Chapter 192: The Small Classroom of Xingxia Manor
Jian Xingxia returned to the manor carrying the literacy cards.
Lin Sanniang had already tidied up all the affairs around the premises. This afternoon, there were only two guests, both of whom belonged to the insomnia group, so they didn’t require much hosting or attention.
Jian Xingxia then took Lin Sanniang, hopped onto her small tricycle, and drove bumpily toward the foot of the mountain.
The fully obstructive mountain path spanned two to three kilometers; without the tricycle, walking it would not have been easy. Even with the tricycle, the ride was bumpy enough. Yet Jian Xingxia actually quite liked it, because this massive stretch of mountain forest and land all belonged to her.
Ever since she graduated from primary school and began drifting around with her father, Jian Xingxia had always lived in rented houses or dormitories, leading a collective or semi-collective lifestyle. She had never possessed a so-called “space of her own.” It wasn’t until she returned to the old house and to the manor left to her by her grandmother that she truly felt a sense of belonging.
Sitting in the back of the tricycle, Lin Sanniang clutched the handles tightly, her heart practically leaping out of her chest. My goodness, so this is what it feels like to ride this “carriage.” This is simply too terrifying.
Once they reached their destination, Lin Sanniang climbed down, feeling her legs turn entirely soft.
She said to Jian Xingxia in a tiny voice, “This carriage is not as comfortable as an oxcart!” She had never ridden in a horse-drawn carriage, only in oxcarts and donkey carts, but none had ever jolted like this.
Jian Xingxia laughed and said, “An oxcart certainly isn’t as fast as this vehicle of mine.”
“True enough,” Lin Sanniang thoroughly agreed with that point. “The Owner’s vehicle is much faster!” By the standards of the Great Liang Dynasty, this stretch of road was about six li, yet the Owner arrived in less than fifteen minutes.
Lin Sanniang picked up the items from the truck bed and followed Jian Xingxia forward.
She could already see that Da Hei was currently working alongside another tall, thin, but highly capable and lean man.
Jian Xingxia walked over to take a look and felt highly satisfied. From five o’clock in the morning to this moment at four in the afternoon, the chicken pen had already begun to take shape. The fencing was erected all around, and the foundation for the chicken coop had been laid, with six wooden stakes firmly driven into the soil.
Shang Yue was currently bare-chested, panting heavily as he hammered wedges into the stakes.
Catching sight of him, Lin Sanniang hurriedly averted her eyes—this Shang Yue was even worse than Da Hei. At least when Da Hei first arrived, he wore a burlap sack over his body. This Shang Yue was bare except for a single pair of tattered trousers that barely covered much skin.
Shang Yue initially thought nothing of it—back at the quarry, everyone dressed like this. Some didn’t even have trousers and just wrapped a layer of rice straw around their waists to get by. In the Great Yan Dynasty, very few generations of commoners had ever worn proper, complete clothing. Only the noble lords in the imperial court grew increasingly extravagant, wrapped in endless silks and satins.
But seeing Lin Sanniang turn her face away, Shang Yue also felt a bit self-conscious. Even Da Hei was wearing neat clothing!
Jian Xingxia, however, held a peaceful state of mind and didn’t find it strange. After all, every temporary worker looked utterly wretched when they first arrived.
Sifting through the items in Lin Sanniang’s hands, Jian Xingxia selected a short-sleeved Tang suit and summer trousers, handing them to Shang Yue. “You should be able to wear this. Change into this set when you perform labor at the manor from now on.”
Although the chicken pen was quite far from the old house, one couldn’t rule out the possibility of tourists wandering over.
Since Shang Yue had injuries on his body, he couldn’t take a proper bath. He accepted the clothes and hobbled behind the trees to change.
Only then did Lin Sanniang notice that Shang Yue’s leg was injured. “Miss, Shang Yue’s leg…”
“It has already been treated with medicine. There is a physician over in his hometown who examined it and has already stabilized and bound it.” Jian Xingxia had no way to send Shang Yue to a hospital for surgery; what she could do was merely provide medicine and basic care.
Once Shang Yue changed into the clothes, he looked a bit more spirited.
Da Hei had already begun eating first—no matter how much food Jian Xingxia brought him, he could finish every single bite. Shang Yue was also allocated a slightly smaller stainless steel basin. Inside was the food prepared by the plump auntie during lunch.
During this period of temporary closure and adjustments, the auntie would come every day just to cook, and once the food was prepared, she would leave immediately without lingering at all. Jian Xingxia usually just searched for food in the refrigerator and freezer, pulling out directly whatever she felt like eating. She wasn’t afraid of leaving leftovers anyway, as there were two “food basins” waiting to be filled here.
