9 A Top Student's Classic Line

All the apprentices stopped what they were doing and rushed to the north podium where Sun Hecheng was.

Pairs of nervous and expectant eyes stared at the test paper in Sun Hecheng's hand.

"These are the test papers for the candidates who have passed." Sun Hecheng waved the test papers in his hand and concluded, "The difficulty of this test is very high. The passing rate is less than 10%! Next, I will call the names of those who have passed. Those whose names I've called can come forward and collect your test paper. Those who failed can come and collect your papers after that."

The apprentices whose names were called suppressed the excitement in their hearts and went on stage to take the test papers.

"How many marks did you get?"

"Only 65 marks, I barely passed. What about you?"

"I only got 61 marks…"

Fan Renjie received the test paper with his name written on it. He looked at the bright red "76" on the test paper again and felt smug. A few people beside him came over to congratulate him.

"Impressive, Boss. You can get so many marks despite it being such a difficult paper."

"Lousy students like us can only look up to him."

"Boss should have gotten first place with this score, right?"

Fan Renjie grinned from ear to ear and said, "We have to wait and see. Who knows? Maybe there'll be someone who scored higher than me."

As the number of test papers in Sun Hecheng's hands decreased, the apprentices who were not called became increasingly nervous and uneasy. Finally, the last test paper in Sun Hecheng's hand was distributed, and sighs sounded in the hall.

Fan Renjie glanced at Bai Xiaowen and confirmed that he did not get the test paper. He was very proud of himself. He looked at Bai Xiaowen's calm expression and snorted. "Let's see how long you can pretend," he thought.

Fan Renjie raised his voice and said to Sun Hecheng on stage, "Master Sun, can you reveal which three people entered the interview?"

Everyone pricked up their ears.

Sun Hecheng pondered for a few seconds and waved his hand. "Not three. There's only one."

"What? Only one person entered the interview?" All the apprentices were confused.

Sun Hecheng explained, "The top three students in this exam have a huge disparity in score, so I think there's no need to select three candidates and interview them. The first place in this written test will, without a doubt, be promoted to an assistant. There's no need to waste time."

Fan Renjie was so excited that his heart was pounding wildly. After asking around, he realized that nobody had scored higher than him.

However, he still wanted Sun Hecheng to confirm his guess. Thus, he asked, "Master Sun, who got first? How many points did he obtain?"

Sun Hecheng glanced at Fan Renjie. Of course, he could see the anticipation on the latter's face. He nodded and smiled. "Your name is Fan Renjie, right? You scored 76 points. That's not bad. If you work harder in the future, you will have better opportunities."

"What… What do you mean?" Fan Renjie was dumbfounded. He seemed to have sensed something amiss from Sun Hecheng's words.

Sun Hecheng announced loudly, "The person who got first place in the written test is Bai Xiaowen. He scored full marks of 100 points." He lamented, "In fact, the answers that Bai Xiaowen had written can be considered perfect. His paper can be taken as an answer booklet. Even if it was me, I don't think I can fare better than him…"

Sun Hecheng paused for a moment to give everyone time to recover from their shock. Then, he continued, "I'll leave Bai Xiaowen's paper on the podium. You can compare it with your own. Bai Xiaowen, come with me."

The hall exploded into uproar.

Amidst the chaotic discussion, Fan Renjie's face turned pale. His brain seemed to have crashed just like how computer systems did. One thought kept repeating over and over in his mind. "Bai Xiaowen scored full marks. Bai Xiaowen scored full marks…"

"He actually scored 24 points higher than me…" Fan Renjie muttered to himself.

Bai Xiaowen glanced at him. "Do you think the gap between us is only 24 points?"

"You…" Fan Renjie widened his eyes and retorted, "Don't you know how to count?"

Bai Xiaowen snorted sarcastically. He smiled and said a classic line that all top scorers would say, "Remember, you scored 76 points because that's as far as your ability goes. I scored 100 points because the maximum points are only 100 points."

Bai Xiaowen stood up and followed Sun Hecheng to the pharmaceutical room. As the door closed, a group of apprentices—especially those from Fan Renjie's gang—felt disappointed. The people within the room were in a completely different league from those outside the room.

In the alchemy lab.

"Bai Xiaowen, you've been doing very well recently. Yesterday, the store manager even praised you for being composed and able to endure hardships. You'll be able to do well in life." Sun Hecheng smiled and gestured for Bai Xiaowen to sit down.

As the higher-ups in the store, the store manager and Sun Hecheng were completely aware of the internal politics happening in the store. However, they remained silent and turned a blind eye to it. However, this was a normal circumstance in the workplace. Which newcomer would not be bullied?

The store manager and Sun Hecheng thought that Bai Xiaowen, who was in his third year of high school, would lose his temper and start a conflict with the experienced apprentices. However, it turned out that their worries were unnecessary. Bai Xiaowen's performance was beyond their expectations, which made them think even more highly of Bai Xiaowen.

A bashful smile appeared on Bai Xiaowen's face. It was the same expression that a typical immature high school student would have when being praised by a senior. Bai Xiaowen cursed inwardly. He felt that it was shameful for him to act cute.

"I have a question," Sun Hecheng said. "You've only been in the pharmaceutical department for a week. You probably haven't seen the herbs for the last five questions, nor have you actually handled them, right? How did you answer those questions?"

