Proud Goddess Falls in Love with Me
Chapter 25 - 25 25 Can't Win Even With Answers on Your Back_1

25: Chapter 25: Can’t Win Even With Answers on Your Back_1 25: Chapter 25: Can’t Win Even With Answers on Your Back_1 Zhou Siming’s face showed a hint of confusion, “Why?”

Chu Shanhe said with a gloomy face, “It’s not because Du Zihang is my nephew that I favor him, but because he truly has the strength to take first place.

He wrote a range for that medicinal ingredient because he felt sure of his victory and got careless.”

“As for the time, Zihang could also have finished the appraisal within fifteen minutes.

He just followed the competition rules more strictly than Lu Chuan, insisting on waiting until one hour had passed.”

“Therefore, I think we should let them compete once more to decide the first place.”

Zhou Siming looked utterly puzzled, “But this Du Zihang is obviously not as good as…”

One of the judges hurriedly tugged at Zhou Siming and said with a smile, “Family Head Chu is right, the abilities of the two are evenly matched; there really should be another round of competition.”

The other judges echoed one after another.

Zhou Siming frowned, clearly very dissatisfied with their view.

It was clear at a glance who was stronger and who was weaker; where did the idea of being evenly matched come from?

That judge then hurriedly leaned into Zhou Siming’s ear and whispered, “Old Zhou, don’t forget, our competition is sponsored by the Chu family.

If the Family Head Chu is not satisfied, just appease him.

If you anger him, we won’t get the sponsorship money.”

Zhou Siming clearly despised Chu Shanhe’s methods, but they still had many people’s wages to pay, and they must get the sponsorship money, so he could only nod, “Then let’s do as Family Head Chu wishes, and let the two of them compete again.”

Chu Shanhe’s expression finally eased somewhat.

“I have no other intentions, just to ensure the fairness and integrity of the competition.”

The judges all fell silent, and a few showed embarrassed expressions on their faces.

Zhou Siming said, “Since the two of them are to compete again, let’s use the ‘Eighteen Ingredients Decoction’ as the topic.”

“Fine, I’ll have someone prepare it right away.” A judge got up and left.

Seeing this, Chu Shanhe quickly followed, “Old Zhang, may I know what this Eighteen Ingredients Decoction is?”

The judge addressed as Old Zhang explained with a smile, “It’s a medicinal decoction made from eighteen different herbs of varying ages and properties.

They can only rely on the taste of the decoction to determine what herbs were used and the age of the herbs.

Whoever identifies the most wins.”

Chu Shanhe asked, “What if both of them identify them all correctly again?”

Old Zhang laughed heartily, “Impossible, all these years, no one has ever been able to identify them all correctly.

Being able to differentiate five or six herbs and state their exact age is already considered impressive.”

Chu Shanhe pondered for a moment and said, “Old Zhang, could you let me know what the eighteen herbs are?

As a judge, it would be embarrassing not to know the contest’s topic.”

Old Zhang was surprised for a moment, but soon nodded in agreement, “Alright, I’ll write down the eighteen herbs and their ages for you.”

Chu Shanhe smiled and clasped his hands together in thanks, “I appreciate it, Old Zhang.

I’ll add thirty percent more to the sponsorship fee this time.”

…

In front of the judges’ stand.

The middle-aged man in a mandarin jacket took the microphone and said, “Ladies and gentlemen, the results of the competition are in, and to our great surprise, two contestants accurately identified all one hundred herbs.”

“Therefore, we need to add one more competition to decide the final winner!”

The crowd erupted into cheers; they clearly loved watching this kind of head-to-head showdown.

Du Zihang started to smile and muttered, “I never expected someone to match my level, I wonder which esteemed old practitioner of Chinese medicine it is.”

The middle-aged man continued, “The two contestants who are to face off in the final showdown are Du Zihang!”

Du Zihang confidently took a step forward, knowing that he had to be one of the two.

“And…

Lu Chuan!”

Everyone began to search for Lu Chuan.

“Lu Chuan?

The one who finished the competition in fifteen minutes?

He identified all correctly?”

“Wow, I thought he was just joining in the fun, turns out he’s a big shot!”

“Lu Chuan finished identifying in fifteen minutes, while Du Zihang took an hour, it’s obvious Lu Chuan is the more impressive one, what’s there to compare?”

…

Du Zihang’s face contorted with rage as he immediately turned to look at Lu Chuan, “It’s you!

That’s impossible!”

Lu Chuan shrugged, “Nothing’s impossible.”

Du Zihang glared at Lu Chuan, hissing, “You must have been lucky to identify everything correctly.

In the finals, I’ll show you the gap between you and me!”

Lu Chuan smiled, “I’ll take you up on that challenge.”

At that moment, Chu Shanhe approached and after giving Lu Chuan a cold glance, said to Du Zihang, “Zihang, come with me for a moment.”

The two went to a secluded place.

Du Zihang spoke indignantly, “Uncle, that Lu Chuan was also able to identify everything correctly, it’s outrageous.

He doesn’t have the ability to be ranked with me, I suspect he’s bribed the judges, there’s definitely a scandal in this competition!”

Chu Shanhe turned around and looked at Du Zihang speechlessly, saying, “His skills are better than yours.”

Du Zihang was startled, “Uncle, are you joking?

Didn’t you say he was just a lowly nobody?”

