After settling Chen Yushu, Chen Baihe, though reluctant, turned and left decisively.
At this moment, Chen Yushu, at Steward Zhou’s summons, arrived in a room in the backyard, took out a pen and paper, and, in a registration manner, said, “What is your name, where are you from, who are your family members and parents? Please state them all.”
“Chen Yushu, from Beijiao Village, parents…”
Chen Yushu knew this was for registration, formally acknowledging him as a member of Liu Family Pharmacy. Although he was only an apprentice, it was a form of identity recognition, so he dared not be negligent and answered everything truthfully.
After Steward Zhou recorded everything and compared it with what he knew, he nodded. Then, his expression turned serious as he said, “Our Liu Family Pharmacy’s main Pharmacy is in the county. Although this is just a branch, it holds significant influence in the town.
Since your father offered a precious medicine, we will naturally accept you according to the rules.
However, while entering is simple, you must also understand the rules within our Pharmacy.
Don’t think that just because you have that precious ginseng, you can act recklessly.
You must clearly understand what should be done and what should not be done.
Otherwise, just as we can accept you, we can also dismiss you.
Don’t waste your father’s painstaking efforts.”
“Thank you for the reminder, Steward Zhou, I understand.”
Chen Yushu nodded. He knew the value of the precious medicine; if it were sold for money, it could significantly improve the Chen family’s life.
If not for his father’s love and high hopes for him, he would not have been willing to offer it to get him into Liu Family Pharmacy.
Naturally, he did not want to disappoint them.
“Good that you know.”
Steward Zhou nodded and said, “Let’s go, I’ll have someone show you around to familiarize yourself with the Pharmacy’s situation.”
With that, he stood up and walked out of the room first.
“Steward Zhou, I heard that after becoming an apprentice at our Pharmacy, everyone can practice Martial Arts.
So, can I also learn Martial Arts?”
Chen Yushu hesitated for a moment, but ultimately couldn’t suppress his thoughts and asked impatiently.
He yearned greatly for Martial Arts.
Especially after encountering ghosts repeatedly, which made him feel extremely insecure.
Naturally, he wanted to learn Martial Arts as soon as possible to gain some self-preservation ability.
“You are quite impatient.”
Steward Zhou smiled upon hearing this and said, “The precious medicine is quite valuable; simply buying an apprentice qualification is certainly not worth it.
But why do so many people still flock to us, willing to offer precious medicine? It’s because our Pharmacy can teach people Martial Arts.
Of course, apprentices all have to work, and it’s impossible for you to have that much time to study.
Therefore, all apprentices who have offered precious medicine have three days to learn Martial Arts, and they also receive a bowl of medicinal soup for nourishment every day, which can be considered a form of compensation.
After three days, regardless of whether you have learned it or not, you will need to work.
If you haven’t learned it, then you will only have a teaching master come to instruct you at the end of each month.”
Upon hearing this, Chen Yushu’s eyes lit up.
He could learn Martial Arts!
And there were three days of study time.
In addition, at the end of each month, a teaching master would come to impart Martial Arts…
Although he wasn’t clear what kind of Martial Arts would be taught, it filled him with immense anticipation.
“Oh, by the way, I remember you are literate, aren’t you?
Then I can give you this book directly; you can familiarize yourself with it first.
But don’t practice it. If you don’t have a master to teach you, and your breathing doesn’t match the movements, you won’t be able to learn it at all, and it’s easy to get Qi deviation.”
Immediately after, Steward Zhou casually took out a book and handed it to him, then walked directly out of the room, beckoning to someone not far away and saying, “Li Hu, this is a new apprentice. Please show him around.”
Chen Yushu reached out and took the book, then his eyes widened suddenly.
“Medicine King Pile Stance!
Martial Arts Secret Manual!”
He hadn’t expected that the Martial Arts he had longed for would come into his hands so easily.
…
“Finally, I can learn Martial Arts.”
Chen Yushu lay on the bed, secretly excited.
He was currently in a somewhat simple room, with one bed accommodating seven people from head to toe—a true communal bed.
Liu Family Pharmacy, as expected of one of the top Pharmacies in town.
The number of apprentices was much higher than he had imagined, totaling over thirty.
There were three such rooms for apprentices to rest. Of course, the other two had much better environments; although they also housed many people, they were more spacious and brighter.
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Those residing in his room were all apprentices who had joined the Pharmacy within the last six months.
For example, the apprentice sleeping next to him, Li Hu, was said to have joined only a month earlier than him. The longest-staying apprentice was Xu Hao, who had been there for half a year.
Of course, there were also some apprentices who had joined longer ago and had some spare money, or were simply locals, so they lived outside.
Liu Family Pharmacy did not prohibit apprentices from renting rooms outside.
As long as they came to work on time, the apprentices’ freedom was not restricted.
“This is even better.
When I have more money in the future, I can also rent a room outside.”
Chen Yushu felt a little more at ease; living with so many people together was, after all, somewhat inconvenient.
Of course, considering he only had three mace of silver left by his father, which was three hundred copper coins… he naturally had no choice.
After all, this place was—free.
And he had also looked at that ‘Martial Arts Secret Manual’.
“Medicine King Pile Stance,” as the name suggested, was a Stance Training.
It contained thirty-six Stance Training forms, each with corresponding movements and a matching breathing method.
To master it, one needed to match the movements with the Stance Training, supplemented by the corresponding breathing method, performing each form smoothly and naturally.
Out of curiosity, he had also tried it.
But… he had failed every time.
He couldn’t even master the first form of the Stance Training.
Although his movements were standard, whenever he tried to breathe according to the breathing method described in the Secret Manual, he always felt uncomfortable, as if he were submerged in water, stifled and unable to breathe.
He often couldn’t maintain it for long before his posture would deform.
And he had asked; according to Li Hu, the sign of successful mastery, truly achieving results, would inevitably be accompanied by a tingling itch, like ants crawling on his body, and he would soon be out of breath and very tired.
He had no such feeling when practicing.
“A Secret Manual is just a Secret Manual after all. Without a foundation and understanding the principles within, even with a Secret Manual, it’s very difficult to master Martial Arts.”
Chen Yushu sighed, but he wasn’t in a hurry.
After all, he had three days of Martial Arts study time.
Especially after hearing Li Hu say that the matching medicinal soup, called Yangyuan Soup, was a great tonic, highly beneficial for Martial Arts practitioners, and could also accelerate his progress in Martial Arts.
Its price was extremely high; sold outside, one dose of the soup would cost three taels of silver.
