Chapter 87 Soap, Shampoo
On the sandy ground outside the Crimson Land City, a group of students were writing and drawing with branches.
It can be said that today was their first formal learning of characters, and the excitement in their hearts was imaginable.
Although the characters written in the sand were weird, they still couldn't contain their passion.
Many children from the Crimson Great City were also practicing writing on the sandy ground because Zhuang Yu said that their workbooks were very precious and needed to be used sparingly.
The paper was indeed scarce, as the tree bark used to make it had to be purchased from afar, while trees were abundant outside but had to be bought in the Crimson Land, which cost money.
The sandy ground was actually a good method for practicing characters; after writing, they could just smooth it out.
The children of the Crimson Great City laughed at the characters written by foreign students on the sand, covering their mouths; they looked really ugly.
But when foreign students looked at the characters written by children from the Crimson Great City, weren't they mostly similar?
Well, it truly was the pot calling the kettle black.
In the midst of the excitement, regardless of how well they were learning, the learning atmosphere was still good.
Foreign merchants intentionally or unintentionally passed by the sandy ground, their eyes staring straight at the symbols on the sand.
They couldn't understand, but it had only been a day, and these students who came to the Crimson Great City could already write characters?
The world was changing. At least, these border Tribes bordering the Crimson Land would undergo huge changes.
The students practiced writing on the sandy ground repeatedly. The weather was extremely hot, and sweat dripped onto the ground.
Apart from their enthusiasm for learning characters, they also had to shoulder some other responsibilities, so this effort was necessary.
As dusk approached, the children of the Crimson Great City left first. They still had to go back to round up the cattle and sheep grazing on the grassland and bring some mulberry leaves back to feed the silkworms at home. Now, the mulberry trees they planted were growing tall, with lush green leaves, but the only problem was that the cattle and sheep occasionally gnawed them bare.
Zhuang Yu stood on the city wall, looking outside. Now, they had a little more silk, and some adults from individual Tribes had already put on new pants. This was just the beginning; the Crimson Great City would undergo earth-shaking changes and become a giant city of silk, a holy land that all Tribes aspired to.
The next morning, Zhuang Yu conducted his class as usual, having the students open their "Language" textbooks.
A group of students took out their brick-sized textbooks very carefully, fearing they might damage them.
They had already washed their hands clean before class for some reason.
For some reason, looking at their textbooks gave them a feeling of pilgrimage, especially when they flipped open the book and saw the densely packed symbols inside; this feeling intensified.
Zhuang Yu said, "Characters are the symbol of civilization, the foundation of all inheritance. Now, everyone turn to the first page of the textbook..."
All the students felt a solemn feeling in their hearts; they were learning characters.
The sound of textbooks opening was placed on the desks, neat and orderly.
Some students looked at the first page, and they already recognized the characters that began on the page; they were taught yesterday. Did the Crimson Great City teach them the entire book's content? It was such a thick book?
Their hearts were filled with a fiery passion, and they couldn't imagine recognizing so many characters, but what if they didn't finish teaching them?
Zhuang Yu had no idea about the inexplicable worries in these students' hearts. Since he handed out textbooks to the students, as long as they didn't leave school halfway, he would definitely finish teaching them.
Zhuang Yu began teaching new characters again, standing in front of the podium and starting to write on the blackboard.
He didn't know that his current appearance had become somewhat different in the eyes of the students, like emitting the most dazzling light, shining in everyone's eyes, unable to move away.
Was this what a teacher was like?
Because Zhuang Yu strongly requested it, these students called him teacher while at school, but at the beginning, they didn't quite understand what a teacher meant. But now... a vague interpretation seemed to emerge in their naive hearts.
It was said that the Young prince of the Crimson Great City was unparalleled in intelligence, but now they realized that such rumors were not enough to accommodate the wisdom of their teacher.
In their eyes, at this moment, Zhuang Yu was the embodiment of wisdom. Every word he said seemed to enlighten people's minds.
