Newborn 1927

Seeing their excitement, Yang Jiefang was also very pleased, and then he had to think about teaching issues. To teach as many people as possible, he needed to prepare classrooms, blackboards, paper, pens, textbooks, and other materials; moreover, reading was not an easy task, and the key was how to ensure that students did not give up halfway.

After the initial excitement, Hou Fei said, "It's almost lunchtime, let's not go back, let's go to the kitchen and wait!" Hou Fei and Ma Shangfei each put their arms around Yang Jiefang on one side, chatting and laughing as they walked forward.

The kitchen was located behind the Hall of Gathering Righteousness. It was built in a long strip shape, longer from north to south and narrower from east to west, according to the terrain. It was divided into three halls from north to south: upper, middle, and lower. There was a stone slope with a height difference of about one meter between the two halls. There was a courtyard in the middle below the stone slope, and the steps to the upper and lower halls were on the east and west sides. Like the other halls, the middle hall was the main hall, and there was a side room on the east and west sides. The side rooms on the sides of the upper and middle halls were used to store miscellaneous items, while the side rooms of the lower hall were the kitchen. Between the upper and lower halls, there was a three-foot-wide alley on the east and west sides connecting the side doors.

Yang Jiefang followed Hou Fei through the side door on the east side, which led to the main hall. Hou Fei led him down the steps to a table in the central hall. The kitchen was already quite full, with people chatting amongst themselves and not paying much attention to Yang Jiefang and his companion. Yang Jiefang looked around. In the center of the main hall stood a statue of Guan Yu, with an empty eight-immortal table in front of it; below that were three neat rows of four tables each, totaling twelve eight-immortal tables; the central hall had five rows of four tables each, totaling twenty eight-immortal tables; and the lowest hall was the longest, with eight rows of thirty-two eight-immortal tables.

Hou Fei explained in a low voice, "The chief and the various managers don't usually eat here, so the head table is usually empty. The brothers from the Dragon, Tiger, Leopard, and Wolf teams each occupy three tables in the upper hall. We're not their people, so we can only eat in the middle hall; the lower hall is where those without status, backing, or ability eat." Indeed, where there are people, there is a world of intrigue. The place where they ate reflected their status in the stronghold. Those in the upper hall were all burly and powerful, while those in the lower hall were mostly thin and sallow, with timid eyes—the difference in strength was immediately apparent.

In some films and television dramas, the leaders of bandits in Northeast China are usually called "Pao Tou" (Cannon Head), "Er Pao Tou" (Second Cannon Head), or "Si Liang Ba Zhu" (Four Pillars and Eight Pillars), but here the names are obviously different. Yang Jiefang asked, "Does that mean the food in each hall is different?" Hou Fei replied, "Generally, it's the same. Sometimes, to reward certain people, they'll get extra meals for them. If you have money, you can also pay the kitchen to give you an extra dish. If someone is cooking, you can even have your own rations cooked separately."

As they were talking, Lu Ziqi and Tiechui Tiedan arrived and sat at the same table; Sun Zhiyong and his two companions had gone to patrol the mountain and wouldn't be back for dinner. People gradually entered the kitchen, and it quickly became lively with many people. Hou Fei eagerly told Lu Ziqi and the others that Yang Jiefang had stayed behind and would teach them to read, asking if they were interested in learning. Lu Ziqi immediately thanked Yang Jiefang, clearly very interested, while the Tiechui and Tiedan brothers seemed uninterested.

Hou Fei suddenly nudged Yang Jiefang, gesturing for him to look up at the main hall, and said, "That man is the 'White-Eyed Wolf' leader..." Yang Jiefang almost fell over, whispering, "White-Eyed Wolf? Who gave him such a despicable nickname?" Hou Fei laughed, "His father gave it to him, though not his biological father. Wu Laoliu, who manages the kitchen, is incredibly stingy; everyone calls him Wu Laoshi (Old Stingy Wu). Other managers like Niu Sanbian buy wives with their money, but he wouldn't even spend that money. He married a widow who had lost her husband, and she had a son who was about ten years old. Now, he has a wife and a son, but the child refuses to call him 'Dad.' That's alright, though; he can just try and have more children himself. Old Stingy Wu's wife is indeed very fertile; she gave birth to three in a row, all girls. Old Stingy Wu was furious and beat..." He beat up his wife. But the man's son was already fifteen or sixteen, tall and strong, so of course he had to protect his mother. And guess what? He grabbed a knife and chased after Wu Laokou, hacking at him. Wu Laokou couldn't beat him and ran halfway up the mountain, finally finding refuge with the bandit leader. Wu Laokou used to call him an ingrate, and nobody cared, but from that day on, the name "ingrate" became famous. His position as leader of the wolf pack was earned through years of real fighting. Actually, his real name was Bai Lang. Because he bit his mother hard when he was a baby, she always called him "wolf cub." He didn't care about the nickname; although he didn't acknowledge Wu Laokou as his father, he was extremely kind to his three younger sisters.” Yang Jiefang nodded, having gained a basic understanding.

Hou Fei then pointed to a round-faced young man and said, "That's Lin Baozi, the leader of the Leopard Team. Lin Baozi isn't a nickname; it's his real name. He used to work as a bouncer at a casino in Yantai, but for some reason, he led a few of his thugs in a rebellion. They killed the casino owner and robbed the casino. Then they were chased by the police, but the boss saved them."

