Chapter 116: I Invite You to Be My Mentor (Part Two)

As Yang Yaozong explained the process of thinning seedlings to the women, several people standing near Liao Qiniang observed him while questioning her.

"Qiniang, who is this young man?" asked Liao Dingyuan, Qiniang’s father.

"Someone I kidnapped and brought up the mountain," Liao Qiniang replied calmly.

"Kidnapped?" her second uncle asked, looking at her with a puzzled expression.

Liao Dingyuan, Chen Guanghan, and Qiniang’s sixth brother all looked at her, full of questions. Liao Qiniang nodded and recounted the entire reason behind the kidnapping.

After hearing her out, Liao Dingyuan frowned and stared at her. "Then why did you bring him to the mountaintop?"

"He wanted to see the summit, and I wanted to offer him some incentive so he would settle down and train my horses. Besides, he seems well-educated and was specifically planning to travel to the capital for his studies, so I thought I would keep him here on the mountain to be a tutor for the children," Qiniang answered candidly.

"Do you think he’ll agree to stay?" her sixth brother asked.

"Whether he wants to or not is irrelevant; all that matters is that I want him to," Qiniang said, her eyes narrowing as she watched Yang Yaozong, who was chatting animatedly with the women.

"I suspect this man’s bearing suggests he is no ordinary person, certainly not just a simple scholar. It won’t be easy to keep him," Chen Guanghan remarked.

"Indeed," Liao Dingyuan agreed, eyeing his daughter sternly. "You say he is a scholar, yet he shows no fear of you or the bandits on this mountain. Look at him now, chatting away with those women—that is something a typical scholar would neither do nor deign to do. If he were not a scholar, and given what you said about him only knowing a few bits of underworld jargon—even if they were regional dialects we’ve never heard—he likely just picked them up somewhere. He doesn't even know the basics of how to introduce his background or his mentors, so he is certainly not one of our own. Watching his composed manner, even here in a bandit lair and in front of a leader like you, a young man with such poise must have a significant background, likely from an official’s family. If you can make him stay, well and good, but if you can’t, you must ensure he never leaks word of what goes on in this stronghold."

Liao Qiniang was surprised that her father and the others held Yang Yaozong in such high regard. Although she had sensed he was different—possessing a unique, indefinable quality—she always trusted her father’s judgment. She nodded silently, stood up, and said, "I will go and have a word with him."

As she approached, she saw that Yang Yaozong was surrounded not only by the women but also by several children. He was sitting on the ground, demonstrating how to thin the seedlings.

"Vegetable crops need sunlight to grow," Yang Yaozong said, pulling out a small green sprout. "If you plant them too densely, or if they grow too thick, they won't get enough sunlight. They will then grow desperately long stems trying to reach the light, turning into 'long-legged seedlings'." He held up the sprout to show the women.

The women laughed, and the children cheered, "Long-legged seedlings! Long-legged seedlings!" The women shushed them, but the children just grinned at Yang Yaozong.

"Thinning them allows each plant to get enough sun, water, and nutrients," he continued. "It improves airflow, prevents diseases, and lets them grow big and strong."

Although the women didn't understand every detail, they grasped the main point and nodded. Yang Yaozong demonstrated how to remove the crowded or weak seedlings, leaving the robust ones. He explained how to space them so the leaves touched but did not overlap, and how to gently press the soil and water them to avoid damaging the roots.

After finishing, he stood up and brushed the dirt from his hands and trousers. "Try it on this patch first. These greens grow fast; you'll see the difference in a few days. Then you can decide if you want to follow my method." He held up the thinned greens. "You can stir-fry these or put them in soup. If you have too many, feed them to the chickens and pigs. It’s better than letting the bugs eat them!"

The women roared with laughter. One woman even reached out to pat his hand, remarking, "Look at those soft, delicate hands! I never would have guessed you were so skilled at farming." The other women teased her, and Yang Yaozong laughed along, genuinely enjoying their straightforward company.

When a woman noticed Liao Qiniang nearby, she called out, and the group moved over to tell her about the new technique, praising Yang Yaozong in the process. Meanwhile, Yang Yaozong was besieged by the children. "Big brother, you're so smart—can you tell us a story?"

