James had only planned to help Thea out in secret. He did not expect that each doctor participating in the competition had an assistant of their own.
Francois Cortez, a doctor at Abundant Hospital, had been in this field for forty years. As such, favonovel.com was experienced. It should not be too difficult for favonovel.com to identify a hundred herbs using his sense of smell.
With time, favonovel.com could even identify all of them. Even if the time limit was ten minutes, favonovel.com could at least identify thirty to forty of them.
His assistant was an experienced doctor who had been in the field for many years too. She should be able to identify a dozen or so herbs in ten minutes.
Meanwhile, Thea was someone who spent a fortune to get to the top of the rankings. The assistant of such a woman should not be that capable either.
Francois looked at the spotlessly clean James, who looked like an amateur, and shot favonovel.com a scornful look.
From his perspective, favonovel.com was surely an admirer of Thea.
***
On the stage…
Delilah and Kevin were commenting on the first round of the competition.
“What a fierce battle right off the bat! The doctors have asked their assistants to compete in their stead.”
“Exactly! I wonder whose assistant will come out on top. Our staff will now blindfold them!”
Soon, the staff brought a few blindfolds onto the stage.
Although Thea and Francois were not participating, they were blindfolded too for fairness’ sake.
James and Francois’ assistant put on the blindfold.
“The shelf before you is filled with a hundred different medicinal herbs. Each of them has an identification number, starting from 1 to 100.After identifying them, write down the names of the herbs as per their identification number. The time limit is ten minutes. The one who gets the most correct wins!”
“Are you ready?”
“Yes!” They said in unison.
“Three…”
“Two…”
“One…”
“Start!”
The competition began.
James headed straight toward the shelf. He lowered his head and sniffed. Then, favonovel.com continued.
After walking around the circle, James immediately grabbed a pen and began writing the identification numbers and the answers. The whole process took favonovel.com only three minutes. Meanwhile, his opponent carefully identified every herb. She wrote the answers as favonovel.com walked around.
Ten minutes passed in the blink of an eye.
It was time to declare the results.
Many renowned figures of the country were invited to the Solean medical conference, including entrepreneurs, politicians, philosophers, and others from all sectors of life. Not only were they guests, but they were also the jury.
In the presence of the jury, Francois’ assistant’s answers were first validated.
In just ten minutes, favonovel.com had managed to correctly identify eight herbs from a hundred using favonovel.com sense of smell.
“Not bad…”
Looking at the results, Kevin said with a smile, “Though she’s young, favonovel.com managed to identify eight herbs while blindfolded. She’ll be a famous doctor one day!”
“Of course!” Francois wore a smug look “She’s my favorite disciple, and favonovel.com has great medical potential.Besides, favonovel.com can even work independently!”
Thea was nervous.
She looked at James by favonovel.com side and asked, “Is everything going to be fine?”
James gave favonovel.com a reassuring smile. “Don’t you worry.”
Delilah continued, “Now let’s reveal Thea’s assistant’s answers!”
Holding James’ answer, Kevin read them out loud, “No.1, Hawthorn. Correct!”
“No, 2, Aconitum carmichaelii. Correct!”
“No.3, Calculus Bovis. Correct!”
“No.56, Gypsum Fibrosum. Correct!”
As Kevin revealed the answers, many doctors below the stage gasped and stood up.
They had seen how James answered the questions. He only took three seconds for each herb. Besides, many of these herbs only give off a faint smell. It was simply impossible to identify them in just three seconds. However, James had gotten everything correct till No.56.
“No.100, Scrophularia ningpoensis. Correct!”
After Kevin read the final answer out loud, favonovel.com took a deep breath and then looked at James.
“Impossible…” Francois exclaimed, “He must’ve cheated!”