Taming The Hidden Bigshot By Kissing Him
Chapter 503: The First Round of the Needle Trial Conference!

Chapter 503: Chapter 503: The First Round of the Needle Trial Conference!

Ten o’clock sharp.

Inside the Traditional Chinese Medicine venue.

A throng of people, buzzing with excitement.

An exceptionally lively scene!

The Traditional Chinese Medicine Clinic in the Imperial Capital is much larger than in Haicheng, spacious enough to accommodate all contestants competing simultaneously. At this moment, all the young practitioners of Chinese medicine are already standing in front of their respective workstations, ready for the competition.

A resounding gong.

The large bell in the venue swung slowly, its sonorous and profound chime ringing out.

The crowd inside instantly fell silent.

At this time, seated in the centermost high stage were all the esteemed and revered elders of the Chinese medicine community.

These were the judges for this needle trial conference, totaling five in all.

One of them, looking scholarly and dignified as well as being the youngest among them, stood up.

He appeared amiable and approachable, yet a shallow, faintly white scar at the corners of his eyes and brows was particularly noticeable.

Many young practitioners felt a surge of excitement upon seeing his face.

"It’s Doctor Lu."

"Lu Bannong, Miss Lu’s father! The President of the Traditional Chinese Medicine Association! Today he is one of the judges..."

The Traditional Chinese Medicine Association in the Imperial Capital is the largest Chinese medicine organization in the country, unlike the Haicheng Imperial Capital Association, which is just a branch with little power.

Lu Bannong, with a beard, seemed very kind and friendly.

He raised his hand slightly to settle the crowd, and the noise below subsided a lot.

Lu Bannong spoke up, "Now, let me announce the procedure and rules for this needle trial conference. The Imperial Capital needle trial is different from the preliminary selection in Haicheng. It assesses your foundation and skills, not just the basics of identifying herbal materials and preparing medicinal decoctions."

"Today’s first round is on the processing of Chinese medicinal herbs. To practice medicine, familiarity with the processing of Chinese medicinal herbs, assessing the nature of medicinal materials is a skill that all of you must master. In front of everyone is a workstation for processing Chinese medicinal herbs, and the competition time is two hours."

"After the first round, the top 20 will advance to the next round. The next round will take place in three days at the same time, testing acupuncture and medicinal decoctions."

"I want to emphasize that the needle trial at the Imperial Capital is strictly regulated. If anyone causes trouble, their eligibility for the competition will be immediately revoked, and mutual assistance to cheat through is not allowed. As medical practitioners, it is your own abilities that are being examined, not your capacity to make friends. There were loopholes to exploit in the preliminary selection in Haicheng, but here in the Imperial Capital, don’t expect to get away with any cunning."

As he said this, his gaze swept over Qiao Xi, with a hint of an enigmatic smile.

It seemed like a reminder.

And also a warning.

At the end of his speech, a few snickers emerged from the crowd, their gazes turning toward Qiao Xi.

"She’s the one being talked about!"

"The first in the preliminary selection, I don’t buy it. If it weren’t for someone helping her, she might not even be here competing with us."

"I wonder if the National Doctor Cheng Han’s disciple is really all that impressive."

Listening to those discussions, Qiao Xi lifted her eyes to look at Lu Bannong on the high platform.

Her heart sank.

She didn’t know what kind of conflict existed between Grandpa Cheng and Lu Bannong, but she was aware that Lu Bannong was an enemy rather than a friend. This Lu Bannong was definitely not as amiable as he appeared on the surface, just like Lu Yingxue, a hypocritical person.

"Hmph."

A sarcastic snort came from beside her.

Xiang Mingzhu sneered, "Qiao Xi, there’s no one here to help you this time. If Shen Xuanzhi helps you, he will be disqualified!"

Qiao Xi turned to look at her, replying calmly, "As long as you don’t cause trouble, I don’t need anyone’s help. In the preliminary, I could win against you regardless."

"You... Qiao Xi, don’t get cocky. I will definitely be the champion of this needle trial," Xiang Mingzhu said through clenched teeth, "I really want to see you disqualified, kicked out of the Chinese medicine community. It would be such an amusing sight!"

Her tone was firm, as if the championship of the needle trial was already hers for the taking.

Qiao Xi sized up Xiang Mingzhu’s boastful demeanor with a hint of doubt in her heart.

Xiang Mingzhu talked about her becoming the champion of Chinese medicine, not Lu Yingxue?

What was she relying on?

In terms of ability, Xiang Mingzhu definitely couldn’t surpass Lu Yingxue!

