Chapter 32: Apprenticeship

"Uncle Zhang, I am very mindful of personal hygiene, okay? I've even bathed twice this winter."

"……"

In this day and age, bathing twice a winter might be fine for other professions, but Shazhu is a Chef. Not to mention how he himself can stand the smell of cooking oil all over his body every day, he should at least bathe once a week.

"Yeah, how is that possible? I've made great progress this year." Damao doesn't think his younger sister could be smarter than him.

Well, these two fellows are more confident than the other; anyone who doesn't know them would really be fooled.

"Alright, alright, alright. In any case, Zhuzi, you need to pay attention to hygiene, and Damao, you need to finish your homework properly." Zhang Ping'an is too lazy to say more to these two guys with their mysterious confidence.

Zhang Ping'an and Jia Dongxu send Zhang Xiaohua home, and Damao silently goes back to get his homework to work on. Although he is stubborn, he knows his own limitations; he fears he has returned everything he learned to his teachers over this winter break.

Yan Bugui hasn't left either. Since he's already sponged a meal, he has to answer questions and clear up doubts in the afternoon as payment for the meal. Unfortunately, Zhang Ping'an understands everything and cannot be taught, which leaves him feeling very unaccomplished.

Zhang Ping'an comes back to see everyone busy, so he takes out the medical book he is copying to read. Although he doesn't understand the meaning of much of it, isn't there an old saying: read a book a hundred times and its meaning will reveal itself.

The afternoon passes quietly like this, and only then does Yan Bugui see Zhang Ping'an reading the medical book.

"Ping'an, is this a medical book?"

"Yes, I'm bored, so I'm trying to figure it out myself."

"You can't interpret medical books based on your own understanding; you still need to find a master to teach you. The Divine Doctor Wang in front of our courtyard is an old Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioner; you can go ask him when you're free."

"Alright, I'll go take a look tomorrow."

Zhang Ping'an also wants to meet this Divine Doctor Wang; if he can really learn a trick or two, it would be better than struggling through it on his own.

After an afternoon of knowledge baptism from Yan Bugui, Damao seems to have found the version of himself from before the winter break, and his homework is being written quite decently.

The next morning, Zhang Ping'an goes to find the legendary Divine Doctor Wang. Without even needing to ask around, he sees a long line; it is exactly the Xingyi Jishitang of Divine Doctor Wang. It is almost noon by the time it is his turn.

"Young man, what's uncomfortable? Stick out your hand. Whoa, your blood and Qi are so vigorous they are no less than a tiger's; you don't look like you're sick at all."

Before Zhang Ping'an can reply, the old Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioner, who looks to be about fifty, starts talking to himself.

"Divine Doctor Wang? I am Zhang Ping'an, from the Jiushiwu Hao Siheyuan. I came here mainly because I want to learn some knowledge from you."

"Oh? How old are you this year?" Before Zhang Ping'an can answer, the old man starts using his hands, feeling Zhang Ping'an up and down.

"Not bad, not bad. Just turned thirteen and not yet fourteen; if someone said this build was eighteen, they'd believe it. Kid, have you practiced?"

Whoa, this old guy really has some skills; he knew his real age just by touching him a couple of times.

"I won't hide it from you, old sir, I have learned a couple of moves."

"Good, good, good. It's not impossible to learn from me. Come over these next two days to copy these two medical books and take them back. Come find me again once you've memorized them completely."

"Alright, I'll go back and prepare paper and a pen first."

"No need, I have them here."

"Alright." Zhang Ping'an doesn't stand on ceremony and directly finds a spot to copy the medical book. He copies less than a tenth of it in the whole afternoon.

The reason Divine Doctor Wang acts this way is mainly because his family also has Family Martial Arts, though they are geared toward nourishing life. He saw Zhang Ping'an's unusual nature at a glance, and after feeling his bones, he was even more delighted to find such talent, which led to the scene just now.

"Grandpa." A little girl of fourteen or fifteen comes skipping over.

"Xiao Ling is here."

"Yes, Grandpa, is there anything you need my help with?"

