Zhang Tie coughed, and Tang De finally looked up from behind the counter. Upon seeing Zhang Tie, Tang De didn't show any surprise, but instead made a face as if he had a toothache. // Fastest updates //
"Hey kid, you're sneaking over here at this hour, you're not hoping I'll treat you to lunch, are you?"
"Yes!" Zhang Tie smiled innocently and nodded honestly.
"No way!" Tang De's face instantly hardened, becoming as stiff as the door of a grocery store.
"Never mind then. I was originally thinking that if you treated me to dinner, I would give you something nice to repay you for taking care of me over the years..." Zhang Tie said, making a move to leave.
"Heh heh, trying to lure me in with this trick, kid? I taught you this. I got tired of it decades ago..." Tang De sneered from behind the counter, looking like he saw right through Zhang Tie's little trick.
Zhang Tie didn't say anything, but took out the original copy of " Abacus Mental Calculation ) that he had kept close to his body from the pocket inside his clothes. He waved it in his hand, and in that instant, Zhang Tie was certain that Tang De had already seen the large Hua Script characters on the cover.
Sure enough, just as Zhang Tie raised his leg again, Tang De called out from behind the counter, "Wait a minute..."
Zhang Tie turned around, smiling at Tang De, "So, have you changed your mind?"
"Wait a moment, I'll go order some food and drinks and have them delivered to the restaurant. We can eat and chat. You seem to have changed a lot in the two months since I last saw you. You've even grown taller..." Tang De's face was already plastered with a smile.
Zhang Tie shook his head, " Gathering Immortal Restaurant!"
"What?!" Tang De, who had just been smiling, jumped up as if he had been stabbed, cursing angrily, "You bastard, do you know how much a meal costs at Gathering Immortal Restaurant? That's the most expensive Hua Clan restaurant in the entire Black Flame City. Now that Black Flame City is in chaos, a meal there costs at least twice as much as before!"
Zhang Tie ignored him and turned to leave.
"How about Delicacy Studio? It's a Hua Clan restaurant nearby, and the food there is pretty good!" Tang De rushed out from behind the counter.
Zhang Tie turned around and said firmly to Tang De again, " Gathering Immortal Restaurant!"
Tang De gritted his teeth and glared at Zhang Tie, trying to glean some clues from Zhang Tie's face. But Zhang Tie's expression was far too calm. Tang De struggled with his emotions for a long time, finally giving in, "Kid, you win. If you dare to lie to me, I'll beat the shit out of you!"
Zhang Tie laughed heartily and dragged Tang De away.
"Wait a minute, I still have a few pages of ledgers to finish calculating!"
Zhang Tie walked over, picked up the general store's ledger, glanced at it, and then scribbled down a bunch of numbers. He turned the page, glanced at it again, and scribbled down a few more numbers. He turned the page again, glanced at it, and scribbled down a few more numbers.
Zhang Tie finished calculating the three pages of accounts that would have taken Tang De ten minutes to do with an abacus in less than ten seconds.
"Alright!" Zhang Tie clapped his hands as he put down his pen.
"You bastard! What are you scribbling on here? My ledger!" Tang De, who had been stunned for a while, rushed over as if he had lost his parents. He glared at Zhang Tie fiercely, then quickly picked up the abacus and started working on it.
In less than three minutes, Tang De's expression changed. On the first page of the ledger, not a single number of the numbers Zhang Tie had written down was wrong. How could it be so fast? Even mental arithmetic couldn't tell the complete calculation results at a glance.
Little did Tang De know that Zhang Tie's Abacus Mental Calculation skills had reached a level that even Chang Tie couldn't believe after his mental power tripled again. Zhang Tie could simply glance at the numbers and the answers would appear naturally in his mind, making him a hundred times better than those ridiculous mental arithmetic methods.
"Do you believe me now?" Zhang Tie waited patiently by his side until Tang De's expression suddenly changed, and he looked at him with some suspicion. Only then did Zhang Tie speak. "The rest is fine too, don't waste any more time!"
When did you learn such amazing mental arithmetic?
"This isn't mental arithmetic, but rather a minor byproduct of Abacus Mental Calculation..."
