novelraw Chapter 661 - 663 Internal Strife
Chapter 661 - 663 Internal Strife
Chapter 661: Chapter 663 Internal Strife
Zhuge Zhi was puzzled about these clansmen studying the Compendium of Materia Medica, but after a moment, he completely let it go. To him, "Reading more books is always better than not reading at all."
As for whether they would stick with it, Zhuge Zhi held no expectations. They’re just posers who can’t endure hardship. They never studied properly when they were supposed to, so how could anyone expect them to genuinely research a book like the Compendium of Materia Medica?
Are they planning to become herbalists or herbal merchants? Zhuge Zhi was clueless. Even if one of them really wanted to go into the herbal business, he wouldn’t help them.
The members of the Zhuge Family had no idea that Zhuge Zhi held such thoughts. They’re now suffering as much as they can bear, staring at those thick books, and feeling like they’re going crazy.
It’s truly, incredibly difficult, even harder than reading arcane texts, but could they admit it? Of course not, especially hearing others boasting about how much they’ve read and then saying it isn’t hard at all.
Some people were panicking. After all, the elders had promised that whoever could win Zhuge Zhi’s favor and become his apprentice would get the lion’s share of his assets in the future.
Though nobody knew exactly how wealthy Zhuge Zhi was, seeing how well he ate, drank, and dressed clearly indicated his fortune wasn’t small. Even getting half of it would make them ecstatic.
The idea was great, but how to catch Zhuge Zhi’s eye was beyond them. They didn’t spend enough time with him, so aside from diligently memorizing the Compendium of Materia Medica, what else could they do?
Although each of them wanted to learn diligently, the results were minimal. In addition, listening to others boast about their progress, they too began to brag recklessly.
Regardless of whether they would satisfy Zhuge Zhi in the future, at least they couldn’t let the elders know they weren’t trying. Otherwise, life would be hard — they’d have no money, their meals would worsen, and they’d face various sarcastic comments, something they couldn’t bear.
Rumors slowly spread that it wasn’t surprising for Zhuge’s relatives to have a natural aptitude for medicine, leaving Gong Ruini and others flabbergasted.
Gong Ruini wasn’t interested in it, but to discover more medicinal herbs in the Northeast, she had flipped through the book’s few pages. It was genuinely abstruse and frustrating. How could these people seem to find it so easy to learn?
"It’s one thing to fool those who know nothing, but Grandpa Zhuge won’t care," Zhao Xuran said, seeing the conflicted expression on Gong Ruini’s face, thinking it was over the meal.
Whether Zhuge Zhi cared or not, Gong Ruini didn’t care now. She wondered, "Do they want to use public opinion?"
Use public opinion? What opinion? "Could it be they hope these rumors make Grandpa Zhuge believe in their efforts?"
"I glanced at the book, and it’s quite new," Zhao Guangran absolutely doubted that the books, looking so new, had been earnestly read or memorized by those people.
"Maybe they know less than we do," Zhao Guangran said reasonably. "But I’m curious: if they want Grandpa Zhuge to have confidence in them, shouldn’t they study medicine?"
"At least start with Chinese Medicine Basics, memorize some soup formulas," Zhao Guangran remarked. Though he wasn’t skilled in Chinese medicine, he knew that one should at least memorize an introductory text first.
"Though we don’t study medicine, we can recite the soup formulas," Zhao Guangran wasn’t bragging. They lacked talent, but they memorized the soup formulas fluently, enough to bluff others.
Instead of memorizing the soup formulas, they’re tackling something so difficult. It’s hard to understand their thinking, yet such foolishness could be favorable. If they were truly clever, would there be any chance for others?
"Stupidity is better; this way, I like them," Zhao Guangran said boldly.
"The dumber, the better," Zhao Guangran concluded.
Actually, he hadn’t noticed that someone was nearby in an alley. Even if they knew, what could they do? Could they reprimand them?
A young man emerged from the alley after Gong Ruini and the others walked away, staring at their backs and muttering, "Soup formulas?"
"Why not give it a try? There was no hope anyway."
The young man had considered whether Zhao Guangran was setting him up, but it seemed unlikely. He’d been hiding there long before, so Zhao Guangran couldn’t have known.
More importantly, the young man admitted Zhao Guangran was right. Grandpa Zhuge was a Chinese medicine practitioner; even if someone memorized the Compendium of Materia Medica, it wouldn’t relate at all to Chinese medicine.
Recalling some books he had at home, the young man became excited. He’d go back to study diligently. Even if he couldn’t win Grandpa Zhuge’s favor, he had survived without relying on the Zhuge Family’s help before.
Just as he was about to head home, he saw Zhuge Mingshan in the distance holding a book, murmuring to herself. She must have been memorizing the Compendium of Materia Medica, prompting him to quickly hide back into the alley.
Everyone knew Zhuge Mingshan was confident and believed she would be chosen by Grandpa Zhuge.
Don’t be fooled by those guys boasting and claiming how brilliant they were and how much they could read. He didn’t buy it.
Though he hadn’t read the entire book, just glancing at what he had, he knew that those fools couldn’t possibly understand it, not even the so-called family prodigy Zhuge Mingshan.
If anyone could truly be a rival, it was Zhuge Mingshan, and no one else.
After Zhuge Mingshan walked past, the young man waited quite a while before emerging from the alley, taking a long look at her retreating figure before quickly heading home.
Zhuge Mingshan was indeed focused, yet she felt as if someone was watching her. She quickly turned, but saw only a few old neighbors passing by, not a soul watching her.
"Am I being paranoid?" Zhuge Mingshan mumbled to herself after seeing nothing wrong for a while.
"Forget it, no need to dwell on it, better to keep memorizing. You can’t tell whether those guys are truthful or not."
Zhuge Mingshan was genuinely irritated. Previously dim-witted, they now all seemed like geniuses, managing to study the Compendium of Materia Medica thoroughly.
Of course, Zhuge Mingshan didn’t believe it, but her relatives’ various displays caused many resources at home to lean in their direction. Truly bewildering — the very fools who might someday embarrass themselves were being treated so indulgently.
Reluctantly, Zhuge Mingshan muttered to herself, "Don’t get angry, stay calm."
Even though she spoke this way, trying to soothe herself, she was troubled by the overt and covert undercurrents in the family and clan recently.
"Damn those guys, not studying seriously; they just keep bothering." Zhuge Mingshan didn’t want to memorize on the street.
But if she didn’t memorize on the street, where could she? At home, she was constantly interrupted. It seemed like they were scheming to leave her no time to study, employing such petty tactics, utterly disgusting.