Chapter 259 Not As Good As Fang Qiu’s Singing!
In the Yaow.a.n.g Mountain.
Fang Qiu could only follow Zhu Benzheng to do some weeding, because he hadn’t learned the other things before.
It was rare to see that Sun Hao and Zhou Xiaotian, who used to be laughing and joking, were very behaved in the Yaow.a.n.g Mountain.
They devoted themselves to work very carefully, which surprised Fang Qiu.
“I asked you to recite the ‘Compendium of Materia Medica’. Have you finished it?”
The keeper of Yaow.a.n.g Mountain suddenly asked.
Zhu Benzheng was stunned.
Sun Hao and Zhou Xiaotian nearby also s.h.i.+vered.
“Uh, we haven’t finished yet.”
Zhu Benzheng answered.
Sun Hao and Zhou Xiaotian also revealed bitter faces.
It was a book. How could they memorize so many medicines easily?
“If not, go on!”
While speaking, the keeper of Yaow.a.n.g Mountain walked towards Fang Qiu and added, “If you want to follow to learn, you should recite the entire Compendium of Materia Medica, too!”
Upon hearing that, Fang Qiu raised his head.
Only then did he have time to look carefully at the keeper of Yaow.a.n.g Mountain.
According to Xu Miaolin’s description, the keeper of Yaow.a.n.g Mountain was absolutely a legendary herb expert, but who appeared in front of Fang Qiu was just an ordinary old man.
Like ordinary old men, the one before Fang Qiu had grey hair and beard, and a thin face with a few wrinkles.
At a glance, the old man was hale and hearty without the appearance of old age.
“I can recite it already.”
Looking at the old man, Fang Qiu replied.
“Oh?”
The old man was stunned.
“Youngest, when did you recite it?”
Zhu Benzheng asked in surprise.
“Well done, Youngest! You unexpectedly recited the ‘Compendium of Materia Medica’ and didn’t tell us.”
Sun Hao complained.
“Why not tell us earlier?”
Zhou Xiaotian also asked with a wry smile.
“Because the books that Mr. Xu asked me to recite contains the ‘Compendium of Materia Medica’.”
Fang Qiu explained.
Upon hearing that, the three immediately relieved.
Fang Qiu had shown them the book list. But after a look at it, they were scared by the number of books. They didn’t even know what books were on the list.
“You should not only recite it, but use it correctly.”
The old man looked at Fang Qiu with a smile, saying, “You boy looked quite self-confident. How about I testing you today?”
“Okay.”
Fang Qiu nodded.
“Well, let’s start with an easy one.”
The old man opened his mouth and asked, “How many volumes, words, medicines, and prescriptions are there in the ‘Compendium of Materia Medica’?”
Hearing the problem, Zhu Benzheng and the other two began to think involuntarily at once.
However, without short thinking at all, Fang Qiu blurted out, “There are 52 volumes in the ‘Compendium of Materia Medica’. It has more than 1.9 million words in total, records 1,892 kinds of medicines and collects 11,096 prescriptions. It’s divided into 16 parts and 60 categories.”
“Good.”
The old man nodded smilingly.
It was the most basic question, which didn’t refer to the content of the “Compendium of Materia Medica”. But if Fang Qiu couldn’t even answer it, there was no need for the old man to continue to ask.
Next to him, Zhu Benzheng, Sun Hao, and Zhou Xiaotian were looking at Fang Qiu the way as if they were looking at a monster.
“The second question.”
The old man continued, “How many medicines are there in the Insect Part?”
“Forty-three.”
Fang Qiu answered at once.
“Good.”
The old man nodded with satisfaction and continued to ask, “What part does the medicine belong to, if it can detoxify, stop bleeding, quench thirst, cure oedema, tonify kidney, treat wind, treat rheumatism paralytic, treat water, treat beriberi, cure dysentery, cure eye disease, kill insects, treat joint ache, treat numbness of hands and feet and so on?”
Zhu Benzheng and the other got dumbfounded when they heard the question.
Was there such a medicine in the world?
How could it treat so many diseases?
