Beta cannon fodder just wants to make perfume

The joyful atmosphere of the New Year left Zhu Fu just like that.

Apart from the still-rising sales, Zhu Fu hardly looked like she had a fruitful New Year.

“Wow—ah—”

Hearing the voice, Zhu Fu said without turning back, "Number Three, report the guardian's needs."

"Need, hungry. Need to be fed. Do you want to feed the prepared food?"

"Wenwen?" Zhu Fu looked at the child's biological father.

Yu Wenwen put down the information in her hand and stood up, "I'll do it."

"Okay." Zhu Fu continued to look through the materials. Now it was like a sprint before an exam, reviewing to find out the gaps. Studying with Yu Wenwen, a novice, would make it easier for her to find the loopholes.

She thought about it and decided that the theme of helping Omegas was not wrong in any way. If someone found fault with this idea, it was basically going against the mainstream concept. Treating Omegas well was a common perception in this society. Unless they were outlaws from outside the area who didn't want to follow any rules, no one would resist this harmless perception.

Therefore, she was not worried about the explanation of her ideas for making incense, but she was not sure how the other party would make trouble due to knowledge gaps, process problems, and product defects. She had to lay a solid foundation to feel at ease.

Time passed quickly and it was already March. Ms. Qin Ying had not returned yet. She had extended her travel time. After all, a director did not have any fixed job, so she was quite free. But Yu Wenwen, on the other hand, had not made any progress in his apprenticeship. He had memorized the basic materials, but Zhu Fu was unable to teach him the proper techniques, so he had to ask him to familiarize himself with the equipment.

Just like that, the time for the intermediate assessment in March has arrived.

As expected, Zhu Fu received the message that Lister asked her to pay attention to. After reading the announcement, she was not surprised to see the name Zong Xiangsheng, which was the name mentioned by Wang Charlie that time.

At this point, Zhu Fu felt that it was impossible for Liszt to remain silent when he was trying to find out the news, so he boldly asked, "This sect director has a disciple? What level is he at? Will he also take part in the assessment?"

"No, his two disciples have already passed the intermediate level, so it's not worth it."

Liszt was confident that he didn't think Zhu Fu would have any conflict with Zong Xiangsheng's apprentice. However, when he turned around, Zhu Fu was caught off guard and saw the familiar red-haired man.

Although Cang Weiran still looked like an arrogant young master, one could tell that he had a special relationship with the middle-aged man by looking at him with his head lowered and listening to his speech. Then, looking at the order in which the review team entered the venue, the middle-aged man walked in the front, so his identity was obvious.

Leading the way was Zong Xiangsheng, the director who was supervising the event, and Cang Weiran following him was his apprentice!

Noticing Zhu Fu's gaze, Cang Weiran looked back, with the corners of his lips raised showing his pride. In a flash, Zhu Fu thought of Cang Weiran's inexplicable words before.

'We will meet again sometime'

They will meet again! As Liszt and Zong Xiangsheng have different positions, these two rivals have to appear in one occasion. As Mingshu's apprentice, she will inevitably meet Cang Weiran, Zong Xiangsheng's apprentice.

Ding--

The assessment team entered the venue and began to announce the ranking numbers to the waiting candidates through messages.

Zhu Fu calmed down. At this point, it was useless to say anything. He was surprised at the unexpected appearance of Cang Weiran and was worried that he might cause trouble. He would still have to deal with it. Judging from the number of people, he was just accompanying the teacher. There was no need to worry about what he, an accompanying person, might do. It was not his turn to intervene.

[The Perfume Industry Association reminds you that you are taking the Intermediate Perfumer Assessment. Candidates wish you a smooth entry order: No. 36. Candidates please enter the venue in time after hearing the call. If you do not enter after being called three times, it will be deemed that you have given up the assessment. I wish you a smooth assessment! ]

36? Zhu Fu took a look at the candidates waiting and estimated that there should be nearly 36 people, so No. could be said to be in the middle.

There definitely won’t be only this many candidates who register at the beginning. Judging from the number of candidates who pass the primary level, it’s normal for the intermediate level to have around 200 people register at a time, so this selection ratio…

Zhu Fu realized belatedly that the initial screening, which she thought was not difficult, seemed to stump many people. She seemed to have made the mistake of empiricism. As a perfumer who has been in the industry for a long time, she is very familiar with this set of skills, but for a real novice perfumer, it takes time to express their ideas.

Even if you have an idea, you can't avoid trial and error. After all, not everyone has her experience of two worlds, and can keenly perceive the differences between the two worlds and accurately find unoccupied places to overcome the similarity problem.

It’s no wonder that Mingshu sent her a message to congratulate her after she passed the initial screening. She thought it was encouragement from the teacher, but now it seems that it is actually worth being happy about?

