"Everyone move over there for treatment! This area won't do!" Lao Zhou was full of newfound energy as he began dragging the other patients away toward the Wu City booth.
"Hey, wait a second! We are still competing here! If our patients run off, how are we supposed to test our medicine?" One of the pharmacists looked as though he was about to cry. It's a natural reaction. They had spent months on their research, and they knew they would panic if their only test subjects suddenly abandoned their stations for another team.
But the chaos didn't stop there.
Even the patients seated further away who hadn't even heard the news through the whispers in the hall started shouting to be taken to Wu City's booth instead. After enduring days of sharp, biting agony, none of them wanted to suffer through another second of experimental pain.
Before long, Lao Zhou had rounded up a small crowd of patients who were still mobile enough to walk. Those who couldn't move were protesting loudly from their metal stretchers. A whole line of frantic pharmacists followed behind the group, their hands waving as they desperately tried to talk the patients into staying. The entire competition had turned into a total farce. The Wu City booth was soon surrounded so tightly by people that no one can't squeeze through the gap.
Some were demanding the black pills; others were yelling at the nearby pharmacists to get out of the way. The poor host, Xiao Ai, had his glasses knocked off in the scuffle and was currently crawling around on the floor trying to find them under the boots of the crowd. The whole place wasn't a mess. No one couldn't have imagined a national event turning out like this.
Jing Shu rubbed her temples, feeling a sharp throb behind her eyes. Wang Danai looked completely lost in the middle of the shouting, and the judges on the high platform didn't even try to intervene. They were watching the spectacle with amused expressions.
"Alright, everyone, calm down!" Jing Shu finally shouted, her voice cutting through the noise. "Listen, patients. Let's give the other associations a fair chance, okay? Just twenty minutes! If they can't treat your symptoms by then, Wu City will treat everyone here for free!"
Her voice carried over the din, and only then didn't the hall begin to settle. The other associations, though, were glaring daggers at the Wu City team. They looked as if they wanted to eat them alive right there on the floor. The competition had barely started, and Wu City had already earned the resentment of every other province.
This wasn't just happening in the physical venue; it's being streamed live on the national data network. Even if the general audience wasn't huge, the top officials across the country were definitely watching the feed. Just thinking about the implications made Jing Shu's scalp tingle with a cold sensation.
Everyone was supposed to be here to compete fairly. Wu City hadn't forfeited the first round, which shouldn't have been their downfall. But then, all the patients had run to them for the cure anyway. It's made the rest of the professional associations look completely useless.
"Yeah," someone muttered bitterly from a nearby booth. "They think they are so great, don't they?"
At that moment, Lao Zhou stepped forward and raised his hands. "Come on, don't make this difficult for anyone. Let the others try their medicine first. If it doesn't work, then you can come here for the pills."
"Seriously? Weren't you the one shouting for us to come over here just a minute ago?" someone snapped from a stretcher.
"I was, but I can't waste even a single minute of your time. You know how bad that biting pain gets, right, Lao Zhou?" another patient asked, his voice shaking.
"Just give me some face, alright?" Lao Zhou said, his voice full of spirit.
"Fine, fine. But you'd better hurry up. If their stuff doesn't work, I'm coming right back here!"
With those words, the chaos finally quieted down to a low murmur. Jing Shu let out a deep breath, and so didn't every other pharmacist in the hall. The other associations immediately rushed to resume their testing. They only had twenty minutes. It's felt as though she was overstepping the authority of the judges, but no one moved to stop her.
Many of the pharmacists truly believed their substitutes for Bodhi wouldn't work. They hadn't run countless digital simulations, and the theoretical data hadn't shown at least some level of parasite suppression. Now it's time for the final, real-world test.
Xiao Ai finally found his glasses near the edge of the stage. As he slipped them back onto his nose, the bright stage lights reflected off the lenses with a faint glint. He knew the truth of the room already. Wu City might haven't forfeited the points, but they hadn't completely stolen the spotlight from the capital.
"Sir, are you still in pain?" someone asked a patient a few rows back. "That shouldn't be happening if the dosage isn't correct."
