Chapter 17

It is often said that poor people's children grow up early, and this saying is not at all exaggerated when it comes to Zhang Tie. From elementary school, Zhang Tie began helping with household chores. His father worked hard in the factory, and his mother, relying on her somewhat decent rice wine brewing skills, did a little business at home to supplement the family income. For over a decade, they managed to raise Zhang Tie and his older brother.

In the past, Zhang Tie did not understand how to empathize with his parents. It wasn't until two years ago, on a weekend at home, when he saw his mother, who had just closed the shop, immediately start mopping the floor without a moment's rest. Her back, which looked suddenly somewhat plump and obese, was no longer the slim and graceful figure he remembered from his childhood. At that moment, Zhang Tie felt a deep sorrow, and he grew up a lot overnight. He began to understand his responsibility as a man to his family and his parents. Since then, every weekend, while other children of his age were playing outside, Zhang Tie stayed at home, helping his mother with household chores. Naturally, Zhang Tie also learned his mother's rice wine brewing skills. A year ago, the rice wine he made was indistinguishable from his mother's, and even the regular customers didn't know that about half of the rice wine from the Zhang family was made by Zhang Tie.

Strangely, last night, Zhang Tie had no dreams and slept particularly soundly. When he opened his eyes at six in the morning, it was still dark outside, with only a faint hint of light in the east. Zhang Tie looked at the alarm clock on the bedside table, which read just past six. According to his usual habits, young people of his age often slept in. In Zhang Tie's memory, he rarely got up before seven in the morning. Closing his eyes, Zhang Tie, driven by inertia, wanted to sleep a bit more but found that he couldn't. His mind was clear, and he felt full of energy, with no trace of sleepiness. He felt as fresh as a cabbage that had been soaked in water overnight. It would be a miracle if he could fall asleep again. Usually, when he woke up in the morning, his brain was often muddled, but today, his mind was as clear as a newly polished crystal, with no impurities.

Struggling to stay in bed a bit longer, Zhang Tie found that he really couldn't sleep anymore. He got up from bed, wearing only his underwear, and started to wiggle his hips provocatively. Since no one was around to see, Zhang Tie didn't care how lewd or annoying his actions might look. He did sixty circles clockwise and sixty circles counterclockwise, a habit he had developed after hearing from his father that men should twist their waists in the morning to boost their yang energy. Zhang Tie remembered this and, after learning a bit more, once caught his older brother and a woman engaged in a piston-like motion, understanding the effect of boosting yang energy. Since then, Zhang Tie quietly practiced this routine every morning. Although he was still a virgin and his "little brother" had never been "opened," he had experienced nocturnal emissions a few times in his dreams. But as a man, who wouldn't want to be strong in that area? It's understandable.

After the exercise, Zhang Tie looked down and noticed that his underwear was already bulging with a high tent. The little guy inside was hard and erect, with prominent veins, looking quite intimidating. He tried the hardness with his hand, and it felt like a solid piece of wood.

"Ah, just bear with it for now. Who knows when you'll have the chance to use it for something else!"

After wiggling his hips, Zhang Tie opened the small window on the attic, did a few random stretches, and then got dressed. He quietly went down the attic stairs, washed up, and started preparing breakfast for the family. Given the family's financial situation, Zhang Tie's breakfast was not luxurious. Today, it was just porridge. The rice had been soaked the night before and was already quite soft, looking white and appetizing.

After the rice was soaked, the next step was to start the fire. The area around Black Flame City was rich in coal resources, and coal was very cheap. A small cart of coal briquettes made from waste coal could be bought for a few dozen copper coins. While coal briquettes were easy to buy, starting a fire in the stove was a skill. Fortunately, after years of "practice," Zhang Tie was very familiar with the process. In the past, he used to add some pine oil to help start the fire, but now he could get the fire going in ten minutes without it.

Ten minutes later, Zhang Tie started the fire in the stove, washed the pot, and began boiling water. Under the red flames, the water soon boiled. After the water was boiled, he poured the soaked rice into the pot, covered it, and checked the fire. Zhang Tie smiled, realizing that doing things to actively serve the family, surprise them, and make his parents happy gave him a great sense of satisfaction.

