Chapter Ten Village

  Gan Ping came out of the bathtub, put on a small shirt that Ma Zhangshi had just altered, picked up the ring he had placed aside while bathing, and carefully examined it. Perhaps this ring was the key to his own life? Thinking of this, he pulled out a few strands of cotton thread from the hem of his clothes, twisted them into a thin rope, and carefully hung the ring around his neck.

  The poor man didn't know that the jade pendant given to him by his biological father had long been melted in the Earth Vein Spirit Fire, and this ring he treasured so much was actually left behind by Xuan Mingzi, who caused his parents to be separated. The world is often laughable like this.

  Pushing open the door, he walked out of the inner room and saw Mr. Zhang reading at his desk. Gan Ping quietly approached him, bowed and said: "Thank you, sir, for taking me in." Mr. Zhang was intently focused on his book, but when he heard Gan's thanks, he looked up and couldn't help but feel a surge of admiration.

  What a delicate and refined little doll, washed away the dust all over her body, Gān Píng was no longer that sloppy little beggar girl. Her pale small face, as white as jade, already had a few points of handsome appearance, standing there, neither humble nor arrogant, with an air of a young master, especially the firm and determined look between her eyebrows, made Mr. Zhang praise her. It seemed that this little beggar girl he took in was not ordinary either. He seemed to see the future Gān Píng, a handsome young man sitting at his desk, several years later.

  Although Gan Ping was young, he had a series of strange encounters recently. First, three spiritual objects tempered his body, and then he enlightened the way in the forest, practicing the Body Tempering Fist to defeat the wild wolf. A string of events polished this uncut jade, gradually revealing its beauty. The flawless quality of the beautiful jade was slowly revealed, and when standing in front of the bookcase, his natural temperament stood out, different from ordinary children.

  Mr. Zhang gazed at him for a long time, and couldn't help but secretly praise him, the child in front of him had bright eyes, he must be extremely intelligent, and his temperament was also extraordinary. As the saying goes, "three years old looks old", Mr. Zhang believed that if Xiao Ganping went through his own training, he would definitely become a great talent. Although he admired him in his heart, he still spoke in a calm tone: "Well, can you recognize characters?"

  "Learn something." "Alright, there are books in the corner of the wall, you can take them and read by yourself. Don't disturb me. Tomorrow afternoon, you will attend class with the village children. Since you're living in Majiacun, you must work hard to study and not waste this great opportunity."

  "Yes, diligently and calmly read books." "In front of me, you want to be called a disciple, respect the teacher and value the way, can you understand?"

  "Yes, I understand."

  Mr. Zhang looked at Gan Ping in front of him, the more he looked, the happier he became, but he didn't know what to say, so he just mentioned reading books, seeing Gan Ping's respectful attitude, he liked it even more, but again didn't know what to say, so he simply waved his hand and let Gan Ping go aside.

  Gan Ping walked alone to the bookshelf in the corner of the wall and carefully examined it. If Ma Ling were here, she would surely pout and secretly resent Mr. Zhang for being partial, thinking that this corner of books was Mr. Zhang's treasure, and even she herself couldn't touch them normally, let alone other children, who wouldn't dare to touch them. How come this little beggar came and everyone treated him so well?

  Looking at Gan Ping, who was sitting in the corner of the wall, reading a book intently, Mr. Zhang's mouth curled up into a comforting smile. This child is steady, clever, and respectful, just the right material for studying. It seems that all he has learned will finally be passed on to someone worthy. The small figure in the corner was wearing a greyish-white long robe, which had been hastily altered by Mrs. Zhang to make it similar to Mr. Zhang's. On Gan Ping, it gave off an indescribable aura of bookishness. His long hair was tied up, with a small wooden pin inserted into it, and he stood in the soft sunlight by the window, looking as if he had transcended worldly concerns.

  Mr. Zhang looked at Gan Ping for a few moments, then came back to his senses and continued reading with great concentration. For a while, the two bookworms complemented each other in the quiet atmosphere of the room. Unfortunately, this serene atmosphere was soon disrupted by a noisy commotion from outside the window, as a small, fiery red shadow darted in and jumped onto Gan Ping's shoulder, chattering loudly. The noise of a group of children shouting and playing outside the door also drifted in.

  "The monkey went in, the monkey went in, hurry up and catch it."

  "No way, this is Master's home, can't just barge in!"

  "Oh no, hurry up!"

  The door was opened and Mr. Zhang stood inside with a pale face, staring at the group of children at the entrance, where Ma Ling'er was among them.

  "Come in, stand up straight." The group of children looked at me and I looked back at them, reluctantly walking into the room and standing in a line with their heads bowed. Mr. Zhang was clearly very angry, picking up the ruler from his desk and loudly scolding: "How have I always taught you? Have you all forgotten? Hmm? Ling'er, speak up."

  The little girl pinched one foot and said timidly: "Sir told us that scholars should be elegant in appearance, sit and lie down with ease, just can't make noise like a monkey." When she heard this, the children behind her burst out laughing. "Slap!" Mr. Zhang heavily slapped his ruler on the desk and scolded: "Still laughing, look at you one by one, how can you be so sloppy?"

