"Yes, Senior Wang!"
The scarred man glanced at Bai Ziyue and Zhang Guoyi with a strange look. He muttered to himself, but still hurriedly agreed.
Ziyue's heart sank. Even though he didn't know how they were treated as apprentices, he knew that they were being targeted.
"Follow me."
After Wang Jian left, the scar-faced man brought them into a room. He took out a pen and a book to register them. "What are your names? Where are you from? Who are your parents? Tell me everything."
"Ziyue, from Cloud Leaf Village. Parents …"
Bai Ziyue knew that this was a form of registration, which meant that they were officially recognized as members of the Radiant Sun Gang. Even though he was only an apprentice, a so-called chore apprentice, he didn't dare to be negligent and answered in full detail.
"Zhang Guoyi, also from Cloud Leaf Village. Parents are dead …"
Zhang Guoyi followed suit and also introduced his own situation.
"Ziyue, Zhang Guoyi. These names are not bad."
The scar-faced man nodded slowly. Normally, the names given by the villagers were very simple. Er Leng, Gouzi, San Niu, and so on were simple and easy to remember.
"There's an old Tongsheng in our village. Our names were all given by him."
Ziyue said hurriedly.
The scar-faced man nodded. He didn't really care about these things. Soon, his expression became indifferent and solemn.
"Since you've joined the Scorching Sun Gang, you have to follow the rules of the Scorching Sun Gang. The Three Rules, Five Laws, and Twelve Laws. Remember them all.
If you violate them, you'll be implicated. If it's serious, do you see the registration information?
Even your parents and relatives will be implicated. "
As he spoke, he pointed at the information of Ziyue and the others in the book. His tone was threatening.
Both of their faces turned pale.
"Of course, with your status, you don't have the right to make such a big mistake.
Next, I'll tell you about your status and responsibilities.
In the Scorching Sun Gang, there are three types of apprentices. They are inner apprentices, outer apprentices, and miscellaneous apprentices like you. "
At this point, the scarred man paused for a moment before continuing, "Normally, newly recruited apprentices will start as outer apprentices. After a month of assessment, if their performance is not good or they make mistakes, they will be demoted to odd jobs apprentices.
As for you guys, it's obvious that you've offended someone. Senior Wang, right? "
He laughed mockingly. His hideous scar looked like a centipede.
"No … No … How could he do that?"
Zhang Guoyi said in a panic. He was at a loss.
No one would be happy to hear that they had been relegated to the lowest-ranked Miscellaneous Apprentice from the very beginning.
Bai Ziyue naturally knew the reason and could only smile bitterly.
"Alright, since Senior Wang said that you'll be relegated to miscellaneous apprentices, you can only accept your fate. I have no right to change it.
However, it's not like miscellaneous apprentices don't have a chance to become outer apprentices, or even inner apprentices.
Anyway, the apprenticeship period is five years. As long as you perform well, you'll have a chance to be promoted.
Also, there's a benefit to being an outer apprentice. Outer and inner apprentices don't get to enjoy it, and that's you can get paid. Although it's not much, it's better than nothing, isn't it? "
The scar-faced man waved his hand and said jokingly.
"Senior, what do miscellaneous apprentices do? Can they … learn martial arts?"
Ziyue didn't care about his status. His goal was as clear as ever.
"You can call me Mr. Qian."
The scar-faced man first introduced himself before continuing. "Of course you can learn martial arts. The Scorching Sun Gang has relied on martial arts to achieve our current status.
Also, it's worth mentioning that when a miscellaneous apprentice is promoted to an outer apprentice, other than gaining great merits, the biggest opportunity is to learn martial arts.
Generally, miscellaneous apprentices can apply for a day every month to learn martial arts.
Almost every morning, there will be someone in the gang teaching the outer and inner apprentices martial arts. You can also learn from them.
As for whether or not you can receive guidance from your senior brothers and learn martial arts, it's all up to you.
However, miscellaneous apprentices have to work. There are so many chores that you can't finish every day. How can you have time to learn martial arts?
So, I advise you to accept your fate. "
Mr. Qian shook his head slowly.
He had seen many children who wanted to rely on martial arts to change their fate. In the first few months, they would come to learn, but after a period of failure, they would all give up.
"Then, Mr. Qian, I apply to start learning martial arts tomorrow. Is that okay?"
Ziyue's eyes lit up and quickly said.
"I also want to learn martial arts tomorrow."
Zhang Guoyi, who was standing at the side, was not stupid.
"You're smart."
Mr. Qian smiled faintly.
He didn't have any bad feelings towards Ziyue and Zhang Guoyi. They were both children, so he naturally didn't deliberately make things difficult for them.
…
"I can finally learn martial arts. Outer Forging, Inner Refining, and Inner Qi … I don't know what real martial arts are like."
Ziyue lay on the bed, secretly looking forward to it.
At this time, he was in a small house that looked a little shabby. There was a big bed that stretched from one side of the wall to the other. A total of nine teenagers slept together.
This was the place that Mr. Qian arranged for them to stay temporarily. Zhang Guoyi slept next to him.
As for the others, they were all miscellaneous apprentices. Some of them came only a few days earlier than them, but they were all arranged to work in the mansion of the Scorching Sun Gang branch.
According to them, the miscellaneous apprentices might be assigned to other places. Therefore, they were only staying here temporarily. If they were sent to other properties of the Scorching Sun Gang, they would naturally have to leave.
According to them, the miscellaneous apprentices were divided into internal and external miscellaneous apprentices. They could stay in the mansion of the Scorching Sun Gang branch, so they were considered internal miscellaneous apprentices. Those who worked outside were considered external miscellaneous apprentices and had a lower status than them.
At the very least, they all looked down on foreign apprentices.
"Mount Ziyue, do you think we can be as good as Uncle Ming when we learn martial arts?
I heard that Uncle Ming once went up the mountain alone and killed a 700-pound tiger.
If we learn martial arts and are as good as Uncle Ming, we'll have a bright future and won't have to worry about starving anymore.
By the way, speaking of food, the food here is really good. The pancakes that are as big as my face are really delicious. "
Zhang Guoyi was drooling as he spoke.
In the village, his parents died and he lived with his uncle. He ate poorly and rarely had enough to eat. The pancakes at night were already the best food in his eyes.
"Yes, I definitely will."
Ziyue said firmly.
In his heart, even Uncle Ming was not his goal.
This was because everything he experienced today made him understand that even in this small Qinghe Town, there were many people who were stronger than Uncle Ming. For example, the Fourth Bandit Chief of the Ghost Head Stronghold, Iron Hand Wu Liang, who had been beheaded, Li Xu, one of the three heroes of the Li family who had captured Iron Hand Wu Liang, and the Protector Liu Yang mentioned by the Logistics Manager Zhang Bo … Not to mention, there was an even bigger world outside of Qinghe Town.