Translator: Kyo576
Editor: Ome
The Favoured Genius Doctor and Businesswoman – 191 – Hopeless (无可救药)
Back in those days, Xiang Jin's grades were good and her appearance was not that bad, so the people that chased after her were innumerable, but she never had any of those kinds of thoughts.
She had met Qin Zhi Xue by accident. Back then, she was with a few of her friends, while Qin Zhi Xue was on the other side munching on his bread, drinking his water, and reading his book. Her friends commented on his looks, saying it wasn't bad, but it was a pity that his family situation was too poor, etc. After listening to her friends jeer the other person for a while, she felt apologetic and spoke a few words of justice for him.
After which, Qin Zhi Xue's wooing began.
If she knew that that one sentence of hers would have this kind of result in the end, she would have rather become a villain.
Compared to other guys, the things that Qin Zhi Xue gave her were pitifully little. Once he gave her a bouquet of flowers, and he made it such a fanfare that everyone knew about it, so if she didn't give a gift in return, it would look like she was a heinous woman. What's more, Qin Zhi Xue didn't look half bad back then, his character was gentle, so she bore with it and treated him meals for a month.
Now that she thought about it, her standard of a meals and Qin Zhi Xue's were on a completely different level. His calculations were quite deep.
A month later, Qin Zhi Xue started to display a hardworking image.
He carried dark circles under his eyes every day, would fall asleep even when he was walking, he even fell a couple of times, and looked pretty battered and exhausted. Others even thought that he was like that because he was disdained by her and had fallen out of love. She went to his doorstep to ask, yet Qin Zhi Xue told her that he had to work hard in his studies, so he could give her the best life in the future.
When they were young, girls her age would think that men who gave their everything to you meant he was deeply in love, and she wasn't an exception.
And this was how she slowly fell into his pit called love.
Ever since then, she covered Qin Zhi Xue's school fees, livelihood fees, bought all his clothes and books for him, and even during Lunar New Year's and other festivities, she would buy all sorts of gifts for him to bring back to his hometown.
Thinking back, apart from the symbolic rejection from him in the beginning; afterwards, he never mentioned it again. Instead, he treated it as if it was a matter of fact.
The moment she looked like she was about to express that she minded the money, Qin Zhi Xue would look like his pride was hurt and had the attitude that showed that he would work hard and improve himself.
That look practically meant that she would become his for sure!
Xiang Jin felt chilled by the thought, especially when she thought back to what she had once thought as precious memories and events, she felt like there was no hope for her foolishness!
When a man who couldn't even afford his own meals talked about love, could it really be true love?!
Currently, Xiang Jin's attitude when she looked at Qin Zhi Xue turned colder and colder, but because it was not like the hate she had for him before, she was left with disgust and loathing.
His face was coloured in anger, calling her 'poisonous woman' every time he opened his mouth, talking non-stop, "In those days, people who were much better than you in every aspect were everywhere, why did I have to find you?! If I knew earlier, even if you knelt and begged, I wouldn't have married you! Xiang Jin, don't think I don't know! You never thought much of me! You think that I don't deserve you, you kept using your superiority to pressure me…"
Xiang Jin shook her head, having nothing better to say anymore.
From today onwards, what welcomed Qin Zhi Xue would be dark days.
The audience around them couldn't help shake their head. Amongst them, there were no doubt people with unideal family backgrounds too, but they didn't wish for them or their sons to become someone like that. If someone didn't even have their conscience and humanity, there'd be no point in earning so much money.
Qin Zhi Xue was now thoroughly provoked, while Director Liu's expression looked as if he'd swallowed a housefly.
Other doctors saw it and some let out a mocking laugh.
"So it's a misunderstanding. Since it's a misunderstanding, then it's fine now that it's been cleared up. Everyone disperse! Security, throw this man out…" Director Liu waved his hands and gave orders.
The security team was obedient this time and followed his instructions, dragging Qin Zhi Xue out, but other's weren't satisfied.
