In the main hall, Zhou Xiaozheng waved to his wife and the others, and began to introduce the white-haired old man: "Uncle Dong, this is my wife. You know her, so I won't introduce her any further."
Zhou Xiaozheng looked at Zhang Guoqing and Zhou Jiao, a smile flashing in his eyes. "These are a pair of good-for-nothing children from my nephew's family. Xiaowu, Jiaojiao, this is the old man Dong Cheng that your Grandma Song mentioned last time."
Zhang Guoqing immediately stepped forward and saluted: "Grandpa Dong, I'm very happy to see you. I'm Zhang Guoqing, you can just call me Xiaowu."
"Grandpa Dong, I'm Zhou Jiao. I've never met you before. Please forgive my rudeness just now."
The white-haired old man Dong Chengdong looked at the young couple in front of him, smiled and shook his head, "That's not even a question of being rude. It's me, an old man, who drank a lot of your delicious tea and ate a lot of delicious food, and I haven't returned the gift yet. That's the real rudeness."
Hearing this, Zhou Jiao smiled and glanced at the other party: "You are too polite, that little thing is nothing, it is just a gift from the younger generation to you."
"Good boy, your grandfather would be so happy to see you..." After saying that, Old Dong immediately put away the sadness in his tone and smiled, "Son, study medicine well. I'll tell you a secret. Your grandfather is proficient in everything, but he has only one weakness."
Zhou Jiao understood what was going on and waited for what would happen next with an interested expression on her face.
"Brother Jinyu, hahahaha... When it comes to medical skills, he can scare the doctors, but apart from the obvious characteristics of ginseng, he can't tell the difference between the remaining herbs. And that's not all."
"One year, when I was eight and he was ten, a few of us friends went on an outing. We were all children of the rich and powerful, and we knew nothing about farming..."
Doctor Hu, who was standing beside him, fainted upon hearing this. If this granddaughter took after her grandfather, then this apprenticeship would have been in vain. He soon regained consciousness. If his investigation was correct, this child had collected a lot of herbs for that remote village.
Doctor Hu waited for Mr. Dong to finish telling the story, then secretly rolled his eyes, cleared his throat, and reminded them that he was accepting disciples, not reminiscing about the past.
Dong Lao smiled and said, "Alright, I know you're anxious. Your disciple can't escape."
As he finished speaking, Doctor Hu's expression shifted, and he looked at his three apprentice disciples and said solemnly, "Begin."
As soon as he finished speaking, the three middle-aged men who had been sitting in silence quickly stood up.
A middle-aged man took out an incense burner and other items from a rattan box he was carrying and placed them on the incense table. A neighbor followed suit and took out an embroidered portrait from a wooden box above the incense table. With the help of the remaining middle-aged man, they hung it high on the north side.
After washing his hands, Doctor Hu took three incense sticks, lit them and inserted them into the incense burner. He bowed his head and began to inform the ancestor in a low voice that he would accept disciples and pass on the tradition.
When Mr. Ma came in, he saw Master Hu sitting upright on a specially prepared seat beside him. He gestured to the child in his arms to be quiet and put down Ping An.
Even though Zhou Jiao had never experienced the ancient ritual, she understood the process. She quickly took a few steps forward and knelt in front of Doctor Hu, listening to Mr. Dong, the master of ceremonies, introduce himself.
At this point, Zhou Jiao understood why Mr. Dong was the emcee. This old man knew her family's situation very well. According to her father, it was this old man who had helped her grandfather a lot when the Zhou family was down and out.
The relationship between these two people is similar to that between Zhang Guoqing and Yi Jiefang today. Unfortunately, after the death of his father, Mr. Dong and his brothers fell out and were soon evicted from their rental house.
Old Master Dong, who was a rebellious young man back then, soon fell into financial trouble and became almost destitute. Even his brothers could speak ill of him for the sake of wealth, let alone his own family members.
In a rage, Mr. Dong sold his last small courtyard and resolutely ran to the south to find his good brother Zhou Jinyu. Unfortunately, her grandfather had already met with an accident by then, and her grandmother had also hidden the traces for her father.
By chance, Mr. Dong finally joined our army and is now a lieutenant general. Logically speaking, he should not be in the capital now.
When Zhou Jiao thought of this and heard Mr. Dong finish his introduction, she quickly calmed down and took the two gift boxes handed over by Zhang Guoqing and presented them with both hands.
