050 Apprenticeship Banquet
Sun Sicheng booked the entire second floor of the restaurant.
Soon after they arrived, guests began to arrive one after another.
Wan Changsheng and Ping'an met the second son of the Sun family for the first time, a gentle and elegant man.
Sun Siyuan was the first to arrive. After exchanging a few polite words with Wan Changsheng, he gave Ping An a big red envelope and a jade pendant.
Ping An looked at his master, and Sun Sicheng said with a smile: "What are you looking at me for? Why don't you thank your second uncle?"
Ping An accepted the gift and bowed to express his gratitude. This uncle-master seemed to be a very nice person.
In fact, most people would not give gifts directly like Sun Siyuan did. Sun Wen would sit on the second floor with the door closed, and all the gifts brought by the guests would be registered in a book. It was a give-and-take relationship between people.
Ping An had a feeling that he would get rich today, as he guessed that the wealthy master would not keep the gifts given by the guests.
Sun Siyuan said, "Brother, cousin Qi also asked me to bring a gift. I left it with Sun Wen, but she said it was inconvenient for her to come."
Sun Sicheng nodded. Qi Jiaojiao was staying in Yong'an Prefecture temporarily this time, so of course she would know about this matter. Even if she didn't come in person, she would definitely have to send gifts.
My young apprentice’s family is poor, so let’s deposit some starting money for him today.
He is still a little dizzy from the gift Ping An sent him. To a doctor, a good prescription is more precious than anything else, especially to medical experts like them, it is extremely precious.
Over the years, he has been busy running around for his family business. Whenever he hears of someone with good medical skills, he will find ways to visit him. Although people will not give him prescriptions, he will get a lot of inspiration from chatting with them.
If I come across a recipe passed down from ancestors of a small family, I will try to buy it as long as it is valuable.
But these are mostly folk remedies, while Ping An gives a real prescription for heart disease.
There are many people suffering from heart disease, and some people suffer from angina pectoris caused by acquired diseases. The heart is inside the body, invisible and intangible, and difficult to treat, so he must give an explanation to Ping'an's family.
Sun Sicheng sent out sixteen invitations, but as they were passed around, many wealthy families in the city came, dozens of people in total. It is estimated that there were nearly a hundred families, but each family only had one or two people.
Jubinlou was the first restaurant in Yong'an Prefecture. Sun Wen couldn't leave by himself, so he asked Jixiang to make arrangements. Fortunately, the hall on the second floor was not small, and there were many private rooms, so more than a dozen tables of wine could be set up. There was no problem of not having enough seats. If all else failed, they could just sit in the hall.
These were also within Sun Sicheng's expectations. He basically stayed in Yong'an Prefecture for one or two months every year. For someone like him who traveled everywhere, it was definitely his base camp.
He is in charge of the affairs of four or five prefectures, and the second oldest is in charge of Huainan Prefecture and Huaibei Prefecture. If the post is posted half a month in advance, I'm afraid hundreds of people will come.
He was quite famous in the medical field of the Great Zhou Dynasty. Who wouldn't be willing to sacrifice their life for him if they were a little better off? Who wouldn't want to make friends with him?
Even many officials from the government office came and brought a lot of gifts, saying that they were too inconvenient to come because of their work. Naturally, the Bai family brought expensive gifts. The yamen's legal advisor repeatedly apologized on behalf of the prefect, saying that the prefect had some urgent matters and could not spare the time.
Sun Sicheng naturally smiled and thanked him repeatedly.
Bai Jiaxuan is the legitimate son of Prefect Bai. If he had not met Sun Sicheng this time, and had not tried his best to help him with his treatment, even if his life was saved, he would have been disabled.
This is already a huge favor, especially since he is still receiving treatment.
Not to mention others, even the governor of a state came with gifts. Since I couldn't go due to some matters, I still sent my own advisor, which was considered to be very polite.
Many of these people have sought medical treatment from the eldest master himself. Now that they know this, what reason is there for them not to come?
