Volume 4: How big is the heart, how vast is the earth Chapter 124: Busy Studying on a Snowy Day
Standing in front of several abandoned mud-brick houses at the old site of the tribe, Lan Guo felt a little dazed for a moment.
Only four years had passed... no, five years, and he had already completely gotten used to his current life. When he saw the mud house, the memories that he had forgotten about gradually came to his mind.
He walked forward and touched the mud-brick walls. The house that allowed the tribesmen to sleep on a warm kang and endure the long nights for the first time five years ago had now weathered and was no longer presentable. The reed shed on the roof had rotted into something like mud, and the walls had been washed much lower by rain.
"...It's been five years!" Lan Guo sighed softly.
"Lan Guo? What's wrong?" A Yue walked over on the thick snow with two big hammers in her hands, and found Lan Guo standing there in a daze, so she asked casually.
"Nothing, I just suddenly remembered that the first time I lived in a house for the winter was five years ago." Lan Guo smiled and turned sideways, "Time flies."
A Yue didn't understand what he meant and looked confused.
"Let's not talk about this, let's start demolishing." Lan Guo took the mining hammer borrowed from the gray dwarf from A Yue, held the handle with both hands, glanced at the bumpy mud brick walls, and smiled, "Come to think of it, when A Yun proposed to demolish these mud brick houses, Huo Yan refused to agree, saying that he might need to live in them in the future. Now that the newly built greenhouses are all made of cement bricks, who would be willing to live in this kind of mud house."
A Yue chuckled and scratched his head embarrassedly... After the tribe moved one thousand meters to the north and built new cement brick houses, A Yun proposed to demolish the old houses and use the land to grow vegetables. He was one of the opponents at that time; he thought A Yun was too ignorant and looked down on such a nice house because it had only been used for a short time. But now, if he and his partner Qing Cao really come back to live in this mud house, Qing Cao will beat him up without anyone saying anything.
It was not a difficult job for an adult snow wolf to demolish a few mud houses. The two of them did not sweat much and demolished the first batch of houses built by the tribe into ruins. When the snow melted in spring, they would shovel away the mud bricks and plow them twice to make a qualified vegetable field.
The two of them walked back carrying hammers. Having led the engineering team together for such a long time, Lan Guo and A Yue already had a lot in common. As they walked, A Yue gestured with her hands and said, "A Yun wants to build the next batch of family houses on this side to encourage the tribesmen to live together as couples. Then the road on this side must be built along this side, and the sewage drainage must be connected here... I can't handle it with the few people I have. Lan Guo, do you have a heavy workload next year?"
"Don't count on me. When I finish repairing the road, the construction plan of the new hilly area will definitely fall on my shoulders." Lan Guo waved his hand and said jokingly, "Aren't the new people of the same tribe who just arrived learning to adapt in the work team? Instead of asking me, you might as well ask Qingcao to see which ones are useful and make reservations in advance."
Ah Yue sighed, "This is exactly what's bothering me. Qingcao has mentioned this to me several times. The new people from the same tribe work hard, but they are hard to lead. They don't use their strength in the right place... You remember how Niu Jiao dug the foundation before. The harder he worked, the worse it got."
Lan Guo was amused: "If Ah Yun heard you saying this, he would scold you again. How can you expect skilled workers to fall from the sky if you don't rely on yourself to develop? Let alone others, we didn't know how to do it before. When we first built the living area, we either buried the ceramic pipes of the sewage sewer crookedly or the pipes at both ends couldn't be connected. We learned it step by step."
Ah Yue thought about it and laughed, scratching her head: "Then don't tell him. He criticized me for a long time last time, saying that I'm good in every way except that I'm conservative and unwilling to change and advance with the times... It's really giving me a headache."
Lan Guo couldn't help laughing. He actually felt that what Ayun said about A Yue was right. A Yue's personality was content with the status quo. Once he adapted to a lifestyle, he was unwilling to change it and could not accept new challenges that might arise at any time. For this reason, Ayun simply taught him under his nose and kept him in the tribe to carry out the expansion instead of sending him out to build roads.
