Just as Shen Qing decided to break through, a sense of clarity struck him at the top of his head as if he had suddenly understood everything.
In the gloomy and damp room, the characters that had seemed so awkward and unfamiliar now appeared friendly and approachable.
After seriously studying them twice, the shapes and meanings of these characters became clearly etched in his mind.
When Shen Qing looked down again, his fingers lightly slid across the page, and he felt an unprecedented smoothness.
[Skill: To recognize characters and read (Skillfully)]
[Progress: 1/200 points]
[Status: Cannot be improved]
Zhang Shuyuan did not notice anything unusual about Shen Qing. On account of the wild pheasant, he patiently taught Shen Qing another round.
"Now you have learned sixteen characters, plus the sixteen from yesterday, that's a total of thirty-two characters. Close the book, recite them first, then write them out for me to see," Zhang Shuyuan said, stroking his shining goat's beard as if he truly were a private tutor, with dignified utterance.
Shen Qing nodded and replied, "Yes, Teacher."
He closed the book as instructed, closed his eyes, and recited loudly, "Heaven is black, Earth is yellow, the vast universe, the primal chaos. The sun rises and sets, the stars and constellation appear. Cold comes and heat goes, autumn harvests and winter stores. With the leap year, the cycle of the seasons completes, and the rhythm keeps the sun in tune."
Seeing Shen Qing recited smoothly without any hesitation, Zhang Shuyuan queried further, "Do you know what they mean?"
After thinking for a while, Shen Qing said, "Teacher taught me yesterday, these words mean that the sky is dark blue, and the earth is..."
Listening to Shen Qing discuss with ease, Zhang Shuyuan felt that the poor family's son in front of him was behaving somewhat unusually.
When he first learned the Thousand Character Classic himself, he had to forcefully memorize the characters and their meanings; it was much later that he gradually absorbed and understood them, nowhere near as smooth-flowing as Shen Qing described.
Zhang Shuyuan put a dried tree branch in front of Shen Qing and said, "Write these thirty-two characters."
Shen Qing nodded his consent, picked up the branch, and started writing on the ground.
In just a short while, he had written out all thirty-two characters without missing a single one.
If the writing from yesterday was like a crawling turtle, today it was indeed a proper turtle.
Ugly, but standard.
Zhang Shuyuan unconsciously took another look at Shen Qing.
In just one day, this unremarkable young man had stepped from a completely illiterate person to someone on the threshold of literacy.
Such an aptitude was something he had never seen in all his years.
However, Zhang Shuyuan did not get excited or treat Shen Qing differently because of this.
Talents were as common as carps crossing the river; without the right background or connections, few of them would ever make a name for themselves.
This little display of talent was merely a moment of surprise in his eyes, nothing more.
After Shen Qing finished writing, Zhang Shuyuan commented indifferently, "Not bad, you need to practice more when you're free."
Shen Qing nodded and said, "Thank you for the instruction, Teacher."
After Zhang Shuyuan inspected his work, Shen Qing practiced for a while longer before ending today's lesson on character recognition.
Upon leaving the house, Shen Qing did not linger long and hurried back home early to take out the martial arts book and give it another look.
There were still many characters he could not recognize, but compared to before, he understood a bit more.
Indeed, some general knowledge about Martial Arts was recorded here.
He needed to make more progress in earnest.
Shen Qing became full of zeal.
...
Outside Hongshan Village, a decrepit horse pulled a cart slowly into the village.
As one of the mountain drivers of Hongshan Village, Chen Youguang sat on the cart with a beaming smile, full of vitality.
"Uncle, you're back!" On the roadside, Chen Dajiang's face wrinkled into a heap as he greeted with a sombre face.
"Back," the village chief answered, then nodded towards Aunt Zhang in the distance, "Aunt Zhang, how's your health?"
"Good, it's good!" Aunt Zhang's expression seemed a bit unnatural when she looked at Chen Youguang, as if she had something to say but stopped short.
Chen Youguang found it strange.
It has only been a few days since he had been out, yet the atmosphere in the village had become rather gloomy.
He was puzzled, as if someone's son had died.
Children gathered around, curiously looking at the cart. Chen Youguang waved his hands, shooing them away.
With his smile fading, Chen Youguang hurried home at a brisk pace with the cart.
As soon as he opened the door, he felt an unusual silence at home: "Elder, second, third, come out. Your father is back."
After calling out for a while, only Chen Yuan came out.
His face bore stubble and he seemed somewhat despondent as he said, "Dad!"
"Where are your two brothers?" Chen Youguang took a wine sack off the cart and took a swig.
"They... they were killed by the Tian Family members..."
"Pfft..." Chen Youguang, who had just taken a drink, spat it out with a splutter: "What did you say, the second and the third are dead? Tell me exactly what happened."
"It was like this..." Chen Yuan recounted everything that had happened in the past couple of days, bit by bit.
After listening, Chen Youguang had a rather grim expression, his heart sinking deep down.
"Dad, what are we going to do now? Shall we take down the Tian Family members..." Chen Yuan made a throat-slitting gesture.
Chen Youguang interrupted, "No, killing them would be nothing more than a momentary satisfaction, useless otherwise."
He paced back and forth, then looked up, "How is your martial arts practice coming along?"
"I've just begun to sense Qi. Give me a few more months, and I can reach the Great Perfection of Qi-Blood."
"Good, then there's a chance," Chen Youguang said. "In town, I met with the Song and Dong Family, and I also visited the Shen Shou Sect. I've already made arrangements with them. Once spring arrives, if your Qi-Blood reaches Great Perfection and I gather sixty taels silver, I can send you directly into their inner sect."
Shen Shou Sect!
Chen Yuan's eyes immediately lit up.
This martial arts sect was famous in the county town, no less esteemed than those martial arts halls.
More importantly, this sect had a connection to the government office; one could cultivate martial arts and gain other revenues as well.
The only issue was the high cost of joining, which deterred many people.
He did not expect that his father could establish such a connection.
"A dead person isn't worth much, but a living one can be quite valuable to brokers. Since you need the money, let the Tian Family pay. If they don't agree, force them to!"
"What about my two brothers' vengeance..."
Chen Youguang lifted his eyelids and said, "I'm still young, I can earn more money, take a few more concubines, and give you two more brothers."
Chen Yuan: "..."
"All right, let's not talk about this anymore. In the next few days, when the snow stops, our family will start buying game to take into town."
Chen Yuan said, "Dad, why are we doing the buying? Isn't it usually the Song and Dong Families who send people over?"
"With heavy snow on the roads, their broker died tumbling down a mountain. From now on, our family will do the buying. We'll set the prices. In Hongshan Village, anyone who doesn't sell to us won't be able to hitch a ride to town to sell their game."
From their place to the county town was not a short distance; if one walked, it would take a whole day there and back without return.
If the goods didn't sell, an extra night's stay would be necessary.
Chen Yuan knew that his father intended to turn Hongshan Village into their own private hunting ground, a reserve exclusively for them.