PATGFM Chapter 25 Can't Win Even by Cheating
Zhou Siming showed a hint of confusion on his face. "Why?"
Chu Shanhe's face darkened as he said, "It's not because Du Zihang is my nephew that I'm biased towards him, but because he truly has the ability to take first place. The reason he only wrote a range for the medicine is because he felt confident in his victory and became careless."
"As for the time, Zihang could also identify it within fifteen minutes. He just followed the rules of the competition more strictly and insisted on waiting for an hour."
"So, I think they should have another round to determine the first place."
Zhou Siming looked puzzled. "But, clearly, Du Zihang is not as good as..."
A referee nearby quickly pulled Zhou Siming aside, smiling, "Master Chu is right. Their levels are evenly matched, so another round of competition is indeed necessary."
The other referees chimed in in agreement.
Zhou Siming frowned, clearly displeased with their reasoning.
The referee then whispered to Zhou Siming, "Sir Zhou, don't forget, this competition is sponsored by the Chu family. If Master Chu feels dissatisfied, just go along with him. If you provoke him, we might lose the sponsorship fee."
Zhou Siming obviously felt ashamed of Chu Shanhe's actions, but with many people relying on their salaries, they needed to secure the sponsorship fee. He could only nod reluctantly. "Then, let them have another round according to Master Chu's wishes."
Chu Shanhe's expression eased slightly.
"I have no other intention, just to ensure fairness in the competition."
Several referees fell silent, some with awkward expressions on their faces.
Zhou Siming said, "Since they need another round, let's use the topic of the Eighteen-Ingredient Medicine Soup."
"Alright, I'll have someone prepare it." One referee got up and left.
Chu Shanhe, seeing this, quickly followed and caught up. "Zhang, can you tell me what the Eighteen-Ingredient Medicine Soup is?"
Referee Zhang smiled and explained quietly, "It's a medicinal soup made from eighteen different types of medicinal herbs with different ages and properties. They have to identify the ingredients and their ages based on the taste of the soup. Whoever identifies the most correctly wins."
Chu Shanhe asked, "What if both of them identify all the ingredients?"
Referee Zhang chuckled, "That's impossible. Over the years, no one has been able to identify them all accurately. Being able to distinguish five or six ingredients and their ages accurately is already impressive."
Chu Shanhe pondered for a moment and said, "Zhang, could you tell me the ingredients of the Eighteen-Ingredient Medicine Soup? As a referee, it's embarrassing not to know the competition topic."
Referee Zhang hesitated for a moment but quickly nodded, "Alright, I'll write down the eighteen ingredients and their ages."
Chu Shanhe smiled and clasped his hands, "Thank you, Zhang. I'll increase the sponsorship fee by thirty percent for this."
...
In front of the referee stand.
A middle-aged man in a robe spoke into the microphone, "Ladies and gentlemen, the result of this competition has been determined. To our surprise, this time we have two participants who have successfully identified all one hundred ingredients accurately."
"Therefore, we need to have an additional round to determine the final winner!"
The crowd cheered, evidently enjoying these kinds of dual showdowns.
Du Zihang smiled and muttered, "I didn't expect someone to be on par with me. I wonder which esteemed senior in the field of traditional Chinese medicine it is."
The middle-aged man continued, "The two participants who need to compete in the final round are, Du Zihang!"
Du Zihang confidently stepped forward. He knew one of the two had to be him.
"And... Lu Chuan!"
The crowd looked around for Lu Chuan's figure.
"Lu Chuan? Is he the one who finished the competition in fifteen minutes? He actually identified all the ingredients?"
"I can't believe it. I thought he was just here for fun, but turns out he's a big shot!"
"Lu Chuan finished in fifteen minutes, while Du Zihang took an hour. Clearly, Lu Chuan is the talented one. What else is there to say?"
...
Du Zihang's face changed dramatically, immediately turning to look at Lu Chuan. "It's you! This can't be!"
Lu Chuan shrugged, "There's nothing that's impossible."
Du Zihang gritted his teeth, looking at Lu Chuan, and coldly said, "Your ability to identify everything is probably more about luck. In the final round, I'll make you understand the gap between you and me!"
Lu Chuan smiled, "I'll accompany you to the end."
At this moment, Chu Shanhe walked over and, after giving Lu Chuan a cold glance, said to Du Zihang, "Zihang, come with me for a moment."
The two went to a place where no one was around.
Du Zihang complained, "Uncle, that guy named Lu Chuan could actually identify everything, this is outrageous! He must have bribed the referees. There must be some conspiracy in this competition!"