Especially Jing Yun Zhao. She reached her hand out and blocked Director Liu's way.
Translator: Kyo576
Editor: Cosmic
The Favoured Genius Doctor and Businesswoman – Chapter 192 – Provoke (挑衅)
Qin Zhi Xue was nothing good and this Director Liu was cut from the same mould.
"Director Liu, do you think everything's set and done just because you say so?" Jing Yun Zhao's icy and stilted tone gave the listeners goosebumps.
Director Liu also felt a headache coming. Honestly, by right, he should've defended Doctor Gan, but he simply didn't like Gan Song Bai, this old fogey, because every time he went home, his grandfather would nag him. He would say things like 'your medical skills are still not good', 'you need to seriously improve yourself with diligence and discipline' and 'learn more from Doctor Gan'.
And the Doctor Gan he mentioned was precisely this obstinate old man. He was both ugly and stubborn, thinking he was all that, relying on his seniority to act profound and mysterious all day, who was he trying to fool?!
Thus, he was trying to take this opportunity to teach this old man a lesson. Of course, if he could really chase him out, then that would be for the best.
"What else could you possibly want? Hasn't the misunderstanding been resolved?" Director Liu hardened himself.
Director Liu has not yet hit 30 years of age and wore a pair of sunglasses, but he looked kind of fickle. His gaze hovered, his speech was too easygoing, and the white gown he had on him wasn't worn properly so he looked somewhat unreliable.
"Director Liu is young and promising, but I clearly remember that to become the Head Doctor, one must meet certain requirements, no?" she casually asked such a brainless question.
There were numerous large and small hospital clinics in the county. This hospital was actually a private hospital no matter how much the public called it the county hospital. It was kind of a marvel that it developed faster and better than a public hospital.
Although the scale of the hospital was big, it still couldn't be compared to the ones in the large cities. However, one should respect certain rules no matter what. This role of Head Doctor wasn't something anybody could take on. Firstly, they needed to be the vice-head for at least five years and to be vice-head, there was similarly a requirement of two years of doctorate studies and four years of masters studies. Furthermore, this fixed number of years are only the basic requirements to be the doctor-in-charge.
(T/N: to clarify, the rankings of doctors are like this; Doctor → Doctor IC → Vice-head Doctor → Head Doctor)
So to put it simply, one would not be able to reach this position without having worked for more than 10 years.
Meanwhile, this one in front of her took the seat just because he was the Executive Director's grandson, so all the complicated things were foregone.
However, people normally wouldn't know of all these, especially within a small county like this. As long as their medical skills passed the mark, occasionally turning a blind eye to these kinds of things was very common. What's more, this hospital's Executive Director and CEO were the same person, bystanders have little to no say in the hospital's matters. It was practically guaranteed that Director Liu was to inherit the hospital in the future.
The moment Director Liu understood that Jing Yun Zhao was going to bring this matter up, his attitude became even more stubborn than before, "And what are you trying to say this time? Brat, there's always an exemption to everything. I've been learning medicine from my grandfather since I was young, so you don't have the privilege to question my ability!"
"Is that so? Then would Director Liu compare his notes with mine?" Jing Yun Zhao suggested plainly.
Director Liu was dumbfounded by her gall.
"Repeat that?" he sneered.
"Seems like Director Liu's ears aren't too great," Jing Yun Zhao loftily stood up for herself. "You've learned medicine since you were young and coincidentally, I did too. It's just too bad that I haven't gotten my license to practice medicine, but I think even like this I'm still better than you."
Jing Yun Zhao's figure when she saved Gan Song Bai was seen by everyone around her, so they knew that she did have some ability.
However, she was still young and didn't even have a license. This lessened his credibility.
"You yourself said that you don't even have a practitioner license, what are you going to compare with me? What a laughing stock. Little brat, I advise you to focus on your studies. If you returned to Hua Ning County in a few years time, who knows if you might even need to beg me for a rice bowl…" Director Liu spoke in disdain.
