“The second floor of the school canteen!”
Said Fang Qiu very sincerely.
“Hopy crap! The youngest, we’ve travelled far through mountains to have a good meal with you and you are taking us to the seconf floor of the school canteen?”
The trio’s screams and shouts came through the telephone immediately.
Fang Qiu quickly moved the mobile away from his ear and waited for the trio to quiet down before asking, “Are you going or not?”
“Yes!”
The trio answered through their clenched teeth.
“It doesn’t taste great but we’ll still empty your wallet!”
The trio hung up and went straight to the canteen without their suitcases.
As soon as they found Fang Qiu on the second floor of the canteen, they ordered several fancy dishes without delay.
But it was a school canteen after all. The fancy dishes weren’t too expensive.
The price doesn’t matter as long as it looks great.
“Hang on a minute. The youngest.”
Half way through the meal, Zhou Xiaotian suddenly came up with a question.
“Before the national day holiday, you were whining about being poor. How come you are so generous now? Heheh. Are you pricked by conscience?”
“Nonsense.”
Fang Qiu took a big bite. He realized that the trio would take all the food if he didn’t fight for it.
“I was short of money at that time. Now I’m fine. I wanted to treat myself to a better meal anyway. The three of you are just here to keep me company.”
“Please let us keep you company more in the future!”
Sun Hao murmured as he picked several pieces of meat into his bowl.
Zhu Benzheng and Zhou Xiaotian nodded madly without stopping their chopsticks.
Seeing this, Fang Qiu was speechless.
What kind of roommates were these?
“How was your trip?”
Fang Qiu changed the topic.
“Super!”
Zhu Benzheng summarized the answer into one word.
“We had great fun. It was awesome.”
Sun Hao posed as if with extreme pleasure and bragged about his enjoyment.
“Yeah. You didn’t see how pretty Mount Tai is…”
Zhou Xiaotian chipped in.
“Since it was so awesome and I completely missed out. Shouldn’t you make it up to me with a meal?”
Fang Qiu looked at the trio with a grin.
The trio paused for a second.
Then…
“Come on! This one is delicious. Have some more!”
Zhu Benzheng picked one big chunk of fat for Sun Hao.
Sun Hao was so touched almost with tears in his eyes. In return, he gave Zhu Benzheng a fish tail.
Zhou Xiaotian buried himself in food.
Fang Qiu had no word to say to the trio.
He heaved a sigh.
No words were needed. He better fought for some food.
“By the way.”
Something suddenly came to Zhou Xiaotian’s mind as the four of them sat there after the meal, feeling their bellies. He asked Fang Qiu, “How is it going with Jiang Miaoyu? I’ve created such a great opportunity for you. You have grabbed it, haven’t you?”
“I’m sorry but I have to focus on study.”
Answered Fang Qiu, proudly.
“Phew…”
The trio booed at the same time.
They looked down upon Fang Qiu.
You wouldn’t have gone to Mount Tai if you were really focusing on study.
“Let’s go. Meal is over. Time to go back.”
Said Fang Qiu.
The four of them got up.
Back to their dorm room.
The journey and the food exhausted them. The trio lay on bed without moving.
Over here,
Fang Qiu began watching the copper coin after some reading.
He concentrated.
“Left, right…”
With his eyes locked on the two bound copper coins, Fang Qiu put forth his strength.
Half an hour later,
The copper coins moved.
Fang Qiu was delighted.
He saw clearly how the two bound copper coins moved upwards, different from watching one copper coin.
The two bound copper coins tilted to the left under Fang Qiu’s mental power.
Reaching the angle where they had been stuck before,
Surprisingly, they continued moving upwards.
This scene,
Gave him great joy.
Moving past that angle meant he had overcome gravity.
Besides joy,
Weariness hit him right after.
Fang Qiu fell asleep happily.
The next day, 3 am.
When his roommates were still asleep, Fang Qiu got up and left the dorm.
He didn’t go to the Central Lake.
Instead, he headed into the woods next to the Central Lake.
“I can’t go to the island in the middle of the lake anymore. Yaowang Mountain is too big a target. I’ll have to train in this forest.”
Fang Qiu thought about it and turned around looking for a suitable spot.
It was a pity about the island in the middle of the lake.
After a long search, he couldn’t find a good spot.
At last,
Fang Qiu found a very thick tree at the depths of the woods.
“Here.”
Believing no one would come so deep into the woods, Fang Qiu muttered to himself. He jumped directly up to the top of the tree.
He sat on a tree branch as thin as a little finger and began practicing with his eyes shut.
Strangely,
The branch under Fang Qiu was still perfectly straight as if there was no weight on it.
At the same time.
By the Central Lake,
Li Ji and Luo Shu sat in the open on the grass around the lake.
“Do you think he will come?”
Asked Li Ji quietly.
“I don’t know.”
Luo Shu shook his head and said, “He was really enraged by what we did yesterday. And we found his training spot. Maybe… He’s not coming.”
“We must wait even if he’s not coming.”
Li Ji nodded and continued, “We must wait until he shows up and we must apologize.”
Luo Shu nodded.
The two of them sat and waited.
In the end,
They waited until daybreak but Fang Qiu didn’t come. They left with a bitter smile helplessly.
Over here.