Seeing that there was no one around, Lan Guo leaned close to A Yue's ear and said, "I'll teach you a trick. Next time, if A Yun comes to see you with a smile on his face, sends everyone else away, and then praises you, you should be alert... Either he will assign you a very troublesome task, or he will give you a lesson..."
"Then I'd rather be scolded by him." A Yue said immediately.
"Hahaha……"
The two engineering team leaders returned to the tribe. They both had partners and were assigned family housing. Their families lived next to each other and they were very close outside of work. After returning the mining hammer and washing their hands, they were about to play the military chess that Ayun had made for everyone when Nan Guo's partner Xuehua came back and said, "Why are you still here? Go to the meeting room. Ayun has a class."
"Are we going to have class again? What are we going to talk about this time?" A Yue asked curiously.
Snowflake said, "I don't know. The clan leaders have all passed away."
"Have you called the soldiers?" Lan Guo got up from the kang and put away the military chess set that had not yet been opened.
"It seems not. Xiaohua Maomao and the others are still training. I did see Hongye passing by."
"Hongye didn't join the warrior team, so she's not that hot~" A Yue laughed and went out.
Lan Guo walked out of the room and took a few steps. Then he thought of something and turned back to shout, "Xuehua, come and listen too."
"What's so good about it?" Xuehua had already sat on the kang and was about to take off her shoes.
"Come on, let's go together. There's no harm in that." Lan Guo urged.
Xuehua is in Qingcao's work team. It has been snowing intermittently today. After finishing daily work in the morning, she is relatively free in the afternoon. Since she has nothing else to do anyway, she reluctantly follows out.
The large conference room was built behind the mobile house. It is currently the largest building in the living area. The roof is made of prefabricated cement slabs with steel bars as the frame. The roof was completed quickly in more than 20 days.
Lan Guo and the other two lifted the thick animal skin curtain and entered the spacious room. Heat hit them in the face. The floor heating and the fireplace provided heating at the same time, making the large conference room warmer than ordinary dormitories. However, the consumption of black stone was also high, so it was not used much. Normally, any meetings were held in the mobile home, and this room was not used unless there was something important.
Lan Guo saw the tribe leaders sitting cross-legged in the front row, talking to each other. The twenty-one Snow Wolf tribe leaders were there, as were the two Cat tribe leaders (including Xia). Further back were the goblin Old Shamen, the gray dwarf Baru, Hongye, Ashan, Qiu, Qingyan, Dashui, Qingcao, Dahe, Yugu, Rosemary and others.
Lan Guo had an idea and pulled her partner Xuehua to sit near the grass, waiting quietly for Ayun to start class.
The warriors' right to speak within the tribe was restricted by Ayun, which was something Lang Guo only figured out two years ago.
This is not the end. After the warriors were gradually separated from the center of power, the people in charge of various tasks who joined in had more and more say in the matters they were responsible for, which exceeded their "privileges" with the clan leaders. Last year, the clan leaders had no say in the allocation of personnel, and now with so many more clan leaders, it is no longer possible for the clan leaders who originally had absolute power to influence the development and changes in the tribe with their own will.
After figuring out the situation, Lan Guo was a little frightened, but after observing from the sidelines, he could find no fault with the change, and it was even beneficial... For example, if Huo Yan, who knew nothing about engineering construction, interfered with the road construction he was responsible for, he would not only be unable to help, but would also delay the construction period.
After accepting the reality, Lan Guo objectively paid attention to the personnel and power structure changes within the tribe. Although he did not show it on the surface, he gradually agreed more and more with Ayun's approach - professionals should do professional things, and laymen should not guide professionals. This makes sense whether in the engineering team or in other projects.