"Then it can only be because you don't dare. If you're even scared of someone like me who had not yet gone under an apprenticeship, it seems like you don't have much of a standard yourself. Next time, those who want to consult you for treatment need to be more careful not to bet their lives on you. What's more, you're still the majestic eldest grandson of the Executive Director; I believe that even if you wanted someone's life, similarly, there would be someone who'd clean up the mess for you. The dead patient would have died meaninglessly," she peculiarly tried to spur the Director into action using slanderous words.
Director Liu could choose not to respond to that, but his image and reputation had already taken a nosedive because of what just happened earlier. As long as he took a step out of the hospital, it would be for certain that he would not be able to receive the respect and trust of the hospital's patients for a long time. Plus, with his sensitive identity, it would directly influence the hospital as well.
Translator: Kyo576
Editor: Sleepyfox
The Favoured Genius Doctor and Businesswoman – Chapter 193 – Competition (1) (比试（一）)
Jing Yun Zhao's provocation caused the crowd around them to fall into a daze, unable to believe that a young kid like her actually dared to be so savage.
Even though Director Liu's skills couldn't compare to Gan Song Bai's, he was still a professional…
Behind his glasses, Director Liu's pupils constricted, an expression of annoyance and severity bloomed on his face. Of course, he knew that the girl was stimulating him on purpose, but if he didn't agree to it, he would lose a lot of face.
Gritting his teeth, he shot back, "How do you even want to compete? Kid, there's not a single patient here who'd become your guinea pig, don't even think about it!"
"Who said that the competition had to be about curing a disease? Since Director Liu is someone who's supposed to lead this hospital, then why don't we compete on something simpler and more practical, for example, medical herbs, eastern medicine prescriptions or the signs and symptoms? Any one of these should be fine," she suggested directly.
Ever since she started learning medicine, she had always maintained a low profile on her medical abilities. She always felt like she had only absorbed a few pieces of spirit jade and her strength wasn't enough, so no matter what kind of condition she faced, she would do so carefully. In reality, however, the more she was exposed to the industry, the clearer she was on the difference in ability between herself and others.
The Old Ancestor had lived for hundreds of years and those spirit jade pieces contained all the knowledge that he had. What's more, the Old Ancestor's knowledge was all-encompassing covered all the bases. That was why, even though she had only absorbed eight pieces of jade presently, she could definitely compare with other doctors!
Director Liu sneered as he laughed. In the end, she was still a brat. He reckoned that she only knew the basics.
"Okay then, we'll do as you say. Incidentally, a powerful person came to deliver medical herbs today. He's very familiar with the medical characteristics of every single herb, let's invite him to be the judge. As for Doctor Qian and the rest of you, continue working. Doctor Gan can choose to spectate," Director Liu hummed lightly, behaving extremely confident.
She's just a kid, how much would she know about medicinal herbs? This isn't something that she could easily pass by just memorizing the names of the herbs.
When he finished speaking, he immediately called for someone to make preparations.
Half an hour later, Grandpa Gan's condition had exceptionally improved, so much so that there was almost nothing wrong with him. Thus, he accompanied Jing Yun Zhao along towards the competition space.
Director Liu had decided to host the competition in one of the larger conference rooms. One side of the wall was completely made up of glass windows and the people outside could clearly see what happened inside.
He made a show of inviting retired doctors to oversee the ongoings, appearing to be earnest and abiding by regulations.
"Don't you think this Director Liu is too calculating? Isn't it just competing with a kid? Does he need to make such a ruckus? If the kid loses in the end, she definitely wouldn't lack his satire. Doctor Gan would lose face too…" Someone outside angrily spoke.
"Shh——"
Someone beside them urgently reminded them to be quiet before they said, "Director Liu's motive isn't just to provoke that pair of grandfather and granddaughter, but to wait for Doctor Gan to step up for her when the kid can't answer, then step on Doctor Gan's righteous reputation!"
