The gap between the rich and the poor in this world was so huge that it was hopeless. A family with a hundred gold coins could be considered a millionaire, but that was the result of generations of accumulation in Reed's family. If an ordinary family had a single gold coin, they would not have to worry about food and clothing for a long time. For the villagers of Reed's village to take out a hundred gold coins at a time for his grandson to improve his strength, it was nothing less than an experience that overturned their worldview.
But in fact, a hundred gold coins at a time was nothing for real nobles. Liang Lidong did not find it strange either. However, he saw some changes in the children's expressions. Many of them had an emotion called 'jealousy' in their eyes.
This was not a good sign. Liang Lidong clapped his hands to attract everyone's attention. His eyes swept across all the children, and every child who met his eyes couldn't help but lower their heads. Then he said lightly, "This world is unfair, and it has never been fair. Even if everyone is a commoner, some people are born prettier than others, some run faster than others, and some are even smarter than others. Some people are born with nothing, don't have a wealthy family, and don't have any special skills. They can't be any more ordinary. "
These words caused the faces of a large group of children to darken. Apart from Kyle, who could barely be considered a descendant of nobility, the rest of the children here were all commoners. Furthermore, none of them had any special abilities. Liang Lidong's words struck the weakest spot in their hearts, causing them great pain.
"But this is not a reason for you to give up, or even be jealous of others." Liang Lidong said very calmly, "If you think this is unfair, then work hard and seize any opportunity without going against your conscience. You may not be able to become an outstanding person in your lifetime, but you can study hard, work hard, and accumulate knowledge and wealth bit by bit from now on, so that your children can have a higher starting point than you. When they grow up, you can tell them these words, so that they can also create a higher starting point for their descendants. As long as this continues generation by generation, as long as there are no natural disasters, your descendants will one day become nobles admired by the world. The so-called aristocratic families, in fact, are passed down from generation to generation. "
Some children understood, while others seemed to understand, but no matter which child it was, they all secretly remembered Liang Lidong's words in their hearts. In fact, Liang Lidong also understood that chicken soup for the soul was easier said than done. He probably couldn't do it himself, let alone these children. But he understood that for these children, these words would more or less affect their outlook on life and values that were about to take shape. As long as there was one child who could carry out his words, then he would not have been their teacher for half a year in vain.
"Okay, today's preaching ends here." Liang Lidong clapped his hands and then said, "Half a year ago, I told you that after teaching you how to read, I would teach you combat expertise. I remember this, and I won't break my promise. From tomorrow onwards, you will come to the shrine to listen to lessons. This is the place of the soul to pray, and it will also be your school in the future, understand? Okay, now everyone is dismissed … Belin, you stay, I have something to tell you. "
The children looked at Belin with some envy and then filed out of the shrine.
When there were only two people in the main hall, Liang Lidong said, "Belin, you've made great progress recently. Although it's not the basic conditions to become a priest, I can feel that your mental strength is condensing and stabilizing little by little. It seems that you haven't been lazy recently, which is good and worthy of praise. "
Belin smiled very happily.
"However, the condensation of mental strength is only one of the basic conditions to become a priest. The other condition is that you must understand the teachings of Goddess Woking. Therefore, I have an idea. In the future, you will work for the shrine as an assistant, and I will pay you a certain amount of salary. Well, two silver coins a month. As long as you work in the shrine for a long time, you will naturally be able to understand Goddess Woking's philosophy over time. This will be of great help to you as a priest in the future. "
For a girl like Belin, a salary of one silver coin a month was really too much. She stammered, "Teacher, I'm very happy to work for the shrine. If you give me a salary, that's not very good."
"There's no such thing as good or not. Goddess Woking values fair trade. Since you work for the shrine, you should get a salary. " Liang Lidong waved his hand, "Go back and talk to your family about this. There are a lot of things to do in the shrine, and you still need to practice meditation and strengthen your mental strength. There is not much time anyway. If there is nothing too important, try to do less farm work in the future … That's settled. You can go back now."
