Chapter 30

After school, Zhang Tie ran to the station again, quietly and reluctantly watching Teacher Daina board the bus. He waited until the bus disappeared from his sight before leaving the station through a small alley and running towards Mingguang Street.

Although he could only watch secretly, Zhang Tie still felt that time passed very quickly, like flying. If he could, Zhang Tie would be content to watch Teacher Daina's back forever. However, things don't always go as one wishes, and Teacher Daina still left. After she left, Zhang Tie noticed his stomach growling.

He had been feeling particularly hungry these past two days. In the past, he could manage until after school, but now his stomach was already protesting by the time school ended. Zhang Tie muttered helplessly, patting his already flat stomach, "You ate braised pork for lunch today!"

Thinking of the braised pork, he naturally thought of the part-time job Captain Collin had introduced him to. The bus to Mingguang Street cost four copper coins, and Zhang Tie was determined to earn the money himself. As he ran, he consoled himself, "Young people have strong constitutions; running more is good for you."

Zhang Tie wasn't a stranger to Mingguang Street, but every time he came, everything on this street made him feel inexplicably inferior and out of place.

Mingguang Street was lined with numerous shops, and their windows displayed a dazzling array of goods. When Zhang Tie passed a shoe store, he couldn't help but stop to look at a pair of leather shoes displayed in the window. The price tag on the shoes shocked him—16 gold coins! Heaven help him, his father's annual salary plus his mother's earnings from selling rice wine for a year barely amounted to 16 gold coins. Sixteen gold coins, 1600 silver coins, 160,000 copper coins, nearly 7 tons of grain. After much thought, Zhang Tie still couldn't connect 7 tons of grain with a pair of shoes on someone's feet. Although he knew this was the life of the rich, it was too much for him to bear.

After seeing the price of the shoes, Zhang Tie became immune to the items displayed in the shop windows. The more he looked, the more he felt life was meaningless, and a sense of inferiority would rise. So, as he walked down Mingguang Street, he kept his eyes straight ahead.

Beautiful cars were parked by the roadside, and uniformed drivers were diligently polishing them. Zhang Tie swallowed and walked past without a glance...

The high-end restaurants emitted various tempting aromas. Zhang Tie swallowed and walked past without a glance...

At the entrance of an upscale club, a row of tall, sexy women stood, their skirts slit high to reveal their white thighs, exuding a thousand charms. Zhang Tie swallowed and walked past without a glance...

At the entrance of a hotel, doormen and waiters in tuxedos and white gloves were attentively serving the guests. Looking at the beautiful angel sculptures at the hotel entrance, Zhang Tie swallowed and walked past without a glance...

When he passed by young men and women on the street, he looked at their well-dressed outfits and then at his own old-fashioned school uniform. Zhang Tie swallowed and walked past without a glance...

Gentlemen and ladies were chatting and laughing in a roadside café. Looking at the prices on the café's sign, Zhang Tie swallowed and walked past without a glance...

To the many sharp-eyed waiters and doormen at the shops and hotels on Mingguang Street, Zhang Tie was just a country bumpkin and a transparent person. Few people even glanced at him.

After drifting like a ghost on Mingguang Street for half an hour, Zhang Tie finally found No. 18 Mingguang Street. The house before him was No. 16, and the one behind was No. 20. Looking at the large sign on the doorpost, which read "No. 18 Mingguang Street" in bold letters, Zhang Tie was momentarily stunned. More eye-catching than the sign was the large inscription on the door at the top of the stairs—Iron Thorn Battle Hall.

Battle Hall? Battle Hall... Battle Hall!

The part-time job Captain Collin had introduced him to was actually at a Battle Hall. Zhang Tie almost shed tears, realizing he had wronged him. Captain Collin was a great person!

In this era, martial prowess was the greatest capital, and the Battle Hall was the best place to improve one's martial skills—at least in Black Flame City.

Taking a deep breath, Zhang Tie tried to stand up straight, patted the letter of introduction in his pocket, and walked confidently toward the door of the Iron Thorn Battle Hall.

"Gold coins, beauties, I'm coming!" Zhang Tie shouted in his heart...

"Stop! Please state your purpose!" At the entrance of the Iron Thorn Battle Hall, four guards in full armor with swords stood guard, their imposing presence quite intimidating. As Zhang Tie approached the door, one of them immediately extended his hand to stop him.

Looking at the tall man in front of him, who was wearing a shiny full steel armor that reflected his distorted image, Zhang Tie felt a sudden sense of weakness. "I... I'm here to apply for a part-time job. Captain Collin introduced me!"

"Introduced by Collin? Do you have any proof?"

"Yes, yes..." Zhang Tie quickly took out the letter of introduction from Captain Collin. Only then did he notice the thorn pattern in the upper right corner of the envelope, which seemed to be related to this place.

The guard took the letter, read it, and then looked at Zhang Tie before returning it to him. "Hold the letter, don't wander around, and follow me!"