But the moment this guy said this, others around them who overheard found it funny. That Doctor Gan's ability was so great, just based on Director Liu himself, how could they stand on the same level? If he really wanted to aim for this kind of thing, then his IQ would really make people anxious.
Unfortunately, these outsiders were unaware that they had really guessed Director Liu's intentions spot on.
After having the position of Director for so long, his confidence towards his own ability had shot through the roof. Meanwhile, Doctor Gan, who still had a similar position like the other doctors even after so many decades in the hospital, was no different from them, so Director Liu naturally thought that Gan Song Bai's reputation was unwarranted.
At this moment, within the extremely large conference room were a few elderly grannies or grandpas. This made Jing Yun Zhao's young and tender looks stand out.
After the audience waited some more, the very powerful person Director Liu invited onto the panel finally walked in.
The Favoured Genius Doctor and Businesswoman – Chapter 194 – Competition (2) (比试（二）)
The people outside swiftly made a path for the extremely powerful and imposing person to walk through. When Jing Yun Zhao turned her head around to look, surprise flashed across her face.
The person who came was not a stranger. Indeed, it was the eccentric old man, Uncle Xu, along with his disciple, Uncle Xing Yuan, following behind him.
The moment the two appeared, one could clearly see that the doctors in the room had immediately adopted a very grave expression that also carried with it some points of respect.
Director Liu immediately rushed closer to them, his expression flattering and tone polite, “ Senior Xu, you actually came here personally? I really have to show my appreciation!”
Director Liu was simultaneously happy and shocked because this Senior Xu was a very mysterious individual. Rumours say that he was not a local and had suddenly shown up in Hua Ning County, his conduct very lowkey. However, after his arrival, many bigshots in the medical industry especially welcomed him and his influence was reportedly very big. Moreover, his ability to manufacture medicine was unmatched; quite a few hospitals in the county have sought out his concocted medicine.
His grandfather had since long ago warned him not to ever offend this Senior Xu, otherwise, he would definitely be inviting trouble. He has always remembered those words.
This was why, every time this old man and his disciple came, he would decidedly find some time to accompany them. However, it was a pity that the old man’s temper was weird and was often standoffish towards him.
While he only thought to invite the old man’s disciple to put up a front, who knew that this Senior Xu would come along. This really was an unexpected surprise!
However, the old man behaved as if he didn’t hear Director Liu’s greeting and directly walked past. Giving Jing Yun Zhao a glance, he spoke, “You sure know how to make a scene.”
Jing Yun Zhao was helpless, “Uncle Xu, Uncle Xing Yuan, why are the both of you here?”
The moment this was said, Director Liu’s face instantly petrified. This rotten brat actually knows this surnamed Xu?
“I heard there was a kid who didn’t have eyes provoking Director Liu and old me immediately thought of you. After coming to take a look, it turns out I was right,” Uncle Xu replied, completely without any politeness.
Director Liu swallowed his saliva.
When he called Xu Xing Yuan to invite them, he had mentioned Jing Yun Zhao and said that she was an opinionated brat who didn’t have eyes. Listening to Senior Xu, it seems he had overheard it?
Then his purpose in coming here was to join in the ruckus or to get justice for Jing Yun Zhao?
Jing Yun Zhao had long gotten used to Old Man Xu’s manner of speaking; the elderly was stubborn, but he had her in mind.
Gan Song Bai treated her like family, while this Old Man Xu was her respected teacher.
When she was absorbing the spirit jade, there would also occasionally be times where she did not understand something, and every time she opened her mouth to ask, she would always get an immediate answer from Old Man Xu. Of course, he also wouldn’t miss the chance to call her ‘stupid’.
