“Dealing with such things is too dangerous.
If you encounter a troublesome one, you might fall into its Dao, and then, it would be difficult even to wish for death.
Therefore, if you are truly interested, it would be better to learn Martial Arts.
Martial Arts, when profound, can also kill ghosts.
Moreover, it's not easy to provoke these things, and the safety is greatly increased.”
Saying that, he then looked at Chen Baihe and Zhao Hehua, and said, “Baihe, the child is still young and weak, making him susceptible to these things, so you two should also be more careful.
Alright, there shouldn't be anything else here, so I'll be leaving now.”
“Yes, yes, thank you, Zhong Bo, for your help this time.
It’s too late now to trouble Zhong Bo further, tomorrow, please come to my place for a meal tomorrow, Zhong Bo.”
Chen Baihe nodded repeatedly upon hearing this, then quickly pulled out twenty-some copper coins from his pocket and placed them in Zhong Bo’s hand.
Zhong Bo declined a few times, then smiled and nodded, walking out.
…
Chen Yushu frowned.
He was rejected.
This was actually quite normal.
Zhong Bo was not a solitary man; he also had family and relatives.
This profession was considered a livelihood, helping people with weddings and funerals, earning anywhere from dozens to hundreds, or even thousands of copper coins, which was very popular in the surrounding ten li and eight xiang, and many people wanted to learn from him.
He had no familial ties with the man, so it was normal for him not to teach.
But after truly encountering this matter, it was almost impossible for his heart to settle down again.
He had to learn something.
Reading? Calligraphy?
He already had both on his skill panel.
This should be the skill his previous self acquired from attending a private school for two years.
However, it was of no use to his current situation.
Learning Martial Arts?
This was equally tempting to him.
It’s just, how to learn? Who to learn from?
His family was just an ordinary farming household, with one house, one courtyard, plus three mu of land; scraping a living from the land was definitely not enough.
So, while his father did farm work, he also acted as a herb gatherer, and his mother was just an ordinary village woman, at most able to find some needlework, earning thirty-some copper coins a month if she was lucky.
This was actually all very normal; Beijiao Village was backed by Jiupan Mountain, and the mountain was lush with vegetation, hiding many wild delicacies and herbs, so many villagers like his father would go up the mountain to gather herbs during their farming off-season.
Otherwise, with the annual exorbitant taxes and levies, how could three mu of paddy fields be enough?
Besides herb gatherers, there were also hunters and blacksmiths in the village.
Beijiao Village was not large, but it actually had dozens of households, and only a few large households could truly rely on farming to survive.
However, such a family would find it very difficult to support his Martial Arts training.
Allowing him to study literacy in the private school was already a huge investment; what they probably hoped for most was that he could find a job as an accountant in the city in the future.
…
“Yu Shu has gone to bed, right?”
In another room, Chen Baihe asked.
“He has already gone to bed.”
Zhao Hehua replied, then couldn't help but ask, “What do you think about Yu Shu wanting to learn a skill?
We sent him to the private school two years ago, but that scholar Zhang was unreliable and ran off after only teaching for two years.
Now the child is so grown, he really should learn a trade, otherwise, when he gets older, without a skill, he won’t be able to earn money, and it will be difficult to find a wife.
He can’t just be like you, scraping a living from the land and going up the mountains to gather herbs, can he?
How dangerous is that?”
“That’s definitely not an option.”
Chen Baihe shook his head; as a herb gatherer, he naturally knew the dangers of this profession.
Jiupan Mountain was not a peaceful place; there were many poisonous insects and wild beasts, and it was said that there were even strange beasts and great fiends deep within, so they only dared to move around the edges, and even then, they still couldn't avoid attacks from fierce beasts.
For example, Song Rentou, who lived not far from their front yard, had his shoulder clawed by a wild wolf before the new year; although he remembered the elders' teachings not to look back and charged forward in time, he still had half his face bitten off.
And a young man named Jiang from a neighboring village was directly gored by a wild boar, with his intestines spilling out; he was rescued but only barely alive, and it was said he was close to death.
Even he himself had encountered danger several times.
With these precedents, he certainly didn't want his child to follow this path.
“It’s a pity Zhong Bo wouldn’t teach, otherwise his skills are quite good.
He’s well-respected in the surrounding ten li and eight xiang, and I heard he was even invited by a county lord last month to help, earning three taels of silver.”
Zhao Hehua said enviously.
“Good for nothing.
He was just lucky; he didn't encounter anything major.
Ten years ago, there was an even more powerful Gui Po in our village, who was connected to the underworld and had Dao; without an eight-man sedan chair, you couldn't even ask her for help, but what happened?
One time she went out, and she never came back.
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Yu Shu is weak, and even at home he can attract these things; if he were to follow him, would he be fine?
Don't worry about this; the big market is in three days, and I plan to take that ginseng and send it to Liu Family Pharmacy.
Over the years, I've built up some acquaintance with the steward of Liu Family Pharmacy; if I hand over that ginseng, I should be able to get Yu Shu in.
This Liu Family Pharmacy is an industry of the Liu family in the county; I heard that anyone who enters can learn Martial Arts and also learn the skill of identifying and recognizing herbs, and if he makes something of himself, he might even become a doctor.”
Chen Baihe said, gritting his teeth.
“That precious ginseng…”
Zhao Hehua’s expression changed.
She knew how difficult it was for her husband to obtain that precious ginseng; it was truly like snatching food from a tiger’s mouth, digging it out right under the nose of a fierce beast, almost losing his life.
Moreover, with autumn taxes approaching, the family had no spare money, and if it were given away…
But thinking of her own child, she could only sigh.
At least Liu Family Pharmacy was one of the few good prospects in the surrounding ten li and eight xiang.
It was far better than becoming a Gang member.
…
Early the next morning, Chen Yushu got up.
He hadn't slept well that night either.
No one who had just experienced such a thing could sleep well.
However, he still got up early, washed himself with a willow branch, and then took out a book from his bamboo cabinet.
three character classic!
It was a handwritten copy from his predecessor's two years in private school, besides which there was also a Hundred Family Surnames and a Thousand Character Classic.
The previous Chen Yushu was clearly not a scholar; the books, while not brand new, showed few signs of being read.
But the current him was naturally different.
On his attribute panel, there were two clear skills.
Reading! Calligraphy!
Although he had already resolved to learn Martial Arts, with no way to do so, he didn't want to waste time.
Moreover, he was very clear about how important reading and literacy were for someone who wanted to achieve something in this world.
Otherwise, even if a Martial Arts Secret Manual truly fell into his hands, he wouldn't be able to learn it.
Therefore, after discovering the attribute panel, he began his journey of relearning.
What he learned, naturally, was the written language of this world.
The characters from his previous life were still very different from those here.
He also needed to compare and identify them one by one, and re-memorize them.
Fortunately, with the foundation laid in the previous two days, plus his existing 'cultural foundation', his literacy speed was not slow.
After one stick of incense, he had 'read' through the entire three character classic.
Reading +1