Tutoring

"I'd like to look into the origin of the world. Does the library have any books on that?"

Faced with the librarian's rather rude stare, Lu Zhan remained composed and stated what he wanted.

"Tap, tap, tap!"

"No books on that!"

The librarian's two fingers bounced across the keys, giving Lu Zhan a demonstration of how it was really done.

"What about the origin of life, then?"

Lu Zhan changed tack, deciding to look for something more practical.

After all, he had just finished a class on life alchemy.

"Tap, tap-tap!"

"Nothing on that either!"

The librarian frowned slightly, his two fingers no longer dancing quite so nimbly.

Lu Zhan frowned at the answer as well. How could they not have books on something so closely related to life alchemy?

"Surely you have books about Yero City, then?"

"I'd like to learn about Yero City's origins and development!"

After hitting a wall twice in a row, Lu Zhan decided to keep his feet on the ground and stop focusing on such grand subjects.

With the experience of his previous life, Lu Zhan understood one thing very clearly.

If he wanted to do well in Yero City, he had to gather the necessary information.

As long as he could grasp the direction of Yero City's development, he could ride the rising wind and soar like an eagle.

"Tap, tap, tap!"

"Young trainee, there's no need to look that up. I can give you the answer right now."

"The library doesn't have any of those things you're looking for either."

The librarian's fingers twitched, but this time he wasn't operating the machine. He was tapping on the desk.

If he hadn't been certain he had never seen this bald boy before, and that this really ought to be his first visit to the library, he would have thought otherwise.

He couldn't help suspecting that the boy had come here just to mess with him.

"You don't even have that?"

After hitting a wall for the third time, Lu Zhan was genuinely stunned.

He stared straight into the librarian's eyes with utterly sincere astonishment, his gaze brimming with disbelief.

He was now beginning to wonder whether the librarian knew who he was and was deliberately making things difficult for him.

"Young trainee, I know you're eager to learn."

"But the Training Center's library is only here to provide some entertainment and help you pass the time."

"We do have educational books, but most of them cover general knowledge."

"Still, don't look down on the library because of that. We have quite a rich collection."

Under Lu Zhan's earnest gaze, the librarian inexplicably began to feel "ashamed."

This was a library, yet they couldn't provide a trainee with the books he wanted to read.

He really was somewhat "negligent" as a librarian.

The librarian himself had no idea why he felt this way.

Perhaps it was because the bald boy's gaze was so infectious?

When their eyes met, it was as though the boy had forcibly stuffed his intense "shock" into the librarian's mind.

So much so that he had instinctively offered an explanation.

"A rich collection?"

"What exactly does our library have?"

With the librarian's attitude suddenly "softening," Lu Zhan confirmed that the man wasn't deliberately targeting him.

Hearing him emphasize the words "rich collection," Lu Zhan immediately grew interested.

"Our library has all kinds of novels. Romance, detective stories, adventures-we have them all."

"Besides that, we have all sorts of craft and repair books. Fixing tables, repairing cars, mending stoves, firing pottery-you name it."

"Of course, the most exciting ones are the various illustrated art books."

"Young people like you love those."

Once he started talking about his own line of work, the librarian really did know his collection inside out.

If he hadn't flashed a smile that any man would understand when he mentioned the illustrated art books, Lu Zhan would have thought he was nothing more than an honest, hardworking employee.

"Does the library have a complete set of basic education courses?"

After giving it some thought, Lu Zhan decided to be a "good student" for now and leave the novels and illustrations alone.

The body's previous owner had been rather poorly educated. Since he had so much free time at the Training Center, he might as well shore up his educational foundations first.

Sharpening the axe wouldn't delay the woodcutting. Lu Zhan believed that once he had a solid foundation, learning other things would be easier too.

"A complete set of basic education textbooks?"

"We actually do have those!"

The librarian gave Lu Zhan a rather astonished look.

Since taking this job, this was the first time anyone had come to the library to borrow textbooks.

This young man will surely amount to something.

That thought sprang instinctively into his mind.

"Helmsman Ma, bad news!"

"That brat Lu Zhan has run off."

"He never went back to his rented room!"

"He really doesn't want to sign a contract with our Wutu Gang."

At Ma Yancheng's residence, Ma Yancheng had barely had a chance to catch his breath after a meeting of the senior leadership when Lin Kexian brought him bad news.

The moment he learned that Lu Zhan had fled, Ma Yancheng lost his composure.

After all, he had only just reported on Lu Zhan's situation at today's meeting.

"What happened?"

"Does that Lu Zhan have a death wish?"

"Has he forgotten the Wutu Gang's disciplinary rules?"

Seething with rage, Ma Yancheng simply couldn't understand where Lu Zhan had found the nerve to run away.

The gang had raised him under its control since childhood, yet instead of repaying its kindness, he had repaid it with betrayal.

This could only mean that the gang's educational work had gaps and hadn't been thorough enough.

At the next meeting, he would have to highlight this as a cautionary example.

"Helmsman, that Lu Zhan has been crafty and devious since he was a child. I've never trusted him."

"So I stationed men where he lived well in advance to watch his every move."

"But I never imagined-"

"Lu Zhan didn't go back to his rented room at all last night."

"He's disappeared!"

Whenever he thought about how the hundred bucks he had lent Lu Zhan had disappeared along with him, Lin Kexian's heart ached so badly he could barely breathe.

He was in agony over the loss.

His investment had most likely gone down the drain.

"Well, well! What a crafty little brat!"

"I've handled hawks all day, only to have a little sparrow peck my hand."

"That bastard probably decided to run while he was still here."

"Hah! He really has taken our Wutu Gang for a bunch of ordinary street punks."

"Lin Kexian, you have one day to bring that bastard before me."

Laughing in fury, Ma Yancheng issued Lin Kexian an absolute order.

Lin Kexian didn't find the task daunting in the slightest.

With the Wutu Gang's influence and methods, finding one person would be child's play.

Lin Kexian had already decided that once he caught "Little Lu," he would drag him off to sell his blood first.

Otherwise, he would probably have no chance of recovering his hundred bucks.

If they actually subjected Lu Zhan to the gang's punishment, he probably wouldn't get so much as a hair.