Yu Ying solemnly wrote her name on the Wolf Tail Grass Paper and excitedly asked, "Shaman, how’s my writing?"
The fox eared girl wrote her name with great concentration, though her speed was naturally faster since she had been practicing for quite some time.
"You’ve written it well. It is a great improvement from when you first started. We can move on to learning other characters now." Su Bai praised.
Her handwriting was actually quite good, with neat strokes and clear characters, not at all like someone writing for the first time.
"Shaman, teach me other characters. I really want to learn more." Yu Ying said.
She desperately wanted to learn to read and write because it seemed so cool, and those who could read and write appeared very capable. Moreover, if she could read and write, she would definitely be able to help the Shaman with many tasks – this was also why she was so eager to become literate.
"What kind of characters do you want to learn?" Su Bai asked, seeing such eagerness from her for the first time.
"Anything is fine, as long as I can help you, Shaman."
Su Ba’s eyes widened, surprised. Still, this made him feel slightly pressured.
Though he was happy to be her motivation for learning, he hoped she would not think this way – she needed to truly love it herself rather than do it for someone else. Only then would learning not be too tiring, and it would be enjoyable. He did not want her to ever find learning painful.
"I understand." Yu Ying nodded, her pink fox tail constantly swaying.
"Alright, I’ll teach you some basic characters now. These are something you’ll use in daily life." Su Bai picked up the quill pen again.
"Okay," Yu Ying responded expectantly.
*Swish swish swish…* The quill pen in Su Bai’s hand danced quickly across the paper, continuously making swishing sounds.
After writing for a minute, he put down the pen and said, "These characters are ones we’ll use in our daily life."
On the Wolf Tail Grass Paper were several characters, including words like: you ‘你’, I ‘我’, he ’他’, thank you ‘谢谢’, welcome ‘不客气’, good morning ‘早安’, good night ‘晚安’ and others.
Yu Ying tilted her head to examine these unfamiliar characters on the paper and asked, "Shaman, what are these characters? What do they mean?"
"These three characters, 你,我,他, are you, I, and he. They are those we frequently use." Su Bai explained, pointing at the characters on the paper.
"You, I and he?" Yu Ying finally saw the characters for the words she often used.
"Yes, this character is you, ‘你’, this one is he, ‘他’, and this one is I, ‘我’" Su Bai smiled and explained.
These were characters needed in daily life, such as when giving orders or writing letters. Though Su Bai wondered if people of this era would even write letters, which troubled him somewhat.
Without letters, how would messages be conveyed? It was important to know that if information could flow smoothly, it could bring greater development to the Tribe.
However, this was not something to consider right now, as even if he thought about it, such things could not be implemented yet.
"I understand," Yu Ying nodded earnestly, feeling that writing was truly magical.
Su Bai pointed to another word, ‘晚安’, and said, "These two characters together mean good night."
"I heard that before. Isn’t this what Shaman says to me every night?" Yu Ying excitedly asked.
Every night before sleeping, Su Bai would habitually say good night to her.
At first, she did not know what this phrase meant, only understanding after it was explained.
"That’s right, these two characters combined are what I say to you every night." Su Bai smiled gently.
"Shaman, then which two characters mean good morning?" Yu Ying asked expectantly.
"These two characters are good morning," Su Bai pointed to two other characters ‘早安’, and continued, "And this mean good afternoon."
Yu Ying nodded firmly and picked up the quill pen to start practicing on the Wolf Tail Grass Paper.
She bit the feather of the quill pen and asked, "Shaman, what do these two characters mean? I only recognise the character for you, ‘你’."
The fox eared girl was looking at the ‘你好’, of which she only recognised the ‘你’ character as you.
"These two characters combined means hello,’ which is what you say when greeting someone." Su Bai explained.
"Do you have to say hello when meeting someone?" Yu Ying blinked her pink eyes in confusion.
Primitive Tribes did not typically do this. Everyone just gave a small nod in acknowledgment or smiled at each other.
It was even more unnecessary with strangers – they were not greeted at all. Having to greet them upon seeing them was a different culture, one she was not exactly used to.
"This is an act of politeness. People need to be polite when interacting with others, right?" Su Bai said.
This was also something he wanted to popularize later – these civilized expressions needed to be known and practiced by everyone.
"Politeness? What is politeness?" Yu Ying encountered another unfamiliar term.
"Hmm… politeness is like how we are now. Isn’t your tone different when speaking to me compared to when speaking with Ah’Hua? That’s politeness, though it might not be apparent, it is something that exists."
Su Bai paused, then continued, "Things like hello and thank you are expressions of politeness."
"I understand now – hello is a way to greet others." Yu Ying suddenly realised.
"Correct, and this is thank you," Su Bai pointed to another phrase, ‘谢谢’ explaining, "These two characters are used to express gratitude."
"So, if I give Ah’Hua some meat and she says thank you to me, that’s politeness, right?" Yu Ying asked curiously.
"Yes, that’s her being polite. You understand already."
"And when I make breakfast for Ah’Hua and she says thank you, that’s her way of showing politeness, right?" Yu Ying continued asking.
Su Bai nodded with satisfaction, saying, "Completely right. You understand it now."
"I get it." Yu Ying wrote this two characters, ‘谢谢’, several times on the paper and asked, "Shaman, what about those characters?"
"These three characters mean you’re welcome, which is what you say after someone says thank you," Su Bai explained.
"You’re… you’re… welcome?" Yu Ying heard such a strange phrase for the first time – it was really difficult to pronounce.
"Hahaha…" Su Bai laughed and said, "It’s ‘you’re welcome,’ that’s right. You! Are! Welcome!"
He deliberately spoke slowly, wanting her to follow his rhythm, as this was the only way unfamiliar words could be broken down to be more easily learnt.
"You’re welcome!" Yu Ying overcame the pronunciation difficulty and said it in one go.