Mi Wei touched his chin. He simply said without turning to look at Chairman Wang, “Do all apothecaries refine pills this way?”
Chairman Wang was caught by surprise. He nodded and asked in return. “Is there something wrong?”
“Well, I wouldn’t say it’s wrong.” Mi Wei contemplated. “It just looks a little complicated to me.”
Chairman Wang smiled and explained. “We refine medicinal pills using ancient prescriptions. This allows the medicine to be purer and more effective than other Chinese or Western medicine in the market.”
Mi Wei instantly went quiet when he heard Chairman Wang talking about ancient prescriptions. He felt that there was something wrong with the teaching methods here.
After watching the apothecary’s work, Mi Wei quickly lost interest.
He had booked his air ticket for 7:00 pm. He had come over to the association to tell Chairman Wang he was leaving for a few days. Since it happened to be the Apothecaries’ exam, Chairman Wang had invited him to check it out since he still had some time before his flight.
Although he had lost interest in watching the apothecary’s work, he did not leave halfway.
*
The exam was taking place at 2:00 pm.
There were only five advanced apothecaries in the association. Two intermediate apothecaries wanted to try for the advanced level this year, so a total of seven people were taking this advanced apothecaries’ exam.
He Shu rushed over when it was almost time for the exam. He was still dressed in the same outfit which he had been wearing the previous day. He had dark eye circles and his hair was in a mess. He clearly looked a lot worse than yesterday.
Fu Cheng pursed his lips and glanced at He Shu. He was exhausted. How could He Shu come for the exam in such a state? It was very tiring to refine pills.
He quickly veered his eyes and rolled his sleeves up unhurriedly as he went through the Chinese herbs on the small table beside him.
Fu Cheng contemplated as he looked at the Chinese herbs.
He was determined to suppress He Shu overwhelmingly in the exam.
Before long, the Apothecaries’ exam commenced.
Fu Cheng wasted no time. He quickly took the Chinese herbs and placed them in the mortar and ground them to powder. In comparison, the other apothecaries were still thinking about what they should make today, but Fu Cheng worked decisively.
It seemed as though he already knew what he wanted to make.
He Shu was right beside him and he had yet to begin. He looked at the Chinese herbs and contemplated for over 15 minutes before he started processing his first Chinese herb.
There were hardly any rare Chinese herbs for this exam. Most of them were commonly found.
No fixed Chinese herbs were used for this test, but the type of Chinese herbs provided for each exam vastly restricted the apothecaries. It was even more challenging for advanced apothecaries to make medicinal pills above A grade with this variety of Chinese herbs.
Other than Fu Cheng, the rest of the apothecaries including He Shu looked a little worried.
The deputy director was standing nearby, watching He Shu and Fu Cheng as they worked. He Shu was slow and cautious and could not compare to Fu Cheng’s confidence.
The deputy director smiled. He turned sideways slightly and said to Chairman Wang, “He Shu does not seem in good shape today. What happened?”
Chairman Wang remained completely calm, but he was scolding his disciple to no end, inside.
He cleared his throat and replied. “He probably has not rested in two days since he was preparing for the exam.”
The deputy director pretended to be surprised. “Oh really? I am sure he is confident about the test this time.”
Considering how hard He Shu was working, he ought to be very confident about ranking as number one in the exam.
