Lu Chang'sheng and the other two waited outside for a while, then saw Zhao Deshui walk his father out.
"Old Lu, that's all for now. If an opportunity pops up, I'll help connect you guys!"
"Alright, alright, alright!"
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On the way home, Mr. Lu still couldn't wipe the excitement off his face.
"Dad, what did you talk about with Mr. Zhao?"
"About you boys learning to read and write!" Mr. Lu's face glowed with pride.
If he could pull this off, he'd feel pretty accomplished.
"How'd the discussion go, exactly?"
"Your Uncle Zhao said the teacher's got a full class, but if anyone drops out, he'll give us a heads up! When the time comes and there's a spot, it'll be up to the teacher to pick!"
Reading and writing?
Lu Chang'sheng felt his heart skip with excitement.
Is my top-tier root bone about to finally shine?
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That night, they happened to have a big feast with fish soup.
Lu Chang'sheng didn't hold back, gulping down a huge mouthful.
At night, lying on his cold, hard bed, he felt unusually content.
"Man, even as someone who transmigrated, I'm getting all worked up over something so small!"
Lu Chang'sheng couldn't help but chuckle.
"Still, I can't give up on Black Monkey's book!"
From what Dad said, even with an open spot, the teacher still picks the cleverest ones.
No doubt, I've got good talent, but nobody can see that on the surface.
"If I can teach myself to read, it'll totally show off my top-tier skills!"
"Gotta speed things up!"
As for Zhao Deshui taking the money without delivering, he's not too worried.
Everyone's from the same village—if he tries to pull a fast one, Zhao Deshui won't be able to show his face around here anymore.
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Over the next days, Lu Chang'sheng spent every spare moment studying fishing skills.
During the day, he'd go out to work with Mr. and Mrs. Lu.
In that flurry of busy days, two months went by in a blink.
Still nothing from Zhao Deshui's side.
He wasn't anxious at all.
First off, he was still young, decades away from his ultimate lifespan, so there's no need to rush a year or two.
Second, the teacher takes new students slowly anyway.
No openings for one or two months? Totally normal.
"Even if I've gotta wait a couple more years, it's fine!"
Lu Chang'sheng thought to himself.
Every five years he could gain one point of Root Bone Value, and now, less than half a year to go until his next five-year mark.
After the end of the year, he'd get his second point.
By then, his root bone talent would leap to the next level.
"Learning's a real skill—you can't rush it!"
Lu Chang'sheng reminded himself.
The biggest change over these two months was that he kept getting better at catching fish.
From only landing a fish once every two or three days at first, to now, nabbing one every single day.
Even on off days, he could reliably catch one; on lucky days, he'd get two or three.
The next morning.
Lu Chang'sheng got up early and went to find Mrs. Lu.
"Mom, can you sew me a bag?" He stretched out his arms to demonstrate.
"That'll take a lot of cloth! And you just want it for carrying fish—kind of a waste, isn't it?" Mrs. Lu hesitated when she heard what Lu Chang'sheng wanted.
Back in the day, wasting so much rough cloth just for a fish bag would have gotten Mrs. Lu frowning, telling Lu Chang'sheng to go amuse himself somewhere else.
But things were different now.
These past two months, Lu Chang'sheng had brought home plenty of fish from the river.
Nearly every night, the whole family got to enjoy a big pot of fish soup.
The formerly skinny family was starting to put on a little meat.
And just like that, Lu Chang'sheng's say in the family had gone way up.
"With this bag, I'll be way better at fishing! If not, you can just cut up my shirt and use that instead!" Lu Chang'sheng said.
That was just his excuse, really—he just wanted to stay more low-key.
These days, he only showed off his catch to Wang Heihou on purpose; all other times, he kept it quiet—even circled around on his way back to the village.
But once he's got a bag, he wouldn't have to worry so much.
"Alright! I'll make you one tomorrow night!"
Mrs. Lu didn't say no.
Lu Chang'sheng headed out and walked down to the river.
"Chang'sheng! Over here!"
Wang Heihou came running from behind a big tree, grabbed Lu Chang'sheng, and pulled him back.
These past two months, Lu Chang'sheng had made a point to correct the kids on his name.
Lu Erdan just sounded too awful.
The grown-ups had meant it as a "bad name for good luck" thing.
But as a transmigrator, Lu Chang'sheng didn't buy that at all—if it doesn't sound nice, what's the point?
"What is it, Black Monkey?" Lu Chang'sheng asked, knowing full well.
Wang Heihou stammered, "Can you teach me how to catch fish?"
"Didn't I already show you?" Lu Chang'sheng replied, not lying.
He'd taught Wang Heihou everything he could.
But after a month of learning, Black Monkey still wasn't as good—so he figured Lu Chang'sheng was holding back.
Eventually, Lu Chang'sheng showed him in person a few times, and he realized he just wasn't able to learn it.
"Umm—uhh—I really wanna catch some fish too, could you—"
Black Monkey hung his head.
Usually, he'd never ask Lu Chang'sheng for help.
He figured catching fish was all about skill; work hard and eventually he'd get the hang of it.
But lately, that goofy Niu Dazhuang and the wimpy Li Nangua kept getting lucky, each bringing home a fish every few days. That's when Black Monkey started to feel left behind.
It's not that those two were actually skilled—on the contrary, their fishing was so bad they could've ranked dead last—but then Lu Chang'sheng came up with his "teamwork" idea and roped them in together.
Normally, the three of them would head to the river to fish and split whatever they caught.
"I'm better at fishing than Dazhuang and Nangua! If it's just the two of us, we'll definitely bring back more fish!" Wang Heihou said, sounding a bit more confident.
But Lu Chang'sheng just shook his head.
"Black Monkey, Dazhuang and Nangua are different from you. They really trust me!"
"I—" Black Monkey paused, thought for a second, and suddenly blurted, "Wait here!"
Then he took off running.
After a while, he came back, panting.
"Didn't you wanna soak up some Book Qi? Here! But you can only soak it for half a day, and you gotta give it back, all neat and tidy!"
Black Monkey looked pretty unhappy about it.
That's how much less Book Qi he'd be able to soak.
Lu Chang'sheng couldn't help but find it funny. "Book Qi, my foot! Even if it was real, it wouldn't work like that!"
"How do you soak it, then?" Black Monkey asked nervously.
"Here, I'll show you!"
Lu Chang'sheng said.
Learning to read and write.
Being literate.
The written language here wasn't like the one from his past life at all, but the way you learned it was the same.
Right now, he didn't have to read or even really understand, just memorize for now—which would be great prep for entering school and truly learning to read and write later.
"If anyone else told me this was how you soak Book Qi, I'd probably kick him, but Chang'sheng, you're the real deal. I believe in you!"
Lu Chang'sheng originally wanted to bring Niu Dazhuang and Li Nangua along, but Black Monkey was completely against it.
"No way! Only the two of us can soak Book Qi, those two can't!"
Lu Chang'sheng couldn't help but laugh, figuring he'd slowly help Black Monkey change his mind.
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