Because he took out the wheelchair, the group was able to go into the bamboo house.
In the house, there was an old man sitting in a chair, reading a book. When he saw them come in, his eyes fell on the wheelchair pushed in behind them.
“Is this the thing you were talking about, the thing that will allow me to move freely?”
He probably knew the structure of the wheelchair after only a few glances, and sneered, “This thing doesn’t qualify, please go back.”
Ji Changze acted as if he didn’t hear anything. He knelt down beside the charcoal fire, stretched out his hand to pour tea, and poured three cups of tea.
One cup was for himself, the other was for the Military Advisor, and another cup was handed to the Divine Doctor.
“Come on, come on, have tea, have tea. Don’t be polite, treat it like your own home.”
But the Military Advisor, nodded after hearing this. He sat down naturally, picked up the tea Ji Changze poured for him and drank it.
After drinking, he still praised, “Good tea.”
Ji Changze smiled and took a sip, “It’s really good tea.”
When he finished drinking, he looked at the Divine Doctor, “Divine Doctor, why aren’t you drinking? Such good tea is rare.”
The Divine Doctor gritted his teeth for a while, and suddenly laughed, “You’re cheekier than I am!”
“I dare not. In this world, how could anyone dare to compare with you? “
“It’s good that you know.”
Seeing him look like he doesn’t dare to, the look on the Divine Doctor’s face improved a little, but the child beside him, looked a little hesitant. He looked at Ji Changze, and whispered something in the Devine Doctor’s ear.
Divine Doctor’s originally better face suddenly changed all of a sudden, and looked at Ji Changze, “You’re saying I’m cheeky?”
“I didn’t say that, that’s not what I said at all.”
Ji Changze waved his hand innocently, “However, Devine Doctor, you said it yourself before. If someone could find a way to make you move freely, you will treat their illness. How come when we’re here to find you now, you’re denying it?”
“Of course, I’m not saying that you’re cheeky. I never speak ill of others. The best I can say is that your face isn’t very thin.”
(TNote: Cheeky/shameless in Chinese is written as [脸皮子厚], literally read as ‘face-thick-skin’.)
He sneered, “When I said that, I wanted to find someone who could cure my legs. What’s the use of finding me such a shabby thing?? I still have to sit on it and rely on other people to push me.”
“That’s where you’re wrong.”
Ji Changze said, “Who doesn’t know that you poisoned your own legs. You’re the Divine Doctor, who can undo the poison you’ve administered in this world? Tell me, are you able to resolve it yourself?”
The Devine Doctor kept silent.
He really couldn’t cure it.
A series of compliments came out of Ji Changze’s mouth, “Your medical skills are absolutely obvious to all. I’m only politely saying; your medical skills are absolutely top-notch in the whole country. If you can’t help yourself, no one can.”
His words sounded sincere and his expressions were all in place. The ugly look on the Divine Doctor’s face improved a little.
No matter who they are, people liked being praised.
Especially since this praise was still in his best area of expertise.
The more he was praised, the more comfortable he felt.
This, of course, still requires skill. For example, if you found a person who wasn’t good at cooking, but you still praised his cooking to high heaven. It would be a wonder if that person didn’t call you stupid.
All in all, the Divine Doctor was very happy.
Ji Changze kept analyzing, bla bla bla:
“If you can’t resolve it, why do you need to put such words out? You can just sit quietly in a place and say that you wouldn’t be able to help people in this life, and those who want to see you should give up.”
When Ji Changze finished speaking, he suddenly came up with a sentence; “What I see is, you just don’t want to let others forget you, but you don’t want to treat people, so you deliberately put out a such a difficult problem.”
The Divine Doctor, who was secretly proud: “…”
Anyone who was somewhat capable wanted to save face, let alone someone like him.
It was almost as if Ji Changze pointed at his nose and said ‘you just couldn’t bear to lose the reputation, so such words came out.’ He was so angry he directly snorted:
“What are you talking about? I …”
Before he finished speaking, he was cut off by Ji Changze, “Naturally, the Devine Doctor wouldn’t do such a thing just because he can’t give up his reputation. So, this young one will make a guess. You spread the word and said that you are only willing to come out of the mountain for people who could make you move freely. But there is no such person in Xingguo. Therefore, there must be a deeper meaning in your words.”
