Chapter 40: CH 40

The sisters opened a bag and displayed their medicinal herbs.

Mr. Zhao reached out and took out a few pieces of chinese foxgloves from the bag containing them to check, “It’s very clean, and there are few broken pieces.”

Then, he checked the dandelion, whose quality is also good, “How much do you plan to sell these for?”

Mo Yan said, “Mr. Cao from our village gave us four hundred dollars per kilogram of chinese foxgloves and eight hundred dollars per kilogram of dandelions.

Mr. Zhao shook his head slightly, “That’s Mr. Cao being nice to you. The actual selling price of these herbs are a little lower.”

Hearing that, the two sisters nodded together, “Okay, how much are you paying?”

“Chinese foxgloves are three hundred dollars a kilogram, and dandelions are double that.”

That was more than what Mrs. Liang sold the medicinal herbs for last time!

“Deal!”

Seeing as Mr. Zhao acted so quickly, his father shouldn’t be difficult to deal with either.

After weighing the herbs, Mr. Zhao poured them into a basket to check if the quality of all the herbs were the same. Then, he nodded in satisfaction and went to get the money.

Mo Yan asked, “Sir, do you know about an old storyteller living here?”

Mr. Zhao stopped and looked at Mo Yan. Mo Yan was so frightened that she froze in place. Maybe he recognized her and wanted to avenge her father!

“Are you from Chenzhong Village?” asked Mr. Zhao.

Mo Yan stared at him, nodded slightly, and he asked, “There’s a little girl in your village who’s good at telling stories, do you know her?”

Mo Yan looked at her sister and leaned against her subconsciously. Mo Ling hugged her before answering, “You’re looking at her.”

Sure enough, he slowly walked towards them, and Mo Ling hugged her sister even tighter.

Mr. Zhao approached and looked Mo Yan up and down carefully, “How could such a young child be so good at telling stories? Were you the one who stole his work there?”

“I didn’t mean to.” Mo Yan began to slowly back away.

Unexpectedly, Mr. Zhao suddenly laughed, “Thank you very much!”

Mo Yan thought that he was being sarcastic and still stepped back. Mr. Zhao said with a calm expression, “That storyteller is my father, and he’s supported my family by telling stories all his life. When he was young, he travelled around the country, he couldn’t be idle in his old age either. My cousin-in-law persuaded him to go to your village, and I couldn’t stop him. I didn’t expect him to be back in two days, and it’s all thanks to you.”

“I, I really didn’t mean it.” Mo Yan still didn’t quite believe him, “Is he here? I want to visit and apologise to him.”

“There’s no need to apologise. He’s now living a good life at home.”

“Then I want to become his disciple!”

Mr. Zhao frowned and thought for a moment, “He has been clamouring to accept disciples, saying that he wants to pass on his skills, but he has never found a suitable one. Since you can steal his work, you clearly have some ability. Maybe he’ll accept you.”

“Can you take us to see thim?”

Mr. Zhao went over to open the back door of the hospital and pointed to the back, “He’s right there!”

Mo Yan looked out and saw the courtyard of a house. An old man was playing with the birds in the yard. Wasn’t that the old storyteller?

Mr. Zhao nodded to them, “Go! Him being happy is most important.”

The Mo sisters went out from the back door of the hospital, and when she entered the courtyard, Mo Yan called “Old Mister” from a distance. The old gentleman stopped playing with the birds and looked over there. It might be because his eyes weren’t very good, and he couldn’t see who was calling him, so he asked, “Who are you!”

At this time, they were close enough for the old gentleman to recognise her, but he didn’t know her name or how to address her.

Mo Yan bowed and said, “Mo Yan greets mister.”

The old gentleman twisted his beard and said, “Little girl, was it not enough to humiliate me in your village? Why have you come here?”

Mo Ling smoothed things out, “No, sir, after you left, Yan’er kept wanting to apologise to you and wanted to find a chance to visit you.”

Mo Ling handed over the fruit and dimsum in her hand: “I’m here to apologise to you.”

The old man grinned, “There’s no need, come and sit!”

There is a wide porch in front of his house, and the ground under the porch was covered with azure bricks. This place was used to dry medicinal herbs. There were several large bamboo baskets in which medicinal materials were being dried.

The old gentleman told them to sit down on the porch, where there was a tea table and small stools.

Mo Yan asked, “Sir, you are a storyteller, so why did Mr. Zhao study medicine?”

“Our family is a medical family, but I was an unfilial descendant. My father and my brother both studied medicine, but I didn’t want to and wanted to tell stories instead. I thought I knew everything.”

“Storytelling is an art, and it needs to be passed down.”

The old gentleman poured them some tea, “I think so too. I’ve always wanted to accept disciples, but this is a job that requires a lot of travelling, so no one wants to learn it!”

“I’m willing! Sir, I’m willing to learn. Would you like to accept me as a disciple?”

The old gentleman stared at her for a moment, then laughed again, “Are you really willing to learn?”

Mo Yan nodded, “Yes, although I can tell stories before, but I’m self-taught and don’t know the rules and regulations. Please disregard the past and don’t hesitate to teach me!”

With that said, Mo Yan stood up and was about to kneel, but the old gentleman hurriedly supported her, “Girl, have you made up your mind?”

Mo Yan nodded, “Yes, I have!”

“Then we have to organise a ceremony. I am also a tradesman, and there are people willing to inherit my trade. But can you tell stories and travel around the world?”

This time, Mo Yan shook her head, “No, I tell stories simply because I like to, but I want to tell them better. In the future, I can also accept disciples and teach others this skill.”

“Okay, you’re a smart kid and you have spirit, I’ll accept you as my student! But I have to choose a day to organise the ceremony.”

The old gentleman got up and went into the house, took out his almanack, flipped through it and said, “The eighth day of the seventh lunar month is a lucky day, let’s do it then! I’ll let my family prepare a banquet, and you only need to complete the ceremony.”

Mo Yan expected him to be her master in name only, and she’d just salute and kowtow at most, but didn’t expect him to be that serious.

Mo Yan looked at her sister. Mo Ling had no opinion on this and whispered, “Should we go home and discuss this?”

Mrs. Liang would definitely never agree to this. She didn’t like Mo Yan being a storyteller in the first place, but now she had to work hard to learn a trade and perform a ceremony. Although it wasn’t anything valuable, it is also a losing business.

But this matter was brought up by Mo Yan herself, and it would be inappropriate to go back on her word now!

The old gentleman saw what they were thinking, “The key to learning a trade is to have spirit. You don’t have to come over every day, just come and see me whenever you’re free. It’s good to pay respects to your teacher! We can keep it simple, after all, you’re my only apprentice.”

Post-edit notes: You know, it simultaneously feels like Mo Yan has done a lot but also nothing has happened in the story at all…