Chinese Medicine: Starting with Daily Intelligence-Chapter 47: Acquaintance

With no experiments or data, Li Xu’s paper wasn’t very long.

He finished it in a single afternoon.

He gave it one last check for typos and formatting.

"Boss, where are you planning to publish this?"

Song Sisi asked curiously.

Li Xu shook his head. "I haven’t decided yet."

There were several avenues for publishing a medical paper, the first being academic journals.

This was the primary and most authoritative channel.

For instance, Dragon Country Virology was the most authoritative journal in the country’s field of virology.

There were also top-tier global journals with immense influence not only in academia but also on the general public, such as Lancet.

Publishing a paper in one of those would be of great benefit to the author.

However, these journals had extremely high standards for quality, making them incredibly difficult to get published in.

The second option was academic proceedings from conferences.

At specialized academic conferences, one could compile their research, submit it to the organizing committee and attendees, and present their findings.

Other options included open-access platforms and the official websites of hospitals or medical schools...

Li Xu shook his head.

None of these channels were right for him.

Then he thought of his teacher from medical school.

He had been a nobody back in school.

He hadn’t interacted much with his teachers, either.

’If I send it to him, will he even read it?’

"I’ll give it a shot."

Li Xu found his teacher’s WeChat, sent the file, and left a message: "Teacher Xue, I read the paper on the tick-borne virus by Wang Tao’s team from Jinmen University and had some thoughts. Could you please take a look and tell me if they seem feasible?"

After he sent the message, there was no reply from his teacher.

Li Xu thought for a moment, then went to the official Jinmen University website, found the email address for the School of Life Sciences, and sent his theory there as well.

"Now I just have to wait and see if they contact me."

...

The phone rang.

"Is this Mr. Gao? You have a package."

"Oh, just leave it with the gate guard."

"Alright, don’t forget to pick it up."

Professor Gao Guanghui was in his office looking through patient files. Before he could go get it, a colleague brought it up for him. "Professor Gao, your package. Where should I put it?"

"Oh, just put it on the desk. Thank you, Xiao Zhang."

"You’re too kind. By the way, Professor Gao, there’s a discussion meeting this afternoon about the Clearing Qi and Stabilizing Blood Formula. Don’t forget to attend."

"I know."

Gao Guanghui looked at the cardboard box in front of him, a little puzzled.

He didn’t remember buying anything.

’Could it be an event invitation from a pharmaceutical company?’

’No, an invitation would just come in an envelope. Why use a cardboard box?’

Gao Guanghui opened the box.

Inside was a simple plastic bag filled with five taels of brown rice. The grains were yellowish and coarse, and there were even a few unhulled husks mixed in.

"This..." Gao Guanghui remembered.

A couple of days ago, he had asked the family of a pediatric anorexia patient to send him some of their rice.

His brow furrowed. He picked up a few grains and rubbed them between his fingertips. ’Can this kind of rice really cure anorexia?’

Gao Guanghui found it hard to believe.

But the patient in the video had indeed been eating with great relish, and there was no reason for Ding Kaifang to lie to him.

’Could this rice really have something special about it?’

He thought for a moment and decided to test it.

...

Gao Guanghui took out a stack of files, found the cases related to pediatric anorexia, and specifically chose a patient with a severe case—a six-year-old boy named Lele.

For three consecutive months, Lele had an extremely poor appetite and had lost a significant amount of weight. His parents had taken him to all the major hospitals, and he’d even been put on a nutritional IV, but with little effect.

He called the patient’s family. "Come by at four this afternoon. I have a new method we can try."

"Thank you, Doctor. We’ll definitely be there," the patient’s mother said hurriedly.

Gao Guanghui put the rice away, checked the time, and went to attend the discussion meeting on the Clearing Qi and Stabilizing Blood Formula.

After the meeting, the patient was already waiting in the examination room.

"Professor Gao, you said... there’s a way?" Lele’s mother’s eyes were filled with hope.

Gao Guanghui nodded, took a small bowl from his drawer, poured a little of the brown rice into it, and placed it in front of Lele.

"Lele, do you want to eat this?"

Lele had been listlessly leaning against his mother, but when his gaze fell upon the few grains of brown rice, his eyes suddenly widened, and he reached out to grab them.

"Rice! I want to eat!"

Gao Guanghui and Lele’s mother were both stunned.

Lele’s mother looked at her son in shock. "Lele, you... didn’t you say you didn’t want to eat anything?"

But Lele was already eagerly grabbing a few grains of raw rice, shoving them directly into his mouth, and chewing with a loud CRUNCH, a satisfied expression on his face.

Gao Guanghui’s heart raced. He immediately said, "Wait a moment, I’ll cook some to try!"

He hurried to the small kitchenette in his office, took out one tael of the rice, rinsed it briefly, and added water to cook it into a thin porridge.

After the porridge was cooked, the aroma of the rice wasn’t strong, even a bit plain. But when Gao Guanghui placed the bowl in front of Lele, the boy’s eyes lit up instantly. He picked up the spoon himself and began to eat in big mouthfuls.

"Slow down, don’t burn yourself..." Lele’s mother’s voice trembled as tears welled up in her eyes. "He... he hasn’t eaten on his own in so long..."

Gao Guanghui stared intently at Lele, the shock in his heart beyond words.

’It really works!’

’And the effect is immediate!’

Lele finished the bowl and licked his lips, still wanting more. "Mama, I want more..."

Lele’s mother looked at Gao Guanghui excitedly. "Professor Gao, this rice... this rice is amazing! Please prescribe it for us. Prescribe a lot of it."

Gao Guanghui shook his head. "I only have four taels left, and there are other patients who need to try it..."

"Oh..."

Lele’s mother grew anxious. "What are we going to do?"

Her son was finally willing to eat after so long.

But there wasn’t enough. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

Gao Guanghui reassured her, "Don’t worry. I’ll ask about the source of this rice for you."

He immediately dialed Ding Kaifang’s number.

"Mr. Ding, this is Gao Guanghui. The rice you sent me really works. I found a pediatric anorexia patient, and he loves to eat it. I’d like to ask, where did you buy this rice?"

Ding Kaifang answered readily, "Oh, it’s from a local clinic here."

"What clinic? Where is it located?"

"The name is Li’s Traditional Chinese Medicine Clinic. It’s right on Construction Road, easy to find."

"Li’s Traditional Chinese Medicine Clinic?"

Gao Guanghui froze. The name sounded so familiar.

Where had he heard it?

For a moment, he couldn’t remember.

"What’s the doctor’s name at the clinic?"

"Li Xu. A very young doctor."

"Ah..."

Gao Guanghui remembered.

A while ago, when he went to the Feng City Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine to give a lecture, there was a young doctor named Li Xu.

A few days ago, Li Xu had sent him a photo of a silk banner from a patient.

The banner was a thank-you to Li’s Traditional Chinese Medicine Clinic.

Hearing the surprise in his voice, Ding Kaifang asked, "Professor Gao, do you know him?"

Gao Guanghui chuckled. "That’s right. We’ve even treated a patient together."

Realization dawned on Ding Kaifang. "No wonder Doctor Li is so young but his medical skills are so high. You must have been his mentor!"

Gao Guanghui didn’t take the credit. "No, we only spent an afternoon together. I didn’t guide him much. I have his number, so I’ll contact him directly. Thank you, Mr. Ding."

"You’re too kind."