Hearing her teacher's order to leave, Belin left with joy and worry. Although she was happy to be able to work for the Temple and continue to receive guidance from her teacher, two silver coins a month was too much money. Her family might not even be able to save two silver coins in half a year. She was worried that she would not be able to do a good job for the Temple and let her family and teacher down.
Contrary to Belin's anxiety, on the way home, Jerry had been thinking about how to be more valued by his teacher. Belin was asked to stay by her teacher, which meant that Belin was as outstanding as Kail, who had already become a professional. As for an ordinary child like him, if he wanted to be valued by his teacher, he had to work harder, become more outstanding, and maybe get into the teacher's sight.
He walked quickly for more than an hour and finally returned to Seri Village. He was not a child of Reed Village. If it were not for the huge manpower needed to build the shrine, he would not have had the opportunity to receive the teacher's education.
When he returned home, he opened the door and saw his mother sewing clothes in front of the table. On the other side, his sister was scooping out white flour and seemed to be making dinner for the family.
"White flour? Big brother is back? "Jerry was slightly stunned. They usually ate black bread at home. If they could eat white bread, it must be that his big brother came back from somewhere else.
"Yes, your big brother is resting in the house. Go in and talk to him. You two are half scholars now, so you can talk well. Your father, your sister, and I sometimes don't understand what your big brother is talking about. Go! "
"Big brother?" Jerry opened the door on the far right side of the house and saw a brown young man lying on the bed with his legs crossed. He asked, "When did you come back?"
"Oh, Jerry … at noon." The young man yawned and sat up. His gaze lingered on his little brother. After a moment of stunned silence, he asked hesitantly, "Little brother, you seem to be very different from half a year ago … You seem to have gained some temperament."
Hearing this, Jerry was a little happy. He said, "Maybe it's because I learned how to read."
"You learned how to read?" This time, the brown haired young man was completely stunned. "What's going on? Why does the family have so much money for you to learn how to read? You're not joking, are you? "
Jerry sat down and asked, "Why, didn't Mother tell you this?"
"I went to bed as soon as I came back. After all, it's very tiring to travel. Seems like she didn't have time to tell me! Why don't you tell me what happened? "
"Okay!" Jerry immediately began to tell his elder brother what had happened.
After listening to the cause of the matter, his big brother was in disbelief, as if he had been constipated for a few days. "A spellcaster came to Reed Village and recruited villagers to build a shrine. The reward was to teach the children how to read, and each family could only send one person? He's going to teach you combat abilities? There's such a good thing, he can't be a scammer, can he? "
Jerry was a little unhappy. "Teacher is the closest person I've ever seen to a saint. Be careful with your words, big brother."
"But this is really not right." His big brother looked completely puzzled. "Jerry, you've never been out. You don't know how much it costs to learn how to read outside. It's calculated word by word. For us commoners, even if we go bankrupt, we won't be able to learn more than a few words. If I hadn't become a Knight Squire, I wouldn't have had the chance to learn how to read at all. Even so, after three years, Master only taught me more than 160 words, and you said you've mastered more than 500 words. You're not lying to me, are you? There's no such good thing in this world. More than 500 words. "
"Besides, I've never heard of the goddess Woking when I was outside!" His big brother continued to frown. "It can't be some Evil Spirits, can it? Teaching words and combat abilities, and it's all just barely. Your teacher, maybe he's plotting something big."
"Big brother, don't slander Teacher like this." Jerry suddenly stood up, his face full of anger. "Teacher is sincere about what's good for everyone. Besides, what's the use of lying to us? We poor people don't have anything worth thinking about at all. Nothing at all. "
"Sorry, brother, I just spoke without thinking. Don't be so agitated."
"Hmph, if you have the chance to meet Teacher, you'll know how excellent he is."
His big brother smiled. "Well, I'll go see your teacher tomorrow. Hearing you say that he's so powerful, my curiosity is piqued."
Jerry heaved a sigh of relief. "Well, brother, since you're back, tell me about the noble's manor."
The older brother gently patted the younger brother's head with a loving expression. He decided to investigate the situation tomorrow. If he found any shady records or suspicious activities, he didn't mind secretly finding a time to make the person disappear, and never appear in this world again.