Knowledge could indeed make people reborn. This might not be an exaggerated statement. At least, after learning characters, these students would truly feel like they had gained a new life.
In this era where people are still struggling for food, Zhuang Yu brought spiritual nourishment for the first time, which was an unprecedented experience for these students. Especially when his library opened, the books inside would definitely let the students know the charm of words and what it means to have a world of words.
Zhuang Yu taught while the students were all ears.
However, after Zhuang Yu finished teaching a few characters for the day, his words instantly brought the students back to reality.
With a smile on his lips, Zhuang Yu said, "You've been at school for two days now, and I believe you have a preliminary understanding of the school. Now, let me talk about the school rules. The first rule, I believe you already know, is that fighting is allowed, but it must be limited to sparring. Friendship comes first. You cannot damage the school property. Otherwise, your Tribe will have to compensate."
Wanting to avoid students fighting was simply impossible in this era of martial supremacy. It was better to let them fight, but there had to be limitations. Normal sparring was allowed, but private brawling was not.
Of course, this boundary was not so easy to determine. Who knew whether they were sparring or brawling?
"Also, during sparring, you must not intentionally cause the opponent's death. Remember this rule. Once violated, you will be immediately expelled from school."
Once there was a death, it would definitely stir up conflicts between the two Tribes, especially if the deceased person was of high status. It could lead to war.
This was not Zhuang Yu's intention, so he emphasized in the first rule that no deaths were allowed, whether during sparring or brawling.
The students listened attentively; they had already tasted a bit of sweetness in learning characters. This sweetness made them unwilling to give up learning at school. Moreover, so far, the school rules were very reasonable and did not arbitrarily target anyone.
Many students from small Tribes showed a hint of joy. To be honest, in Wars with other Tribes, killing was commonplace. They, from small Tribes, had some gaps in strength compared to large Tribes. If they were really killed, their Tribes might not dare to seek revenge for them; they could only blame their insufficient strength.
This rule of the school could be said to be protecting them.
The students from large Tribes didn't show any expression either. Their purpose in coming to school was not to cause trouble. At this critical moment, they knew how to restrain themselves. They came this time bearing the heavy responsibility of their Tribes, not for indulgence.
Zhuang Yu looked at the expressions of the students below and was satisfied. At least, people from various Tribes had some consensus to some extent.
Zhuang Yu continued, "The school's learning will adopt a points system. Any expenditure at school will consume points, including meals, borrowing books from the library, and so on."
Zhuang Yu had already allowed these foreign students to eat for free for two days, but it was impossible to eat as much as they wanted. Besides, the Crimson Great City was not affluent, so providing these students with free meals was already a welcoming gesture from the school.
"As for how to earn points, there will be an exam every half month at school. Those with good grades will be rewarded with points. In addition, the school will issue some tasks, which will be received in the form of study groups. After completion, points can also be obtained as rewards. The address for receiving tasks is on the first floor of the teaching building."
"In the middle of the square, there will be a posted points leaderboard. In the future, all students of the school will be able to see it."
The posted points are the total points obtained by the study group and will not be deducted from what has been consumed.
Zhuang Yu wanted to create a school operating model completely based on the points system. How well students did at school and what their reputation was like would depend on how many points they earned.
Even the students from the Crimson Great City would follow this system. Of course, they were day students, so Zhuang Yu couldn't control what they ate at home.
After Zhuang Yu finished speaking, he let the students dismiss.
Once Zhuang Yu left, the foreign students started discussing.
"Even meals require those points? I thought the cafeteria food was free."
Everyone glanced at him, ignoring him. It was such a beautiful thought. The food in the school cafeteria was so delicious; it definitely had value. How could it be provided for free? They were self-aware.
"Earning points is based on study groups. Our group hasn't even formed yet."
Indeed, Zhuang Yu was afraid that they wouldn't take study groups seriously, so he urged them to speed up the formation.
