"This interview will be conducted for both of you simultaneously. For all questions, do not answer orally. Simply write your answers on the white paper in front of you."
When Xiao Su called the two interviewees in, Du Heng placed two sheets of paper and pens before them.
"Are you ready?"
"Teacher!"
One of the interviewees suddenly raised their hand.
"Do you have a question?"
The male student stood up, puffed out his chest, and asked loudly, "Teacher, we’re doing written responses instead of oral ones. Isn’t this similar to the previous written exam? And it’s different from how other interviews are conducted. And why are we being interviewed together when others are having one-on-one oral interviews?"
Li Jianwei remained silent, resting his hands on the table. He looked at Du Heng with interest, wondering how he would respond.
Du Heng smiled at the student, and the student returned a reserved smile.
"Who said that interviews must follow a certain procedure?"
"...No one." The student’s smile stiffened. Du Heng hadn’t answered his question but had asked one in return.
"Well then, can’t we conduct the interview the way we want to?"
"You can... but what about the others...?"
"If you don’t like our interview thod, you can go find those ’others’ you ntioned. The graduate student interview is a two-way selection. We can interview you, and you can interview us. If you feel our thod isn’t suitable for you, you can withdraw now."
"I..."
The smile on the student’s face vanished completely, and for a mont, he didn’t know what to say.
Two-way selection? What a joke! Other than the initial choice of ntors during the graduate student enrollnt exam, when do graduate students actually have any say? No, that’s not quite right; they also have initiative if they decide to drop out.
Du Heng’s smile faded. He looked at the student indifferently and said, "Classmate, if you want to continue with the interview, please sit down and prepare for the questions. If you don’t want to participate in this interview, you can leave now."
The student’s face darkened. He hadn’t expected this interviewer to be so uncompromising.
However, he didn’t hesitate and imdiately sat back down in his seat.
What a joke! After battling through a field of thousands, like crossing a narrow bridge, he was about to reach the shore. Why would he leave now? Leave? For what? To take the exam again next year?
Du Heng looked at the two of them. "Do you have any other questions? If not, we’ll begin."
Both students picked up their pens, listening attentively to Du Heng.
Seeing they had no further questions, Du Heng turned to Li Jianwei beside him and asked softly, "Teacher, can we begin?"
"You can lead."
"Xiao Su, do you have any questions?"
"I have no questions, Senior Brother. You can begin."
Du Heng cleared his throat slightly and, looking at the two before him, said, "First question: what are the basic characteristics of Chinese dicine?"
Is it really that simple?
The two interviewees were slightly taken aback, but seeing that Du Heng didn’t appear to be joking and the other two remained silent, they could only lower their heads and begin writing.
About ten seconds later, both students had finished answering. This question posed no difficulty for them.
Du Heng smiled and didn’t collect their answers imdiately. Instead, he proceeded to the second question, "Please explain, what are the four qi and five flavors of traditional Chinese dicine?"
Is it difficult?
For students capable of passing the graduate student exam, it still wasn’t difficult.
At this point, they were sowhat bewildered as to the purpose of this interview.
Similarly, Li Jianwei was also puzzled by Du Heng’s two questions.
Watching the students begin to write, Li Jianwei asked Du Heng in a low voice, "What are these two questions for?"
"Just to test their general theoretical understanding. It’s not of great importance."
"Oh."
Li Jianwei said no more.
Once both had finished writing, Du Heng had Xiao Su collect their answer sheets.
For the first question regarding the basic characteristics of Chinese dicine, both answered correctly: the holistic concept, and syndro differentiation and treatnt. The student who had previously raised a question added two more terms: ’the Unity of Heaven and Man’ and ’Yin and Yang, Five Elents.’
For the second question, concerning the four qi and five flavors of traditional Chinese dicine, their answers differed.
The student who had remained quiet answered—Four Qi: Cold, Hot, Warm, Cool. Five Flavors: Pungent, Sweet, Sour, Bitter, and Salty.
The student who had asked the question answered—Four Qi: Cold, Hot, Warm, Cool. Five Flavors: Pungent, Sweet, Sour, Bitter, Salty, plus light and astringent.
Were the two extra flavors wrong?
Of course not. The light taste, because it has no special flavor, is often listed together with the sweet taste and is called ’light attached to sweet.’ The astringent taste has the sa actions as the sour taste, so it was also not listed separately.
He wasn’t wrong, so should he get extra points?
Of course not for that either.
These seemingly pointless questions nevertheless revealed sothing: the student who hadn’t asked any questions was more straightforward and down-to-earth, whereas the one who had raised questions was a bit shrewd, with a more calculating mind.
However, these observations weren’t the main point. Du Heng proceeded to the third question.
"A female patient presents, reporting that two days ago, after catching a cold, she developed an aversion to wind and a slight fever. She had no nasal congestion or runny nose, and no nausea or vomiting. By the ti of her consultation today, she was experiencing symptoms including dizziness, headache, generalized body heaviness and aches, nasal congestion, chest tightness, nausea, and the urge to vomit."
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