Soon, the Young Physician of China Competition formally requested for tenders from the sponsors and advertisers.

  Since it was organized by the Central Television and it was a large event that had never been held in the history of Chinese Medicine, it had already garnered a lot of attention, and thus, many major Chinese Medicine suppliers, health products suppliers, and suppliers of medicinal goods fought intensely to win a slot.

  Ultimately, the sponsorship and advertisement fees far surpassed the expectations of the production company. They managed to cover their production costs and even made a huge profit.

  The production company was surprised by the result and this made them feel even more confident about the audience’s reception of the Young Physician of China Competition.

  They had the support of so many people and enough money to cover their production costs.

  Thus, they would have to make sure that the competition was a success!

  They would have to make sure that the viewership ratings of this competition were high enough!

  Soon, the entire production team was extremely excited.

  Under such circumstances, the producer of this competition who was also the director immediately instructed his staff that they had to go all out to invite the person who they had extended the invite too.

  The production team used this tactic to increase awareness of their competition and also increased the number of posts online about this competition before the competition even took place……

  Time flew by and soon, the 15th day of the lunar new year had passed.

  There was a new post on the competition’s official Weibo account after midnight on the 15th day of the lunar new year.

  “# Young Physician of China Competition# will begin accepting applications on the 1st of March. The production team and the committee have decided that the competition will be held in all universities of Chinese Medicine across the country and from there, we will select the participants of this competition. We also welcome applications from practicing Chinese Medicine physicians!”


  Since they had already released the preview ahead of time, this post attracted the attention of many people.

  “As expected of the Central Television, they are big enough to be able to host such a large-scale competition.”


  “Yes, this is worthy of being a national competition.”


  “If they will be independently selecting the participants from every University of Chinese Medicine located in each province, wouldn’t this be a scale that is too large to handle? Especially since it is just the initial selection.”


  “I don’t think anyone else with the exception of the Central Television will be able to pull this off.”


  “More importantly, the Young Physician of China Competition has garnered a lot of attention so they don’t need to spend too much time promoting this competition in order to get the support of the various Universities of Chinese Medicine. After all, this is a good opportunity for the various universities of Chinese Medicine to show off their talented students, so why would they turn down their request?”
……

  On the other hand, the leaders of the various Universities of Chinese Medicine had already received this news ahead of time but they couldn’t help but feel nervous when they saw how much attention this post was getting online.

  After all, this wasn’t just a simple initial selection process of the Young Physician of China Competition, this competition would be used to formalize the national ranking!

  In the past when there wasn’t such a large-scale event, they were ranked by the amount of research papers they churned out and the rates of success of their research.

  However, would there still be anyone who looked at the previous rankings now that there was a Young Physician of China Competition in place?

  Everyone knew that this had nothing to do with university rankings but they also knew that once the competition started, whichever university achieved a better ranking with more students in the running would be thought of as the better university.

  If the competition could produce such clear results, who would look at official rankings?

  The result of the competition would reveal the ranking of the universities!

  This was the fact of the matter; and who would be paying attention to this competition?

  Naturally, it would be those who were interested in Chinese Medicine!

  Thus, the university with a better result in the competition and with more talented students in the running would be able to gain more fame and glory through this competition.

  If they achieved good results and rankings in the competition, they would naturally also receive the acknowledgment of those interested in Chinese Medicine. This would result in a higher number of applications and more funding from the government in the future.

  These points showed that it was a huge celebration of Chinese Medicine to the general public, a grand event that could be used to raise awareness of Chinese Medicine to the Chinese Medicine physicians, and a rare opportunity for the participants of this competition to meet and learn from each other, but to these universities of Chinese Medicine, this was a battleground, a battle they would go all out to win!

  How could they remain calm as the battle drew closer?

  Soon, the various Universities of Chinese Medicine across the country immediately held meetings at the leadership level. Those who had been allowed to leave the campus for the holidays were called back and there were urgent meetings held throughout all these universities to discuss how they should handle this upcoming competition and how to raise the standards of their students before the competition formally began……

  The next morning.

  The rules of this competition had garnered a lot of interest and more people started to follow the official Weibo account after the news was made public the night before.

  A large majority of the comments under the post that detailed the rules of the competition were urging the organizer to reveal the first participant who had been invited to join the competition while there was a small portion of the comments making inquiries on the rules of the competition.

  Everyone had their own theories and conjectures as to who this mysterious participant would be.

  At noon, the official Weibo account finally released a post to respond to the public’s curiosity.

  “# Young Physician of China Competition# The first participant of this competition is @Who do you think you are! Fang Qiu!”


  “After consultations with the production team and the organizing committee, we’ve decided that Fang Qiu does not need to participate in the initial selection and qualification rounds. He will immediately progress to the top 50!”


  It was a simple post that only had one sentence.

  However, this immediately created a stir online.

