"That's right, why didn't I think of that?!" Tyler Walker suddenly let out a strange cry, his body that had been leaning against the chair shot upright. "The old blind man may not be able to see, but he can still teach people to read!"

"Yeah, yeah, I want to learn to read too!" Danny Goodwin said, giving one last look at "Lihuo Heart Technique" before gently putting it down. "Brother-in-law, after you learn, can you teach me too?!"

"That old swindler doesn't have much to do anyway, and there aren't many people who actually fall for his tricks these days. Why not let him open a school in the village and teach us to read? Not just me, but anyone else in the village who wants to can come and learn, especially those little rascals who run around causing trouble all day—drag them over to learn to read. And those hunters, all full of energy, let them learn to read after their daily training. It might help them calm down and fix their hot tempers. Plus, this way, the old swindler can earn a few meals and won't have to pretend to be pitiful at the village entrance all day!"

"Will that work?!" Hannah Johnson heard Tyler Walker's words and a trace of doubt flashed across her face. "Will people actually come?"

"Whether they want to or not is up to them. This kind of thing can only be voluntary. But for the little rascals like Danny Goodwin in the village, we should get as many of them to come as possible. Sigh, in my life, my biggest disadvantage has been not knowing how to read!"

At this, he let out a sigh, his breath carrying a sense of having weathered many hardships.

"What are you sighing for? You're only twenty, acting like some seventy- or eighty-year-old man!"

Hearing Tyler Walker's sigh, Hannah Johnson frowned and pinched Tyler Walker in dissatisfaction.

"Teach us to read?" Danny Goodwin, who was standing to the side, was stunned for a moment, then suddenly understood and admired Tyler Walker even more. Isn't this just like an adult literacy class? In this era, the general education level of the people is extremely low. In a small mountain village like theirs, not counting himself, Danny Goodwin—the oddball—the only person who could really read was that old swindler, and he was blind.

Moreover, in the eyes of people in this era—at least in the eyes of these villagers—knowing how to read wasn't considered very useful. In their minds, reading and writing were things for the bigwigs in the county town. Their own tasks were to hunt and farm during the day, and at night, to hold their wives in bed and produce the next generation.

But what Tyler Walker was thinking was far beyond that of ordinary mountain folk. Still, carrying this out would probably be very difficult.

"Alright then, brother-in-law, I want to learn to read too. When the time comes, talk to my dad and send me as well, okay?!"

"Of course! You're still so young—learning to read early will be good for your future. Didn't your father want to send you to Qingyang Market as an apprentice? If you learn to read, your prospects will be much better than most people!" Tyler Walker patted Danny Goodwin's little head and said with a smile.

Danny Goodwin squirmed a bit, pulling his head out from under Tyler Walker's big hand. "Alright, brother-in-law, when you ask the old blind man to teach you to read, you have to let me know!"

"Stop calling him 'old blind man' all the time. From now on, he's your teacher, and you must respect your teacher!" Tyler Walker's expression turned serious. "That's the rule, that's the principle. You must remember—no matter when, you can't neglect rules and principles!"

"Yes, brother-in-law!" Danny Goodwin nodded quickly, looking eager to learn.

"Alright, Danny Goodwin, you've eaten, so it's time to go home. If you don't go back soon, your mother will scold you again!"

"Oh, got it. Thanks, sis. Sis, I'm leaving now!" Danny Goodwin replied, feeling as if he'd been granted amnesty, and ran out of Tyler Walker's house.

"That's settled then. The last diagram is confirmed, and I can use learning to read from the old blind man as a cover for my illiteracy. Not bad, really not bad. My brother-in-law is quite a talent—it's a bit of a waste for him to be stuck in this little mountain village. But if it weren't for him, I wouldn't be this lucky!"

Danny Goodwin lived in the same room as Sam Goodwin and Eddie Goodwin, but the room was big. Although the old Zhou family wasn't well-off, mountain folk never lacked space. The three brothers shared a room, but their beds were far apart, and each had his own earthen bed. Though the beds were crude and not fancy at all, they were warm and solid.

Danny Goodwin's bed was against the south wall, which had a hole just the right size to let the bright moonlight from outside shine in.

Climbing into bed and pulling up the covers, Danny Goodwin groped under the mattress for a moment and pulled out a few crumpled sheets of paper. By the moonlight shining through the little hole, he examined them carefully. On the paper, drawn in charcoal, was a naked human figure, with several black lines drawn across it. At the intersections of the lines, the names of acupuncture points were written in fine script—these were the diagrams and notes Danny Goodwin had memorized from "Lihuo Heart Technique." Today, he had finally confirmed them all!

Chapter 8 Cultivation Qingyang Market