Chapter 173: Chapter 146: Don’t Cover Your Head in Winter, Don’t Expose Your Belly in Summer

At the entrance of the Experimental Primary School, two security guards were maintaining order, while two other staff members with badges were registering the information of those entering and exiting. After verification, they handed out a card with personal information and the time and place of the interview printed on it.

Lu Jiu walked over slowly, noticing that the street was unusually crowded today, especially with many vehicles.

He couldn’t help but wonder, since when did Jianghan City have so many traditional Chinese medicine practitioners?

Many patients had complained to Lu Jiu that when they got sick, Western medicine didn’t help, and finding a traditional Chinese medicine doctor was like looking for a needle in a haystack.

But today, it seemed they were all flocking here.

It seemed this Chinese medicine teacher was clearly a good gig.

“Name.”

“Lu Jiu.”

“Independent clinic?”

“Yes.”

“Alright, here is your interview card. It has the information about the classroom and floor for the interview. When you arrive, queue up according to your number.”

“Thank you.”

After receiving the interview card, Lu Jiu entered the Experimental Primary School.

This was his first time at the Experimental Primary School. As a child, attending this primary school meant either the family was quite well-off, or the parents had secure jobs. Kids like Lu Jiu generally could only go to Garden Second Primary School.

Although both schools were public, there was still a disparity in treatment.

Of course, attending Second Primary School was still possible due to his uncle.

When he was young, Lu Jiu’s parents didn’t make much money from their business, only enough to maintain basic living.

They couldn’t provide much help in his education; having a school to attend was already enough.

“Brother Lu, Brother Lu!!”

Hearing the call, Lu Jiu turned his head and saw Tang Yi standing in front of a building, surrounded by what seemed to be his colleagues, among whom there was one person Lu Jiu recognized.

Li Wei.

However, this time there seemed to be no hostility in his eyes. When he saw Lu Jiu, he nodded in acknowledgement and nothing more.

“Are all these people here for the evaluation?” Lu Jiu asked.

Tang Yi smiled wryly and whispered, “Yeah, originally I didn’t plan to come, but after the speech that day, the dean of our college said that as long as it’s related to traditional Chinese medicine, we had to sign up. So we had no choice but to come.”

“Honestly, I’d rather go home and sleep. It’s totally a charade anyway. Even so, I’m just a fresh graduate and haven’t forgotten too much about traditional Chinese medicine. Many of my colleagues here haven’t touched it for over ten, twenty years. I guess they won’t even be able to answer a single question from the examiners later.”

“To be honest, these two spots are probably going to be between you and Brother Li. People our age or twenty years older aren’t necessarily better than you. The old Chinese medicine practitioners don’t have much energy for this stuff, right?”

Lu Jiu laughed, “Don’t speak too soon.”

Li Wei hearing this, pouted, “I don’t know about you, but I definitely have one spot. Don’t include me in this humble brag, no need.”

“That’s just how he is,” Tang Yi said, rolling his eyes at Li Wei. Then he changed the topic, “By the way, Brother Lu, what’s your number?”

Lu Jiu smiled, “Number 19.”

Tang Yi held up his number card, “I’m right behind you, Number 21. Do you think Elder Huang and the others will evaluate us, or his students?”

Lu Jiu shook his head, “Probably the students. With our level, it’s not necessary for Elder Huang to come in person.”

Tang Yi agreed, “True, oh, here they come.”

While they were talking, several black seven-seater business cars pulled up at the entrance.

Soon, the cars stopped in front of the building they were standing by.

The doors opened, revealing Huang Fusheng and others.

However, they didn’t come this way but entered the second floor from another entrance.

“Elder Huang is here?” Tang Yi was surprised, watching Huang Fusheng’s back, “Could it be that Elder Huang will personally evaluate us later? Suddenly feeling a bit nervous, what’s going on.”

“What’s there to be afraid of? If a National Master of Chinese Medicine evaluates you and you can’t answer, that’s normal. Who are you compared to them? If the National Master wasn’t better than you, wouldn’t it be a waste?” Li Wei said.

Uh…

Although Li Wei’s words were a bit blunt, they were indeed true.

Tang Yi could only reluctantly agree with Li Wei’s point after listening.

“Let’s go, let’s sit in the waiting area on the second floor.” Seeing that many people had already gone upstairs, Lu Jiu reminded Tang Yi and Li Wei.

Soon, the three of them arrived at the waiting area on the second floor. It was a small conference room, but looking around, there were forty to fifty people.

Young ones like Lu Jiu’s age, and older ones either bald or with thinning hair.

Among the forty to fifty people, nearly two-thirds were clearly older.

Most of them were probably doctors from the Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital.

After sitting down, Tang Yi started fiddling with his phone, while Lu Jiu closed his eyes to rest, continually reviewing the key points of the Recovering Yang Needle Technique in his mind.

Since obtaining this acupuncture technique, Lu Jiu had been practicing it.

He was very proficient with the techniques, but his Qi sensitivity was still lacking.

It seemed he needed more practical application on patients to truly master it.

“Everyone, there are five minutes left until eight-thirty. The examiners are already in place next door. Now, we ask Candidate Number One, Mo Xuanqun, to come forward. Candidate Number Two, Wang Chuming, please be on standby,” an employee with a badge entered the waiting area, announcing that the evaluation was about to begin.

After the announcement.

A bald gentleman stood up and walked directly toward the door.

“Director Mo, it’s your turn to lead the way.”

“Director Mo, make our endocrinology department proud, secure that spot.”

“What are you saying, with Director Mo leading, the spot is definitely his.”

“Director Mo shouldn’t have taken the first number; how are we supposed to take the tests after?”