While wondering if the old man had made a wrong question, they looked at Fang Qiu, waiting for Fang Qiu’s answer.
After hearing the question, Fang Qiu immediately smiled and answered, “It’s the Vine Category, Herb Part, with a total of 12 kinds of medicines.”
“Sweet vines have the effect of detoxification and stopping bleeding; water vines can quench thirst and heat; fairy vines can cure oedema and colic; purple golden vines can tonify man’s kidney, and cure evil sores and swollen poison; south vines can treat wind; Sabia j.a.ponica Maxim and lark vines can treat rheumatism paralytic; purple vines can treat water, but are slightly toxic; fallen goose tree can treat beriberi; Qianliji can cure dysentery and eye disease, but is slightly toxic; sea vines can kill insects, but are toxic; Caulis Spatholobi can treat irregular menses, joint ache, and numbness of hands and feet.”
Fang Qiu said in one breath.
This question was asked by the old man to test Fang Qiu’s memory.
The first question was to see whether Fang Qiu had indeed recited the “Compendium of Materia Medica”, the second question was to test his familiarity with the “Compendium of Materia Medica”, and the third one was to directly select a small part in the book for Fang Qiu to recite.
Of course, the old man had made a trap in the third question.
Because there were so many medicines that could cure these diseases. He let Fang Qiu answer it without even referring to a part.
Such a difficult question couldn’t be answered by ordinary people.
However, Fang Qiu answered it correctly, without a single word that was mistaken!
The old man was surprised. He didn’t expect Fang Qiu could answer such a question without any wrong word. He immediately asked, “In addition to the ‘Compendium of Materia Medica’, what else can you recite?”
“The Inner Canon of the Yellow Emperor, the Shen Nong’s Herbal Cla.s.sic, the Treatise on Febrile Diseases, the Cla.s.sic of Questioning, the Synopsis of Golden Chamber, the Pulse Tips of Lakeside, the Source of the Four Saint, the Pulse Cla.s.sic, the A-B Cla.s.sic of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, the Detailed a.n.a.lysis of Epidemic Warm Diseases, the For Medical Gurus, the General Treatise on the Cause and Symptoms of Diseases, the Four Records of Medical Interest, the Essential Recipes for Emergent Use Worth A Thousand Gold, the Zhouhou Beiji Prescription, the Medical Records as a Guide to Clinical Work, the Soup Recipes in Rhymes, and the Drug Properties in Verse.”
Fang Qiu answered.
Hearing so many t.i.tles of books from Fang Qiu’s mouth, the keeper of Yaow.a.n.g Mountain turned dumbfounded immediately.
It seemed to him that Fang Qiu mentioned the t.i.tles of books as simply as mentioning the names of dishes.
But, could he really recite so many books?
“Can you recite these books?”
The old man asked with amazement.
“Yes.”
Fang Qiu answered with a nod.
“You’re really a freshman?”
The old man asked again, looking at Fang Qiu in disbelief.
“Yes.”
Fang Qiu nodded.
“Hiss…”
The old man took a cool breath and gazed at Fang Qiu for a long time before he opened his mouth and said, “Okay, you can follow me to learn from today on.”
Then, he turned his head immediately.
With an angry face, he stared at Zhu Benzheng and the other two who stood closely and warned, “You three, follow him to study hard, understand?”
The three immediately answered.
Then, they turned to look at Fang Qiu bitterly without prior agreement.
Why did he perform so well? It seemed that they were terrible!
Fang Qiu revealed a smile.
He was not here to rob their master, but to learn knowledge.
Obviously, the old man of Yaow.a.n.g Mountain also knew it, so he didn’t intend to accept Fang Qiu as his disciple. On the contrary, he was very strict with Zhu Benzheng and the other two, as if he were their master.
That made the three sad on the surface, but happy in their hearts.
At least, the keeper of Yaow.a.n.g Mountain, the mysterious old man, wouldn’t abandon them.
Then, the four people had worked in the Yaow.a.n.g Mountain for the entire morning.
And actually, Fang Qiu learned a lot this morning.
For the keeper of Yaow.a.n.g Mountain, every herb in the mountain was precious.
