Chinese Medicine: Starting with Daily Intelligence-Chapter 36: Happiness

Looking at the incoming call, Ding Aiguo swiped to answer.

He said with a laugh, "Old Wang, speak of the devil. I was just about to call you, and here you are calling me."

Wang Jun’s hearty laughter came from the other end of the line. "Oh? What did you need me for?"

"You sound so happy, you must have good news. You go first," Ding Aiguo said.

"I went to Tairuo Country and got my hands on a section of top-quality Rosewood!" Wang Jun’s voice was filled with excitement. "It’s at least four hundred years old, full of resin, and I had an expert appraise it. It’s absolutely the real deal!"

Hearing this, Ding Aiguo felt a stir of interest.

If this had been before, he would have bought a portion from him without a moment’s hesitation.

But now that Xue Mei’s illness had improved, his need for rosewood wasn’t as urgent.

"Old Ding? Why aren’t you saying anything?" Wang Jun asked, puzzled. "If you want some, I can spare you a third of it."

Ding Aiguo chuckled. "My wife’s illness is cured, so I don’t need the rosewood for now. However..."

He paused. "If you’re willing to part with it, I’ll still take it. After all, a treasure like this is hard to come by."

"What?!" Wang Jun’s voice suddenly shot up. "Your wife’s insomnia is cured? Which expert treated her? What method did they use?"

His urgency took Ding Aiguo by surprise. "What’s wrong? Do you need to find an expert?"

The other end of the line went silent for a few seconds before Wang Jun’s voice dropped. "My son... Since last year, he’s been incredibly weak. He catches a cold from the slightest chill. Western medicine says it’s low immunity; Traditional Chinese Medicine says it’s a deficiency of both qi and blood. I heard that high-quality rosewood can regulate qi and blood and boost immunity, so I’ve been searching for it..."

Ding Aiguo was puzzled. "When I saw your boy last year, he seemed quite sturdy."

Wang Jun sighed. "It might be the academic pressure from starting middle school. Now he’s not only thin, but he also has insomnia and catches colds easily."

"A traditional Chinese medicine doctor named Li Xu cured her," Ding Aiguo said directly. "He used a medicine formulated with precious Sandalwood Fragrance and Five-Floral Dragon Bone."

"Li Xu?" Wang Jun was skeptical. "I’ve never heard of a famous doctor by that name."

"He’s in the west of the city, at a place called Li’s Traditional Chinese Medicine Clinic. He’s not old, but his medical skills are incredible," Ding Aiguo said with conviction. "I saw it with my own eyes. It can’t be fake."

Wang Jun was half-believing, half-doubting, but Ding Aiguo had always been a steady person who never exaggerated.

Ding Aiguo continued, "Are you in Feng City right now? You can come over to my place and have a look. My wife’s medicine still has some rosewood in it. You can see how it compares to the rosewood you bought."

Wang Jun immediately replied, "I’m in Feng City! I’ll head over to your place right now!"

...

An hour later, Wang Jun rushed over to the Ding Family’s villa in a flurry.

Ding Aiguo had already asked Xue Mei to take out the prescription Li Xu had written and the remaining Sandalwood Fragrance.

The moment Wang Jun stepped through the door, he smelled a unique sandalwood aroma—mellow and far-reaching, with a hint of crispness, completely different from all the rosewood in his collection.

"This fragrance..." Wang Jun took a deep breath, his eyes widening. "It’s even purer than my four-hundred-year-old piece of rosewood!"

"Over here."

There wasn’t much in the way of pleasantries.

Ding Aiguo had Wang Jun sit down.

On the table in front of him were the Sandalwood Fragrance and the Pterocarpus Medicinal Tablets.

Wang Jun carefully picked up a stick of the Sandalwood Fragrance, held it to the tip of his nose to smell it carefully, then held it up to the light to observe the color of the incense powder.

He then picked up one of the Pterocarpus Medicinal Tablets, his astonishment growing the more he looked at it. "The resin content and grain of this rosewood... it’s at least five hundred years old!"

Ding Aiguo nodded. "Doctor Li said this is the core wood of an eight-hundred-year-old rosewood tree."

Wang Jun’s hand trembled, and he almost dropped the Pterocarpus Medicinal Tablet on the floor.

