Chapter 34: Become a Disciple
Siming looked at Doctor Huai and frowned slightly: "Did you see their appearance clearly?"
"No, they put a sack on me from behind, and when I broke free, they were gone."
"I reported it to the police, but they said they couldn't arrest anyone without evidence." What worried Huailang was their family's medicinal garden.
Their family's medicine garden has a history of hundreds of years, and many of the medicinal herbs planted in it are old. Now they are all destroyed. They are so heartbroken that it feels like their heart is bleeding.
"It's too late today. I'll go to the medicine garden myself tomorrow." Siming said to Doctor Huai.
"Thank you, General. Second Master's legs no longer need acupuncture. He just needs to keep exercising. I'll leave first." After expressing his gratitude, Doctor Huai followed the housekeeper and left.
Si Tian looked at the two sleeping children and asked, "Mom, do we need to prepare two more apprenticeship gifts?"
"If you hadn't mentioned it, I would have forgotten about it. I'll ask someone to prepare it when I get back. You should have all these things at home. If not, I'll ask someone to buy them later."
As Mrs. Si spoke, she went over in her mind the six necessary gifts: dried meat, dried longan, lotus seeds, red dates, red beans, and celery.
I do have the first few items, but I might not have celery. I'll have to ask Wu Ma to go to the market early tomorrow morning to buy some. I can't be careless about the apprenticeship gift.
When Si Ming saw them come back, both children were asleep, so he asked Bailing and Jiang Ze to carry them back to their room to sleep.
"Doctor Huai just came here. His medicine garden was destroyed and he was beaten up."
"How could this happen? Doctor Huai has always had a good reputation in Beiyang City, but no one would think of offending him." Old Lady Si said as she sat down.
"This is something I can't understand. Besides, it's cold now, and many people are sick. Western medicine works quickly, but it's not cheap."
"Traditional Chinese medicine takes time to take effect, but it's cheap, so it's relatively cost-effective for ordinary people."
"Logically speaking, the two treatments vary from person to person and shouldn't have much of an impact." Si Tian analyzed the current situation.
Siming looked at him and said, "Is it possible that someone wants to cause chaos in Beiyang City? It was the food before, and now it's the medicinal herbs?"
"Don't they take the lives of ordinary people seriously?" Old Madam Si was angry.
"Brother, if this is true, I'm afraid that Doctor Huai's medicine garden is not the first one. I'm afraid that the medicine gardens of other Chinese medicine families will also be persecuted."
Si Tian's heart tightened. These people just wanted to cause chaos in Beiyang. Only when Beiyang was in chaos would they have a chance to enter.
As long as the Beiyang government remains in chaos, they will have no chance of getting involved.
"I plan to go and check it out tomorrow. Someone slipped a note to Adjutant Qi today saying that the Liu family is colluding with foreign enemies." Si Ming said nothing more after that.
"Who is it?" asked Madam Si.
"I don't know. It was a pack of cigarettes that Adjutant Qi picked up at random when he was buying cigarettes. It was written on a candy wrapper. If Juanjuan didn't have a sensitive nose, I'm afraid he wouldn't have noticed it."
Siming wanted to laugh when he thought of the way she wrinkled her nose.
"We can observe and try, but it may not be accurate information." Si Tian said.
"I think so too, but I plan to start posting notices to recruit workers. Once the snow melts, it's time to start plowing the land."
"A Tian, you take charge of this matter. Let Jiang Ze assist you. You are better than me in business." Siming looked at him and said.
Si Tian: "Okay, I will start arranging the recruitment tomorrow. But if you give Jiang Ze to me, there will be no suitable person to follow Achen."
"Let's wait and see if we can find a suitable one. There's no rush now." Siming said as he stood up and left the living room.
Madam Si told Aunt Wu to buy some fresh celery early the next morning.
…
Yan Anqing looked at Jian Menglan who was tidying up his clothes. "I'm just going to teach two children to read and write. Do you really need me to dress so formally?"
"As a teacher, you should dress appropriately, or you won't be afraid of the two children laughing at you." Jian Menglan helped him put on his robe.
"They dare." Yan Anqing said seriously.
"Yes, yes, they don't dare, Grandpa Yanshu." Jian Menglan's eyes were full of smiles.
Yan Anqing couldn't help himself and the seriousness on his face faded a lot: "This little girl looks smart."
"How about I go with you?" Jian Menglan suggested.
"What are you going to do with me?" Yan Anqing looked puzzled.
"Let's go take a look together." Jian Menglan thought so and went into the room to get her handbag. She pulled him out and said, "Hurry up, we'll be late."
Before Yan Anqing could say anything, he was pulled out by her. When they met neighbors on the way and greeted the two of them, they just hurriedly responded with a few words and left.
Juanjuan and Si Jinchen were both dressed more formally today, still wearing long gowns and jackets and skirts, but they were all newly made, just for today's apprenticeship.
Siming did not go out this morning in order to attend the apprenticeship ceremony of his two children.
"General, old lady, second master, Mr. Yan and Mrs. Yan are here." The housekeeper came in to report.
"Please come in." Madam Si quickly asked someone to invite the person in.
Yan Anqing came in and bowed to everyone.
"Achen, Juanjuan, please let the teacher take a seat." Siming said to the two children.
"Teacher, please take a seat." The two children politely asked Yan Anqing to sit in the seat at the top.
After he sat down, Bailing brought two cushions and placed them in front of Yan Anqing.
The two children knelt on the ground holding the prepared six rituals and said, "Master, please accept my disciples' greetings."
Yan Anqing looked at the things in their hands with some surprise. These things were no longer popular, and he didn't expect that the Governor's Mansion would prepare them for him.
His serious expression softened slightly.
"Brother, these things are so heavy!" Juanjuan had some difficulty lifting them.
"Hold on a little longer." Si Jinchen was also a little unable to hold it.
Mrs. Si regretted it as soon as she saw it. If she had known earlier, she would not have pretended so much. It would have been just a token of her appreciation. This would not have made the child suffer.
"Why don't you accept it?" Jian Menglan saw that Juanjuan's little hands were shaking, so she quickly reached out to help her take the thing.
Juanjuan felt her hand lighten when she saw the item was taken away. She smiled and thanked Jian Menglan, "Thank you, beautiful grandma."
Yan Anqing immediately reached out to take the thing from Si Jinchen's hand, and coughed lightly a few times to cover up his embarrassment.
Bailing brought over the warm tea and asked the two children to serve it to Yan Anqing.
Juanjuan imitated Si Jinchen and raised the teacup above her head: "Master, please have some tea."
This time, Yan Anqing didn't hesitate. He took the teacup and took a sip, then put it aside. "From now on, you will be my students, Yan Anqing. You must abide by my rules."
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