She had always admired this old uncle because he was just like a walking Baidu Encyclopedia. As long as it involved medicinal herbs in some way, he would know every single minute thing about it. He had a thorough understanding of the methods of concoction, and his abilities were also outstanding. Not only this, Jing Yun Zhao even felt that he had considerable knowledge in medical skills. At least, his standards would not be poorer than Gan Song Bai, just that it was not his focus of study.
Currently, Old Man Xu’s facial expression was grave, unlike the other amiable-looking elderly doctors, and he had a unique aura that stood out from the masses.
“Aren’t you going to compete? Xing Yuan, get someone to bring over the things I prepared,” Old Man Xu coldly spoke.
At this moment, the entire room was silent.
Not long after, all sorts of herbs were positioned in the front, but they were all wrapped in oil paper.
Gan Song Bai who had been sitting at the side spectating suddenly frowned, having had a strange foreboding.
When this kid, Yun Zhao, looked stern, she looked quite similar to Senior Xu; the same aura and the same bearing, both cold as ice, so much so that it was uncanny. If Senior Xu was a local, he would even have suspected that Jing Yun Zhao was one of his grandchildren. (T/N: You might not be wrong!!! Always trust your first instincts!!!)
The Favoured Genius Doctor and Businesswoman – Chapter 195 – Competition (3) (比试（三）)
Gan Song Bai also held Senior Xu in high esteem, he had even gone out of his way to ask around about Grand Teacher Xu, who was the same age as him.
However, there was a limit to his information gathering. He only managed to find out that his name was Xu Jing Zhi (徐镜之) who had an infamously eccentric temper and lived somewhere within an isolated little alley despite not lacking money. It was unfortunate that the eccentric just had to live in such an inconvenient area; it seemed like he really disliked there being any noise.
This Xu Jing Zhi was an expert in concocting medicine. It was to the extent that one could even call him a medicine manufacturing madman. Apart from the disciple always by his side, who’s name was Xu Xing Yuan, the expert had no one else.
“Senior Xu, is your intention to let us guess the medicinal herb?” As Gan Song Bai was sizing up Xu Jing Zhi, Director Liu rushed forward and asked jokingly.
Old Man Xu only knitted his brows, “Recognize the medicine by smell. Begin.”
“Ah?” Director Liu was dumbfounded. What does he mean? Relying on just the scent to identify? There’s no need to go to this extent right…
“Director Liu, it seems like you don’t have much confidence. Since it’s like this, I won’t be polite,” Jing Yun Zhao, on the other hand, didn’t find the trial to be insurmountable and took out a pen and paper. Moving towards the table, she got closer to the oil paper packs and started sniffing them one by one.
Among them were some herbs with an obvious and strong smell and usually, a moderately experienced doctor would be able to identify the scent. Nonetheless, at the same time, there were also many herbs that pretty much didn’t have any scent. Wanting to identify these would be quite a challenge.
However, to Jing Yun Zhao, there was nothing about this kind of test that would put her on the spot.
Her sense of smell had always been sharper since she was young, and as a result of her official ownership of the space plus the absorbing of the spirit jade, it had been upgraded even more. There were many minute details that would not go unnoticed when it came to her nose.
Seeing Jing Yun Zhao advance so quickly, Director Liu could not just stand around looking shocked and soon frantically followed.
Unfortunately for him, sniffing the herbs only made his brain spin in circles stupidly. When he reached the midway point, he had only managed to identify three: Agarwood, mint and Chen Pi. Among the rest, one portion he could roughly guess out its type, while for the other portion, he was completely lost!
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Agarwood (沉香): A fragrant resinous wood used in incense, perfume, and small carvings (Wikipedia) (you don’t need a picture of wood to know it’s wood, and you won’t be able to tell what kind of wood it is off a picture of wood, so I didn’t insert a picture of agarwood)
Chen Pi
Chen Pi (陈皮) aka sun-dried tangerine: good as a snack, should try
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Jing Yun Zhao’s speed was very fast, he was even beginning to suspect that the kid was writing nonsense.
Taking only 15 seconds each for 30 types of medicinal herbs; more than 10 minutes later, the first round ended.
