Chapter 8

As the young man came out of the grocery store, he was still thinking about what Tang De had said: "A soft tongue can break hard bones, and a wise mind surpasses any divine weapon." No matter what, Tang De's words gave the young man, who was dressed in a green suit, a bit of inexplicable comfort, and his originally dejected mood improved somewhat.

When Zhang Tie passed by the flea market, the coal stone lamps on the street had already been lit one by one. The lamplighters of Black Flame City rode four-wheeled carts, ringing bells, stopping at each lamp, climbing up the poles, removing the lampshades, adding fuel to the street lamps, and lighting them before coming down. After the lamplighters left, some women began to appear in the shadows beside the row of coal stone lamps near the train station. These women were heavily made up, dressed provocatively, with half-exposed breasts, throwing flirtatious glances at passersby. They stood in groups of three or two, occasionally chatting with their companions, and then someone would laugh wildly.

Zhang Tie walked along, glancing at the women standing under the lamps. They made him somewhat restless and filled with an indescribable desire.

"Baby, come here, let Auntie show you what it's like to be a man..." The woman speaking stood at the entrance of an alley beside a lamp. She had curly red hair, a voluptuous and seductive figure, and looked to be in her forties. Her face was slightly blurred. Seeing Zhang Tie's gaze, she slightly bent down, allowing him to see her magnificent and fair breasts under the lamplight. Then she used her hands to squeeze the two exposed hemispheres of her chest, letting out a slight moan, "Ah..." She opened her mouth, licked her finger, and slowly put it in her mouth. With just that action, Zhang Tie felt the muscles in his throat tremble like a stretched rubber band, and his pants bulged. Then, amidst the woman's wild laughter, Zhang Tie fled in panic.

The flea market near the train station only truly came alive at night. Various characters from all walks of life seemed to emerge as the darkness fell. After leaving that terrifying and seductive woman, Zhang Tie's heart gradually calmed down about 100 meters away. The part of him that was still standing tall made him feel awkward, so he pretended to put his hands in his pockets, pressing down on the unruly part through the fabric.

As Zhang Tie was about to leave the flea market, a voice from a nearby stall made him slow down.

"Boss, are these things from the ruins before the Great Catastrophe?"

"Of course, look at this book. The characters seem to be Chinese, and the Andaman City Federation doesn't have such publications. Look at the cover; it seems to be an abacus, an ancient calculating tool that dates back thousands of years before the Great Catastrophe. Look at the quality of the printing on the cover. If it wasn't from the ruins, how could it be so well-preserved?"

"Do you think we're idiots? I know it's Chinese, but no one can read it, so you can say whatever you want. What kind of old-fashioned abacus is this? Who uses it now..."

"I am a man of integrity..."

The word "Chinese" made Zhang Tie stop. He walked over and squatted down with the two people at the stall, casually picking through the items. The stall was small, no more than two square meters, with a pile of miscellaneous items on a waterproof oilcloth. The only items worth looking at were a few daggers and copper wrist guards placed at the corners of the oilcloth. In the flea market, every stall owner would claim that any strange items were from the ruins, treasures from before the Great Catastrophe, but even a fool wouldn't believe it...

After a while, one of the two people at the stall picked a decent dagger for 8 silver coins and 60 copper coins and left. Zhang Tie was left alone at the stall.

The stall owner was a sleazy old man in his sixties with a red, puffy nose. As soon as he got close, you could smell the cheap alcohol on him. His appearance made people think of a rat.

Zhang Tie casually looked through the items for a while, then picked up the book with the abacus on the cover and flipped through it. "How much is this?"

"This is a treasure from the ruins, at least 20 silver coins..." the old man said slyly.

"What is this book for?"

"Well, it seems to be a skill book on how to use this abacus..." The old man wasn't sure. He had read the book, but couldn't understand the Chinese characters. He had asked someone who knew a little Chinese, but that person could only recognize some simple numbers, like "three, two, five, six"...

"What's the use of this? Should I count sheep to fall asleep?"

"Alright, if you want it, I'll give you a discount. 16 silver coins, no less!" the old man said with a pained expression.

"Do you think I'm an idiot? This book has less than 16 pages. The paper isn't even enough for me to wipe my ass once. You want 16 silver coins? I'm only asking because this book seems a bit strange." Zhang Tie angrily threw the book down. Even if he hadn't eaten pork, he had seen pigs walk. In this market, if you didn't haggle roughly, you'd be taken for a fool.

"Then what price do you offer?"

"80 copper coins!"

"80 copper coins?" The old man jumped up like a rat whose tail had been stepped on. "Kid, this is from the ruins, no way, at least 10 silver coins!"

"What ruins? You're fooling kids. Within a thousand miles of Black Flame City, there are no ruins, and if there were, they would have been picked clean long ago. 80 copper coins!"

"9 silver coins, no less!"

"Alright, since you're old, I'll respect you. I'll add 10 copper coins, 90 copper coins!"

"90 copper coins?" The old man screamed like a pig being slaughtered. "It's not even enough to cover my cost!"