After understanding this, thinking back to the process of Ayun adjusting the power structure in the tribe, Lan Guo was filled with admiration... He was not a muddleheaded person, he had seen many things silently. Not to mention the stories Ayun used as examples, how many things had happened in Xia's tribe for the position of the chief? Qingyan was exiled, the tribe was split, and only one-tenth of the population of the tribe of more than 300 people came to seek refuge in a panic - things like power structure changes and power transfers are really not something that can be accomplished by just talking.
Ayun's methods allowed the entire process to proceed smoothly in the tribe without causing any internal turmoil, and the entire operation was completed. It would be fine if you don't understand it, but for those who understand it, it is impossible not to admire Ayun.
Not to mention that Ayun never shied away from talking about power in the tribe. He even bluntly asked everyone to understand what power is, what kind of changes power will bring to people, and in which direction power will transfer under the two conditions of being restricted and unrestricted. He talked about it over and over again, using himself as an example, asking everyone to think more, ponder more, and experience more. He was afraid that someone in charge of things under him would not understand the series of tricks that might appear around power. If anyone lived in a muddle-headed way, Ayun would almost want to grab their ears and forcefully teach them...
"Are you all here?"
Lan Guo woke up from his thoughts, looked up at the gate, and saw Ayun walking in with a large pile of bark paper in his arms, looking energetic.
"Hey - do homework again?" Dahe, a typical poor student, saw the pile of bark paper and immediately hugged his head and screamed.
"Stop talking nonsense. If you continue, you will have to do double the number of questions!" Xiao Yun said viciously.
Dahe quickly covered his mouth, and Qingyan next to him laughed loudly without any conscience.
Everyone was sitting cross-legged on the ground. Xiao Yun put down the bark paper and also sat cross-legged. He patted the pile of "exam papers" and looked at everyone with a smile: "Everyone's attitude towards learning is very positive. I'm very happy... Oh, Xuehua is here to audit? That's great. Xuehua's studious spirit is worth learning from!"
Xuehua looked at her partner Lan Guo guiltily and smiled foolishly.
"Today's class is not about fictional stories, but about things that happened around us. We say that when we go out and interact with others, we should listen more and watch more, so as to learn useful experience and knowledge from others' experiences. When we encounter similar things, we can have a clear mind and not panic easily. So what we are going to talk about now is the story of the tiger tribe..."
Patriarch Feng, who was sitting in the front row, had been sitting very straight since Xiao Yun entered the room. After Xiao Yun started the class, Patriarch Feng leaned forward slightly and listened very attentively.
After coming to the Fire Tribe for more than a month and attending six "big classes" in succession, Chief Feng's worldview has been refreshed again and again... Even the amazing momentum of the Fire Tribe's development has not shocked him more than the content of the lessons taught by the cub Ayun.
The tribes in the central part deal with foreign caravans every year. Chief Feng, who has come into contact with caravans several times, considers himself a man with a broad vision. Other chiefs are concerned about whether the newborn lambs can grow up healthily, but Chief Feng's eyes are on the tiger tribe and the cat tribe. Ever since the three elite warriors loaned out ten years ago never returned, Chief Feng realized that the tiger tribe had bad intentions. Without waiting for the nearby cat tribe to make an excuse to grab pasture, he led his people to the banks of the Bray River in advance. When he heard from the minotaur that people from the Orc Empire were coming in and out of the royal court, he immediately led his tribe across the river and away from the royal court's control area... He was not sure that the tiger tribe would not attack the snow wolf tribe because of the friendship of their ancestors. Although the snow wolves were not afraid of war, he was not willing to let his people be consumed on the battlefield.
After seeing the one-armed warrior Ayi, Chief Feng was relieved, but at the same time he couldn't help feeling complacent... If he hadn't had foresight, their tribe might have encountered what Ayi encountered.
The confidence of Chief Feng was completely shattered after the first class...
The Fire Tribe not only vigilantly guards against the Tiger Tribe, but also sets their sights on the southern continent across the sea. They use the complex environment of the human kingdom as a model and use storytelling to help the tribesmen understand various forms of struggle, at a level far superior to their own petty ideas.
