The next morning came early.
Lu Yuan woke up at dawn.
Perhaps it was the absence of mobile internet that caused him to have no form of entertainment in this world. It became a routine for him to go to bed early when night came and wake up naturally at cock-crow. This regular sleep schedule was something he could not have imagined in his past life.
Lu Yuan fetched a ladle of water from the water jar in the yard and took out the wooden toothbrush he had crafted months ago, dipped it in coarse salt, and began brushing his teeth.
The fact that he had travelled into a different era was something he could not change.
However, he saw his life as potentially infinite, and therefore began gradually improving his living conditions in this inevitably long journey.
The brush he was using demonstrated such a change.
With the abundant wolf hair unique to the mountains, omnipresent wood, along with a little wisdom and craftsmanship, he fashioned a homemade toothbrush.
After freshening up, Lu Yuan proceeded to his physical training.
Having come to terms with the perilous nature of this world, he realized that in order to survive, he would need to develop a robust body.
His daily routine began with warm-up radio calisthenics, followed by push-ups, squats, spot jogging, sit-ups, and so on.
He developed and organized every possible exercise he could think of, even naming it "Lu's exercise method".
Over half a year, the results were evident.
Not only did he grow stronger, but his stamina increased, especially his core strength, which had been honed to an unprecedented level.
Before you can master the bow, you have to master your waist.
The essence of Lu Yuan's archery skills, making significant progress in little time, was largely due to his strengthened core.
After an hour of strenuous workout, he was drenched in sweat.
After fetching a bucket of water from the well, Lu Yuan showered, not bothering to remove his clothes, to wash off the sweat.
After pouring several buckets of water over himself, the heat dissipated, taking with it the odour of sweat.
He preferred being in the mountains where he could wash off in the creek outside the cave right after exercising. It felt much more satisfying.
However, living in town, he had to make do with showering bucket by bucket of well water.
After a little over an hour, the porridge he had been cooking was ready.
All he needed was water, rice, meat, vegetables, salt, a pot, and a stove. After travelling to this world, Lu Yuan began to appreciate this simple and convenient method of cooking.
No matter what, he would just stew everything together or barbecue it.
The life of a mountain hunter was simple and boring.
Although he now lived in town.
His habits from his past still influenced him, and he still prepared these easy and straightforward meals.
"Now that I have a home and an identity, and even money, everything's ready. It's about time to learn to read."
Sitting on a wooden stool in the courtyard, Lu Yuan was musing about this as he finished his porridge and took a sip of his coarse tea.
He had already thought this through while buying his house the previous day.
Today, he could put his plan into action.
...
The town wasn't very big, with only one main street.
Lu Yuan's house was located on the mountain side, on the eastern end of the street. His new neighbors were local farming households who relied on cultivating plum groves in the mountain and their two-acre land outside of town for a living.
As he ventured further into the town past the outskirt, there were four alleyways in the eastern street, each housing around twenty households.
Having bought some pastries on the street and with a string of his own smoked meat, Lu Yuan made his way towards one of the alleys in the town, gift box in hand.
A few moments later, having traversed several streets and lanes, he quickly arrived at the location of the third lane on the east side of the street.
Outside a small courtyard, with the gate closed, Lu Yuan knocked on the door of a house and called out,
"Is Mr. Sun at home?"
Considering he needed to learn to read, he'd have to find a teacher, of course.
The inhabitant of this house was a scholar named Sun Siwen.
He had asked the innkeeper the day before. The scholar was apparently the poorest and most destitute in town, with quite inferior skills.
Despite studying for over ten years, he hadn't managed to obtain even a Scholar's Degree.
Being degree-less and unskilled, Sun Siwen was not well-off.
His usual work was limited to writing letters for the townsfolk and composing couplets during festivals to make ends meet.
Even this meagre income was under threat as other scholars in town competed for the same tasks.
Consequently, the money Sun Siwen earned from this work was scarce and insufficient even to meet his basic needs.
Now he was forced to sell off his family's ancestral possessions to survive.
Be a teacher?
Who would trust their children with a man who had failed to pass the Scholar's exam? Wouldn't that be disastrous for them?
When people sent their children to school, they aimed for them to earn degrees.
If their children were to learn from Sun Siwen, not only might they not learn well, but they might even be affected by his stupidity and bad luck, which would be a significant misfortune.
Yes, in the eyes of some parents, education sometimes seemed like an esoteric discipline.
In conclusion, due to various disadvantages, Sun Siwen the scholar led a miserable and destitute life.
However, this also meant that he would likely charge the lowest fee for teaching.
This alone was enough.
After all, Lu Yuan did not intend to study Confucian classics exhaustively or strive for any degrees; he merely wished to become literate.
As for other knowledge...
In his previous life, he had gone through more than a decade of hard study, from elementary school to college. He had enough of it; he didn't need a poor scholar's teaching now.
Therefore, the stupidity of the scholar, avoided by everyone else, turned out to be a delicacy in his eyes.
"Nothing beats 'cheap' in this world. It's so tempting."
As Lu Yuan mused, footsteps sounded behind the door, followed by a creaking sound; a man in his twenties opened the door.
This man wore a green scholarly outfit, faded from washing and patched here and there, giving him an overall shabby appearance.
'This must be Sun Siwen,' Lu Yuan guessed.
Sun Siwen looked at the stranger before him in confusion, unable to recall ever meeting him previously, hence he asked, "May I know who you are?"
"My name is Lu Yuan, a newcomer who has recently moved to town."
Lu Yuan bowed slightly and introduced himself, then moved on to the main subject, "I heard that Brother Sun possesses profound knowledge and is the most learned person in town. Thus, I have come to learn from Brother Sun."
Having said so, he handed over the gift box he had brought.
In this world, when beginning an apprenticeship, in addition to paying tuition fees, one usually presented the teacher with some fruit preserves and cured meat.
This custom was said to have originated from the first great teacher.
Originally, when the sage taught his disciples, he would not discriminate against those who couldn't afford tuition fees. Those disciples, being poor, would carry some fruit preserves and cured meat they had made themselves and present them to their master as tuition.
Since then, this practice had gradually become a tradition and now it had evolved into a ceremony.
"Learn from me?"
Looking at the gift box in front of him and then at the respectful Lu Yuan, Sun Siwen's heart skipped a beat.
Someone sought to study under him?
Could he actually be a tutor?
A sudden disbelief flooded Sun Siwen's mind, causing his eyes to widen.