Chapter 655: The Gap in Basic Cognition

The instructor stopped asking San and instead turned his gaze toward the others; he randomly pointed out a Slave: "Come, I ask you, can you tell left from right?"

That Slave who was named suddenly panicked; he flusteredly waved his hands up and down repeatedly, not knowing what was best to say.

The instructor was puzzled: "What, you can't tell left from right either?"

The Slave slowly lowered his hands and nodded weakly.

The instructor was very bewildered and turned his head to ask the others, "What about you all? Can none of you tell them apart?"

As a result, everyone shook their heads in unison, which made the instructor feel it was quite thorny; he had not expected that they would not even know such a simple thing, and the difficulty of this teaching was likely too high. Yet, he had not considered at all how great the cognitive gap was between them and these savages; perhaps things that were common sense in his eyes were things these savages had never even heard of.

The instructor was helpless and had to make them all stand together regardless of gender, all facing him, and then he pulled San out separately: "Alright, then I will teach you how to tell left from right now. Come, raise your left hand."

After hesitating for a second, San quickly raised his left hand, which was still aching.

San was facing away from the others, so he did not know what the situation was behind him; the instructor also used a ruler to lift his left hand and said: "This is his left hand, and the hand in the same position on you is also your left hand. It is the same for everyone, understand? Come, raise your left hands; if you don't know, just look at his."

The people behind looked at San, then looked at their own hands, and then looked at their companions, only then hesitatingly raising their own hands.

The instructor looked past them one by one, but when he reached near the middle, he suddenly stopped in front of a Slave, saying nothing, just staring at the Slave's hand; he stared until the Slave's hair stood on end and his hand began to tremble.

The instructor chuckled and said: "Do you think the one you raised is your left hand?"

That Slave glanced at his own hand and then quickly switched to raising the other hand, while the Slaves who had already been checked felt very strange, as they had clearly all raised the same hand.

Those who had not yet been checked also hurriedly switched their hands, but there was still a portion of people who, after looking at San's hand, were certain they had raised the right one.

Seeing him switch hands, the instructor was still smiling: "Are you sure? Are you sure this is your left hand? Look at this person in front again."

The Slave fearfully switched his arms again, and this time the instructor asked: "Can you be sure you raised it correctly now, after switching the whole time?"

This time, the Slave gritted his teeth: "I am sure, this is the left hand."

The instructor nodded: "Good, that's right, what you are raising now is the left hand, you must remember it well."

Huh? The crowd of Slaves was dumbfounded; could one really scare people like this? Those who had switched arms quickly switched back, and all of this was under the instructor's observation; he saw it clearly, but he did not settle the score directly, as he could test them again later anyway.

At this time, the sounds of "slap, slap, slap" were coming from other sections as well; all the Slaves now knew what a ruler was.

The instructor finished checking once, and this time everyone's hands were correct; the instructor did not let them put their hands down, and only when he saw they could barely hold on any longer did he say: "Alright, you may put your hands down."

After the instructor wandered around silently for a while, he returned: "Alright, now, raise your right hands, all of you."

San quickly raised his right hand, very decisively, and it was also correct; the Slaves behind followed suit, doing as San did. The instructor scanned them roughly, and there really were no mistakes, so he tested left-right-left several more times; others might not know, but he could be certain that San had now learned it completely.

"Alright, you walk over there now and don't move; you don't need to raise your hand anymore. I want to see if they can do it correctly without your guidance."

San let out a breath of relief, then quickly lowered his hands and stood properly, walking to the side and watching without moving.

The instructor started left-right-left again; as long as he found one person looking around and constantly changing their hand, he would immediately grab them out and make them do it alone; if they failed twice in a row, the ruler would be served.

After tossing and turning like this for a long time, and the instructor hitting several people, these Slaves had a very clear understanding of left and right and would no longer make mistakes.

"Alright, the teaching about left and right ends here. I will not test you again today, but tomorrow or in the future, I will conduct spot checks at any time; if you don't know it then, the punishment will only be harsher."

Upon hearing the instructor's words, the Slaves immediately breathed a sigh of relief; as for tomorrow's matters, they would deal with them tomorrow, as long as they didn't get beaten again today.

Now that San could tell left from right, the instructor let him go back to laying out bedding and organizing the Tent; when he told him where to place things, he would no longer have issues with going left or right. The instructor was quite satisfied, especially after discovering that the precious quality level of this group of Slaves was extremely low.

Since a long time had already passed, the instructor decided to train them to stand in formation, just like the way they did in military training, though it certainly wasn't that standard, and their training methods could even be considered classified, strictly forbidden from being spread outside.

Therefore, training the Slaves was nothing more than making them stand a bit straighter, making them respond when he called them, not letting them slouch, not letting them chat at will, and just having them stand up straight; as for marching or stepping, that was even more impossible to teach.

Soldiers have military posture and walk as they should; officials have official steps, which look imposing when walked; Slaves only need to look a bit more spirited. Huaxia cannot have people who look decadent and incompetent, regardless of their status.

The time spent standing was about enough, and it was almost time to eat, because the Soldier himself was starting to get hungry. He was now just waiting for the Company Commander's whistle; as soon as the whistle blew, he could arrange for the Slaves to cook, and then he could go eat himself.

At this time, the Company Commander was talking to several Slaves sent by Baifeng. A total of six Slaves had come: Spring Wind, Summer Wind, Autumn Wind, Winter Wind—the four Winds—and Spring Thunder and Autumn Thunder. This was the logic Baifeng used to name his Slaves; in fact, he had taken all of Wind, Rain, Thunder, and Lightning. Wind and Rain were female Slaves, while Thunder and Lightning were male Slaves.

Although they were Slaves, the Company Commander did not treat them as ordinary Slaves; after all, they were people who served Baifeng every day. The temperament of these Slaves was almost catching up to his own, and they had come with Baifeng's written order, clearly stating that during this period, the Slaves were equal in power to him, the Company Commander. The Company Commander did not dare to have the slightest opinion; fortunately, this privilege was temporary, otherwise, how many people would have gone to be Slaves at Baifeng's house.