"I wonder what kind of tasks the school will give?"
Some were puzzled because they had never encountered such a thing before.
Then they looked at the sky, not caring anymore; they were hungry. Just thinking about the food in the cafeteria made their mouths water.
But when they looked around, except for a few of them discussing enthusiastically, everyone else had disappeared.
"These damn guys must have gone to the cafeteria, leaving without even saying a word. Sneaky."
When they ran to the cafeteria, they noticed something different.
At the food serving window, strange symbols were marked in front of different dishes.
The children from the Crimson Great City exclaimed, "What? Now we have to use points to exchange for food? Fish slices in hot chili oil cost 8 points?"
Zhuang Yu had arranged for some people from the Jiaokang Tribe to come to the school to assist, acting as teaching assistants, just to help them record the students' points consumption.
A person from the Jiaokang Tribe chuckled, "The Young prince is very kind, giving each of you a basic 5 points for free."
Then he said, "Decide what you want to eat based on your points."
The children from the Crimson Great City counted on their fingers, then their heads drooped down. Five points, no matter how you calculated it, couldn't afford fish slices in hot chili oil.
Five points, if used reasonably, could still fill their stomachs, but... once they were used up, what would they eat tonight?
The children from the Crimson Great City pouted, then looked at the numbers in front of the dishes. They had learned some simple numbers, and they raised their student cards high, angrily pointing at the dishes, "Add more."
Hmph, five points were five points, and they could still eat enough, but looking at the other dishes, they also wanted to eat them. They could only have an extra meal at home at night. Poor foreign students had nowhere to have an extra meal, relying only on points to eat in the cafeteria.
Although the foreign students didn't understand numbers, they knew to ask whether they had enough points for the food they wanted.
Unexpectedly, happiness came too suddenly and left just as quickly.
They had just fallen in love with the cafeteria food uncontrollably, and now they couldn't afford it. Although there was a gourmet street outside the Crimson Great City, they had no goods to exchange, so they could only look longingly. Moreover, no one from their Tribes could bring goods for them. The journey was too far, and it wasn't possible.
More seriously, they had to spend all their points at noon. Would they have to go hungry tonight?
Looking at the food in the porcelain plates, it wasn't enough to eat.
In fact, Zhuang Yu was forcing them to quickly adapt to and get used to the school's points system.
This wasn't Earth; there was no compulsory education for nine years.
Don't even talk about studying for nine years; after nine years, Zhuang Yu couldn't guarantee what the situation on the ground would be like. This was not a time of peace; where would these students slowly learn for nine years?
But some students were smart. After eating, they called their study group members and ran to the teaching building because Zhuang Yu had said that's where the school issued missions.
They would definitely go to find out to avoid going hungry tonight.
Today's cafeteria was less lively than usual, with more frowns and worried faces. The teaching assistants were also recording the students' points situation.
After eating, some students began to form their study groups. Those who already had study groups rushed to the teaching building, where someone was already waiting for them.
Zhuang Yu arranged for people from the Jiaokang Tribe to issue missions there.
The students from the Crimson Great City were more familiar with these tribal uncles, so they asked, "Uncle, uncle, how do we earn points?"
They could go home for dinner at night, but what about their study group classmates? So they had to come along to inquire.
The people from the Jiaokang Tribe said, "You can register with me in the form of a study group to receive missions. Completing missions will earn points. Points are shared by the group, so you have to discuss how to use them within the group."
"What kind of missions?" asked the children from the Crimson Great City.
The people from the Jiaokang Tribe smiled, "Collect cow dung patties, one point each; help harvest honey, three points for one box; gather mulberry leaves, three points for one basket; herd cattle... Anyone want to do missions? Come register with me."
The missions were actually quite simple; Zhuang Yu couldn't let the students go hungry.
Of course, sometimes there might be special missions issued, which would be more difficult but would earn more points.
