Castle of Black Iron

Chapter 8: Abacus

When the boy came out of the grocery store, he was still thinking about what Tang De said-a soft tongue can break hard bones, a smart head, better than any magic weapon. In any case, Tang De's words made the miserable young man's heart a little more inexplicable comfort, and the original depressed mood was more or less better.

When Zhang Railroad passed the flea market, the coal-stone lamps on the street were already on. The lamplighters in Heiyan City rode four-wheeled carts and rang the bells, each of them was in each lamp. Stop before, climb to the light pole, remove the lampshade, add fuel to the street lamp, and then come down after lighting.

After the lighter left, some women began to appear in the shadow of the row of coal stone lamps near the train station. Those women were wearing heavy make-up, pretending to be exposed, and glaring at the pedestrians on the side of the road. The women stood in twos and threes. Together, from time to time, I said something to my companion next to me, and then someone laughed presumptuously and wildly.

The flea market next to the train station really became lively in the evening. All kinds of people who taught and taught only seemed to jump out one by one when the night came, and they stayed away from the poor women who run the flesh business for almost 100 meters, Zhang Tie The beating little heart slowly recovered.

When Zhang Tie was about to walk out of the flea market, the sound from a stall on the side of the road made Zhang Tie slow down.

"Boss, do you get these things from the ruins before the cataclysm?"

"Of course, when you look at this book, the words on it seem to be in Chinese. Andaman City-State Alliance does not have such a publication. Look at the cover, the above seems to be an abacus used by the Chinese. It has a long history and is enough. Calculating tools dating back thousands of years before the cataclysm, and looking at the printing quality of this cover, how could it have been so well preserved if it weren’t obtained from the relics?”

"When we are idiots, I also know that this is Chinese, but no one knows it. It's not just what you say, there is a fart, what kind of **** abacus, is such an old-fashioned thing still used now..."

"I'm talking about credibility..."

The words in Chinese made Zhang Tie stop his footsteps, and then Zhang Tie walked over and squatted in front of the stall with the two people in front of the stall, picking and choosing at will. The stall was not big, less than two square meters to death, and a mess of things. Just put it on a tarpaulin, the only thing that can be seen in the stall is a few daggers and copper wristbands pressed in the four corners of the tarpaulin. At the flea market, every guy in the stall encounters some weird things. All things will claim to be made from the ruins, they are the treasures before the cataclysm, but even a fool can't deceive them...

The two people next to each other squatted in front of the stall for a while. One of them used 8 silver coins and 60 copper coins to pick a good scabbard dagger and left, and then Zhang Tie was left in front of the stall. .

The stall owner is a wretched old man in his 60s. He has a red rosacea. As soon as he gets closer, he can smell the smell of inferior wine on his body. Looking at the image of this old man, one cannot help but think of it. Kind of animals-mice.

After looking at the booth indifferently for a while, Zhang Tie finally picked up the book with an abacus on the cover and flipped it through, asking, "How much is this?"

"This is a treasure brought from the ruins, at least 20 silver coins..." the old man said treacherously.

"What is this book for?"

"Well, it seems to be a skill book about how to use this calculation tool called the abacus!" The old man is not sure. He has read this book, and the Chinese in it is not understood at all. He has also found a little bit of Chinese. I took a look at the half-bucket of water, but that person could only distinguish the simple numbers in the book clearly, what are the inexplicable things three, three, two, five, five, six...

"What's the use of this, let me count the stretches of sleep?"

"Well, well, if you want it, it will be cheaper, 16 silver coins, can't be less!" The old man said with regret.

"Are you an idiot? This book is less than 16 pages in total. There is not enough paper to wipe my **** when I shit. You want 16 silver coins? I asked if I was a little strange in reading this book. "Zhang Tie threw down his book angrily. He has never eaten pork and has seen pigs walking. In this market, bargaining is not rude, and people will generally be slaughtered as fat sheep.

"Then you give me a price?"

"80 coppers!"

"80 copper?" The old head jumped up like a mouse with its tail stepped on. "Boy, this is from the ruins. No, at least 10 silver coins!"

"What kind of **** ruins, cheating children? There are ruins within 1,000 miles of Heiyan City. Even if there are, they have been removed long ago. It is your turn to be 80 copper!"

"Nine silver coins, no less!"

"Well, depending on your age, if I respect the old and love the young, I will add ten coppers, 90 coppers!"

"90 copper?" The old man cried like a pig, "Not enough for the cost price I received!"

"That silver coin!"

"Seven!" The old man gritted his teeth...

After two minutes of bargaining with a dry mouth, Zhang Tie stood up directly, without nostalgia, turned around and left. After taking five steps, the old man’s furious voice came from behind, “Don’t go, just do what you said. , Four silver coins, sold to you!"

A smile appeared at the corner of Zhang Tie’s mouth. Of course these people who didn’t know Chinese could not understand the title of this book, and Zhang Tie was stunned when he read the book at the time-"Pearl Mind and Magic", this book There is a very awesome name. Zhang Tie just turned it over and found that the book was about a mental arithmetic method related to abacus, and it was still special, so he bought this book...