"Then one silver coin!"

"7 silver coins!" The old man gritted his teeth...

After two minutes of haggling, Zhang Tie stood up and walked away without a second thought. After five steps, the old man's angry voice came from behind, "Don't go! I'll sell it to you for 4 silver coins, as you said!"

A smile appeared on Zhang Tie's lips. These people who didn't know Chinese couldn't understand the title of the book. When Zhang Tie saw the book, he was stunned. "The Art of Abacus Calculation" was the title. He had flipped through it and found that it described a mental calculation method related to the abacus, which was quite unique. So he bought the book...

On his way home, Zhang Tie's stomach was growling, but he felt satisfied touching the book in his pocket. In this era, knowledge was more expensive than many people could imagine. Any skill or knowledge not taught in school was valuable. Zhang Tie remembered that when he first became an apprentice at the grocery store, Tang De had examined him for more than three months before teaching him how to use the abacus, with a smug look on his face. In Black Flame City, according to Zhang Tie's observations, not many people knew how to use the abacus. He had never seen anyone else use it. Simple calculations were done on paper, and more advanced ones were done with metal calculators in exchanges and banks. So the abacus skill was somewhat redundant, but even a redundant skill wasn't easy to learn. When Zhang Tie flipped through "The Art of Abacus Calculation," he saw the abacus pattern and the mnemonic on the first page and knew the book's value. Overall, the book might not be extremely valuable, but for 4 silver coins, it was worth it, especially since the silver coins weren't his.

"More skills never hurt," was a phrase his father often said.

As a child, Zhang Tie had been forced to learn Chinese by his parents, using a bamboo stick to hit his hand. It took him ten years to memorize all the characters in a Chinese dictionary, which made anyone's head spin. This was Zhang Tie's darkest childhood memory. After ten years, he finally found a use for the Chinese he had learned, and he felt a bit proud.

As for the old man's claim that the book was from the ruins, Zhang Tie didn't believe it for a second. Things from the ruins were at least a thousand years old, and this book didn't look like it was from 1000 years ago. However, the faint words under the abacus picture, "Recommended for Elementary School Students," made Zhang Tie curious. "I'm almost an adult and I haven't encountered this knowledge. What kind of elementary school students are so advanced? Damn, comparing people can be frustrating!"

After being beaten for no reason and using the money he had scrounged to buy a book, joining the Airplane Brotherhood, and embarrassing himself in front of Teacher Daina...

On his way home, Zhang Tie reviewed his day's efforts and gains, unsure whether he had gained or lost...

Zhang Tie's home was in the northern part of Black Flame City, a residential area for the working class and small citizens. If the Upper East District was the playground of the rich, the North District was the cozy nest of the law-abiding workers and citizens. Compared to the Upper East District, the North District's streets were not as beautiful but were still clean, and the security was decent. Rows of sycamore trees on both sides of the streets added a warm, urban atmosphere. His parents' decades of hard work had earned them a small two-story wooden house with a backyard, covering less than 100 square meters. They ran a rice wine shop on the ground floor, with his father working in a factory and his mother managing the shop. The business was neither hot nor cold, and the profit was thin, barely enough to support the family.

When Zhang Tie returned home, it was almost nine o'clock. His parents were not at home, probably at the church, and the rice wine shop was closed. The dinner left at home was still warm in the pot. The meal was not lavish: a pot of mixed vegetable soup, a bowl of cured meat stew with beans, and a large bowl of rice. The cured meat stew had a few pieces of meat the size of broad beans, which Zhang Tie knew were left for him. His parents always saved the meat for him, saying they didn't like it. Eating the simple dinner, Zhang Tie felt a lump in his throat. He secretly vowed that when he earned money, he would make sure his parents could eat meat every day.

After a quick meal and cleaning the kitchen, Zhang Tie, feeling tired, went upstairs. When he reached the second floor, his brother's room was closed, but he could hear rhythmic thumping and suppressed breathing. This was not the first time, and Zhang Tie knew what was happening. He walked quietly, then reached the end of the hallway, where he found a rope on the wall. He pulled it gently, and a wooden board on the floor slid open, revealing a ladder to the attic.

The ladder made a creaking sound, probably because it hadn't been oiled for days. The thumping in his brother's room paused for a few seconds, then resumed more intensely before Zhang Tie could climb up.

Zhang Tie climbed the ladder to the attic and pulled it back up, closing the floor. This small attic with a triangular roof was Zhang Tie's room. The house was small, and the ground floor was a rice wine shop, leaving little space for living. The attic, which was not large, was divided into two parts, one for living and the other for storing household items. Zhang Tie's room could barely fit a bed, a table, and a small wardrobe. The space between the furniture was just enough for two people to pass without crowding. The furniture was old and worn, with much of the paint peeling off. These items were second-hand, bought for less than two silver coins...

A small room of less than 8 square meters, a few pieces of second-hand furniture, this was all the 15-year-old Zhang Tie had in this world...

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