At this moment, Doctor Hu could no longer contain his joy. He quickly took it and put it aside, staring at the red card of apprenticeship that Zhang Guoqing handed to Zhou Jiao.
Zhou Jiao smiled, took it, raised the apprenticeship certificate with both hands above her head and presented it to Doctor Hu, then knelt down to pay her respects (also known as bowing).
Doctor Hu glanced at Elder Dong and Elder Ma with a smug look on his face. "My dear apprentice, don't be so stubborn. Just do it for your own good. Hurry up and get up."
Zhou Jiao kowtowed, then stood up and took the bowl of tea handed to her by the middle-aged man next to her. She raised her hands high and presented it to Doctor Hu: "Master, please accept this cup of tea from your disciple."
Doctor Hu smiled as he lifted the lid, took a sip, and then pulled out a large package from behind his chair. Judging from his posture, it seemed the contents were not only large but also very heavy.
"My good disciple, these are some things that your master specially prepared for you. Please take a look at them when you get back." Doctor Hu pushed the things to Zhang Guoqing.
"Come, let us, the master and disciple, bow deeply three times to our ancestor."
A middle-aged man beside him gently reminded: "Uncle Master, the sect rules."
Doctor Hu paused, quickly shook his head, and pointed to Zhang Guoqing: "I've already written it down for your junior sister. She's in very bad condition right now, so we'd better finish it quickly."
After the ceremony, Doctor Hu called over three middle-aged men and introduced them to Zhou Jiao: "This is your great-grandmaster's eldest disciple, Zhu Ling. He is currently at the Military General Hospital."
"This is your second uncle's eldest disciple, Bai Cangshu. He is currently working in the health department."
"This is your master's third disciple, Dong Zhichao. He's Old Man Dong's son. He's currently at the city hospital."
Zhou Jiao called out in the order his master had introduced them: "Big Brother, Second Brother, Third Brother, hello. Please take care of me in the future."
Master Hu boasted proudly, "See, my disciple is smart, isn't she? She guessed your ranking without me even having to tell her."
The third disciple, Dong Zhichao, was at a loss for words. "You've already introduced them in order, haven't you?" This uncle acted like an old naughty boy, so he could only agree, "Uncle, you have good taste. I wrote to the other brothers before the New Year, and they were so happy to hear that there was a little sister."
"You should take better care of your junior sister in the future and don't let anyone bully her."
"Master, please rest assured."
"Uncle Master, Junior Sister is younger than my Xiaoxia. I will keep an eye on her even without your instructions."
Zhu Ling at the Military General Hospital listened to the conversation between his uncle and fellow apprentices and wiped the sweat from his palms. These people didn't even consider who was sitting there, and they still dared to make random promises.
The little apprentice sister is the Zhou family's darling. It's said that she's registered there. Who dares to bully her? Who doesn't remember the devil next to him who tore down those doors at the General Hospital?
"Boss?"
Zhu Ling immediately stood up: "Uncle Master, don't worry. If Junior Sister has any orders, I will definitely do it."
Doctor Hu nodded with satisfaction, "Then hurry up and give your junior sister a gift."
Mr. Ma couldn't hold back his laughter any longer and pointed at him: "Alright, you're the best."
"It has to be done even if it's not possible. How many gifts have I given to you old men over the years? This is a huge loss. I only have this one disciple."
When everyone heard this, they knew it was just a joke between old friends and they immediately burst into laughter.
Stopping his smile, Ma Lao took out a wooden box and handed it to Zhou Jiao: "Take it quickly, otherwise your master will ask for the debt."
"Senior Ma, I have already accepted the gift."
Ma Lao forced it onto the package in front of Zhang Guoqing and said with a smile: "It's different. That's a meeting gift."
Soon, Mr. Dong also took out a square box and handed it to Zhou Jiao carefully: "Little girl, this is returned to its original owner."
Zhou Jiao looked at him in surprise, then at her father.
"This is the inkstone your grandfather gave me. It was lost before, but it returned to me later, unfortunately it's damaged. When I heard Old Man Hu say he would take you as his apprentice, I thought there was no better gift than this."
Zhou Jiao looked at him gratefully and took it with both hands. She didn't refuse. On occasions like today, there is a saying that when an elder gives something, you can't refuse it.
Afterwards, gifts were given one after another on behalf of the two senior brothers, as well as gifts given by them. Zhou Jiao did not open the boxes during the whole process, intending to find an opportunity to return the gifts when she returned.
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