Ayun's class was about the story of the tiger tribe, and also the "origins" of the snow wolf tribe and the cat tribe on the grassland. They were the losers in the power struggle in the Far Eastern Empire, retreating to the grassland to survive, and covering the sacrifices of the snow wolf tribe and the cat tribe in the retreat of the tiger tribe. These contents were all learned by Xia from the minotaur. Now, hearing them again, not to mention the others who were filled with hatred and resentment, even Xia clenched his fists unwillingly.
Next, it is about the survival trajectories of the three races on the grassland, as well as the internal upheavals of the tiger tribe more than forty years ago and the cause of death of the previous tiger king... This part is about the benefits Xiao Yun gained after accepting Evelyn as his disciple. This is a "secret" on the grassland, and even the Tauren are secretive about it. The proud forest elves don't take these things seriously.
The Tiger Clan, who originally intended to manage the grassland, did not intend to attack their "own people" the Cat Clan and the Snow Wolf Clan, but prepared to use the Minotaur to establish their power. However, they took too big a step and suffered a setback, resulting in a joint attack from many parties and their inability to recover... Xiao Yun told the secrets of the grassland in class without reservation. Not to mention smart people like the Peak Clan Leader and the Grassroots Clan Leader, even the silly and cute Huo Yan was stunned.
In between the stories, Xiao Yun analyzed for everyone why the Tiger Clan was in trouble, uh, why those powerful forces did not allow the Tiger Clan to manage the grassland - it was not difficult to infer the situation at that time from the result, and it could even be said to be very easy: your Tiger Clan had produced semi-god-level continental powerhouses and domineering Beast Kings before, and now you still have your subordinates , and have bred a population of more than 100,000. You said you wanted to take advantage of the opportunity and start over, will others give you a chance?
If you fail to kill the snake, you will suffer the consequences. There are similar fables in this world!
I'm glad I didn't make your tiger tribe die stiff, but you still want to jump! No way!
Xiao Yun used rather simple, crude and sarcastic words to analyze and narrate the dirty deeds done under the surface by several major forces in the northern continent and the dark psychology that cannot be told to outsiders. What he wanted to convey was a simple, straightforward and irrefutable truth: the Beast King, the Elf King, the Dwarf King, no matter how high their titles are, to put it bluntly, they are no different from those profit-driven characters in our story.
After telling the tragic history of the tiger tribe, the next part is the analysis of the changes in the royal court's style of doing things on the grassland after the new tiger king took office: shouting the slogan of returning to the Far East, using the centaurs living in the east to test the bottom line of the major forces, changing the attitude towards the two younger brothers, the cat tribe and the snow wolf tribe, contacting the Beast King who was formerly the top enemy, and flirting with the Far East Empire - why did the tiger tribe do this, what are the advantages and disadvantages of doing so, what is the purpose of adopting a certain policy, whether it will be successful based on the results known now, etc., he broke down his own analysis and understanding and told everyone.
The dozens of people sitting in the large conference room didn't dare to breathe when they heard this. Everyone showed a tangled and twisted expression as if their worldview had been forcibly shattered... Even the Fire Clan leader, who lowered the IQ of everyone present, heard the sinister part in Xiao Yun's story, and his square face twisted greatly.
"...In summary, this is my personal opinion of the whole process of the tiger tribe taking crazy measures to survive." Xiao Yun's mouth was dry as he spoke. He took a big gulp from the water hose hanging on his waist. "Now everyone is free to speak. Say whatever you want to say."
"——Oh my god~" Taiga let out an exaggerated sigh, his only advantage, his handsome face, was twisted, "Why is it so difficult to live?"
"It's not hard to live, but it's hard to live well." Xiao Yun shook his head in disagreement. "As long as you don't starve or freeze to death, you can survive. If you work a little harder and save food, you can always make ends meet. But if you want to live well, you need to have ideals, pursuits, and goals to achieve. This is more difficult. If the former is a shortcut on the low mountain, the latter is the mountaineering trail on the Samar Snow Mountain. A guy like you, Dahe, would definitely run towards the low mountain without hesitation. Although the Tiger Tribe is currently the enemy of our Snow Wolf Tribe, they are not as unmotivated as you."
