Well, this is the reality. Even if this time the credit goes to traditional Chinese medicine, the standards applied must still be theirs.

Du Heng didn’t want to dwell on this point and continued with the previous topic, "Director Zhang, my purpose for calling is precisely this. Since Secretary Bai’s pain has already lessened and his appetite has returned, let’s reduce his medicine dosage by half starting today. This will allow his damaged liver to recover gradually."

Zhang Yongjun hesitated slightly. "Should we switch now?"

Du Heng replied confidently, "Secretary Bai’s recovery progress aligns with my estimations. Thank you for your trouble, Director Zhang."

"Alright." After hanging up, Du Heng heaved a long sigh of relief.

Good thing I remembered today, he thought. If I’d been careless, I might have forgotten and let Mr. Bai drink that large dose for a few more days. Actually, it wouldn’t have caused any major problems, but it would have been too focused on quick results and wouldn’t help his complete recovery later on.

After dealing with the matter he had overlooked, Du Heng immediately drove off. On the way, he stopped at a small shop and bought a box of Telasu milk as a get-well gift.

When he arrived home, Du Heng called Du Ping to go with him. After a slight hesitation, Du Ping picked up the Telasu milk Du Heng had placed by the door, along with the eight-treasured rice porridge he himself had set out, and they started to leave.

As they walked down the steps, Du Ping glanced at what Du Heng had bought. "Why did you buy such expensive stuff?"

Du Heng saw his brother carrying both items and hurried forward to take one. "It was right by the entrance of the store, so I just grabbed it."

"Oh," Du Ping acknowledged softly.

After turning a corner and going down a slope, the two brothers arrived at Du Jun’s house. They entered and placed their gifts by the door.

When Du Jun’s mother saw the two brothers arrive with gifts, her face broke into a wide smile, and she eagerly moved to entertain them.

Du Heng declined directly, saying, "I heard my sister-in-law was injured, so I came to see how she’s doing. Is she feeling any better?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the smile vanished from Du Jun’s mother’s face. "She’s still the same," she said. "Crying one moment and laughing the next, cursing anyone she sees, and hitting them if they get too close. Banxianer is still performing spiritual rituals for her now. You can go and visit her when he’s done."

The two brothers were taken aback; they hadn’t expected Banxianer to still be there.

"Banxianer hasn’t left yet?"

"No." A flash of fear crossed Du Jun’s mother’s eyes. "Banxianer said the malevolence of this unclean entity is very strong, and it will take three days of rituals to see any effect. Even then, Banxianer said he can only protect us from harm; as for Du Jun’s wife, he himself isn’t sure."

Du Jun’s wife has a problem, yet Banxianer claims he can only protect *our family* from harm? Du Heng found the idea laughable. If Du Jun’s wife has mental issues, what does that have to do with anyone else? What is this if not a scam to get money? But looking at Du Jun’s mother, she believed it—believed it deeply.

Du Ping wanted to say something, but Du Heng secretly tugged his brother’s hand and then said to Du Jun’s mother, "Then we’ll wait for a bit."

With that, the two brothers sat quietly on the sofa, waiting for Banxianer to finish before they went to see her.

Du Jun’s mother sat to one side, chattering incessantly. She spoke of her difficult life, how well she had treated her daughter-in-law, and then how unkind her daughter-in-law had been in return.

However, neither brother wanted to listen, nor did they feel like talking, so they just offered noncommittal responses.

While Du Ping was still nodding and making assenting noises, Du Heng didn’t want to say a word. His eyes wandered around the room, aimlessly taking in the surroundings.

Suddenly, Du Heng’s eyes fixed on something. He focused his gaze intently on the spot that had caught his attention.

Six treasure porridge? What the heck? My brother brought a counterfeit!

Even though they weren’t particularly fond of Du Jun’s family, giving a fake product was just too embarrassing.

But when his eyes glanced to the side, his heart sank. This is even more mortifying!

It was only then he clearly saw that what he had brought wasn’t Telasu milk, but Telasu. The ’Telasu’ logo was printed in such a way—a hook on one part of the name was too long and sloppily drawn, extending over another part—that it made him misread it as ’Telasu milk’.

Damn, this is too awkward!

Once Du Jun’s mother stepped out, Du Heng quickly pointed at the two boxes for Du Ping. "Brother, where did you buy these?"

Du Ping was startled. "I didn’t buy them; they were gifts from Ma, the one who sold the sheep."

Ma? Du Heng had an impression of him; he was the one who got butted by a sheep, fell in the field, and couldn’t catch his breath.

Not understanding, Du Ping asked, "What’s wrong?"

Du Heng whispered, "They’re fake. Look, yours is ’six treasure porridge.’" 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

"Hmm?" Du Ping quickly took a closer look, then glanced at the box Du Heng had bought.

Du Heng sighed. "Don’t look. Mine is also fake—it’s ’Telasu’. Brother, what should we do now? This is too embarrassing. Why don’t we take them with us when we leave? I can go to the village shop later and buy two genuine ones."

Du Ping sucked in a sharp breath through gritted teeth, then said slowly, "Forget it. It’s not like we did it on purpose. Besides, if we don’t mention it, they might not realize and could end up giving them to someone else. If we take them back now... it’s just too humiliating."

Du Heng thought so too, so he turned his head away, trying hard not to look at the two boxes.

Before long, the sound of a bell rang out from the small adjacent room. Then Banxianer emerged, muttering to himself. He wore a yellow robe with Bagua symbols and a Taoist crown adorned with images of various Bodhisattvas as he walked out of the room.