Chapter 39: The Apprenticeship Ceremony

"Grandpa Chen, I've gathered all the herbs."

In the small courtyard halfway up the mountain, Lu Qing presented the medicine basket to Old Doctor Chen, slightly out of breath.

After digging up the Ox Bone Grass, he had sprinted all the way up, fearing he wouldn't make it in time.

The old doctor inspected the herbs in the basket and nodded with satisfaction.

"Not bad, not bad at all. It's quite impressive that you were actually able to gather all these herbs completely."

"Grandpa Chen, what do you mean by that?" Lu Qing asked, somewhat puzzled.

The old doctor's words seemed to carry a hidden meaning.

"Do you know why I set the scope of the assessment within the vicinity of the village?" the old doctor asked.

"I don't know," Lu Qing replied, shaking his head.

"That is because there aren't actually many herbs growing near the village; if you count them all, there are only about a dozen types," the old doctor said, stroking his beard. "The fact that you were able to dig them all up intact and bring them up within an hour shows that you must pay close attention to these herbs in your daily life."

Hearing this, Lu Qing couldn't help but feel a sense of shame.

In his daily life, he truly hadn't made a special effort to notice which herbs grew around the village.

Perhaps subconsciously, he assumed that in a village with so much foot traffic, there wouldn't be any precious medicinal ingredients.

So, unless he encountered them while traveling, he would only use his special ability to check them.

But if he were to truly set his mind to finding out exactly how many types of medicinal plants existed near the village, he hadn't done it.

It seemed his mindset was still a bit too casual.

Even the old doctor knew what kind of herbs were around the village, yet he, who possessed a special ability, had failed to do so. It was truly inexcusable.

Lu Qing couldn't help but engage in self-reflection.

Seeing that Lu Qing remained silent, Old Doctor Chen assumed he was admitting it.

He smiled and said, "Alright, you have passed this assessment. Now, go and invite the village elders up here."

"Invite the village elders?" Lu Qing was stunned.

"Indeed. I am going to formally accept you as my disciple. There must be witnesses present; otherwise, it would be far too frivolous."

"Yes! I'll go right now!"

Overjoyed, Lu Qing ran back down the mountain once more.

The villagers, knowing that Lu Qing was undergoing Old Doctor Chen's assessment today, had been watching closely.

When they saw Lu Qing running down from the mountain and learned that the old doctor had invited the elders up to witness the formal ceremony of his apprenticeship, they were all overjoyed.

"Good, good, good! Our village is finally going to produce a doctor!"

"Well done, Ah Qing! As expected of our village's smartest child, you really passed the test."

"Ah Qing, tell Old Doctor Chen we will be up very soon!"

Previously, the villagers had seen Lu Qing going to Old Doctor Chen every day to learn, and some had even thought he was already the doctor's disciple.

But later, Lu Qing had told them that he was at most an apprentice and was not yet qualified to formally enter the old doctor's lineage.

Now, hearing that Lu Qing had finally passed the assessment and was to be formally accepted as a disciple, how could they not be excited?

Lu Qing returned to the small courtyard, and not long after, the village elders arrived one by one, dressed neatly.

Some elders had even gone out of their way to wear the fine clothes they usually only wore during the New Year.

In addition to the elders, even other villagers who were at home followed up the mountain to join the excitement.

Some villagers even brought items like rice, flour, eggs, and meat.

Old Doctor Chen was already waiting at the entrance of the courtyard.

Seeing everyone arrive, he stepped forward and bowed.

"Thank you, fellow villagers, for honoring me with your presence at this old man's apprenticeship ceremony."

"Old Doctor, you are being too modest," said Elder Zhang, who was leading the group. "It is we who should be thanking you."

"Since you arrived in our Jiuli Village, you have relieved us of countless ailments. We have always kept your kindness in our hearts."

"Elder Zhang, you overstate it. I am merely doing my duty as a doctor; I do not deserve such gratitude," the old doctor said with a faint smile.

"Whether it is kindness or not, we know it in our hearts."

Elder Zhang took a basket from a young man behind him.

"Old Doctor Chen, our village is poor, and we have nothing precious to offer. This small amount of eggs and cured meat, along with this rice and flour, is our contribution toward Ah Qing's apprenticeship gift. We hope you will not look down on it."

As he finished speaking, two more young men carried up two sacks of rice and flour.

This scene left not only Lu Qing stunned but even Old Doctor Chen was taken aback.

Elder Zhang continued, "It is shameful to say, but most of us in Jiuli Village were refugees fleeing from elsewhere years ago."

"It was a difficult era. Back then, if it hadn't been for the support and leadership of Ah Qing's grandfather, we might not have survived that disaster. We endured the journey until we found this place to settle and take root."

"It can be said that without the leadership of Ah Qing's grandfather back then, there might not be a Jiuli Village today."

"Regrettably, Ah Qing's grandfather left behind a lingering illness during the flight and died early because he couldn't receive proper treatment."

"And we failed to protect his son and daughter-in-law, allowing them to be deceived and forced to leave amidst misfortune, leaving behind only two lonely children, Ah Qing and Xiao Yan."

"Now that Ah Qing is fortunate enough to be chosen by you and take you as his master, it is a tremendous blessing for him. I hope you will take his lonely upbringing into consideration. Even if he is careless and makes mistakes in the future, please be lenient and give him more chances."

With that, Elder Zhang gave Old Doctor Chen a deep bow.

The other elders and villagers followed suit, bowing to the old doctor.

Watching the crowd of villagers bowing in unison, even with Old Doctor Chen's decades of cultivation, his heart could not help but be shaken.

As for Lu Qing, he was already filled with shock.

Firstly, some of the things Elder Zhang mentioned were not in the original host's memories.

Secondly, he never imagined that the villagers would go to such lengths for him.

After a moment of daze, Old Doctor Chen hurried forward to help Elder Zhang up.

"Please, everyone, stand up. If you continue like this, I will truly die of shame."

He then turned to Elder Zhang and said, "Elder Zhang, Lu Qing is a very bright child. To be able to take him as a disciple is a blessing for me as well. So please rest assured, I will certainly teach him well."

Elder Zhang's face was filled with emotion. "Then I shall thank you on behalf of his grandfather and parents!"

As he spoke, he handed over the basket.

"Please accept these humble gifts; I hope you will not reject them."

"Elder Zhang, you must not. I know life is not easy for you all; there is no need for such formalities."

"Formality cannot be neglected. Since this is an apprenticeship, how can there be no apprenticeship gift?"

...

After several rounds of polite refusals, Old Doctor Chen finally took a few eggs and a piece of cured meat from the basket, accepting them as the villagers' prepared gift for Lu Qing.

As for the rest, he would not accept anything more.

Watching this scene, Lu Qing made a mental note to return the value in money once he went back.

To be honest, he really hadn't considered the matter of an apprenticeship gift.

He had thought it would just be a matter of kowtowing to the old doctor in front of everyone.

He had overlooked the fact that this was an exotic world similar to ancient times.

A formal apprenticeship ceremony was far more complex than he had imagined.

After this interlude, the old doctor invited the villagers into the courtyard.

Then, in the presence of everyone, Lu Qing began his formal apprenticeship.