At the pharmaceutical department of the Super Divine Potion Shop.
Bai Xiaowen wiped the glass window meticulously, but his eyes were scanning the medicinal herbs under the window. His left eye glowed slightly red, and information about the medicinal herbs flowed into his mind.
[Silver Leaf Grass]
[Grade: 1]
[Year: 3 years and 7 months]
[Composition: Energy composition (life particles) 12.7%, Plant fibers 85.1%, Impurities (tough skin tissue, phosphorus, water, etc.) 2.2%]
"Silver Leaf Grass is the most basic medicinal herb. It grows in dark and damp places. Because the leaves contain phosphorus, they emit a weak silver light."
Bai Xiaowen recalled the knowledge he had learned in the general knowledge class and used the information obtained by his Insight talent to verify it.
"Silver Leaf Grass contains life particles and is one of the concoctions for the Silverlight Potion. The effect of the Silverlight Potion is to restore a certain amount of life, but it's only at Grade 1, so it's not very useful for Awakened."
Bai Xiaowen had already worked part-time for a week in the pharmaceutical department of the Super Divine Potion Shop. With his Insight and super brain, he had memorized the composition of hundreds of herbs and the proportions of each ingredient for various potions.
However, concocting a potion required more than just mixing a few medicinal ingredients. The sequence, placement time, temperature control, and so on all required rich experience and insight. Bai Xiaowen was only a part-time apprentice at the bottom of the hierarchy. He was not qualified to be a pharmacist's assistant and could not enter the concoction room. Naturally, he could not see the process of concocting the potion.
Now, the opportunity had come.
The assistant to Sun Hecheng, a senior pharmacist in the pharmaceutical department, had successfully passed the assessment and was promoted to a junior pharmacist.
Zheng Li, who had just become a pharmacist, needed an assistant, and there was also a vacancy in Sun Hecheng's assistant slot. This meant that the pharmaceutical department had two more assistant slots.
For the past few days, the apprentices in the pharmaceutical department had been restless. Unlike Bai Xiaowen, the other apprentices were more or less university graduates. It was easy for them to find a formal job, so why did they come here to do odd jobs? Obviously, they wanted to learn pharmaceuticals.
Becoming an assistant was the first step in learning pharmaceuticals, and also the most important step.
However, it was not that easy to be an assistant. According to the rules, the applicants had to participate in a strict written test first. Then, they had to attend an interview. The pharmacist would choose three candidates who had done well in the written test and interview them at the same time. Finally, the pharmacist himself would choose an assistant from among them. The competitive pressure was even more intense than the civil servant examination in another time and space.
And tonight, at eight o'clock, was the written test time. Other than some apprentices who knew that there was no hope, most of them had already signed up. No one was willing to miss this opportunity.
Not far away from Bai Xiaowen, a group of experienced apprentices were talking to each other at a table.
"I'm just there to make up the number for the selection process. I don't have much hope of getting chosen."
"That's right. There are more than a hundred people fighting for two spots. The competition is too intense. Our chances are not high."
"I think the most confident candidate is Boss," someone said.
That person was referring to Fan Renjie. At that moment, he was sitting in the middle of the apprentices. Fan Renjie had some background in the Super Divine Potion Shop and had a domineering influence over the apprentices. He formed his own gang and was the head of all the apprentices who worked in the pharmaceutical department hall. Hence, when speaking to him, the apprentices would respectfully address him as Boss.
Hearing everyone's discussion, Fan Renjie waved his hand and said, "You're all mistaken. It seems like there are two spots, but there's actually only one spot."
"Huh?"
"Why is that?"
Bai Xiaowen perked up his ears as well.
Fan Renjie slowly said, "Do you know Zheng Sen? The one who came two months ago? He's Zheng Li's cousin. It was also Zheng Li's recommendation that allowed him to enter our pharmacy. Now that Zheng Li has been promoted to a pharmacist, don't you think he'll choose his cousin to be his assistant?"
The surrounding people sighed. When the pharmaceutical department was selecting assistants, the opinion of the pharmacist himself was very important. If Zheng Li insisted on making a certain apprentice an assistant, the shop would not object. With the Zheng cousins having such a close bond, it was more or less guaranteed that Zheng Sen would become Zheng Li's assistant.
Fan Renjie said with a hint of disdain, "From the beginning, I didn't think much of Zheng Li's spot. He's just a pharmacist who has just advanced. How knowledgeable can he be? But Master Sun is different. He is a high-level pharmacist. He's knowledgeable and his success rate in pharmaceutical production is ranked in the top three in our department. A great teacher produces a talented disciple. Only under Master Sun's mentoring can one have one's day."