"An afterthought?" Tang De asked, somewhat incredulously.
"It's an added bonus!" Zhang Tie nodded affirmatively.
Tang De finally smiled. "Alright, Gathering Immortal Restaurant!"
Gathering Immortal Restaurant is the most upscale Hua Clan restaurant in Black Flame City. For Zhang Tie in the past, getting into such a place was not exactly impossible, but it was close. It is said that the minimum per capita consumption here has never been less than one gold coin.
A pair of stone lions with a strong Hua Clan style stand in front of Gathering Immortal Restaurant. The entire restaurant is said to be built in a retro Hua Clan style, with green tiles, flying eaves, green trees and red windows, making it unique in the entire Black Flame City. The restaurant signboard with the three large Hua Script characters " Gathering Immortal Restaurant " hangs in front of the entrance, and a pair of Hua Script couplets hang on the two large pillars below the signboard.
Half a cup, half a bowl, half drunk, half sober—stealing half a day of leisure is a kind of joy in life.
--Immortal companions, immortal friends, celestial delicacies, and celestial wines attract celestial maidens to drink together, surpassing even the celestial realm.
The three large characters in the center read: Gathering Immortal Restaurant!
Such a place is unique in the entire Black Flame City.
Upon entering the main gate of Gathering Immortal Restaurant, one is greeted by an artificial mountain with the charm of flowing water and towering mountains. On both sides of the artificial mountain, two rows of blonde, blue-eyed beauties with ample bosoms are dressed in tight-fitting cheongsams with slits that reveal their thighs, serving as greeters.
As soon as Tang De and Zhang Tie walked in, two rows of blonde beauties bowed and greeted them in fluent Mandarin, "Welcome!" which stunned Zhang Tie.
This was the first time in Zhang Tie's life that he had ever heard of women from outside the Hua Clan, and so many of them speaking Mandarin together.
The elegant, form-fitting cheongsam, black high heels, and snow-white thighs, along with the surging waves of the cheongsam's deep V-neck when the beauties lowered their heads, almost dazzled the eyes.
As the beautiful women bowed, Tang De walked in front as if it were nothing out of the ordinary, but Zhang Tie, who was walking behind, suddenly felt his legs go weak and almost knelt on the ground.
"What's wrong?" Tang De looked at Zhang Tie with some suspicion. This little incident shouldn't be that serious. What's wrong with this kid today?
At this moment, a fine layer of cold sweat had appeared on Zhang Tie's forehead. Just now, as Zhang Tie eyes were filled with more than a dozen pairs of plump breasts, his unruly member below moved without any wind, and then Zhang Tie felt a sharp pain coming from below. His lower body, which had just undergone surgery, became engorged with blood, and the pain almost made Zhang Tie bend over and squat on the ground.
"It's alright, it's alright!" Zhang Tie said, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead, still shaken. He slowly stood up from the ground, realizing he had miscalculated. Zhang Tie had only intended to get Tang De, that miserly man, to spend Iron Rooster this once, which was why he chose the most expensive Gathering Immortal Restaurant. Zhang Tie had never had the chance to come here before. Little did he expect that just the sight of the beautiful woman in the cheongsam at the entrance of Gathering Immortal Restaurant would cause him, who had just undergone surgery that day, to almost collapse in pain on the spot.
Tang De's eyes narrowed slightly. He glanced at Zhang Tie, then at the beautiful and sexy hostesses around him, and a slightly wicked smile appeared on his lips.
Zhang Tie, who had stood up, dared not look around anymore and followed Tang De inside.
"We'd like a quiet private room. And two people, please help this young man who's not feeling well!" Tang De Tang De in Mandarin, emphasizing the words "young man" for some reason.
A fragrant breeze wafted around him, and a blonde beauty walked over, warmly taking Zhang Tie's arm.
Before he could even refuse, and after just catching a whiff of the two women's fragrance, Zhang Tie crouched down in pain again. This time, it was Zhang Tie's turn to glare angrily at Tang De, "You did this on purpose, didn't you?"
"What are you talking about? How did I do it on purpose?" Tang De spread his hands, looking completely innocent.
