There was only one teacher in the school, and his name was Zhang Jinglin. Furthermore, all the lessons in the school were taught by him alone.
Everyone else felt that the teacher was amazing and knew everything. But Ren Xiaosu had always had doubts. As the saying went, everyone had their own specialties. A person's energy was limited, so it was impossible for Mr. Zhang to be omniscient, right?
Ren Xiaosu had always been different from others. He liked to reflect when looking at a problem. It was only after listening to Mr. Zhang's lectures that he realized this was called looking at a problem dialectically.
Yan Liuyuan was sometimes very puzzled. This was because Ren Xiaosu often refuted Mr. Zhang Jinglin's views, yet he would still come to attend Mr. Zhang's lectures whenever he had the time.
During the afternoon lessons, Ren Xiaosu specially brought Yan Liuyuan out to celebrate. It was for no other reason than that he would be able to attend classes in the yard from now on.
As he usually squatted on top of the wall and was too far away from the classroom, he could not hear clearly. Originally, Zhang Jinglin liked to close the doors and windows tightly during his lectures. This was because he was afraid that the commotion outside would affect the students and cause them to be distracted.
But later on, when he realized that Ren Xiaosu was eavesdropping, he would leave a window open.
But now, he decided to call Ren Xiaosu over to the yard.
Many parents of children living in troubled times would not send their children to school to learn, but to make it easier for their children to get married in the future. This was especially true for girls who attended school as they would usually be able to find a good husband.
In this era, being able to read and know three-digit arithmetic was already very good.
Everyone was so busy trying to survive that there was barely any food to eat. Who would care if you were educated or not?
Therefore, most parents did not send their children to school with long-term plans. In this small town, there were also the poor and the rich. Where there were people, there would be competition.
Yan Liuyuan watched as Ren Xiaosu went to the grocery store to buy a cigarette with a filter tip. Old Wang even said proudly that his cigarettes did not have any extra ingredients added to them and were very safe.
A cigarette cost 20 yuan. The rarer something was, the greater its value.
Yan Liuyuan asked in confusion, "Brother, why did you buy cigarettes?"
"Your teacher allowed me to attend the lecture in the courtyard. It's fine if I don't pay the tuition fee, but I have to at least express my gratitude." Ren Xiaosu said with a smile, "I know this Mr. Zhang likes to smoke."
From Ren Xiaosu's point of view, he had to reciprocate the kindness shown by others.
During lunch, the two of them went to the backyard of the school. Mr Zhang was eating stir-fried cabbage. Ren Xiaosu took the initiative to pass a cigarette to Mr Zhang with a smile.
Zhang Jinglin didn't refuse. Instead, he asked Yan Liuyuan to stay away. "You're still growing. It's not good for you to smell smoke."
Ren Xiaosu said gratefully, "Thank you, Sir, for letting me attend the lecture in the courtyard."
"Phew." Zhang Jinglin lit the cigarette with a match he used to light his own fire. Then, he exhaled a mouthful of smoke. "There aren't many students like you who like to listen to lectures. If you want to attend, go ahead. From now on, you'll stand at the door, but you're not allowed to enter the classroom."
"Alright." Ren Xiaosu agreed. "Sir, I have a question."
"Go ahead." Zhang Jinglin probably didn't smoke for long, so he didn't mind whatever Ren Xiaosu asked him.
"Sir, you said before that humans had a lot of technology before The Cataclysm, and we humans didn't die out. Why don't we see those technologies reappearing now?"
Zhang Jinglin glanced at Ren Xiaosu. "During the period after The Cataclysm, humans didn't even accurately calculate how many years we've been living. It's already good enough that we're still alive. How can there be people who are knowledgeable?"
"But we should still keep some information, right? Won't we be able to recreate civilization by learning a little? "Ren Xiaosu was curious.
"It's been lost." Zhang Jinglin said with some regret, "Let me ask you. If I gave you a set of information on how to build an airplane, would you be able to build one?"
"It's not like I've learned it before. Although having the information can save a lot of time, I'm also learning from scratch," Ren Xiaosu said.
"Yes, everyone is learning from scratch now." Zhang Jinglin looked at the remaining half of his cigarette and felt a little heartache. He seemed to be hesitating about whether to smoke it or not.
He wanted to keep half of it for later, but it would be a little embarrassing to do so in front of Ren Xiaosu and Yan Liuyuan.