"Go help out over at the medicine-dispensing side." This little granddaughter also loves Traditional Chinese Medicine and has learned quite a bit of knowledge about Chinese herbal medicine from him since she was young.

"Alright, Grandpa."

Passing by Zhang Ping'an, she realizes there is a stranger in the Pharmacy.

"Senior Brother, who is he? Why do I find him a bit familiar?"

"Oh, he wants to learn medicine from Master. Master is currently testing him."

"???"

There are quite a few families nearby who have sent their children to learn skills from Divine Doctor Wang, but almost none have caught his eye. The best they get is to be an apprentice in the Pharmacy, and currently, only Zhang Ping'an has been given a test by Divine Doctor Wang.

"Don't look at me, I don't know Master's thoughts either."

The more Wang Xiaoling looks, the more familiar Zhang Ping'an seems. Perhaps because she stares for too long, Zhang Ping'an notices. The moment he looks up, the two make eye contact, and Wang Xiaoling shyly turns her face away.

Zhang Ping'an is also stunned by Wang Xiaoling's appearance; she has eighty percent of the look of a fairy sister. Of course, it might not fit the aesthetics of this era, but in Zhang Ping'an's eyes, she is a real treasure.

Realizing he might have stared at her for too long, Zhang Ping'an smiles at Wang Xiaoling in embarrassment, but Wang Xiaoling's face only turns redder, so Zhang Ping'an has to bury his head in copying the book.

"Ping'an, kid, stop copying. Come back tomorrow morning, and remember to use the side door."

"Oh, alright." Zhang Ping'an puts down his pen, tidies up a bit, and takes his leave. Before leaving, he glances at Wang Xiaoling once more.

"This brat." He actually dares to covet his precious granddaughter. If it weren't for Zhang Ping'an's extraordinary bone structure, there would absolutely not be a next time.

"Grandpa, I know him."

"Oh?" Lao Wang looks at his blushing granddaughter with a strange expression.

"Grandpa, what are you thinking? He is a legend at our school. He doesn't even attend class; he only comes for exams, and he even got a perfect score."

It turns out Wang Xiaoling is in the class next to Zhang Ping'an's. She has a good friend who is in the same class as Zhang Ping'an, otherwise, she wouldn't know.

"Good kid, I knew he wasn't ordinary. It seems this apprentice is a sure thing. But this kid isn't honest either; Ling'er, you come around less in the future."

"……"

Wang Xiaoling is very curious about Zhang Ping'an, so how could she not come? This girl doesn't yet know that curiosity about a man is the beginning of falling for him.

Back home, Zhang Ping'an picks up a bowl and eats. He forgot the time while copying books at noon and didn't feel hungry, but as soon as he stops, his stomach protests.

"Ping'an, why are you so hungry?" asks his fourth sister, Zhang Lanhua.

"I spent the whole day copying books for Divine Doctor Wang at the Eighty-eight Courtyard and forgot to eat lunch, so how could I not be hungry?"

"Then I'll go make some more."

"It's enough, it's enough. No need to eat too much at night."

Actually, it's not enough at all, but Zhang Ping'an doesn't want his fourth sister to keep busy; he'll just eat something in his space later.

Returning to his room, Zhang Ping'an recalls the content he copied during the day and finds he has memorized seven or eight tenths of it. If he goes over it twice more tomorrow morning, he should be able to memorize it all.

The next morning, after Zhang Ping'an finished exercising in the space, he told Si Jie, ate breakfast at a street-side breakfast shop, bought four large meat buns to pack into a large lunchbox for lunch, and cut a piece of beef in the space to serve as a side dish.

When Zhang Ping'an arrived at the side door of the Eighty-Eighth Courtyard, the door was already open, and Lao Wang was inside practicing his cultivation, just finishing up.

"You're here early, kid?"

"Wang Lao, I'm used to waking up early."

"Hmm, not bad. The plan for the year lies in spring, and the plan for the day lies in the morning; it should be like this. Go straight inside and copy the books."

"Alright."

Zhang Ping'an was not in a hurry to copy the books; instead, he read the chapters he had copied yesterday twice, silently memorized them, and only then began to write. Lao Wang saw all of this and nodded to himself.