What deeper meaning? He accidentally crippled himself and wanted to be able to stand again, so he thought of such a way.
However, who would have thought that there was no one capable in Xingguo’s medical community, leaving him a cripple for so long.
Ah, he can’t help it. Who made him too good?
Ji Changze: “The Devine Doctor must have known from the beginning that no one could cure it, so you let it out just to let everyone in the world know about it, and naturally, intelligent people would come for it.”
When the Divine Doctor saw him stop talking, his curiosity was aroused.
Ji Changze paused before decisively saying, “Come to learn from you!”
Ji Changze stood up and waved his sleeve, “Your leg was ruined by yourself, and in this world, except for yourself, only the apprentice who has received your legacy of medical skills could cure it and allow you to move freely. Therefore, you are actually telling the world that you are looking for an apprentice.”
“And then, you, such a Divine Doctor, it’s certainly impossible to give up the teacher-apprentice lineage. After all, if you don’t accept apprentices. If you wait until the next hundred years, wouldn’t these skills of yours be forgotten? Only by accepting apprentices, in order to pass 100 years, 1,000 years or even 10,000 years, your name will remain. Your apprentices and grand-apprentices, will pass it down from generation to generation, and they would never forget you.”
The more the Devine Doctor listened, the more excited he was.
After all, he was an ancient man. He didn’t think about this aspect when he was young. Later, when he became a cripple, couldn’t bother to think about it even more. He only bought a young servant to take care of him.
But when his heart had just moved, he then pressed it down again.
A good apprentice wasn’t so easy to find.
Either there was no talent, no brain, or there was no character.
At the beginning, they were four other apprentices who studied together, and both brothers took the wrong path. His Master almost died of anger.
The younger brother at the bottom didn’t go astray, but he received an apprentice, and the apprentice went astray. The younger brother was furious.
He was the only one left, but he ruined his own legs senselessly.
But, as he thought so, after listening to Ji Changze flatter him so much, the Devine Doctor couldn’t say, ‘Eh, you guessed wrong. I’m not as far-sighted as you say, and I’m not as amazing as I thought. I just want to find a doctor to treat me.’
He stroked his long beard and showed a profound look on his face, “You are correct. You are a smart young man, but unfortunately, although I said such words earlier, no one has ever come to worship.”
He stroked his beard again and sighed, “The world is ignorant, I guess they didn’t understand my deep meaning.”
Ah well, pretending like this feels good.
Ji Changze nodded with a ‘you’re right’ look on his face, “According to Divine Doctor, is it true that if someone understands this intention and comes to worship you as a teacher, you would accept it?”
If someone comes to worship, he still couldn’t teach.
“To want to worship, the first thing is to have the talent. For example, I have this medical book in my hand, profound and incomparable. Only those who read thoroughly, like me, are able to do so.”
Ji Changze arched his hand, “What else do you want for an apprentice? Why don’t you tell me all together? I am under General Hou’s command, and I know many people. Right now, we are chasing the rebels, so maybe we will happen to meet Divine Doctor’s desired apprentice along the way.”
He spoke sincerely and his attitude was very humble, as if he was just a junior admiring his elder.
The Divine Doctor thought about it for a while and felt that what he said made sense.
He would always need an apprentice to pass on his skills.
Thinking about, 100 years later, there would be apprentices and grand-apprentices that would offer up incense for him. It was quite beautiful.
“Well, since you volunteered to help, I’ll just say it.”
Thinking about, the Devine Doctor spoke as he thought:
“First of all, they should have some talent, but also young, older people are harder to teach. Preferably a man, although women can also learn medicine, but in the end men and women shouldn’t be too close. I have old bones, I don’t want people to gossip about me. Their memory should be good and even better if they have eidetic memory.”