Chu Shanhe turned around, looked at Du Zihang speechlessly, and said, "His skill level is higher than yours."
Du Zihang was stunned. "Uncle, are you kidding? Didn't you say he's just a low-level nobody?"
Chu Shanhe sighed, repeating what Zhou Siming had said.
Du Zihang found it hard to believe and tried to explain, "I... I actually knew the medicine was from eight years, I just thought no one could compete with me, so I casually wrote a range..."
Chu Shanhe's expression froze briefly, then he directly skipped the topic and said, "Regardless, Lu Chuan's level is indeed higher than yours. The first place in this competition determines whether you can obtain the position of associate professor, so you can't afford to lose."
He handed a note to Du Zihang.
"This is the answer to the final question. Memorize it. When the final starts, you should immediately say the answer, so everyone knows you're no worse than Lu Chuan."
Du Zihang's face was full of unwillingness. Naturally, he wanted to win over Lu Chuan with his own abilities, but in the end, he reluctantly took the note. "Got it."
...
After a short break, a middle-aged man in a horse robe called Lu Chuan and Du Zihang in front of everyone.
Du Zihang looked at Lu Chuan with a complicated expression, took a deep breath, and muttered to himself, "Even if you're better than me, the first place still belongs to me in the end. Networking is also part of strength. I deserve to be first!"
The middle-aged man picked up the microphone.
"Everyone, the final is about to begin!"
"Please have the staff bring the eighteen-herb soup!"
Two staff members brought bowls of soup to Lu Chuan and Du Zihang respectively.
The middle-aged man explained what the eighteen-herb soup was.
"Whoever can identify the herbs in the eighteen-herb soup most accurately and quickly will be today's winner. Everyone here is a witness!"
"No more words, the final starts now!"
As the middle-aged man's words fell, Lu Chuan and Du Zihang each picked up the soup.
Du Zihang first smelled and then tasted the soup, immediately furrowing his brows.
"This soup tastes strange. It's incredibly difficult to identify the herbs, let alone determine the year. Luckily, I already know the answer."
He glanced at Lu Chuan, a cold smile on his face. "This guy, even if he's skilled, facing such a tricky soup, he definitely won't be able to identify it quickly. This time, it's my turn to amaze everyone!"
After pretending to identify the soup for a while, he picked up a pen and started writing on the paper.
"Angelica, five years..."
At the same time, Lu Chuan also picked up a pen and began to write swiftly.
Du Zihang looked surprised. "How could he identify it so quickly? It's impossible. He must be pretending. I refuse to believe that I memorized the answer only to lose to him!"
He struggled to recall the content of the answer, taking a long time to remember the year of some of the herbs.
Just as he was trying hard to remember the year of the twelfth herb, Lu Chuan stopped writing and loudly declared, "I'm done!"
Du Zihang suddenly looked up, unable to believe his eyes as he looked at Lu Chuan, muttering to himself, "How is this possible? His speed of identification... faster than my speed of memorization?"
He took a deep breath, watching Lu Chuan muttering, "Although he writes fast, it doesn't necessarily mean it's correct. But the twelve herbs I wrote must be right. The first place must be mine!"
At this point, the middle-aged man walked over, collected the papers from both of them, and handed them to Zhou Siming.
After comparing the answers of the two, Zhou Siming's face revealed a joyful smile. He stood up and announced, "The winner is Lu Chuan! He correctly identified all eighteen herbs and their years!"
After speaking, he glanced at Chu Shanhe with a smile, obviously saying that his nephew was disappointing, but it wasn't their fault.
Chu Shanhe squinted his eyes, almost grinding his teeth. He wanted to rush up and slap Du Zihang a few times. Even with the answer copied, he still couldn't win. He couldn't believe such a fool was his nephew!
Lu Chuan smiled playfully and walked up to Chu Shanhe, asking, "Uncle, are you still going to maintain your bias against me now?"
Chu Shanhe stared at Lu Chuan in silence for a moment before saying, "You only have talent in identifying herbs. Maybe it can give you a good life, but it won't give you the capital to stand on an equal footing with Meng Yao."
"Your little pride is still a joke in my eyes."
Lu Chuan chuckled, clasping his hands, "I didn't expect Uncle to be so stubborn. Well, let's wait and see!"
Chu Shanhe's face darkened a bit, then he turned away in anger. "Arrogant! Unreasonable!"
Lu Chuan felt a burst of satisfaction but suddenly furrowed his brows. At the moment Chu Shanhe turned around, he saw an increase in the black veins in his eyes, rapidly spreading.