Zhang Tie held the letter and followed the guard into the Iron Thorn Battle Hall. Unlike his expectation of seeing a bunch of muscular men fighting fiercely as soon as he entered, the first thing he saw was a grand hall. The hall had a fountain and a polished marble floor, and the surroundings were clean and uncluttered, with no flowers or plants. Everything was neat and tidy, similar to the lobbies of the high-end hotels he had seen outside. The only thing that gave it a battle hall atmosphere was the display of armor and weapons along the corridors. Some were new, while others were battle-scarred, exuding a solemn and deadly aura.

The hall was very quiet, with only the sound of footsteps and the gurgling of the fountain.

There really were beauties. As the guard led Zhang Tie around the fountain, he saw a row of beauties standing behind the service counter. Zhang Tie felt a bit dazzled, and their eyes made him feel a bit uneasy. Before he could appreciate their beauty, the guard pointed to one of them. "This is a part-time job applicant. Take him to Manager Hans' office!"

When the guard mentioned the part-time job, Zhang Tie felt the curious gazes of the beauties quickly shift away, as if he had suddenly become unimportant.

"Follow me!" The beauty came out from behind the counter and walked down a side corridor. Zhang Tie hurried to follow.

The beauty in front of him had a beautiful ponytail, was in her twenties, and wore a black tight-fitting tank top and white athletic pants, revealing her perfect figure. She exuded a pleasant fragrance, and walking behind her, Zhang Tie felt a surge of blood rush to his head, and his little brother instantly became hard. Embarrassed, he quickly put his hand in his pocket to hold it down.

The carpeted corridor was empty, with only the beauty walking gracefully in front. Looking at her, Zhang Tie felt he should say something as a man. After a dozen steps, he mustered the courage to ask, "H... Hello, I... I'm Zhang Tie. What's your name?"

The beauty with the ponytail stopped, turned around, and scanned Zhang Tie with her eyes. Her eyebrows arched, and a mocking smile appeared on her lips, cold and distant. "I'm Mary. You don't need to know my name. Although we're both here to earn money, you should know that our lives will never intersect. Don't be a toad lusting after a swan..."

Zhang Tie's face turned pale, and his facial muscles felt stiff. He felt wronged and didn't understand what he had done wrong. Just asking a name, was it that serious? At the same time, a surge of anger rose within him at being ignored and insulted.

Faced with an insult, Zhang Tie's temper was to return it tenfold. As a male high school student, his experiences and the environment at his school had taught him a profound lesson: when someone bullies or insults you, you must react immediately and strike back—not tomorrow, not the day after, not when you're ready, but immediately. Those who ignored this principle of "immediate retaliation" invariably became victims and cowards.

So, at this moment, Zhang Tie didn't know where he found the courage to step forward, stare fiercely into the eyes of the woman named Mary, and, in her frightened gaze, grab her shoulders exposed by her tank top with both hands. "Woman, do you believe that one day you'll strip naked and crawl in front of me, begging me to do you! Just like this..." Then Zhang Tie made the lewd gesture that Xista often did, thrusting his hips hard twice. To his dismay, when he let go, his right hand, which had been holding his little brother, released it, and it immediately sprang up, creating a high tent in his pants. The tent, separated by two layers of fabric, hit Mary's abdomen twice...

Being hit on the shoulders twice, Mary seemed to be shocked. She had never imagined that someone would do such an outrageous thing to her in broad daylight, on their first meeting, in the corridor of a battle hall, a poor, inexperienced boy.

Before Mary could scream, Zhang Tie let go, took a step back, and put his right hand back in his pocket, firmly holding his little brother. He raised his chin provocatively and said, "Lead the way, woman!"

Zhang Tie's heart was pounding. He couldn't believe he had actually done that, molesting a beauty he had just met in the corridor. Thinking of the wonderful sensations from those two touches, he felt a strange excitement amidst his nervousness, making his whole body tingle.

Mary's face turned red, then white, and then red again. She opened her mouth to speak but held back, pointing at Zhang Tie and trembling with anger. After a dozen seconds of fierce eye contact, she finally turned her head angrily and walked ahead without a word.

Zhang Tie breathed a sigh of relief. He had been prepared to run if she screamed...

The Iron Thorn Battle Hall was large, and it took them nearly a minute to walk down the corridor. Mary finally led Zhang Tie to a room marked "Manager's Office"...

"This is Manager Hans' office. I've brought you here. Go in yourself!" After saying this, Mary really did walk away like a swan, her head held high, without even looking at Zhang Tie.

Zhang Tie knocked on the door.

"Come in!" A man's voice came from inside. For some reason, Zhang Tie thought of the stingy fatso Tang De. When he pushed the door open, he saw a fat man sitting behind a large desk in a luxuriously decorated office, polishing a golden brass button on his coat with a green velvet cloth, a crystal lens in one eye.

Manager Hans was definitely even more stingy than Tang De, who never let him stay for dinner. This was Zhang Tie's first impression of Manager Hans.

Zhang Tie knocked on the door.

"Come in!" A man's voice came from inside. For some reason, Zhang Tie thought of the stingy fatso Tang De. When he pushed the door open, he saw a fat man sitting behind a large desk in a luxuriously decorated office, polishing a golden brass button on his coat with a green velvet cloth, a crystal lens in one eye.

Manager Hans was definitely even more stingy than Tang De, who never let him stay for dinner. This was Zhang Tie's first impression of Manager Hans.