Taking Charge Early

They say children of the poor take on responsibilities early, and this saying fits Zhang Tie perfectly. Ever since elementary school, Zhang Tie had begun helping out with chores at home. His father worked diligently at the factory, while his mother stayed home, relying on her passable Rice Brew skills to run a small business and supplement the household income. For over a decade, day in and day out, they had managed to raise Zhang Tie and his older brother.

In the past, Zhang Tie didn't know how to feel for his parents. It wasn't until two years ago, on a weekend at home, that he watched his mother finish closing the shop in the evening and immediately start mopping the floor without a moment's rest. Seeing her figure from behind—suddenly appearing slightly bloated and heavy, no longer the slim and beautiful image from his childhood memories—a wave of sorrow washed over Zhang Tie. He grew up quite a bit overnight, beginning to understand his responsibilities as a man toward this family and his parents. From then on, whenever the weekend came and his peers were out playing and jumping around, Zhang Tie would stay home to help his mother with chores. Naturally, he also learned his mother's Rice Brew craft. A year ago, the Rice Brew Zhang Tie made had become indistinguishable from his mother's; even the old customers didn't know that, by that time, nearly half of the Zhang Family Rice Brew was already coming from Zhang Tie's hands.

It was strange; Zhang Tie had slept exceptionally well last night, dreamless and sound. When he opened his eyes at six in the morning, the sky outside was still somewhat dark, with only a faint, hazy whiteness showing in the east. Zhang Tie checked the alarm clock by his bed; it was just past six-fifteen. By usual standards, this was the time for a young person to be lingering in bed. In Zhang Tie's memory, except for rare occasions, he had almost never woken up before seven. Closing his eyes, Zhang Tie tried to go back to sleep out of habit, only to find he couldn't. His mind was clear, his body was full of energy, and he felt no sleepiness at all. He felt as fresh as a head of cabbage that had been soaked in water all night—it would be a miracle if he could fall back asleep. Usually, when he woke up, his brain felt foggy and muddled, but this morning, his mind felt like a piece of polished, top-grade crystal, without a single impurity.

After struggling to linger in bed a bit longer and realizing he truly couldn't sleep, Zhang Tie simply rolled out of bed. Wearing only his underwear, he stood by the bed and provocatively wiggled his hips. Since no one was watching, Zhang Tie didn't care how lewd or punchable he looked doing such a move. Sixty circles clockwise, sixty circles counter-clockwise—this was a habit he'd formed previously. He remembered his dad saying that for a man, wiggling the waist in the morning strengthens the yang energy. Once he grew a bit older and understood more, he'd once caught his older brother and a woman doing the "piston movement" at home. After learning the purpose of strengthening yang, Zhang Tie had secretly practiced this set of movements alone in the morning. Although Zhang Tie was still a virgin and his little brother hadn't seen action in over a decade—only having had a few confused wet dreams—well, he was a man, cough... cough... who wouldn't want to be a bit more vigorous in that department? It's understandable.

He didn't know until he exercised, but as Zhang Tie lowered his head, he realized his underwear had already propped up a high tent. The little guy in the tent had a fierce morning wood. Pulling down his waistband to take a look, the little guy had turned into a big guy, head held high and chest out, veins bulging, looking somewhat terrifyingly murderous. He used his hand to pry it and test the hardness; it was completely like a wooden stick.

"Sigh, just hold it in for now. Who knows how many days it'll be until you get a chance to be put to other use!"

After finishing his hip wiggles, opening the small window in the attic, lifting his legs, bending his waist, and doing a few random exercises, Zhang Tie put on his clothes and crept down from the attic. After washing up, he started making breakfast for his family. Given the Zhang Family financial situation, the breakfast wasn't luxurious; today it was just thin porridge. The rice had been soaked since last night, and by this morning, it had softened, each grain white and plump, especially appetizing.

With the rice soaked, all that remained was starting the fire. Black Flame City had abundant coal resources and massive reserves, which made coal very cheap there. A small cart of coal balls, processed from discarded coal slag, could be bought for a few dozen copper coins. Coal balls were easy to buy, but getting them lit in the stove was a technical skill. Fortunately, after years of "training," Zhang Tie was very familiar with it. In the past, he had to add pine oil to help it catch, but now, he could get the fire going within ten minutes without any oil.

Ten minutes later, Zhang Tie had the fire going in the stove, washed the pot, and started boiling water. Under the red furnace fire, the water boiled in no time. Once the water was ready, he poured in the soaked rice, covered the pot, and checked the flame. Zhang Tie smiled; he found that this kind of wholehearted, proactive service for his family—giving them a surprise and making his mom and dad happy—was truly satisfying.

