"Is he going to work in the grocery store?" Sharwin added.
"He goes to the grocery store twice a week, on Tuesday and Thursday. He already went there yesterday. Today is Friday. What is he going to do there?" Barley explained.
"Maybe he's rushing home!" Since he had reconciled with Zhang Tie, Doug had tried to help Zhang Tie.
"Men who go home after school are useless!" Bagdad proudly said with his arms crossed.
"What's your plan then?" Leit asked Bagdad.
"I'm going to the Fierce Tiger Fighting Club to try my luck. This weekend, the Fierce Tiger Fighting Club will recruit some part-time waiters. If I can get in, I will have the opportunity to use the training facilities there for free. If I'm lucky, I might even meet some powerhouses who can give me some pointers!"
"Well, good luck. That place is the territory of the rich. I heard that Glaze would train in the fighting club for several hours every day after school …" Leit shrugged.
"Glaze is going to the Fierce Fire Fighting Club, one of the best fighting clubs in Blackhot City!" Bagdad's voice was full of admiration. "If only they could recruit waiters!"
Hearing Bagdad's words, Barley rolled his eyes.
"What about you, Leit? What's your plan this weekend?" Sharwin asked Leit.
After hesitating for a while, Leit finally decided to tell the truth. "This weekend, my dad will take me to visit an old friend of his. That old friend had just arrived in Blackhot City two days ago. He has been appointed as the deputy steward of the Storm Business Group in Blackhot City. My dad might want to take me there to make some preparations for the future! What about you, Sharwin? "
"I'm going to tutor at home this weekend. I can earn 40 copper coins a day!" Sharwin was a bit embarrassed.
"Your dad is really stingy. You're only 15 years old, yet he wants you to earn money to support the family on the weekend!" Doug said naively.
"Well, Sharwin has two younger brothers. As an elder brother, I have a heavy responsibility!"
"Yea, then Hista, what about this weekend?"
"Heh heh, I've saved some money this month. I can go there to relax on the weekend!" Hista said as he constantly straightened his waist and made the action of shaking his waist.
"You're really something. You saved a month's worth of pocket money. You didn't even eat breakfast just for this day. Would you die if you don't visit prostitutes?" Bagdad said with contempt.
"I will die if I don't visit prostitutes!" Zhang Tie thought as he looked at Miss Daina's beautiful hair. He didn't know what it felt like to touch it.
On the platform of the station, some passengers who were waiting for the train were discussing something loudly. However, after Miss Daina arrived, Zhang Tie found that they lowered their voices at once. The two gentlemen who were reading newspapers also silently straightened their backs. One guy even turned around and stealthily combed his hair against the reflection of the billboard beside the station.
Zhang Tie actually hoped that the train that Miss Daina was waiting for would never arrive, so that he could continue to watch her silently. However, only five minutes later, the trackway of Blackhot City slowly moved towards the platform from afar. All the trackways in the city were just smaller trains with narrower tracks, smaller locomotives, lower steam power units, lower speed, and smaller loading capacity. Of course, they were more suitable to be used in the city.
When it reached the station, the trackway slowed down, causing steam to emit from the deceleration valve at the rear of the carriage. The conductor stood at the door with one foot and stretched half of his body out of the carriage. He shook the bell and shouted, reminding the passengers to pay for the tickets. The people at the station started to get on the train …
Not until Miss Daina got on the vehicle and the trolley vehicle slowly drove away did Zhang Tie withdraw his gaze from the distance with a disappointed look. Then, with an indescribable feeling in his heart, he walked towards the road home.
...
As it was the weekend, Zhang Tie's elder brother Zhang Yang would also come back home. According to the usual practice, Zhang Tie's family would have a reunion dinner every Friday. Therefore, the dinner on Friday was especially sumptuous. Mom cooked a pot of kidney beans with a small half of the preserved meat left at home. Before Zhang Tie entered the door, he had already smelt the familiar aroma of the meat soup. Seeing the bubbling milky white meat soup on the small stove, Zhang Tie's appetite was immediately aroused. Picking up the spoon on the earthenware, he scooped a spoonful of the soup and blew it forcefully several times with his cheeks puffed up. Even though it was still a bit hot, he drank it all at once. A taste which could be described as blissful slipped into Zhang Tie's mouth at once.
"Greedy cat, if you're hungry, you can have a bowl of it first!" Mom walked over from the store and scratched Zhang Tie's hair in a doting manner. She was still the same as before for over ten years.
Zhang Tie forcefully swallowed his saliva. "No, I'm not hungry. Let's wait for dad and elder brother to come back together!"
"Our Guoguo has grown up!" Mom said as she tied her apron. "Your dad has to work overtime today and might come back a bit later. You go look after the store, I'll cook!"
"Okay!"
Half an hour later, Zhang Tie's dad came back. After greeting Zhang Tie, he went to the kitchen to help Zhang Tie. After over 20 minutes, when Zhang Tie almost sat at the table, Zhang Tie thought that Zhang Yang would not come back, but Zhang Yang came back.