It is unknown how many of the current sixty people will pass, but no matter how high or low the pass rate is, Zhu Fu is prepared to pass this time. Even if it is only one spot, why shouldn’t it be hers?
One by one, candidates came in and out of the room. Zhu Fu gradually got the hang of the rules. Usually, a candidate stayed in there for ten minutes, which was not slow overall. From the transparent wall, one could see that the order was first the storytelling and then the evaluation. The judges only had one or two minutes to make their decision.

"Number 36 - please come in -" Zhu Fu pulled his gloves, stood up and walked towards the examination room.

The eight judges sat in a fan shape opposite her. The two sitting opposite her wore badges on their chests. They were the two examiners who were senior perfumers. Based on her own feelings, Zhu Fu temporarily believed that these were a beta and an alpha.

Zhu Fu couldn't identify the people on both sides at the moment, so he ignored them for now. Sitting on the elevated seat behind the two senior perfumers in the middle was the inspector of this event - Zong Xiangsheng.

Zong Xiangsheng only glanced at her lightly when someone came in, and then treated her as if she didn't exist, and continued communicating with his disciple standing beside him.

"Candidate No. 36, please check your information. Is the perfume you submitted the one on the screen behind you?" The senior perfumer at work just wanted to finish the work as quickly as possible and went straight into the process.

Zhu Fu looked at the tea-colored perfume bottle and gray metal cap wrapped with roses on the screen and nodded, "Yes, this is the sample I submitted."

"Now it's time to explain. Please describe your design concept for this perfume."

"The appearance of this perfume was a coincidence. I accidentally met an Omega who had lost contact with his Alpha. He was lonely and confused, longing for comfort from his partner, but without an Alpha by his side, he was destined to receive no response..."

The judges nodded and began to tell the story, but the background is also an important part.

“So I had the inspiration for this one, using tobacco pheromones as the base and adding the scent of roses, layer upon layer, entwined and inseparable, just like a pair of lovers in love.”

Okay, the main flavor is out, is it superimposed? This is quite interesting, and it really tests the skills of the perfumer. How can we blend them so that we can retain the two flavors and blend them into one? The examiner couldn't help but prop himself up.

"Based on inspiration, I conducted many adjustments and finally got the current product, but it is only one of the huge pheromone transformations. I just hope that it can become a representative, conveying the difficulties that Omega may face and my social concern as a perfumer, so that more people can pay attention to such difficulties." Zhu Fu keenly noticed Cang Weiran's smile and added this paragraph calmly, raising the stakes.

After he finished speaking, the judges present were recording something. Then the examiner pressed a key, and the sample submitted by Zhu Fu was sent in by a robot. Several judges took the scent and smelled it in turn.

Zhu Fu knew that the most critical moment had come. If anyone wanted to stop her from passing, this was her chance.

"If I remember correctly, you were the one who came up with the concept of pheromone perfume, right?" a beta female judge asked.

Zhu Fu nodded in acknowledgment.

The judge snorted coldly, with a look of sarcasm on his face, "That's too opportunistic, isn't it? The background color of this one is related to pheromones? How is this different from your previous works?"

There was silence in the arena, and everyone's eyes were not too concealedly moving between the judges and Zhu Fu, little knowing that if this attention was hot, it would have set the room on fire long ago.

Cang Weiran followed the crowd and took a look. He was satisfied with the beta judge's words. Although he knew that Zhu Fu had a solid foundation and was capable of passing the intermediate level, Zhu Fu was standing opposite his teacher after all. It would be beneficial for him not to pass the exam, so he was happy to watch the show.

Zhu Fu, who was standing in the center, could of course sense the gaze and could also sense the threat in the words, but her preparation was not in vain. She had expected such a question. After all, the inspiration before and after was brought by pheromones, so it was normal for her to have associations.

"Of course there is. The previous works were more of a restoration. The current flavor is not a simple superposition. I am conveying my views. Even from a technical point of view, the combination of two flavors is different from the distinction between front, middle and back notes. There is no consistency here."

Zhu Fu organized her words. "In fact, with the development of perfumery to this day, countless classic methods have been discovered, and the adjustments we can make are very limited. Similarly, the intermediate assessment pays more attention to the perfumery ideas. I think it is also a reflection of the change from the pursuit of skills to the pursuit of concepts. And my personal idea is that now we should think about the connection between the perfume industry and life. This perfume is created under this concept, rather than the pursuit of new trends."

The female beta's expression softened, and she turned her head to the left and gave the judge a hidden eye roll. "Your statement convinced me. I can see that you have a solid understanding of the perfume industry and your knowledge is solid. You are not trying to attract attention by using the profession of perfumer."

This means that she has passed, but after all, the examiners of this session are two senior perfumers, and she cannot say it before they express their opinions.

The two examiners looked at each other, and the beta didn't hesitate, "My opinion is to pass."

Alpha was a little hesitant. "What are other people's opinions? Do you have any questions for this candidate?"

So the five judges each left their own opinions. Zhu Fu got three passes and two fails, which was theoretically enough for her to obtain the intermediate certificate.

"Do you mind if I say a few words?" Zong Xiangsheng, who had been silent, opened his eyes.

(End of this chapter)