These students would earn points through their labor, which would also be part of their school life.
The foreign students looked at each other in surprise. Besides learning, they also had to do these things...
The children from the Crimson Great City laughed heartily. Wasn't this what they usually did? This was great; it allowed foreign students to work with them.
The foreign students didn't know what they felt, but one thing was certain: earning points wasn't as difficult as they imagined. They had a solution for dinner.
The students only had classes in the morning, with enough time to complete missions. Zhuang Yu was also afraid that the students would cause trouble if they had nothing to do, so it was better to give them something to do proactively.
Points are shared by the groups, which also allows them to be more closely connected, just like when eating, a group can share and order together. With the points of one group, they can order the food they want.
One study group after another began to register and receive missions. In this way, school life becomes more colorful; it wouldn't be interesting just to bury oneself in studying.
Ant and Feng Wen were also queuing up to receive missions. "We'll go pick up cow dung cakes again; we're fast at it."
"Now there are more people picking up cow dung cakes, it's a big competition. How about we pick mulberry leaves instead? It's on the way."
Chong Tong, Qinggui, Bai Mu: "..."
Even the heroes carried baskets to pick mulberry leaves and used sticks to poke cow dung cakes.
The teaching assistants from the Jiaokang Tribe reminded the students as they left, "Study hard; I heard that the top three study groups before the exam will receive a lot of point rewards."
Everyone's eyes narrowed, especially the good study groups. Top three?
It turned out that hard work in studying could also earn enough points. They were all heroes praised by the land; they definitely had pride in their hearts.
For some reason, there was a hint of rivalry in the eyes of each study group when they looked at each other.
Zhuang Yu wanted a positive competitive relationship, and it began to emerge through the points system. He believed that the points awarded would surely motivate these students.
Ant and Feng Wen's team was walking outside. Chong Tong said, "The three of us, plus the first guard of the Crimson Young prince, should have no problem being the first."
Qinggui and Bai Mu nodded.
However, both Ant and Feng Wen stiffened. What... what to do? They were the type to kneel down in War quickly.
Chong Tong nodded, "That's the advantage of a strong alliance."
Ant and Feng Wen: "..."
They felt like their bottoms were going to be swollen from being hit.
The two little radishes ran fast on the grass. They had to pick up more cow dung cakes to earn more points for the group, so they would be punished less when they got caught.
The school's system was being implemented in an orderly manner.
Of course, there were also problems, such as two study groups staring at a cow dung cake in the middle, with both sides' eyes turning red.
Then, they saw the cow dung cake starting to run away like it had legs.
Both study groups were stunned and immediately realized someone was using magic to grab the cow dung cake?
The school rules prohibited private fights but allowed competitive exchanges, and there was no rule against using magic in these competitions.
The two study groups, who were already jealous, immediately chased after.
Ant, with a wind-fire wheel attached to his feet, turned and ran, with a cow dung cake fleeing behind him.
My god, is picking up a cow dung cake so thrilling now? It's so dangerous.
"Don't run; we saw it first." A whole point was like snatching from them; no way.
Ant didn't dare to look back. "I picked it up first, so it's mine."
Unfortunately, his short legs couldn't outrun others.
Just as they were about to be caught up, the pursuers behind suddenly stopped.
Ant looked back and saw that the person chasing him had frozen up to the thighs, as if frozen in place.
Everyone's faces tensed up. "Chong Tong of the Frost Tribe, the prodigy of the land?"
The rumors of his cold laughter flashed through their minds.
But they immediately thought of the first rule of the school; at least Chong Tong wouldn't kill them, so they felt a bit relieved.
If it were outside, encountering such a prodigy of the land, whether they'd live or not would depend on the other person's mood.
However, everyone looked at each other in surprise. The prodigy of the land was actually competing with them for a cow dung cake...
Ant proudly picked up the cow dung cake with a stick and ran towards a white-haired teenager. "Frosty, we got another cow dung cake!"