Ren Xiaosu was still puzzled. "Did no one really overcome the hardships and continue learning all those years ago?"
"No, they all starved to death," Zhang Jinglin said.
"Could it be that all that knowledge has been lost?" Ren Xiaosu was not willing to accept it.
This time, Zhang Jinglin looked at Ren Xiaosu seriously and said meaningfully, "They're in the hands of a few people."
…
"Alright." Zhang Jinglin stood up and said, "Don't ask about this anymore. It's time for class."
Ren Xiaosu pestered Zhang Jinglin with one last question. "Sir, when were the walls of our stronghold built? Why did they build them?"
"After The Cataclysm, wild animals ran rampant. It's said that there was even a bug tide a long time ago, so humans had no choice but to build high walls to keep out the danger," Zhang Jinglin explained.
"But most of the wild animals will not actively attack humans even after they've evolved." Ren Xiaosu was curious. Monkeys were still vegetarians, and sparrows still loved to eat grains. They would not actively eat humans.
Currently, Stronghold 113 was located within the "perimeter" of human habitation. Most of the more ferocious wild animals were actually excluded from the "perimeter."
The higher the serial number of a stronghold, the more dangerous it would be. For example, the legendary Stronghold 178 would lose many people every year because they were trying to expel the wild animals.
Meanwhile, Stronghold 113 was actually considered "inland."
There were still many dangers, such as the wolves, but it was not insurmountable. If that was the case, why would such a large human settlement still have high walls?
Zhang Jinglin said with a smile, "As long as there's still danger in the wilderness, the refugees can only rely on the stronghold to survive. At that time, the stronghold will have a lot of cheap labor. Do you think the organizations behind the stronghold don't have the ability to completely eliminate the dangers in the wilderness? Humans' firearms and explosives are more powerful than you can imagine. But why would they want to eliminate them? It's not like they're a threat to them. "
When Ren Xiaosu heard this, he fell into deep thought. Although he was a precocious teenager, there were some things he did not understand because he had never been exposed to them before. This was also the reason why he was thirsty for knowledge.
Zhang Jinglin continued, "They won't tear down the walls. How could the people behind the walls possibly give up on a natural class barrier like this?"
With that, Zhang Jinglin went to change his clothes. Ren Xiaosu asked, "Sir, why are you changing? You didn't even get dirty from the clothes you were wearing just now."
Zhang Jinglin adjusted his collar and said, "The clothes I was wearing just now were stained with the smell of smoke. It's not good for the students to smell it."
Yan Liuyuan was in awe. Meanwhile, Ren Xiaosu suddenly felt a little unhappy. "Then will it be fine for me to smell it? Sir, you didn't tell me to stay away from them just now."
Zhang Jinglin thought about it for a long time. "Get lost."
At this moment, Ren Xiaosu suddenly heard the voice from the palace in his mind say again, "Quest: Thirsting for knowledge is never a bad thing, but you have to teach others what you've learned."
Ren Xiaosu was stunned. He could not understand what the quest wanted him to do.
…
During the afternoon class, the students found it very refreshing. Standing outside the door was Ren Xiaosu, who was a few years older than them. As a result, many of the students turned to look at him.
Zhang Jinglin knocked on the blackboard a few times before he managed to quell the curiosity of the students. He said, "We'll be having a survival class this afternoon."
This was the unique thing about schools in this era. Not only did they have to teach the arts and sciences, they also had to teach survival.
However, this class had been giving Zhang Jinglin a headache. This was because he was not very good at wilderness survival.
Therefore, most of the time, he could only recite the lessons from the materials he had kept.
Zhang Jinglin looked at the students in the classroom. "Pay attention. Don't think that danger is far away from you. You have parents to protect you now. When you're adults, you have to learn how to protect yourselves. Today, we'll be talking about what to do if you encounter a pack of wolves in the wild. "
The students in the audience loved to listen to survival classes the most. The other classes were too boring for their age. Survival classes were more interesting to listen to.
At this moment, the classroom was dead silent. Zhang Jinglin looked at Ren Xiaosu, who was leaning against the door and listening. "Come, tell us. What should we do if we encounter a pack of wolves in the wild?"
Ren Xiaosu thought for a moment and said, "You should try to choose a hillside with trees around it. That's because the geomancy of the cemetery is better that way."
Zhang Jinglin: "???"
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