Chapter 343: Education Plan (2/5) |
By noon, dark clouds rolled over the Home.
The heavy rain tore at the boundary between sky and earth, pouring down outside the windows, a constant wall of rain sounds.
“This feels even heavier than the downpour in the Forest.” Qin Ziwu stood at the edge of the balcony, remarking.
The rain was so heavy visibility was almost nil, everything outside a gray blur.
“Fish-men should like this kind of weather.” Qin Ziwen noticed the fish-men in the Home were unusually excited, the air full of moisture, weather that suited them perfectly.
But not many fish-men remained in the Home; most of them were single.
Those with families had already returned to the Fish-man Tribe with Luoen.
No one knew how many of their people they could bring back.
Speak of the devil, and he appears.
A long line trailed behind.
It was about four times the size of the group that had left at dawn.
Many fish-men were accompanied by mother fish-men and little fish-men.
Fish-men reproduced quickly; it was said they averaged two or three offspring per birth.
But fish-men had big appetites. Ordinary fish-man families could not afford many children, so families usually did not have a second litter until the young reached adulthood.
These newly arrived fish-men were visiting the Home for the first time, curiously scanning their surroundings.
Qin Ziwen stepped forward to greet them. As Home Master, at the very least he had to make his face known to these fish-men.
After polite exchanges, the fish-men were settled into the Fish-man Burrow. The interior of the burrow was spacious, easily accommodating them.
But Qin Ziwen soon found a problem.
These little fish-men had the boundless curiosity typical of younglings.
Once settled, the fish-man young climbed ashore and ran wild through the Home, and some little fish-men even ended up playing with human children.
On an open patch of ground, several seven-to-eight-year-old human children were playing hopscotch.
Two fish-man younglings crept close, watched for a while, then began imitating from the side.
But they were unaccustomed to walking on land; their hopping looked awkward, which sent the human kids into peals of laughter. Somehow, despite lacking a common language, they inexplicably played together.
Qin Ziwen pondered. He felt one thing should perhaps be formally rolled out across the residential complex.
That was education.
Not just education for children, but also for youths and adults. With the fish-men included, the residential complex population already exceeded three thousand.
Some rural towns in remote areas had only that many people.
If people don’t plan for the long term, they will face short-term worries.
The current population structure of the complex was still healthy, but it might not remain so.
Children learned quickly, and fish-man younglings matured especially fast; they could reach adulthood in four or five years.
They needed to be guided properly.
Of course, given the current reality, expecting all able-bodied people to study full-time was unrealistic.
Perhaps a period after dinner could be set aside for youths and adults to study systematically.
In fact, many of the able-bodied members of the Qin Alliance already spent leisure time self-studying, though such learning was fragmented and unstructured.
Now presented itself an opportunity.
Normalize education within the Qin Alliance.
Create different training classes for blacksmiths, tailors, boatwrights, medics, and other trades.
Divide them into children’s classes and adult classes.
“Master, I think this idea is excellent. For children, the focus should be cultivating interest and discovering potential; for adults, training should focus on mastering their trade and improving skills. Teaching separately like this will enable everyone to achieve something.” Jia Liangcai approved of Qin Ziwen’s plan.
“Mm, and the kids need things to do besides playing.”
So children under twelve in the residential complex, after crossing over, finally began attending school again thanks to everyone’s efforts.
Many members of the Qin Alliance had been teachers before; there were even some university instructors among those who had integrated into the school.
After screening, a group of teachers for basic courses and a group for specialized courses were selected.
Students were accepted without discrimination; human children and fish-man younglings alike could attend.
Language differences were no longer a problem. With the Hundred Schools Book Tower, they learned while being taught, and taught while learning.
Once the schools were on track, the residential complex quieted down.
The heavy rain outside the window continued.
“Brother, Luoen just made another forecast. It’ll still rain three days from now. This downpour probably won’t stop anytime soon.” Qin Ziwu said, wearing a worried expression.
Qin Ziwen smiled, “No big deal. If it’s dark on one side but bright on the other, we’ll head to the Forest if the sea won’t work. We’ll gather people and go cut trees in the Forest.”
“Okay.” Qin Ziwu agreed. He was getting bored of the sea environment anyway; a change of map would be nice.
After gathering everyone, Qin Ziwen used the Backtrack function, opened the passage, and led the way.
He took the Crowned Eagle, Chitu, Little Black One, and Little White Dragon, passed through the portal and returned to the Forest.
The island map was too small for them to run; the Forest was more suitable for their survival.
Treading on the Forest’s muddy ground and breathing in the scent of vegetation, Little Black One tilted its head, nostrils twitching, eyes full of excitement.
Little White Dragon followed behind, alertly scanning the surroundings.
Chitu tapped its hooves, taking small quick steps, looking around. Suddenly it turned its neck, drew in the scent sharply, and looked toward a small grove to the east.
It glanced back at its owner. Finding its owner not watching, it trotted over to a nearby tree, leaned its head over, and sniffed at a mud pit behind the tree.
Its eyes brightened; it suddenly raised its head, upper lip curling to show its teeth.
Ah, a little mare~
Chitu grew restless.
It could smell that the owner of the urine was a healthy, strong mare in heat.
Really, she came to mark the area near Chitu’s lord’s territory—was that a hint?
Chitu’s mouth quirked upward.
It circled once in place. From the hoof prints and trampling marks, wise and mighty Chitu already guessed which direction the little mare had left.
But without the owner’s permission, it could not leave on its own.
Chitu’s eyes rolled; it went around to Qin Ziwen’s back and gently bit the sleeve of his clothes, wagging toward that direction.
It repeated this several times,
finally drawing its owner’s rebuke, “Don’t tear my clothes.”
Seeing the little schemer, Qin Ziwen guessed something was up, so he walked over to the tree. Chitu pointed with its hoof at the footprint on the ground.
“Why are you showing me your footprints?” Qin Ziwen asked, then saw Chitu shake its head and stamp a hoof, leaving a clear print beside the horse track.
Comparing the two, Qin Ziwen realized something was off.
The size and shape of the hoof prints were different.
He couldn’t name the precise difference, but something looked odd.
Qin Ziwen called Du Yu. Du Yu identified it at a glance — “Master, these are prints from hooves with horseshoes nailed on. Horsehooves nailed with horseshoes leave very complete, clear prints, with nail-hole marks on the sides that slightly raise the soil, right here.”
“No wonder I felt something different.” Qin Ziwen suddenly understood; he had never seen such a thing.
He hadn’t even thought of shoeing Chitu.
Mainly because Chitu had already broken through to Superhuman; there seemed no need for such a thing.
Du Yu looked up, “This hoof print is very clear. Someone was here a few hours ago.”