Chapter 653: Beginning to Teach

Early the next morning, the Huaxia Soldiers, awakened by their precise biological clocks, quickly performed their shift changes; afterwards, the Soldiers, having already tidied up and eaten breakfast early, blew their Whistles in the camp.

The Slaves in their sleep were awakened by the sharp, successive sounds of the Whistles; they were initially somewhat irritable, but upon remembering the lecture from last night, they had already been taught what the Whistle was and what the Whistle represented.

Thus, they quickly got up and walked outside; Gao An and those who had endured the whip slept on their stomachs all night, because the pain in their buttocks made it impossible for them to lie down to sleep, and getting up in the morning was also extremely difficult.

They crawled out of their Tents in extremely painful postures and then helped each other stand up, while at this time the Soldiers had already begun patrolling to see which people in which Tents had not gotten up; if they discovered anyone who hadn't, they would directly flip open their Tents and then blow the Whistle forcefully.

Just like that, all the Slaves arrived outside their Tents in an orderly fashion; every dozen or so Tents, there was an Instructor, because the area of the entire camp was too large for one person to teach, so they chose to teach using a zone-based system.

In a place where everyone could see, a table was placed, on top of which was a basin, and beside it were some things that had not yet been distributed to the Slaves, and which they did not recognize.

After that Instructor scanned the Slaves, he said loudly: "I am your Instructor; you do not need to call me leader, you only need to call me Instructor, including the other Soldiers, you can address them all this way. In the coming days, we will teach you how to live in our Huaxia, to let you, from savages, become civilized people; even if you are Slaves, you will be civilized Slaves."

He ignored the confused looks of the Slaves and pointed to the clay basin, saying: "This is a washbasin, used for you to wash your hands and faces every day. How to wash, I don't need to teach you, you should all know; savages are also people."

"However, my requirement is that you must wash all the dirt and grime on your hands and faces until they are clean. Later, there will also be washrooms built here, and you must wash your entire bodies clean."

"Your task this morning is to wash your hands, arms, faces, and necks until they are clean. Also, I will teach you how to use a toothbrush and tooth powder."

Afterwards, he picked up the wooden bristle brush and said: "This is called a toothbrush; it is very simple to make, and in the future, you will need to make them yourselves. What is in this box is tooth powder; in reality, it is salt, but it is not for you to eat. Huaxia is not short of salt; the salt for eating and the salt for using must be separated. To Huaxia, salt is the same as dirt, not precious at all. Later, every Tent will be issued a Bamboo Tube of this salt."

The Slaves were already hearing things wrong; Huaxia was not short of salt, they could all use it freely, and they could even possess salt themselves later? Although their hearts were churning, they dared not make a sound.

The Instructor picked up the toothbrush and sprinkled a lot of salt on it: "This is the simplest kind; in the future, you can grind burnt charcoal into fine powder yourselves and mix it together to use. Now, I will demonstrate to you how to use it."

Afterwards, he put the toothbrush with salt on it into his mouth and bared his teeth to demonstrate to them: brushing up and down, left and right, back and forth—anyway, brushing in all sorts of ways. Then he picked up the Bamboo Tube filled with water beside him, took a mouthful of water, rinsed his mouth, and spat it into the basin.

"This is brushing your teeth. Brushing your teeth is to ensure that your teeth will not rot, to keep them free of dirt, and to ensure that after you have lived for twenty or thirty... winters and summers, you will still have teeth to use. At the same time, it can also make your mouths less smelly."

"This one time won't have much effect; you must persist every day, brushing at least twice a day. As long as you live, you brush; forming a good habit will always allow you to obtain a good set of teeth."

The Slaves were all very confused; they did not understand why sticking a hairy twig into their mouths and brushing could keep their teeth problem-free forever. Among these people, there were not a few with bad teeth; many people had been enduring toothaches, and bleeding gums were something they had long since become accustomed to. Some people even, because their teeth hurt too much and they couldn't stand it, would shake and wiggle them with their hands, and after feeling them loosen, would pull them out by force; in this era, there were not a few people who died because of tooth problems.

In a place nearby, a sufficient quantity of cleaning supplies had already been laid out: Bamboo Tube rinsing cups, toothbrushes, and a tube of salt, all just delivered.

The Instructor finished the demonstration and then said: "Good, now according to your respective Tents, starting from 0001, go and collect your things, then return to your positions and stand still. Move now!"

He finished speaking, but no one moved, because no one knew what number their Tent was; they only remembered their names, and they had no memory of any numbers.

The assisting Soldier immediately stepped forward to Gao An and the others' Tent: "You are 0001, remember that! Who is the Tent Leader? Now you lead the way to collect the things."

At the mention of the words "Tent Leader," Gao An's legs trembled, but fortunately, it had nothing to do with him now. San used his stiff pace to walk slowly to the place where things were collected, holding two Bamboo Tubes containing items in his hands; after that, it was Gao An and the others—they only took one each, and the salt was in San's hands.

Just like that, after everyone had collected their own, the Instructor spoke: "Good, now go and scoop water into the washbasins in your Tents and bring them out. Given your current situation, it is best to scoop more; Tent Leader first!"

San then turned around with difficulty, and after scooping the water full according to the instructions, he brought it out. Only after the Instructor gave the word did they place the basins on the ground.

"Good, now squat down, wash. Start from your hands; I said, hands, arms, faces, and necks, wash them all clean. After washing them clean, brush your teeth."

Because of the issue of supplies in Huaxia, it was naturally impossible to issue Hemp Cloth towels to the Slaves; they were certainly left to air-dry or shake-dry naturally. In many ordinary households, there were only one or two towels, shared by the whole family.

That basin of water was turning yellow and black at a speed visible to the naked eye. Before it was even time to wash their faces, the water was already so dirty that they couldn't bear to look at it, so an order was given to have them carry the water, pour it into the field behind, and after letting them fetch water again, wash once more.

The Instructors were still walking around checking; if they felt someone hadn't washed clean, they would make them continue washing, not even letting them off with their fingernails. San didn't even know how long he had scrubbed his face and neck, until it hurt a little, and there was no more mud coming off his hands, before he felt he must have washed clean.