As expected, the business of the rice brew shop became much less popular. Perhaps for rich people, a few copper coins and a few silver coins would not make any difference at all. However, for many people at the bottom of society with a low income, a slight change in the price of rice brew would become a huge pressure for them to survive. As a result, they were more sensitive to the price of rice brew. Even though the price of a bowl of rice brew had only increased by one copper coin, for some people, this copper coin represented a 20% increase in the price of rice brew, which was hard for them to accept.
Seeing the Chinese woman dragging the child away from the rice brew shop while swallowing his saliva, Zhang Tie could only force a bitter smile. Previously, this kid often came here to eat rice brew, but now, with the rise in the price of rice brew, his mother could only drag him away. For these ordinary families, the rise in the price of grains would not only affect the price of a bowl of rice brew, but also the overall cost of living. When the price of grains rose, the price of fuel, rice, oil, and salt would also rise. It was said that the price of coal in Blackhot City had also started to rise in the past couple of days. The most obvious change was that the price of each cart of briquettes had increased by five copper coins. When the price of grains and the price of coal rose, the steels produced by the Steel Plant would naturally rise as well. Although the increase was still small, it was not a good omen for many commoners.
The Zhang family's modified, ugly tricycle had been borrowed by a neighbor early in the morning to buy some grains. In the past couple of days, several families had borrowed it for hauling things. This morning, Zhang Tie's mom and elder sister-in-law went to the hospital. The elder sister-in-law said that she didn't feel well, causing Zhang Tie's mom to become nervous. After getting up in the morning, they left. After that, Zhang Tie stayed at home alone, watching the rice brew shop and driving away flies with a fan.
Although Zhang Tie was in the rice brew shop, he was absent-minded as he was focusing on his own mind. At this moment, something interesting was happening in Zhang Tie's mind...
After his spiritual energy surged by seven times, the "Mental Arithmetic by Abacus" that he had been cultivating for two weeks had undergone an earth-shaking change. Before yesterday, it would take him a long time to visualize an abacus with three gears in his mind. Not to mention that the abacus he visualized was not stable, it was not as fast as using it manually. All in all, it was not practical. However, this situation had completely changed this morning.
At this moment, a golden abacus with seven gears was steadily suspending in Zhang Tie's mind sea. The beads on the abacus were moving up and down automatically, outputting calculation values one after another.
What was 36 times 98 … 3528!
What was 1269 plus 9621 … 10890!
What was 362 times 125 … 45250!
What was 639 divided by 12 …? 53.25!
What does 98564 divided by 125 equal to … 788.512!
...
At the beginning, Zhang Tie needed to memorize the pithy formula to get the result. Later on, as long as he saw the question, the pithy formula would flash through his mind, and the abacus would calculate the result. After practicing for a while, Zhang Tie found that he didn't even need to memorize the pithy formula. The moment he saw the question, the result would already be out. It was too fast! After using the abacus for two years, Zhang Tie finally discovered the power of this ancient Chinese calculating tool. Zhang Tie didn't know where the book "Mental Arithmetic by Abacus", which was recommended reading material for elementary school students, came from. However, purely based on the strength and quality of his spiritual energy, Zhang Tie didn't believe that any elementary school student in this world could be stronger than him. Perhaps his spiritual energy was similar to that of a elementary school student before; however, after fusing with that Fruit of Brilliance, his spiritual energy had already increased by seven times. It was really too powerful. However, after using 7 times of spiritual energy to drive mental arithmetic by abacus, the powerful side of mental arithmetic by abacus started to be fully displayed. Zhang Tie only needed to glance at any addition, subtraction, multiplication and division within seven digits and the result would appear in his mind without any hesitation. Not only that, Zhang Tie found that the abacus could be easily stabilized after being visualized. During this process, he even sold some bowls of rice brew and did some small business without being affected at all...
"My calculation speed should be faster than that of the hand-operated metal calculators in the exchanges and commercial firms!" Zhang Tie thought pleasantly. He had not imagined that the first benefit brought to him after his spiritual energy surged by seven times was that mental arithmetic by abacus could reach such a high level overnight. If he went to the grocery store now, he would definitely frighten Donder.
