Zhang Tie had always thought he was pretty clever—or at least not stupid—and that he wouldn't easily be cheated or taken advantage of. But it wasn't until today that he realized he'd been "so foolish and naive" all along. Only now did he understand how brilliantly the ancient saying "men die for wealth, birds die for food" had put it.
Now he completely understood what Captain Colin had meant.
High pay, good money, great benefits—eighty copper coins for every hour of getting beaten to a pulp, plus a hot shower before and after, so your smell wouldn't offend anyone. What a generous wage, what thoughtful service...
You could meet rich and important people—anyone who could afford to spend money at the Iron Thorn Combat Hall was certainly rich and influential. Ordinary people couldn't afford it.
You could exercise during work—if working as a sparring partner and human punching bag didn't count as exercise, Zhang Tie couldn't think of anything that would be a better workout.
The workplace was full of beautiful women—he'd seen them. There really were plenty of waitresses like Mary, but what the hell did they have to do with him? He'd only asked one woman her name and she'd crushed him so thoroughly he'd nearly turned into a shrinking violet. What more could he expect?
When he thought about how he'd somehow ended up with a part-time job like this, Zhang Tie felt his life darkening all over again. He was especially depressed when he learned that his "customers" were all little brats around eleven or twelve years old. Getting beaten was no big deal; Zhang Tie could treat it as school training. But getting beaten by a bunch of brats was a double assault on body and spirit. Their families were all rich and powerful, and they'd received the best education from an early age. Their families had poured plenty of resources into them, and even at such a young age, they'd already ignited their Divine Palace Bright Point. Their physical abilities were every bit as good as his, and some were even better. Being the human punching bag for a bunch of brats was a dead-end job if ever there was one.
So once Zhang Tie came to his senses, the first thing he thought of was finding Manager Hans and quitting. Damn it, couldn't he just refuse to do it? If he couldn't afford to offend them, couldn't he at least stay out of their way?
"No way..." Manager Hans, who had just been wearing a warm smile, now put on a stern face. Like a shrewish woman, he shook the contract in his hand, making its pages rustle, while the hand holding his cigar nearly poked Zhang Tie in the forehead. "Kid, if you quit before you've worked six hundred hours, you'll have to pay us double the damages. What does double the damages mean? It means twelve hundred hours at eighty copper coins an hour. Do the math—how much is that? It's written right there in the contract, and you signed it. If you want to back out, just bring the money. The Iron Thorn Combat Hall may be powerful, but we don't throw our weight around. We abide by the law..."
Zhang Tie's face turned deathly pale as he stared at the clause in the contract, speechless. It was only a part-time job contract. He hadn't paid much attention when he signed it, and never thought it would contain such a damnable clause. If he broke the contract, he'd have to pay nine gold and sixty silver coins. Where was he supposed to get that kind of money?
Seeing Zhang Tie's expression, Manager Hans put the contract away and softened his tone. "Kid, this job isn't as scary as you imagine. It was your first time, and you didn't know the ropes, so you took a bit of a beating. You'll learn to be smarter next time. I don't know why that bastard Colin recommended you, but as a young man, I think you ought to listen to my advice: behind every challenge you think is difficult lies an opportunity to grow. Go home and think about that. The problem in front of you is just a few kids who are a little younger than you. If you can't handle them, what do you expect to do with yourself in the future? The world is far more complicated and difficult than what you faced today! All right, you had a little trouble on your first day. You didn't last a single minute, but look, I'm a kindhearted man. I'll count half an hour of work for you today. Now hurry home. Black Flame City is under curfew these days, and you could run into trouble if you get back too late..."
As he left Manager Hans's office, Zhang Tie kept thinking about what the manager had told him: "Behind every challenge you think is difficult lies an opportunity to grow!" Yes, couldn't he get over such a small hurdle? Was he really going to let a few brats scare him off? Was he going to slink away and let that damn woman Mary laugh at him again?
No! Never! They were just a few brats. It wasn't as if he was afraid of them!
Thinking it over, Zhang Tie immediately felt a lot better.
Passing the service counter, Zhang Tie ran into Mary. When she saw him come out, she said something to the few beauties beside her, and they all looked at him with a hint of disdain. Zhang Tie felt it at once. His chances of flirting with the pretty waitresses here were probably shot. No woman would like a man whom other women looked down on. Zhang Tie sighed to himself.
"I heard someone got kicked unconscious by Young Master Gregory today and didn't even last a minute in the ring. What a pathetic man!" Mary's words rekindled the fire in Zhang Tie's heart.
"Big Sis Mary, remember our promise in this life!" Zhang Tie blew her a kiss, then, with the attitude of having nothing left to lose, gave Mary and the other beauties two of Sista's signature moves, thrusting his hips a few times. He left the woman fuming, while the others stood there dumbfounded, as if they couldn't believe anyone could be so shameless. Then Zhang Tie laughed uproariously, walked around the fountain, and strode out the doors of the Iron Thorn Combat Hall.
Standing beneath the Iron Thorn Combat Hall's magnificent entrance, Zhang Tie looked up at the stars and clenched his fist. I won't give up! He'd barely finished shouting it in his heart when his stomach shouted even louder. Hearing its thunderous growl, Zhang Tie remembered that he hadn't eaten dinner yet. He set off in the direction of home and sprinted away...