Bai Xiaowen thought for a moment. He did not mention that he had memorized the encyclopedia of pharmaceuticals within a week. After all, that would be shocking news.

"My father taught me some concoction basics when I was young. I taught myself the rest," Bai Xiaowen lied.

Sun Hecheng smiled and said, "So it's because of your family background. What's your father's name and where does he work now?" He thought that Bai Xiaowen's father was one of his peers in the pharmaceutical industry.

"His name is Bai Yuantang, and he has been missing for many years." Bai Xiaowen was telling the truth.

Sun Hecheng was filled with respect. In his heart, his impression of Bai Xiaowen was that he was a strong young man who would constantly toughen himself despite the great changes in his life.

"What a pity…" Sun Hecheng sighed. "No wonder you were able to identify the Stone Skin Potion and the Gargoyle Power Potion and see through Fan Jianwei's tricks. It turns out that you have such a good foundation."

"Thank you for your compliment, Master Sun. Did I pass your test?" Bai Xiaowen asked. He was still a little nervous. After all, his situation was different from most apprentices.

Sun Hecheng thought for a moment and said, "Your situation is rather special. You're a high school student who hasn't become a legal adult yet, so you can't sign a contract. Moreover, you cannot work from nine to five. Frankly speaking, it's not appropriate to take you in as an assistant."

Fortunately, Sun Hecheng did reject Bai Xiaowen. He added, "However, your written test result is really remarkable. It's rare to have an assistant who has a solid foundation and a calm temperament… Therefore, I'll give you a chance to try."

Bai Xiaowen nodded. "Please go ahead, Master Sun."

"Every day after you end school, I'll write down a list of potions that I want to concoct the next day. You'll prepare the herbs for me in advance," Sun Hecheng said solemnly. "This is an assistant's six-hour workload under normal circumstances. You have to complete it the night before. If you can't do it, I can only find someone else to replace you."

"No problem," Bai Xiaowen agreed without hesitation. If he could not finish the job within four hours, he would work night shifts. Bai Xiaowen refused to give up this opportunity.

"In addition, I'll prepare some more complicated potions at night. Sometimes, I will need you to deliver the herbs. That will take up extra time as you will need to do the preparations for the herbs. You have to be mentally prepared," Sun Hecheng reminded.

"Thank you, Master Sun. I will be able to do it." Bai Xiaowen was a little grateful. Sun Hecheng was taking care of him by adjusting his work arrangements.

The difficulty of concocting potions was different. Some simple potions could be completed by Sun Hecheng alone without the help of an assistant. However, some potions that had very strict requirements for fire control and timing could not do so. Pharmacists needed to constantly monitor the reaction of the concoction. Usually, even a delay of 0.5 seconds would lead to failure in concoction!

Complicated potions were even more precise than precision surgery. That was why they required an assistant to deliver the herbs and tools. Sun Hecheng was going to prepare the simple potion during the day and only do the complicated potion at night when Bai Xiaowen was around. Of course, he was doing that to be considerate of Bai Xiaowen. He knew that the latter would have homework.

Sun Hecheng smiled, seeing how grateful Bai Xiaowen was, and waved his hand dismissively. "It's getting late. You can go back first today. Work will officially begin tomorrow."

Bai Xiaowen walked out of the concoction room. Although the apprentices in the hall did not come over because of their pride, the way they looked at Bai Xiaowen had changed a lot. Many of them were convinced.

They had all seen Bai Xiaowen's perfect score, so they had to admit defeat.

Fan Renjie shrunk his neck and hid far away. The few members of the small group beside him were also busy with their own things and no longer surrounded him.

If the hearts of the people were scattered, it would not be easy for the leader to lead the team anymore.

Fan Renjie's heart was filled with sorrow. He was terrified that Bai Xiaowen would bring up the bet, so he could only hide behind the potion cabinets and hope that Bai Xiaowen would not notice him.

Bai Xiaowen glanced at him and walked over. "Clean up all the potion cabinets here."

Looking at the thousands of grids, Fan Renjie felt dizzy. "You…"

Bai Xiaowen interrupted calmly, "Why? Do you want to clean up the potion cabinets, or do you want to resign? Hurry up and do your job, or I'll change my mind."

Everyone looked at the two of them in shock.

As a newcomer and a high school student, Bai Xiaowen actually dared to order Fan Renjie around. Even if Bai Xiaowen had already been promoted to assistant, his behavior was still unreasonable.

With Fan Renjie's temper, the two of them would definitely have a conflict. There would be a good show to watch.

Unexpectedly, Fan Renjie shrunk his head and walked past Bai Xiaowen to clean up the potion cabinets.

Everyone was shocked.

The news of the bet quietly spread among the crowd, and only then did the apprentices come to a realization.

After Bai Xiaowen left the concoction room, Sun Hecheng made a call.

"Hello, Miss Li."

"Yes, the exam is over. Bai Xiaowen actually got first place."

"That's right. I'm surprised too. I've already agreed to let him be my assistant."

"Yes, Miss, you don't have to thank me. He's very talented and hardworking. He relied on his own ability to pass the test."

Sun Hecheng paused for a few seconds before saying in a concerned tone, "Miss, you have to be careful when you go to the Spiritual Realm to undergo the test. You should set off only when you're fully prepared. Master Zhang and I are looking forward to your return as an Awakened."