Yang Yaozong picked up one of the children. "Wait, I recall you calling her 'Auntie'?" he asked, gesturing toward Liao Qiniang.

Qiniang was listening closely to him while chatting with the women.

"Yeah," the child replied. "My mom told me to call Qiniang 'Auntie'."

"If you call her Auntie, you have to call me Uncle," Yang Yaozong said. Another child asked, "But I call Qiniang 'Big Sister,' what should I call you?"

Yang Yaozong chuckled. "If you're worried about the hierarchy, just call me Uncle like the others." The children began chanting "Uncle, Uncle" incessantly.

Liao Qiniang heard him and couldn't help but smile, though she quickly masked it to appear as if she were just enjoying her conversation. Watching her, Yang Yaozong thought, *That woman really is beautiful when she smiles.*

He sat back down and said, "Alright, let me tell you a story." He recounted the tale of Kong Rong sharing the pears, using it to teach them about humility. The children listened intently, then begged for another, so he told them the story of "The Boy Who Cried Wolf."

The women were also drawn in. "Qiniang," one whispered, "is this young man really a scholar?"

Qiniang nodded with a smile.

"A scholar who knows farm work—how rare," a woman remarked. "And he's so handsome, with no airs at all. He’s quite a catch. He and our Qiniang would make a perfect pair."

The comment made Qiniang blush deeply, though she quickly hardened her expression. The women, realizing they had overstepped, fell silent to listen to the rest of the story.

After finishing, Yang Yaozong asked, "So, what kind of children do you want to be?"

"Honest children!" they shouted in unison.

Liao Qiniang noticed the women around her wiping tears from their eyes, moved by the sudden wisdom of their usually rowdy children. When Yang Yaozong moved to stand, the children clung to him, begging for more.

"How about I teach you a poem instead?" he offered.

The children sat still, eyes wide, as he taught them the poem "Hoeing Millet at Noon." He explained the meaning in simple terms, emphasizing the value of hard work and the importance of not wasting food.

"Will you be good children who cherish your food?" he asked.

"Yes!" they replied.

"That's all for today," he said. "Don't waste a single grain of rice."

As he stood up, a child asked, "Uncle, will you come back to tell us more stories tomorrow?"

Yang Yaozong glanced at Liao Qiniang. "If I have time, I will." The children reluctantly dispersed.

Once the women had drifted away, Liao Qiniang approached him. "Are you willing to stay on the mountain and be a tutor for the children? I will ensure you have food and clothing." As she said this, she felt a pang of uncertainty, remembering her father’s words about his high-status background.

Yang Yaozong looked at her. "If I could help these women, children, and your brothers lead a life of peace and prosperity, would you still want to be a bandit leader?"

Qiniang was stunned. She had never considered such a question. "Can you actually do that?"

"I said *if*," he replied with a faint smile.

"If we weren't driven to a dead end by officials, who would choose to be a bandit and risk their necks every day?" she countered, gesturing to the village. "The people fear and hate us; the government uses us and then hunts us. We just want to survive."

"That is no excuse for banditry," Yang Yaozong retorted, his voice sharp. "You rob and extort to survive, but have you thought about whether the people you hurt can survive? You say you want a better life for your people, but look at them—are they truly living well?"

Liao Qiniang’s eyes welled with tears. "You don’t understand! You’ve never known hunger or desperation. You’ve never been pushed to the edge. You talk about saving food, but these children have known nothing but hardship. They lick their bowls clean because every grain is a matter of survival. Waste is a word for the wealthy; here, it doesn't exist. If the people could live in peace, who would want to be a bandit? Who would want to be a leader?"

She turned away, her voice trembling with the weight of years of responsibility and the exhaustion of keeping her people alive. She had long ago forgotten how to smile, fearing that showing any softness would cost her the authority needed to lead.

Yang Yaozong reached out to wipe a tear from her cheek. She flinched, pulling back as if shocked.

"Why punish yourself with such a burden?" he asked softly.

Liao Qiniang, her face flushed and her heart pounding, kept her head turned. Her voice softened. "Some things cannot be avoided. Consider my offer to tutor the children. Stay on the mountaintop for these next two days."