Chapter 8: A Conversation with the Village Head

  Arriving at the village chief's house, Zhao Fei knocked on the large door outside with a nervous heart.

  "Village chief, are you at home?" Zhao Fei asked in a low voice. Due to the extreme tension in his heart, his voice couldn't help but tremble slightly.

  "Come in, the door is not closed." Only one sentence was heard from inside the house, the voice was not loud and slightly hoarse, but it felt very dignified and had a strong penetrative power.

  Having obtained the village chief's permission, Zhao Fei pushed open the door and walked in.

  The village chief was the only one sitting alone at the long table, still holding a book in his hand. It wasn't until Zhao Fei walked in that the village chief put down the book and smiled at him with a smile on his face. Zhao Fei stood upright, clasped his hands together in front of him, curved his right hand slightly, placed his left hand on top, moved both arms from his forehead to his chest, bowed his upper body 45 degrees, made a courtesy gesture, then stood still beside him.

  "I don't even know if I'm doing this right, it's all just like what I've seen on TV. If there are any mistakes, I hope the village chief won't mind." Zhao Fei muttered to himself.

  Upon seeing Zhao Fei's courtesy, the village chief was quite surprised and had some doubts, but quickly recovered and smiled at Zhao Feng: "You've arrived, then please take a seat."

  "Elder is present, how can I have a place to sit?" Zhao Fei explained respectfully.

  The village chief nodded in satisfaction after hearing Zhao Fei's words, and then said: "I let you sit down, just sit down. Why be so polite?" After finishing speaking, the village chief also pointed to the empty seat beside him.

  "Well...alright. I'd rather obey than be rude." Helpless, Zhao Fei could only follow the village chief's words and walked over to sit down beside him. After sitting down, he straightened his back, showing a hint of elegance. Although he tried his best not to show his nervousness, his clenched fists betrayed him deeply.

  Seeing Zhao Fei's appearance, the village chief smiled indifferently and asked slowly: "Why so tense? I just called Zhao Feng to call you over to chat about some family matters. No need to be so solemn. And who taught you that move just now? No one in the village has ever done this move before, how did you learn it?"

  After listening, Zhao Fei couldn't help but be stunned, his mind also fell into a blank. "It's over, I originally wanted to pretend to be a good student, but how could I forget this? I just wanted to show off, but I forgot the place. What a mistake, what a mistake!"

  "This... this is just... students wanting to show respect to the village chief." Zhao Fei muttered.

  Looking at Zhao Fei's embarrassed expression, the village chief smiled but didn't speak. He just stared at him. Staring at Zhao Fei made his heart feel hairy.

  Looking at the village chief smiling and staring at himself, Zhao Fei became even more anxious. His forehead also started to slowly sweat. "This... what can be done about it, how can we continue?"

  The village chief smiled but didn't speak, while Zhao Fei was tense and couldn't say a word. Time passed by second by second, when suddenly the village chief spoke up.

  "Heh heh, since you don't want to say, then I won't ask. Otherwise, you can blame this old man for being nosy." The village chief chuckled and said with self-mockery.

  When he heard the village chief's words, Zhao Fei was overjoyed and wiped away the cold sweat on his forehead with his sleeve. Then he carefully said: "How dare I! How dare I!" Taking a deep breath in his heart, Zhao Fei thought to himself: "It's better to be careful in the future. Otherwise, who knows when something like this will happen again."

  "Alright, let's not talk about that anymore." The village chief waved his hand, wiped away the faint smile on his face, and then said seriously: "Now you must answer my questions honestly."

  Seeing the village chief's change, Zhao Fei also became serious. He took a few deep breaths and drove away some of the tension and fear in his heart. Very formally, he replied: "Village Chief, please be at ease, I will answer very seriously."

  "Hmm, very good. I heard from Xiao Feng that you plan to study, is that right?" The village chief asked while stroking his beard, a hint of sharpness flashing in his dull eyes.

  "That's right, Village Chief. I plan to study. So, please teach me." Zhao Fei nodded and replied humbly.

  Looking at Zhao Fei's attitude, the village chief nodded repeatedly. Still asking seriously: "Then why do you plan to read books? You know that for a peasant household, reading is of no use."

  Hearing the village chief's words, Zhao Fei lowered his head and thought for a moment before raising it to say: "Village Chief, although I am now just a farmer, my physique is not suitable for being a farmer. But I have to make a living for myself, and in the future, I will definitely leave Zhaojia Village. The outside world is so vast, if you don't have a skill to rely on, how can you live?"

  After listening to Zhao Fei's words, the village head nodded, "Hmm, that makes some sense." Then he asked again, "You're not learning martial arts from Zhao Feng, are you just going to give up like this?"

