Chapter 16 - News [OW]
Please don’t retranslate from my English version and don’t repost in Wattpad for your ‘offline’ reading pleasure.
The proctor's gaze moved away from the calm-looking Su Ling and swept past the noisy candidates. "Quiet!"
Instantly, the candidates don’t dare to speak again, and the large examination room quieted down.
The chief proctor said, "The previous test is to assess your harvesting ability, which is a necessary talent to become a material harvester. And now we will test your affinity, which is the talent required to become a spiritual plant cultivator." After he finished speaking, the proctor began to list down the rules and regulations of the test and said, "The examination begins."
The moment this sentence is out, no one spoke again. Except for Su Ling, all candidates quickly removed their isolator, and the test room was soon filled with the fragrance of various pheromones. In front of Su Ling is still a camellia plant. Its red flowers were particularly gorgeous, and the petals looked very nice with its overlapping design. Reaching out, he lightly touched the flower nearest to him, and it shook slightly. The stem of that flower leaned towards him, and the whole flower soon fit snugly into his palm. A soft itchy feeling came from his palm as the petals brushed against his hand. Su Ling couldn’t help curling the corner of his mouth, and his eyes were bright and spirited. He bent down slightly, gently sniffing the fragrance of the flower while stroking the petals with his finger. His finger circled around the flower, then lowered to pinch its leaf gently. The flower fragrance immediately became more potent. Other branches of the camellia came close to his hand, and the flowers on the top of the branch bloomed to the extreme. Su Ling's fingers touched the flowers one by one and received many soft brushes in return.
Because of his abnormal pheromone, the three proctors were paying attention to Su Ling when the test started. Hence, all 3 of them has an expression full of shock on their face. Even if Grade E spiritual plant has a low IQ and is the easiest type to accept goodwill from the Omegas, but it’s still not an easy task for Omegas who have yet to enter university, not to mention without using any pheromones. This affinity is really rare.
Su Ling didn't go to check out how the rest of the Omega is doing. For half an hour, he had been playing with his camellia plant. He would his hands move away from time to time, rubbing the petals when the flower shifted close to his hand and then moved his hand to another direction. The branch would change direction to chase his hand, which Su Ling would repeat his previous actions. He found that a Grade E spiritual plant is like a child, so it seems to like a game of chasing more than him touching it all the time. The change in aroma intensity is the best proof. Su Ling also found this game very interesting, and so half an hour passed by in a blink of an eye.
When the proctor announced the end of the test, Su Ling was a little sorry; it would be nice if he could feel what the camellia is feeling too. At the same time, everyone's scores were transferred to the examination system. Next, the proctors and candidates moved to area 002 for the third exam.
Area 002 is divided into the inner and outer sections. At this moment, they were gathering at the outer section, and there are many arc-shaped long tables around it. The tables were arranged in 5 layers, just like a rainbow. There were various transparent glass bottles on the table, with various solids or liquids in the bottles.
The chief proctor said, "There are 10 groups of materials on each table, and each group contains 30 glass bottles. The materials would be either essential oil or pollen from Grade D and E spiritual plants." As he said that, the proctor pointed to the door on the right hand behind him, "This door leads to the inner section, which is a long corridor of aroma. The corridor is divided into 30 areas, and each area will have different aromas, which corresponds with the glass bottles on the table."
"You need to smell the scent of the glass bottle, remember the aroma, and the name of the corresponding spiritual plant. After confirming it, enter the inner section and key in the name of the spiritual plant in which you could smell the aroma in each area. This exam is mainly to assess your recognition of fragrances, which is very important for the perfumer profession."
"The total time for this test is one and a half hours. During the test, no communication is allowed. The score is based on your accuracy rate, and your speed will be used for ranking should there be two or more exact scores."
Finishing explaining the instruction for the examination, the proctor divided the candidates into 11 groups, and they will share a group of materials. After the candidates were in place, he announced, "The exam begins."
Three proctors simultaneously press the timer.
Su Ling stood on the far right side of their group. He straightaway picked up the rightmost glass bottle, looked at the label first, and then opened the cap to smell. He is very sensitive to fragrance and spends a lot of time remembering the name of the spiritual plants to which the scent belongs. At the corner of his eyes, he noticed that 2 candidates in his team changed their bottles quickly. Su Ling was surprised first but soon realized something. An Omega generally comes in contact with a lot of spiritual plants since childhood, so it is normal for them to recognize many low-grade spiritual plants. He also knows a little bit, but just a few types from the fragrance bar and the villa's garden. He only knows 5 kinds in total, which means he has to remember 25 new plants on the spot. Compared with people who don't know anything at all, Su Ling still has a tiny bit of advantage. But then again, the possibility that a native Omega recognizing less than 5 spiritual plants is really low. However, Su Ling is not nervous. He is used to the feeling of having exams, so his mentality has always been very stable.
Though this interview[1] gave Su Ling much surprise, he won’t mind even if he gets a failing grade, at least it’s better than the zero points he initially thought he would get. He carefully wrote down the name of each fragrance and spiritual plant, and after smelling it all, he reviewed from the middle to the right. At this moment, there are already some candidates who have gone to the inner section.