Fang Qiu finished his training at the depths of the forest, returned to the dorm room, changed into another set of clothes, and left for breakfast.
That day was Saturday.
The one-week long national day holiday ended that day.
All the students returned last afternoon.
And class would resume that day.
Fang Qiu checked his schedule and saw no class.
After breakfast, he went back to his room to read.
Zhou Xiaotian and Sun Hao were still sleeping.
They were really exhausted from this trip.
Zhu Benzheng was not in the room.
In a blink of an eye, it was 10 o’clock.
“Wake up!”
When Fang Qiu was completely enthralled reading, Zhu Benzheng suddenly returned with joy and surprise all over his face. He pushed Sun Hao who was still lying in bed, and then pushed Fang Qiu. At last, he ran to Zhou Xiaotian and removed the thin blanket from his belly. He shouted, “Wake up! Good news!”
Fang Qiu straightened his upper body and looked at Zhu Benzheng.
Zhou Xiaotian and Sun Hao pushed themselves up in a lazy way.
“What good news comes so early in the morning?”
Said Sun Hao with a yawn.
“Right. Can’t you let me sleep? My whole body aches. Especially my calves. It hurts!”
Zhou Xiaotian complained.
The after effect of climbing Mount Tai began to show.
Despite their complaints, Zhu Benzheng said with excitement, “The Apprentice Plan program is out!”
“What?”
After a moment of confusion, Zhou Xiaotian and Sun Hao woke up instantly.
The pain was no longer a big deal.
They quickly got out of bed.
Hearing that, Fang Qiu put on a gentle smile.
It had been talked about for a while. It should have come out a lot earlier if there was not this national day hoiliday.
“The program has been uploaded to the BBS along with a 50-people Apprentice Plan list!”
Looking at Sun Hao and Zhou Xiaotian with longing on their faces, Zhu Benzheng went on, “Some of them were still teaching and some are retired. And all the subjects are covered, such as acupuncture and medicine…”
“This fast?”
Hearing that, Sun Hao turned on his laptop on the desk and logged into the BBS.
As expected,
As soon as he logged in the BBS,
Sun Hao saw a public notice from the school official account.
“Public Notice about the Apprentice Plan Program.”
Bold red capital letters were eye-catching.
He clicked on it.
He took a careful look.
Sun Hao began to read.
“Among all the Chinese medicine universities, our school is the first to confirm the Apprentice Plan program. During the national day holiday, we’ve deviced and examined the program strictly and decided to officially open the Apprentice Plan program today.
“The following famous teachers are ranked in no particular order. There is no limit to the number of their apprentices. All students can be interviewed.”
“Zhang Zhenzhong: Male, professor, deputy director of Orthopedics of the Second Affiliated Hospital. Doctor in medicine.”
“Personal Profile: Professor Zhang Zhenzhong, currently the deputy director of the Department of Orthopaedics, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Jiangjing University of Chinese Medicine. Specialized in applying traditional bone setting techniques to treat various bone diseases. His main focus is spine setting and providing prevention and cure for neck, shoulder, waist and leg pains. His skill in medication for the recovery of bone injury is superb. He’s in charge of 3 municipal projects. He led the completion of the Clinical Evaluation on the Brain Benefiting Massage Treatment for Vertebral Artery Type Cervical Spondylosis is rewarded the municipal science and technology progress Third Prize…”
Sun Hao’s words reached their ears clearly.
“Holy crap! That’s impressive.”
Zhou Xiaotian stood up in surprise and jumped onto Sun Hao’s bed. He leaned over to Sun Hao and looked at it carefully.
Then he turned around to tell Fang Qiu,
“The youngest, he’s in the same field with you!”
Zhang Zhenzhong?
Fang Qiu thought for a moment and recalled a round-faced middle-aged doctor.
He met him once in the department of orthopedics.
“Yang Shuwen: Male, director professor, postgraduate student tutor, retired.
“Before his retirement, he worked as the director of the internal medicine, First Affiliated Hospital of Jiangjing University of Chinese Medicine. Specialized in treating stroke, dementia, headache, tremor, stomach pain and geriatric diseases. He assisted in guiding 7 masters of geriatrics over three years, one of which is currently pursuing his doctor degree.
“Personal research direction: Chinese medicine, internal medicine, geriatrics. Clinical and experimental studies on Chinese medicine for geriatrics and its anti-aging effect.”
As he read,
Sun Hao couldn’t help feeling amazed.
“They are all brilliant!”
Zhou Xiaotian said excitedly.
“Of course brilliant!”
Sun Hao rolled his eyes at Zhou Xiaotian and continued, “They are doing this program. Of course the school will bring in some brilliant teachers.”
“Hmm… My masters are awesome.”
Zhou Xiaotian nodded his agreement like crazy.
“There are more down there. You take your time.”
Zhu Benzheng said with a smile.
He also felt very excited.
Next to them,
Fang Qiu was reading as usual.
He had a master already.
He hadn’t officially become his apprentice but it was all the same if not better.
Not to mention
His master was the legendary Xu Miaolin. Numerous students in this university were longing to dig Xu Miaolin out and become his apprentice.
They would envy Fang Qiu to death when they found out his master was Xu Miaolin.
With Xu Miaolin, Fang Qiu didn’t need to think about this Apprentice Plan. Reading was more practical for him.