  “It’s him!”


  “I can’t believe it’s him. Why didn’t I think of him earlier?”


  “He would indeed be worthy of participating in this competition and he is definitely skilled enough to progress.”


  “Everyone still remembers the competition of the pulse of pregnancy. Fang Qiu is so incredibly talented that he is definitely worthy of progressing to the top 50 immediately!”


  “I’ve waited a long time for you, Fang Qiu.”


  “I knew it!”


  “Haha, who would be able to compete against Fang Qiu when it comes to the younger generation of Chinese physicians? Who else would they invite but him?”
……

  Everyone engaged in a heated discussion.

  Naturally, a large majority of the general public was supportive of this decision because they had to admit that he was incredibly skilled. Moreover, if Fang Qiu hadn’t won in the pulse of pregnancy competition, this competition might not even have been held. The person who originated this competition was none other than Fang Qiu.

  Everyone thought that Fang Qiu progressing directly to the top 50 was something that was both surprising and also within expectations.

  They were surprised because they hadn’t heard news about Fang Qiu for a long time, so they had almost forgotten about him.

  It was also completely reasonable because no one could compete with Fang Qiu amongst the young Chinese physicians throughout the country.

  At least this was how the general public felt!

  Soon, the news that Fang Qiu had been selected by the committee to progress directly to the top 50 spread throughout the entire Chinese Medicine community.

  The prominent physicians who heard this news had high expectations of Fang Qiu.

  After all, Fang Qiu had brought honor to Chinese Medicine through the pulse of pregnancy competition and everyone also knew that he had won after only spending two or three days studying. His talent and aptitude were unparalleled.

  Although he was regarded as a genius by the prominent physicians, the other young and talented Chinese physicians did not think that highly of him.

  In a pavilion located in an ancient medicine garden in a county.

  “Fang Qiu!”


  A young man who wore a white historical robe with blue threads and sported a head of long, flowing locks arched his brow when he saw the news on Weibo. He was sitting in front of a wooden table and exuded a strong herbal scent. Then, his brows relaxed and he muttered, “I don’t understand why my master refuses to let me show off my talents. However, since my master didn’t stop me from taking part in this competition, does it mean that it is time for me to claim my spot as the leader among the young Chinese physicians?”


  He smiled and said calmly, “Fang Qiu, wait for me. I’ll show you how highly-skilled I am!”
……

  In a yard that was also very fragrant, a young man with shorn locks glanced at his phone after he finished preparing a tonic.

  “Humph,” he scoffed coldly and said. “These days, there are way too many quacks claiming to be talented physicians. As a talented physician from a family of prominent physicians, I don’t even generate so much publicity for myself. Fang Qiu is clearly stirring trouble for himself. This competition will be interesting.”
……

  On a small mountain road, a young man in his 20s with ripped jeans and a red hooded sweater seemed very fashionable but was in fact very dirty. His clothes were covered by a layer of dirt.

  His hands were stuck in his pockets as he trudged behind an elderly man with a white beard wearing a gray long robe and carrying a wooden walking stick.

  “Master, did you just agree?”


  The young man held his phone and asked, “Did you just give your permission for me to participate in the Young Physicians of China Competition?”


  “First, you’ll need a good wash,” the bearded elderly man said. “Then, you must win the competition!”


  “Don’t worry,” the young man said with a chuckle. “Young people these days do not know what the true meaning of a skilled physician is anymore. He had only won the competition of the pulse of pregnancy and now, everyone thinks that he’s a genius. They even named him the leader of young Chinese physicians. What an exaggerated title. Watch me as I take him down. I’ll let everyone know the meaning of a true Chinese physician and a true talented Chinese physician!”


  “Hmm?” The bearded elderly man stamped his walking stick on the ground and looked at the young man in annoyance.

  “I was wrong, I was wrong,” the young man immediately shook his head and said, “I shouldn’t be arrogant. True physicians should have empathy for their patients and be morally upright. I shouldn’t seek revenge nor should I bear hatred in my heart!”


  “Humph,” the elderly man scoffed and continued to make his way forward.

  The young man smiled sheepishly and glanced at Fang Qiu’s name on his phone before a look of disdain flashed past his eyes……

  At a University of Chinese Medicine.

  “I heard that Fang Qiu came in first in a competition testing the knowledge of students from eight different universities, so I guess he must truly be very talented. However, isn’t he afraid that he would be crushed by the competition since he had only gained fame from one competition— the pulse of pregnancy?”


  A student sat in front of his desk in a luxuriously decorated dorm as he browsed through Weibo on his laptop. “He only won the pulse of pregnancy competition. This is such a minor achievement……”


  “I would have been able to pull of the same feat if the school hadn’t stopped me from participating!”


  “However, this is a good chance for me to show the world what a true genius looks like. Talented Chinese physicians are not determined by one pulse of pregnancy!”