Taking a Disciple

"Ah, let me say it!"

Caught off guard by Chen Shi's blow, Father Fang could not help sucking in a cold breath.

This was clearly the whole family "educating" Zhi'er—so how had this "beating" landed on his shoulder instead?

His wife really had a vicious hand. She was incredibly strong.

Father Fang shot Chen Shi a wounded look, clutching the arm she had struck, then hurriedly said to Fang Yue:

"Well, um... Zhi'er, your mother is right. You're still young and don't know how dangerous the mountains are. Just stay home like a good boy. Don't go learning any hunting."

At first, when Fang Mu heard his son say Uncle Fang Hu wanted to teach him hunting, he had been quite pleased.

His Zhi'er really was different. Otherwise, Uncle Fang Hu had not taken in anyone at all, so why had he chosen his boy?

But after hearing the rest of what Chen Shi had said, he came to his senses as well.

Still, he had not reacted as strongly as Chen Shi had.

Fang Yue said nothing and instead walked to the middle of the courtyard.

There was a millstone there, one the family planned to use for grinding wheat. It weighed roughly three to four hundred jin.

He gripped the groove in the middle of the millstone with both hands, then suddenly exerted himself. Surging strength burst forth.

"Zhi'er, what are you doing? Put it down, quickly! Zhi'er!"

Seeing Fang Yue's movements, Chen Shi thought he was about to do something dangerous and hurried over to stop him.

But the next moment—

She saw her youngest son, the son who had been so skinny as a child that a gust of wind could have blown him away.

He had actually lifted the stone millstone in the courtyard!

Chen Shi rubbed her eyes, scarcely daring to believe what she was seeing.

Had she given birth to an illusion?

Could it be that what Zhi'er had lifted was not their family's millstone, but something else?

With that thought, she viciously pinched Father Fang's shoulder.

Father Fang immediately sucked in a cold breath, forcing himself not to cry out for fear of frightening Zhi'er.

He turned and looked at Chen Shi with deep resentment in his eyes, as if to say, Why are you pinching me again?

Chen Shi glared back at him, then turned to look at Fang Yue.

By then, Fang Yue had already raised the stone millstone over his head.

Seeing how dangerous it was, Chen Shi hurriedly urged, "Zhi'er, put it down quickly. It's too dangerous. Put it down first, and I won't stop you from learning to hunt anymore."

Hearing that, Fang Yue slowly lowered the stone millstone.

Bang!

The stone millstone landed lightly on the ground, yet the earth still trembled.

"Mother, what did you just say?" Having received permission, Fang Yue happily asked again.

"What did I say? I didn't say anything!"

"How did I give birth to such an unfilial son? You're frightening your mother like this! If something happened to you, how would your mother go on living?"

Chen Shi grabbed Fang Yue and brought her palm down directly on his back.

After only a few strikes, the strength in Chen Shi's hand grew lighter and lighter. Her eyes reddened, and tears soon fell in pattering streams like pearls from a broken string.

"Mother, Mother, don't cry. I won't learn it. I won't learn it."

Across both his past and present lives, this was Fang Yue's first time encountering something like this.

He was truly at a loss, with no idea what to do.

He could only cast pleading looks at his sister and elder brother, but the two of them were like quails at that moment.

In the end, he could only turn to Father Fang.

"Ah, well, um... it's all right. It's passed now. Don't cry."

With no other choice, Father Fang could only force himself to try and comfort her.

But how could an honest, simple farmhand know how to console someone? He stammered for half the day without managing a complete sentence.

"Second Brother, are you home?"

At that moment, a knock sounded at the door, followed by Uncle Fang Hu's deep voice.

With an outsider present, Chen Shi immediately stopped crying. She wiped her face and quickly regained her composure.

Seeing his wife recover, Father Fang promptly had her take Fang Lan inside before speaking. "Is that Brother Fang Hu? I'm here. Come in."

"I came uninvited, Second Brother. Please do not blame me. There are some matters I truly need to discuss with you." Uncle Fang Hu entered, swept his gaze around the courtyard, and spoke with a smile.

Since he had already decided to accept Fang Yue as his disciple, he naturally had to make things clear with Fang Yue's parents.

This time, he intended to take Fang Yue as a true disciple and formally establish a master-disciple relationship.

In this era, master and disciple were like father and son.

Once the relationship was established, if he died in the future, Fang Yue would have to bear the coffin as a filial son.

As a disciple, Fang Yue could eat his master's food and live under his master's roof.

Once he achieved success in his studies, he would have to uphold his master's name.

That was the difference between a formal disciple and a nominal disciple.

So Fang Yue's agreement alone was not enough.

He also had to work on Fang Yue's parents.

"This is about Zhi'er, isn't it? Let's go into the main hall to talk."

Zhi'er had just said he wanted to learn hunting from Uncle Fang Hu, and now Uncle Fang Hu had come to their door.

Father Fang immediately understood what Uncle Fang Hu had come for.

And after seeing his boy lift that stone millstone, though he had been worried that Fang Yue might hurt himself—

A thought had also arisen in his heart: Zhi'er had learned martial arts, and he had definitely learned them from Uncle Fang Hu.

Otherwise, there was no way to explain what had happened today.

Now that Uncle Fang Hu had come—

It was naturally inappropriate for adults to talk in front of the youngsters.

Since it was serious business, they had to discuss it indoors.

In an instant, only the brothers Fang Cheng and Fang Yue remained in the courtyard.

"Zhi Di, do you really want to learn hunting from Uncle Fang Hu?"

"And how did you become so strong?"

With their parents gone, Fang Cheng, who had perfectly inherited every trait of Father Fang, came over to his younger brother and asked with concern and curiosity.

"Yes, I want to learn."

Fang Yue nodded. As for why he had become so strong, he took a shortcut and placed all the credit on Uncle Fang Hu.

"So it really was Uncle Fang Hu. I knew it."

Fang Cheng suddenly understood. He slapped his forehead, looking as though it was exactly as he had expected.

He felt no jealousy at all. Instead, he was happy for his younger brother that he could learn hunting from Uncle Fang Hu.

After all, in Daliushu Village, who did not know that Uncle Fang Hu was a capable man?

Among all the village's young lads, who would not want to learn hunting and skills from Uncle Fang Hu?

Thinking of this, Fang Cheng, as the elder brother, did not forget to remind him, "Zhi Di, from now on, you must listen carefully to Uncle Fang Hu and learn well from him."

"Yes, Elder Brother, I understand. But Father and Mother both seem unwilling. Even if I want to learn, I'm afraid it will be difficult."

Fang Yue nodded, then voiced the worry in his heart.

"Heh heh, it's fine. Uncle Fang Hu has come in person—how could it fail?" Fang Cheng said with a chuckle.

Sure enough, as soon as Fang Cheng finished speaking—

Uncle Fang Hu and Father Fang emerged from the main hall. Uncle Fang Hu patted Fang Yue on the head and said with a cheerful smile:

"Heh heh, come early tomorrow."