The porridge would take at least another hour to cook, so Zhang Tie had plenty of time. He walked around the kitchen, thought for a moment, and then found a few large earthen jars from the rice wine shop. He filled them with well water from the backyard and washed them thoroughly. After washing the jars, he placed them under the eaves to dry. By the time he finished this task, which took about an hour, Zhang Tie was slightly sweating. Just as he was placing the last jar under the eaves, he noticed that his mother was standing at the door leading from the kitchen to the backyard, looking at him with a slightly puzzled expression.

"Guoguo, what are you doing?"

"Ah, Mom, I woke up early this morning and just came down to do some work!"

"Stupid boy, you're in the prime of your growth. How can you not sleep well?" His mother, feeling sorry for him, came over to wipe his sweat. She then lifted the pot lid to check the porridge. Seeing the porridge, she immediately guessed when her son had woken up. "Good boy, go back to sleep a bit more. You've done most of the work this morning. Come down and eat when you wake up!"

"Mom, I'm really not sleepy!" Zhang Tie said helplessly.

"Come, tell Mom, have you made any new friends recently and run out of money? I felt something was off about you last night..." His mother leaned in, speaking in a knowing and gossipy tone. "If that's the case, come to Mom for money. Men need to be generous to be attractive to girls, and you can't be too stingy. Mom has secretly saved some money, but don't tell Dad!"

Zhang Tie looked at his mother, speechless. Where was this coming from? In the end, despite his protests, Zhang Tie was almost dragged back to his small room by his mother, who wanted him to sleep more to "recharge"...

"You're in the prime of your growth. The more you sleep, the taller you'll grow!" Watching his mother's nagging back as she left, Zhang Tie felt both moved and helpless. He returned to his small room, pretending to go back to sleep.

But in reality, Zhang Tie couldn't sleep at all. After some thought, he closed the doors and windows of his room, and with a mental command, he returned to the Black Iron Castle. With the experience from the previous times, his connection with the Black Iron Castle was even stronger. This time, as soon as he closed his eyes and thought of "Black Iron Castle," the door in his mind appeared. As he focused on the door and silently said "enter," Zhang Tie found himself in the Black Iron Castle.

— Welcome, noble and handsome lord, to the Black Iron Castle!

The same dialogue box appeared before Zhang Tie and then disappeared. It must be said that while the title he had given himself was a bit sappy, it always made him feel good.

Handsome—Noble—Lord—Hahahaha...

Zhang Tie stood tall and surveyed his domain. Visually, it looked exactly the same as the night before—strange little tree, vast open land, and the rebar he had planted as a marker. There was nothing else in sight.

He circled the strange tree called the "Manjusha Flower of Infinite Fruits" twice, but it showed no changes, quickly losing his interest. Instead, he decided to check on the seeds he had planted the night before. Thinking of the corn and the land he had planted, Zhang Tie became excited and ran to the marked area, crouching down to observe closely.

After just one night, the corn seeds he had planted showed no signs of growth. Zhang Tie wasn't worried; based on the agricultural knowledge he had learned in school, it would take about a week for the corn seeds to sprout. Realizing this, he suddenly remembered that he had forgotten to water the seeds when he planted them the night before. This was a rookie mistake, but it wasn't too late to fix it. He could bring in two buckets of water later. After checking the corn, he moved to the potato area. The potatoes, which were already sprouting when he planted them, gave Zhang Tie a huge surprise. The sprouts that he had planted with the sprout side up had already broken through the soil, looking like bean sprouts that had been soaked overnight, growing a bit longer. The largest sprout had already sprouted two tiny leaves the size of rice grains—there was hope!

Zhang Tie became excited. Damn, with this land, even if I can only grow potatoes, I won't have to worry about starving to death! This was the only thought in his mind at that moment.

After a moment of excitement, Zhang Tie opened the basic attribute panel of the Black Iron Castle.

— Black Iron Castle

— Length: 1 Krosa

— Width: 1 Krosa

— Spirit Energy: 0.3

— Merit Points: 3

— Basic Energy Reserve: 0.2

— Special Output: None

The merit points had increased by 1, as expected, but the number on the spirit energy, which had been zero the night before, immediately caught Zhang Tie's attention...