Warring States Survival Guide
Chapter 66 - 39: Not Listening to the Elderly, Sooner or Later Falling Into a Pit

Chapter 66: Chapter 39: Not Listening to the Elderly, Sooner or Later Falling Into a Pit

"If you don’t listen to your elders, you’ll fall into a pit sooner or later."

Harano was not receptive to advice at all, stubborn as a mule. Ah Man was quite displeased with this, and as soon as she left the house, she grumbled to Ah Qing, "In my opinion, he’s just a dung beetle rolling poop—no matter how high he rolls it, there’s a limit. He’ll never amount to anything in this life."

After muttering, she glanced at Ah Qing and saw her eyes lowered in silence. She couldn’t help but exhort, "Remember to eat an extra bowl at every meal from now on. He’s such a spendthrift—being a doctor yet actually paying out of his own pocket, and refusing to kowtow for a little kickback. I doubt the good days will last long. So, while we can still eat an extra bowl, we should hurry up and do so—this chance won’t come again."

Ah Qing didn’t nod, worry flickering in her eyes, and she asked softly, "What will he do in the future?"

"Let him die for all I care!" Ah Man cursed, hating iron for not becoming steel. But she hesitated and sighed, "I can’t talk sense into him. Let him be. In the future... in the future we’ll just take him begging with us. If we have food, he has food. At least he won’t starve."

Ah Qing thought for a moment, dropped her gaze and nodded lightly, feeling this was acceptable, which put her somewhat at ease.

"Remember to eat more, gotta put on a bit of fat!" Ah Man reminded again, then went to look for Yayoi. Tonight they’d whip up some good dishes—since Harano was messing around anyway, still pretending to be tough, they’d go bankrupt sooner or later. Rather than let those poor villagers get free medicine, it was better to use it for a nice big meal herself.

She left to go "fake proclaim an imperial edict", telling Yayoi to stew two chickens tonight and add a generous pinch of salt. She’d eat one herself and the other would go to Harano and Ah Qing. Life was good.

......

That evening, Ah Man made use of the "welcome dinner" pretense to gorge herself yet again. After eating her fill, she lay on the straw mat, patted her little belly, picked a stalk of straw and started picking her teeth. The matter of Harano ignoring her advice was quickly off her mind—whatever, if he doesn’t want to kowtow, then don’t. If he wants to go bankrupt, let him. The cart will find its way around the mountain; we’ll deal with the future when it comes. Being happy now is what matters most.

Picking her teeth there, she was mentally calculating how much longer Harano’s "ancestral treasure" money would last, and wondering what he should do next. Would selling brawn pills at Town be more profitable, or should he just sell fake medicine? Suddenly, she noticed Ah Qing was tucked in one corner of the small table, and Harano, holding a book, was saying something quietly to her.

Ah Man was seriously surprised, scrambled up and scurried over, just in time to hear Harano teach Ah Qing two lines, then write them twice with cinnabar on paper. Ah Qing, holding a tiny brush, then dipped into Harano’s inkstone and started copying them out while chanting softly.

Ah Man was even more shocked, prodded Ah Qing and whispered, "What are you doing?"

"Learning to read." Ah Qing was still as terse as always.

"He’s teaching you to read?" Of course Ah Man could see that, but she still couldn’t believe it. "For free?"

Ah Qing nodded gently, still diligently copying characters, and Ah Man turned to Harano with a puzzled tone, "Why are you teaching her to read?"

Harano was busy studying himself, didn’t even glance up, and casually said, "She follows me around all day and it’s boring. Once she can read, she can look at books to pass the time."

There’s a good deal like this for following you around all day? Why didn’t you say so sooner? If I’d known, I’d have given you my head last month!

Ah Man’s eyes grew red with envy. In these times, it’s hard enough to learn anything, not to mention a little beggar, a little low-born kid, and a little girl at that—nobody would willingly teach her! Even if there was a teacher willing, she couldn’t afford it, nor could she afford materials!

Not to mention, just this big sheet of paper Ah Qing was using was worth half a chicken leg if you calculated carefully. Before she met Harano, she’d only had chicken a couple of times, and that was stolen.

She wanted to learn too, no way she’d miss out on a bargain. She nudged Ah Qing, "How many characters have you learned? Write them for me."

Ah Qing recited the nine characters she learned yesterday, writing them awkwardly for Ah Man to see. Ah Man’s round eyes widened as she memorized them and read them aloud. Before long, she was bumping Ah Qing with her butt, "Take a break, let me try writing for a bit!"

"Enough, don’t bother her learning!" Harano couldn’t look on any longer. Wasn’t this bullying an honest kid? Ah Qing was his person now! He pulled out a sheet of paper, rummaged through his pen bag for another brush, and pointed at the other end of the table, "You go over there!"

"Ah, you’re willing to teach me too? Oh, I’m so embarrassed!" Ah Man said in delight, but her butt was already planted where directed, her hands caressing the Mino Paper. In her heart, she thought, No wonder you’re a prodigal! Who else but you is gonna go broke first? The fact that you’re willing to teach us is already amazing. Normally, we’d be stuck writing on the ground in the dirt with a stick, and you’d come over to kick us and curse us once in a while!

This guy really doesn’t know how to be a teacher. Jackpot!

Harano didn’t mind teaching her at all—bring one sheep to the pen, might as well bring another. What’s one more student or a bit more paper and ink?

He treated everyone equally, prescribed medicine by the same formula, gave Ah Man two sentences too, taught her how to hold and use a brush, then let her mutter and write by herself. Then he went back to his reading. But before he’d finished three pages, Ah Man started tugging at his sleeve, eyes shining with excitement, "I’m done! What’s next?"