The porridge would take at least another hour to cook, and there was plenty of time left. After wandering around the kitchen, Zhang Tie decided to take out the empty large ceramic vats from the Rice Brew shop. He drew well water in the backyard and then meticulously scrubbed the vats clean. He left them under the eaves of the backyard to dry. By now, the sky was brightening. After nearly an hour of work, Zhang Tie's forehead was slightly sweaty. Just as he was contentedly placing the last vat under the eaves, he realized that, at some point, his mother had already appeared at the doorway leading from the kitchen to the backyard, staring at him in a daze.

"Guoguo, what are you doing?"

"Ah, Mom, I woke up early this morning, so I just did some work while I was at it!"

"Silly boy, you're at the age where you're growing; how can you not get enough sleep!" His mother came over, heart aching as she helped Zhang Tie wipe his sweat, then went to lift the lid to check the porridge. One look, and she immediately judged when her son had woken up. "Be good, go back and sleep a little longer. You've already done most of the work for this morning. Don't come down to eat until you've finished sleeping!"

"Mom, I'm really not sleepy," Zhang Tie said helplessly.

"Come on, tell Mom, have you made some friends outside recently and run out of money? You seemed a bit strange last night..." His mother leaned in, whispering with a knowing and gossipy look. "If that's the case, just come ask Mom when you need money. A man needs to be generous to be attractive to young girls; you can't be too stingy. Mom has saved a little private money, but don't tell your father!"

Zhang Tie looked at his mother, speechless. Where was this even coming from? In the end, with his protests ignored, Zhang Tie was almost dragged by his ear and kicked back up to his small attic by his mother, who insisted he go back to sleep to "make up for it"...

"You're at the age where you're growing; sleep more so you'll grow tall in the future!" Watching his mother's nagging figure leave, Zhang Tie felt both touched and helpless as he returned to his small room, pretending to take a "nap."

But in reality, once back in his room, how could Zhang Tie sleep? After thinking for a moment, he simply closed the doors and windows of his room, focused his mind, and arrived at the Castle of Black Iron once again. Because of the experience from the previous two times, his synchronization with the Castle of Black Iron was even higher. This time, almost as soon as Zhang Tie closed his eyes and thought of the "Castle of Black Iron," the door in his mind appeared naturally. As his consciousness locked onto that door, he silently whispered "Enter," and he was already inside.

--Welcome, handsome and imposing Master of the Castle, to the Castle of Black Iron!

The same dialogue box appeared before Zhang Tie and then naturally vanished. It had to be said, although the title Zhang Tie had given himself was a bit cheesy, it made him feel great every time he saw it.

Handsome--Imposing--Master--Hahahaha...

Zhang Tie puffed out his chest and stood in place to survey his territory. To the naked eye, this territory was exactly the same as last night, without the slightest change—a strange little tree, a vast flat land, and the steel bar he had erected yesterday as a marker. In his entire field of vision, there was nothing else to see besides these few things.

He circled the strange little tree called the "Manjusaka Karma Myriad Fruit Tree" twice more. The tree, which still showed no changes, made Zhang Tie lose interest in further investigation after only a moment. Rather than circling this tree, it was better to check on the seeds he had planted yesterday. Thinking of the corn and potatoes he'd planted, Zhang Tie's spirits lifted. He ran a few steps to the spot he had marked, squatted down, and observed carefully.

After only one night, the corn seeds he'd planted last night still showed no reaction. Zhang Tie wasn't anxious; according to the agricultural knowledge he'd learned in school, it took about a week for corn seeds to sprout, so it was still too early. Thinking of this, Zhang Tie suddenly slapped his forehead, remembering something: he had been too excited when planting these seeds last night and had forgotten to water them. This was a rookie mistake, but it wasn't too late to fix it; he could just bring in two buckets of water later. After checking the corn, he moved to the potatoes. The potato, which never picked its soil and was incredibly hardy, truly gave Zhang Tie a massive surprise. The potatoes he'd buried had already been sprouting; when planting them yesterday, Zhang Tie had specifically made sure the sprouted parts were facing up. To his surprise, when he looked this morning, several of the sprouted potatoes had already broken through the soil after just one night. The tender shoots were like bean sprouts soaked overnight, having grown a small bit, and the potato with the largest shoot had already pushed out two rice-grain-sized buds—there was hope!

Zhang Tie grew excited. Damn, with this land, even if I can only grow potatoes, I won't have to worry about starving to death! This was the only thing on Zhang Tie's mind at that moment.

After a moment of excitement, Zhang Tie opened the basic attribute panel of the Castle of Black Iron.

--Castle of Black Iron

--Length: 1 Krosha

--Width: 1 Krosha

--Spirit Qi Value: 0.3

--Merit Value: 3

--Basic Energy Reserve: 0.2

--Special Output: None

His Merit Value had increased by 1, as expected, but the number for the Spirit Qi Value, which had been bare last night, immediately drew Zhang Tie's attention...