Chapter 654: Hardship of Teaching

After the instructor checked San's hands and face to confirm they were clean, he had him go through the process of brushing his teeth, telling him that he needed to brush for about three "minutes." However, San did not understand what "minutes" meant; in his world, time only consisted of Heaven and the cycle of cold and heat, and the smallest divisions of time were only day and night. He had absolutely no concept of anything more detailed.

So, after getting these Slaves ready, the instructor began to count aloud, starting from one and not stopping until he reached one hundred and eighty, telling them that at this speed, about sixty counts equaled one minute.

However, the instructors never considered that this group of Slaves might have difficulty even with basic counting, let alone the issue of place value. Now, besides Huaxia, the Xuanyuan Tribe and the Suiren Clan were also forced to use a more perfect decimal system; in fact, the "River Chart" was precisely about the issue of place value.

But for most tribes, because their Mathematics and arithmetic were backward, the issue of place value remained very chaotic. Without having undergone systematic study of basic Mathematics, basically all the Slaves were completely unable to understand Huaxia's quantity calculations. Even the tenant farmers who had been in Huaxia for a long time for the most part could not calculate them either; their salary calculations and the trading of goods were all built on a foundation of trust in the Huaxia people.

The Slaves did not pay much attention to all that anyway. Once the counting ended and the instructor said stop, they immediately stopped brushing their teeth and then rinsed their mouths with water. Although they still did not quite understand the meaning of brushing teeth, they did feel that their mouths seemed much more comfortable, and the sticky feeling had decreased a lot.

All the Slaves finished washing up one by one in this way, and they could only share the washbasins for the time being. Starting tomorrow, the instructors would no longer teach them how to wash their faces and brush their teeth; they would need to do it themselves. After all, wanting to teach so many Slaves within one Winter was really not an easy task.

Subsequently, the instructors continued to instill the rules they had already explained once, including the issue of using the toilet. The toilets had already been built, and they had been taught how to use them yesterday. Today was just a repetition; there was no need to teach them carefully again. People did not need to be taught how to defecate; they just needed to be told how to use the toilet.

Now the instructors began to tell them how to keep the inside of the Tent tidy. Of course, the one used for the demonstration was definitely Tent No. 0001; who told this number to be so conspicuous? Gao An already had a premonition that his future days would definitely not be easy.

The door curtain of the Tent could be rolled up and hung. After it was hung up, the inside of the Tent was fully visible. The instructor originally wanted to go straight in to teach, but the smell was too thick, so he could only let it air out first.

However, while it was airing out, he said to the Slaves who had gathered to watch: "Inside the Tent, all things have their own places. After waking up every day, gather the dry Grass together; do not let it scatter everywhere. It must be tidy. In the future, you will sleep in better places, and the dry Grass can be changed often. If you perform well, you can even spread Hemp Cloth or even animal skins on top."

Afterward, he felt the smell had dissipated enough, but he did not want to go in, so he made San do it once: "You go in and tidy up; I will talk to you from outside."

San then, somewhat flustered, knelt on the Wild Rice straw in a ridiculous posture, and then, according to the instructor's directions, picked up the dry Grass they had tossed everywhere, bit by bit, one by one, and threw it together, making the ground look much tidier.

Afterward, the instructor told him to turn around; behind him was the place where they put their things.

"The grain jar, place it in that position. No, it needs to be a bit more to the left. Left, left! Hey, how can you not even distinguish left from right?"

The instructor was exasperated. He did not expect that someone would actually be unable to distinguish left from right, but San felt very wronged. What is "left"? He had truly never heard of it; they all used their fingers to point.

The instructor called San out directly, then pulled a Three Warning Ruler from his waist. To San and the others, it looked like a thin wooden board, but this Three Warning Ruler was made by the Ministry of Works after processing the offcuts of very good wood. Although it was made rather casually, the quality was very good. When it hit a hand, the sound was crisp and bright, and it was not afraid of breaking.

The instructor used the Three Warning Ruler to lift San's left hand and said: "Look, this hand is the left hand, and the other hand is the right hand. The direction is the same; whichever side your left hand is on, that side is left. Do you understand?"

San nodded repeatedly: "Understood." Then he was about to put his hand down, but it was immediately lifted back up by the Three Warning Ruler.

"Did I tell you to put it down? I am going to hit you with the Three Warning Ruler three times to make you remember. Come, straighten your arm and spread your hand."

San obediently listened, and then the instructor struck San with the Three Warning Ruler with normal force. Instantly, the crisp sound rang through the entire Battalion, causing Slaves in other places to turn their heads. Why were they hitting again?

San felt the pain, immediately pulled his hand back, and began to rub it fiercely.

"Hey, hey, hey, did I tell you to put it down? Hold it up properly. I tell you, however many times I say is how many times it will be. Put it down after I finish hitting; if I haven't finished hitting, you hold it up obediently. For every time you put it down, I will hit you one extra time. This time, I won't punish you more; there are two more hits!"

San then tremblingly held his hand up. The instructor hit him again. This time, San was in so much pain that his waist bent and his teeth were clenched, but he did not dare to drop his hand.

"That's right, one more time."

Pia!

It was over. Only after seeing the instructor put the Three Warning Ruler down did San dare to bend over and rub his hand. He did not know why he had to rub his hand, but he just felt that the pain could be reduced a little this way; he even tucked both hands between his legs.

"Good, that's it. I'll ask you now, which hand is the left hand?" the instructor asked San.

San was a bit hesitant and dared not be sure.

"Which hand hurts?"

San slowly raised his left hand.

"Correct. The one that was just hit is your left hand. Isn't the hand that hurts the left hand? Why are you so stupid?"

San lowered his head in shame.

"Raise your right hand." The instructor continued to lecture San.

San was still hesitant.

The instructor was exasperated and poked San's chest with the Three Warning Ruler: "What is that thing growing on your neck? Why don't you use your head? The one that hurts is the left hand, so the one that doesn't hurt must be the right hand. What, do you have three hands? I ask you, which one is the right hand?"

San hurriedly raised his right hand. He was already covered in sweat, and his legs were trembling.

"Good, put it down. I will ask you again in a moment. If you still don't know, I will hit your left hand until it has no feeling, then you will know which one is the right hand."