Tasting poisonous grass

  Ye Qin also saw the little fatty, who was the same little fatty who spat at the city gate. He immediately pulled his legs and ran towards the crowded place. His body was weak, knowing that he couldn't beat the fatty, so he could only run for now.

  The yard was very small, and the little fatty's body was very fat, and it was a virtual fat, couldn't catch up with Ye Qin's small figure at all. After chasing for a while, he gave up with a huff and puff, but kept shouting loudly, seemingly very angry that Ye Qin had also entered the medicine hall and was in the same yard as him.

  Fortunately, the other children were not troublemakers and lost interest when they saw Ye Qin's tattered clothes. The better-off children wore coarse cloth, while those from poorer families could wear clean hemp clothing; it was rare to see someone like Ye Qin wearing hemp clothes full of holes.

  Ye Qin secretly glanced around the entire courtyard, looking for a safe place to hide far away from that little fatty. As for this little fatty, Ye Qin was filled with hatred towards him in his heart. Not mentioning spitting at first, he hadn't even provoked him, yet he still came after him. When he had the strength one day, he would definitely beat up this kid, no matter if he was the son of a rural official or not.

  In the evening, the servant of the pharmacy sent over a dozen large buckets of porridge and a dozen large bowls of steamed buns to the small courtyard. The servant smiled and said, "Eat your fill tonight, tomorrow you'll be trying medicine in the main courtyard. Otherwise, you won't have any energy tomorrow, and you can't eat anything all day tomorrow!"

  The children were all hungry and impatient, and they scattered in a hurry, dividing everything up cleanly.

  Ye Qin was older than the other children, but he was frail and couldn't compete with those younger than him. He squeezed forward fiercely and managed to grab a bowl of porridge and a bun, swallowing them hastily. To him, this porridge and bun were the most delicious delicacies in the world.

  It had been half a year since Ye Qin was this full for the first time.

  But as soon as he thought of the big cow outside the yard, Ye Qin's heart was filled with extreme sorrow and indignation. How could a big cow survive alone in the county town? If the big cow died, his companions who went out to forage together in the countryside would be left with only him, a solitary person.

  Although there are several houses in the small courtyard, they cannot accommodate so many children, and at most can only live in tens.

  Although they had just met for less than a day, the children have already begun to form cliques and have become dozens of different-sized gangs.

  Ye Qin carefully observed for a moment and found that these gangs were also different from one another.

  Of course, those rich kids all gather together, while commoner kids gather together, and poor village kids gather together.

  From their accents and clothing, it was clear who were locals from the county town, who came from nearby towns, and who emerged from rural areas - they were almost entirely separate and would not mix with each other. But he, dressed like a beggar, was an exception. He knew in his heart that probably no other young beggars dared to come to this medicine hall to apply for the position of medicine boy. Naturally, nobody wanted to be with him either.

  A few young masters among the children, including that little fatty, had the smallest number of people, but their attitude was the most overbearing and tough, ignoring others and directly occupying the best house in the small courtyard.

  A few local gangs of commoner origin in the county town also did not dare to provoke those young masters from rural gentry families, and occupied the remaining rooms.

  The rest of the children from the countryside were very weak and didn't dare to make a sound, they could only sleep directly in the small courtyard. Although it was cool sleeping outdoors at night, there were many people, so it was warm after squeezing together.

  Ye Qinwo slept soundly in a corner of the small courtyard. At night, he had a nightmare, which was Wang Caizheng's gloomy face. He had already firmly remembered the "culprit" and "mastermind" who drove away the big cow. If something happened to the big cow outside, this account would still be counted on Wang Caizheng's head.

  The next day, early morning.

  The largest open space in the Da Yuan compound of the Medicine-Taking Hall. A high platform has been temporarily set up here, and ten small wooden houses. On the open ground, hundreds of children aged 7 to 12 are standing in disorder, they got up early in the morning without eating anything, and were rushed here on an empty stomach, waiting to take the trial medicine.

  How this medicine was tested, no one among them really knew, they just vaguely felt that it was very dangerous.

  Around the flat ground, dozens of 14 or 15-year-old boys and girls stood with cold and arrogant expressions, wearing uniform luxurious clothes, holding wooden swords, maintaining order on site. Anyone who ran wildly would not be spared from being whipped a few times by them.

  The children were in pain and immediately learned their lesson, not daring to run around randomly. Those young people told them what to do, and they did it obediently.

  Many children were guessing the identities of these older boys and girls, who might be some of the earlier batches of recruited medicine gatherers or disciples from the inner hall. They couldn't help but secretly admire them, it seemed that this Medicine Hall was indeed not bad, as long as they spent a few years there, they would also be able to wear beautiful clothes like these boys and girls and learn some impressive martial arts skills.

  After roughly maintaining the order on the ground, one of the cold and proud young men flew onto a platform several meters high, bowed to a middle-aged man wearing silk clothes, and said, "Director Zhang, everything is ready, the trial can begin!"

  Although he called him Zhang the Great Manager, there was a hint of disdain in the tone of the brocade-clad young man. He was a core disciple of the inner hall, under the tutelage of one of the vice masters of the sect. And this Great Manager, was merely a manager who handled miscellaneous affairs, without any martial arts skills, not worth mentioning in his eyes. It was just that due to his status, he had to address him as Manager.

  That Zhang general manager did not mind, but rather enjoyed nodding, with a proud belly standing on the high platform, loudly shouting to the crowd of children in the large courtyard.

  "Line up, line up, don't push and shove! Listen to my orders, everyone will be divided into ten groups, entering the wooden house one by one to test the medicine. Whether or not you can become an apprentice of my Medicine Hall and live a life of luxury depends on whether you can pass this trial."

  The rules for taking medicine are as follows:

  Each wooden house has one hundred different kinds of herbs.

  Among them, fifty are poisonous weeds with varying degrees of toxicity. The lighter ones will make your whole body itch slightly if eaten, while the most toxic ones can be fatal within half a moment after consumption.

  Another thirty plants are non-toxic herbs, eating them will not cause any harm or pain.

  There are also twenty strains of antidote grass, which can cure injuries caused by poisonous grass.

  Those who ate nine plants or less were poisoned and immediately expelled from the medicine collection hall, and were not employed.

  Eating enough of ten kinds can become an outer hall named medicine child, observe for half a year.

  Eating more than twenty stalks can become a formal medicine child of Wai Tang.

  Eating more than thirty stalks can become a inner hall medicine boy. The more you eat, the higher your treatment in the door.

  If someone eats enough fifty to seventy strains, they can directly worship under the deputy hall master's seat and become the core disciple of the outer hall of the medicine picking hall.

  However, everyone must sign a life-and-death contract with the chief before taking the medicine. Note that this trial is purely voluntary and no one is forced to participate. If there are any accidents, they will be borne by themselves alone and have nothing to do with others. Only after signing can you go in for the trial. Who's first?