Dahe pouted and rolled her eyes, and Qingyan laughed at her.
The Grassroots Chief shook his head and smiled bitterly: "It seems that the road ahead of us is also a difficult mountain climbing road."
Xiao Yun spread his hands and made a joke: "Everyone who has participated in the work knows very well that there is no such thing as an easy life in this world. If you want to eat rabbit meat, you have to endure the stench of rabbit feces. If you want to eat flour, you have to carefully tend to the land for several months. If there is really a place where you can live a good life without working hard, I will definitely rush there first. I am also very tired of getting up early every day and beating drums and gongs to wake people up. I sleep half an hour less than you."
Those who have participated in the work will smile knowingly. The seven clan leaders who arrived before the snow did not have similar experiences, but they could still feel a little bit about the work arrangements within the tribe on days when it never snowed, and they could relate to the situation.
"The centaurs are so miserable." Hongye sighed, "No wonder you didn't call Sayer here, Ayun... If I heard that we, the Snow Wolf people, have become tools for others to test their attitudes, I would be so angry that I would die."
"If you don't have the ability to protect yourself, you will become a tool that others can use at will. The Tiger Tribe, whose ancestors were rich, knows this better than anyone else, so they chose to fight hard." Xiao Yun nodded, "Learn from the experiences of others, look at the Tiger Tribe, although we don't know how to succeed, but at least we can avoid stepping on the landmines that the Tiger Tribe has stepped on, and cross the river by feeling the way of the Tiger Tribe. For example, now we know clearly that before we are strong enough, we can't do things that will cause others to be afraid, and we must learn to bend down to please and paralyze potential enemies... The Tiger Tribe has to hold their noses when dealing with the Far East Empire, right?"
Everyone nodded in agreement. Even if they accepted Ayun's teachings and still insisted on being stubborn and confronting the issue head-on, then they would have listened to the class in vain and done those questions in vain.
"Okay, now it's time to assign homework." Xiao Yun picked up the bark paper beside him with a smile, "Today's homework is to write an essay. The title is 'I am the Tiger King'. Suppose you are sitting in the position of the Tiger King, in which direction would you choose to lead the tiger tribe? There is no standard answer for the essay. Everyone should write according to their own ideas. The full essay must not be less than 800 words."
“No, ahhhhh——!!” Dahe held his head with both hands again and screamed very loudly.
"Write me 1,600 words!" Xiao Yun glared at him.
Daha fell forward and fell to the ground in an instant.
Xiao Yun ignored her and stood up to distribute the bark papers to everyone one by one: "Each person takes five sheets. The number of typos should not exceed one tenth of the total text. Ask others for words you don't know how to write, and don't write the pinyin... Come on, Xuehua, take your share... By the way, when you have nothing to do, urge the females with partners, whether they are snow wolves, cats, goblins, or gray dwarves, to hurry up and mate. If you are pregnant now, the three dangerous months in the early spring will have passed, and you will still have time to participate in spring ploughing... If you work during pregnancy, you will get double snack subsidies, and you will have a holiday during the waiting period. There are many benefits!"
Xuehua shivered as she took the five pieces of bark paper Xiao Yun handed to her, and looked at her partner Lan Guo with a complicated look of love and hate.
"..." Lan Guo looked away guiltily. She only thought about getting Xuehua to audit her classes so that she could have more opportunities to be a decision-maker in the future, but she ignored the homework...
After handing out the homework, Xiao Yun was very satisfied that no one except Da He had any major complaints. He smiled and said, "This is extra homework for the big class. Don't neglect the regular questions in the study group while completing this."
Rosemary finally couldn't help but cry out in pain, but Fishbone quickly covered his mouth...
