under the wardrobe. When he came back last night, his mind was preoccupied with the mysterious thing, and he forgot to take it out and wash it. Thinking about his mother discovering the "secret" while washing his underwear, Zhang Tie felt utterly embarrassed and ashamed.

"I know, our Guoguo is already a grown-up. I've raised you from a baby, so I've seen everything..." His mother's indifferent tone made Zhang Tie realize that his words were probably in vain. He would have to be more careful in the future; if people outside found out that his mother still washed his underwear, he would be too embarrassed to face anyone.

Zhang Tie didn't say anything, gulped down the porridge, and ran out the door without even wiping his mouth. Even after running a long distance, he could still hear his mother's voice from behind, "Don't run on a full stomach, walk slowly..."

...

On the way, Zhang Tie, for the first time, spent two copper coins to take a few stops on the tram, just to get to school as quickly as possible. But when he finally arrived, he heard the bell for the second class of the morning.

Daina's class was already over! This week was the second week of May, and the first two classes on Friday were Daina's major class, while the first week was for the natural history class.

This realization immediately made Zhang Tie feel very depressed, blaming himself for oversleeping.

When he arrived at the lecture hall, he indeed couldn't see Daina. Only the graduating class students were bustling out of the lecture hall, rushing to the toilets. Usually, during Daina's class, these students would rather hold their bladders for two hours than leave the classroom, just to keep Daina in their sight.

"Daina is getting more and more beautiful!"

...

"I dreamed about her again last night!"

...

"I observed for two hours, and Daina's chest has gotten bigger!"

...

"That round and firm butt is so sexy, so mature. I wonder what it feels like to touch Daina's butt?"

...

"I was hard for two hours, it was so uncomfortable. Daina is such a torment!"

As a group of students passed by Zhang Tie, he heard all sorts of comments like these. No one seemed to care what Daina had actually taught in her biology class.

Finally, a few members of the Plane Brothers came over. Zhang Tie saw them, and they saw him. He noticed the fat guy Bari winking at him, and Doug looking at him with a nervous expression, which confused Zhang Tie.

"Hey, you're late today?" Bari patted Zhang Tie on the shoulder.

"Yeah, I overslept a bit!" Zhang Tie scratched his head, a bit embarrassed.

"Heh... heh... don't overdo it at night. If you expend too much energy, you might oversleep!" Xista, that guy, always had a lecherous look on his face, like the pimples on his face. At this moment, he emphasized the word "energy" in his sentence, as if afraid others wouldn't understand.

"Your face looks a bit pale today. Could it be that Xista hit the nail on the head? After experiencing the benefits of the Plane Brothers, you must have had a hard time sleeping last night!" Light winked and grinned.

"What did Daina teach today?" Ignoring these two, Zhang Tie turned to Shao Wen. In the Plane Brothers, if anyone would listen attentively during Daina's class, it would be Shao Wen. Shao Wen was the one who took notes for all the classes, and for this, he often faced ridicule from others.

"Simple treatment for rotting vines and the living habits of man-eating spiders. If you want to see, I can lend you my notes!"

"Sure, lend them to me later!"

"Can't hold it anymore, let's go!" Baghdad urged from the side. So, the group followed the crowd to the toilets, but Doug clearly slowed down, falling behind everyone. After seeing the others walk far ahead, Doug quietly pulled Zhang Tie aside.

"Let's make up!" Doug's first words made Zhang Tie's hair stand on end.

Seeing Zhang Tie's expression, Doug finally realized he had said the wrong thing. "Oh, no, I mean, let's reconcile!"

"Reconcile?" Zhang Tie looked at Doug, puzzled. What did he mean?

"Don't tell Baghdad and the others about what happened to me yesterday, and I'll forgive you for vomiting all over me. You know, many people saw me that day, and some guys have already given me the nickname 'Slime Monster'!" Doug's expression started off awkward and then turned to anger.

Zhang Tie finally understood why Doug had been cold and distant towards him all week. What a petty guy. But if anyone dared to give him such a disgusting nickname in school and call him that in front of Daina, he would beat that person so badly that even his mother wouldn't recognize him.

"Alright, we'll reconcile. I won't tell anyone about what happened to you yesterday!" Since it didn't cost him anything, Zhang Tie was unusually generous. "But, what should I say if Xista and the others ask?"

"Just say I went in and it took me three hours to come out. I've already talked it over with Bari!"

"Alright, you were in there for three hours, and when you came out, the woman personally escorted you to the door and kissed you, telling you to come back again!"

"Good brother!" Doug excitedly patted Zhang Tie on the shoulder, looking like he had found a kindred spirit.

Zhang Tie could only retreat again.

The next class in the morning was woodworking. For the next two hours, all the students in Zhang Tie's class were in the school's workshop, using two-person saws to cut wood. Their hands were swollen by the time the class ended.

In the afternoon, the class was physical training and testing. As usual, such classes meant it was time for Gris to shine. Gris once again broke his own records from the previous week in the squat and the maximum number of consecutive armor-piercing thrusts, reaching 320 kilograms and 139 thrusts, respectively. Even the instructor praised Gris as a born warrior.

Compared to the shining Gris, most of the Plane Brothers' results were as unremarkable as the airports before the Great Catastrophe, which were used for planes to take off and land. The only highlight was Baghdad, who, for the first time, entered the top twenty fastest students in the grade with a 100-meter dash time of 10.8 seconds, becoming the only bright spot for the Plane Brothers. As for the others, like Zhang Tie, they didn't even have a score. The instructor only recorded the top three in each group of 20, and Zhang Tie's 100-meter dash time was usually outside the top ten. His best time was once ninth place, which was a miracle. The third place in his group was 11.2 seconds, and Zhang Tie was about four body lengths behind, so he estimated his 100-meter time to be around 11.6 seconds. This result was nothing to be proud of among the graduating class. As for the fat guy Bari, his 100-meter time of 13.7 seconds was definitely at the bottom of the class, but he didn't seem to care at all.

After the afternoon physical training, Zhang Tie received his latest personal data:

Zhang Tie:

100-meter dash: 11.6 seconds

Bench press: 90 kilograms

Squat: 170 kilograms

Explosive punch force: Right hand 240 kilograms, left hand 190 kilograms

Maximum explosive leg kick force: 270 kilograms

Maximum consecutive armor-piercing thrusts: 48

Endurance: 4

In this era where strength and martial prowess were paramount, Zhang Tie's results were as green and miserable as his 15-year-old youth. Before the first spark of divine fire was ignited in the Divine Palace, the physical differences between professional warriors and ordinary people were decisive, almost insurmountable among peers.

He must ignite his divine fire as soon as possible! This thought became even more urgent in the heart of the 15-year-old boy...