The whole tin hut burst into cheers. Minister Zhao grabbed Jing Shu's hand, shaking it hard while repeating, "Good, good, good!"
Team Leader Liu was just as excited. "We've been losing our minds over this for days! Minister Zhao even made a military pledge. Ha, talk about 'when you think there's no way out, a new path appears'!"
Minister Zhao nodded, still emotional. "We can't waste time. We'll head to Lao Zhang's place first, then go straight to the competition venue. Otherwise, that old guy's really gonna lose it."
Jing Shu raised an eyebrow. "Lao Zhang? Who's that?"
Minister Zhao coughed awkwardly. "An old brother of mine, I just call him that out of habit."
Team Leader Liu laughed and pointed upward mysteriously. "You could say he's the chief judge of this competition. It's not exactly his field, but he's got the highest title. His only grandson got infected after accidentally eating red nematodes years ago, so he took this whole thing over himself. Otherwise, who'd bother with this mess?"
Jing Shu suddenly understood. So he was the one whose grandson was surviving on Bodhi treatment. No wonder. Now she was curious to see how her own Bodhi would perform against a true parasitic infection.
"Miss Jing, Miss Jing! Your phone! Yeah, she's fine, nothing happened to her!"
In the middle of the excitement, Song Bin—looking much better—shouted with a strange expression and handed her the phone. "It's Jun Bao… he couldn't find you anywhere, so he called me."
Jing Shu nodded and took it. She'd cut off communications with the Medicinal Herb Association while setting up the past few days. "Hello? It's Jing Shu. What's going on?"
Jun Bao's voice came from the other end. "Uncle asked me to check if something happened to you guys or if anyone gave you trouble. If that's the case, you don't need to join the capital competition this time. Don't worry about the resources, I'll figure out a way to get Wu City's share back. If something really happened, tell Song Bin to contact the Biological Research Center, they'll handle it."
Jing Shu blinked. "Huh? What are you talking about? Nothing's wrong, we're fine."
Jun Bao sounded shocked. "You didn't know? Two hours ago, the Capital Medicinal Herb Association officially announced the disqualification of the Wu City team. It's already on the big data bulletin. Lao Zhou and Jin Tianci tried to reach your group but couldn't, so we thought something had gone wrong."
Warmth flooded Jing Shu's chest, her emotions a swirl of gratitude and frustration. The disqualification was unexpected, but Wu City's response warmed her heart. Next year's resources were her responsibility now, and she couldn't let them down.
"I see. Don't worry, I'll handle it."
"Alright," Jun Bao said before hanging up, "just call if you need help."
As soon as she put her phone away, Minister Zhao came over smiling, only to be met by Jing Shu's icy expression. He frowned. "What's wrong?"
She retrieved her custom spray from Team Leader Liu and said calmly, "Minister Zhao, I'm sorry. However this batch of Bodhi got here tonight, that's how it'll be going back. I won't be supplying it anymore."
Minister Zhao's face changed instantly. "Xiao Jing, what's this about? Didn't we agree that your Bodhi batch would be used in the competition? Everything's already logged, you can't just change that! Don't forget, this concerns the whole of China. Everyone's waiting for this medicine to save lives! If you're facing some kind of problem, we can talk it out!"
Jing Shu let out a cold laugh. "Talk what out? We from Wu City didn't fear the harsh conditions and came all the way to the capital, only to get sidelined the moment we arrived. Other associations were picked up from the airport, while we stood in the freezing mud for a day and no one came. Later, when we found our own place to wait, the assigned coordinator, Team Leader Zhang, told us the venue was full and to just stay put until the competition started."
She paused, her voice cutting sharper. "We didn't complain. We just wanted to contribute Wu City's best medicine to help solve the crisis. A minute ago, I was still determined to give you every last Bodhi we had. But I didn't expect that while we were waiting for the competition, Wu City would get disqualified!"
Gasps filled the room, followed by hurried voices as people began checking the announcement.
"It's true! The notice is real! Wu City Medicinal Herb Association's name is in red! The reason says: 'Failed to show up at the competition venue on time'!"
Minister Zhao's face darkened. "What kind of nonsense is this? How can you cancel someone's participation just because they weren't there? She was here doing vital research! Which idiot approved that?!"
"Too much!" Team Leader Liu slammed his hand on the table, furious. "She's the only one with the cure!"
Jing Shu sighed with regret. "Wu City just called. Since we're disqualified, it's fine. They'll find a way to secure next year's resources on their own. Taking the Bodhi back might be better anyway. At least it'll save our city."
With that, she gestured for Song Bin to pack up and follow her out.
Team Leader Liu's knees nearly gave out. Hope had just appeared, only to vanish again like a cruel joke.
Minister Zhao slapped the metal wall hard. "Xiao Jing, wait! I'll call Lao Zhang right now and make him fix this. Don't worry, I'll make sure you get justice!"
He didn't wait for her reply before dialing. The moment the call connected, he started yelling. It didn't matter if it was an old superior or old friend, he gave him both barrels. He cursed him for messing up the registration and dared him to fix it right away. "Your grandson's still waiting to be saved, and you go cancel the only person who can help? What the hell are you people doing?!"
Then he immediately called the Capital Medicinal Herb Association. "Has the competition even started? What? You canceled someone's qualification during the opening coverage and rehearsals? You idiots! You're in deep trouble now! Stop everything and fix this immediately! Tell that old hag if she doesn't handle it, we're all going down together!"
Jing Shu's lips twitched slightly before she smoothed her expression. Once Minister Zhao hung up, she said politely, "Minister Zhao, this whole situation's left a bad taste, but I trust you'll give Wu City a fair explanation. I'll wait for your response at our lodgings. Here's the address."
Sensing a chance to mend things, Team Leader Liu quickly said, "Alright, alright, that's good."
Jing Shu left with Song Bin, who looked at her with open admiration. Back at their temporary residence, she found the frustrated pharmacists from the Medicinal Herb Association and called out, "Danai, have everyone pack up the cooking gear. We're heading to the competition this afternoon."
Wang Danai responded excitedly, "Got it! You've no idea how suffocated we've been! We're dying to show what we've got! Don't worry, I already warned everyone that things run deep in the capital. We've kept quiet, never picked fights. Even when others tried to provoke us, we held it in!"