Chapter 371 - 343: Education Plan
As noon approached, dark clouds rolled in over the Home.
The deluge tore a rift between heaven and earth. Outside the window, rain poured in sheets, filling the air with its roar.
"This feels even worse than that storm in the forest," Qin Ziwu remarked, standing by the balcony.
The rain was so heavy that visibility was almost zero. A sheet of gray haze was all that could be seen outside.
"The Fishmen must love this weather," Qin Ziwen noted. He saw that the Fishmen in the Home were quite agitated. The air was thick with moisture; for them, it was like a fish in water.
However, not many Fishmen had remained in the Home, and those who did were mostly single.
The ones with families had all returned to the Fishman Tribe with Lorne.
’I wonder how many of their people they’ll be able to bring back.’
Speak of the devil.
Lorne was walking at the head of the group.
A long procession followed behind him.
The group was nearly four times the size it had been when they set out at dawn.
Many of the Fishmen were accompanied by females and Little Fishmen.
The Fishmen were very fertile; he’d heard they had two or three offspring per brood on average.
But Fishmen also had large appetites, and the average family couldn’t afford too many children. Because of this, they wouldn’t have a second brood until their first had reached adulthood.
These new arrivals, upon reaching the Home for the first time, curiously surveyed their surroundings.
Qin Ziwen stepped forward to greet them. As the Lord of the Homeland, he needed these Fishmen to at least recognize his face.
After the pleasantries, he settled the Fishmen in the Fishman Cave. The cave’s interior was vast, more than spacious enough to accommodate all of them.
But Qin Ziwen soon discovered a problem.
These Little Fishmen possessed the boundless curiosity common to all youngsters.
After getting settled, the young Fishmen crawled ashore and began scampering all over the Home. Some even started playing with the human children.
In an open area, a few seven- and eight-year-old children were playing hopscotch.
Two young Fishmen crept closer. After watching for a moment, they began to imitate the game from the side.
They weren’t used to walking on land, however, so their hopping looked incredibly awkward. This sent the human children into fits of laughter. Somehow, despite the language barrier, the two groups inexplicably started playing together.
Qin Ziwen couldn’t help but fall into thought. It occurred to him that there was something that ought to be formally established in the Gated Community.
And that was education.
Not just for the children, but for the youths and adults as well. Including the Fishmen, the Gated Community’s population now exceeded three thousand.
Some remote townships weren’t much larger than this.
Those who don’t plan for the future will find trouble on their doorstep.
For now, the Gated Community’s demographics were healthy, but that might not be the case in the future.
The children were quick learners, and the young Fishmen grew even faster, needing only four or five years to reach adulthood.
They had to be guided properly.
Of course, considering the practical circumstances, having the able-bodied youths and adults study all day wasn’t realistic.
Perhaps a specific period could be set aside after dinner for the youths and adults to engage in systematic learning.
In truth, most of the able-bodied members of the Qin Alliance already studied in their free time, but their learning was scattered, haphazard, and lacked structure.
This was the perfect opportunity.
To formalize the Qin Alliance’s education system.
Different classes could be established for various professions, such as Blacksmith, tailor, shipwright, and physician.
These would be divided into children’s classes and adult classes.
"My Lord, I think this is an excellent idea," Jia Liangcai said in agreement with Qin Ziwen’s thoughts. "For the children, the focus should be on nurturing their interests and discovering their potential. For the adults, it should be based on strengthening their current roles and improving their skills. By teaching them according to their needs, everyone can achieve something."
"Right. The main thing is to give these kids something to do. They can’t just play around all the time."
And so, thanks to everyone’s efforts, the children under twelve in the Gated Community, who had been out of school since the transmigration, finally began their classes again.
Many members of the Qin Alliance had been teachers before, and among the group from the school that had merged with them, there were even a few university professors.
After a screening process, a group of teachers was selected for basic and specialized courses.
The student body was open to all, without discrimination. Children of both the Human Race and the Fishman Race could attend.
The language barrier was no issue, thanks to the Hundred Schools Book Tower. They could learn in the process of teaching, and teach in the process of learning.
Once the school was up and running, the Gated Community became much quieter.
Outside, the torrential rain continued to fall.
"Brother," Qin Ziwu said with a worried expression, "Lorne just went to make another prediction. It’s still going to be raining the day after tomorrow. I’m afraid this storm isn’t going to stop anytime soon."
Qin Ziwen smiled. "It’s not a big deal. If one way is blocked, we’ll find another. If we can’t work on the sea, we’ll go back to the forest. Go gather everyone. We’re going back to the forest to chop some trees."
"Alright." Qin Ziwu agreed. He was getting tired of the sea anyway; a change of scenery would be nice.
Once everyone was assembled, Qin Ziwen used his backtracking feature, opening a portal and leading the way through.
He brought the Beaked Eagle, Red Hare, Black, and the Little White Dragon with him, passing through the portal and back into the forest.
The Island was too small for them to run freely; the forest was a much better habitat for them.
Stepping onto the forest soil and smelling the fragrant vegetation, Black lifted its head, nose twitching, eyes filled with excitement.
The Little White Dragon followed behind Black, warily observing its surroundings.
Red Hare pranced on its hooves, taking small, restless steps as it looked around. Suddenly, it whipped its head around, flared its nostrils for a powerful sniff, and stared toward a small grove to the east.
It glanced back at its master. Seeing that he wasn’t paying attention, it trotted behind a tree, lowered its head, and sniffed at a muddy patch on the other side.
Its eyes lit up. It threw its head back, its upper lip curling to bare its teeth.
’Ooh, a little mare~’
Red Hare grew restless.
’It could smell it. The owner of this urine was a healthy, strong mare in heat.’
’Honestly, coming all the way to the edge of Lord Red Hare’s territory to leave a signal... is she trying to tempt me?’
The corners of Red Hare’s mouth turned up.
It spun in a circle. The scent had been left a few hours ago. By analyzing the surrounding hoofprints and trampled ground, the wise and mighty Lord Red Hare had already deduced which direction the little mare had gone.
’But I can’t just leave without my master’s permission.’
Red Hare’s eyes darted about as it trotted around behind Qin Ziwen.
It gently nipped the cuff of its master’s sleeve and tugged it toward the grove.
It repeated this several times.
Finally, it earned a scolding from its master. "Don’t you ruin my clothes."
Seeing the horse’s sneaky behavior, Qin Ziwen figured it was up to something and followed it behind the tree. Red Hare pointed to the tracks on the ground with its hoof.
"Why are you showing me your hoofprints?" Qin Ziwen asked. He then saw Red Hare shake its head. It stomped the ground, leaving a clear print of its own hoof next to the other one.
With this for comparison, Qin Ziwen noticed something was off.
The size and shape of the hoofprints were different.
It was hard to pinpoint the exact difference, but he just felt they looked strange.
Qin Ziwen called Du Yu over. Du Yu identified it at a glance. "My Lord, this is the print of a shod horse. The prints of a horse with horseshoes are very complete and clear. They have nail hole impressions on the side that make the dirt bulge slightly, right here."
"No wonder it looked different," Qin Ziwen said, suddenly understanding. He had never seen a horseshoe before.
He had never even thought of shoeing Red Hare.
Mainly because Red Hare had already broken through to the Extraordinary realm, so there was no longer any need for them.
Du Yu looked up. "This hoofprint is very clear. Someone was here a few hours ago."
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