Harano shot her a speechless glance, suspecting she was just here to mess around.

This is exactly the difference between a bad student and a gifted one! Honest kids like Ah Qing really listen to the teacher—she could practice nine characters for half the night, building a solid foundation and promising future. But mischievous types like Ah Man? Total trouble. In five minutes, she’s claiming she’s done. In the future she’ll probably forget everything as easily as a bear picking corn—learn a little, forget a little.

But since he took his job seriously and liked teaching once he started, he patiently advised, "When you study, you have to be earnest. The worst thing is being eager for quick results—getting eight or nine words down solid a day, in five or six months you’ll basically have it. Don’t be so impatient."

Ah Man scratched her chubby round face, scrunched her little bean brows, and said quizzically, "Does it have to be that complicated? It’s not that hard—I think I’ve memorized them already!"

You wild child—already starting to argue...

Harano didn’t indulge her bad habits. He swapped her for a new piece of paper. "Alright then, read and write them out for me."

Ah Man licked the brush tip, recited while writing out the two sentences she’d just learned. Aside from her handwriting being crooked and messy, there weren’t really any mistakes.

Harano eyed her "test paper" for a while and figured it was probably because Ah Man already knew some—she apparently had learned a few dozen common Han characters before. Still, he nagged, "Maybe you remember them now but that’s just short-term memory. If you don’t practice, you’ll forget by tomorrow."

"No way. If I’ve remembered, I’ve remembered!" Ah Man was impulsive by nature, did whatever came to mind, and didn’t take advice. She insisted, "I’ve already learned these, just keep teaching me the next part! If I only learn a few characters a day, how long will it take before I can actually use them?"

"Fine!"

She’s brave, Harano is braver. Seeing she couldn’t be talked down, he decided to let her suffer a little and straightaway read her two more pages, but couldn’t be bothered to write them out for her. He made her copy straight from the book and memorize as she went. He paid her no mind—tomorrow, after a night’s sleep, he’d test her, and if she got even one wrong, he’d scold her till her eyes popped!

Does she really think learning to read is that easy? Kids in the modern era have to finish junior high before they can claim to really read, it takes nearly a decade!

Two pages of new words was no small feat. The wild child actually quieted down, kneeling obediently at the end of the table, honestly reciting and memorizing.

"Sir Saburō, have some tea." The temporary maid Yayoi came over, holding a teapot, poured Harano a bowl of tea, and even topped up for Ah Man and Ah Qing.

"Thank you."

Harano smiled at her, took a sip of tea, and set it aside to keep reading. After a few pages, he glanced up and found Yayoi still kneeling there with the teapot in her arms. He casually said, "Go ahead and rest. If we want more tea, we’ll pour it ourselves."

"It’s alright, Sir Saburō. I... I don’t really have anything else to do... so... I’ll just stay here and pour tea for you all." Yayoi snapped out of it, quickly let her perky ears droop, and sounded a little guilty, her gaze darting nervously, not daring to look directly at Harano.

Harano glanced at her, then at Ah Man, who was muttering while memorizing. He immediately understood and smiled helplessly: "If you want to learn too, just join us!"

That’s not a bad thing anyway; he needed to socialize, and he’d be out and about sooner or later. If everyone around him could read, they could write him a letter if something happened. It was way better than being surrounded by illiterates. Besides, he’d already taught two, a third made no difference. Later on, they could all have class together, eight or so new characters a day would be enough, it wouldn’t slow him down at all.

He even sighed inwardly: kids back in ancient times really are precocious—fighting to learn, nothing like his eldest niece. That kid at his uncle’s place—his cousin—she was a master at mischief and never passed her exams. His sister was this close to getting down on her knees to beg her to study, but it did no good: still failed, said she wanted to be a streamer when she grew up, didn’t care at all about studying.

Harano was extremely generous—feeling a little emotional—and Yayoi was stunned: "I can?"

"Of course!" Harano found her another brush and a sheet of paper—just like that, she joined the "Harano Night School."

Yayoi didn’t dare accept. "That’s too expensive, Sir Saburō. I... I’ll just use sand, really! Just being able to learn is already amazing..."

"Doesn’t matter. If you’re gonna learn, do it right. I can afford a bit of paper and ink." Harano spread the paper out in front of her, pressed the brush into her hand, totally unconcerned by such little expenses. His own wild niece spent several tens of thousands a year just on tutoring and private teachers—could’ve bought Minoh Paper by the ton! If a few sheets meant a kid would actually study hard, his sister would have changed careers to make paper, weeping with joy every day as she toiled to death—happily, at that.

Compared to his big sis, he was really lucky.

Yayoi cherished the chance to learn, immediately bowed deeply, and said earnestly, "Thank you, Sir Saburō, for giving me this chance. In the future, I will definitely..."

She wanted to say she’d repay Harano someday, but couldn’t think of anything Harano might need, so she got stuck.

"Don’t be so formal!" Harano quickly pulled her upright. He couldn’t get used to people bowing to him in this era; it made him uncomfortable. So he started teaching right away: still following the two-lines-a-day rule, eight to ten new characters a day.

Just like that, Harano’s night school kicked off in a muddled, happy way. Luckily, all three students were highly motivated, and teaching was a joy for him—he didn’t feel the least bit annoyed.

The night passed without incident; everyone slept well.

The next morning, after completing his daily routine, Harano was bored and immediately organized his first test. He had no ulterior motive, wasn’t being petty—he just wanted to teach Ah Man a lesson and show her the importance of studying diligently!

That’s just the responsibility of a teacher, to show Ah Man the right path. But after the three students turned in their test papers, Harano looked at them and immediately fell into deep thought.

This isn’t quite right...