"That's right. If Boss becomes Master Sun's assistant, he will probably finish his apprenticeship in less than a year. Don't forget to give guidance and support to us when the time comes." The few apprentices surrounding Fan Renjie praised him repeatedly, as if Fan Renjie had been promoted to assistant.
Fan Renjie's face was filled with pride. He looked around. Suddenly, he noticed Bai Xiaowen, who was wiping the display window. He frowned slightly.
A few days ago, the supervisor Fan Jianwei, who had just left the pharmacy, mentioned Bai Xiaowen in a private meeting with him.
Although Fan Jianwei did not elaborate, Fan Renjie could roughly guess that Fan Jianwei's resignation was related to Bai Xiaowen.
The Fan family had a strong background in the Super God Guild. This was also the reason why Fan Jianwei was not severely punished by the Law Enforcement Department. As a distant relative of Fan Jianwei, Fan Renjie was a fawning bootlicker to him.
After hearing Fan Jianwei's "grievance", Fan Renjie promised to teach Bai Xiaowen a lesson and chase him out of the Super Divine Potion Shop.
Over the past week, Fan Renjie and his gang had caused a lot of trouble for Bai Xiaowen. However, Bai Xiaowen worked tirelessly without complaint, and he did impeccable work. He was even more outstanding than some experienced apprentices. This gave Fan Renjie no chance to make things difficult for Bai Xiaowen.
A plump apprentice followed Fan Renjie's gaze and saw Bai Xiaowen. He looked about and quickly thought of an idea to please his boss. He waved his hand and said, "Bai Xiaowen, come here! Clean up all the potion cabinets on this side."
The potion cabinet had various compartments for storing medicinal herbs within it. There were more than a thousand compartments, so it was definitely not easy to clean them up.
Bai Xiaowen slowly straightened his back and threw away the rag in his hand. He glanced at the plump apprentice.
"What are you waiting for? Get a move on!" the plump apprentice shouted loudly. As a member of Fan Renjie's small gang, he was already used to ordering new apprentices.
"Why don't you go instead?" Bai Xiaowen asked.
The plump apprentice's face darkened.
"Oh, you are all grown up now! You even dare to rebel!" The surrounding people also started to jeer.
The plump apprentice's face turned red and he scolded angrily, "Who do you think you are? How can you compare to us? I've been in this industry for five years. Rookie, don't you know the rules?"
Bai Xiaowen pursed his lips and sneered. "You've been in the industry for five years. It's fine if you can't become a pharmacist, but you're not even an assistant. I really don't know how you spent your time here."
As a keyboard warrior, Bai Xiaowen was a professional when it came to attracting aggro. Today was an opportunity. He had already made sufficient preparations, so there was no need to bear their ill-treatment anymore.
"Y-you!" The fat apprentice was furious that Bai Xiaowen had brought that up and rubbed his nose in it.
Fan Renjie stood up and stared at Bai Xiaowen coldly. "Bai Xiaowen, go and wipe the potion cabinets. I said so."
Bai Xiaowen remained unbudging.
Fan Renjie's authority was challenged, so his tone became impolite. "We all have to participate in the assistant examination. We don't have time tonight. Who will do these chores if you don't do them? Even if the supervisor finds out, he'll think that you're at fault too!"
"Is that so?" Bai Xiaowen smiled playfully. "I'm sorry, I have to take the exam too, so I don't have time."
"What?"
"Did I hear that right?"
The few experienced apprentices beside Fan Renjie all let out shrieks.
Fan Renjie mocked, "Bai Xiaowen, who do you think you are? You've only been in the industry for a week, yet you want to be promoted to assistant? Dream on! An apprentice who has been in the industry for half a year doesn't even dare to sign up, yet you want to do so? Why don't you look at yourself in the mirror!"
"I've looked in the mirror before." Bai Xiaowen pursed his lips. "I'm much more handsome than you."
"You gigolo…" Fan Renjie looked at Bai Xiaowen's handsome face and felt a little discouraged, but more than that, he was angry. "Just you wait!"
The bell rang at eight o'clock.
Sun Hecheng appeared in the lobby of the pharmaceutical department. He had a righteous aura about him. The apprentices had already taken their positions.
"Are all the applicants here? Get ready for the exam." Sun Hecheng said briefly, then added, "Pharmacist Zheng Li has already chosen an assistant, so he won't be coming to host the assessment. There's only one assistant slot this time. I'll choose the top three scorers for the interview. Everyone, work hard."
There was a low murmur of conversations, and then the group of apprentices fell silent.