Chapter 372

Chapter 372

Obviously, besides his wife and the rural doctor who taught him earlier, it’s clear that this approach won’t work, right?

This kid is way too straightforward. The old master already mentioned his impressive goal. Asking Qinghe this is basically an easy question.

He Zhifei was so anxious he was ready to explode.

Not just He Zhifei, even Yu Cheng, standing nearby, was taken aback.

Wang Qinghe wasn’t usually this stubborn. It wasn’t like him to answer in such a manner.

He also sneakily glanced at the old master and was surprised to see that the old man hadn’t gotten angry yet.

Yu Cheng was genuinely surprised. There had been two others before, and by this point in the conversation, the old master’s expression had already soured.

Zhou Jieshu looked at Wang Qinghe and smiled. “Child, so in your opinion, are you a genius?”

“I believe I am,” Wang Qinghe answered without hesitation.

These responses left both He Zhifei and Yu Cheng completely dumbfounded. They wanted to cover Wang Qinghe’s mouth, telling him to stop talking.

He Zhifei even started to regret bringing the boy. If the old master got mad and chewed him out, it could crush the kid’s confidence.

And if word got around, He Zhifei would be embarrassed too.

Wang Qinghe’s answer made the old man burst into laughter.

“You are such an interesting child. Come, have some soup? This soup is made with a few herbs to warm you up. You probably saw the pot outside? It’s the same thing.

You’ve traveled far and probably have a chill in your bones. Drinking this will help dispel the cold.”

As Zhou Jieshu spoke, he pushed the cup towards Wang Qinghe.

It was called tea, but in reality, it was a soup brewed with medicinal herbs.

Wang Qinghe took the cup but didn’t drink. Instead, he asked the old master in front of him, “Old master, this isn’t the same thing as the one outside, is it?”

“Oh?”

Zhou Jieshu’s eyes lit up slightly. “In what way is it different?”

“The soup inside the house doesn’t have the effect of dispelling cold; it’s meant to reduce internal heat. The soup outside is meant to dispel cold, with herbs for that purpose. The soup in this cup, from the smell of it, contains herbs that reduce internal heat.”

Wang Qinghe figured this was probably his test.

It wasn’t hard to distinguish these, but the challenge was noticing the soup outside first. The smell of the soup outside wasn’t strong. If your sense of smell wasn’t good or if you were anxious, you might miss it.

It was probably a test of attentiveness.

Wang Qinghe’s answer made the old man even happier. “You are very observant. It’s so cold outside, and yet you still noticed the pot of soup?”

“The smell drifted over, so I took a closer sniff,” Wang Qinghe said softly, without showing any sign of excessive joy at the praise.

“The smell of that pot of soup was very faint. It’s impressive that you could smell it so carefully. You’re a careful and good child. What books on medicinal herbs have you read?” Zhou Jieshu said as he took out a list.

“Take a pen and mark the ones you’ve read, let me see how much you’ve gone through.”

His attitude was quite good.

He Zhifei, though unsure of what was happening, realized that his son had somehow managed to make the old master happy.

Not just He Zhifei, but Yu Cheng standing nearby was also shocked.

Wang Qinghe was the only one today who didn’t get scolded!

Everyone else had already been sent away. So, was this the right move after all?

Wasn't all that flattery supposed to do the trick?

Wang Qinghe looked at the book list and realized he had already read all these books back in his hometown, so he marked them all.

Zhou Jieshu was quite surprised to see Wang Qinghe mark them all.

He wrote another list.

On this list, Wang Qinghe marked half.

The rest were books he hadn’t read yet.

Zhou Jieshu was even more shocked and looked at He Zhifei, “Xiao He, are you sure you're not exaggerating? He really only studied for a short time?”

He Zhifei didn’t know either; he had only heard it from his son.

“I’ve only been studying for this long,” Wang Qinghe’s answer showed no hesitation, which made Zhou Jieshu even more surprised.

If he had lied, it would be discovered when he started teaching.

So, there was no need to lie.

If he wasn’t lying, then this child’s belief that he was a genius wasn’t just blind arrogance, but a deep understanding of himself.

That was real confidence.

Zhou Jieshu’s gaze towards Wang Qinghe became increasingly kind.

Before this kid, he had met a bunch of clueless people today, one more hopeless than the last.

They didn’t even bother to pay attention or understand the herbs.

He wanted an apprentice who was as meticulous and compatible with him as possible.

He was at retirement age and still didn’t have a satisfactory child to inherit his knowledge.

If this continued, he wouldn’t rest easy.

His whole life, he had dedicated himself to treating people. Now that he was retiring, he wanted someone to carry on his work for the community.

This person needed to be smart, attentive, and understand suffering.

Only those who understood suffering could help more people.

They wouldn’t be blinded by future fame and fortune.

He hadn’t originally planned to bring this child over, but after hearing that he had been studying hard in his hometown, he changed his mind.

Thinking that maybe this child was the one he wanted to take as an apprentice.

In hindsight, he was glad he followed that impulse. Otherwise, today would have been a total waste.

This kid is meticulous, confident, and sharp. He’s from the countryside and has faced his share of challenges.

This could be the perfect apprentice he’s been hoping for.

Zhou Jieshu felt a sense of satisfaction and proceeded with the next step of the test. "Those books, you said you've read them all, so if I quiz you, you should be able to handle it, right?"

He asked Wang Qinghe.

He was also watching for any signs of hesitation. If he showed any, it would mean his knowledge wasn’t as solid as he claimed.

"Sure, go ahead and test me," Wang Qinghe replied, already familiar with the content like the back of his hand, completely unflustered.

Seeing how confident Wang Qinghe was, Zhou Jieshu began the test.

The two of them went over various medicinal herbs and their properties in Traditional Chinese Medicine.

They also covered the tricky cases documented in medical texts.

Their conversation grew more lively, and soon it turned into a back-and-forth exchange of questions.

He Zhifei was taken aback by how vibrant and confident his son was. He had never seen him so full of life, his eyes filled with confidence, discussing knowledge from the medical books.

It made him realize that even if he and Yingying hadn’t brought him here, the kid would have succeeded on his own. In a short amount of time, he had managed to satisfy the old master, and this was while self-teaching and working at the factory.

If they had found the child much earlier and brought him to the provincial capital...

No! If He Youde hadn’t lost his son, with the kid’s intelligence, good looks, and lack of bad traits, how much face would he have brought to him and Yingying?

He would never have brought He Tian home, causing Yingying to fuss.

Under his guidance, Qinghe would have achieved even more than he has now.

At that moment, He Zhifei’s resentment toward his younger brother He Youde grew even stronger.