Thinking of this, Brooks the Second could no longer care about the order of the ancestral hall and interrupted anxiously.

Even a simpleton like Brooks the Second understood the secret behind it, so none of the “elders” sitting around the fire pit were fools. After Brooks the Second spoke up, the other elders also disregarded the ancestral hall’s order, all expressing: they would definitely make sure their sons brought enough travel expenses and food, to follow the teacher and serve him...

With Henry Clark stirring things up, the discussion in the ancestral hall immediately went off topic.

Adam Brooks had been squatting by the fire pit without saying a word. After a long while, he asked in a muffled voice, “Is the teacher going to Huangzhou?”

Henry Clark nodded.

Adam Brooks let out an “oh” and decided, “In that case, let the teacher rest.”

Henry Clark got up to take his leave.

Behind him, the people in the ancestral hall continued to forget the original purpose of the meeting, chattering about the upcoming study tour for the children.

Now that their children could go on a study tour, the parents immediately felt their status had risen... Hmm, they used to be just villagers, but now, it seemed they should call themselves “yuanwai” (gentry). The problem was: everyone in Chengjia’ao was a “Cheng yuanwai,” which made it hard to tell them apart.

At this point in the discussion, several “elders” excitedly suggested: maybe they should use their ranking to call themselves “Cheng Second Yuanwai,” “Cheng Third Yuanwai”... or ask the teacher to give them a name, and use that as their title in the future, for example: “Cheng Tong Yuanwai,” and so on.

When it came to “Cheng Tong Yuanwai,” people couldn’t help but look at the always-silent clan leader, and the noise in the ancestral hall immediately dropped.

Adam Brooks hadn’t spoken since Henry Clark left, just kept his head down, drawing circles in the fire pit with a poker. Andrew Brooks was a blunt fellow; he grinned widely and used the new title to address the clan leader: “Cheng First Yuanwai, give us an idea—what should we do? Everyone will listen to you.”

Adam Brooks was exasperated.

What was this all about? They were supposed to be discussing the “annual work plan,” but now they were talking about “yuanwai” titles. He slammed the poker down hard and said in a deep voice, “Fools—the teacher is planning to leave.”

Brooks the Fifth was puzzled: “No way? We haven’t treated him badly in our village.”

Adam Brooks couldn’t understand the concept of private rights, but in this era, his actions were entirely in line with clan law and regulations. He sensed Henry Clark’s dissatisfaction, but didn’t know why, so as he spoke, he tried to sort out his thoughts—but in doing so, he went off on a tangent.

“It’s not about how well we’ve treated him—when the teacher first arrived, I could tell he wasn’t ordinary...” Here, Adam Brooks deliberately used the honorific “teacher.” He paused, then continued, “Back then, he cured the village’s cattle, and I treated him with the finest Lanxi Xiaolongtuan tea. Lanxi Xiaolongtuan! That’s a tribute tea—even people in the imperial palace praise it...

Hmm, but as soon as he picked up the tea cup, he frowned, and only after tasting a few sips did he nod slightly. I was puzzled at the time—why didn’t he think much of the Lanxi Xiaolongtuan? I pondered this for a long time, until last year when I went to the county with him and saw him playing with a teacup at a stall. That’s when I realized: back then, he wasn’t frowning at the tea, but at the cup.

We all drink tea from pottery bowls, but wealthy families don’t use those. I saw him playing with a small, delicate cup and asked what it was. He said it was a zi... zi’ou rabbit-hair cup, the favorite teaware in the palace. When I heard that, I broke out in a cold sweat.

Rabbit-hair cup—just listen to the name. Would any of us country folk even know that term? Let alone seen one, we’d never even heard of it, but he could immediately say where it came from, and said it was favored in the capital’s palace. Just think—someone so particular about tea, could he be ordinary?”

The clan leader’s words immediately resonated with Brooks the Second, who said excitedly, “That’s right! When the teacher first came to the village, his clothes were tattered and he looked like a beggar, but the fabric... tsk tsk, it was neither silk nor hemp, none of us had ever seen it. My wife said the stitching was so even, no ordinary person could have made it. I figure: it must have been tribute goods, maybe from the palace...”

“Silence!” Adam Brooks barked sternly.

※※※

Brooks the Second couldn’t hold back his words. He immediately skipped over the comments about the clothes and continued, “Also, when the teacher arrived, he carried a wooden bow on his back. Later, I secretly tried it... tsk tsk, what a bow! Strong draw, the arrows could pierce armor. And that bowstring—I still don’t know what kind of animal tendon it was made from.”

In fact, the “bow” Brooks the Second mentioned was just a makeshift bow Henry Clark had crafted from the simplest wood, using whatever was available. The bowstring was actually a cord from a woman’s skirt.

However, the way this bow was made was different from traditional bows: it hadn’t been fire-hardened, but was simply bent from a single piece of hardwood.

Making such a bow required skill, and the techniques Henry Clark learned from books were naturally far superior to the trial-and-error methods of Song people. At the same time, thanks to his survival training in the wild, Henry Clark’s archery was certainly not bad. If he missed his prey, he’d go hungry—he could starve to death. As a result, his survival skills were far beyond what the mountain folk could match, because he had both theoretical knowledge and practical experience.

As for Brooks the Second, he just muddled through on instinct. When he found Henry Clark and begged him to make a bow and arrows, the tips Henry Clark gave offhand were like breaking through a barrier for him, leaving the instinct-driven Brooks the Second utterly amazed and deeply impressed.