Warring States Survival Guide

Chapter 39: If you don't listen to the old man, you will fall into the pit sooner or later
"If you don't listen to the advice of the elderly, you will fall into a pit sooner or later."

Yuanye was not at all humble and stubborn. Ah Man was very dissatisfied with this. As soon as he left the house, he kept muttering to Ah Qing, "I think he is just a dung beetle making a dung ball. No matter how high it can get, it can only get so high. He will never achieve anything in his life."

After she finished her mumbling, she glanced at Ah Qing. Seeing Ah Qing drooping his eyelids and saying nothing, she could not help but admonish him, "Eat one more bowl of rice in the future. He is such a spendthrift. He loses money as a doctor and refuses to kowtow to others to make up for his losses. I think his good days will not last long. Let's eat one more bowl of rice quickly. We won't have these opportunities in the future."

Ah Qing didn't nod, but a look of worry flashed in his eyes, and he asked softly, "What will happen to him in the future?"

"Let him die!" Ah Man cursed angrily, but after a moment's hesitation, he sighed, "We can't persuade him, so let him be. In the future... in the future, we can take him to beg for food. If we have a bite, he will have a bite. At least he won't starve to death."

Ah Qing thought about it, lowered his eyelids and nodded slightly, feeling that this was fine and feeling slightly relieved.

"Remember to eat more in the future, you need to save some weight!" Aman gave another reminder and went to find Yayoi, telling her to prepare some good food in the evening. Yuanye was doing such a mess and pretending to be cool, so he would go bankrupt sooner or later. Instead of letting those poor villagers take medicine for free, it would be better to let her use the money to eat and drink.

She left, preparing to go and falsely convey the "imperial decree" to ask Yayoi to stew two chickens tonight and sprinkle a handful of salt on them. She would then eat one herself and let Yuanye and Aqing eat one, and she would be very happy.

…………

Ah Man took the opportunity of hosting a "welcoming banquet" that night and ate a lot. After she was full, she lay on the straw mat, patted her belly, grabbed a piece of straw and started to pick her teeth. She didn't care much about Yuan Ye not listening to her advice - it doesn't matter, if he doesn't want to kowtow, then don't kowtow, if he goes bankrupt, then go bankrupt, there will always be a way out, let's talk about the future in the future, the most important thing is to be happy now.

She was picking her teeth there, wondering how long Yuanye could last with the money he got from selling the "family heirloom", and what to do with him in the future. Would it be more profitable to sell powerful pills in the city or just sell fake drugs? Suddenly, she noticed that Aqing had also come to the corner of the small table, and Yuanye was holding a book and whispering something to her.

Aman was very surprised for a moment and quickly got up and moved closer. He heard Yuanye teach Aqing two sentences and write them twice on paper with cinnabar for her. Then Aqing took a small brush, dipped it in ink from Yuanye's inkstone, and began to recite silently.

Ah Man was even more surprised. He poked Ah Qing and asked in a low voice, "What are you doing?"

"Learn to read." A Qing still spoke so concisely.

"He taught you to read?" Ah Man could see it, but he just couldn't believe it. "For free?"

Ah Qing nodded slightly, still tracing the characters carefully. Ah Man turned to Yuan Ye and asked curiously, "Why are you teaching her to read?"

Yuan Ye was also busy studying, his eyes never leaving the book, and he said casually: "She follows me all day now, it's boring. After she learns to read, she can read a book to kill time."

Is there such a good thing for me to follow you all day? If you had told me earlier, I would have given you my head last month!

Aman began to feel jealous. It was already difficult to learn something these days, let alone a little beggar and a lowly girl like her. She could not find a teacher willing to teach her - even if there was a teacher willing to teach her, she could not afford to pay the money or buy stationery and books!

Apart from anything else, the big piece of paper that Ah Qing is using now is only worth half a chicken leg if you calculate it carefully. Before she met Yuanye, she had only eaten chicken a few times, and they were stolen.

She also wanted to learn. It was not her style not to take advantage of an opportunity, so she quickly poked Ah Qing and said, "How many words have you learned? Write it down for me."

Ah Qing said the nine words she learned yesterday, and wrote them down clumsily on paper. Ah Man's eyes widened, and he memorized them seriously, muttering to himself. After a while, he began to push Ah Qing with his buttocks, "Take a rest, I'll write for you for a while!"

"Okay, don't disturb her study!" Yuan Ye couldn't stand it anymore. Isn't this bullying an honest person? Ah Qing, this child, is his now! He pulled out a piece of paper, found a brush from his pen bag, and pointed to the other corner of the table, "You go over there!"

"Oh, are you willing to teach me too? I'm so embarrassed!" Ah Man had a look of surprise on his face. While he was talking, he had already sat down in the designated position. His hand was still caressing the Mino paper lovingly. In his heart, he thought that he was indeed worthy of being a prodigal son - if you don't go bankrupt, who will? It's good enough that you are willing to teach us. You should let us go to the ground, each of us with a small wooden stick to write on the ground, and you should come over from time to time to kick us and scold us!
This guy, who doesn’t even know how to be a teacher, has made money again!
Of course Yuanye didn't mind teaching. He didn't mind herding one sheep or letting two sheep go. He didn't care about having another student, nor did he care about spending more paper and ink.

He treated everyone equally, prescribed medicine according to the prescription, and explained a few words to Ah-man, teaching her how to hold a pen, and then let her recite and write silently on the side. Then he continued to read his own book. However, before he turned three pages, Ah-man started to pull his sleeve and said excitedly: "I've finished learning, what's next?"

Yuanye looked at her speechlessly, suspecting that she was here to cause trouble.