Zhang Yang was 1.88 m tall and sturdy with slender hands. His facial features were somewhat similar to Zhang Tie's, except that his eyes and eyebrows were longer and narrower, giving him an elusive spirit. Wearing the dark military uniform of the City Guard Army of Blackhot City, Zhang Yang wore a yellow leather belt with copper buckles, on which hung a standard long sword. The military rank on his shoulder was that of sergeant first class. As a team leader of the City Guard Army of Blackhot City, he was only one step away from being a military officer.
Since childhood, Zhang Tie's elder brother had always been Zhang Tie's idol.
After returning home, Zhang Yang carried a backpack in his hand. Without saying anything, he opened the backpack and took out two items, putting them into Zhang Tie's hands. "Take them. Open them, they're just enough for a meal at home!"
"Canned beef!" Taking them, Zhang Tie's eyes shone as his saliva surged out. He had not imagined that his elder brother could really bring back such good things.
"Take a seat, I'll get them..." Mom immediately took the two canned beef from Zhang Tie's hands. When she went to the kitchen to add more bowls and chopsticks for Zhang Yang, she put one of the canned beef into a cabinet in the kitchen and only opened one. Seeing this, the three men at the table all smiled. His mother had always been meticulous with her money. Sometimes, she could split a copper coin and use it twice. The whole family had been used to it.
"Elder brother, what other good things do you have?" Zhang Tie stared at the bulging backpack in Zhang Yang's hands with gleaming eyes. There were still many things that had not been taken out. In Zhang Tie's eyes, his elder brother was like a magician who could always make many things happen.
"Here, they're all for you!" Zhang Yang directly threw the entire backpack into Zhang Tie's hands. Zhang Tie couldn't wait to open it. What he saw first was a pair of black leather shoes for training, two dark green vests and two pairs of dark green underwear, a towel and a piece of scented soap. Leather shoes, vests, underwear, towel and scented soap were all the daily necessities distributed to the troops by the City Guard Army of Blackhot City. They were also in high demand in the black market of Blackhot City. Zhang Yang had saved them and brought them back for Zhang Tie. Looking at the brand new leather shoes and the worn ones under his elder brother's feet, Zhang Tie felt his nose turning sour.
"I've had them changed. Their sizes are just right for you. Mom told me that you're a grown man. Don't cry!" Zhang Yang said as he stretched out his big hand and rubbed Zhang Tie's hair.
Hearing his elder brother's last words, Zhang Tie instantly felt ashamed and annoyed. However, his elder brother felt that it was very funny, so he turned around and told his dad something. Hearing his dad's words, his dad also burst out into laughter. Didn't he care about how young Zhang Tie was at this moment? "Mom!"
"Mom!" Zhang Tie shouted discontentedly.
"Okay, okay. Let's eat. I won't talk about it in the future, okay?" Mom walked over with an open can of beef.
The whole family was enjoying the meal happily...
"These days, don't run outside at night!" Zhang Yang told Zhang Tie at the table, "Blackhot City might not be peaceful these days!"
"What's wrong?" Zhang Tie's dad became nervous while his mom also pricked up her ears. Only Zhang Tie was chewing the piece of beef tendon in his bowl gloomily. "Have you heard any news?"
"Several days ago, Sala the Bloody Butcher, the No. 2 figure of the Red-scarf Burglars, was caught in Andaman City. Yesterday, the Alliance Parliament voted to hang Sala. The Red-scarf Burglars released the news that they will take revenge!"
"This... they won't blame Blackhot City!" Zhang Tie's dad doubted.
"When voting on whether to execute the Bloody Butcher or not, 11 of the 17 city-state representatives of the Andaman City Alliance voted in favor, including the representative of Blackhot City. I don't know how the result of the vote was leaked. The Red-scarf Burglars' target is the 11 members of the Alliance Parliament who voted in favor. As Blackhot City is located in the northernmost part of the Alliance and is surrounded by the weakest regions of the Alliance, it is most likely to be attacked by the Red-scarf Burglars!" Zhang Tie explained calmly.
"Has the Alliance Parliament fallen? How could the result of the vote of the Alliance Parliament be leaked? There must be a conspiracy behind this. How could someone spare the Red-scarf Burglars, the heartless butchers... "Zhang Tie's dad said in a cynical tone.
"I don't know about the conspiracy, but in the next two months, all the members of the City Guard Army of Blackhot City will have their leave cancelled. I will not come back for the next two months!" Zhang Tie shrugged.
"Son, is it dangerous?" Mom worriedly asked.
"Mom, don't worry. The Red-scarf Burglars don't have the ability to attack the city. The City Guard Army and city fortifications of Blackhot City are not to be trifled with. At most, they can do terror and destruction in the dark. The City Guard Army is not under great pressure. You just have to be careful!"
Zhang Tie opened his mouth. At this moment, he wanted to tell his parents that he had obtained the Castle of Black Iron. However, his rationality told him that if he told his family about this secret, it might bring an unpredictable disaster to the family. Zhang Tie, his elder brother, and even his parents were just small figures in Blackhot City. Zhang Tie had heard that small figures had obtained treasures before, but none of them had a good ending. Perhaps, keeping this secret in his heart forever was the best choice for him to not let his parents worry about him...
After dinner, Zhang Tie's elder brother left. Dad was going to play chess with his neighbors, which was his favorite hobby. Mom was going to the church and closed the door, leaving Zhang Tie alone at home. After washing the bowls and chopsticks, Zhang Tie returned to his room.
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