African Nationhood

Chapter 43 Crazy (Part )

Shi Jintang didn't take it too seriously to the sudden arrival of the Americans. He was still concentrating on today's meeting day activities.

"Passing the Flowers by Beating Drums" caught a short and fat boy, a boy from North Korea named Guangzhu.

He was a civilian in North Korea, so he didn't have a surname. He also had a sister named Guangna who came with him.

Their family was originally a wealthy businessman in North Korea, but under the impact of famine, hungry people rushed into their home.

Their parents died at the hands of hungry people, and their siblings also became hungry people.

It wandered around with the hungry people, and was finally collected and transported here by the British.

The siblings suffered a lot when they were homeless, and Kwang-soo lost two rings of fat on his body.

After coming here, not only was he able to eat enough food every day, but also had enough meat for his food tube. The chubby little Kwang-soo also slowly returned to his previous figure.

His small eyes and nose looked very crowded on his round face. His sister Guangna also reminded him not to eat so much because he might not be able to find a wife in the future.

Guangzhu doesn't care, can a daughter-in-law have the smell of flesh and blood?

The silk flower ball fell into his hand, Guangzhu grinned, then stood up blankly, and looked at the handsome and tall Master Shi.

He opened his mouth and shouted "woof~~~".

The children around him burst out laughing. Guangzhu was not annoyed, he just felt that this atmosphere was so happy.

Shi Jintang has never seen a child lying down like this. Other children would try it first and then imitate animal barking if it didn't work. This little snack just opened his mouth and imitated dog barking.

He waved his hand, "Sit down, don't do this next time, or I won't give you food."

When Guangzhu heard this, he immediately became unhappy. He stumbled and said, "Master Shi, you can't do this. I want to eat meat. I like to eat meat..."

"Ready, let's continue!"

"dong dong~~"

Although Guangzhu was complained by Master Shi, he still quickly threw the silk flower ball to the girl next to him, and the girl continued to send it without stopping.

Not long after, the silk bouquet was passed to a thin girl. Just as the girl was about to pass it out, the drums stopped.

When the thin girl saw everyone looking at her, she immediately panicked. Her small head was lowered, her eyes were fixed on the silk flower ball in her hand, and her body was shaking involuntarily.

"Don't be afraid, kid. Come on, tell us your name?"

The thin girl felt a warm feeling in her heart as she listened to the rich voice. Master Shi was talking to me.

The thin girl is also North Korean and comes from an ordinary farming family. The locust plague came and all the crops in the family were eaten by insects.

Her father had no choice but to take her and her brother out to escape. During the escape, her father was beaten to death and her brother was kidnapped, leaving her with only one breath left.

When she woke up, she was on a big ship. Although she could only eat a little food every day, she would not starve to death.

After getting off the ship and arriving at Walvis Bay Port, apart from getting a haircut and bathing, I had a full meal every time.

My sister in the quarantine area told us that Mr. Shi bought us. Mr. Shi not only refused to let us work, but also made us read and learn arithmetic.

Learning Chinese characters is something that only nobles are qualified to do. As a commoner, she never expected to have such treatment.

Unexpectedly, a famine brought her to Master Shi's territory, and she easily learned the writing that only nobles can read. What a grace!
  The thin girl raised her head tremblingly and stood up under Master Shi's gentle gaze. She took a deep breath and said timidly: "May Master Shi be happy, live long and healthy!"

The girl's voice was very soft, and the children around her heard it and chanted along: "May Master Shi be blessed with longevity and good health."

Soon all the children in the auditorium were chanting together, and even the little chubby Dunguang Zhu was chanting loudly, "May Mr. Shi be blessed with longevity and good health!"

Shi Jintang felt mixed emotions at this moment. He just gave these children a full meal, but he got so much support.

"Okay, children, don't read any more, I have received your wish to repay me.

But I need you to study hard and repay me with better results in the future. Only then will I be happy. Do you understand, children? "

There was no need for anyone to lead this time. Hundreds of students responded together: "We understand! Study hard, make progress every day, and study for the rise of Nanhua!"

He was particularly moved to see all the students in high spirits and high morale.

"Well, everyone performed very well today, except for a few students of course."

The students all laughed, but Guangzhu continued to smile carelessly like a normal person. Shi Jintang pressed his hand down, and then asked the thin girl who was still standing: "You haven't said your name yet?"

"My name is Hannah. I don't have a surname. Mr. Shi, can I take your surname?"

In the Joseon Dynasty, civilians were not eligible to have surnames, and only nobles could have surnames, because surnames represented lineage, which they called the "bone system."

The royal family with the surnames Jin, Pu and Xi are called "holy bones, golden bones", and the ministers are called "real bones".

The bloodlines of low-ranking officials are also called "five-grade bones" and "six-grade bones" accordingly.

The Gupin family closes itself off to intermarriage within the same rank, or it is a lower-ranked family that competes with a higher-ranked family, otherwise it will never intermarry.

Therefore, the surname has become synonymous with the quality of the bones. Common people long for noble surnames but are out of reach. They only look up to and envy them.

North Korea has been educated by Confucianism for generations, but it has given rise to customs like the "caste system" in India. It is really strange!

It was not until 1894 that the King of Korea issued an order allowing civilians to use surnames.

After the common people were overjoyed, they immediately expressed their desire to add glory to the family, raise the lintel of the family to their ancestors, and directly choose Jin, Pu, Xi and other sacred surnames as their own surnames.

This kind of indiscriminate identification of ancestors eventually led to the proliferation of Jin, Li and Park surnames in later generations of North Korea and South Korea.

Hannah, a thin girl, has no surname and usually has low self-esteem.

She wanted a strong surname to enhance her strength, so she had the courage to ask Master Shi today.

But what she didn't know was that immigrants could choose their own surname after arriving here.

Because of Shi Jintang, the surname Shi has become the most preferred surname among immigrant students, so there are a lot of students with the surname Shi in the school.

Because Hannah usually stayed in a small circle of Koreans and couldn't understand the language, she had no idea that the classmate she envied with the surname Shi was also a child without a surname like her not long ago.

Hannah's words stopped Shi Jintang. He was stunned and looked at the female teacher behind him with a round face, fair skin and tranquility.

This was Jin Xiyue, the daughter of an official and gentry of Ping'an Road in North Korea. She also noticed that Mr. Shi was looking at her, and she smiled apologetically.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Shi, I haven't conveyed this to the children yet. I will convey your kindness later."

Jin Xiyue speaks Chinese with a smooth and melodious accent. She is only 19 years old but her whole body is filled with elegant, intellectual and mature charm.

"Well, let me tell you about this. Hannah, I agree to your request. Not only you, but also other children can have the surname Shi. You are free to choose whatever surname you want!"

When Hannah heard this, her heart beat uncontrollably and tears flowed from the corners of her eyes, "Thank you!"

Seeing the little girl's inexplicable excitement, Shi Jintang sighed that he could no longer stimulate the little girl.

"Okay, let's move on to the next step. Who wants to perform for me?"

As soon as he finished speaking, he saw arms raised high, and Shi Jintang laughed, "Then I'll just order it casually!"

"Just a little bit, a little bit more, then I'll ask you little fat guy, get up quickly and give me a show."

Shi Jintang talked a bit too much, and Jin Xiyue was afraid that the children couldn't understand it, so she walked to Shi Jintang and translated in Korean for the children. Little chubby Dun Guangzhu didn't expect Master Shi to be so cunning, so he asked himself to stand up again.

But this time he was well prepared, so he stood up generously and sang a folk song "Arirang Daring" in Korean.

Jin Xiyue was also afraid that Shi Jintang wouldn't understand, so she sang along in Chinese:

Arirang, Arirang, Arirang!

My husband has a long journey over mountains and ridges,
  Why are you willing to leave me behind?

……

There are also flowers blooming during the winter solstice and twelfth lunar month!

Little Fatty Kwang Soo's singing was not satisfactory, but Jin Xiyue's singing was tactful and lyrical. There was a deep charm between her eyebrows. Shi Jintang looked at it and called me, this is killing me!
  After the event, Shi Jintang did not return to Walvis Bay Port.

Not long after dinner, he ditched Trudeau and secretly went to Jin Xiyue's room, where he didn't leave until dawn.

　Second update, thanks to book friends Xitian Wenqing and Tang Ergou for their monthly support.

　　
  　
  (End of this chapter)