When Su Jinhui arrived at the examination site, she realized that she wasn’t the only candidate. There was a man and a woman as well, both seeming slightly older than her.
“There’s only one spot to officially join the hospital as a doctor. I suggest you don’t even try to compete with me!” the man said arrogantly.
The woman next to him was equally defiant. “Don’t be so sure! I’ve been a volunteer at the hospital for two and a half years! It’s my turn now!”
Su Jinhui silently turned her head, not wanting to get involved in their verbal sparring.
But the wind wouldn’t let the tree stand still—their attention suddenly shifted to her.
“Little sister, you’re here to compete too? You’re young, so even if you lose to me, it won’t be shameful,” the woman said, looking her up and down, clearly dismissing her.
The man snickered. “Liu Hongxi, can your face get any thicker?”
“Wang Erlei, your face is thicker than a city wall! If I don’t beat you today and take first place, I’ll take your surname from now on!”
“Stop! Our Wang family definitely won’t welcome you! Whether a shrew like you can even get married later is another story, and you already want to cling to me? Dream on!” Wang Erlei retorted smoothly, his words coming out sharp and quick.
“You! You!” Liu Hongxi was so angry her fingers trembled.
The noisy exchange irritated Su Jinhui. She was about to step out to escape when the military doctor entered with two senior officials.
Coincidentally, the military doctor was the one who had treated Yan Li’an.
They exchanged polite smiles but didn’t greet each other, maintaining the impartiality of the assessment.
“Hello everyone, I’m Chen Jun, a doctor at the Military Dependents’ Hospital. This is Vice President Zhang and Political Commissar Zhao. The three of us will jointly conduct this assessment,” Chen Jun introduced straightforwardly.
Liu Hongxi was eager. “Doctor Chen, we’re all familiar with each other now. Let’s get started!”
Her attempt to curry favor made Political Commissar Zhao frown slightly, causing Su Jinhui to break out in a cold sweat on her behalf.
Chen Jun remained composed. “The assessment has three rounds. Each round will be scored, and the candidate with the highest average score across all three rounds will earn the hospital position.”
“Since everyone is ready, we’ll begin the first round. Each candidate has 15 minutes to identify the five counterfeit herbs hidden among 200 herbs. The fakes are almost identical in appearance to the real ones. Good luck.”
Before them, piles of herbs were laid out—varied and difficult to distinguish.
“This task is impossible! Only ten minutes? Even half a day wouldn’t be enough!” Wang Erlei groaned, furrowing his brow and scratching the back of his head in frustration.
Liu Hongxi laughed mockingly. “Told you, you can’t win. It’s not too late to quit now!”
“Please, both of you remain silent!” Chen Jun intervened, though his gaze lingered on Su Jinhui in the corner.
She remained calm, slowly feeling the herbs in her hands.
True Chuan Bei Mu (Fritillaria) was nearly pure white, conical or near-spherical, with two overlapping scales—the larger tightly wrapped around the smaller, crescent-shaped.
Fake Chuan Bei Mu was yellowish, missing a scale, and irregularly shaped—clearly made from another type of bulb.
She separated the first set of real and fake herbs, completing it in just one and a half minutes.
Chen Jun’s eyes flickered with admiration, though Liu Hongxi noticed and glared at Su Jinhui angrily, her hands moving faster in panic.
After five minutes, Su Jinhui had identified three fakes, leaving only two.
Although she worked quickly, the last two were clearly more difficult; even a thorough inspection yielded no clues.
Her competitor Wang Erlei had found nothing and simply gave up, sitting with legs crossed and drinking water.
Liu Hongxi, drenched in sweat, had only found one pair and continued struggling.
Objectively, as long as Su Jinhui maintained her current pace, she would win this round easily.
But her competitiveness had been triggered.
The remaining two fakes couldn’t be identified by appearance or smell alone. Her gaze fell on the cups of water beside each contestant.
Perhaps soaking the herbs would reveal something new. Su Jinhui selected a few suspicious herbs, placed them in the cup, and added a few drops of Lingquan water.
Two minutes later, she accurately picked out the fake Dang Shen (Codonopsis). The Lingquan water brought out the sweetness in the real Dang Shen, while the fake tasted sour.
As the time was about to expire, she still hadn’t selected the last fake.
Wang Erlei impatiently urged, “When is this going to end? I give up. Let them win so we can move to the next round.”
It wasn’t surprising—he had no sense of participation in this round and was bored out of his mind.
“I give up too,” Liu Hongxi admitted, embarrassed. She had only identified one and had no progress afterward. She could only watch as Su Jinhui gathered all five fakes, unable to catch up no matter how hard she tried.
Chen Jun reached for his whistle to blow when Su Jinhui interrupted.
“Doctor Chen, I still have half a minute, right?” she showed her watch, her expression serious.
Clearly, she wanted to fight until the last second.
“Not necessary, comrade. You’ve already won. What more do you want?” Wang Erlei complained, clearly annoyed by her antics.
Su Jinhui ignored him and put the remaining He Shou Wu (Polygonum multiflorum) in her mouth.
“Comrade Jinhui!” Chen Jun’s eyes widened. He stepped forward to stop her, but it was too late.
She looked at her watch in delight. “Just in time. I’ve identified the last fake—this one coated with something is the counterfeit He Shou Wu.”
Seeing she was fine, the three judges finally exhaled in relief.
“That fake He Shou Wu is poisonous! If you’d guessed wrong, you wouldn’t even be standing here,” Chen Jun warned, relieved but hoping she wouldn’t risk her life again.
Liu Hongxi clenched her fists, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “I get that you want to win, but do you have to go this far? Look at that naive little face of yours.”
“Testing poisons is a necessary quality for a physician,” Su Jinhui replied calmly.
She pressed her tongue to the roof of her mouth, lips curling into a small smile. The Lingquan water in her mouth meant that even if she ingested the toxic fake He Shou Wu, she would remain unharmed.
She wanted to win—but she wasn’t foolish.
The first round ended with no suspense—Su Jinhui crushed both of her competitors with overwhelming skill.