He was like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, almost jumping up from behind Zhou Yang, his voice trembling with tears, looking as aggrieved as a 200-pound child.
"Brother Zhou, you...you haven't even started teaching me yet, how do you know I have no talent?"
"What if I am a martial arts prodigy, one in a hundred or even a thousand years, but I just don't know it? How will you know if you don't try?"
Pfft! A martial arts prodigy? I think you're a comedic genius with unusual talent!
Zhou Yang suppressed a laugh.
He turned around, reached out, and pinched Du Zhe's arm and shoulder in a serious manner.
He patted him on the back twice, neither too hard nor too soft, and finally stroked his chin, looking thoughtful.
"Um……"
Zhou Yang drawled out his words, his gaze sweeping over Du Zhe from head to toe with the solemn expression of an old Chinese medicine doctor diagnosing a difficult and complicated illness.
"Your bone structure is quite unique, but it's a pity that you've already passed the best age for physical training, and your muscles and bones are already fully formed."
“Forcing yourself to cultivate now will not only be twice as difficult and half as effective, but it will also easily damage your foundation. Even if I am willing to teach you, you will at most learn some superficial skills, which may be good for fooling laymen and showing off. But if you really encounter something, you will be just a pretty face with no substance.”
"Fur is fine too! As long as I look cool!"
To everyone's surprise, Du Zhe was not discouraged by these words. Instead, he seemed to have grasped at a last straw as a drowning man, and his eyes suddenly burst with an amazing light.
His face instantly brightened from cloudy to sunny; his change of expression was even faster than that of a scumbag who turns his back on you!
His voice trembled with excitement as he grabbed Zhou Yang's leg and shook it vigorously.
"Brother Zhou! Master! I only want to learn the basics! As long as I can look cool!"
"Please, please accept me as your apprentice! One hundred million isn't enough, I'll give you two hundred million!"
"Two hundred million in tuition fees, and you only learn the basics? You're definitely not losing out on this deal! From now on, you'll be my mentor!"
Xu Yao, watching Du Zhe's comical antics, couldn't help but burst out laughing.
Her beautiful eyes curved into two adorable crescent moons as she thought to herself, "This young master of the Du family is quite the character. He's really willing to spend money to show off."
Qin Yumo frowned slightly, her delicate hand instinctively supporting her forehead, a hint of helplessness appearing on her pretty face.
That Du Zhe... he's really... so unreliable!
She sighed inwardly, thinking how utterly disgraced the Qin and Du families!
The partner Qin Yumo wants to find in the future will definitely be a man like Zhou Yang—strong, steady, and with a touch of mystery.
Du Zhe's childish and unconventional behavior is really...sigh, I can't accept it.
Zhou Yang was left speechless by Du Zhe's shameless "clinging to someone's leg" attack, feeling as if his leg hair was being rubbed off.
He tried to shake him off, but found that the kid was holding on tightly, like a piece of sticky candy.
"Alright, alright! Get up now! You're a grown man, what kind of behavior is this!"
Zhou Yang rubbed his temples, feeling a bit of a headache.
"No, no! If Master doesn't agree, then I'll just grow onto your legs!"
Du Zhe displayed the spoiled and unreasonable spirit of a playboy, refusing to let go.
"I'm really scared of you!"
Zhou Yang sighed deeply, completely worn down by his persistent tenacity.
"Here's what we'll do: come find me when you have time, and I'll teach you a few basic skills and give you some pointers. How much you can learn depends on your own destiny."
"real?!"
Du Zhe suddenly raised his head, his eyes bursting with immense joy, as if he had won the lottery.
He swiftly released Zhou Yang's thigh, took two quick steps back, straightened his somewhat disheveled clothes, took a deep breath, and his expression became extremely solemn.
Immediately afterwards, to everyone's astonishment, he knelt down with a "thud" and kowtowed three times to Zhou Yang, each time making a dull "thud" sound!
"Master, please accept my bow!"
After kowtowing, Du Zhe immediately sprang up from the ground and swiftly picked up a cup of untouched pre-rain Longjing tea from the table.
He respectfully raised both hands above his head, bowed again, and presented the cup to Zhou Yang: "Master, please drink this cup of tea as a disciple to formally become his disciple!"
This unexpected set of grand apprenticeship gifts not only stunned Xu Yao and Qin Yumo, but even Zhou Yang himself was taken aback.
He initially thought Du Zhe was just acting impulsively and being unreasonable, but he didn't expect the kid to be serious and make it so formal and ceremonial.
Looking into Du Zhe's eyes, slightly reddened with excitement and filled with hope, admiration, and filial piety, Zhou Yang felt a slight stirring in his heart.
Fine, I'll take on an apprentice then. Having a little brother to serve me and fetch me tea and water doesn't seem so bad.
Although this kid is a bit unruly, he has a sincere heart.
Zhou Yang reached out and took the still-warm cup of tea offered as a formality to Du Zhe. Under Du Zhe's expectant gaze, he took a symbolic sip and then placed the cup back on the table.
His voice was calm yet carried an undeniable air of authority: "Get up. Now that you've become my disciple, you must abide by my rules."
"Yes, Master! Your disciple will certainly obey your orders!"
Du Zhe was so happy that he scratched his head and grinned like a fool. He then got up from the ground and stood respectfully beside Zhou Yang, just like a child who had received candy.
Qin Yumo shook her head helplessly as she looked at Du Zhe's smug and silly expression, as if he had gotten a great deal.
She shifted her gaze from the excited Du Zhe to the composed Zhou Yang, her beautiful eyes filled with a hint of inquiry and curiosity.
"Mr. Zhou, Miss Gu just mentioned that you also have items consigned to auction this time? I didn't know you were involved in antique collecting?"
Upon hearing this, Zhou Yang smiled calmly, picked up his teacup, and gently blew away the foam: "Miss Qin, you flatter me. I wouldn't call it a wide range of interests; it's just something I do casually."
"That Ming Dynasty huanghuali brush pot was actually sold on behalf of a friend; it was not from my personal collection."
He paused, then changed the subject, casually adding a sentence.
"However, I do know a little about how to distinguish the authenticity of antiques, and I can pass muster enough knowledge."
"You can appraise antiques too?"
Qin Yumo's red lips parted slightly, and a hint of undisguised surprise flashed in her beautiful eyes.
She realized that her understanding of the man in front of her seemed to be limited to only the tip of the iceberg.
With a mysterious background, wealth, excellent cooking skills, and expertise in appraising antiques, what other surprises does he hold that she doesn't know about?
Just how many secrets and abilities does Zhou Yang still possess that are unknown to others?
Qin Yumo took a deep breath and couldn't help but exclaim from the bottom of her heart, "Mr. Zhou, just how many other things do you know?"
"I feel like you are a bottomless treasure chest, always able to bring out some amazing surprises when we least expect them."
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