I Can See Through Everything - Chapter 39

Chapter 39: Apprenticeship Ceremony

“Grandpa Chen, I’ve gathered all the herbs.”

In the small courtyard halfway up the mountain, Lu Qing, a little breathless, showed the medicine basket to Old Doctor Chen.

After digging up the cow bone grass, he had rushed all the way up, fearing that he would be late.

The old doctor looked at the herbs in the basket and nodded with satisfaction.

“Not bad, not bad. It’s amazing that you were able to gather all these herbs.”

“Grandpa Chen, what do you mean by that?” Lu Qing was a little confused.

The old doctor seemed to have something else to say.

“Do you know why I set the scope of the assessment near the village?” the old doctor asked.

“I don’t know.” Lu Qing shook his head.

“That’s because there aren’t many herbs growing near the village. There are only about ten at most.” The old doctor stroked his beard and said, “You were able to dig up all these herbs intact in just one hour. I can imagine that you pay a lot of attention to them on a daily basis.”

Hearing this, Lu Qing couldn’t help but feel ashamed.

On weekdays, he hadn’t really paid much attention to what medicinal herbs were around the village.

Perhaps he subconsciously assumed there wouldn’t be any precious herbs near a busy village.

So, unless he came across one while out and about, he’d use his supernatural powers to check.

But when it came to actually searching for the number of herbs near the village, he found none.

It seemed his mindset was a bit too casual.

Even the old doctor knew what herbs were around the village, but he, with his supernatural powers, hadn’t done the same. That was

truly out of place. Lu Qing couldn’t help but reflect on himself.

Seeing Lu Qing’s silence, Old Doctor Chen assumed he agreed.

He smiled and said, “Alright, you’ve passed this assessment. Now go invite the village elders up.”

“Invite the elders?” Lu Qing was stunned.

“Yes, I’m officially accepting you as my disciple. There have to be witnesses, otherwise it would be too frivolous.”

“Yes, I’ll go now!”

Lu Qing was delighted and ran down the mountain again.

The villagers, knowing that Lu Qing would be undergoing an examination by Old Doctor Chen today, had been watching closely.

Seeing Lu Qing running down the mountain, and learning that the old doctor had invited the village elders to witness his formal initiation into the profession, they were overjoyed.

“Great, great! Our village is finally going to have a doctor!”

“Well done, Ah Qing! You’re truly the smartest kid in our village! You’ve passed the examination!”

“Ah Qing, tell Old Doctor Chen we’ll be there soon!”

The villagers had previously seen Lu Qing visiting Old Doctor Chen daily to learn, and for a time, they had assumed he was already his disciple.

But then Lu Qing told them that he was, at best, an apprentice, not yet qualified to be formally accepted.

How could they not be thrilled to hear that Lu Qing had finally passed the examination and would be officially accepted as his disciple?

Lu Qing returned to his small courtyard halfway up the mountain, and soon after, the village elders, dressed in their finery, also arrived on the mountain.

Some village elders even wore clothes that they only wore during the Chinese New Year.

In addition to the village elders, some other villagers who were at home also came to watch the fun.

Some villagers even brought some rice, flour, eggs, meat and other things.

Doctor Chen had been waiting at the gate of the courtyard for

a long time. When he saw everyone coming up, he stepped forward and bowed.

“Thank you all for your kindness and coming to participate in this disciple-taking ceremony of mine.”

“Old doctor, you are really embarrassing us.” Uncle Zhang, who was in the lead, said quickly, “We should be thanking you.”

“Since you arrived in Jiuli Village, I wonder how many ailments you’ve cured us. We’ll always remember your kindness.”

“Mr. Zhang, you’re too kind. I’ve only fulfilled my duty as a doctor. I don’t deserve any gratitude.” The old doctor smiled faintly.

“Whether it’s a kindness or not, we know it in our hearts.”

Uncle Zhang took a basket from a young man behind him.

“Doctor Chen, we’re poor in the countryside and don’t have anything valuable to offer. These eggs and bacon, along with this little bit of rice and flour, are our apprenticeship gift to Ah Qing. I hope you won’t despise them.”

With that, two more young men brought up two more bags of rice and flour.

This scene not only stunned Lu Qing, but also Doctor Chen.

Grandpa Zhang continued: “It’s a shame to say that most of the people in our Jiuli Village fled here from other places to escape famine and disaster.”

“That was a difficult time. If it weren’t for the support and guidance of Aqing’s grandfather on the road, I’m afraid we would not have been able to avoid the disaster and survived all the way to find the place where we settle down today.”

“It can be said that without the leadership of Aqing’s grandfather back then, there might not be Jiuli Village today.”

“It’s a pity that Aqing’s grandfather fell ill while fleeing and died early without receiving proper treatment.”

“And we were unable to protect his son and daughter-in-law, so they were deceived and died in misfortune, leaving behind only two orphaned children, Aqing and Xiaoyan.”

“Now Aqing is fortunate enough to be noticed by you and to worship you as his teacher. It is a great blessing for him. I also hope that the old doctor will understand his poor life experience and be more tolerant and give him more chances even if he makes careless mistakes in the future.”

After that, Grandpa Zhang bowed deeply to the old doctor Chen.

The other old villagers also learned to bow to the old doctor.

Seeing all the villagers bowing to him in unison, even Doctor Chen, who had practiced Qi cultivation for decades, couldn’t help but feel a little shocked.

As for Lu Qing, he was already shocked.

First, some of the things that Uncle Zhang said were not in the original owner’s memory.

Another thing was that he never expected that the villagers would go to such lengths for him.

Doctor Chen was stunned for a moment, and hurried forward to help Uncle Zhang up.

“Please stand up first, fellow villagers. You are really ashamed of me if you do this.”

Then he said to Uncle Zhang, “Mr. Zhang, Lu Qing is a very smart child. It is a blessing for me to have him as my apprentice, so don’t worry, I will definitely teach him well.”

Uncle Zhang’s face suddenly became excited: “Then on behalf of his grandfather and parents, I would like to thank you, old doctor!”

As he said, he handed over the basket in his hand.

“I hope you won’t be disgusted by these small gifts.”

“Mr. Zhang, please don’t do that. I know your life is not easy, so there’s no need to be so polite.”

“Etiquette cannot be abolished. Since it’s a matter of apprenticeship, how can we not present the apprenticeship ceremony?”

…

After several refusals, Dr. Chen finally took a few eggs and a piece of bacon from the basket as the apprenticeship ceremony prepared by the villagers for Lu Qing.

As for the other things, nothing could be accepted.

Lu Qing watched this scene, took note of it secretly, and planned to make up the money after returning.

To be honest, he really didn’t think about the apprenticeship ceremony. He

thought it was just a matter of kowtow to the old doctor in front of everyone.

But he overlooked that this was a different world similar to ancient times.

The formal apprenticeship ceremony was more complicated than he imagined.

After such an episode, the old doctor invited the villagers into the yard.

Then, in front of everyone’s witness, Lu Qing began his formal apprenticeship.

(End of this chapter)