Chong Tong was still in chaos. For a cow dung cake, he used magic...
Similar incidents also happened elsewhere. For example, Red from the Blood Loss Tribe was picking mulberry leaves, and his hand was reaching towards the mulberry tree. As a result, the mulberry tree was directly surrounded by a swarm of mosquitoes, and the number was so large that his hand couldn't even reach in.
A deep voice came, "This is mine."
Red was stunned. Someone was snatching his things?
He licked his vermilion-colored tongue, like a bloodthirsty beast, and looked at the newcomer. The eyes of the two were as if emitting sparks.
The blood vessels on Red's body, like a spider web, began to bleed outward. This was a unique blood technique of the Blood Loss Tribe.
The smell of blood permeated the air.
This person, Red, looked extremely evil.
Ye Chao remained expressionless, as if he hadn't seen the strange scene in front of him at all. As prodigies of the land, none of them feared each other.
Just when everyone thought they were about to fight, Zhuang Yu walked over. "Don't fight. Since you're causing trouble, both of you leave."
Ye Chao and Red furrowed their brows. Wasn't it allowed to compete? Besides, they hadn't even started fighting, so why did the Crimson Young prince intervene? Nevertheless, they left with their baskets on their backs.
As soon as they left, Zhuang Yu's face underwent a change, turning into a colorful mask, making it impossible to see his true appearance. Then, he began to pluck the mulberry leaves around him. "It's not as easy to get points as I imagined. That guy Red only knows how to fight. I have to rely on myself to earn points."
Yan Qi of the Faceless Tribe and Red of the Blood Loss Tribe belonged to the same study group.
It was like a praying mantis trying to catch cicadas with the oriole behind. But if Zhuang Yu had to rely on students to deceive others with his face, he didn't know how he would feel.
In any case, the students were adapting to the school rules in their own ways.
In the following days, Zhuang Yu started teaching numbers on top of teaching characters.
It was embarrassing that the school's students couldn't even understand the price of vegetables.
The practicality of numbers was different from that of characters. Learning a few characters didn't seem useful, but the usefulness of numbers was immediate.
For these Tribes who were still tying knots with grass ropes, it was simply mind-blowing.
They had initially wondered what the textbook called "Mathematics" was teaching.
Now it seemed that it was no worse than the "Language" textbook; they were both incredible things.
Learning arithmetic opened up a mysterious world for the students.
They also began to understand slowly what the points in their school meant.
The students from the Crimson Great City in the group even taught them how to calculate points using fingers and toes. Of course, if it exceeded fingers and toes, even the students from the Crimson Great City couldn't calculate.
Once the students understood the meaning of points, the competition became even fiercer. They scrutinized other groups every day to see how many points they had, whether they had more points than their own group.
Especially those study groups who wanted to be the top in the campus were more sensitive to the number of points.
Zhuang Yu also brought a large stone to the school square and used it to display the names of the top ten study groups in terms of points, essentially a campus leaderboard.
But it was still blank for now. Zhuang Yu planned to start posting it after the first exam and update it after each exam.
Zhuang Yu could imagine that this points leaderboard would become a list of campus celebrities, a good way for students to gain fame.
By then, even the lazy students would probably have to take it seriously.
On the third day, the third rule of the school came out.
Every class would select a monitor each day.
What did the monitor do? Help clean the blackboard, stay after school to clean the classroom, and... stand at the classroom door before class every day to check the cleanliness of the students.
Because Zhuang Yu found that some students didn't like to bathe due to their previous habits.
Although the classroom was spacious, with so many people, it wouldn't do if there were a few who didn't bathe.
Therefore, one of the monitor's tasks was to check if these students had bathed the night before.
On hot days, they still earned points every day, and with sweat all over them, of course, they had to bathe every day.