As Zhang Tie left, Captain Colin and Hans stood by the window in the manager's office, watching him jog home. Hans lowered the curtain and muttered, "Youth really is wasted on the young! That kid doesn't seem as tough as you said. Do you think he's got what it takes?"
"He's quick-witted, and he can endure. That's his reward. If he can't endure, then it's his punishment. He dared to extort his classmate in front of the wise Captain Colin, and he dared to make running away sound perfectly reasonable in front of the valiant Captain Colin. So I'm giving him a chance to prove himself through sheer grit. We'll see whether he's a real man or just a pretty face..." One-Eyed Dragon said calmly, arms folded.
By the time Zhang Tie got home, forty minutes had passed. There was less than an hour until Black Rock City's curfew. He wolfed down the food his mother had left for him, cleaned up the bowls and chopsticks, and then his parents arrived home.
"Why are you so late tonight?" his father asked, somewhat puzzled.
"Well, your son did well at school, so one of the teachers found me a part-time job. It pays well, there's good money in it, the benefits are great, and I get to meet lots of rich and powerful people. I can even work out while I'm on the job. Oh, and there are lots of pretty girls where I work!" Zhang Tie beamed.
"Really? Is there actually a job that good?" His father sounded doubtful.
"Of course! I'll be going on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday evenings from now on, so I might get home a little late. Don't worry about me, Mom and Dad!"
"Where could you find such a good part-time job?" his mother asked too.
"The Iron Thorn Combat Hall. Mom, you have no idea—the girls there are so enthusiastic! Today, as soon as I got there, I met a big sister who showed me the way. She even praised me for being ambitious. We made a bet, too. She bet I'd definitely get what I wished for!" Zhang Tie shamelessly ingratiated himself with his mother...
"You? A pretty girl praised you for being ambitious? Do you think your mother is that easy to fool? You don't even know your own worth!" His mother tapped him on the forehead twice with her finger.
"Really, Mom! If I'm lying, may I turn into a puppy!" Zhang Tie stuck out his tongue and panted like a dog.
"Then tell me, how did that girl praise you for being ambitious?"
"She said I had lofty aspirations!" Zhang Tie said with utmost seriousness.
"What lofty aspirations?"
"Toad wants to eat swan meat, heh... heh..."
Hearing this, both his parents thought their son was joking. His father spat out the water he'd just sipped, while his mother froze for a moment and then burst out laughing. She reached over and tapped him twice. "You're getting cheekier by the day..."
After chatting casually with his parents for a while, Zhang Tie's wisecracks convinced them that he'd found an ordinary part-time job as a waiter at the Iron Thorn Combat Hall. They thought it would give him a chance to see more of the world and interact more with society. Seeing how happy he was, they didn't object. Zhang Tie managed to gloss over the fact that he was working as a human punching bag. If his parents found out he'd taken a job getting beaten up at the Iron Thorn Combat Hall, they'd be heartbroken and would never let him go. But he had to prove himself!
After washing up and yawning his way back to his room to sleep, Zhang Tie didn't go to bed. Instead, he entered Castle of Black Iron. He hadn't been there for a day, and the castle's basic stats had changed again...
The biggest change was in the Spirit Qi Value. As the sprouted potatoes grew taller, the space generated more Spirit Qi. Zhang Tie remembered that the Spirit Qi Value had been 1.8 over the past couple of days, but today it had climbed to 3.7—more than double.
His Merit Value had increased by four, from forty-three to forty-seven. Besides the point he'd earned by helping his family, he'd gained three Merit Value that morning for getting up early and helping his classmates wipe down their desks and chairs.
Black Iron Calendar, February 16, 889, morning. The handsome and mighty Fortress Master did a good deed at school, helping his classmates wipe down their desks and chairs. He made the classroom clean and tidy and brought joy to the entire class, gaining four Merit Value.
Seeing this, Zhang Tie understood. Those guys were sharp-tongued, but when someone did them a good turn and wiped down their desks and chairs, they were actually quite happy about it. They just liked to give people a hard time. This had given Zhang Tie a deeper understanding of Merit Value.
After checking Castle of Black Iron's basic stats, Zhang Tie went to take a look at his own plot of land. The corn still hadn't sprouted, but the potato shoots were already a finger's length long. They were a world away from the bean-sprout-like things they'd been a couple of days ago. No wonder the Spirit Qi Value had increased so much.
After looking everything over, Zhang Tie felt a little better. Just as he was about to walk over to the Little Tree and see how long it would take for the first Flawless Fruit to ripen,
a dialogue box suddenly appeared in front of him.
Black Iron Calendar, evening of February 16, 889. The handsome and mighty Fortress Master was attacked at the Battle Hall. The attack exceeded the limits of the Fortress Master's body and has caused bodily harm. The special fruit generation conditions for the Manjusaka Karma Myriad Fruit Tree have been activated. Please take note.
Zhang Tie stared blankly for a moment. After thinking it over, he walked up to the Manjusaka Karma Myriad Fruit Tree. As soon as he reached out and touched it, a line of text appeared before his eyes—
The more you suffer setbacks, the braver you become; the more you fight, the stronger you grow. If you face everything with courage, all pain and blows will eventually turn into sweet fruit. Let your heart endure and remain unmoved like the earth; let your body be hammered and tempered like fine steel. The conditions for generating an Iron Fetus Body-Tempering Fruit have been fulfilled. Generate it? —Yes... No
An Iron Fetus Body-Tempering Fruit? Zhang Tie was instantly dumbstruck...