On the way home, Zhang Tie’s stomach was already screaming, but he felt satisfied with the book in his pocket. In this era, knowledge is expensive beyond many people’s imagination. Anything not learned in school It can be said that the skills and knowledge of the kind of large-scale goods have their uniqueness and preciousness. Zhang Tie remembers that when he first went to the grocery store as an apprentice, the guy Tang De took out that weird thing called abacus after investigating him for more than three months, and taught him how to use it. In Heiyan City, according to Zhang Tie’s observation, there are really not many people who can use an abacus. At least he hasn’t seen anyone else use it. General calculations can be done on paper, while more advanced ones, I heard In those exchanges and commercial houses, there are metal hand-operated calculators, so the skills of this abacus are a bit tasteless, but the skills that are tasteless can not be learned by anyone who wants to learn it. Just now, Zhang Tie He flipped through the "Pearl Mind and Mental Calculation", and as soon as he saw the abacus pattern and formula on the title page inside, he determined the value of this book. In general, this book may not be said to be very precious. But the price of four silver coins in exchange for such a skill, even if the value of this skill cannot be used for the time being, Zhang Tie also feels it is worth it, not to mention that the four silver coins are not his own.

Yeduo doesn't press down, this is what Dad often talks about.

When I was young, I was forced to learn Chinese by my father and mother with a bamboo board. It took ten years to forcibly recognize all the words in a Chinese dictionary that anyone could read. This was the darkest experience Zhang Tie had when he was a child. After more than ten years, Zhang Tie found that he finally used the Chinese language he had learned in reality and picked up a small omission, so he was a little proud.

As for the old man's saying that the book was from the ruins, Zhang Tie didn't believe it. The things in the ruins are at least more than a thousand years old. This book doesn't look like something 1,000 years ago, but the few words that are faintly visible under the abacus pattern on the book page make Zhang Tie again. It's a little strange-"Primary school students recommend extracurricular readings"-Lao Tzu is about to enter society and people who are about to enter the society have no access to this kind of knowledge. Where are the primary school students so good, and they still read the class, I rely on it, people are better than people, so angry!

He was beaten inexplicably, and finally exchanged the money from the search for a book, joined the Brotherhood of Aircraft, and lost face in front of Teacher Dinah...

On the way home, taking stock of today’s efforts and gains, even Zhang Tie didn’t know whether he had made a profit or lost...

Zhang Tie’s home is in the civilian gathering area to the north of Heiyan City. If the upper east area of ​​Heiyan City is the back garden of the rich, then the North District is the safe haven for all the well-behaved workers and citizens of Heiyan City. Compared with the Eastern District, the streets in the North District are not beautiful, but they are clean and safe. The rows of plane trees on both sides of the street have brought some warm atmosphere to the city. The parents’ hard work for decades only paid for it. It is a community street with an area of ​​less than 100 square meters. It also has a two-story wooden house with a backyard. The family uses the house downstairs to open a rice brewing shop facing the street. Father works in the factory, and mother Running this small store, the business in the store is not hot or cold. The business of rice brewing is mainly taken care of by the residents and neighbors around the community. The profit is also very thin, and it barely supports the household.

When Zhang Tie returned home, it was almost nine o'clock in the evening, and his parents were not at home. It is estimated that he went to the church again. The rice brewing shop was also closed. The rice left at home was still warmed with water in the pot. Dinner is not full. A pot of mixed vegetables is hot, a bowl of bacon stewed cloud beans and a large bowl of sharp white rice are everything for dinner. In the bacon stewed cloud beans, there are several pieces of broad bean meat floating in it, Zhang Tie Knowing that it was left by the parents for themselves. In fact, every time they are reluctant to eat, they only say that they don't like eating meat and always keep the meat for themselves. After eating an unpleasant dinner, Zhang Tie’s nose was inexplicably sour. He secretly vowed that when he made money in the future, he would let his father and mother be full of food every day.

After eating hastily, he cleaned the kitchen, dragging his tired body, Zhang Tie went upstairs, and when he reached the second floor, his brother's room was closed, but Zhang Tie heard a burst from his brother's room. There were rhythmic crashes and some strange noises. This was not the first time. Zhang Tie naturally knew what was going on in the room. After letting his feet light, he walked a few times down the aisle. When he was about to reach the end of the walkway, Zhang Tie touched the rope on the wall and pulled it slightly. A wooden board on the floor at the end of the walkway slipped down. The other side of the board was the stairs, leading directly to the small attic above.

Probably because I forgot to oil the pulleys for several days, the sound of the stairs falling was not small, creaking, and when the stairs fell, my brother’s room was quiet for a few seconds before waiting for Zhang Tie to leave. Going up, the impact sounded more intensely

Zhang Tie climbed up the stairs, and when he reached the attic, he pulled the stairs up again, and the floor was reset. This small attic with a triangular roof was Zhang Tie's nest.

The area of ​​the home was originally small. A rice wine shop was opened downstairs. There was even less room for people to live in. Zhang Tie could only live in the attic on the roof. Half of the area is separated by iron sheets and wooden boards, and piles of household items, Zhang Tie’s nest, can barely fit a bed, a table, and a small wardrobe. The space in the middle of the furniture is only enough for two people to walk through it without being crowded. The furniture in the small nest is half old and not new. Many paints have no color and even begin to fall off. These things are all given by the family. The second-hand goods bought by iron from the outside have not used two silver coins in total...

A small house less than 8 square meters, a few pieces of second-hand old furniture, this is all that the 15-year-old green boy Zhang Tie has in this world...

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