Su Ling glanced around, then he walked to the far left, reviewing from left to middle. He deliberately shuffled the order to review the materials, worrying that he ended up remembering the order than really remembering the names of the fragrances. After confirming that there is no error, he went to the inner section. At this moment, half of the candidates have already entered the inner section.
Inside the inner section, Su Ling passed through the quarantine area to the first small area. He could smell the fragrance instantly, and the name of the fragrance suddenly appeared in his mind. Without hesitation, he entered the answer on the answer panel in his bracelet.
The small areas were not really small, they were just narrow but very long, and each area is like a minute away in distance. There were very few candidates staying in the first 10 small areas. Obviously, when the short-term memory is still fresh, the test questions are very simple for the candidates. However, starting from the area 11, there are candidates staying inside, frowning as they tried to recall their memories. Su Ling went all the way at normal walking speed, only pausing when entering the answer.
Every area has a monitor and a sound transmitter, so the examination site was quiet throughout, as no one speaks. Upon reaching area 21, Su Ling was taken aback because he saw the number of candidates suddenly increased a lot. At a glance, there were almost 20 people in the area. Taking in a breath, he understood what happened. The aroma of this area has mixed fragrances from 2 different spiritual plants. He easily discerned it, so he continued to move forward, in the shocked sight of the candidates who had stayed in the area for a while.
From area 21 to 25, all contained mixed fragrances from 2 different spiritual plants. Coming out from area 25, Su Ling has now overcome more than 200 candidates. The moment he walked into area 26, the 4 candidates inside immediately looked at him. As for Su Ling, his eyelids slightly twitched, 3 kinds of spiritual plant fragrance!
Zhao Qi looked at him incredulously, but soon, he curled his mouth. Su Ling must be answering the questions randomly to be able to get to this area so fast.
Lin Meng's big eyes were full of surprises. He excitedly stepped forward, and his mouth moved slightly as if he wanted to say something. Su Ling placed his index finger on his lips, making a silent gesture. Lin Meng calmed down and waved his hand as a cheering sign at Su Ling.
Su Ling didn't know who are the other 2 candidates in the area, so he only smiled at them politely. Next, he bowed his head to enter his answer, quickly wrote down the names of the spiritual plants. After writing, he waved to Lin Meng and moved on.
Zhao Qi stared at his back with wide eyes, how could Su Ling be so fast?! He is absolutely blindly answering the question. However, when Zhao Qi recalled that people with the same score will be ranked according to their speed, he keyed in the possible answer for that area and trot past Su Ling. That caused Su Ling to raise his eyebrows, but he ignored Zhao Qi and continue to proceed at his own speed, walking all the way to the end.
The proctor waited at the exit, and Zhao Qi stood next to him with his chin slightly raised with pride.
Lin Meng came out fourth, and he ran to Su Ling as soon as he came out, "Ling Ling, you are so amazing!"
Su Ling smiled and said, "You are amazing as well."
Zhao Qi humphed and cut in, "What amazing? He might be just blindly answering the questions," then looked at Lin Meng and said, "You don't know this yet, right? He gave up the exam in area 003."
Lin Meng was stunned and looked at Su Ling worriedly.
Su Ling: "It's okay, I have prepared myself to get a failing grade."
The proctor looked at Su Ling in surprise, no wonder this candidate has been so calm throughout the tests. But despite knowing that he would fail, he still has such a good mentality, that’s very rare.
Proctor: "Your exam is over, and you can leave now."
Su Ling took a glance at his bracelet and saw that the communication function has returned to normal.
Lin Meng: "It's already past 12 pm. Let's go to have lunch together."
Su Ling had lunch with Lin Meng and went back to the villa afterward; Gu Liheng was not at home. He and Domi moved the 3 Grade A spiritual plants to the garden, which he fell asleep on the lounge chair while bathing in a comfortable fragrance.
At the same time, major news channels were reporting on the interview of the spiritual plant department today. Netizens also have held a voting event for ‘the most beautiful Omega’. The photo with the most votes is impressive. It was a fair-skinned young man sitting in a car with his head slightly tilted. His facial features were exquisite, and his light brown eyes were as if they were transparent, making him seemed very quiet.
Su Ling woke up and was rubbing his slightly numb face when he saw Gu Liheng striding over. He smiled, but before he could say anything, Gu Liheng said, "You are on the news."
Su Ling uttered an ‘Ah’, then thinking that the matter about his pheromone in the examination hall is exposed, he became calm again. He smiled and said, "It's okay, I don't care what they say."
The author has something to say:
Thank you for your support (づ￣3￣)づ╭?～
Gu: Really calm~
Thanks to the little angel who voted for me or donated nutrient solution~
Thank you very much for your support, I will continue to work hard!
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[1] 面试/miàn shì - Not sure if the Chinese use this word differently, apparently the 3 tests Su Ling took today is considered that so-called ‘interview’.