“Let me ask you, kid, what are the uses of purple rubia?”
An elderly Chinese physician stood up, placed his hands behind him, and asked Tang Hao.
Tang Hao immediately answered. “Purple rubia, scientific name Rubia yunnanensis, is a bitter, non-toxic, and cold-natured root. It is commonly used in treating diarrhea. One common prescription is purple rubia soup, which is made by boiling half a catty of purple rubia and two taels of licorice.
“Combined with ginseng, donkey-hide gelatin, and licorice, it can also treat internal bleeding.”
The elderly Chinese physicians were surprised by Tang Hao’s answer.
‘That kid is right!’
“Kid! Let me ask you, what are the uses for peony root?”
“Kid, what diseases can dendrobium cure?”
The elderly Chinese physicians took turns to ask questions.
Tang Hao stood there and answered each of the questions calmly.
His answers were correct every time, which made the Chinese physicians even more surprised.
They had thought that he was a con artist because he was so young. They did not expect that the kid got every question right.
‘Looks like this young con artist did his homework!’ They thought.
They churned their brains and asked more difficult questions about the most obscure herbs they knew. Some of the herbs were not written in the common medicinal textbooks.
One could not answer them if they did not have decades of Chinese medicine experience.
What made them even more surprised was that the kid could answer all the questions, no matter how obscure the herb might be.
Moreover, the kid answered immediately after they asked their questions. He did not need to time think at all. How was that possible?
Even they could not do that!
‘This kid is so uncanny!’
Every correct answer shocked them even more. Eventually, they were numb to it.
It seemed that there was no medicinal herb in this world that the kid did not know.
Many elderly Chinese physicians sat down and admitted defeat. They seemed resentful about that.
Meanwhile, some other Chinese physicians had not given up yet. They thought of the rarest and most obscure herbs that they knew.
However, the kid was not stumped at all.
The Western doctors who watched aside were also incredibly shocked.
One had to know that those Chinese physicians were renowned in the Chinese medicine world. How could their knowledge of Chinese medicine lose to a kid?
That was utterly unbelievable!
‘This kid seems to be quite knowledgeable!
They had changed their opinion toward Tang Hao. At first, they had mocked and looked down upon him, but now they treated him seriously.
Eventually, everyone stopped asking questions and sat down sheepishly.
“Any more questions?” Tang Hao looked around the room and smiled.
The voice was soft, but everyone could hear the mockery in his tone of voice.
‘Dammit! The kid is making fun of us!’
The elderly Chinese physicians were embarrassed, but they had to admit that the kid was not a con artist. Their faces turned red in a mixture of anger and embarrassment.
Old Master He was laughing up his sleeve, while the three Zhou brothers were discreetly impressed by Tang Hao’s knowledge.
At that time, a person came into the living room.
“Oh, Ol’ Hu is here!” A few Chinese physicians shouted.
Tang Hao turned over to look and was surprised. That person was Hu Huaichun, the Chinese physician he had met in the medicinal herb market of Provincial City.
As Hu Huaichun walked inside, he was shocked when he looked at the Chinese physicians. “What’s wrong? All of you don’t look too good!”
The Chinese physicians looked at him resentfully.
“Hey, Ol’ Hu! Don’t you know, there’s a freak of a kid here. I bet you’d look the same if you were here earlier!” A Chinese physician grumbled.
“A freak of a kid?” Hu Huaichun was surprised. He turned around and his gaze fell on Tang Hao.
That was the only kid present.
“It’s you!” He shouted excitedly.
The Chinese physicians were shocked.
“You know this kid, Ol’ Hu?”
“I know him! Remember when I mentioned that I met an incredibly knowledgeable young man? He’s the one who wrote the amazing prescription for a recovering patient’s recuperation,” Hu Huaichun said.
“What? That’s him?” The elderly Chinese physicians exclaimed.
They had studied the prescription. It looked simple, but the theory behind it was rather cryptic. They learned a lot from that.
They guessed that such a wonderful prescription must have come from a traditional family of Chinese physicians.
Only a traditional family with generations of Chinese physicians could nurture a young, talented Chinese physician.
“So, that’s him!”
The Chinese physicians said sheepishly.
After all the fuss, the kid was one of them and not a con artist after all.
However, they were not convinced yet. The kid might have immense knowledge and knew all sorts of medicinal herbs, but that was only one part of Chinese medicine.
Even if he had the knowledge, he might not know how to diagnose or treat diseases.
Clinical experience required years of practical experience. The kid must not be as experienced as them.
“I admit that you’ve mastered the basics, kid, but you still don’t deserve to be here or call yourself a divine doctor!”
“That’s right. You might have the knowledge, but I don’t think you have the practical experience. You’re not bad, kid, but you’re still not at our level yet. You’ll probably reach our level in another twenty years.”
Some elderly Chinese physicians said arrogantly.
“Is that so!’ Tang Hao said nonchalantly.
He paused for a while and continued, “If you don’t believe me, then you can continue testing me. I don’t mind that.”
Tang Hao grinned curiously.
It seemed that he would have to thoroughly convince the group of doctors before he could treat Old Master Zhou.
“How do we test that?”
“That’s easy! If you want to test my clinical experience, find some patients for me to diagnose!”
“Um…”
The elderly Chinese physicians looked at each other and talked among themselves. “Alright! There’s a Chinese medicine hospital nearby. We’ll get you a table in the lobby, and you’ll work a shift there. Do you dare?”
Tang Hao laughed. “I’ll take up the challenge!”
“Alright, kid, you’ve got guts]!”
“Don’t regret your decision, kid!”
The elderly Chinese physicians laughed at Tang Hao’s confidence.
The physicians who worked in the lobby were all experienced. It would take a physician years before they could sit in the lobby and diagnose all sorts of diseases.
They expected that the kid would humiliate himself.
“Go, go, go! Let’s go!”
After getting the Zhou brothers to agree to it, they left the house excitedly.
They could not wait to see the kid embarrass himself.
Tang Hao seemed unfazed. He rode in a car with Old Master He and followed them to the nearby Chinese medicine hospital.
