Chinese Medicine: Starting with Daily Intelligence-Chapter 124: Where Is the Problem?

Around eight that evening, Chen Dacheng was watching TV when he suddenly felt a bloating pain in his lower abdomen.

He sighed and shuffled toward the bathroom, mentally preparing himself for a long and arduous battle.

This time, however, things were unexpectedly different.

Although there was still a slight stinging sensation, his stream was much smoother than usual.

Chen Dacheng’s eyes widened. He stared in disbelief at the GUSHING stream in the toilet—it had been a long time since he’d been able to urinate so freely!

"This... this..." He was so excited his hands were trembling. After pulling up his pants, he deliberately waited for a while, wondering if it was just a fluke.

Ten minutes later, he went to the bathroom again. This time, urination was even smoother, and the bloating pain in his lower abdomen had lessened considerably.

Chen Dacheng returned to the living room and paced back and forth, the wrinkles on his face smoothing out.

He snatched his phone and dialed Aunt Li’s number.

"Aunt Li! Aunt Li!" he yelled excitedly the moment the call connected. "That medicine... that medicine is miraculous!"

"Old Chen? What’s wrong? Slow down," Aunt Li said, startled by his outburst.

"I just... I just..." Chen Dacheng’s voice trembled. "I urinated so freely! I haven’t felt this comfortable in years! You were right, Doctor Li is a Divine Physician! His medicine really works!" 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

Aunt Li laughed on the other end of the line. "See? I told you! Xiao Xu’s medical skills are amazing! His prescriptions are always a surefire cure. Plus, he often goes out to gather herbs himself, so he always uses top-quality ingredients..."

In the past, she’d often seen Li Xu’s clinic closed and thought his trips to gather herbs were just an excuse.

It seemed it was true after all.

"Thank you so much, Aunt Li. I’ll treat you to a meal another day."

After hanging up, Chen Dacheng went to the bathroom to try one more time. Once he confirmed it wasn’t a coincidence, he was so happy he spun around the living room several times.

...

The next morning, Aunt Li was sweeping when she saw Li Xu’s clinic was open. She excitedly put down her broom and went inside.

"Xiao Xu! Great news!"

She was shouting before she even stepped through the door. "My relative, Old Chen, took your medicine and it started working the very same night!"

Li Xu was organizing medicinal herbs. He looked up at her words, a gratified smile on his face. "Oh? It seems the True Martial Soup was the right prescription, then. The problem before must have been the ingredients."

"Old Chen was so emotional on the phone he was practically in tears," Aunt Li described animatedly. "He said he hadn’t urinated so freely in years. You have no idea, this illness was tormenting him so much he was becoming depressed..."

Li Xu nodded, though he wasn’t surprised.

True Martial Soup was a classic formula for treating water retention due to kidney yang deficiency. As long as the herbs were authentic and the mixture was correct, its effectiveness was a matter of course.

"How is he feeling today?" Li Xu asked while grabbing some herbs for a prescription.

"I called him again this morning," Aunt Li said. "He told me he got up three times during the night, and each time he urinated without any trouble. When he woke up this morning, the swelling in his eyelids, hands, and feet had gone down quite a bit. He feels much lighter overall."

Li Xu jotted down this feedback on a prescription pad to reference when adjusting the formula next time.

He looked up at Aunt Li. "Aunt Li, please tell Mr. Chen that he needs to continue taking the medicine. Kidney yang deficiency isn’t something that can be fixed in a day or two. He only bought two doses. After he finishes them, he should come back for a follow-up consultation, and I’ll adjust the formula based on his condition."

"No problem!" Aunt Li nodded repeatedly. "Actually, I don’t even think I need to tell him. He’ll definitely come back after he finishes the medicine. From now on, he’ll only come to you for treatment. He’s done wasting his time elsewhere."

Aunt Li chatted for a little longer before going back outside to sweep.

Li Xu’s thoughts turned to the Aconite.

He had treated Ma Jinhua’s son, and Ma Jinhua had given him twenty mu’s worth of Aconite.

Of course, the clinic couldn’t possibly use that much Aconite.

’What should I do with it?’

’If I just leave it in the clinic, after a while, I’ll have to take the time to dry it all over again.’

Li Xu thought of the Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

’Maybe I can sell the Aconite to the Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine.’

Compared to the City People’s Hospital, the Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine had far fewer patients.

But it had more patients than a typical TCM clinic.

They also had more uses for Aconite.

Besides, he was an advisor for the District Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

With this in mind, Li Xu took some of the premium-quality Aconite gifted by Ma Jinhua and headed to the District Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

On the way, he gave Guo Yu a call.

"Advisor Li, I’m here."

"Good. I’m coming over to see you about something."

...

「At the District Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine.」

The Internal Medicine consultation room.

Guo Yu and Miaoli were both there.

"Advisor Li, what brings you here?"

Guo Yu asked.

Miaoli blinked, her face full of curiosity as well.

Li Xu had his own clinic.

Normally, he wouldn’t come over unless the hospital called for him.

Li Xu didn’t rush to talk about the Aconite.

Instead, he took out Chen Dacheng’s medical file and handed it over. "Director Guo, do you remember this patient?"

Guo Yu took the file and examined it carefully.

"Chen Dacheng... prostate issues... difficulty urinating... I have a vague recollection. Let me check..."

He quickly found Chen Dacheng’s treatment records on his computer. "I prescribed him True Martial Soup. The patient came back for one follow-up, but the results weren’t good, and he never came back after that..."

Guo Yu’s expression changed. "Did something happen to him?"

Li Xu said, "Don’t worry, Director Guo. Nothing bad happened. The patient came to see me for a prescription yesterday."

Guo Yu, who held Li Xu in high regard, asked anxiously, "Did I prescribe the wrong formula? What medicine did you give him?"

"True Martial Soup."

"Huh? True Martial Soup as well? And then what?"

"And then the patient got better."

"How is that possible?"

The corner of Guo Yu’s mouth twitched.

The same prescription, yet a different outcome.

’Is there any justice in this world?’

’No, wait...’

Guo Yu realized.

’The same prescription... should have the same effect.’

’If the outcome was different, the problem must have been the medicinal herbs.’

"Was it an issue with the medicinal herbs?"

Guo Yu asked.

Li Xu nodded. "That’s right."

Guo Yu’s face instantly turned grim.

Two months ago.

Professor Gao, an expert from the Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, came to Feng City to give a lecture, a key part of which focused on the issue of medicinal herb quality.

He had even audited the lecture.

The very next day, the City Health Commission issued a notice requiring all hospitals and clinics to conduct self-inspections to identify problematic herbs.

Their Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine had also conducted a self-inspection.

The result was that all the herbs were deemed up to standard.

’Now it seems that self-inspection was just a formality.’

"Our hospital has been supplied with fake herbs... Procurement is brazenly breaking the rules. I’m going to report this to the hospital director right now."

"Director Guo, wait."

Li Xu stopped him, shaking his head. "It’s probably not an issue of fake herbs."

Guo Yu stopped in his tracks, a puzzled look on his face.

Li Xu explained in detail, "Last week, I went to Shanghai for an awards ceremony on the integration of Chinese and Western medicine and ran into Professor Wang Tao... Most of the Aconite on the market now is soaked in Daban Liquid... The cold and yang properties cancel each other out... turning it into useless dregs..."

"What??"

After hearing this, Guo Yu was at a loss for words.

So, for years, they had been using Aconite with diminished efficacy.

No wonder it always felt like True Martial Soup wasn’t properly curing the patients it was meant for.

The real reason was the Aconite.