Then, Hou Fei pointed to two dark-faced men who came in side by side and said, "Those are the Peng brothers. The elder one is the Cold-Faced Tiger, always with a stern face and rarely speaks; the younger one is the Smiling Tiger, always smiling. They were originally soldiers, but after a defeat, their unit was scattered, and they fled here with a few brothers to join Qinglong Village, bringing with them more than a dozen guns and thousands of rounds of ammunition." In recent years, warlord conflicts have been frequent, and deserters becoming bandits in the mountains is commonplace; bandits from the mountains also often go down to join the army; truly, soldiers and bandits are inseparable.

Hou Fei continued, "Those two are the Rongcheng Twin Dragons. The man with the dark face is Black Dragon, and the man with the light face is White Dragon. They are from Rongcheng County, so they are fellow townsmen, but not brothers. I don't know their exact background, but I do know that the boss values ​​them highly."

Hou Fei gave a brief introduction, which Yang Jiefang memorized. These four groups were the main force of the stronghold, not subordinate to each other, but rather checking and balancing one another. Black Widow had firmly controlled the entire stronghold with this very tactic.

By this time, the kitchen was about 70-80% full, bustling with noise. An old man holding a pipe and wearing a dog-skin hat walked up from the lower hall, checking the room as he went, seemingly counting the people. Hou Fei said again, "That's Old Wu the Stingy, in charge of the village's daily meals." Someone saw Old Wu the Stingy and asked, "Old Wu the Stingy, when's dinner? We're starving." Old Wu the Stingy chuckled, "Alright, alright, coming right up." Someone else asked, "What are we eating today?" Old Wu the Stingy replied, "What else can we eat? It's just millet, corn, sorghum, and sweet potatoes, rotating through the meals. What else do you want?" The man said, "It's almost New Year's, can't we have something better? No wine or meat, but a couple of meals of wheat flour would be fine too." Old Wu the Stingy laughed and scolded, "Forget it! I'd like wine, meat, and wheat flour too, but we need to have those. Don't you know what kind of year this is? You don't know the cost of living until you're in charge. If you want something better, go and have a treat yourself."

As they were talking, Old Wu came over to Yang Jiefang's table and looked at him, saying, "Oh, a new face. Little monkey, aren't you going to introduce him to your uncle?" Hou Fei replied, "That's exactly what I was about to say." He stood up, looked around, and feeling he wasn't tall enough, stood on a stool, clasped his hands in a fist salute, and shouted loudly, "Brothers, excuse me for bothering you!" The surroundings immediately quieted down. Hou Fei gestured for Yang Jiefang to stand on a stool as well, and then introduced him, "This is a brother I picked up a couple of days ago who's in trouble, named Yang Jiefang; with the leader's permission, he'll be staying with our Qinglong Village from now on. My brother is a scholar, with little experience in the martial world. I hope you'll all take care of him if he needs anything in the future!" After saying this, he clasped his hands in a fist salute again and bowed to everyone.

Everyone around Yang Jiefang stared at him. Anyone else might have been intimidated, but who was Yang Jiefang? A man who could give a passionate speech to thousands of teachers and students was naturally not intimidated; on the contrary, he was delighted. First, imitating Hou Fei, he clasped his hands in a fist and bowed, saying, "I am Yang Jiefang. My family suffered a misfortune and I ended up in this blessed place. I am extremely grateful for your rescue and shelter! I have no special skills, only a few years of schooling and a few characters. To thank you all for your care, I have decided to use this kitchen as a classroom to teach you to read and write. Anyone who wants to learn to read and do arithmetic is welcome to come. I will do my best to teach, and it will be free of charge." A hush fell over the room. The crowd seemed still bewildered, all looking at Yang Jiefang with strange expressions.

Sensing an awkward silence, Yang Jiefang, prepared for the occasion, continued, "How about this, before we eat, I'll sing a song to liven things up." This time, everyone reacted and cheered. There wasn't much entertainment on the mountain, so someone singing was a welcome surprise. Yang Jiefang was inwardly annoyed. "No reaction when I'm teaching you real knowledge, but so happy to hear I'm going to sing? What kind of people are these?" He cleared his throat and began to sing:

The river flows eastward.

The stars in the sky are like the Big Dipper.

Hehe, referencing the Big Dipper!

A bowl of wine for a life-or-death friendship

Let's go!

You have it, I have it, we all have it!

Hehe, we have them all!

I'll go through fire and water without turning back!

When you see injustice, shout it out!

Strike when the iron is hot!

Braving the Nine Provinces with great enthusiasm!

……

Liu Huan's rendition of "Heroes' Song" features simple lyrics and a grand, majestic melody; it incorporates elements of Shandong folk songs, making it deeply moving and emotionally resonant. His opening lines stunned the entire audience. After Yang Jiefang finished singing, everyone applauded and cheered, shouting for an encore. Yang Jiefang, however, clasped his hands in a respectful gesture and said, "This song is called 'Heroes' Song,' sung specifically for the heroes of our mountain stronghold. I'll sing it once today, and then I'll prepare some more. Starting tomorrow, I'll teach everyone this song in this kitchen; anyone who wants to learn can come and learn." With that, he got off his stool, ignoring the crowd's shouts.

Hou Fei praised, "Brother, I didn't know you had this skill! But you promised to teach us to read, why did you change it to teaching us to sing?" Yang Jiefang replied, "That doesn't conflict. I'll teach everyone to sing first, then teach them to read, starting with the lyrics." Aren't lyrics just words? Everyone understood and nodded. Yang Jiefang continued, "Brother Lu, could you please make me a wooden board later? I'll write the lyrics on it and hang it on the wall to teach everyone. What do you think?" Lu Ziqi slapped the table and exclaimed, "After dinner, come with me to the carpentry shed. We'll make the board to your specifications as needed."