Because this mental arithmetic by abacus was so smooth and miraculous, Zhang Tie suddenly had an extremely bold and even absurd thought. Perhaps, this was how the abacus had been used long before the abacus was invented. People in that age all had very powerful spiritual energy, so they could easily use this calculating tool in their minds. However, later on, when people's spiritual energy declined for some unknown reason, they could hardly realize this calculation in their minds anymore. Therefore, some people made physical abacus and started to operate it by hand. Later on, after hundreds or thousands of years, when everybody was used to operating the abacus by hand, a guy suddenly had an epiphany. He felt that this thing could be visualized in his mind and operated by pure spiritual energy and consciousness. Therefore, he invented mental arithmetic by abacus and restored the real usage of this calculating tool by accident...
If so, Zhang Tie was the only one who had truly mastered this marvelous calculating tool. He wondered whether this marvelous calculating tool could evolve to a higher level. Donder had once said that in the marvelous East, there were some powerful professions such as the mysterious fortune-teller who had mastered an even more marvelous calculating tool called "Yi". That calculating tool didn't calculate numbers, but people's fortunes and the evolution of everything in the world. Was there any relationship between the two?
When Zhang Tie was thinking about it, his mom and elder sister-in-law came back. Zhang Tie hurriedly dispersed the abacus in his mind and rushed towards them, asking out of concern, "Mom, elder sister-in-law, what's the matter?"
The moment he uttered these words, Zhang Tie found that it was a bit silly and awkward. His elder sister-in-law slightly blushed while his mom glared at him and forcefully patted his head, "What the f * ck? Hurry up, go cook dinner …"
...
In the afternoon, as usual, Zhang Tie helped his mom make rice brew at home. With the addition of his elder sister-in-law, this job became relatively easier. After lunch, the neighbors returned the tricycle. Zhang Tie got off the tricycle to buy rice and sugar. As expected, the prices of the two items had increased a bit. Because the rice brew business was not good last week, he only bought two bags of rice. When he returned home, his mom was teaching his elder sister-in-law how to make the yeast liquid.
"The yeast liquid is very important as it will determine whether the rice brew tastes good or not. Our Zhang family makes our own yeast. Before using these spare jars, we have to blanch them with boiling water and shake them to cool them. Usually, we have two jars at home, one for use and the other for fermenting. After making one jar, when it is almost used up, we can add water and some chopped fruits, peels, and seeds into it. Every day, we can open the lid and shake it to let the air inside change. Generally, a new jar of yeast liquid will be ready in about a week. Before sealing each jar, we should put two spoonfuls of fermented yeast liquid into it. Have a taste.
This yeast liquid is very tasty. Zhang Tie used to eat it secretly... "Zhang Tie had long been familiar with these contents. Previously, he didn't care about it, especially when his mom exposed his shortcomings while teaching him, which made him feel even more embarrassed. However, for some reason, after hearing his mom's words, a thought suddenly flashed across his mind...
Yeast — — Rice Brew — —
Mutated and Evolved Yeast — — Mutated and Evolved Rice Brew — —?
Zhang Tie remembered that there was a special option in the Castle of Black Iron that could promote all living beings to mutate and evolve. When he entered the Castle of Black Iron for the first time, he had tried it with a sprouted potato in the pit. Since he didn't get any results in the past few days, Zhang Tie had forgotten about it. Today, when he saw his mom teaching his sister-in-law how to make yeast liquid, Zhang Tie suddenly had an idea — — if he could evolve or mutate the yeast used to make rice brew and produce a brand new yeast liquid, would the rice brew taste better? If so, he could open a new market for his family's rice brew business.
The more Zhang Tie thought about it, the more he felt that this method was feasible. At least he could have a try. The Zhang family had used the old method to make rice brew for over 20 years. It was not a big deal to try a new method. Even if he failed, he would not lose anything!
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