Chapter 13 (2/2)
Wang Qing, who was sitting next to him, gave him a piece of paper.
Shen Zhe hurried to copy the question, but then he was stunned. “The Masculine Sun Grass and the Purification White Lotus? Aren’t they the ingredients to make the body polishing liquid?”
He didn’t know much about other herbs, but he remembered those two clearly because he had just melted them the day before.
“Was this the question?”
He held his chin and recalled.
It seemed that he didn’t use any other things to refine them the day before, right?
Well, no, he did use oil!
After he inserted the Masculine Sun Grass, he added some oil to improve the temperature. That was when the Purification White Lotus had melted…
“Fantastic! I actually know this one…”
Confirming the question on his friend’s paper, Shen Zhe was quite excited.
He had thought that he was doomed, but it was a question he knew how to answer.
How lucky!
“I shouldn’t be too cocky even though I can answer it… I should study the pencil when the school is over. Something will happen sooner or later after I lose it…”
He realized that the pencil was gone in the morning, but he had little time to investigate it. He planned to conduct some tests when the school was over.
He was not certain that he could be that lucky, that every question he were to be asked would be something he knew.
Making the decision, he didn’t hesitate at all and simply wrote “oil” on the paper.
He was about to drop the brush, when he noticed that everyone else was running calculations.
Would it be too eye-catching if he were to submit the answer that quickly?
Should I write something more?
The paper was rather spacious, and it would take a lot of time to fill it up. Shen Zhe remembered how he refined the herbs the day before and wrote on.
“After the Masculine Sun Grass is put in, you need to lift the pot and keep it away from the fire. The remaining heat of the pot is enough to melt it. When you lift the pot, you’d better wear thick gloves, or cover the handle with a wet towel, in case your hands are hurt by the heat. If it’s still too hot, you can clutch the handle with pliers. However, I have never tried it in person, and I speculate that it could be inconvenient because you might accidentally drop the pot when you roll it. Also, you should wear a mask and a hat, because the grease and the smoke are rather overwhelming…”
Shen Zhe nodded as he wrote on.
It was his precious real-life experience. He was certain that it was a standard answer!
Smiling in satisfaction, he wrote on.
While his handwriting was not good with the brush, he didn’t think he would be beaten that day, because he had offered the answer.
“He knows the answer to this question…”
Ling Xueru, who was not getting anywhere, was astonished to see that Shen Zhe was writing fast.
Even she had a rough time producing a speculation and was not sure of its correctness.
However, Shen Zhe was getting more and more confident as he wrote on.
It seemed that he had been truly working hard in that semester, and would not be a bad student anymore.
Ling Xueru was satisfied and comforted again, being able to witness a classmate changing from a tailender to someone who could answer a question that she couldn’t.
She smiled and ignored him, focusing on her own calculations.
Not knowing that someone observed him, the more Shen Zhe wrote, the happier he was.
“…After the Purification White Lotus is put in, move the pot back to the fire. At that moment, the coal will be too hot for the pot. To prevent it from being burnt through, you have to pour an appropriate amount of oil…”
Shen Zhe hesitated when he wrote “appropriate amount”.
He had poured the oil randomly and didn’t measure it. It would be inaccurate to give a specific number. “Appropriate amount” sounded much better.
Every exam was a headache for him in his previous life, but he could pay attention to such tiny details at the moment. He was truly a new person!
No wonder everybody wanted to answer questions and impress the teacher. It truly felt great.
It seemed that he had taken the first step to becoming a real genius…
“Fire will spring when the oil enters the pot. After about three breaths, the Purification White Lotus will melt. Then, add a fair amount of pepper powder into the liquid, and the herbs will integrate perfectly… Right, don’t add too much salt, or the liquid will taste awful. This is my lesson. You must remember it carefully…”
The paper was filled up very soon.
He wrote all the steps he performed when he refined the herbs the day before, even with notes about the smell and intensity of the smoke.
Shen Zhe was finally relieved after it was done. He looked around, only to discover that a lot of students were still frowning. Some even hadn’t written anything yet.
“Don’t they know the answer?”
Shen Zhe scorned them.
They did not know the answer to such a simple question, yet they called themselves good students? How embarrassing!
“Is this a difficult question?”
Seeing that Wang Qing was also chewing his brush, puzzled, Shen Zhe asked him.