The village chief of Seri Village was called Tutuman … It was a very tongue-twisting name, but it was a name given to him by his parents, so it was not appropriate for the village chief to change it. After decades of calling him that, he had gradually gotten used to it.
They were both village chiefs, but Tutuman had always held some hostility towards the old chief, Reed. Although Reed was also an old man who lived in the village like him, he was still a descendant of nobility. In the past, whenever the two of them brought the villagers into the city, Reed would be able to speak with the nobles in the city, while he could only wait humbly at the side. Over time, Tutuman felt a sense of dissatisfaction. Why was the other village chief so much better than him? It was just because he had a good ancestor who left him the title of nobility. If it was based on ability, he was definitely better than Chief Reed.
Because he hated him, Tutuman had always been unwilling to deal with Chief Reed. But today, Chief Reed had actually taken the initiative to look for him.
Sitting behind an old table, Tutuman asked his wife to serve a cup of spring water to the guest. He then said expressionlessly, "Village Chief Reed, it's really rare for you to grace our poor village with your presence. Tsk, tsk. This will damage your pitiful noble dignity."
"Old man, your words are still as unpleasant as ever." Reed waved his hand indifferently. "I know you don't like me, although I don't know the reason. But this time, I really want to talk to you about a very important matter. It's very important to both our villages. I hope you can listen to me first. "
Although he hated Reed, Tutuman was a very competent village chief. He said coldly, "If you have something to say, say it quickly. I'm in a hurry to go hunting."
Tutuman was an old hunter, and also the best hunter in the surrounding villages. This house was filled with animal skins, tiger skins, leopard skins, mink skins … Many small nobles did not have so many good animal skins at home. But no matter how good he was, he was just an ordinary person. He could hunt ordinary creatures, but he could not deal with magical beasts. When he was young, he had challenged to hunt magical beasts, but he was seriously injured and almost died. Fortunately, he was young and strong, and survived. From then on, he gave up on the idea of hunting magical beasts, but this did not prevent him from becoming the best hunter in the vicinity.
"A priest came to our house yesterday. He's an ascetic believer," Chief Reed said lightly.
Tutuman's eyebrows twitched. He said sarcastically, "Are you showing off your connections to me?"
"Let me finish. You're still as impatient as when you were young." Head Reed took a sip of the sweet spring water and continued, "His Excellency said that he is planning to build a small temple in our village to disseminate the ideas of Goddess Woking."
Both of them were experienced elders. Otherwise, they wouldn't be sitting in this position. They knew very well what it meant if a proper shrine was built near the village. "To be honest, I really hate you," Tutuman said with jealousy. "Everything good happens to you. You're a jinx, sucking away all the luck of our village. If this goes on, I plan to move the villagers to live somewhere else."
"Don't say that. This matter has something to do with the village." Chief Reed chuckled. "His Excellency plans to build a stone temple, and it has to be completed within six months. You know that we can't do it by ourselves, so I plan to invite your village to build the temple with us."
"Don't even think about it!" Tutuman slammed his hand on the table. He panted and said, "The temple will be built in your village, not ours. Why should we help you? Reed, do you want to take all the advantages in the world? Your skin is too thick, isn't it? "
Reed ignored Tutuman's anger and said slowly, "All the villagers who participate in the construction of the temple can pick one child. His Excellency will teach them how to read. We will help him build the temple in six months. During these six months, His Excellency will teach the children three words every day. If we finish it within six months, His Excellency will teach the children within six months.
540 words. Do you think this is a good thing? "
"Really?" Tutuman calmed down.
"I don't have to come all the way here to lie to you," Reed said with a smile.
"All the adults in the village will help you build the temple, including the elderly. You don't need to provide food and water. We'll take care of it ourselves," Tutuman said. "But I need all the children in the village who are below 18 and above 8 to listen to His Excellency's teachings."
Reed shook his head. "Impossible … One child per family. This is a hard rule. You're already taking advantage of us. Are you still not satisfied? If you're not willing, I know the chief of Veblen Village further away, Kane Veblen. I think they'll be willing to build the temple with us. "
Tutuman stood up and threw the cup on the table at Reed's face. He was furious and only calmed down after a while. "One, then. We'll take it. But if you're messing with me, don't blame my hunting bow for not recognizing people. It can not only shoot beasts, but it can also shoot an old guy."