  Mr. Zhang couldn't help but feel a little annoyed, as these students were usually well-behaved, but today they seemed to have rolled out of the mud, and just now he was looking at the elegant Gan Ping, suddenly these noisy little monkeys appeared, thinking that they were all his disciples, he couldn't help but feel some dislike.

  Seeing that none of the students made a sound, Mr. Zhang picked up his ruler and said: "You are all people who read sacred books, yet you are all like this, disgracing your culture. Stand up straight, stretch out your hands, each of you will receive three hits with the ruler, then go back and wash cleanly." After finishing speaking, he walked to a child's face, that child honestly stretched out his hand, received three hits with the ruler, hung his head in shame and went home to clean up.

  One by one, they finished, and finally only Ma Ling'er was left. The little girl saw that everyone had received their three-inch rulers, so she hesitantly walked forward, stretched out her white and tender small hand, and looked at Mr. Zhang. Just as Mr. Zhang was about to give her the ruler, he saw that the little girl's eyes were already shining with tears, and couldn't help but let out a sigh. Seeing that these students had almost dispersed, he gently patted the center of that white and tender hand. Then he turned his head and looked at the fire on Gan Ping's shoulder.

  The culprit who made these children suffer, Huo Er, was still watching Mr. Zhang with great interest as he beat him up. When he saw Mr. Zhang staring at him, he couldn't help but let out a squeak and looked around nervously. Finally, seeing that Mr. Zhang was still staring at him, he could only hang his head in shame and stretch out his fluffy little paws, looking resigned to his fate.

  Seeing this small monkey, no bigger than a palm, so human-like, even the normally stern Mr. Zhang couldn't help but burst out laughing, but immediately regained his composure and said: "You mischievous monkey, if you cause any more trouble, I'll have you grind ink for me." Looking at the little fire, Mr. Zhang thought of a type of monkey he had heard about, which was only palm-sized, often captured by wealthy families who valued literature and then domesticated to grind ink, but that kind of monkey was entirely black and called an "ink monkey", vastly different from this red-haired monkey.

  It's strange to say, this fire in the mountains and forests is called king and overlord, even that ferocious black leopard was tamed by him, but in front of Mr. Zhang, it was like those children just now, very respectful and obedient.

  Mr. Zhang sat down at his desk and beckoned to Huo'er, who jumped onto the desk and stared at Mr. Zhang. Seeing it sitting obediently, Mr. Zhang couldn't help but smile, pointing to the four treasures on the desk. Huo'er was initially puzzled, scratching its head, then suddenly understood, let out a squeak, and started dancing with a brush, using the "crazy ape stick method". The little monkey held a brush much taller than itself, its movements still quite elegant, looking adorable and lovable. Malan saw this and burst out laughing.

  Look at Mr. Zhang again, his face is still pale and stern, staring at the little monkey in front of him playing tricks, he can't help but pick up a brush and tap it on its head. The fire that was dancing wildly with the brush suddenly looked at him in surprise, seemingly puzzled as to why he was so angry. Mr. Zhang took the brush out of the monkey's paw, carefully placed it on the pen holder, picked up the ink, and slowly ground it on the inkstone. After grinding for a few times, he put down the ink stick, raised an eyebrow, and looked at Fire. Fire's eyes were rolling around, seemingly unaware of what was going on.

  Mr. Zhang saw the situation and suddenly pulled out a stack of peanuts from under the case, picked one up, and waved it in front of Huo's face. The monkey quickly snatched it away, peeled off the shell with a few quick movements, and started eating the peanut kernel with a crunching sound. At this time, Ma Ling'er, who was standing below, had already discovered Gan Ping standing aside and couldn't help but ask in surprise: "Who are you? How come I've never seen you before?"

  Gan Ping blinked his eyes and said with a bit of annoyance, "My name is Gan Ping." "Little beggar?" Ling'er couldn't help but spin around him, "So you look pretty good when you're clean too." As she spoke, she reached out to touch Gan Ping's face. Gan Ping rolled his eyes and tilted his head, dodging the tender small hand that was teasing him. Seeing that Gan Ping didn't let her touch him, Ling'er didn't mind either, grabbing Gan Ping's hand and heading outside, "Let's go, let my mom and them take a look at you. So you're not all dark after all, hehe."

  Gan Ping listened to this and let out a helpless sigh, but didn't follow the little girl as she left. Instead, he looked up at Mr. Zhang, who was intently training his monkey. Mr. Zhang, sitting behind his desk, had lost his fierce demeanor from earlier and was now using peanuts to train his fire-breathing monkey. Feeling Gan Ping's gaze, he waved his hand and said, "Go ahead, I'll be going to Ling'er's house for dinner soon too, you go first."

  After finishing, he no longer paid attention to the little boy and girl who were pulling and tugging at each other below. He picked up a peanut and put it in front of the fire, it seems that Mr. Zhang is not only tireless in advising others, but also has a passion for educating and training aliens. Ignoring Mr. Zhang, who had transformed into a strange uncle-like figure teaching the monkey in the house, Mali excitedly pulled Gan Ping out of the door.