"Slow down, slow down, don't choke … You won't be hungry … Don't reach out your hands, use chopsticks!"
Zhou Hua, who was sitting across the table with a big belly of six or seven months, looked at Little Shiba, who was eating like a wolf. She felt angry and amused at the same time. She did not know why her well-behaved younger brother had become more and more disobedient in the past few months. He would run all over the mountain, and every time he came back, he would be covered in sweat. It was said that he had gone to practice martial arts, but he was just a little kid. How could he practice martial arts? She did not know what he was doing, and he did not listen to her when she asked him to go home for dinner. Finally, his mother became anxious, and if he came home late, she would not give him any food. This trick worked well in the beginning, but later, Little Shiba became smart. He even knew that his mother would not give him any food, so he came to his sister's house to freeload.
"Sister, it's delicious. It's really delicious. Your cooking is the best. Mother's cooking is not as good as yours!" While eating, Little Shiba murmured to flatter Zhou Hua. After a few words of flattery, Zhou Hua was overjoyed. She, with her big belly, asked about his well-being from time to time.
"Boy, you're so smart at such a young age. Eat, eat! Don't flatter me!" Wang Tianlei, who was sitting not far away, said to his brother-in-law with a thread-bound book in his hand, discontentedly.
"Hehe, brother-in-law, what book are you reading?"
Little Shiba had noticed the book in Wang Tianlei's hand and the four big words on the cover "Ignis Skill" since he came to his sister's house for dinner for the first time a month ago.
Judging from the name, Little Shiba could conclude that it was a secret book of martial arts. Compared to the excitement he felt at the first sight of the book, Little Shiba was much calmer now.
That was because he had memorized the whole book.
At the first sight of the four words, Little Shiba rushed up and looked at the book. From the words and pictures on the book, he could tell that it was a secret book of Internal Strength, and it was much more profound than the Unusual Strength Qigong that Wang Tianlei had taught him.
From then on, Little Shiba didn't go home for dinner every other night. Freeloading was an excuse for him to memorize the scripts.
Although Wang Tianlei treasured the Ignis Skill and kept it close to him, he had a habit of taking it out every night after dinner to have a look at it, which naturally gave Little Shiba a chance to read it.
Naturally, Wang Tianlei could not guard against Little Shiba.
Little Shiba was a child of three or four years old, who knew nothing, so it didn't matter if he read it. Therefore, with the help of Wang Tianlei's relaxation, Little Shiba spent a month memorizing the mnemonic formula of the Ignis Skill. The book was not thick, with only a dozen or twenty pages, and they were all written in Chinese. Compared with the English words in his previous life, it was much simpler. However, he did not dare to practice because he had not completely memorized the pictures on the book.
As someone who had practiced Unusual Strength Qigong, he naturally knew that there should be no deviation in the route of the Internal Qi. Once there was a deviation, he would be possessed by the Devil, or even die. Little Shiba had the ability to memorize the scripts, but he had no experience in memorizing the pictures. Although he had memorized them one by one, he could not guarantee that they were completely correct.
Therefore, he would seize every opportunity to take a look at the book to make sure that there were no mistakes in the pictures in his mind.
As for the question, "Brother-in-law, what are you reading?", he had asked it several times, but each time he got the same answer.
"I don't know!"
In the past, when he heard this answer, he would always say "oh" and stop asking.
But today was different, because there was only one picture left for him to confirm. Therefore, he needed to find an excuse to look at it a few more times and confirm the last step of the process.
Little Shiba swallowed the last mouthful of rice and rushed to Wang Tianlei's side. He put his little head in front of the book and asked, "Brother-in-law, if you don't know what this book is, why do you read it every day?!"
"Because I can't read!" Little Shiba's question touched Wang Tianlei's sore spot. He put the book on his knees and said angrily, "If I could read, I wouldn't have studied the pictures in this book over and over again!"
"What do the pictures in this book mean?!" Little Shiba inadvertently picked up the book from his lap, upside down, and then turned it to the last page, revealing the pictures on the last page in front of him.
"These pictures are all the routes of the Internal Qi!" Wang Tianlei did not doubt him and said, "Unfortunately, these pictures can only be fully understood with the words on them!"
"You can learn if you can't read!" Little Shiba's eyes stopped on the last page of the Ignis Skill, and he said casually, "Doesn't the old blind man know how to read?"
