After Marrying the Officer

After being emotionally stirred for a good while, the Master's eyes were reddened slightly as she looked towards Xia Chuyi and said, "I would have never expected, never expected that you, child, would be a student of Xiu Zhi."

She sighed and then added, "I have to say, we really are fated."

"However, if you are a student of Xiu Zhi, then you can't take me as your Master anymore."

The tone was unclear, a mix of happiness and regret.

Upon hearing the Master's words, Xia Chuyi thought to herself: Indeed, we are very fated, as her professor at school is Huo Shiqian's uncle, and Huo Shiqian's Aunt is also acquainted with her Master.

As for becoming an apprentice, Mrs. Gu was not her actual Master; Old Sir Guan was her only Master.

After all, cooking was her greatest love; her embroidery skills were merely average, not strong enough to carry on the heritage.

In fact, she planned to find another student for the Master and Mrs. Gu to continue and elevate Gu Embroidery when the opportunity arose.

But now, it was not the right time to speak of this.

After pondering for a moment, Xia Chuyi still couldn't help but ask, "Master, what exactly is your relationship with Mrs. Gu?"

However, her question was met with a chuckle from the Master, who said, "Child, you do have a way of calling me 'Master,' don't you?"

After saying this, she turned her head to look at Mr. Guan and said, "Old Guan, look at your girl; she has already called me 'Master' several times. You have to take her in now."

The implication was that she intended to skip Xia Chuyi's question.

Seeing the confusion and puzzlement on Xia Chuyi's face, the Master sighed with emotion and said, "I'll explain this matter to you later."

"Old Guan, what do you think about the girl becoming an apprentice?"

Old Sir Guan furrowed his brow and asked Xia Chuyi, "You previously called me 'Master' several times; have you made up your mind to become my apprentice no matter what?"

"Have you ever considered what if I don't accept you?" Old Sir Guan's expression was very serious.

Xia Chuyi smiled slightly and calmly said to Old Sir Guan, "My talent is not bad, and I'm sincere in learning the craft. If I don't become an apprentice today, I will come again next time."

The implication was that she had never considered giving up on becoming an apprentice.

After hearing her response, the Master's eyes showed even more appreciation as she said to Old Sir Guan, "Old Guan, that's about enough."

However, the Master, who usually listened to the Master, had a stern face and was even more serious as he said, "Let me take a look at the dough you've kneaded first."

With that, he walked over to the kneading board to inspect the dough.

The dough that Xia Chuyi had kneaded was round and smooth, with excellent elasticity, truly glutenous.

Even the strict Old Sir Guan, with his furrowed brows, couldn't help but nod in approval, saying, "Not bad, the basics are good, but you're a little slow."

"How is your knife work?" After inspecting the dough, Old Sir Guan asked her.

"Old Guan!" The Master frowned slightly upon seeing this.

It was clear that the Master thought Old Sir Guan was being too strict in his assessment.

But Old Sir Guan persisted in his own view, asking again, "How about your knife skills? Tell the truth, don't be afraid, I want to see your real level."

After a moment's thought, Xia Chuyi said, "When I was younger, I practiced with knives quite a bit, just passable I suppose."

She couldn't pretend to be completely inexperienced, because an expert could tell at a glance whether or not she could use a knife.

But she also couldn't reveal the truth, lest the Master discovered that she was actually skilled with a knife.

Seeing her response, Old Sir Guan nodded and went straight to the back kitchen, bringing out a potato.

Old Sir Guan said to Xia Chuyi, "Slice it into strips, the finer the better."