Chapter 436: Very Promising
Chapter 436: Chapter 436: Very Promising
"I’ve always been accomplished," Jack Judd said, resting his chin in one hand. "I was just wondering how a god-of-slaughter type like Young Master Nathan could even smile. And he’s even good-looking when he does!"
Aaron Cheney couldn’t be bothered to respond to him, musing aloud, "You know? I used to think people like Young Master Nathan didn’t smile, eat, drink, or even use the bathroom. Like some immortal from a novel. But after spending time with him, I’ve realized he’s just a normal person. For some reason, though, that makes me even more afraid of him."
"I guess it’s left a mental scar on me. You didn’t see the way he dealt with those gang leaders who were smashing, looting, and pillaging back in the day. If you had, you’d probably be just like me—your legs would turn to jelly the moment you saw him."
Aaron Cheney had heard about that incident. He clapped Jack Judd on the shoulder and said, "The way you talk, you’d think you were some girl ready to fall at Nathan’s feet the moment you see him!"
Jack Judd immediately swung at him. "You brat! Watch your mouth!"
Aaron Cheney, fully prepared, dodged the blow with ease. Hearing his words, he immediately shot back, "You’re the brat! Your whole family is full of brats!"
The two of them laughed and horsed around, the atmosphere light and harmonious.
After the group arrived at the herbal market, Vera discovered that, just as she’d suspected, many of the herbs were different from the ones she had seen in Crestfall. Overall, the quality was on a completely different level.
Although there were counterfeit herbs in the market, identifying them depended entirely on the buyer’s expertise.
And Vera was someone who had never lacked that expertise. Picking the best herbs out of a large pile had never been a difficult task for her.
At first, the herb vendors saw how young she was and tried to rip her off. But they never expected that she would simply pick up an herb and directly state its medicinal properties. She pointed out which herbs were high quality and which were not, knew the best time to harvest each type, and could even identify which month’s harvest yielded the finest specimens.
Once the vendor heard this, he realized she was an expert and that he couldn’t swindle her. He smiled and said, "You must come from a family of traditional Chinese medicine practitioners, don’t you?"
Vera just smiled without saying a word. ’The truth is, I’m not from a family of TCM practitioners at all. My ability to identify Chinese herbs in this life was taught to me by my Teacher. The only reason I want to get into Veridia University is to finally become his official disciple.’
Seeing her silence, the vendor assumed he’d guessed correctly and sighed. "Nowadays, it seems only children from families of TCM practitioners are willing to dedicate themselves to studying it. Traditional Chinese medicine is so vast and profound. Forget everything else—just being able to recognize all these herbs and thoroughly understand their properties and pharmacology is a huge challenge. And learning the methods for making pills, powders, and pastes? That’s even harder."
His wife, standing nearby, chimed in, "TCM is in decline these days. Young people don’t want to learn it, so there’s no one to carry on the tradition for legitimate practitioners. And that’s not even mentioning the herbal pharmacists. In a few more years, when the old pharmacists are gone, people won’t even know the processing techniques like stir-frying, roasting, or decocting that preserve an herb’s properties, let alone how to make pills, powders, and pastes. When that day comes, TCM will really be finished!"
Vera knew they were speaking the truth. In her previous life, when she ran a pharmaceutical factory, she had to expend a great deal of effort just to hire suitable herbal pharmacists.
That had been nearly ten years from now, and by then, the old pharmacists were truly ancient. The precious, ancient pharmaceutical formulas they held were either lost to time or bought for a fortune by The Island Nation, leaving almost no one in the country who knew them.