*Cough cough coughâŠ..* Sha Lan cleared her throat, stood up straight and asked, âEveryone please be quiet. Would you like to know why?â
âOf course we want to know!â Someone shouted from the crowd.
âYes, why do you get to have linen to wear, so much meat to eat, and can even read!?â Another person shouted from the crowd.
âThatâs because the Shaman said that those who can read will get more dried meat each day. Those that can read will also receive linen.â Sha Lan explained the plan.
The crowd was stunned for a moment, and it soon erupted into heated discussion.
âDo you think what Sha Lan said is true?â
âI donât think sheâs lying, look at the linen sheâs wearing, it must be true.â
âRight, right, if she wasnât wearing linen clothing, I wouldnât have believed it, but she is. Also, didnât you see how she was reading just now?â
âShe read it so fluently. She definitely doesnât seem like someone whoâs pretending.â
âI donât think sheâs lying either, sheâs always been a good child. Isnât her Mother Sha Hong? I donât think she would lie.â
âYes, for her Motherâs sake, she definitely wouldnât lie. Furthermore, she said that the Shaman was the one who said it. The Shaman definitely would never deceive us.â
Everyone in the crowd was muttering and discussing, including those from the Black Snake Tribe.
âThose who can read get more dried meat? And linen to wear? How is that possible?â
âI think the Flame Dragon Tribe is lying, using a little girl to fool us.â
âTheyâre not a Large Tribe, how could they know how to read. Weâre not considered a Large Tribe either, so we definitely donât know how to read.â
âLike I said, this is just an excuse. Their Shaman definitely doesnât want to give us more dried meat to eat, and linen. Thatâs why theyâre making up such excuses.â
âI donât think so, look at that little girl, how did she learn how to read?â
âYes, this doesnât make sense, if only Large Tribes can read, then why can she read?â
Everyone was surprised and did not all believe it to be true. Still, those that doubted it were mostly from the Black Snake Tribe. Those from the Flame Dragon Tribe naturally believed it, after all, they had seen the Shaman personally teaching children to read.
Some of their children were learning to read every day, and when they had time, they would learn too.
Of course, it was just that they felt learning how to read to be too troublesome, and quite difficult to learn. Moreover, they had work assigned to them every day. Once they started working, they did not have the time nor desire to want to learn to read.
However, now, they all felt a bit regretful. After all, seeing the cat eared girl get such good benefits because she could read, how could they not feel this way?
âWhether you believe it or not, thatâs what the Shaman said. The Shaman is already teaching us how to read. Whether you can get more dried meat and linen depends on yourselves.â
Sha Lan suddenly became solemn and continued: âWhen has our Shaman ever lied to us?â
âRight, thatâs correct, the Shaman has never deceived us!â Someone from the Flame Dragon Tribe agreed.
âI believe it. My child is already learning how to read, so it must be true.â Another person chimed in.
âIn that case, Iâll go back and study hard too, to get more dried meat!â Another adult responded.
âI want to work for the Shaman first. I want to work and learn to read at the same time! That way, I can get dried meat, and later when I know more characters, I can get more dried meat!â Someone said cheerfully. È
âThatâs right! The Shaman said as long as we can read, weâll get more dried meat! I definitely have to learn!â Another person had made up their mind.
Most of those responding were from the Flame Dragon Tribe, because they knew learning to read was not an impossibility for them. As long as they studied seriously and worked hard, completing the tasks the Shaman assigned each day to read and write, learning characters would not be too difficult.
The Black Snake Tribe people saw how enthusiastic the Flame Dragon Tribe was, and they were confused.
âWhy do you think theyâre so excited?â
âI donât know either, but it looks like theyâre quite confident.â
âDidnât you hear them just now? Their children are already learning to read from the Shaman!â
âI heard that too, I never thought this Tribeâs Shaman would know how to read and write, incredible.â
âAre they all learning how to read and write? Then theyâll be well off, they will be able to get more dried meat and linen.â
âAre we allowed to learn as well? I really envy them.â
Most of the Black Snake Tribesmen were envious now. Everyoneâs initial doubts and confusion had disappeared. Instead, they all wished they were truly members of the Flame Dragon Tribe.
âAlright, Iâve delivered the Shamanâs orders. Those who want to work come to me to register.â Sha Lan shouted loudly.
The cat eared girl saw everyoneâs reaction and knew Su Baiâs plan had worked. Just providing them the dream of getting them more dried meat and linen was enough to motivate them to learn.
Soon, the cat eared girl started registering people at the scene, which took over an hour to complete.
The number of registrants was beyond her expectations, more than originally planned. What surprised her even more was that many people from the Black Snake Tribe had also registered. Of course, since they had more people, their total number of registrants naturally exceeded that of the Flame Dragon Tribeâs numbers.
Registration in Primitive Tribes was not done by writing names, after all, they could not read. Their registration method was to let Sha Lan recognize them by sight. If she was not familiar with them, they would provide something to prove their identity.
Most people gave Beast Fangs, beast heads, or other items.
Soon enough, Sha Lan stepped back and returned into the wooden house before softly saying, âShaman, the recruitment is done, and Iâve finished explaining everything youâve asked me to.â
The cat eared girl was naturally referring to how being literate would let them receive more dried meat and some linen.
âHow did they react?â Su Bai curiously asked.
âOur Tribesmen were all very excited, everyone wants to learn how to read and write,â Sha Lan reported.
âWhat about those of the Black Snake Tribe? How did they react?â Su Bai asked.
Sha Lan thought back to how they had looked and said: âTheir enthusiasm was not very high at the start, but after seeing how enthusiastic our Tribesmen were, they started to waver too.â
âDid they waver because of getting more dried meat, or because of the possibility of being able to learn how to read and write?â Su Bai continued asking.
âBoth, but at first they were very confused about why we could read.â Sha Lan continued.
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