Am I the old man who's always by my apprentices' side?

Chapter 248 Drunk
Despite Qiao'er Zhao's great reputation and seemingly decent accommodations—the courtyard behind the shop was almost comparable to the villas of wealthy landowners—her actual living conditions were still quite harsh.

For example, every morning, Zhang Chengdao would see one of Qiao'er Zhao's disciples carrying a bucket of manure in and out of the back door—this stuff could be sold for money in the countryside.

For example, the youngest disciple, who was only twelve or thirteen years old, had to do sweeping and cleaning work every day, which was already the easiest job in the courtyard.

Other chores like feeding chickens, cooking, and washing clothes were all done by these apprentices. In addition, they also had to make paper offerings.

This is the "homework" for these apprentices.

The youngest disciple had to make two extra paper lanterns every day.

To be precise, it's not just about sticking two needles; you have to stick two needles that Qiao'er Zhao nods in approval before you've considered your "homework" done. Sometimes you have to stick dozens of needles.

It is said that this child has been making paper lanterns for three years and has not learned anything else yet.

"I made lanterns for five years back then. I made lanterns for weddings and funerals, as well as colorful lanterns for festivals. Those were more troublesome, but they sold well and were profitable. For each lantern I made, my master would give me a copper coin. I don't know how to make them yet!"

Perhaps sensing his master's attitude, Liu Ba, though unaware of Zhang Chengdao's "identity," was still very enthusiastic. Whenever Zhang Chengdao asked about things in the shop, he would try his best to answer, and he would also unceremoniously use his junior brother's various amusing stories as embellishments.

The "Six Sons" that Liu Ba mentioned refers to his youngest disciple.

Qiao'er Zhao had no sons, only two daughters. Her eldest daughter married into Guangyang Prefecture, and her youngest daughter planned to find a husband to live with her. The man she was looking for was the youngest disciple that Qiao'er Zhao had taken in as her last disciple. Because she had taken in a total of six disciples, this youngest disciple was called "Sixth Son" or "Little Sixth Son".

"Liu Zi" has no surname. He was picked up and raised by Qiao'er Zhao when he was a baby, so he always took the surname Zhao and was called "Zhao Liu Zi".

At that time, most people were not literate, and names were mostly chosen based on birth order and generation. Even wealthy families often used names like "Bo Zhong Shu Ji" (伯仲叔季), while ordinary people used simpler names like "Da Er San Si" (大二三四). Being able to name someone "Cuihua" (翠花) or "Shitou" (石头) was considered a sign of being cultured and thoughtful. For example, Qiao'er Zhao's youngest daughter was named Zhao Xiaotong (赵小童), meaning "the youngest child," which was also very straightforward.

Zhao Liuzi was very lively. It was clear that Qiao'er Zhao had indeed raised him as her son. He would always boldly approach Zhang Chengdao and ask him all sorts of questions. His eyes repeatedly revealed his desire to become Zhang Chengdao's apprentice, a martial artist who was suspected to be a "Grandmaster". However, he gave up because of Qiao'er Zhao and often sighed about it.

"Liu Zi is not the type to sit still, and he's not very good at the craft of paper-cutting."

In her spare time, Qiao'er Zhao, who had already become familiar with Zhang Chengdao, also chatted about her young disciple.

His eyes were filled with deep worry, but also with hope: "But when the old man found him, he was only the size of a palm, thin and small, with a bluish-black face, and his meow was like a cat's. How could we not care about him?"

Qiao'er Zhao drank too much of the peach wine that Zhang Chengdao had given him. He gestured and hiccuped as he continued, "Although he looks cold-hearted, he has a good life and great fortune. He is destined to be with my little girl!"
"My daughter has the destiny of a phoenix, I'm sure of it—"

"Those who don't understand, they only think that a phoenix destiny means becoming an empress, but no, that's not true at all! A phoenix destiny is a strong destiny! What does it have to do with being an empress! The so-called phoenix destiny becoming an empress is only because only the emperor can suppress a phoenix destiny! My daughter's phoenix destiny carries purple aura, which means she has great fortune!"
"They are both incredibly fortunate! I've never seen such noble faces in my entire life!"

Zhang Chengdao listened quietly without interrupting. "I've never made a mistake in face reading, not even once! This is the best of the seven or eight skills the old Taoist priest taught me! Even better than paper-making! *burp*"

As Qiao'er Zhao got excited, she even started gesturing wildly: "The old Taoist priest said I could live to be at least two hundred years old! Just because of that! I spent all the silver the old Taoist priest left me to learn the 'Great River Classic' from the martial arts school, but unfortunately I'm not cut out for it and only managed to reach the eighth rank. Oh dear! Oh dear!"

Seeing that Qiao'er Zhao was getting increasingly drunk, Zhang Chengdao glanced silently at the peach wine on the table, which had a very low alcohol content, and felt somewhat helpless.

It's probably because ancient wines had a low alcohol content, so in modern times it would only be considered ordinary peach wine. Because the spiritual energy eliminated some impurities, it appeared to have a slightly higher alcohol content, which is why Qiao'er Zhao couldn't handle it... right?
Liu Ba had only been drunk for a quarter of an hour when he skillfully took a wet cloth into the house. Meanwhile, Qiao'er Zhao was still muttering things like, "That old Taoist priest is a great menace," and "If I had cultivated the Zheng Yan Jing, I would have been a second-rank Grandmaster."

Liu Ba first awkwardly cupped his hands to Zhang Chengdao and said, "I'm sorry to have made you laugh, sir. My master is good in every way, but he can't handle alcohol. He usually doesn't dare to touch a drop during weddings or funerals so as not to cause any trouble. But this 'celestial wine' that you brought this time is really rare, so my master couldn't resist..."

Then, with remarkable ease, he smeared the wet cloth onto Qiao'er Zhao's face—

"hiss--"

The cold, damp cloth sent shivers down Qiao'er Zhao's spine and also made him more alert.

"broken!"

The moment Qiao'er Zhao regained consciousness, she saw Zhang Chengdao's figure, and her expression changed drastically.

Liu Ba then deftly produced a tiny, black pill the size of a fingernail from somewhere and forcefully stuffed it into Qiao'er Zhao's mouth. While serving his master warm water, he explained to Zhang Chengdao, "In the past, as long as I take this hangover pill to sober up, I'll be fine. Please forgive me, Mr. Zhang..."

Zhang Chengdao smiled slightly, shook his head, and said, "I'm afraid my wine won't so easily sober me up..."

Although peach wine is just a fruit wine, the spiritual energy contained in peaches makes it easier to get drunk and the alcohol fumes last longer.

Zhang Chengdao guessed that, if one had to analyze it in a more "scientific" way, it was probably because the spiritual energy would be trapped by the alcohol and unable to evaporate.

So, although both Xu Ying and Ye Shuyun praised the Immortal Peach Wine highly, Zhang Chengdao never touched a drop.

For those who are not cultivators, alcohol is only harmful to the human body, and like cigarettes, it is a slow-acting drug.

Moreover, Zhang Chengdao really didn't understand why these two things were so popular, so naturally he lost interest.

As expected, Zhang Chengdao was right. No sooner had he finished speaking than Qiao'er Zhao, who had been chewing and swallowing the meatball, collapsed onto the table with a thud and began to snore drunkenly, falling asleep right there in the middle of the night.

(End of this chapter)