This is the difference between poor students and excellent students! A-Qing is an honest child who listens to the teacher very much. He can practice nine characters in half an evening. In the future, he will have a solid foundation and unlimited achievements. But A-Man is not like that. He is definitely a poor student. He dares to say that he has learned it in five minutes. I guess he will be like a bear trying to pick corn in the future. He will forget a little bit after learning a little bit.

However, he loved what he did, and since he was teaching people to read, he was responsible, so he patiently advised: "You have to study hard and don't aim too high. If you can learn eight or nine characters a day, you will basically get it after five or six months. Don't be so impatient."

Ah Man scratched his round face, frowned, and said curiously: "Don't bother with it, it's not that difficult, I think I remember it!" You wild child is starting to be dissatisfied again...

Yuan Ye didn't tolerate her bad habits and changed the paper for her. "Then read and write it again for me to see."

Aman licked the tip of the brush with his tongue, muttered something, and raised his hand to write down the two sentences on the paper. Except that the characters were crooked and ugly, there were no mistakes.

Yuanye looked at the "test paper" and pondered for a moment. He thought it was because Ah Man had some basic knowledge before. She seemed to know dozens of commonly used Chinese characters before. But he still advised: "You may remember it now, but it is only short-term memory. If you don't practice well, you will probably forget it after a good sleep."

"Impossible, I just remember it!" Ah Man was a lively person, he would do whatever he wanted, and he was not the type to listen to advice. He strongly requested, "I have already learned it, you should continue to teach me the rest! Otherwise, I will only learn a few words a day, how long will it take me to use them!"

"Row!"

If she dared to die, he would bury her in the wild. Seeing that he could not persuade her, he deliberately let her suffer a loss and learn a lesson. He read two pages to her directly, but was too lazy to trace for her, so he let her copy and memorize from the book, and then left her alone - he would test her after she woke up from a good sleep tomorrow, and if she made any mistake, he would scold her to death!
Do you really think that learning to read is that easy? Children in the future have to finish junior high school before they can say they can read, which takes nearly ten years!
The two pages of new words were quite heavy, and the wild boy Aman finally became obedient. He began to kneel at the corner of the desk and recite the words honestly.

"Master Saburo, please have some tea." The temporary maid Yayoi came with a teapot, poured a bowl of tea for Yuanye, and also poured a bowl for Aman and Aqing.

"Thank you."

Yuan Ye smiled at her, took a sip of tea, then put it aside and continued reading his book. However, after flipping through a few pages, he looked up and saw Yayoi still kneeling there with the teapot in her arms. He couldn't help but said casually, "You should go and have a rest. If you want tea, we will pour it ourselves."

"No need, Lord Saburo, I don't have anything to do right now. I... I'll just pour you tea here." Yayoi came back to her senses and quickly put down her little ears. She spoke with a guilty conscience and her eyes were evasive, not daring to look at Yuanye.

Yuanye looked at her, then looked at A-Man who was mumbling and reciting beside her, and immediately understood. He smiled helplessly and said, "If you want to learn, then come together!"

This is not a bad thing. He always needs to socialize and go out. The people around him can read and write, and if something happens, they can write to him. Anyway, it is better than being surrounded by a group of illiterate people. Besides, he has already taught two people, so it doesn't make a difference to have one more. We can take classes together in the future. It will be enough to take a little time every day to teach seven or eight words. It won't delay anything.

He even felt a little sad in his heart. As expected of children in ancient times, they were precocious and all of them were eager to learn. They were totally different from his eldest niece - the child of his eldest uncle's eldest sister, who was very good at being naughty and often failed exams. His eldest sister almost knelt down and begged her to study hard, but it was all in vain. She still failed. She said that she wanted to be an anchor in the future, and it didn't matter whether she studied or not.

Yuanye was very generous, even sympathetic, while Yayoi looked surprised and asked, "Can I?"

"Of course!" Yuanye took out a brush and gave it to her with a piece of paper. That was when she was admitted and became a member of "Yuanye Night School".

Yayoi didn't dare to take it, and said hesitantly: "This is too expensive, Master Saburo, I... I'd better use sand! I'm very happy that I have the opportunity to learn to read..."

"It doesn't matter. If you want to study, study hard. This little bit is not a big deal." Yuanye spread the paper in front of her and stuffed the pen into her hand. He didn't care about this small expense. After all, her eldest niece, a poor student, spent tens of thousands of dollars every year just on cram schools and private tutors, and bought tons of paper. Giving her a few pieces of paper was nothing - if she was willing to study hard just by giving her a few pieces of paper, her eldest sister would definitely change her career and open a paper mill, making paper with tears in her eyes every day, and would be willing to die from exhaustion.

Compared to his elder sister, he is extremely lucky.

Yayoi cherished the opportunity to learn, and immediately bowed to him and said seriously: "Thank you, Master Saburo, for giving me the opportunity. I will definitely..."

She was willing to repay Yuanye in the future, but she was stuck because she couldn't think of what Yuanye needed.

"Don't be so polite!" Yuanye quickly picked her up. He couldn't fit into this era, and couldn't accept others kowtowing to him with peace of mind. He quickly started teaching, or taught her two sentences first, eight to ten words a day.

Yuanye's night school was opened in a muddle. Fortunately, the three students were very motivated to learn, and the experience of being a teacher was very good. He didn't feel bored at all.

There was no conversation that night and everyone slept well.

The next morning, after finishing his daily tasks, Yuanye had nothing to do, so he immediately organized the first exam. He had no other intentions, and he was not petty, he just wanted to teach Ah Man a lesson, to let her know the importance of studying hard!
This can be regarded as his sense of responsibility as a teacher. He wants to point Aman in the right direction. However, after the three students handed in their papers, he looked at the test papers and fell into deep thought.

This is a bit wrong...

(End of this chapter)