Warring States Survival Guide

Chapter 37 She can write nine words!
Yuanye brought Aqing back to Arashi City and went to "make rounds" first. He checked on the patient Maeda Rikyu and found that everything was normal, at least there was no sign of fever. It seemed that the operation was successful and he would not have to spend too much time in Arashi City.

Since there was nothing to do, he just exchanged a few words with Maeda Toshiharu and went to rest in the room assigned to him. The maid from Arako Maeda's family also brought dinner, and the hospitality was quite thoughtful.

After Yuanye and Aqing had finished their meal, they took out all the books and read carefully under the light of a lamp.

Of course, the first thing is to learn the characters again, starting with kana.

Japanese kana is named relative to the "real name" of Chinese characters. All characters that simplify the strokes of Chinese characters or change the shape of Chinese characters to represent pronunciation and reading are considered kana. Because it is mainly used by women, it is also called "female hand".

Initially, one sound was usually represented by several kana. It was not until 1900 that Japan unified the number of kana into and created the -kana chart, which officially became a part of modern Japanese.

Therefore, even if you can speak modern Japanese, if you travel back to five hundred years ago, you will still be semi-illiterate, because there are a lot of kana characters that you don't recognize or know how to write.

Fortunately, Yuanye got the teaching materials and started to study the "Manyoshu". After all, most kana originated from the Manyogana. After reading the "Manyoshu" and then reading books like "Wakashu" and "Irohame Ruisho", you will basically know the whole thing.

He sat down for half the night without moving, concentrating on his work, memorizing it carefully, and taking notes for quick reference in the future. When his eyes started to feel a little uncomfortable, he stretched himself and noticed that Ah Qing was sitting in the shadow of the oil lamp, staring at the book on the table in a daze.

"Well...you go to sleep first!" Yuanye reminded her, saying that there was nothing to do right now and she could just fall asleep without having to sit there and wait.

Ah Qing turned her gaze to him, hesitated, then lowered her eyelids and shook her head gently - she had promised to protect Yuanye, so she would do her best to do the job of a guard and would not be lazy.

Don’t you want to sleep?
Yuanye didn't understand what she was thinking, and he thought it was a bit early to go to bed, but she just sat there, and he felt bad for her - no modern person could sit still for several hours, it was usually considered a torture, and they would have secretly taken out their phones and started scrolling.

Anyway, he was unwilling to sit there doing nothing and couldn't stand it for even half an hour. So, he thought Ah Qing wouldn't like it either.

He hesitated for a moment, pushed the book forward, and asked again, "Do you want to read a book? There are also some story collections here."

Ah Qing looked up at him, then lowered his head again without saying anything. But after a moment, he seemed to feel that there was a difference between master and servant, and it would not be good to keep silent about Yuan Ye's question, so he said softly, "I can't read."

"Completely illiterate?" Yuanye remembered that Aman knew some words, and he thought Aqing could also know some.

Ah Qing lowered his head and looked at the ground again, without saying a word.

"Then... I'll teach you how to read?" Yuanye was tired of reading and was just looking for a break. He thought it would be a good opportunity to teach Ah Qing how to read so that she wouldn't have to sit there all the time and feel uncomfortable.

Ah Qing lowered her head and did not move. Yuan Ye thought she didn't want to learn anymore. She slowly crawled on her knees to the side of the desk and began to stare at the desk silently again.

Is this what it means to be willing to learn?
The label she had in Yuanye's mind was "a weird, somewhat stubborn child." Yuanye had gotten used to her personality by now, so he didn't care and reached out to take a copy of "Fengtu Ji."

This book records the place names of various countries and counties in Japan, and also contains a few short comments on local customs. It is often used as an enlightenment reading material for literacy. Its nature is similar to China's "Hundred Family Surnames" and "Thousand Character Classic" - "Fudoki" is mainly based on Chinese characters. After mastering this book and then reading "Manyoshu", you can get started with ancient Japanese.

He opened the book from the beginning and read the first two sentences of nine words to Ah Qing. He did not go into the details of the meaning of each word. He just let her know that it was a place name, which was enough for the time being.

Then he tore off another piece of paper, took out some cinnabar from the medicine box, and copied the nine words in large characters several times, asking her to trace them with ink in red so that her body and mind could be unified, and her memory could be strengthened while she could also read and write.

It's just that Ah Qing used to stab people more often with her naginata, and had never written with a pen before. But she didn't ask, and just lowered her head and tried to learn by herself. She first clenched her fist, then recalled, and tried to imitate Yuanye's usual way, so she changed to pinching it with three fingers.