(T/N: I know the math doesn’t add up, but let’s just…roll with it. Author has the highest authority :’) )
By then, Director Liu still hadn’t fully regained his senses, instead, he had an ominous premonition.
The way they would be competing via medicinal herbs was not supposed to be like this. It should not have been done using smell alone, but using their eyes to identify the herbs! If he relied on his eyes, he could definitely guarantee that he would be able to recognize all these herbs!
“Xiao Liu…15,” Xu Jing Zhi didn’t even raise his head and directly reported his score with just a glance at his answers.
His answer script was scribbled very messily, obviously telling that he wasn’t completely sure of his answers. However, he indeed had some background and expertise, so even if he guessed blindly, he could still get half of them right.
Director Liu let out a breath of relief. Even though the score was somewhat bad, it was still better than he expected.
“Jing Yun Zhao, all correct. Not bad,” Just as Director Liu was guessing her results, Xu Jing Zhi announced as he nodded his head in satisfaction.
“Impossible!” Director Liu anxiously rushed forward and reached his hand out to snatch away Jing Yun Zhao’s answer script, his entire person turning incredulous and half-witted.
What he saw was a neat and tidy white sheet with words cleanly and nicely written, as well as 30 types of medicinal herbs completely and flawlessly listed from beginning to end. Reading the list of herbs, Director Liu thought back and realized that Jing Yun Zhao had indeed not gotten them wrong.
But how could she have possibly reached such a degree of skill?
“Finished looking? Since you’re done, we’ll move on to the next round,” Xu Jing Zhi completely disregarded Director Liu’s thoughts on the matter and threw him a sidelong glance. After his announcement, he swiftly instructed Xing Yuan to remove the herbs from the previous round, then unfolded several tens of small paper packs.
“Here is Tian Ma, Shan Yao, San Qi, Ba Ji Tian, Chuan Bei Mu, Wu Yao, Hong Hua, Du Zhong, Lu Rong and Ginseng. There are 10 herbs, and mixed within it are a few imitations and fakes. To pass this test, you merely need to pick out a single authentic one for each type of herb,” Uncle Xing Yuan added on after finishing arranging the test items.
(T/N: I wanted to insert pictures of each herb for information purposes, but wp doesn’t let me paste pictures so…)
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Tian Ma (天麻) aka Gastrodia elata: used in traditional Chinese medicine and Sichuan cuisine; one of the three orchids listed in the earliest known Chinese Materia Medica
Shan Yao (山药) Chinese yam: This!!! I know of it under another name, it’s really nice when cooked in soup or porridge; becomes mushy and faintly sweet (it’s also a tad bit more expensive, one section of that size costs about SGD10 ish?) The sap tho, believe me when I say it stains
San Qi(三七) aka Panax notoginseng: A type of ginseng but it looks more like ginger to me
Ba Ji Tian (巴戟天) aka Morinda officinalis: Indian mulberry plant
Chuan Bei Mu (川贝母) aka Yellow Himalayan fritillary: It’s apparently from a type of lily? Shrugs. But my mom uses it in soup (she uses almost everything in soup, still good tho) joke: the image is from the Wikipedia of china, do yall still need the english wikipedia?
Wu Yao (乌药) aka Lindera aggregata: They use the root apparently (this does not constitute as wood, thus picture)
Hong Hua (红花) aka Safflower: there are three colour variations of the same plant apparently, yellow, orange and red. Pretty. Made into tea.
Du Zhong (杜仲) aka Eucommia ulmoides: Yes, I’m aware there’s quite a number of wood involved, this time it’s the bark of a type of rubber tree (once again, I’m not going to provide pictures of wood)
Lu Rong (鹿茸) aka Velvet antler: the whole antler in a pre-calcified growth stage of the Cervidae family including the species of deer such as elk, moose, and caribou (just…oof)
Ginseng (人参): And finally, the one we all know… (I hope)