Chapter 25 Coveting The Formulation
The next day at noon, Zachary walked out of the library. He stretched his stiff body and walked towards the cafeteria for lunch. All of a sudden, the mobile phone in his pocket rang. Zachary looked at the caller ID. It was from Mr. Yan. He answered the call, "Hello, Mr. Yan!"
"Zachary, where are you? Come to the laboratory now," Jimmy said.
"Mr. Yan, do I have to come now? I'm about to have lunch now."
"Come here right now!" Jimmy ordered urgently and then hung up the phone.
Zachary was a little unhappy. However, Jimmy was his mentor and Perhaps he really had something urgent to deal with. So Zachary didn't bother about his lunch and rushed to the laboratory. "You're here!" Jimmy's face revealed a rare smile when he saw Zachary. He pointed to the seat next to him and said, "Have a seat."
Zachary didn't know what happened with Jimmy. He didn't expect Jimmy to be so polite to him. He sat down in confusion.
"Zachary, you have won glory for our School of Chinese Medicine! As your mentor, I'm very proud of you!" Jimmy patted Zachary on the shoulder and said while beaming. "Glory?" Zachary asked in confusion, "Mr. Yan, what happened?"
"Don't you know?" Jimmy asked in astonishment. Zachary shook his head.
"Look at this!" Jimmy took out a stack of newspapers and put them in front of Zachary. He continued, "The news is all about you. You've become famous in Ludington City."
Zachary browsed through the newspaper quickly and understood the situation. The news was about him and his refining ointment. It was no wonder that Jimmy asked him to hurry over to the laboratory. Zachary did not know that Lauren was extremely efficient. There was already news about him and his refining ointment in the news channel of Ludington City at 10 o'clock the night before. Although the duration of the news was less than three minutes, it was a rare opportunity for a person to be featured on the news in Ludington City, which had a population of more than ten million people. Countless newspapers and magazines in Ludington City featured Zachary and his refining ointment as well that morning.
Some well-informed media staff even broadcasted the news about Zachary receiving money as reward from influential bosses.
Zachary's name became the top search on the website in Ludington City.
Although many were doubtful about the authenticity of the news and suspected that this was the marketing scheme of businessmen, many people from the upper-class society fought to buy the refining ointment after hearing about it from those people who got it at the birthday party. Henric was the one who led the promotion of the refining ointment.
After discovering that he had become famous in Ludington City overnight, Zachary smiled lightly and shook his head. There was no special expression on his face.
He had the soul of "Herbal King" in his body. The formulation of the refining ointment was so simple to him, it was not worth mentioning at all.
Seeing Zachary's indifferent expression, Jimmy paused. "We're proud of you."
Jimmy inched closer to Zachary and smiled, "Zachary, I have reported this to Principal Wu. He personally instructed that we must publicly praise the student who has won glory for our school."
"Therefore, we have decided to give you this year's national scholarship. You will also receive the Excellent Student title. If you wish to, you can continue with your research in this school after graduating."Copyright by Nôv/elDrama.Org.
Zachary felt a little uneasy and said humbly, "Mr. Yan, this is just a small matter. I'm not worthy of all of these from the school."
"Hey! How can you say that it's not a big deal? You are a student of Ludington Medical College. Your glory is related to the school as well. This is also how Principal Wu and I reward outstanding students. Zachary, this will be decided if you have no more objections. I also suggested holding an award ceremony for you three days later."
Looking at Jimmy who was smiling brightly, Zachary sensed that something was wrong.
"Mr. Yan, just tell me if the school has any requests from me," Zachary said.
Jimmy was stunned, but he concealed it with a smile. "Why would we request anything from a student? This is just an act of compliment. To commemorate this, we want you to write down the formulation for the refining ointment. We will display it in the school library so that everyone can read and learn from it."
Zachary's eyes narrowed slightly after hearing what Jimmy said. He understood Principal Wu and Mr. Yan's hidden motives instantly. It seemed that they wanted to get their hands on the formulation of the refining ointment after discovering its value from the news.
He said, "Mr. Yan, I'm afraid I can't do so."
"You just have to write the formulation down. There's nothing difficult in this. You're my best student. Don't tell me you can't remember a simple formulation," Jimmy praised Zachary again.
Zachary looked as if he was in a difficult situation, "Mr. Yan, it's not that I don't want to write the formulation down for you. It's just that the formulation was passed down from my ancestors. My ancestors had set a rule that we can't reveal it to outsiders. It's not good for me to violate my ancestors' rule."
Frustration flashed across Jimmy's face. He quickly plastered on a smile, "Well, you're not revealing your formulation to the outsiders. You're just sharing it with your school. We can sign an agreement if you're worried. We will agree to display the formulation in the school library only, and we will definitely not use it for other purposes."
"Of course I believe you. But, it's hard and also inappropriate for me to violate my ancestors' rule," Zachary pretended to be in a dilemma. In fact, he was sneering in his heart. He would never trust Jimmy and Principal Wu.
"Zachary, I have to advise you on this. It's important for us, humans, to share knowledge in this era. It's not good for us to keep our knowledge to ourselves. This is also good for the development of Chinese medicine!" Jimmy said self- righteously.
Zachary sneered inwardly. Of course, he knew about this. However, it was impossible for him to share knowledge with people like Jimmy and Principal Wu.
"You're right, Mr. Yan. But, this matter is of great importance. I have to discuss with my family," Zachary refused.
Jimmy's expression slowly turned stony. "Zachary, if I remember correctly, your mother and you are the only two left in your family. Your mother died of an illness the year you entered our school. So, you can decide on your own about this matter."
Zachary didn't expect Jimmy to know about his personal information. Since it was not easy to find another excuse, Zachary refused directly, "Mr. Yan, I won't give the formulation of the refining ointment to anyone. I'll be heading to lunch if there's nothing else.
"Zachary Ching!" Jimmy's face had completely darkened. He didn't expect such outcome after persuading Zachary for a long time. "You have to think about it clearly. It's just a simple formulation. Also, the school is going to offer you a scholarship and research opportunities in return."
"Mr. Yan, I guess you can ask the school to formulate it since it's just a simple formulation," Zachary retorted bluntly.
"Zachary, let me tell you the truth. The school is determined to get the formulation. Principal Wu is being respectful and giving you good offers in return for it. If you offend us, it will be too late for you to regret when you end up having nothing," Jimmy threatened.
"I can't afford to be respected by Principal Wu in such a way," Zachary stood up to leave.
Jimmy roared, "Zachary, you should remember that I am your mentor. Do you want to graduate?"