"Hold it like this, and lift your wrist as well..." Yuanye took the initiative to guide her, helping her hold the pen properly, and comforted her, "It will be a little uncomfortable at first, but just keep persisting and it will be fine."

Ah Qing nodded slightly, took the pen, traced a little red, then tilted her head to look at him, silently asking if his posture was right. Yuan Ye was slightly stunned. He had never looked closely at Ah Qing's face before. After all, this [weird, a little stubborn child] usually kept her head down. But now that she tilted her head like this, her thin eyebrows and oval face, under the soft light of the oil lamp, looked like a warm jade painted with ink.

At the same time, her delicate eyes sparkled under the oil lamp, her eyelashes trembling with a hint of confusion, which was actually a bit... beautiful.

Well, if she is willing to change her hairstyle like that of an ancient little boy, untie the little bun on the top of her head, replace it with long black hanging hair, and then change into ancient ladies' clothes, she will definitely be a delicate, elegant and beautiful young lady.

I never noticed before that Aqing is actually a little beauty. I don’t know which beast will marry her in the future.

Ah Qing was not surprised to see Yuanye in a daze. Yuanye was usually like this, he would start to ponder and daydream from time to time. She was a little used to it. She just tilted her head again, and the confusion in her eyes became even more intense.

Yuan Ye came back to his senses and quickly traced the characters with her to make her understand the stroke order. Then he nodded and said, "That's it. Read silently in your mind while tracing the characters. After tracing, continue writing below. It doesn't matter if you can't write well, as long as you don't make any mistakes."

Ah Qing nodded slightly, and then obediently followed Yuanye's instructions, starting to recite silently and trace carefully.

Yuanye watched for a while, corrected a few of her minor mistakes, and then ignored her and sat back to read his book.

He sat down for half the night, and only put down the book when it was late at night and everyone was asleep. Then he turned to look at Ah Qing, only to see that her expression was still serious and her eyes were still focused. She was still practicing those nine words!
Yuanye admired her seriousness and thought she was indeed hardworking - Aqing and Aman had completely different personalities. Aman would think about going to bed after eating, or go out for a stroll on the street. The word "hard work" had nothing to do with him. But Aqing was different. She was either working hard to practice martial arts, with sweat wetting her hair, or taking the initiative to help Yayoi with housework. She seemed very diligent.

Yuanye felt that it was because she was born in this terrible era. Otherwise, with her hard work, she could get into a 985 university if she had academic talent, or a 211 university if she didn't!

Of course, she had to be born in the north of Tianjin. If she was unlucky enough to be born in places like Nanhe, Dongshan, and Dongguan, she would have to at least get a second-tier university, which might even be a private one.

"Okay, let's stop practicing here today and continue learning tomorrow!" Yuanye reminded her that it was time to go to bed, otherwise she might not be able to get up tomorrow morning.

A Qing looked up at him, nodded slightly, then looked at the paper in front of him, feeling a little happy.

She can write nine characters now!
…………

Silent all night.

When Yuanye opened his eyes the next day, it was already bright. This was mainly because he had slept a little late last night, so he inevitably got up late. When he woke up, Aqing had already gotten up and brought hot water and a kapok towel directly to him.

"You don't have to do these." Yuanye hurriedly said politely. After all, Qing was not a real maid, and her situation was slightly different from that of Yayoi. Yayoi was a maid on a daily basis, and he paid rice and cloth, which was considered as "room service" purchased, which was similar to staying in a hotel, but Qing was the sister of the "righteous man" Aman, and was closer to a guest.

Not to mention that unlucky bet, that was just a joke. Yuanye always had a clear mind and never thought of really being Aqing's master.

He was being polite there, and Ah Qing looked up at him and shook his head slightly to indicate that it didn't matter. Then he soaked the kapok towel in hot water and wrung it dry, and began to hesitate about how to smear it on his face.

"Let me do it myself!" Yuanye quickly took the kapok towel, not wanting her to worry about it anymore. She was obviously not cut out for this kind of job. His skin couldn't bear such a hot towel on his face.

While he was busy washing up, Okumura Iefuku appeared at the door and greeted him with a smile: "Lord Nohara, did you rest well last night?"

"Thanks to you, I had a good rest." Yuanye quickly washed his face, extended his hand and said politely, "Why are you here, Lord Okumura? Please come in and have a seat!"

He was just being polite, but he didn't expect that Okumura Iefuku would actually come in. It seemed that he had something to say. As expected, Okumura Iefuku had something to say. He sat down after entering the door, glanced at Aqing, and without much hesitation, he asked him directly in a serious tone: "Lord Nohara, do you have any thoughts on becoming an official?"

(End of this chapter)