Chinese Medicine: Starting with Daily Intelligence-Chapter 180: As Effective As Ever
The sickle sliced through the dry stalks with a crisp SWISH-SWISH.
Li Xu straightened his aching back and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
The harvesting was tougher than he had expected.
The seven or eight plots of mountain land were scattered around the village. Some were on sunny slopes, others in the shade, and their growth varied accordingly.
The foxtail grass in the sunny spots was generally taller and stronger, with plumper heads.
The grass in the shade, however, was relatively thin and small, with finer leaves.
At noon, Li Xu sat on the hillside, eating bread.
The autumn wind swept over the slope, making the vast fields of foxtail grass ripple like waves and roar like the tide.
Below him, the deserted Bailingyu Village lay in silence, like an ink wash painting.
By the time the sun began to set, Li Xu had harvested more than half of the foxtail grass.
His palms were blistered and his back ached as if filled with lead, but as he looked at the neat bundles of grass stacked by the field, a sense of satisfaction washed over him.
'I won't make it back today.'
Li Xu glanced at the remaining foxtail grass.
'I should be able to finish by tomorrow morning.'
As the last ray of sunlight vanished behind the mountain, Li Xu shouldered the final bundles of grass and headed toward the village.
He arrived at old Zhou Shugen's house to find the courtyard gate ajar. The old locust tree inside had already lost half its leaves, and a gust of night wind sent many more rustling to the ground.
Li Xu stood on his toes and felt along the top of the doorframe, his fingers closing around a rusty key.
The door hinges let out a piercing CREAK as he opened it, revealing a room thick with the smell of dust.
In the light of his phone, he saw the furniture was just as it had been during his last visit—the old Eight Immortals table, and even the chipped teacup on it, were still in the same spot.
All that was missing was the silent old man and Da Huang, the big yellow dog with the constantly wagging tail.
Li Xu briefly swept the dust off the kang bed-stove and unrolled his sleeping bag.
Exhaustion washed over him like a tide, and accompanied by the chirping of insects in the mountains, he quickly fell asleep.
The next day, Li Xu resumed his harvesting work at the crack of dawn.
A thin layer of white frost, like a dusting of fine snow, covered the dry grass.
With the previous day's experience, his efficiency was much higher today.
By noon, all the foxtail grass around the village had been completely harvested.
The bundles of grass were piled in the courtyard, forming a small mountain.
Li Xu picked out the best-looking bundles, tied them carefully with rope, and prepared to take them with him.
There was far too much left for him to carry by himself, so he could only store it in the old man's house for the time being.
Before leaving, Li Xu took three incense sticks from the house and went to the grave behind the village.
He lit them and placed them before the old man's grave.
It was already past four in the afternoon by the time he returned to Feng City.
Li Xu didn't linger. He went straight to Ding's Pharmaceutical Factory to find Ding Kaifang.
"President Ding, try this foxtail grass. Let's see how the eye drops produced with it turn out."
Li Xu didn't ask Ding Kaifang to test its composition.
Because the efficacy of some medicinal ingredients can't be determined by their composition alone.
There are certain miraculous properties that tests can't detect.
"Alright."
Ding Kaifang took the foxtail grass and immediately had his workers begin production according to the original Mao Duddu Eye Drops formula.
The workers extracted and concentrated the foxtail grass, mixed it with other traditional Chinese medicinal herbs, and finally produced a new batch of eye drop samples.
Three hours later, the first batch of samples was ready.
Ding Kaifang picked up a small, transparent vial and held it up to the light. The liquid inside was clear, identical to the previous Mao Duddu Eye Drops.
"Looks fine," Ding Kaifang nodded, then handed a vial to Li Xu. "Want to try it?"
Li Xu took it and gently squeezed a drop into his eye.
A cool, comfortable, and slightly moisturizing sensation spread rapidly, instantly soothing his eyes, which had been dry from the long journey.
"How does it feel?" Ding Kaifang asked.
"Same as before," Li Xu said with a smile, rubbing his eyes. "Maybe even a little better."
Ding Kaifang's eyes lit up, and he immediately had the quality inspection department run detailed tests.
Half an hour later, the test report was out.
"All indicators fully meet the standards!" the quality inspector reported excitedly. "The stability of the active ingredients is even higher than before!"
Ding Kaifang laughed heartily. "Doctor Li, this is great! The new raw material is just as good as the old one!"
Li Xu also breathed a sigh of relief.
'Now, Mao Duddu Eye Drops can become a long-term, sustainable product.'
"How much more do you have?" Ding Kaifang asked eagerly.
Li Xu estimated, "A single plot of that mountain land yields about 165 pounds of dried grass. I planted six or seven plots this time, for a total of around a thousand pounds."
"A thousand pounds?!" Ding Kaifang's eyes widened. "That's enough to produce hundreds of thousands of vials of eye drops!"
"Yes, that should be enough for this year," Li Xu nodded. "But I'll have to find time to go back and haul the rest of it."
"Don't wait, go tomorrow!" Ding Kaifang decided on the spot. "I'll arrange for a small truck and send two men to help you. We'll get it all back in one trip!"
Li Xu was about to refuse; he didn't want anyone to know the location of his foxtail grass 'plantation'.
Before he could, his phone rang. It was Ding Aiguo. "Doctor Li, don't forget I'm treating you to dinner tomorrow."
"Ah?"
Li Xu paused for a moment before remembering. A few days ago, when he'd asked Ding Aiguo to help him attend a private auction, Ding Aiguo had offered to treat him to a meal, and he had accepted.
'Time flies. It's already the weekend.'
Li Xu remarked, "Chairman Ding, I remember."
After hanging up, he said, "President Ding, your father invited me to dinner tomorrow. I'll bring the rest of the foxtail grass in a few days."
Ding Kaifang's eyes lit up. "Is it at Li Garden?"
Li Xu shook his head. "I'm not sure, but Chairman Ding mentioned his friend's surname is also Li."
Ding Kaifang said eagerly, "That must be it, then. It has to be Li Garden. Doctor Li, you don't know this, but the owner of Li Garden loves fine tea and food, and he's an amazing cook. Once you've had his food, you'll definitely want to go back for more. Also..."
Ding Kaifang lowered his voice. "He's also a retired high-ranking official with powerful connections. Even our city's mayor has a hard time getting a meeting with him."
After saying this, he rubbed his hands together sheepishly. "Doctor Li, do you think I could tag along for the free meal tomorrow?"
Li Xu was indifferent. "Your dad is the one who invited me. You should ask him."
"Haha, but he's inviting you. You're the guest of honor," Ding Kaifang laughed.
"Fine. The more the merrier."
"Thank you so much."
Ding Kaifang paced back and forth. "Elder Li loves good tea. I should prepare some... Oh, Doctor Li, should I prepare some for you to bring as a gift?"
An idea struck Li Xu. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦
'Ding Kaifang is very considerate. Even though Ding Aiguo is the one treating, it wouldn't be right to show up empty-handed. And I just happen to have some Zither Fish Tea. It would be the perfect gift.'
"No need, I have something prepared."
...
The next morning.
Song Sisi brought breakfast to the clinic and was surprised to see Li Xu packing his things. "Boss, are you going out again?"
Li Xu nodded. "You hold down the fort at the clinic. Whatever you do, don't treat any patients. Also, Hu Qiming is coming to help out today. Don't let him cause any trouble; just have him stick to measuring blood pressure and blood sugar."
"Don't worry, Boss, I'll definitely keep an eye on him," Song Sisi declared.