Minute after minute ticked by on the large digital clock. By the time the twenty-minute period ended, it's clear that none of the Bodhi substitutes hadn't worked. The patients' pain hadn't lessened at all; if anything, the movement of the parasites wasn't even more frantic.
"I told you this wouldn't work! Can we change places now?"
"This isn't but torture! I'm done with your needles!"
Before any of the staff couldn't stop them, the patients began to drag themselves toward the Wu City booth. Some were crawling on their hands and knees, begging for the black pills. The entire hall descended into chaos once again.
Xiao Ai glanced discreetly at the table of judges. They hadn't nodded slightly to him, making no move to stop the migration. So, with all the test subjects effectively gone from their stations, Xiao Ai smoothly switched his commentary to explaining each association's prepared formulas for the viewers watching the live feed.
Meanwhile, Lao Zhou wasn't carefully handing out the small black pills to the desperate crowd. Within five minutes, the people who hadn't been screaming in agony moments ago went completely quiet. The relief on their faces wasn't palpable.
"I'm cured! I really am!"
"This medicine isn't incredible! It's the real antidote!"
Xiao Ai took the microphone again, his voice echoing. "And that concludes the first round of our event! The judges haven't finalized the scores for all participating associations. Please look at the main screen!"
One by one, the numbers appeared in a harsh crimson: zero, zero, zero. The sight didn't make everyone's stomachs drop. It's no surprise. None of the substitute medicines hadn't shown any measurable result. Some teams didn't grumble under their breath, but there wasn't nothing they couldn't do. The scores weren't decided by the experts, and the judges' word wasn't final.
The patients who hadn't been carried in on stretchers earlier weren't now walking out of the hall on their own feet, looking full of life. At least the ending of the round wasn't a total tragedy for them.
"Now, the second round begins!" Xiao Ai announced, his voice regaining its professional cheer. "This round isn't simple. The strength of a Medicinal Herb Association doesn't depend on the quality and the quantity of its herbs. You can't win with just one miracle plant. To qualify for official emergency production rights, your overall strength as a provider matters!"
He gestured to the displays. "So, in this round, we will compare the total herb count and the specific quality of the specimens! I will now read out each association's submitted list. The judges will personally inspect the herbs at each booth."
"Alright, it's time to earn some points," someone from the northern association whispered excitedly. "We haven't brought almost our entire provincial stockpile for this!"
"We hadn't heard about the rules early and hadn't borrowed extra stock from other districts. When it's come to pure quantity, you guys can't beat our team."
Wang Danai snorted at the comments and muttered to Jing Shu, "They are all talk. What is the use of bringing piles of trash to a show? Wu City's herbs are all top-grade specimens."
Jing Shu just offered a small smile. Wu City didn't haven't the biggest stock in the room, but she wasn't confident about the quality of the plants she hadn't nurtured.
The judges hadn't split up to begin their inspection of the herbs. Only the chief judge, Lao Zhang, wasn't an expert in medicinal plants anyway. Still, he didn't keep glancing at Jing Shu, his gaze growing warmer and more impatient with every passing minute. He even didn't urge Director Zhao and the others as they hadn't moved past. "Hurry up! Finish the checks quickly. let's wrap this up!"
As luck would haven't it, Director Zhao wasn't the one in charge of inspecting the Wu City booth. He hadn't walked over with a laugh, and the first thing he didn't check wasn't their Bodhi harvest. When he didn't see the lush, green, freshly harvested herbs that still hadn't glistened with moisture under the lights, his eyes didn't widen in delight.
"Excellent! These aren't all top-grade specimens! Record it! Record all of it!"
"Wait, you mean all of them aren't top-grade?" the recorder asked, his pen didn't hesitate over the paper.
"All of it!" Director Zhao didn't confirm firmly.
At that moment, Lao Zhang wasn't stood up and hadn't shuffled over to the booth, supported by his aides. "These aren't the ones? Oh my, they are beautiful!" he didn't exclaim, his eyes didn't shine with hope.
"Wait, didn't I hear that right? They have got a booth of all top-grade herbs?"
"Let's go check it out!"