"You know my situation. You've probably guessed it by now. You dare say you don't know what I'm talking about? You just want to see me make a fool of myself!"
The beautiful women nearby stared wide-eyed at the two people arguing in front of Gathering Immortal Restaurant.
"Did you get a circumcision today?" Tang De pretended to think for a long time, then suddenly shouted, his voice loud enough to be heard thirty meters away. Many of the beautiful women standing nearby couldn't help but burst out laughing at Zhang Tie Zhang Tie's disheveled appearance squatting on the ground. After laughing, they realized their rudeness and struggled to suppress their laughter. However, their gazes began to wander down to Zhang Tie's lower abdomen.
Revenge, absolutely revenge! That bastard Tang De deliberately brought up my secrets in front of so many people, just to embarrass me and make me move on. You wait.
Zhang Tie stood up through gritted teeth, no longer glancing at the beautiful women beside him, and shouted, "You have the best and most expensive private room here! Take me in now, I want to eat!"
This time, Tang De's expression changed drastically...
A few minutes later, in a luxurious private room at Gathering Immortal Restaurant, Zhang Tie picked up the menu and began ordering. With each dish Zhang Tie ordered, Tang De's fat face trembled painfully. When Zhang Tie ordered the eighth dish, Tang De's gaze towards Zhang Tie turned into one of gritted teeth once again.
"Damn it, you ordered so much, can you even finish it?" Tang De yelled in pain from the other end of the line.
Zhang Tie ignored him and instead asked the waiter next to him, "Can we take away any leftovers?"
"No, the ingredients and dishes at Gathering Immortal Restaurant can only be taken away by the guests themselves..." the waiter replied politely.
"It's alright, just try it..." Zhang Tie laughed heartily, then ordered eight more dishes before finally stopping, satisfied.
Tang De was already on the other side of the table, breathing heavily with bloodshot eyes.
After Zhang Tie finished ordering, Tang De asked Zhang Tie, "Have you finished ordering?"
"All ordered!" Zhang Tie laughed.
"Alright, now it's my turn!" Tang De said, then directly told the waiter, "Please bring two beautiful women to accompany you, the kind with good figures, scantily clad, sexy, and know how to get things done."
After Tang De finished speaking, he stared fiercely at Zhang Tie, and Zhang Tie stared back fiercely at him.
"I just remembered, I forgot to order a Lark Dragon-Snake Soup!" Zhang Tie gritted his teeth and added another dish.
"Two beautiful women to accompany you are not enough, bring two more, it will be more interesting to have one on each side!" Tang De gritted his teeth and added two more beauties.
"How can we eat without wine? I also want a bottle of Cloud Immortal Wine!" Zhang Tie added through gritted teeth.
"What's the point of having wine without dancing? Let's bring in another stripper, the more seductive the better!" Tang De immediately added another dish for Zhang Tie.
Zhang Tie and Tang De glared at each other, both panting heavily, like fighting cocks. Their eyes held a murderous intent that only they could understand.
Sensing the awkward atmosphere in the private room, the waiter quietly slipped out...
A few minutes later, along with the delicious food, a group of voluptuous beauties squeezed into the private room, along with two musicians playing instruments.
This meal was incredibly painful for both Zhang Tie and Tang De. Tang De felt a sharp pain in his flesh, while Zhang Tie's flesh was truly aching. The meal lasted for over an hour, and both men's facial expressions were extremely stiff. Tang De's facial fat twitched occasionally, while fine beads of sweat constantly appeared on Zhang Tie's forehead. The meal nearly left both of them completely exhausted.
In the end, the two looked at each other's miserable faces, and before anyone knew who laughed first, they both burst into laughter.
Tang De waved his hand, and the dancers, bar girls, and musicians in the private room all disappeared in an instant.
"Kid, you're ruthless. I haven't been angry with anyone in decades. Being with you makes me feel decades younger. So, does it still hurt?" Tang De asked.
"Thank goodness. I've discovered that drinking alcohol has the effect of relieving pain and distracting me! If anyone calls me Iron Rooster in the future, I'll spit in their face. I estimate this meal will cost at least five or six gold coins, right?" Zhang Tie also relaxed and leaned back in his chair. The past hour had been incredibly torturous for him, almost like being tortured, even worse than being in Black Prison.