  "It's like this, Village Chief. I followed Feng Ge to learn just to strengthen my body and health. I understand my own physical condition, which is not suitable for learning martial arts. But without a good physique, how can one achieve anything? So I plan to continue following Feng Ge at school." Zhao Fei replied respectfully.

  The village chief asked again: "But can you do it this way? You know that being miscellaneous and not refined is not a good thing."

  "I know what you mean, Village Chief. I've decided to focus on studying and a gentleman should have six arts, isn't that also about being well-versed in both literature and martial arts?" Zhao Fei had an answer ready for the village chief's question and spoke out without hesitation.

  "Oh? You're a farmer's son and you also know about the Six Arts of a Gentleman?" The village head was shocked by Zhao Fei once again.

  "It's all over, I've blown it again. Why can't I control this mouth of mine?" Zhao Fei once lamented about his own mouth.

  "This... this... village head... me." Zhao Fei's mouth became inarticulate again, stuttering and stumbling over his words, unsure of what to say.

  The village chief couldn't help but burst out laughing at Zhao Fei's embarrassed look.

  "Haha, alright Xiao Fei, no need to explain further. Since you have something to hide and it's not a big deal, I won't pry anymore. Otherwise, it would seem that this old man is being unreasonable. Since you have this intention, from now on, come to my house and I agree to teach you. However, you must study hard for me, if you don't succeed, don't blame me for being ruthless." The village chief suddenly slammed his hand on the long table, his expression solemn, his eyes like sharp swords, staring straight at Zhao Fei.

  When the village chief agreed, Zhao Fei was overjoyed and stood up, repeatedly bowing to the village chief and saying: "Thank you, teacher, thank you, teacher. The student will definitely study hard and not disappoint the teacher's expectations."

  Seeing Zhao Fei's attitude, the village chief was also delighted and nodded at Zhao Fei. He immediately took on a teacher's role. Waving his hand, he signaled for Zhao Fei to sit down. Stroking his whiskers, he asked: "Since you know about the Six Arts of a Gentleman, do you know what these six arts are?"

  This question made Zhao Fei stunned, he only knew the saying of "junzi liu yi", if he really let him say what six arts, he couldn't say anything. So he could only truthfully tell the village chief: "The student is not aware, and hopes for the teacher's guidance."

  "Hmm, not bad. Studying is not about being ignorant, but about daring to ask questions. You have this quality, which proves that my choice was correct." The village chief nodded in satisfaction and said to Zhao Fei. Then he got up, turned around, went into the house, and soon came out with a bamboo slip.

  Here is the translation:

  The village chief came to the long table, knelt down and sat, opened the bamboo slips and continued: "Since you don't know, I'll tell you. The Six Arts of a gentleman are the six compulsory courses for a gentleman, including five rituals, six music, five archery, five charioteering, six books, and nine arithmetic. The teaching of the Six Arts is also gradual, with small arts and big arts. Books and numbers are small arts, while rituals, music, archery, and charioteering are big arts. I'll teach you the small arts first, which are books and numbers. The six books in the Six Arts refer to recognizing characters. In the Western Han Dynasty, Liu Xiang's "Seven Summaries" said: 'In ancient times, children entered elementary school at the age of eight, so the Zhou official Baoshi taught the national sons the six books, namely, pictograms, ideograms, logograms, phonetic loans, and derived characters.' The six books in the Six Arts are the foundation of character recognition. The nine arithmetic in the Six Arts is the 'Nine Nine Multiplication Song', which is also a basic course...

  Listening to the village chief's explanation, Zhao Fei was also shocked. It turned out that there were multiplication tables in the Three Kingdoms era. The wisdom of the ancients is truly boundless.

  The time for the lesson passed quickly, and before he knew it, the whole morning was gone. The village chief was still explaining with a lingering tone, and Zhao Fei also fully demonstrated the spirit of a good student, asking questions whenever he didn't understand, and the village chief patiently explained to him again and again until Zhao Fei understood.

  The village chief suddenly stood up and said, "Alright, it's about time. Learning can't be accomplished overnight, it needs to progress step by step. That's all for today, go back and think more about it, hoping you can understand thoroughly. You don't need to come this afternoon, just go learn martial arts with Xiaofeng. From now on, you'll come read books with me in the morning, and go find Xiaofeng to learn martial arts in the afternoon."

  The village head stood up, and Zhao Fei also quickly got up, respectfully answering: "I know, teacher. If nothing else, the student will go back first and come again tomorrow to study with the teacher."

  "Hehe, go ahead then." The village chief nodded once again.

  Watching Zhao Fei's back as he left, the village head felt extremely satisfied. In his heart, he was still very pleased with Zhao Fei as a student, thinking that he had great talent, respected his teachers, and was not afraid to ask questions. Although he didn't say it out loud, in his heart, he already considered Zhao Fei as a student who could inherit his legacy.

  "The Zhao family village will produce two great talents in the future." The village head sighed.