Chapter 119: Outshining the Gathering of Physicians

After Elder Xia finished speaking, all the surrounding veteran traditional Chinese medicine doctors who had come to watch nodded in agreement. They believed the most fundamental skills were also the most challenging. Using the basics to test Xie Qingtang’s abilities was not too harsh a demand.

“Very well, let’s have a contest in identifying medicinal herbs,” Xie Qingtang responded straightforwardly. Dong Weiyi, standing nearby, flashed a look of curiosity, then immediately instructed the market staff to prepare the materials needed for the trial.

Soon, all the required herbs were ready. Dong Weiyi was unanimously chosen as the judge. He smiled as he glanced around and announced, “To ensure fairness and impartiality, all the herbs and tools prepared here are exactly the same. Whoever can select, in the shortest time, the single herb with the best efficacy from among these basic herbs processed by the same method will be declared the winner.”

Upon hearing this, everyone nodded. The younger doctors naturally gravitated toward Xie Qingtang, while the elders sided with Elder Xia.

The competition was about to begin, and the atmosphere grew increasingly tense. Dong Weiyi pulled out a timer. The moment he pressed start, both Xie Qingtang and Elder Xia lowered their heads to examine the trays of processed herbs before them.

At the outset, Elder Xia confidently selected the herbs he believed had the best efficacy, placing them into his own tray.

Surprisingly, Xie Qingtang merely scanned the tray with her eyes but did not pick any herbs.

“What’s happening? Is she going to lose right from the start? She was so boastful just now, but now she’s exposed,” the elder doctors sneered as they saw Xie Qingtang remain motionless.

Even Dong Weiyi, standing beside her, thought she might not realize the competition had begun, and kindly reminded her, “Doctor Xie, the competition has started.”

“I know,” Xie Qingtang replied calmly. The challenge was to select the herb with the best efficacy from the 25 trays in front of each of them, all within the shortest time possible.

One by one, the 25 trays contained herbs, and they had to identify the best medicinal herb from each tray.

Seconds ticked by. Elder Xia had already chosen 18 herbs, while Xie Qingtang remained still, causing onlookers to suspect she had conceded.

“This is over. We young doctors will be utterly humiliated by this woman. If she’s not skilled, why is she pretending? She’s embarrassing us all,” one grumbled.

“Exactly. We’re already suppressed here by the elders because of our age. After this contest, we might only be able to sneak in quietly to buy herbs, then leave in shame,” another lamented.

The young doctors who had supported Xie Qingtang now felt a mix of disappointment and reproach upon seeing her inaction.

When Elder Xia had selected his 22nd herb, Xie Qingtang finally moved. Her fingers danced swiftly, almost too fast to follow.

Her hand swept over each tray, plucking a herb each time she passed. Soon, she caught up with Elder Xia.

“Heavens, how can she be so fast?” the crowd gasped, whispering among themselves. Elder Xia was startled, frowning as he glanced sideways.

To his shock, Xie Qingtang didn’t even look before plunging her hand into a tray and pulling out an herb, placing it in her own tray. In just over thirty seconds, she had selected all 25 herbs.

“I’m done,” Xie Qingtang announced.

Elder Xia, still dazed, realized he had only picked 22 herbs. He accused her incredulously, “Impossible! You didn’t move at all before, and now you claim to have chosen the best 25 herbs from these trays? You must be cheating. There’s no way the herbs you picked are the best.”

His words immediately won the agreement of the elders beside him. Selecting the best herb required keen eyesight and careful attention, but Xie Qingtang’s seemingly random grabbing could never meet the standards they demanded.

“Elder Xia, there’s no need to rush to judge me. This contest isn’t just about speed; it’s also about the quality of the herbs selected. Once you’ve chosen all your herbs, we can compare the quality to see whose selection is better,” Xie Qingtang said calmly and confidently.

Her composed demeanor stood in sharp contrast to Elder Xia’s flushed face and angry accusations, earning cheers from the younger doctors who felt vindicated.

This scene was a slap in the face for Elder Xia. Flustered and ashamed, he flicked his sleeve and scoffed, “Speed alone isn’t impressive. I refuse to believe that after decades of experience, my judgment is worse than a girl barely in her twenties. You may have won in speed, but I will surely win when it comes to the quality of the herbs.”

He then took a deep breath and resumed selecting his herbs with renewed focus. Minutes passed, and finally Elder Xia completed his selection.

Everyone gathered around as Dong Weiyi called in the sharpest-eyed herb buyer from the market to judge whose herbs were of higher quality—Elder Xia’s or Xie Qingtang’s.

Though both were doctors of traditional Chinese medicine, their eyes could not compare to those of a buyer who selected tens of thousands of kilograms of herbs daily.

Thus, appointing a herb buyer to judge the quality was accepted by all.