Therefore, he must keep an eye on the four all the time, keep teaching them how to work, how to not hurt the herbs, and how to make the herbs grow better and play their effect.
Without doubts, while teaching the four how to do their work, the keeper of Yaow.a.n.g Mountain was already teaching them how to grow herbs.
Over there in the auditorium of the School of Sports and Arts.
The Campus Singer Contest was in full swing.
However, with no reason, Xin Zheng, invited to add l.u.s.ter, making comments at the judging table, was so mean toward every student on stage.
He said many harsh words, such as unsuited to singing, terrible voice, unable to carry a tune, and so on.
In this case, the school leaders present became very embarra.s.sed, so were the students on the stage taking part in the compet.i.tion.
In fact, Xin Zheng, himself, also knew that his comments were a little vicious.
After all, this was a university.
And this compet.i.tion was only a campus singing compet.i.tion, not a talent show to enter the entertainment circle. But, he just couldn’t help it.
He knew he was giving vent to the evil fire in his heart.
And the source of the evil fire was Fang Qiu.
The thought of last night’s New Year’s party made him furious.
He was a singing star.
How could he lose, on his own turf, to a freshman who had just entered school for a short time?
He just couldn’t take it.
Therefore, he turned mean on his comments and set strict requirements for the compet.i.tors.
Helplessly, the school leaders could say nothing, but just watched in embarra.s.sment, because Xing Zheng was a great star, as well as a great singer, who was invited at the expense of money.
At this moment, a student came to the stage.
“h.e.l.lo, dear teachers, dear judges, and Senior Brother Xin Zheng!”
The young student stepped on the stage and greeted the school leaders and judges with a favorable smile.
“No cotton up with us. This is a compet.i.tion.”
Xin Zheng blurted out, “Start your singing directly.”
As the voice faded away, the young student revealed an awkward smile.
Then, the accompaniment began.
It was “My Dream”, the song that Fang Qiu sang last night.
Hearing the prelude, everyone immediately gathered spirit, ready to hum together.
However, Xin Zheng immediately frowned with a gloomy face.
The song began.
However, just after two sentences.
“Stop, stop!”
Xin Zheng waved his hand and shouted to stop the singer, “You missed the beat at the beginning, and your key was also wrong. Start again.”
The face of the younger student on the stage suddenly turned pale.
It was too humiliating!
He could only start singing again.
However, after two sentences, he was stopped again.
“You can’t even carry a tune. Never sing again! Next.”
Xin Zheng yelled angrily.
“Humph!”
Even a clay man had some courage, let alone a real man!
“I can’t carry a tune? Can you?”
The young student directly said back with anger, “If yes, dare you have the nerve to sing a song before me? If no, don’t talk c.r.a.p. A singer is n.o.body for me!”
The audience got stunned.
n.o.body expected the young student, looking kind, to be bad-tempered.
Humiliated in public, Xin Zheng burst into anger immediately.
“Humph!”
With a snort, he stood up directly and said, “Then, as a senior, I’ll give you a good lesson.”
He came to the stage while speaking, intending to use his strength to prove himself.
The accompaniment came.
Xin Zheng immediately began to sing affectionately.
After the song, he cast a disdainful glance at the young student.
“Why look at me? I thought a great singer’s singing should be wonderful. As a result, it is outdone by that of Fang Qiu. How dare you have the face to be a singer at this level?”
The young student said disdainfully with a sneer.
His words made the atmosphere embarra.s.sing at once.
Outdone by Fang Qiu?
Xin Zheng was extremely outraged. This sentence had great lethality to him.
However, at this time, the crowd of onlookers under the stage began to discuss unexpectedly.
“His singing is not bad. But compared with Fang Qiu’s, it is indeed outdone.”
“Yes, his singing is not as good as Fang Qiu’s.”
“It seems that Fang Qiu’s singing level has completely surpa.s.sed the singers’.”
…
These young people didn’t care about ident.i.ty. Now that Xin Zheng was too arrogant, they must irritate him by words too. After all, Xin Zheng couldn’t do anything on them.
Hearing those words, Xin Zheng was indeed irritated.