"Five or six gold coins? You bumpkin, that's barely enough to get rid of those women. If you add the dishes you ordered and the two gold coins for the private room, it'll take at least 15 gold coins!" Tang De exclaimed, his eyes wide.
Zhang Tie clicked his tongue in amazement. Fifteen gold coins—that was more than his father's annual salary. He hadn't thought much of it when he was ordering the food in a fit of pique, but now, thinking back, it seemed that this rip-off had really taken a heavy toll on Tang De. To earn 15 gold coins in Tang De's general store, it would normally take at least two months.
Zhang Tie scratched his head somewhat embarrassedly, thought for a moment, then took out the book " The Abacus Mental Calculation " and tossed it to Tang De across the table.
Tang De solemnly accepted the book and began to carefully peruse it, reading it word for word from beginning to end. Being an abacus expert, Tang De immediately grasped the principles of Abacus Mental Calculation from the contents. "Hmm, this is a form of mental calculation based on the abacus. The idea is very novel, a level above abacus skills. You weren't lying to me, this meal wasn't a waste!" Having finished the book, Tang De nodded in satisfaction and carefully tucked it into his pocket.
Hearing Tang De's words, Zhang Tie simply smiled and shook his head.
Tang De was taken aback. "What? Am I wrong?"
Zhang Tie didn't speak, but pointed to his mouth, gesturing for Tang De to watch his lip movements. Then, without uttering a sound, he uttered three words: "Mental power!"
Tang De had taught Zhang Tie lip-reading before, and lip-reading was a popular communication method among many Prospector. Therefore, Zhang Tie believed that Tang De should be able to understand what he was saying. After all, they were in an outer private room, so it was better to be careful. Even if someone were eavesdropping, they wouldn't hear anything.
Sure enough, upon seeing Zhang Tie's lip movements, Tang De froze, staring at Zhang Tie with wide eyes, seemingly unable to believe it.
So Zhang Tie repeated it using lip reading, "Practicing Abacus Mental Calculation can improve and train mental strength. I've tried it; it might be the easiest secret method for training mental strength for everyone to master..."
Shocked, Tang De stood up, his obese body nearly knocking over the table. He opened his mouth as if to shout something, but then instinctively covered his mouth with it.
Any exercise that can improve mental strength is of great importance, no matter where you are.
He just stared at Zhang Tie, his eyes fixed intently on Zhang Tie.
Zhang Tie nodded seriously...
By the time Zhang Tie left Tang De and returned home, it was almost evening. Along the way, he took the time to check the grain store. Sure enough, the price of a 25-kilogram bag of Rice in Black Flame City had risen to ten silver coins. In just two months, the price of grain had doubled. Such a price was a huge burden for many ordinary people struggling to make ends meet. Although it wasn't as dire as the sky falling, it had greatly affected the lives of many ordinary families, forcing them to tighten their belts even further.
In the afternoon, Zhang Tie also went to the Iron Thorn Combat Hall. To Zhang Tie disappointment, the Iron Thorn Combat Hall was closed at this time and had not opened at all, as if it had been closed for some time.
In the past month, many things in Black Flame City have changed.
At this time Mingguang Street, the most bustling street in Black Flame City, seemed to have lost its usual luster. About a third of the shops were closed, and those that were open were not doing as well as before.
Many shops and houses along Mingguang Street had signs advertising for transfer or sale.
Prices of fixed assets such as houses and properties in Black Flame City have begun to drop sharply, with many people selling off their properties. Meanwhile, prices of food, weapons, medicine, and various daily necessities have started to soar, and prices of resource products such as coal and steel are also gradually increasing. This is the current situation in Black Flame City, and this is the result of Zhang Tie's observations after spending a day in Black Flame City. This does not seem like a good omen.
As Zhang Tie leisurely made his way home, he was surprised to find a large crowd gathered at his front door, creating a chaotic scene, as if someone was causing trouble...
A long chapter of 5000 words, please vote with monthly tickets!