"Yeah, why didn't I think of that?!" Wang Tianlei suddenly let out a strange cry and his body, which was leaning on the chair, suddenly straightened up, "Although the old blind man can't see, he can still teach people how to read!"
"Yeah, yeah, I also want to learn how to read!" Little Shiba said. He took a last look at the Ignis Skill and put it down gently, "Brother-in-law, how about you teach me after you learn it?!"
"Anyway, the old liar has nothing to do and no one will really be cheated by him. It's better to let him open a school in the village and teach us how to read. Not only me, but everyone else in the village can learn as long as they want, especially those brats who run around and cause trouble all day long. Take them there to learn how to read. And those energetic hunters, let them learn how to read after practicing every day. It's also a way to cultivate their minds and change their bad habits of being busy and irritable. In this way, the old liar can also earn some money for his meals, and he doesn't have to pretend to be pitiful all day long at the entrance of the village!"
"Is that okay?!" Zhou Hua heard Wang Tianlei's words and a trace of doubt flashed across her face, "Can they come?"
"It's up to them whether they want to or not. This kind of thing can only be done voluntarily. As for the brats in the village like Little Shiba, try to let them come if they can. Alas, in my life, the only disadvantage I suffer is that I don't know how to read!"
Speaking of this, he sighed and his breath revealed a feeling of having experienced the vicissitudes of life.
"Why are you sighing? You're only 20 years old, but you're acting like an old man in his 70s or 80s!"
Hearing Wang Tianlei's sigh, Zhou Hua frowned and pinched Wang Tianlei discontentedly.
"Teach us how to read?" Little Shiba was stunned for a moment and then he understood. He admired Wang Tianlei even more. Wasn't this the same as eliminating illiteracy? In this era, the literacy level of the common people was extremely low. In a small mountain village like theirs, the only person who could read was the old swindler, who was blind, not to mention Little Shiba.
Moreover, in the eyes of the people of this era, at least in the eyes of these villagers, literacy was not very useful. In their eyes, things like reading and writing were the work of the big men in the county. Their task was to hunt and farm during the day, and at night to hold their wives in bed and reproduce the next generation.
Wang Tianlei's thinking was much further than that of ordinary mountain people. However, this kind of thing might be very difficult to carry out.
"Well, brother-in-law, I also want to learn how to read. When the time comes, can you talk to my father and send me there as well?!"
"Of course, you're so young. It'll be good for your future if you learn how to read early. Father-in-law wants to send you to Qingyang Market as an apprentice, right? If you learn how to read, your future will be much brighter than that of ordinary people! "Wang Tianlei patted Little Shiba's little head and said with a smile.
Little Shiba twisted his body a few times to get his head out of the scope of Wang Tianlei's big hand. "Well, brother-in-law, when will you let the old blind man teach you how to read? Be sure to let me know!"
"Don't call him the old blind man anymore. From now on, he will be your teacher, and you must respect him!" Wang Tianlei said seriously, "This is the rule and the reason. You must remember that at any time, the reason and the rule should not be neglected!"
"Yes, Brother-in-law!" Little Shiba nodded quickly and looked like he was ready to learn.
"Well, well, Little Shiba, you've eaten. It's time to go home. If you don't go back, you'll be scolded by your mother again!"
"Oh, I see. Thank you, sister. Sister, I'm leaving!" Little Shiba felt as if he had been pardoned. He trotted away from Wang Tianlei's house.
"That's great. The last picture has been determined, and I can use the opportunity of learning to read with the old blind man to cover up the flaw of my literacy. Not bad, not bad at all. My brother-in-law is a talent. It's a pity that he is holed up in this small mountain village. However, if it weren't for him, I wouldn't be so lucky!"
Little Shiba, Boxer, and Buttface lived in a very large room. Although the Zhou's house was not rich, the last thing a mountain family lacked was space. Although the three brothers lived in the same room, they were far away from each other. Moreover, they slept in separate beds. Although the bed was very poor and low-class, it was very warm and solid.
Little Shiba's bed was against the south wall, on which there was a hole. The size of the hole was just enough to let in the bright moonlight through the window.
Little Shiba climbed onto the bed and covered himself with the quilt. He fumbled under the quilt and found several pieces of crumpled paper. He looked at them carefully in the moonlight through the small hole. On the paper, there was a naked human figure drawn with charcoal. There were several black lines on the figure, and at the intersection of the black lines were the names of acupoints. It was the picture that Little Shiba had memorized from the Ignis Skill. Today, he made the final confirmation!
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