Early the next morning.
A man carrying a cloth bundle and wearing a yellowish long gown strolled lightly into the dilapidated room.
"I have only one requirement: you must remember the characters above, commit them to memory, and then read after me!"
Lu Changsheng stood in the room, looking at the "Master's students" before him.
"Just how old is the Master? Why are the students so old?"
Faint whispers buzzed around the room, but the moment the middle-aged man pulled a stern face, no one dared to speak again.
The room was empty, and those seeking to "study" stood in circles.
There were no brushes, ink, inkstones, and paper, nor was there any place to sit.
Everyone stood quietly with serious expressions.
The characters written by the middleaged man happened to be one of the 168 characters that Lu Changsheng had previously memorized.
*So, this is the stance character!*
A wave of understanding washed over him, followed by an extraordinary excitement.
It was the long-awaited thrill of a harvest.
"That's enough for now!"
Before long, the middle-aged man suddenly realized the time, stopped halfway through writing a character on the wooden board, and sat down in a chair to rest.
"Only 25 characters in total!"
Lu Changsheng watched as the middle-aged man stopped, feeling a tinge of disappointment.
In the afternoon.
The middle-aged man picked up the wooden board, walked up to a boy, pointed at a character on it, and asked, "How do you pronounce this character?"
The boy stammered, unable to answer, so with a stern face, the man moved on to the next person.
"You, read it!"
"Xu?"
"It's Huang!"
He moved on to the next one.
The boy had originally memorized the pronunciation of "Huang", but unfortunately, when the middle-aged man pointed to a different character, his mind went completely blank.
This time, instead of continuing with him, the man walked over to a young girl.
"How is this character pronounced?"
"Yu!"
"It truly is— hmm?"
The middleaged man was slightly taken aback, and he gazed intently at the young girl.
"Not bad! What is your name?"
"Li Nangua!"
Without another word, the middle-aged man questioned a few more people before putting away the wooden board and walking back.
"This class is dismissed!" he said as he walked out.
On the first day of studying, Lu Changsheng managed to sort out and master all 25 characters.
At mealtime, Liang Hu walked over carrying a large bag of steamed buns.
A boy from the Zhao family thought they were for them, and feeling hungry, he stepped forward to grab one.
Unexpectedly, a stick lashed down across the back of his hand.
Liang Hu put one hand on his hip, swaying continuously with the corner of his mouth curled into a smirk. "What do you think you're doing?! Take a look at yourselves, do you look anything like scholars? How can you possibly study and learn characters like this? Damn it!"
After a round of scolding, he pressed the tip of his stick against the steamed buns.
"Two copper coins for one bun! The Master isn't running a charity. Teaching you to read and write and providing a place to stay is already an act of supreme grace! If you want to eat, pay up with copper coins!"
The Zhao family boy glared at Zhao Hu in anger.
His name was Zhao Liang, and he was something of a leader among the children in Zhao Family Village, though he wasn't very fond of associating with outsiders like Lu Changsheng and Wang Heihou.
The anger burning in his heart wasn't really because he had to pay, but because Liang Hu's actions were far too insulting.
"Heh, looks like you've got quite a temper!"
A fierce look crossed Liang Hu's face. He took two steps forward and grabbed Zhao Liang by the collar.
He was over thirty and in the prime of his life, while Zhao Liang was barely over twelve—how could the boy possibly put up any resistance?
He was hoisted straight up into the air.
Seeing a flicker of terror appear on Zhao Liang's face, Liang Hu frowned slightly.
"If you lot weren't—"
Realizing he had almost let something slip, he quickly clamped his mouth shut and let go of Zhao Liang.
"These are the Master's rules. If you can't accept them, go back home!" he said, shaking his head.
******
"Four copper coins spent, leaving 50! That'll only last me another ten days or so!"
Lu Changsheng did not get involved in the altercation between Zhao Liang and Liang Hu.
He directly took out his money to buy two meals' worth of steamed buns.
Seeing him buy two, Wang Heihou and the others bought two as well.
"Changshheng, these buns are a bit expensive. I remember buns in town only cost one copper coin each!"
Wang Heihou ate one bun and looked longingly at the other, but seeing that neither Lu Changsheng nor the others made a move, he finally abandoned the tempting thought.
"Things must be more expensive in the prefecture city, I suppose," Lu Changsheng said.
"How much money do the rest of you have left?"
This was a rather personal question.
At their age, even if they didn't quite understand, the adults at home would have briefed them beforehand.
Even so, Lu Changsheng needed to find out whether the three in front of him truly trusted him.
"This is the initial stage. When you invest, you have to find people you can trust!"
If they were unwilling to share, his plans would certainly have to change.
Fortunately, among the three, only Wang Heihou hesitated for a moment, but seeing that the other two had already spoken up, he revealed his amount as well.
Li Nangua had 38 copper coins!
Niu Dazhuang had 90!
Wang Heihou had the most, with a hundred and fifty copper coins on him.
Lu Changsheng understood the situation in his heart.
Wang Heihou's family was somewhat better off, so his family had given him more copper coins this time.
Niu Dazhuang and Li Nangua had family backgrounds similar to his own, though their circumstances differed.
Li Nangua's family practically let her fend for herself; getting over forty copper coins from them was already considered generous.
Niu Dazhuang's family only had an elderly mother and an older brother left. His brother was deeply attached to him, and coming out this way, he had probably emptied out the entire family's savings.
As for Lu Changsheng, he had previously given away a portion as gifts, and later, when his betrothal was settled, he had given away another portion.
That was why the disparity in their copper coins was so massive.
*To think I was ruined by that Zhao Xinghua!*
Lu Changsheng sighed inwardly.
"I need to get all the characters memorized first! After that, I'll see if I can find some kind of work!"
Under normal circumstances, teaching a group of illiterates to read twenty-odd characters would likely require repeated instruction over and over again.
Yet the teacher during the day had simply written them all out in one go and told them to read and write them.
With a teaching method like that, only Lu Changsheng himself could keep up.
Sure enough, by the second day, the teacher wrote another row of characters on the wooden board.
He taught the pronunciation once, the writing method once, and the meaning of the characters once.
Before leaving, just like the day before, he put them to a test.
He questioned several people in a row, but none of them could answer.
The "Master's students" wore displeased expressions, though he didn't say much. However, the youths who had been called upon looked utterly dejected, clearly taking quite a heavy blow.
"The teacher is so strict!"
"Yeah! If we hadn't spent some time earlier learning characters from you, Changsheng, I'm afraid I'd be getting scolded today too!"
That evening, the group gathered together.
Lu Changsheng gave them a private tutoring session to help them learn characters.
Hearing this, he nodded and said, "A strict teacher is a good thing. It puts pressure on us, which will also give us more drive!"
Wang Heihou muttered a few complaints, forced down his restlessness, and practiced writing with a stick.
The entire group was fueled by a drive to learn more characters; even if they failed to become the Master's students, they could still rely on this skill to find a livelihood.
However—
"Something about all this feels a bit fishy!"
Recalling Liang Hu's behavior and style of doing things, Lu Changsheng felt he didn't act like someone from an ordinary household.
"If the Master really wanted to select students, he certainly wouldn't look for a fellow like that!"
There was no one to discuss this matter with, so Lu Changsheng could only keep it to the back of his mind for now.
*No matter what, I really can learn characters here. Even if it's some sort of trap, as long as my life isn't in danger, it's no big deal!*
Lu Changsheng thought to himself.
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