Chapter 39: Becoming an Apprentice

  What is the relationship between Chen Taizhen's predecessor and Zhou Muerlang? Why does Chen Songzhuo always look like he wants to cut him into pieces whenever he mentions Zhou Muerlang? What kind of relationship do these people have, I don't understand, can't figure it out, my head is all confused.

  "Zhou Murang, what's his relationship with him?"

  "I don't want to mention that person, by the way, remind you to stay away from that bastard!" Chen Songzhuo was somewhat displeased, and with a "pa" sound, he threw the wine jug in his hand to the ground, shattering it into pieces.

  "Oh, thanks for reminding me, but my intuition tells me he's not a bad person."

  "Experience tells me he's an asshole!"

  Chen Songzhuo's emotions were somewhat agitated, and he said the two words "son of a bitch". His two hands, which had been holding his legs while sitting, instantly turned into fists, tightly clenched.

  "Don't talk about him like that!"

  I don't know why, although I knew that Zhou Mulang was capable of doing anything with his usual style, but now hearing Chen Songzhuo repeatedly calling him a scoundrel, it felt awkward in my heart and I even felt some small anger!

  "Wumanya, I'm just reminding you out of kindness, but it seems like you've been bewitched by Zhou Mulang's magic and are actually helping him. You..." He pointed at me with his hand, shouting loudly, but the rest of his words were left unsaid due to anger."

  "No matter what grievances you and he have, you two are both my friends, I absolutely will not allow others to criticize my friends!"

  "Friend? Ha! I'm afraid you'll be eaten alive and won't even know what's happening! Friend! Ha!" he sneered.

  "It's all my business, being eaten and cheated, has nothing to do with you!" I retorted.

  He heard this and let out a loud gasp, turned around and ignored me, I also stopped talking.

  The two people remained silent for a long time, without making any sound.

  "Can you teach me a foreign language?" Chen Songzhuo tilted his head to one side and asked with a smile.

  "What?" His sudden change left me stunned and I responded irritably.

  "Teach me some foreign language?" His eyes narrowed into a line as he smiled.

  "You, won't you change too quickly, fickle man!"

  "Friend, teach me some English!" Chen Songzhuo gently tugged at my sleeve, pretending to be spoiled and shaking back and forth nonstop, the scene was so ridiculous that it made people want to laugh.

  "Friend? I'm a friend of rascals! Shouldn't you keep away from us rascals?" I turned my head away, pretending to be angry and not looking at him.

  Chen Songzhuo stood up and walked to my other side, bowed his head and said, "The younger generation is above, please accept the disciple's one bow!"

  This time, I listened for a long while without responding, and he didn't get up. It seemed quite sincere.

  "I can accept apprentices, but I'm very strict and harsh, afraid some young masters can't take it!"

  "A strict teacher produces excellent students; disciples follow their master's teachings in everything."

  "Well, then you can kneel here for a night today!"

  "One night?! This is the imperial harem, I'm a man, staying overnight here doesn't make sense!" Chen Songzhuo's expression was somewhat tense, his face showing difficulty, as he hastily explained.

  "What's the use of having an apprentice if he doesn't follow orders!"

  "This, this, this..." He muttered for a long time, hesitated for a good while. "No way! A man has gold under his knees! How can he easily kneel down!"

  This guy really has some old-fashioned integrity, but I just happen to like dealing with people who have integrity.

  "Don't kneel, no problem, get out!" I gestured with my chin towards the direction of the door.

  "I'm not going!" He plopped himself down with a huff, looking like he'd rather die than leave.

  "Kneel down and pay respects as if you were paying homage to a master, will that be enough to spare me?"

  "No way, I won't kneel down and I don't plan on leaving. Today you have to accept me as your disciple, whether you want to or not."

  "If you're so capable, then I'll call someone over!"

  He puffed out his cheeks, and he who was normally talkative remained silent, frustrating me to death.

  "Come..." My voice had barely left my throat when a black shadow rushed towards me.

  "Alright, let's just die then! I..." Chen Songzhuo finally steeled himself and responded.

  As he spoke, his knees buckled and he slowly sank down, about to have an intimate encounter with the ground.

  "Halt! The tedious rituals of becoming a disciple will stop here, next time I'll teach you to recognize letters!" I grabbed him with one hand and said with a smile.

  "Really?!" He seemed somewhat disbelieving, and asked doubtfully!

  "Really!" I nodded.

  "But..."

  "What's wrong? You want to back out?"

  "Not really, but can we not use honorifics like 'master' or anything like that? It's so cliché!"

  "This won't do, respect for teachers and emphasis on moral integrity cannot be changed! You and I are master and disciple, so we should address each other as such."

  Wow, I really didn't expect this guy to be a stubborn old conservative who follows the rules.

  "What you and I learned is Western language, so let's follow the Western way of addressing each other. Miss, call me Miss Wu!"

  "Misty, misty, Mistys, Misty Woo..." Chen Songzhuo repeated over and over again, but with a slightly strange pronunciation.

  "Hmm!"

  Before I could finish speaking, he turned around and ran out the door, shouting loudly, "I'm going to learn a foreign language! I'll tell Miss Zhiqing!"

  Such behavior is just like kindergarten children, it's really childish.

  "My god, who is this girl Zhi Qing? This guy is so serious and hardworking, it turns out he's just trying to pick up girls. His grandfather's... Can you keep your voice down, are you afraid of attracting a crowd?"

  Is learning a foreign language reliable? Is there a foreigner in this era? Or is there an old foreigner who speaks English in this world? Hmm, anyway, he insisted on learning it, not me forcing him.

  I closed the door, sat down slowly and carefully thought about what Chen Songzhuo said, word by word. Some things I really don't understand, some things even if I understand are useless. Maybe in this world's affairs, I have a share to participate, but also can't choose.

  The shards of the wine jug are on the ground, and it's a bit painful to step on one. If this thing isn't handled carefully and falls, it can't be helped that it will break and cause injury. It's better to be careful and clean it up. I don't want to accidentally cut myself, bleed to death, and wait until I'm swollen and smelly before being discovered and carried out. That would be too tragic.

  "This wine jug is surprisingly different from the ones used in the palace, lacking the imperial color, and the mark on the bottom of the jug is not from an official kiln. Judging by its quality, it's definitely not something that ordinary people would use."

  I picked up a piece, which was a pot lid. Turning it over and taking a closer look, I vaguely saw several small, twisted seal characters engraved on it. Although I recognize ancient characters and have a bachelor's degree from a modern university, I can still understand such simple traditional Chinese characters: Lou, Lu, Yue.

  "Lou Yue Lou!"

  Could it be that the girl Chen Songzhuo was talking about is from my Luoyuelou? No wonder, today is the 16th and Luoyuelou only opens on the 1st and 15th of every month. Probably this jar of wine was also brought back last night. I'm really curious about this mysterious girl, what kind of person is she?