Enduring hardship

"What?"

"You actually have the talent to become an Armored Warrior?"

"Impossible! How is that possible?"

Inside the steam car, Lin Kexian forgot all about mourning his runaway wheels and stared at Lu Zhan in disbelief.

His reaction was not exaggerated in the slightest. It perfectly reflected the most basic understanding shared by the people of Yero City.

"Lin, how could I possibly get something wrong when my rise to fortune depends on it?"

"It's absolutely true. The assessment really found that I have Armored Warrior talent!"

"Commissioner Xin from the Inspection Office told me herself."

Lu Zhan understood Lin Kexian's doubts and inability to accept it perfectly well.

If their positions had been reversed and Lin Kexian had tested positive for Armored Warrior talent, he would not have believed it either.

But reality was that cruel. The one with Armored Warrior talent was him, Lu Zhan.

"The Inspection Office actually conducted the assessment!"

"So that's why Helmsman Ma had me waiting outside the hospital all that time."

"Why Lu Zhan? Why not me?"

"How can fate be so unfair? Why can't I have Armored Warrior talent?"

Once he heard that the results had come from the Inspection Office, Lin Kexian had no choice but to believe them, however incredible they seemed.

Such was the Inspection Office's "credibility."

Lu Zhan was an insignificant nobody. Even with a hundred times his usual courage, he would never dare spread false rumors about the Inspection Office.

After accepting this cruel fact, Lin Kexian also found the answer to his earlier confusion.

With his Armored Warrior talent, Lu Zhan was indeed worth the Wutu Gang "fighting over."

But Lin Kexian truly could not stomach it!

Ever since childhood, he had clearly been the more outstanding one.

Otherwise, Lin Kexian would never have caught the gang's eye and joined the Wutu Gang as soon as he came of age.

After joining, Lin Kexian had even earned Helmsman Ma's appreciation. The helmsman had made an exception and secured him a chance to undergo a Talent Assessment.

Unfortunately, Lin Kexian had been unlucky. The assessment had found no talent.

Although Lin Kexian had been deeply disappointed by the result, it was not beyond his ability to accept.

After all, talent was a one-in-a-thousand thing. None of the ten children of the gang's middle- and high-ranking members who had been assessed alongside him had shown Armored Warrior talent either.

But why had a punk like Lu Zhan tested positive for Armored Warrior talent?

What left Lin Kexian even more speechless was that Lu Zhan's assessment had been free.

Unlike his own. Even with the discount the gang had given him, he still owed them thirty thousand.

"Brother Lu, this is wonderful news!"

"I always knew you were destined for greatness. You were only stuck in that Alchemy factory because your luck hadn't turned yet."

"Now that they've found your Armored Warrior talent, you're sure to soar!"

"Helmsman Ma must have summoned you this time to invite you back into the Wutu Gang."

"Brother Lu, we'll share the good times, and I'll shoulder the hardships. We can fight side by side again!"

Once the initial shock had passed, Lin Kexian immediately returned to his usual "savvy" self.

He kept congratulating Lu Zhan, his face looking even happier than Lu Zhan's.

If they had not been in the car, Lu Zhan felt that Lin Kexian would have been bowing low enough to knock his forehead against his toes.

"Lin, keep it low-key. Low-key!"

"We're still on the road. We can celebrate when we get home."

"I don't have any secrets to success to share with you. I was just lucky."

"Remember, if you want good luck, you have to endure more hardship."

"Only by enduring the hardest hardships can you rise above the rest!"

Lu Zhan found Lin Kexian's "enthusiasm" rather difficult to handle.

So he could only share his "experience in enduring hardship."

Instinctively, Lin Kexian felt that Lu Zhan was spouting nonsense. How could luck have anything to do with enduring hardship?

But when he considered the course of Lu Zhan's life, he actually felt there might be some truth to it.

Ever since childhood, the only thing Lu Zhan had been better at than him was enduring hardship.

"Brother Lu, you really do have unique insight."

"I've heard that the poor living in the Wilderness outside Yero City awaken their talents at a higher rate than us city folk."

"I could never understand it before, but you've opened my eyes with a single remark. Now I understand completely."

"They suffer more hardship, so they have better luck when awakening."

"The real secret really can be summed up in a sentence. True insight is just that plain and simple."

Whether Lu Zhan's personal charisma was too powerful or his Armored Warrior talent was too convincing, it was hard to say.

The more Lin Kexian thought about it, the more sense Lu Zhan's words seemed to make.

So he decided that, from this moment onward, he would become someone who endured hardship and worked hard.

For instance, he could get out, retrieve the two runaway wheels, and fit them back onto the car.

"People in the Wilderness are actually more likely to awaken Armored Warrior talent?"

"I hadn't heard that."

"When I was in the gang, I heard that the Wutu Gang had operations outside the city too."

"It seems those rumors were true after all."

Lu Zhan reclined comfortably in his seat, utterly at ease.

By now, Lin Kexian had retrieved the two wheels.

Lu Zhan had initially thought Lin Kexian would ask him, the professional, how to install them.

To his surprise, the fellow fitted the wheels back on in no time.

His proficiency left even Lu Zhan, an Alchemy apprentice at the vehicle factory, feeling a little embarrassed.

Just how dilapidated did this car have to be for someone like Lin Kexian to develop such skills?

Whooo!

The steam car started up again, shuddering all over. This time, however, Lu Zhan received completely different treatment.

The car was still the same car, but the person driving it had "changed."

"Brother Lu, look. That's one of Yero City's newly planned subway stations."

"I heard these facilities used to exist only in the inner city, but now they're being extended to the outer city."

"They say it's fast and convenient, far better than the buses."

During the drive, Lin Kexian

never stopped talking.

He also knew that his relationship with Lu Zhan had been somewhat "distant" in the past, so he intended to make up for it.

Considering himself knowledgeable and well-informed, he spent much of the trip introducing Lu Zhan to the sights of Yero City.

For instance, where to find the most beautiful women, or which bars were the liveliest.

Where to buy all sorts of contraband...

But Lin Kexian soon noticed that Lu Zhan seemed uninterested in the things that excited other "young people."

Instead, he paid more attention to the various buildings along the road.

That certainly fit Lu Zhan's image as a poor, ignorant bumpkin.

So Lin Kexian catered to his interests and took on the role of "tour guide."

"They've actually started building a subway in the outer city?"

"Didn't they used to forbid even digging basements too deep in Yero City's outer districts?"

"Too bad I'm not who I used to be. No matter how good the subway is, am I really going to go work for someone again?"

Lu Zhan merely glanced at the subway station before losing interest.

What interested him more now was Yero City's inner city.

Since getting a car, Lin Kexian seemed to have spent plenty of time roaming around the city.

He wondered whether the fellow had ever been inside the inner city.