“They should be filial and able to support me. It’s best for them to be literate, otherwise if they couldn’t read, how could I teach? What else? Let me think …”
He thought for a while, and felt that there was nothing more to add, “That’s pretty much it. If you don’t mind the trouble, find them for me, and if you do find me an apprentice as I said …”
The Divine Doctor looked at the Military Advisor who was sitting there looking and moving like a normal person, only slightly pale, “You are here for him, right? If you really find them, then I will treat him.”
General Hou was excited to hear it. The conditions the Devine Doctor said weren’t very difficult. Well, the eidetic memory was difficult, but that doesn’t matter. Having hope was good.
He was going to stand up to say that he would send someone to look for the person immediately, even if they had to search north to south to find an apprentice that the Devine Doctor wanted.
Ji Changze, who was next to him, simply and neatly knelt on the ground, and performed a salute of worshipping a teacher, “Master on high, please accept the apprentice’s worship.”
The Military Advisor was also a little surprised, but only for a moment. Then he reacted, shook his head with a smile and sipped his tea.
Divine Doctor: “… what are you doing?”
Ji Changze knelt upright smoothly, “The apprentice is young, is a man, understood the Master’s intention, has eidetic memory, is talented and filial, and is willing to support Master. Thank you, Master, for accepting this apprentice.”
“No … wait wait wait, I haven’t agreed to you yet.”
A wounded look appeared on Ji Changze’s face, “Does Master dislike this apprentice?”
“You wait wait… don’t call me Master, I didn’t say I would accept you.”
“But I have all the right conditions. Master is incredibly intelligent. Weren’t you talking about me?”
He won’t just take any apprentice indiscriminately.
He would rather pick up an abandoned baby on the side of the road and raised them. He certainly wouldn’t accept a cheeky guy at first glance, someone who certainly scheming deep inside, as an apprentice ah!!
And, never being able to forget, who are you kidding? There was no one with that kind of memory in the world.
(TNote: eidetic memory wasn’t a thing in that era, it wasn’t really known as eidetic memory, just ‘never being able to forget.’)
Anyway, he won’t accept him!
He won’t accept them all!!
Ji Changze slowly stood up, “It seems that Master is really refusing to accept me.”
He sighed with loss, picked up the medical books on the table, read it twice, and then recited it absently.
The look on the Divine Doctor’s face went from ‘I just won’t accept you’, to shock, to trance, and finally to joy.
When Ji Changze finished reciting it, he couldn’t wait to pull Ji Changze’s sleeve, “You really won’t forget it?”
Ji Changze nodded and sighed, “So what if I have eidetic memory. I’m not the apprentice you want to take.”
“You recite one to me first.”
The Divine Doctor took a random medical book and handed it to Ji Changze.
Ji Changze took the medical book, and indeed flipped through it and quickly memorized it.
The Divine Doctor’s eyes were getting brighter and brighter.
General Hou looked at him and whispered to the Military Advisor, “Look at the Divine Doctor’s eyes. Why does he look like an old cat who caught a rat?”
Ji Changze faintly glanced at him.
General Hou immediately shut up.
Waiting for Ji Changze to finish reciting, the joy and love of talent on the Divine Doctor’s face was about to overflow.
“You truly have eidetic memory. What’s your name?”
Ji Changze arched his hand, “I am a person of Huxian, named Ji Qing, courtesy name, Changze.”
“Good, good, young and talented. Would you like to be my apprentice?”
Ji Changze knelt down and said, “Apprentice is willing.”
The smile on Divine Doctor’s face suddenly became happier, almost as if a big piece of gold had fallen from the sky and he had picked it up.
A person with eidetic memory was his apprentice. In the future, he might surpass him and be able to cure his leg.
Eh? No, he was so happy that he suddenly realized something for a moment.
Ji Changze already got up and held him, “Master, don’t worry, I will certainly serve my elders well.”
The Divine Doctor was much happier.
This wasn’t a trap, it was fate!!
General Hou watched for a little while. The two looked like a caring master and a filial apprentice, very harmonious. A question mark appeared on the general’s face.
Didn’t you reject Sir Ji just now?
The Devine Doctor looked like he had forgotten about what had just happened.
What ‘reject’? What ‘never accept’?
I don’t know, I didn’t see it, I didn’t hear it…
This was his good apprentice!