Chapter Ten: Becoming an Apprentice and Taking in Younger Brothers

  Time flies quickly without notice, and before you know it, September 1977 has arrived. Except for a mysterious little appointment between an old foreigner and a Chinese kid, everything else is calm and peaceful. Liu Dongfang's work is getting busier and busier, Liu Guoqiang and his sister are studying hard, Zhu Wenhua is running back and forth between work and home, while Liu Shuangxi... well, he's just carefree every day, but unfortunately such days will soon come to an end.

  It was a Sunday afternoon, Liu Shuangxi accompanied his grandfather Liu Dongfang, who rarely had a day off, to bask in the warm sun in their small courtyard. As people say, spring is sleepy, autumn is lazy, summer is drowsy, and winter? Of course, it's time for hibernation! Just as Liu Shuangxi was about to doze off, he heard the sound of a car engine outside, followed by a loud and energetic voice.

  "East, are you at home? Where's Shuang Xi, hurry up and let Grandpa Fang see you, I'm worried to death about you." It turned out that Old Master Fang Xiong had returned after disappearing for half a year. Looking at the situation, it seemed that he hadn't even gone back to his own home before rushing straight to Old Liu's house.

  "Older brother Fang, you're back. Come in and take a seat quickly. You must be exhausted from this period of time." Liu Dong also more or less knew what Older Brother Fang had been busy with during this period of time.

  "I'm still able to handle this old body, and if I were to be the chief instructor, it would just be a figurehead role. Normally, someone else would arrange the specific training. But, Dongfang, you're right, these are good soldiers! In the future, they can be used on a large scale." Old Master Fang thought back to the past half year, leading 50 or so robust young men in the deep mountains, dense forests, and deserts, opening up roads through mountains and crossing rivers. After half a year, each one of them had become a land tiger, sea dragon. Apart from physical quality, most people could operate vehicles, ships, underwater equipment, and even planes. If they were trained for a bit more time, these few dozen people would be able to form a miniature version of the three armed forces."

  "Double happiness! I didn't think of you, Master Fang. Look what good things I've brought for you." Master Fang took out a large conch shell from his pocket and handed it to Liu Shuangxi.

  "What a big sea snail! Thank you, Uncle Fang. Where have you been all this time? I've been worried to death about you." Dui Xi Ge was indeed missing Uncle Fang, especially during the Chinese New Year when he went around searching for things, although he didn't find anything major, those small trinkets were still quite valuable.

  "Haha, Dongfang, look at this little guy. If it weren't for his jokes with you two back then, I wouldn't have to bother myself with this old body of mine. Now he's fine on his own." Old Master Fang looked at Liu Shuangxi with a hint of doting.

  "Boss Fang, isn't this still your specialty? You want me to lead those rookie soldiers, I'm not good at it. By the way, what's the matter with you coming back this time? How has Guo Ping been doing under your care?" Liu Dongfang naturally knew Boss Fang's abilities and couldn't help but flatter him a bit, also asking about his own son's situation.

  "Guo Ping has been doing quite well lately, our battalion is a regimental formation, divided into three small teams, and he's already the team leader now. I'm telling you, I didn't take care of him at all, it's all his own hard work."

  (In those days, people were still relatively simple-minded, there weren't many officials' children who were spoiled, but compared to nowadays, they were much more low-key, it was common for the factory director's son to be unemployed and the county head's relatives to be farmers.)

  "Boss, I've come back this time for two reasons. Firstly, the team has taken shape and the higher-ups have been paying close attention to it, so I want to inspect the team in person. Secondly, there's something I'd like to discuss with you, see if it's feasible."

  "Brother Fang, just say it directly to me, don't be so polite." Fang Xiong was not only Liu Dongfang's elder brother but also his strict teacher. To say that his childhood had no shadows would be a lie. Hearing Old Man Fang's tone made him restless.

  "Don't be nervous, don't be nervous, at such a big age, you still can't calm down," seeing Liu Dongfang's tense appearance, Fang Lao couldn't help but laugh. "I just like watching Shuangxi grow up day by day, I like it in my heart, what do you think if I take Shuangxi as an apprentice?"

  "What? Big brother, isn't this inappropriate? The generations are all mixed up." Liu Dongfang had thought it was something big, but he never expected his older brother to say something like that.