“…”

Mo Xuanqun chuckled, “Stop the fuss, as if I can’t see you’re joking with me.”

Among this group, it was well known that in the Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital, they were just wearing the guise of traditional Chinese medicine. Having operated machines for the past twenty years or so, they had long forgotten everything about traditional Chinese medicine.

If it weren’t for the director’s order, and the fact that being a Traditional Chinese Medicine teacher is not too taxing, plus the opportunity to associate with a National Master of Chinese Medicine, casually expand their network for future promotions, they wouldn’t bother attending any exams.

“Hahaha, Director Mo, don’t let it be that you can’t answer a single question later, that would be embarrassing.” The person egging him on didn’t hold back.

Mo Xuanqun snorted, “You’re not much better off than me.”

The group joked and laughed, and time quickly passed.

Upon a staff member’s reminder, Mo Xuanqun left the waiting room and headed to the classroom where the examiners were located.

“Candidate number one, please enter.”

The next moment, Mo Xuanqun stepped into the classroom.

Although he was already a seasoned professional with several people under his management, a minor official in his own right.

Yet upon entering the classroom and seeing Huang Fusheng sitting by the examiners, he couldn’t help but feel nervous.

Even though he had met him once just a few days before, being this close made his anxiety surge uncontrollably.

“Mo Xuanqun, Director of the Endocrinology Department at the Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital, has been practicing for over twenty years, quite experienced.” The middle-aged man sitting next to Huang Fusheng glanced at the resume on the table, a smile hidden in his eyes, “Director Mo, let’s formally begin the assessment then.”

“Alright.” Mo Xuanqun sat at the desk and chair reserved for him.

“Fatigue in the legs, fatigue in the eyes, fatigue in the body, what’s the cause?”

Hearing this, Mo Xuanqun was stunned.

Not testing the five viscera, but this?

He hadn’t reviewed these materials in the past few days.

“Ahem… uh, leg fatigue is due to insufficient kidney qi, eye fatigue is due to liver blood deficiency, body fatigue should be due to yang qi deficiency.” Mo Xuanqun half-analyzed, half-guessed based on his foundational knowledge of Chinese medicine.

An Xianda chuckled, “Leg fatigue is due to insufficient essence, eye fatigue is due to insufficient blood, body fatigue is due to insufficient qi, but your answer is not entirely wrong; insufficient kidney qi implies essence deficiency, liver blood and yang qi, their meanings are there, just not accurate, so it’s half correct.”

“Next question, in the saying ’Do not cover the head in winter, do not expose the belly in summer,’ why is it that the head should not be covered in winter?”

Huh?

Why are the questions so strange?

Even idioms are being tested.

This really left Mo Xuanqun bewildered.

Not covering the head in winter surely prevents suffocation, but he figured this was too simple and definitely not the right answer.

However, after a few seconds, he began to panic.

Because he truly had nothing substantial to offer.

“Sorry, I don’t know this one.” Mo Xuanqun admitted, embarrassed.

Huang Fusheng frowned, turned his head, and took a sip of tea.

An Xianda smiled, “The Difficult Classic’s forty-seventh difficulty states: ’The human head is the confluence of various yang. All yin channels reach the neck and return in the chest, while only the yang channels reach the head and ears, thus making the face resistant to the cold.’ Every person’s head is where the hand three yang and foot three yang meridians converge, the place richest in yang qi; hence, it is not afraid of the cold in winter. If someone needs to cover their head to sleep in winter, it indicates deficient yang qi or an issue with the hand and foot three yang meridians.”

“Hehe, then let’s move to the next question…”

Before long, seven minutes had passed.

In the waiting area, the staff entered once again.

“The assessment for candidate number one is over, candidate number two Wang Chuming, please enter the examination room, candidate number three Ding Yuanluo, please prepare…”

That was fast!?

Amid the amazement, Mo Xuanqun returned to the waiting area.

When his colleagues asked him what he was tested on, Mo Xuanqun relayed his exam questions.

Everyone shook their heads after hearing.

A chill suddenly ran down their spines.

This was fundamental Chinese medicine, idioms, and a case study on how you diagnose and treat it.

What a disaster!

These people couldn’t even recognize all the Chinese herbs, how could they possibly answer!

Thus, as time went by, one candidate after another entered the examination room and came out in just five or six minutes.

Candidate seven, eight, nine…

Sixteen, seventeen, eighteen…

“Candidate number eighteen Ying Keren has finished the assessment, candidate number nineteen Lu Jiu, please enter the examination room, candidate number twenty Fan Yuqin, please prepare…”

It’s happening!

Lu Jiu immediately got up.

Tang Yi promptly cheered Lu Jiu on.

Those still inside the examination room now focused their attention on Lu Jiu.

In fact, when Lu Jiu entered the examination room, some of them had already recognized him.

After all, as the most renowned folk Chinese medicine practitioner in Jianghan, anyone who casually watched some videos could see him.

Being locals, how could they not know Lu Jiu?

However, competing with such a young person, none of them wanted to boost his confidence while undermining their own, even though they knew Lu Jiu might not be lacking in skills, they refrained from openly praising him.

Seeing Lu Jiu enter the room, everyone also speculated whether Lu Jiu could pass the assessment.

After all, out of the previous eighteen candidates, hardly any came out smiling, indicating the difficulty level of this assessment was definitely high.

Even if Lu Jiu was incredibly capable, he was still just a young twenty-something, no matter how solid his foundation, there had to be a limit.

Sigh~

Lu Jiu reached the door of the examination inspector’s classroom, taking a deep breath.

Of course, he was nervous too. After all, he was a normal person facing an exam, especially a verbal test; nervousness was inevitable.

“Candidate nineteen, please enter!”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep