Ink panel: Hunting the sun and surveying the sky from the bow.

Chapter 15 New Skills

Most of the thirty or so households in Hongshan Village are focused on hunting.

Even if one does not want to hunt, most people would like to practice martial arts to facilitate hunting.

At most, some children had nothing to do and learned to write their own names or do some math.

As for those who want to learn to read and write, Zhang Shuyuan has never met a single one in all these years.

He also knew the young man in front of him—the deceased son of Dalang of the Shen family.

Apart from being good-looking, it has no other advantages and is just mediocre.

Perhaps because he was a little clumsy and had poor comprehension, his hunting skills were mediocre and he often needed help from his uncle.

When such a person suddenly came up to him and told him that he wanted to learn to read and write, Zhang Shuyuan thought he had misheard.

He asked in surprise, "Why do you suddenly want to learn to read and write?"

Shen Qing thought for a while and said sincerely: "The snow will stop soon. I recently hunted some mountain products and planned to sell them in the county town. People in the city are very cunning. I am worried about being cheated, so I want to learn more words to have more confidence."

"My family also said before they died that it never hurts to know more words, as they will always be useful in the future."

After listening to Shen Qing's explanation, Zhang Shuyuan couldn't help but understand.

The people in this world have been accumulating virtues in Wuwei for hundreds of years, and the best things in the world are still studying and practicing martial arts.

If you want to make progress and join the upper class, literacy is the foundation, even before you practice martial arts.

It’s a pity that everyone in this village is too busy making a living to care about other things.

Since someone was sending food, Zhang Shuyuan immediately agreed: "Okay, I have nothing to do recently, so I can teach you something."

"Take this book next to you and open it to the first page. I want to see how much you can recognize."

Shen Qing's face lit up with joy, he thanked him quickly and walked to the bookshelf.

The book that Zhang Shuyuan asked him to take was placed at the bottom. It looked a bit worn out and had some mold marks on it.

It was obvious that he hadn't looked at it for a long time.

Shen Qing opened the book and read it word by word according to Zhang Shuyuan's request.

The number of characters he could recognize was very limited, and he read haltingly.

"Beginning... opening... the sky of qi..."

"Okay." Zhang Shuyuan continued, "Write your name and write the word 'Yong' for me to see."

Upon hearing this, Shen Qing took a branch and wrote and drew on the ground.

Although the characters in this world are somewhat similar to those in the previous life, there are still some differences. In addition, the original body knows nothing about these things. Shen Qing's handwriting is crooked, like a turtle crawling.

Zhang Shuyuan took a glance and frowned when he saw the way he read and the words he wrote. He then had a general idea of ​​Shen Qing's literacy level.

He said to Shen Qing: "I have a Thousand Characters here. You can learn from me, sixteen characters a day. You can learn whenever you want, but..."

At this point, Zhang Shuyuan paused and said, "If you want to continue learning, you have to make up for the tuition."

Having lived two lives, Shen Qing immediately understood what Zhang Shuyuan meant.

I'm down and out and need some help.

Fortunately, his hunting skills are improving day by day, so he can still afford this reward.

He didn't hesitate and agreed on the spot.

Seeing Shen Qing so obedient and not bargaining, Zhang Shuyuan immediately breathed a sigh of relief and took out a book and put it on the table.

He asked Shen Qing to sit in his seat, and he stood up, pointing to the first character and teaching: "This is the word '天', which is written with four strokes, and refers to space, which is opposite to 地."

“This is the word ‘earth’…”

Zhang Shuyuan was very patient and taught word by word.

Shen Qing had a solid foundation from his previous life, and he was able to stay still and learn very quickly. He took in everything Zhang Shuyuan taught him.

About an hour later, Shen Qingyi seemed to be moved.

In my sight, there is a drop of ink dripping from a high place into the water and spreading out.

Lines of ink-wash characters appeared before his eyes. [Skill: Reading and spelling (beginner)]

[Progress: 1/100 points]

[Status: cannot be upgraded]

[Note: Acquiring this skill can help you master reading and writing skills. Continuous practice can help you break through the realm, and there is a certain probability that you will awaken the talent of "memorizing at a glance". ]

Memorize by sight?

Shen Qing's heart was shocked and he was quite surprised.

I didn't expect that literacy could be turned into a skill, and that it could even awaken talent.

He suddenly felt that coming here today was a good deal!

Shen Qing hid the smile on his face and became more serious.

Zhang Shuyuan, who was teaching him, couldn't help but slightly raise his opinion of him in his heart.

After practicing for more than half an hour, Shen Qing realized that the time was almost up and offered to resign.

Before leaving, he borrowed the Thousand Character Classic on the pretext of studying, intending to take it back to continue studying and make progress.

It was just an ordinary book, so Zhang Shuyuan did not stop him. He just told him to remember to return the book in time and take time to come and study for an hour tomorrow during the day.

Shen Qing agreed repeatedly.

……

It was getting close to evening. After a whole day, even though the Chen family had gone out in full force and searched the area around the back mountain thoroughly, they still hadn't found the two brothers Chen Tai and Chen An.

Even if Chen Yuan was still hoping for a lucky break, he knew that his two younger brothers were most likely dead in the mountains.

They have been hunting since they were young, so the possibility of them getting lost in the mountains is very small.

Only if they die inside, they won’t be able to find them with so many people.

In the lobby of the Chen family, the Chen family members gathered together, whispering to each other, and seemed a little noisy.

Chen Yuan looked at a middle-aged man and said, "Thank you all for your hard work today. I will come to thank you one by one when my father comes back someday."

"Hey, we are all family, no need to be so polite."

"Maybe they found some rare mountain treasures deep in the mountains. Don't think too much about it."

"..."

Many members of the Chen family came to comfort him one by one, and Chen Yuan responded with a tired expression.

After sending away most of the Song family, Chen Yuan called Chen Laowu, who was the last one to stay, and said, "Laowu, wait a minute. I have something to ask you."

As soon as Chen Laowu took a step forward, he paused and turned around and asked, "What's wrong?"

Chen Yuan raised his chin and gestured to close the door.

Chen Laowu looked curious, but still did as he was told.

After the door was closed, Chen Yuan walked forward and lowered his voice to ask, "Today, everyone went door to door to ask, who went up the mountain at about the same time as Ertai and Xiaoan?"

Chen Laowu recalled carefully: "Yesterday, there were more than 30 households in the village, and almost every household had someone going up the mountain."

"Think about it carefully. It's about the same time period."

Chen Laowu frowned and thought for a while before saying, "There are three from our Chen family, two from the Tian family, two from the Zhang family, and three from the Shen family. They all went up the mountain around noon, so the time was pretty close."

"Tian family, Shen family..." Chen Yuan muttered to himself.

"Do you think someone has done something in the mountains?"

"My two brothers are not very good at martial arts, but they are good hunters and will never die in the mountains. Although our Shicheng Mountain covers a large area, it is very honest. There are no evil spirits in it, and the government officials have searched it long ago."

Chen Yuan said without comment: "After thinking about it, it seems that only someone in the mountains has evil intentions. My two brothers have always been honest and loyal, and I am afraid that they have suffered in the mountains. It would be too difficult to find two people dead in the vast mountains."

Chen Laowu sighed and said, "Who could be so bold?"

Chen Yuan thought for a moment and said, "We rarely deal with the Zhang family, and the Shen family doesn't have the guts to do that, so the only one left is the Tian family!"

(End of this chapter)