  "This, I'm not going to let Shuang Xi be my direct apprentice. Dong Fang, what do you think of that little apprentice Xia Jiu Zi I'm currently teaching? He's still a member of your family, and he hasn't even graduated yet. It's just as easy for me to teach one as it is to teach two."

  It seems Old Man Fang had already planned this out before coming over.

  "Dong Fang, there's something else I want to talk to you about. You know I have some special things in my possession? Let's go inside and discuss it first. Shuang Xi, why don't you play outside for a bit?"

  With that, the two old men went into the inner room, who knows what they were discussing.

  Nani, have I got it wrong? I'm still so young and you want to take me as an apprentice? My body hasn't even fully developed yet! Okay, fine, I admit that I'm a bit taller than the average kid, and maybe a bit more handsome, and I perform a bit better too... but that's not my fault, it's all because of that secret manual, which can practice on its own whether I'm eating or sleeping. Liu Shuangxi, who had no say in the matter, squatted in the corner drawing circles.

  Five days later, Master Fang Xiong's family, all auspicious things according to the almanac...

  Today, Fang Lao Ye Zi and Liu Dong Fang sat on both sides, the protagonist of today is Liu Chang Tian, who is in the middle, he is also the little apprentice of Fang Lao Ye Zi mentioned earlier. Although it's just a small internal ceremony, all of Fang Lao Ye Zi's apprentices who could spare time came, along with their direct relatives, totaling around 40-50 people, making it quite lively.

  Although they are all family members, the rules are not different. Liu Shuangxi respectfully kowtowed three times to his master Liu Changtian and called out "Master is well!" Then he presented the eight prepared items, and as a matter of course, Master also returned a red envelope.

  The ceremony was simple and soon over. Master Fang's disciples were scattered all over the world, each busy with their own affairs, rarely gathering together like today. Under Master Fang's lead, Liu Shuangxi introduced his fellow disciples one by one. "Shuangxi, this is your second uncle Chen Guodong, fourth uncle Zhang Haitian, fifth uncle Fu Mingtao, and seventh aunt Li Aihua." Liu Shuangxi greeted each of the elders, who were all in their forties or older, except for Seventh Aunt Li, who was in her thirties and looked relatively young. Second Uncle Chen was even older than Liu Dongfang's grandfather.

  "Ah, Shuang Xi, this is your Master's brother's son, Yang Zhonghua, he is your senior fellow apprentice." Eh, really a senior fellow apprentice, looks like he's even older than my own dad, "Senior Fellow Apprentice, hello" Liu Shuang Xi politely greeted him, while thinking to himself, what should I call this senior fellow apprentice when I see my Master?

  Yang Zhonghua picked up the conversation, "Double happiness! I've heard Master Grandfather talk about your goodness many times. Let me introduce you to my sons, this is Yang Yun, my eldest son, and this is Yang Tao, my youngest son. Quick, Yang Yun and Yang Tao, go greet your younger master uncle!"

  "Ah! As expected, we're from different generations and have a big age gap. Luckily, when I saw those seniors earlier, they were too busy to ask for gifts, or else I would've had to turn around and return them immediately!"

  "Hey Xiaoyun, Xiaotao! Let's play together in a bit!" Liu Shuangxi greeted the two little nephews with an somewhat unnatural expression.

  Then, under the leadership of Fang Lao Ye Zi, I got to know Chen Qiming, the son of Er Shi Bo, and Chen Siyu (another young Shifu), as well as dozens of other people. Fortunately, after Liu Shuang Xi's rebirth, his memory was exceptionally good, so he remembered the names and relationships of these dozens of people quite clearly. Why didn't I say that he remembered everything? Wu Shi Bo's daughter is a pair of twins, and they look exactly alike. You two are already in your forties, why do you still have to dress alike? Our Shuang Xi Ge really can't tell them apart!

  After introducing everyone, Master Fang handed Liu Shuangxi over to his younger disciples and let the children play on their own. As for the adults, many of whom had not seen each other in a long time, they naturally went on to drink, eat, discuss work, and talk about life.

  Originally, Yang Yun and Chen Siyu were a bit unhappy with the fact that they had to call someone younger than them "Shifu", but what was even more overboard was that they still had to entertain him. However, not long after, after drinking several cups of wine offered by his disciples, Old Master Fang, who already showed signs of intoxication in his eyes, saw Liu Shuangxi taking the lead among a group of kids, and those three little brats from earlier were actually just obedient younger brothers.