Chapter 93: Marking the Examination Papers
Translator: StarveCleric Editor: Frappe
In his previous life, when he was a middle schooler, he once had a crush on a girl and intentionally tried to perform before her even if it meant going against her. This was all just to capture her attention!
From the very beginning, this woman had been going against him no matter what he did. It was highly probable that she might be up to the same thing as well.
Otherwise, was there a need for her to treat him with such ill attitude?
[Sigh, you aren't ugly yourself, there must be many males pursuing you, so why must you get so obsessed over me?]
Zhang Xuan felt incomparably complexed.
Looks like being pursued by others wasn't anything good either.
The pressure on a transcender was as heavy as a mountain!
"Give up?"
Wen Xue staggered. She felt a mouthful of fresh blood regurgitating in her mouth, threatening to spit out at any moment.
[You were the one who was trying to attract my attention to get on my good books, alright?
When did I become the one who intentionally caused you trouble?
The heck!
Explain yourself! What does that look of pity mean? What the heck do you mean by that I should give up on you?
No matter what, I am a beauty who is pursued by many. How did it turn out as though I am unable to be wedded and had to latch onto you?]
Grinding her teeth, Wen Xue's face twitched and the wrath raging within her was on the verge of erupting.
Just when she was about to lose control over her emotions and attack this self-assuming man, the young man shook his head, walked towards a bench by the side and sat on it.
His footsteps were light and inconspicuous.
"Wen Xue, this is the entrance of the examination hall. If an apothecary were to see it, it would be difficult for you to take the exam in the future!"
Uncle Li spoke up.
"Yes!" Upon hearing his words, Wen Xue could only forcefully suppress the rage within her and sit down quietly.
This was the entrance of the examination hall and apothecaries often appeared here. If they were to see her fighting out of rage with another person, she would definitely leave a bad impression with them. If so, it would be difficult for her to pass the apprentice apothecary examination in the future.
"Fine, I'll let you off for now. When the results come out later on, look at how I'll teach you a lesson!"
Glaring coldly at the self-assuming fellow, Wen Xue clenched her jaws furiously.
Couldn't be bothered with this woman who had a 'crush' on him, Zhang Xuan sat on the bench and began to organize the knowledge within his head.
Most of the information on the medicinal herbs were the crystallization of the knowledge of numerous predecessors, so there weren't many mistakes in them. Zhang Xuan isolated the remaining few mistakes and studied them carefully.
When his consciousness was still absorbed in the Library of Heaven's Path, the examination came to an end. It was finally time for everyone to submit the papers.
"Wait at the entrance. Those who passed the examination will be notified to attend the next round!"
Ouyang Cheng shook his hand and chased out the crowd. Picking up a brush, he started to mark the papers one by one.
As he marks, his eyebrows slowly knitted together and his complexion darkened.
"Brother Ouyang, how is it? Is there anyone who passed the examinations this time? I happen to need an apprentice!"
Just when he was done marking all of the papers, a middle-aged man walked in.
The other 1-star apothecary of the Apothecary Guild, Du Man.
"Pass? Look at these, these answers are all gibberish! If they were to be accepted as apprentices, the Apothecary Guild will be shamed!"
Putting the brush by one side, Ouyang Cheng picked up the stack of the marked examination paper and lashed out furiously.
"Let me take a look!"
Du Man walked to the table and flipped through the marked examination paper. In a short moment, he frowned a well.
In their perspective, the questions in the examinations weren't too difficult. However, the answers the examinees wrote in were all around the place, they even answered the properties of common medicinal herbs wrongly!
If these kind of people were to accepted by apprentices, it would definitely stain the reputation of the Apothecary Guild.
"Un? What's wrong with this paper? Brother Ouyang, you didn't mark this one."
He was unable to find a single satisfactory one even after flipping through seven to eight papers. Suddenly, Apothecary Du Man caught sight of the crumpled examination paper by the desk.
The answers on the paper weren't marked at all.
"It is the paper of a playboy, so the results must be even worse than the others. It is clear that he wouldn't pass even if I don't look through it. Rather than get angry while marking it, I might as well just leave it there..."
Remembering the fellow who sped through the paper, Ouyang Cheng's mood took a dive.
[A fellow who submitted his papers after answering the questions for an hour, it is obvious that he won't pass the examinations. There's no need to mark the papers at all!
What is going on? The previous two examinations, there were at least three to four people who were able to pass the first round. Yet, this time, after spending so much time marking the paper, only two people were qualified for the next round. The scripts of the other examinees were all a mess!]
"Playboy? Let me see what kind of script would cause you to determine his failure without even looking at it..."
Du Man shook his head with a smile on his face as he casually flipped open the papers.
"Un?"
A moment after his gaze falls on the paper, he exclaimed in shock.
Huala! Huala!
As the sound of the flipping of papers echoed in the room, the shock on Du Man's face deepened. His nonchalant expression gradually turned grim.
"What's wrong? Are the answers provided by this fellow too ridiculous?" Taking the expression of his colleague in sight, Ouyang Cheng harrumphed. "Just an ignorant playboy who makes use of his money to join the examination, he truly has no respect for the Apothecary Guild..."
"That's not it... Brother Ouyang, take a look at it..."
Hearing the furious complaints of the other party, Du Man hurriedly interrupted him and passed the paper over to him.
"What's there to see? No matter what, it is a fail..."
Muttering for a bit, Ouyang Cheng lowered his head to look at the papers. With a single glance, his eyes widened into complete circles just like how Du Man's did a moment ago. He couldn't help but exclaim in shock, "Oh?"
Flipping over to the second page, "Hm?"
Flipping over to the third page, "Ah?"
Flipping over to the fourth page, "The heck!"
……
...
Many different expressions flashed through his face, but even so, he continued flipping through the paper quickly.
Very soon, he finished looking through the dozens of paper thick script. Ouyang Cheng's eyes almost fell to the floor. He stared at it with a look of disbelief, "How can this be? Not... Not a single error?"
"Indeed! For there to not be a single error! We intentionally left a few difficult questions at some parts and even if I were to answer it myself, I would have most probably fallen into those traps and commit a mistake..."
Du Man's face was also filled with incredulity.
The reason why he was so confident with the paper was because the questions on this paper were rather abstract, such that even official apothecaries like them would be unable to derive the correct answer without jogging their memory, logically rationalizing from it and even flipping through the books to double check their contents.
However, not only was there not a single mistake in the answers, they were actually... phrased out extremely succinctly!
This... How was this possible?
"There isn't a single mistake in this paper... Brother Ouyang, why were you so certain that he would be unable to pass the examination?"
After getting through the shock, Du Man couldn't help but ask him.
There was never a candidate in the Tianxuan Kingdom Apothecary Guild who answered the examination paper so well before. For Brother Ouyang to fail such a genius without even looking at his script, he was too rash!
"I..." Ouyang's face flushed. He felt so embarrassed that not a single word came out from him for a very long time.
He was known for being strict and meticulous, earning the respect of many through such. Yet, today...
The slap on his face stung as though it was on fire.
He clearly saw the fellow finishing the paper in less than an hour without putting much effort into it, how did he... get it all right?
Even he was unable to accomplish such a feat with that speed!
Could it be that the fellow's knowledge had already exceeded that of his?
To label a person whose knowledge of medicinal herbs exceeded his as a playboy and a failure?
[The heck, can reality not be so damned?]
Ouyang Cheng felt his entire body go stiff, as though constipated.