Today's apprenticeship banquet is the best excuse. What's the big deal about showing up and spending some money? The host family is registered in the book, which is considered a face-saving favor.
Ping'an discovered that there were female guests as well, but not many. Since his mother didn't want to show up for the time being, he let her be. The days when a mother will be honored by her son are still to come.
Ping An is still very confident about this.
After more than half an hour, most of the guests had arrived.
The next step is the apprenticeship process.
The master had already explained it clearly to him before. Ping An was not a real child at heart. What kind of storms and waves had he not seen in his previous life?
The whole performance was smooth and unhurried, which, coupled with his delicate face and upright figure, successfully won him a lot of praise.
This also gives Sun Sicheng a lot of face.
The ceremony ended with Wan Changsheng presenting the six rituals of apprenticeship with both hands.
During this period, Sun Sicheng gave Ping An a lot of gifts again. In addition to a big red envelope, there was also a new large medical box, which was heavy and seemed to contain a lot of medical things.
The whole ceremony was sacred and humane. Wan Changsheng couldn't help but sigh that his son was so lucky to be so favored by the eldest son of the Sun family.
It is said that the eldest son started studying medicine at the age of four or five. He is extremely talented and hardworking. Coupled with the accumulation of three generations of the Sun family, he can be said to be famous and wealthy.
Because of this, the eldest son is very arrogant and many people have wanted him to accept a disciple but have failed.
And he took a fancy to this son, who had only memorized some medical books, and treated him like his own son.
This is fate.
The banquet lasted for an hour. It must be said that Sun Sicheng made a big investment this time. Ping An had seen grand occasions in his previous life, but he was dumbfounded this time. It was too sumptuous.
Ping'an's face was so stiff from smiling today that he followed his master to see off the guests. It was already afternoon.
Sun Sicheng nodded to Sun Wen, who immediately handed the eldest son the account book and a wooden box of medium size.
"Master, there are ninety-seven guests today. We have set up more than a dozen tables and have registered them one by one. The gifts and red envelopes are all in the box."
"Well, Awen, thank you for your hard work today."
Sun Sicheng returned the account books to Sun Wen, telling him to keep them safe, even though he didn't need to pay back most of the money in them.
He handed the box to Jixiang again, looked at Ping'an and said, "These are the gifts from today's guests. Master is giving them to you. Let Jixiang take them for you first. It can be regarded as your first deposit in life. You can use them as you like."
Ping'an was a little confused. This was within his expectations, but when the time came, he still got angry. His master had spent a lot of money on the banquet today.
"Master, I cannot accept this gift. I have spent a lot of money today."
Wan Changsheng also nodded repeatedly: "Master, I really can't accept these gifts. Normally, we should pay for today's banquet. I don't have any money, so I won't pretend to be rich. But I really can't accept this gift. You have to return the favor in the future."
Sun Sicheng smiled and said, "Go on, Ping'an. Many of the people here today are from families I have treated before. Generally, there is no need to repay favors. Only a small number of people need to repay. It's getting late, so let's go home and rest.
Ping An, you take a day off tomorrow. Starting the day after tomorrow, I will ask Jixiang to pick you and Erqiang up. You will follow me to learn medicine, and Erqiang will also have to learn more from Jixiang and Ruyi. Come back to the village to accompany your parents sooner or later. We will leave at the beginning of next month, in about ten days."
Ping An nodded repeatedly. It would be a good idea to follow his master and learn medicine. It was meaningless to play around at the farm all the time.
Erqiang had a grin on his face the whole time. Today he sat at a table with Jixiang, Ruyi and Manager Ge on the first floor. The richness of the dishes was beyond his imagination even in his dreams, and the taste was so delicious that he almost swallowed his tongue.
It was a good decision to follow Ping An out. He can be considered a blessed man.
In addition to the delicious food, they also received a red envelope of one or two taels each today.
Wow, it’s hard for farmers to save a few taels of silver in a year, but he has earned fourteen taels of silver in just one month, which is enough to marry two wives in the countryside.
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