’An eight-hundred-year-old rosewood?’

’That’s a truly mature rosewood tree.’

’Nowadays, aside from some museums, the amount available is extremely small.’

’It’s a treasure among treasures.’

Wang Jun suddenly felt that the rosewood he’d acquired was nothing to show off.

At the same time, his eagerness grew.

’With such fine rosewood, if my son smells its fragrance and wears it often, it will definitely improve his health.’

"Is that clinic still open now?" Wang Jun asked impatiently.

Ding Aiguo glanced at the darkening sky outside. "It’s too late today; the clinic should be closed. Don’t worry, I’ll go with you tomorrow."

"That’s great."

Wang Jun was very happy.

’With an acquaintance along, the doctor will surely be more attentive.’

As they were talking, Wang Jun noticed a nearly finished bowl of brown rice porridge on the dining table.

It didn’t smell very good, either.

"What’s this?" he asked curiously. "Can’t your family afford good rice anymore?"

Ding Aiguo said, "This is actually what I wanted to ask your help with."

He briefly recounted the miracle of Duoduo’s anorexia improving.

Wang Jun was dumbfounded. "This rice... can make someone with anorexia want to eat on their own?"

"It’s absolutely true," Ding Kaifang chimed in. "Duoduo hasn’t eaten a proper meal in three years, but today she ate a whole bowl!"

"However, Doctor Li said he came across it by chance. My dad and I were thinking, if we can really identify the active ingredient and extract it, maybe we could mass-produce a drug to treat anorexia!"

Wang Jun’s eyes lit up. As a businessman, he too thought of the enormous commercial value.

He pulled out his phone. "I’ll contact Professor Shen right now!"

As soon as the call connected, Wang Jun got straight to the point. "Professor Shen, I’ve found a special type of brown rice here that might contain the key ingredient for treating anorexia... Yes, I’ll have it sent over first thing tomorrow morning!"

Hanging up, Wang Jun couldn’t hide his excitement. "Old Shen agreed to study it himself tomorrow! We could have preliminary results in as little as three days!"

Ding Aiguo nodded in relief.

He had heard of Professor Shen’s reputation as a top expert at the National Science Academy Biotechnology Research Institute. With him on the case, the matter was as good as settled.

After they had planned the next day’s itinerary, Wang Jun left.

Ding Aiguo asked his son, "What are your plans for tomorrow?"

Ding Kaifang replied, "It’s still about the Tang Mountain hot spring project. I’m taking the experts to do a final confirmation. If there’s no development potential, we’ll officially give it up and look for the next prospect. Dad, do you want to come have a look?"

Ding Aiguo shook his head. "No, you can handle a small matter like this yourself."

The father and son spoke for a while.

Ding Duoduo finished her meal.

She walked up to Ding Aiguo and took his hand. "Grandpa, I want a horsey ride."

"Hahaha... Alright, alright... A horsey ride it is."

Ding Aiguo was exceptionally happy, a rare sight.

His wife was well. His granddaughter could eat again and had become more lively.

In that moment, he felt incredibly happy.

...

Li Xu sat on a bus heading to Tang Mountain.

At his feet was a small bag of rice seeds.

He had wanted to buy seeds for Xiangshui rice, but they weren’t sold anywhere on the market.

He had to settle for the next best thing and bought Daohuaxiang No. 2.

Also known as the Wuchang rice found on the market.

He wondered if planting it on Tang Mountain would produce the same delicious flavor as Wuchang rice.

But even if the taste was a little worse, it would definitely be better than the wild rice.

The taste of that wild brown rice from before was just too awful.

Then, Li Xu thought about the intelligence report from today.

[Today’s Intelligence: Patient Wang Zhibao, 14 years old. In the throes of puberty, has picked up bad habits. For the past six months, has been staying up until one or two in the morning, hiding under the covers and looking at Macanese casino websites. When the mood strikes, he reaches a state of pure bliss. Over time, this has led to a deficiency of both qi and blood, allowing perverse qi to invade his body. When questioned by doctors, he did not answer truthfully, leading to a misdiagnosis...]

"Tsk tsk~"

Li Xu shook his head.

’I’m not at the clinic today, so I’m going to miss this patient.’

...