Chu Shanhe sighed and repeated Zhou Siming’s words.

Du Zihang couldn’t believe it and defended himself, “I…

I actually knew the medicine was eight years old, but since I thought no one could compete with me, I casually wrote down a range…”

Chu Shanhe’s expression froze for a moment before he skipped the topic, “Regardless, Lu Chuan’s skills are indeed above yours.

This competition’s first place is tied to whether you can secure an associate professor position, so you can’t afford to lose.”

He handed a slip of paper to Du Zihang.

“This is the answer to the final question.

Memorize it, and as soon as the final starts, say it out loud immediately to let everyone know you are no worse than Lu Chuan.”

Du Zihang’s face was filled with reluctance.

He naturally wanted to win against Lu Chuan on his own merit, but ultimately he still took the slip, “I understand.”

…

After a short break, the middle-aged man in a mandarin jacket called Lu Chuan and Du Zihang to the front of the crowd.

Du Zihang gave Lu Chuan a complex look, took a deep breath, and muttered to himself, “Even if you’re better than me, this first place will ultimately be mine.

Networking and resources are also a part of one’s strength.

I am rightfully the winner!”

The middle-aged man picked up a microphone.

“Ladies and gentlemen, the final is about to begin!”

“Please have the staff bring up the Eighteen-ingredient Decoction!”

Two staff members each brought a bowl of the decoction to the side of Lu Chuan and Du Zihang.

The middle-aged man explained what the Eighteen-ingredient Decoction was.

“Whoever identifies the herbs in the Eighteen-ingredient Decoction the fastest and most accurately will be today’s winner.

Everyone present are witnesses!”

“No more talk, let the final begin now!”

Following the middle-aged man’s words, Lu Chuan and Du Zihang each picked up their decoctions.

Du Zihang first sniffed the scent, then tasted it, immediately furrowing his brow.

“The taste of this decoction is odd, identifying the herbs within is as challenging as scaling the heavens, not to mention determining their age.

Thankfully, I already know the answers in advance.”

He glanced at Lu Chuan with a cold smirk, “No matter how skilled this guy is, he won’t be able to identify this tricky concoction in such a short time.

Now it’s my turn to shock everyone!”

After going through the motions of identifying the herbs for appearances, he picked up a pen and started writing on the paper.

“Dong quai, five years old…”

Lu Chuan also picked up his pen at the same time and wrote rapidly.

Du Zihang was utterly astonished, “How can this guy identify it so quickly?

Impossible.

He must be pretending.

I refuse to believe that I can memorize the answers and still lose to him!”

He struggled to recall the content of the answers, writing feverishly.

Due to the short memorization time and his nerves, he was unsure about some of the herb’s ages and had to think hard.

Just as he strained to recall the age of the twelfth herb, Lu Chuan stopped his pen and loudly declared, “I’m done!”

Du Zihang jerked his head up, looking incredulously at Lu Chuan and murmured, “How is this possible!

His…

his identification speed is faster than my memory of the answers?”

He took a deep breath, muttered to himself while looking at Lu Chuan, “Even though he wrote quickly, it may not be correct, while the twelve herbs I’ve written are definitely right.

First place is surely mine!”

At this moment, the middle-aged man came over, collected both papers, and handed them to Zhou Siming.

After Zhou Siming compared their answers, a contented smile spread across his face as he stood up to announce, “The winner is Lu Chuan!

His identification of the eighteen herbs and their ages is all correct!”

After he finished, he even cast a knowing look at Chu Shanhe, clearly implying that if your nephew isn’t up to par, you can’t blame us.

Chu Shanhe narrowed his eyes, nearly grinding his molars to dust.

He wanted to rush up and slap Du Zihang a few times; he couldn’t even win with the answers copied.

He found it hard to believe that such a fool could be his own nephew!

Lu Chuan looked at Du Zihang with a smile and said, “It seems there’s quite a gap between you and me.”

Unable to restrain himself, Du Zihang roared, “This is impossible!

How can your identification speed possibly exceed my memory of…”

Mid-sentence, he realized his slip and quickly shut his mouth.

Lu Chuan stared at him and asked, “Memorize what?

You couldn’t possibly have memorized the answers, right?

That can’t be.

If you had the answers and still couldn’t beat me, that would be quite foolish, right?”

Listenting to Lu Chuan’s mocking tone, Du Zihang wished he could kill him but ended up weakly shouting, “So what if it’s just the first place in a silly competition?

You don’t have much to be proud of!”

Afterward, he dejectedly left the scene.

Lu Chuan, with a playful expression, approached Chu Shanhe and asked, “Uncle, do you still intend to keep your prejudices against me?”

Chu Shanhe stared at Lu Chuan in silence for a while and said, “You merely have a talent for identifying herbs.

It might let you live a decent life, but it doesn’t give you the capital to stand on equal footing with Mengyao.”

“Your little triumph is still a joke in my eyes!”

Lu Chuan laughed heartily and bowed, “I hadn’t thought my uncle could be so stubborn.

Well then, let’s just wait and see!”

Chu Shanhe’s face darkened and he turned away indignantly, “Arrogant!

Unreasonable!”

Lu Chuan felt a wave of satisfaction, but then his brow furrowed.

In the instant that Chu Shanhe turned away, he saw an increase in the black blood vessels in his eyes, spreading quickly.

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