Chapter 2419 — Easily Solved

After studying it a while, cold sweat broke out on Kang Zhaolong's forehead! But Kang Zhaolong was a PhD after all. Though he could not make sense of what the prescription was for, he did know what scorched betel nut was, so he said outright, "This scorched betel nut is one of the Four Scorched Immortals — namely scorched hawthorn, scorched malt, scorched medicated leaven, and scorched betel nut. The medicinal effects of these four are much the same: all are fine remedies for undigested food accumulation, poor appetite, and weak digestion! So this scorched betel nut could be replaced by any one of the other three among the Four Scorched Immortals — and as for the effect, it should be about the same!"

"Is that so?" Wang Xinyan nodded thoughtfully. "But what exactly is this prescription for? Why can't I make sense of it?"

"This prescription is basically for undigested food accumulation and poor appetite; it probably also soothes the liver and harmonizes the stomach," Kang Zhaolong said offhandedly.

"Once you make that substitution, the prescription's effect is greatly diminished! Undigested food accumulation and poor appetite — this is nothing of the sort. This is plainly a formula for stopping diarrhea and curing dysentery. Scorched betel nut has the property of stopping diarrhea and curing dysentery — where among the other drugs you named is there any such thing?" Wei Zhao shot Kang Zhaolong a glance and said coolly.

"You... then you tell me, what is this prescription for?" Kang Zhaolong's face soured at once at being talked down by Wei Zhao. Though Wei Zhao had a point — scorched betel nut did indeed possess that additional property — he felt Wei Zhao was quibbling. How could this prescription be called a formula for stopping diarrhea and curing dysentery?

"You can't make sense of this prescription? I'd have thought this was precisely what your Kang family does best." Wei Zhao glanced at Kang Zhaolong and explained, "Look at this prescription as two prescriptions split apart: one for stopping diarrhea and curing dysentery, and one for nursing and replenishing the body after the diarrhea and dysentery are stopped."

"Ah?" Kang Zhaolong was stunned. He looked closely — and was that not exactly the case? He had been bound by the habit of thinking one prescription, one effect, and had never once considered that these were two unrelated formulas kneaded into one. No wonder he could not make sense of it.

Only, Wei Zhao's remark that this was what the Kang family did best left Kang Zhaolong's face smarting. The Kang family's earlier weight-loss medicine had played exactly this sort of trick, and when Dr. Guan's Pharmaceutical later exposed it, it had become a tremendous disgrace for the Kang Divine Physician Pharmaceutical Company.

"Oh? So it was that simple..." Wang Xinyan said, suddenly enlightened. She had been mulling this problem over for several days; it was one of the thinking questions Chief Bai had assigned, though no standard answer had been provided.

It was said that among the bonus questions on the final exam, two would be picked at random from the bonus questions Chief Bai assigned during ordinary lessons and used as part of the exam. But these questions were all bizarre, and Chief Bai never supplied the answers — one had to wait until after the exam for the explanation — so the classmates could only puzzle them out on their own.

Wang Xinyan had originally meant to ask Wei Zhao, but then it occurred to her that he had not attended class for a long while and ought first to hurry and catch up on the lessons, so she had not asked. As it happened, Kang Zhaolong walked right into the line of fire.

Wang Xinyan's "so simple" was spoken from the heart. But when it fell on Kang Zhaolong's ears, it sounded thoroughly mocking — after all, Kang Zhaolong was a doctoral student, and the gulf between his learning and that of these ordinary undergraduates fresh into their first year was like heaven and earth!

Upstaged by Wei Zhao, and yet with no way to lose his temper or turn the tables, Kang Zhaolong could only swallow his vexation and accept it.

"Dr. Kang, you'd best go back and hit the books while you can, lest your thesis fail to pass," Wei Zhao said mildly.

"Ha... questions like this are really brain teasers — in everyday medical practice and research, they hardly ever come up. They can't be used as a standard of learning!" Kang Zhaolong said with a laugh. "On those TV shows, plenty of doctors can't answer the brain teasers either. That's perfectly normal."

Still, once he had said all that, it was nothing more than an excuse for his own blunder. He had no face left to stay on here, so after a few polite pleasantries, he slunk away in disgrace.

And You Panhu at this moment wore a look of utter misery! For no matter what he said, Han Jingyi simply paid him no heed — she ignored him outright!

Han Jingyi was at that moment calculating something on her tablet, utterly absorbed, in the posture of one who hears nothing beyond the window and devotes herself solely to the sages' books. Whatever You Panhu said, her face remained blank — she did not even raise an eyebrow!

In such a state, even if You Panhu had the gift of the gab, Han Jingyi simply played deaf and dumb.

"You Panhu, are you telling stories?" Having settled Kang Zhaolong, Wei Zhao turned to the endlessly chattering You Panhu and asked.

"Ha ha, of course not. I only wanted to discuss some thoughts on alchemy with classmate Han Jingyi. We're all alchemists here, after all — the more we exchange, the better," You Panhu said.

"Oh, well, Han Jingyi has lately run into a bottleneck in her alchemy, and she's absorbed in calculating something. It's only natural she didn't hear you. She often doesn't hear me either when I speak to her." Then, as if afraid You Panhu would not believe him, Wei Zhao called out, "Han Jingyi?"

Han Jingyi did not answer, only buried her head and kept calculating.

"I see..." You Panhu nodded half in belief, half in doubt. After all, Wei Zhao had called Han Jingyi's name and she had not answered either; if he said she was absorbed, then it really might be so.

"That's right." Wei Zhao nodded solemnly, laughing inwardly. Han Jingyi was no fool after all — she knew how to play along with him.

"Then what bottleneck has she run into? Tell me, and I'll go consult my grandfather. We can discuss it and then I'll pass it on to her," You Panhu asked, still unwilling to let it go.

"Her? Well, she has indeed run into some trouble — only she doesn't want to trouble others," Wei Zhao said with feigned difficulty. "Because this matter really is quite troublesome. Even I am powerless to help."

"Oh? Even you can't manage it?" You Panhu perked up at once at Wei Zhao's words. He had seen with his own eyes how Wei Zhao had overwhelmed Kang Zhaolong earlier, so at this moment he too feared Wei Zhao might pull the same sort of trick and squeeze him out as well!

So You Panhu had been cautious. Hearing Wei Zhao say Han Jingyi had run into trouble, he had not rashly claimed he could solve it, but said he would go back and discuss it with his grandfather — which also guarded against Wei Zhao's suddenly producing some difficult problem to stump him.

But when he heard Wei Zhao say that Wei Zhao too was powerless, You Panhu was delighted!

"That's right. But Han Jingyi feels this matter is quite troublesome, so best not to trouble you. She'll work it out slowly on her own," Wei Zhao said.

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