Shang Yue explained his layout for the chicken pen to Jian Xingxia: “With a length and width of one zhang as the boundary, it will be separated by bamboo fencing, and one chicken coop will be constructed.”
The first chicken pen was already completed. A length and width of one zhang meant roughly 3.3 meters by 3.3 meters, which was about ten square meters. The coop occupied two square meters, leaving the remaining space perfectly sufficient for the chickens to move around.
Following Jian Xingxia’s instructions, Shang Yue divided the land she had designated into six separate chicken pens. “The fencing between the chicken pens features swing gates. If you wish to merge them, you can; if you want to keep them separate, just lock them up.”
Jian Xingxia felt highly satisfied—this was the right way! Once you arrived, you were a person of the manor, and you still had to make some contributions to the manor.
After Shang Yue finished his basin of food, Jian Xingxia handed him a bottle of water.
Shang Yue froze. “What manner of object is this? So clear, yet so thin and light, both soft and hard… one can actually see the water inside directly!” He was immensely shocked, thoroughly feeling that this was a divine object.
“Curious, right? This is called a plastic water bottle, used for holding water. Come, next we will enter the small classroom of our Xingxia Manor. First, learn these two characters with me.”
Seizing the opportunity, Jian Xingxia pulled out two literacy cards.
One was “水” (water), printed in large black-and-white characters complete with pinyin and a light blue illustration of water. The other was “瓶” (bottle), paired with an illustration of a green glass bottle.
Da Hei and Shang Yue looked at each other in mutual confusion, while only Lin Sanniang felt highly excited. It’s starting, it’s starting! The young mistress owner is starting to teach them how to read!
Da Hei asked in bewilderment, “Who is learning? Me?”
Shang Yue was equally puzzled. He looked at the tools in his hands. “We are not building the chicken coop anymore?”
“We’ll pause for now. Learn to read first.”
If it weren’t for the fact that today’s temporary worker slots were allocated to Da Hei and Shang Yue, Jian Xingxia would have actually preferred to teach Taoya and A-Feng. They were young, learned quickly, and held a strong desire for knowledge.
Unlike Da Hei, who came primarily to perform labor, followed by eating. He cared about absolutely nothing else; if asked, his response was simply “highly satisfied with my current master,” which was vastly better than his past days as a slave in the Great Yu Dynasty.
Shang Yue was slightly better. But this man had been half-dead when he first arrived, and though he looked like he carried some strength now, that listless aura of his wasn’t much better. At the very least, looking at that scrawny frame of skin and bones, he lacked vitality. Shang Yue’s thoughts were currently placed entirely on his suffering brothers back in the Great Yan Dynasty, carrying very little concern for modern affairs.
These two were not the ideal candidates for learning.
However, the system’s quest progress was calculated by the number of recognized characters, meaning that having three people was a secondary condition, while the primary condition was still satisfying the requirement that the manor’s ancients could learn a hundred characters. To complete the quest safely and securely, Jian Xingxia wouldn’t let a single opportunity slip by.
Deep within the small woods at the foot of the mountain, Jian Xingxia began her instruction.
Lin Sanniang learned the most seriously, and she had already self-taught a bit during her account-keeping throughout the trial run—though she didn’t recognize them, she could sketch a few strokes by imitating the shapes. Shang Yue didn’t learn slowly either; the writing system of the Great Yan Dynasty wasn’t entirely identical to Han characters, but there were always similar characters.
For instance, the character “火” (fire) branded on his forehead. Shang Yue recognized similar characters at a glance, and after memorizing the strokes and pronunciation slightly, he mastered them well enough.
Finally, there was Da Hei.
Da Hei had originally sat there in a daze, reading along with them. He didn’t know what use reading carried anyway, since his past masters and the slave traders thoroughly disliked it when slaves could read. But since his new master wanted him to learn, he would just follow along and read aloud!
For the first batch, there were ten characters. After teaching them for a while, she had them practice for a bit.
Jian Xingxia called out a dictation test: “一 (one), 二 (two), 三 (three), 天 (sky), 地 (earth), 人 (person), 水 (water), 火 (fire), 土 (soil), 瓶 (bottle)…”
Lin Sanniang got nine right, while Shang Yue got seven right.
Da Hei got three right—and yes, those were “一, 二, 三.” This was still the result of both Jian Xingxia and the system being lenient and ignoring the length of his horizontal lines.
Da Hei looked left and right, and instantly grew frantic—What is going on! We learned together, so why am I the only one who doesn’t get it!
