"Time's up, everyone put down your pens."
In the lecture hall, an hour had passed. Vice Principal Deng Hongsheng immediately pressed his stopwatch, signaling Wan Yunting and the others to stop writing. Then, Gu Luotang, Qi Miaomiao, and several other teachers stepped forward to collect their completed test papers.
"Give us twenty minutes to grade the papers."
The collected test papers were naturally handed over to the chief judges, Gu Yuanbai and Jiang Yichun, who personally graded them. In front of everyone present, they began to swiftly mark the papers.
"How is it, Yunting Ge? Eighty points should be no problem, right?"
Qi Miaomiao and Gu Luotang were gathered around Wan Yunting's seat, asking him.
"They were all multiple-choice questions on history and medical cases. Eighty points is definitely not a problem." Wan Yunting tidied up his brush and inkstone, smiling confidently.
"Heh, don't speak too soon, lest you be slapped in the face, and that wouldn't look good." Huang Jingshan, sitting beside him, said with a sneer.
Wan Yunting's expression stiffened. He turned to look at Huang Jingshan, smiled, and said nothing.
"Hmph."
Qi Miaomiao turned and shot a fierce glare at Huang Jingshan, then said to Wan Yunting, "Yunting Ge, aren't they unconvinced by you? This time, you should completely defeat them and let them know how powerful you are."
Seeing Gu Luotang and Qi Miaomiao, two beautiful young women, surrounding him, Wan Yunting could only smile wryly. No wonder Huang Jingshan and Ren Xingbang and others were so hostile towards him.
At this moment, Wan Yunting sensed a strange gaze. He couldn't help but turn his head towards the lecture hall entrance. He saw Dong Yuanlang pushing aside the surrounding students, bringing in a man wearing glasses, with an elegant demeanor and narrow eyes that gave off a peculiar look.
"Brother Yao, this is Wan Yunting!"
Dong Yuanlang glanced at Wan Yunting and quietly introduced him to Yao Xiangming.
"It's him?"
Yao Xiangming's sharp, narrow eyes fixed on Wan Yunting. As their gazes met, Wan Yunting raised an eyebrow slightly.
"What are you looking at, Yunting Ge?"
Gu Luotang and Qi Miaomiao noticed his peculiarity and also looked back at Dong Yuanlang and a stranger standing at the entrance. Wan Yunting withdrew his gaze and smiled faintly, shaking his head, "It's nothing."
"Who is he?"
Looking at Yao Xiangming beside Dong Yuanlang, Gu Luotang and Qi Miaomiao also glanced curiously, not recognizing him.
"The test papers have been graded."
Twenty minutes later, after the rapid grading by Gu Yuanbai, Jiang Yichun, Song Chengqi, Ding Huixiang, and others, the test papers of the thirty-three participants were quickly graded. Immediately, everyone present fell silent.
Gu Yuanbai organized the papers and looked at Wan Yunting, Huang Jingshan, and the others sitting below. "Now, I will read out your scores. Shen Yingrui, one hundred points!"
"Wow, one hundred points..."
Upon hearing Shen Yingrui's perfect score, many of the surrounding students exclaimed in surprise.
After all, the test paper was personally designed by these chief judges. To score one hundred points meant one was definitely a top student.
This caused Shen Yingrui, sitting in the first seat of the first row, to show a confident yet humble smile. He couldn't help but glance sideways at Wan Yunting sitting next to him, seemingly displaying his achievement intentionally or unintentionally.
Gu Yuanbai continued to read: "Ding Zipeng, ninety-eight points! Wan Yunting, ninety-eight points!"
"Wow, Yunting Ge, you got ninety-eight points..."
Upon hearing this score, although it was two points less than a perfect score, it was still very impressive. Gu Luotang and Qi Miaomiao were very excited; at least he had passed the first test.
Wan Yunting also nodded in satisfaction, scratching the back of his head, he laughed, "Perhaps I got those two history multiple-choice questions wrong."
"Oh, it's fine if you got them wrong. You've already passed the first test, so what's there to worry about?" Qi Miaomiao said happily. Gu Luotang's clear eyes never left Wan Yunting, and she nodded in agreement with a smile.
"Huang Jingshan, ninety-six points! Miao Yanzheng, ninety-seven points! Xu Yuanhang, ninety points! Song Sinan, one hundred points!" Gu Yuanbai paused as he read this, and when everyone heard that Song Sinan also scored one hundred points, they exclaimed again.
"Sister Sinan, you're amazing..."
Qi Miaomiao turned back to look at Song Sinan sitting behind them, full of admiration.
Lu Xinju, Jia Wenle, and others also cast admiring glances at Song Sinan. It seemed that as long as it wasn't Wan Yunting who scored a perfect score, everyone would congratulate him with equanimity.
"Teacher Song, you're awesome."
Wan Yunting also turned around. Song Sinan gave him a thumbs-up. In contrast, she nodded calmly and said, "This is just the beginning. Scoring one hundred points isn't worth showing off. The real show is yet to come."
Wan Yunting smiled and nodded. He knew Song Sinan's personality to some extent. He knew she was a strong woman who pursued authenticity and efficiency in her work, not dilly-dallying. She was like a strong career woman, strict and meticulous with herself and others.
"Wei Renxin, ninety-six points! Zhang Xiaoyu, eighty-nine points..."
As Gu Yuanbai read out the scores of all thirty-three participants one by one, only sixteen people ultimately passed the first test. The rest scored below eighty points and were thus eliminated.
"Next, for the second stage, we will test your ability to identify and process medicinal herbs!"
Gu Yuanbai stood up and faced the sixteen contestants who had passed the first stage: Wan Yunting, Song Sinan, Wei Renxin, Zhang Xiaoyu, Huang Jingshan, Xu Yuanhang, Shen Yingrui, Miao Yanzheng, Ding Zipeng, Lu Xinju, Ren Xingbang, Jia Wenle, Qin Mengxue, He Xinghai, He Yan, and Xiang Zhao...
"We will present one hundred and eight kinds of medicinal herbs. You will be blindfolded, and you must identify the names of the one hundred and eight herbs through your sense of smell. Whoever identifies the medicinal herbs and states their names in the shortest time will win and proceed to the next stage of processing medicinal herbs. Let's begin now."
As soon as Gu Yuanbai finished speaking, a group of teachers came forward. Gu Luotang produced a black silk ribbon and an eye mask. She first tied the blindfold around Wan Yunting's eyes and then put on the eye mask to prevent him from seeing.
Immediately after, a group of teachers brought forward samples of the one hundred and eight prepared medicinal herbs. Gu Luotang was responsible for handing the herbs to Wan Yunting for identification, so she sat in front of him. She picked up the first herb, ready to let the man smell it...
"Begin, start the timer!"
As Deng Hongsheng shouted, Qi Miaomiao, holding a stopwatch, stood beside Wan Yunting and Gu Luotang and immediately pressed the timer. Gu Luotang, meanwhile, picked up the first herb sample and placed it under Wan Yunting's nose. He sniffed twice and immediately called out, "Poria."
"Correct."
Seeing the label "Poria" on the sample box, Gu Luotang replied excitedly. She then quickly picked up the second herb sample and offered it to Wan Yunting's nose. He sniffed it twice and immediately called out, "Aconite."
"Correct..."
Thus, as Wan Yunting continuously named the medicinal herbs, Gu Luotang kept handing him samples to smell...
Beside him, Song Sinan, Wei Renxin, Huang Jingshan, and Shen Yingrui were also blindfolded, with each being handed herbs to smell by a teacher who also acted as a notary and timer.
At the same time, the order of the herbs was randomized to prevent contestants from hearing each other's answers.
For example, Xiang Zhao, sitting behind Wan Yunting, couldn't identify a certain herb. He heard Wan Yunting in front of him call out, "Cornus," so he followed suit and called out "Cornus," but the answer was incorrect.