After walking for three hours, Erhua's feet began to ache slightly.
Finally, after passing through a mulberry forest, a village appeared in front of us. It was Tangli Village.
They walked into the village and turned inside when they reached the third house. Erhua took a look and couldn't help but mutter to himself: This is a wealthy family!
Outside was a large yard surrounded by earth with a large double-door wooden door. When you walked in, you could see five bungalows. There were also several chickens in the yard. When Erhua walked by, they flapped their wings and flew around.
"Luo Zhen, Dad is back!"
Tang Sannan shouted excitedly inside, and Erhua followed behind him with his heart pounding.
Luo Zhen, her name was Luo Zhen, and it sounded nice, much more fashionable than Erhua's! He inexplicably began to feel a little timid, because such a yard, such five large houses, such a flock of chickens, and such a nice name, all of these made Erhua feel that his conditions were too poor.
Maybe the master came to him specifically just to recruit an apprentice, and he is not worthy of their little mermaid!
Before he could finish thinking about this, Tang Sannan had already taken him into the house. Inside the house stood a large, wide wooden table. A little girl was busy carving redwood with a carving knife, her head down, completely unaware of her father calling her.
"Luo Zhen!"
Tang Sannan called out again, and Tang Luozhen finally heard it this time. She looked up and responded with "Dad". Then she saw Erhua behind her, her face flushed and she smiled embarrassedly.
Erhua greeted nervously, "Luo Zhen... I didn't tell you my name the last time we met... I, I, I..."
Some people were so nervous that their words were incoherent, which made Luo Zhen burst out laughing. Tang Sannan couldn't hide his daughter's joy, so he patted Erhua lightly and said, "Silly boy, you can't even say your own name?"
He scratched his head and finally finished the sentence: "My name is Liang Erhua."
"You've been carving all day, take a break, I'll pour you a glass of water." Tang Sannan felt sorry for his daughter and hurried in to pour her a glass of water. Luo Zhen was indeed thirsty, so she gulped down half a glass.
"Luo Zhen, show him the carvings. I'll go cook for you two."
Tang Sannan was busy making dinner without taking a break. Erhua thought that this kind of thing should be done by the apprentice, but he had just arrived today and was not familiar with the place. He didn't even know where to put things, so he didn't bring it up. However, he still followed and said:
"Master, how can I ask you to cook for me? It is only natural for a disciple to serve his master. Today is the first day, I will help you light the fire."
"Okay, okay, then you light a fire for me."
Tang Sannan couldn't help but feel warm in his heart. He had found the right disciple. He had work in his eyes, a master in his heart, and acted like a disciple.
Luo Zhen watched the two of them go to cook, and then lowered her head to busy herself with the work in her hands, but in fact she had no way to calm down. Her chest was beating non-stop, and she secretly scolded herself for being useless and shameless.
The master and apprentice worked together and dinner was ready in a short while.
A vegetable and meatball soup, a stir-fried sweet potato, and a braised young rooster were dishes that had been prepared previously and were placed on the rice to heat them up.
Erhua couldn't even imagine such a dish.
Erhua helped to serve the rice and set the table, and then the master asked Luo Zhen to eat.
Luo Zhen slowly got up from the chair, leaning to one side, supporting half of her body with one hand, and reaching a long stick against the wall with the other hand. She leaned her body in the opposite direction, that is, the side supporting the stick, and took one step, two steps, three steps, and slowly walked over in a strange posture.
Erhua felt like a basin of cold water was poured over him from head to toe. He shivered and woke up completely.
Tang Luozhen, this beautiful young lady from a wealthy family, is a cripple!
He was stunned for a moment, but immediately returned to normal. The father and daughter did not notice anything unusual about him.
The three of them were eating. Tang Sannan picked up several pieces of braised chicken for Erhua. He thanked him repeatedly, but the food tasted bland.
If Erhua felt like a pie fell from the sky in the morning, now he felt like a joke and that he had been cheated.
But then he thought, what had they lied to him about? Nothing! Tang Sannan had recruited him as an apprentice to learn a craft, but he hadn't said he'd marry his daughter to him, let alone that his daughter had normal legs. It was just his own fantasy.
Thinking of this, he felt that he was too fanciful. After all, not to mention that Tang Luozhen was not lame, even if he was lame, he would still look down on him!
"Hey, you'll have to endure more hardships to learn the craft from me. Luo Zhen's legs are not convenient, so I'll trouble you to take care of her."
Erhua just recovered from his shock and agreed repeatedly, saying, "Of course, of course. Being an apprentice means working hard."
She was somewhat absentminded when she said this, but the father and daughter didn't notice. Luo Zhen ate quietly, and Erhua couldn't help but secretly look at her. With her fair skin and curved eyebrows, the little mermaid was extremely beautiful. It was a pity...
If she wasn't lame, would she still be willing to eat at the same table with him? Yes, yes, Erhua felt that he was despised by everyone, even by God, so he arranged for such a lame little fish to be with him. As he ate, he felt more and more inferior.
He was just like that. Sometimes he was insanely self-confident, believing himself to be the best of the neighborhood, with countless young ladies ready to date him, even the little wildcats that leaped across the rooftops were especially friendly to him. But sometimes he was so self-conscious that he felt like the beams in his house were only as thick as a bowl, and no young lady would be willing to marry into his family. Dahua couldn't marry a wife-in-law, and neither could he.
After dinner, Erhua helped clean up and Luo Zhen went back to her room to rest.
Erhua's head was in a mess, with all kinds of thoughts pouring in. He lost his concentration and his hand slipped, breaking a bowl. The master did not blame him, but smiled and comforted him, saying:
"Young man, you haven't done much housework at home, right? You'll have to work hard in my house!"
Erhua said hesitantly, "What should be done should be done." But he felt mixed emotions in his heart.
At night, Erhua had his own room. His bed was made, with a thick cotton mat on top of the straw mat, and a brand new thick cotton quilt covering him.
He lay quietly on his back, destined to have trouble falling asleep tonight. He had walked for three hours during the day, and his feet and calves were starting to ache, but he felt more energetic, and his head was buzzing.
A thousand thoughts drifted through his mind, and the last thing that came to mind was Luo Zhen's face. Why was she crippled? Why was she so? Erhua turned to the side, feeling a pang of sadness. Ever since he'd last seen her by the river, he'd been thinking about her constantly. He'd loved such a beautiful little mermaid, but back then, he didn't know her situation. Now, with her like this, his enthusiasm for learning the craft had been dampened.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
