Before she knew it, the day arrived for An Moxue to become an apprentice.
Before setting off, Old Ma instructed An Moxue: "Moxue, in this ancient ceremony, the master is like a second parent. You will be responsible for taking care of him in his old age and seeing him off in his final days. When you arrive, you must take it seriously and not be careless. Especially since this person is Wu Sicheng's uncle, he has put in a lot of effort. We must understand his good intentions and be filial to our master in the future."
Aunt Ma sighed softly, "Ah~ If even one of the son-in-law and young lady were still alive, Mo Xue wouldn't have to suffer so much!"
Old Ma glared at Aunt Ma from the side, thinking, "Why bring up such a sad thing now? It'll only upset the child."
"Don't listen to your aunt, today is a happy day."
An Moxue said, "No, Uncle Ma, you mustn't say anything bad about Auntie either. She's only doing it for my own good. Let's go!"
The three people were loading things into the car when they heard the sound of a car coming from outside the gate.
"Wu Sicheng is here!" An Moxue said, walking to the front door, opening the door, and seeing that Wu Sicheng had already stopped the car and was about to get out.
"Don't get out, we're going out too. Drive the car out of the alley and wait there! I'll drive there too."
“Okay, I’ll pick you up as agreed.” Wu Sicheng said, starting the car and driving out of the alley.
An Moxue opened the door, and Old Ma and Aunt Ma had already put the gifts in the car. The two of them got into the car as well.
An Moxue got into the car, drove it out, stopped it again, locked the gate, and then drove the car out of the alley.
When they arrived at the gate of Wu Wendao's house, they saw that the gate was open and Ah Zhao was standing at the door, seemingly welcoming guests.
After the group went downstairs, Wu Sicheng made introductions. An Moxue asked in a low voice, "Third Senior Brother, didn't Master say it was just a few close people? Why are you still greeting guests at the door?"
Ah Zhao smiled slightly and said, "Yes, there aren't many people. There are still two guests who haven't arrived yet. My master asked me to greet them at the door. You can go in first!"
The four people went in and found that there were already several people in the living room. Wu Wendao saw that An Moxue had brought two elderly people with her, so he went out to greet them, and two other people also came out to greet them.
After the group introduced themselves, An Moxue learned that one of her senior classmates was the director of the National Museum, and the other was the president of the Cultural Relics Association. They were now teaching at Kyoto University and would be teaching her when the semester started.
Upon entering, Wu Wendao introduced two more people to An Moxue, both of whom were influential figures in the cultural relics field.
Wu Sicheng is talking to a senior colleague.
"Sicheng, do you know your uncle's new apprentice?"
"Uncle Liu, yes, we know each other! We're good friends. Please take care of me in the future!"
Liu Jizhong joked, "You little rascal, you're so slippery! You're not even telling the truth to your Uncle Liu, are you! You came in together, and you were talking so familiarly. I saw you sneaking glances over there several times!"
Wu Sicheng remained silent, letting Liu Jizhong speak on his own.
"You rascal, see? I hit the nail on the head! But this girl has a lot of energy and is pretty, no wonder you were interested. So, when are you getting married?"
Wu Sicheng broke his silence and asked, "Uncle Liu, what gift are you planning to give me for my wedding?"
"Why don't you just get married already! There will definitely be a gift. You're already in your thirties." Liu Jizhong pursed his lips, sounding quite disappointed.
"Uncle Liu, please sit down first. I need to talk to my uncle about something," Wu Sicheng said, walking towards Wu Wendao.
You could even hear Liu Jizhong muttering to himself, "Could it be that she touched a nerve? She looks several years older than that girl! An old cow eating young grass. He might not even have won her over yet!"
Wu Sicheng gritted his teeth. This old man, he was so awful when he was a kid, and after all these years, his mouth is still so foul. He can't even speak properly; he must have said those things on purpose to make me hear them. I'll definitely make a killing off him when we get married.
Seeing Wu Sicheng's expression as he approached, Wu Wendao knew that something must have happened between the two of them, so he asked, "What's wrong? What did Old Liu say this time?"
"Uncle, it's nothing. It's just that Uncle Liu is getting old but not smart, and he still talks so rudely," Wu Sicheng said with a sour face.
Wu Wendao suppressed a laugh and advised, "He loved to tease you when you were little. Why bother arguing with him? He's practically a dead man now."
"Uncle, could you please put a little more effort into persuading me? Who else did you invite to the ceremony?"
"You'll see when we get here, why are you in such a hurry!" the two said. Just then, a man and a woman walked in through the door. The man was handsome and refined, and the woman was gentle and graceful.
After the two entered, Wu Sicheng spoke first: "Aunt Qing, Uncle Xun."
An Moxue was pleasantly surprised and walked over to greet her, "Aunt Qing."
Aqing was surprised and looked at Wu Wendao, pointing at An Moxue and asking, "Brother Wu, is this the little apprentice you're going to take in?"
Wu Wendao said, "Yes, you know each other?"
An Moxue smiled and said, "I know you. We're from the North."
Once everyone had arrived, Wu Wendao said to Azhao, "Azhao, everyone's here. Let's prepare for the ceremony!"
"Yes, Master." Upon hearing this, Ah Zhao poured a cup of tea and placed a futon in the center of the main hall.
An Moxue knelt on the prayer mat, and Wu Wendao said, "An Moxue, today you have entered my sect. You must abide by the rules of the Wu family. You must not betray your country for personal gain, you must not be opportunistic, you must respect your teachers and uphold our traditional culture. Do you remember that?"
"Yes, Master." An Moxue handed over the teacup in her hand, kowtowed three times on the ground, and Wu Sicheng handed the gift to An Moxue, who then gave it to Wu Wendao.
"Master, this is a token of my appreciation. Please accept it."
Wu Wendao took the tray. On it were a set of clothes, a pair of leather shoes, a fine white jade pendant, two bottles of wine, two packets of wax apple tea, a box of high-end candy, and a pack of high-end cigarettes. He was very satisfied. He could tell at a glance that his apprentice knew the rules very well.
Wu Wendao began by saying, "Friends and disciples, today I, Wu Wendao, am holding a ceremony here to accept An Moxue as my last disciple. I ask you all to witness this."
Seeing that he had finished speaking and An Moxue was still kneeling obediently on the ground, he said, "Alright, get up!"
"Thank you, Master." An Moxue stood up and was about to stand aside when she saw her senior brother present her with a gift. He smiled and said, "Congratulations, junior sister. This is a gift from your senior brother."
Next, An Moxue received gifts from her second and third senior brothers, all of which were packaged in antique-style boxes.
They were somewhat satisfied when they saw that she had accepted the box and placed it on the table next to Wu Sicheng, at least she wasn't greedy for money.
After the ceremony, a few people chatted for a while, and then the guests left one after another.
Ah Qing whispered to Wu Wendao, "Brother Wu, do you know that you've taken on Second Brother and Xiuyu as your disciples?"
Wu Wendao said, "Yes, I know! I called and told them."
Aqing asked, "Didn't you say anything else?"
Wu Wendao simply said, "You will know when the time is right."
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