"Haha, bring some people over tomorrow. The sooner the better." Reed stood up and was ready to leave. Before he walked out of the door, he suddenly turned around and said, "Tutuman, you owe me a favor. When spring comes next year, I want you to give us a share of the profits from entering the city."
"If the children in our village can really listen to His Excellency's teachings for six months, I'll personally send the profits to your house."
"Remember what you said." Reed left, satisfied.
When Reed was in Seri Village, Liang Lidong was drawing the structure of the temple on the third floor. Since the temple was going to be built, he planned to leave a side room for himself in the main hall. He couldn't always stay in the chief's house. When he finished the structure, the sun had just set. The chief had also returned. When he saw Liang Lidong, he bowed slightly and smiled. "Sir, Seri Village has agreed. They'll be here tomorrow to listen to your orders."
"You can build the temple according to the design on this." Liang Lidong handed over the blueprint. "You can command the people yourself. I have to spend time teaching the children tomorrow."
The old village chief thought for a moment and said with a smile, "Since you believe in our two villages, then let me handle this matter. I promise I will handle it properly for you."
Liang Lidong had seen countless NPCs in the game. Some were loyal, some were cunning, some were sincere, and some were full of lies … In his personal impression, the old chief was the kind of person who was half sincere, 30% shrewd, and 20% cunning. Such people were the majority in the Falan Continent. They would occasionally seek small personal benefits for themselves, but it didn't affect their work or missions. They were good people in nature. Liang Lidong guessed that the village chief had gone to Seri Village this time to gain some benefits that Liang Lidong did not know about by using the construction of the temple. That was why he had such a happy expression on his face. After all, Liang Lidong was a lord in the game. He had seen this expression many times on his NPC subordinates.
But it didn't matter … As long as the old chief built the temple and didn't cross his bottom line, he could pretend that he didn't know anything.
The game was like life, or life was like a game … In the Faran Continent, it was hard to give the right answer to this question.
The next day, the people of Seri Village arrived. There were 73 of them, and they were accompanied by 20 children. Most of them were younger than 12, but there were a few tall children who were about to reach adulthood. After bowing to Liang Lidong with a group of people, Tutuman left with the old chief. The young adults of the two villages gathered together. Carrying hammers and dragging wooden buggies, they walked to the mountain north of the village. There were good stones on the mountain that could be used as building materials. Although they weren't as good as corundum, the houses built from them would be durable.
Almost all the men who could work had left the village. The children of Seri Village and Reed Village were led by Kail to the riverside, where Liang Lidong was waiting for them.
The group of children in front of him had greasy and messy hair. Some of them even had runny noses. Many of them had yellow and black patches on their faces. What was even more uncomfortable was that most of them had a sour smell on them. It was unknown how long it had been since they last bathed. Belin was also among the children, but she was in better condition. Although her clothes were old, she was at least clean.
The children had fear on their faces, but there was desire in their eyes. In their minds, Spell Casters were a group of terrifying humans who would turn children into frogs. Other than a small number of older people who understood the importance of learning how to read and write in their future lives, the rest of the younger children were forced to come by their families. They were afraid of Liang Lishen's identity and tried their best to hide behind the crowd.
"Before I teach you how to read and write, I have something to say." Looking at this group of children, Liang Lidong's eyebrows twitched. According to this kind of hygiene, this group of little guys would have a high chance of getting sick in the future. In this world where doctors and priests were scarce, getting sick often meant death. Therefore, he decided to trick this group of little guys and help them develop good habits. "First, show me your hands. Let me see how your hands look like."
All the children showed their hands. Other than Belin and Kail, the others' hands were quite dirty. There were black lines of dirt under their nails.
"Writing is a sacred thing. It's a gift from the gods to us mortals." Liang Lidong pretended to be a charlatan and said, "And you intend to use such a pair of dirty hands to write sacred words? Do you think that's appropriate? "
Hearing Liang Lidong's question, the group of children revealed a terrified expression.
"Go wash your hands in the river immediately. I'll check later. If you're not clean, you can forget about learning."
As soon as the words were finished, the group of children rushed to the small river, rubbed their hands vigorously, for fear of leaving a little dirt on their hands. Soon a black stream appeared on the side of the river, one could imagine how dirty these little guys were.