Foreign students looked at each other. Their teacher really liked cleanliness. They actually had to bathe every day, which was a very rare occurrence for them to bathe once a month before.
But it seemed okay; they had changed a lot now, and they liked this kind of clean change. They probably wouldn't like an environment where their noses were filled with foul odors anymore.
They even thought about it; in the future, if they were to find a partner, they couldn't bear it if their partner was as dirty as they used to be. They worried.
Zhuang Yu even made red armbands specifically for the monitors. If the armbands caught someone who hadn't bathed, points would be deducted.
The students: "..."
The points they earned through hard work could actually be deducted because they didn't bathe.
And when students were assigned as monitors, they walked with pride, their noses in the air. Because today they had the upper hand, they could stare at whoever they disliked incessantly, making the other party feel creepy.
Little Mushroom became a permanent armband holder, patrolling like a mountain king every day with his little wooden stick. If he saw someone who hadn't bathed, he would chase after them and squeak, attracting other monitors to come and deduct points.
It was a ruthless little mushroom, playing happily every day. Some students even gave it a name, the School Mushroom King.
The School Mushroom King became even more proud, with his hands on his hips every day.
For the sake of the students' hygiene, Zhuang Yu even started providing eye soap and shampoo.
Looking at the students with their straw-like hair, it was like weeds, almost every student was a punk. Zhuang Yu even wished he could straighten their hair.
Zhuang Yu was determined to produce soap and shampoo. He started experimenting whenever he had time.
The students were gradually adapting to school life. For example, under the big pear tree in the square, there was a white-haired boy leaning against the tree reading a book every day.
Extremely silly.
Of course, other students didn't think so. Every time they caught a glimpse, it was like seeing an idol, so cool.
Zhuang Yu was also surprised when he saw it. This guy clearly couldn't understand, he just pretended to be cool with a book.
The problematic students in the school were actually beginning to stand out, especially the unique prodigies of the land, who attracted attention.
For example, Red of the Blood Loss Tribe would hang himself on a tree outside the classroom with a rope for no reason, hanging like a corpse all day, scaring many people.
Now Red even had the title of Qinggui.
Then there was Ye Chao of the Fubing Tribe, who now liked to summon insects in the corner to form a creepy insect house, giving people chills.
Qinggui, the mountain spirit of the Cyan Tribe, always liked to put beast fangs in his mouth, matching his green skin. It was said that some students were scared faint by him.
These students were gradually adapting to the school. While they were not constrained, they began to show their true nature. It was hard to say whether it was a good thing or a bad thing, but Zhuang Yu was really getting a headache.
Apart from studying his soap and shampoo, Zhuang Yu was also busy printing books for his library. In addition to myths and fairy tales, he also started printing books on craftsmanship, such as snowflake salt, porcelain making, and even some arts practiced in the Crimson Great City.
The books on craftsmanship and arts were sealed and labeled with a big "Secret" word, then stored on the second floor of the library.
It could be said that these books were the secrets of their Crimson Great City, relating to the rise and fall of their Crimson Great City.
So, elders who guarded the library's second floor began to settle in one after another.
The library was being completed day by day.
At the same time, outside the Crimson Great City, a seemingly inconspicuous caravan of a small peripheral Tribe arrived at the market.
People knew this small Tribe, and many joked, "Even your small Tribe wants to make a profit in the Crimson Great City."
The merchants of the small Tribe didn't refute. Their faces were all smiling, and they greeted everyone with a smile.
Then they walked to the foot of the Crimson Great City's wall, and the smiles on their faces disappeared where no one could see. They looked at the towering city wall and murmured, "This is the indomitable wall. It seems not easy to mix in."
The corners of their mouths curled upwards. "The outside world has gone crazy saying how great the schools in the Crimson Great City are. In my opinion, they're just the Tribes who sent people to the Crimson Great City trying to justify their wrong decisions."
The disdain on the faces of the new merchants of the small Tribe sharply contrasted with their previous smiles.