Chapter 302 Hundred Herbs Hall
After lunch, the four of them went about their own tasks.
Kong Wange composed herself and headed towards Baicaotang.
Baicaotang, as the name suggests, is a place for storing and cultivating medicinal herbs.
Yudao Academy has specially set up a large medicinal garden outside Baicaotang to grow and cultivate medicinal herbs, while inside Baicaotang, eighty percent of the academy's medicinal herbs are stored.
Anyone who wants to obtain medicinal herbs from here needs to register and report their information.
The architectural style of Baicaotang leans towards that of an ancient courtyard house, except that it lacks a surrounding wall, and two rows of large characters are carved on the pillars on either side of the main entrance—
Southern ginseng and northern astragalus pills promote longevity.
The Tibetan fritillary bulb on the shelf brings back youth.
At the very top of the plaque are three powerful characters: Baicaotang (Hundred Herbs Hall).
Upon entering, one is greeted by a spacious courtyard with several side rooms on the left and right sides. The doors of two of these rooms are half-open, and Kong Wange can immediately see that there are about ten rows of shelves of various sizes inside, with hundreds or even thousands of medicine boxes on them.
Apart from that, I didn't see a single person.
She hesitated for a moment, just about to go and check the few side rooms next door that didn't have any medicinal herbs, when she heard a door creak open and a young girl walked out.
The girl had two braids in her hair, and two round, big eyes peeked out from under her wispy bangs. Her face was slightly chubby...
She was carrying a basin of water out to pour it out. After she finished, she turned around and came face to face with Kong Wange.
The two looked at each other for two seconds, and then almost simultaneously exclaimed in surprise.
"Miss!"
"Zhou Qiao?"
Kong Wange really didn't expect to see Zhou Qiao here.
At the Ling Shu Competition, this cute little girl who didn't get along with Wen Xiaoxiao left a deep impression on her. She thought the girl had a likable personality and was sweet and adorable, but unfortunately, she didn't get into the Imperial Academy. She thought the two of them would probably never see each other again, but she never expected to meet her here.
The other person clearly recognized her as well, and Zhou Qiao ran over with a look of surprise and delight: "Miss, it seems we are quite destined to meet again."
Kong Wange was also happy to see Zhou Qiao: "Yes, but what are you doing at the Imperial Academy?"
Zhou Qiao scratched her head: "It's a long story. I failed the Ling Shu Competition, and my parents wanted me to get into the Imperial Academy. Since I couldn't get in on my own, they just put me in my grandfather's place."
Kong Wange was stunned for a moment: "Your grandfather?"
"Yes, my grandfather looks after the medicinal herbs here. He also likes to study medicine making. My parents wanted me to come and learn some skills from him."
Zhou Qiao sighed as she spoke: "Sigh, I'm a complete academic failure, but they insist on forcing me to be a top student. Qiao Qiao is suffering."
Kong Wange couldn't help but laugh out loud: "Parents all want their daughters to succeed, it's understandable."
“But I don’t want to be a phoenix, I just want to be a salted fish. It’s so hard for me.” Zhou Qiao sighed, then looked at Kong Wange with great interest: “Speaking of which, Miss, you are quite lucky. You ranked 205th in the written test, but you still made it all the way to the finals and got into the Imperial Academy.”
Kong Wange nodded perfunctorily: "Uh, luckily, luckily."
"Miss," Zhou Qiao said with a smile, "may I ask how old you are this year?"
"I'm twenty-six this year, you must be younger than me, right?"
Zhou Qiao nodded: "I'm only twenty-two this year, so I'll call you Sister Kong from now on! By the way, Sister Kong, did you come to Baicaotang to pick up medicine? If so, go over there to register, and I'll get whatever you need for you!"
Kong Wange waved her hand: "I'm not getting the medicine. I'm here to help fertilize the medicinal herb fields because I was assigned by the hospital."
"Huh?" Zhou Qiao was stunned for a moment, then her face scrunched up like a wrinkled eggplant: "Sister Kong, you're in trouble, how did you end up taking on our mission?"
Kong Wange asked curiously, "Why do you say that too? I've seen many people who don't want to come here. Why is that? Is there some other hidden task to complete besides fertilizing the medicine field?"
"No, this task is definitely not difficult. The main problem is my grandfather. He has a very strange personality and is very difficult to deal with!" Zhou Qiao stuck out her tongue.
Kong Wange smiled and said, "Is it really that difficult? Even your own granddaughter says so. Now I'm actually a little curious."
Zhou Qiao sighed and complained, "He has nothing else to offer, but he's good at finding fault! Several students have come before, and he would say that their ugly appearance scared his herbs, or that the way or amount of fertilizer they used was wrong and killed his herbs. He can always find something wrong with them. I have never seen anyone who satisfies him enough to get credits."
"Last time, he made a little girl cry. She was all teary-eyed. But my grandpa turned around and said she was being dramatic and making a fuss. He told her to do what she could and if she couldn't, she should go back home. The little girl was so upset. I had to comfort her for a long time."
Listening to Zhou Qiao's complaints, Kong Wange couldn't help but feel that she was also difficult to deal with.
Tsk, could it be that she really can't complete this mission?
"Sister Kong, how about this?" Zhou Qiao said, then suddenly had a brilliant idea: "My grandfather has gone out to Mount Ling to gather herbs. While he's away, you can go and do the work that needs to be done. When he comes back, you can just have him sign it. He won't be able to see the process of you doing it, so he won't be able to find fault with you!"
Kong Wange hesitated and asked, "Will this work?"
"Hey, don't worry, I'll put in a good word for you when he gets back. Besides, Sister Kong, you're so capable, maybe my grandpa won't be able to find fault with you!"
Kong Wange thought for a moment and asked, "When is your grandfather coming back?"
"It's hard to say. Recently, a friend of his is recuperating here and urgently needs a certain medicinal herb to cure him. These past few days, he has been going to the mountain to look for the herb every day, and he usually doesn't come back until six or seven o'clock when it gets dark."
What kind of medicinal herbs does Baicaotang not have? Do we have to go out and find them ourselves?
Although Kong Wange had her doubts, she was too embarrassed to ask too much about other people's business, so she nodded lightly and asked, "Is the area of the medicinal herb field that needs fertilization large?"
"It's alright. It's about half an acre to the east of the main gate."
If we work quickly, we can finish half an acre before sunset.
Kong Wange considered it for a moment, then agreed with Zhou Qiao's plan, saying decisively, "Okay, Qiaoqiao, let's do it your way, let's act first and ask questions later!"
"Okay, I'll go get you the tools right away. Sister Kong, when you're fertilizing, you need to be careful because this is clay soil, so you need to use more fertilizer than usual. Also, the patch of herbs on the right has been growing for many years, so you can't use just nitrogen fertilizer; you need to switch to well-rotted organic fertilizer..."
While getting tools for Kong Wange, Zhou Qiao told her a lot of things to be aware of. Some of these things Kong Wange already knew, while others she really didn't.
She took Zhou Qiao's advice to heart. The two went out and arrived at the edge of the medicinal herb field to the east. Zhou Qiao pointed out to her, "This is it, Sister Kong. When you're fertilizing, remember to rest. The sun has been really strong lately. Wear this hat to shield yourself from the sun and don't get heatstroke."
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