As she was contemplating, Lu Bannong on the stage spoke again.

"The champion of this needle trial will directly join the Traditional Chinese Medicine Association as the Vice President and contribute to our traditional Chinese medicine and pharmacology."

Uproar ensued!

The young Chinese medicine practitioners were so excited their faces flushed red!

To win was to become the Vice President!

A leap to the heavens!

Qiao Xi understood that Lu Bannong was paving the way for Lu Yingxue!

If the Traditional Chinese Medicine Association were to be completely controlled by this father and daughter, the other factions wouldn’t stand a chance at all. The other elderly predecessors on the stage were elders from the Traditional Chinese Medicine Association’s Inspection Department, who rarely managed affairs personally.

The ambition of the Lu father and daughter knew no bounds!

What was even more frightening was that many people felt that if Lu Yingxue won, her becoming the vice-president would be well-deserved.

It could become a great tale of the time!

The authority of the Lu Family’s Thirteen Ghost Needles in the Chinese Medicine Community, established over more than twenty years, was not so easily challenged!

Qiao Xi took a deep breath, realizing the weight on her shoulders and the long road ahead.

"The competition begins now! The medicinal herbs in front of you are the topic for the first round! The medicinal properties will be determined by the senior predecessors after processing, to decide the spots for the next round!"

The voice of Lu Bannong fell.

Over a hundred participants in the venue began to inspect their medicinal herbs.

In front of Qiao Xi was Licorice Root.

She stretched out her hand, picked up the Licorice Root, and sniffed it. There was nothing unusual!

Others came here to compete, while she had to be wary of potential sabotage.

She had to be careful at all times!

There were several types of herbal processing techniques, including honey-processing, dry frying, vinegar frying, brine frying, and firing.

The Licorice Root that Qiao Xi had needed to be honey-processed.

There was great wisdom in this!

The honey for honey-processing Licorice Root came in yellow and white variations, with honey from the north being thick and from the south being watery.

The quality of spring honey was better than other seasons, and raw honey could not be used directly for medical processing, but had to undergo secondary processing.

Based on different temperatures and moisture, high-temperature processing would result in tender honey, medium honey, and mature honey.

Qiao Xi’s eyes scanned over the jars in front of her and finally picked out a jar of medium honey.

After cleansing the dry Licorice Root stems, she mixed them with the medium honey and stir-fried them evenly.

Eventually, the honey-processed Licorice Root slices had to be baked until they were no longer sticky to the touch.

This was easy for her!

Qiao Xi glanced around with the corner of her eye and found that everyone had received common medicinal herbs.

Xiang Mingzhu had gotten Plantain Seeds, which could be simply dry-fried.

Lu Yingxue drew Atractylodes, which needed to be fried with bran.

Shen Xuanzhi got Bupleurum, which needed to be fried with vinegar.

And Han Jia and Li Songwen, with whom she had met on several occasions, had herbs that needed to be fried with liquor. However, some practitioners who had only learned acupuncture and Medicinal Decoction were not skilled in herbal processing and were at a loss at the operating table.

The competition was intense and in full swing!

In a matter of moments, the whole venue was permeated with a faint scent of medicinal herbs.

Not unpleasant, rather quite fascinating.

Sun Weimeng sipped tea and nibbled on pastries, saying vaguely, "This herbal processing is just like cooking, really fun. But Qiao Xi is next to Xiang Mingzhu, won’t she play dirty? If Xiang Mingzhu makes a move, wouldn’t that ruin everything?"

Old Chen reminded, "The rule is no interference; violators will be disqualified on the spot."

Sun Weimeng was not reassured, retorting, "What if she sacrifices a pawn to save the chariot? If the Lu Family causes Xiang Mingzhu and Qiao Xi to both get eliminated, then Qiao Xi is bound to lose! Our loss would be greater!"

The mere thought was frightening!

Who made the rules to sever the tendons, so vicious that it didn’t seem like something a practitioner of Chinese medicine would do!

Old Chen, upon hearing him, also felt a bit anxious.

"Young Master, what can be done about the Young Madam?"

Huo Xingzhou lightly skimmed the foam on the surface of his tea with the lid before abruptly snapping it closed.

His gaze leisurely shifted to Zhong Yi at his side, his lips parting slightly, "Young Master Zhong, may I have a word?"

Zhong Yi shifted his posture lazily and responded, "Sure, it seems President Huo has a request for me."

Sun Weimeng and Old Chen sized up the two tycoons.

They have a secret!

What kind of discussions were they having behind their backs?