"Er..."
Faced with Li Xu's enthusiastic invitation,
Liu Zhuzi was extremely awkward.
He felt terrible and couldn't even run his business.
He just wanted to get his illness treated quickly.
He didn't want to be delayed by Li Xu.
In the end, reason won out over emotion.
He refused, "No thanks. Chinese medicine works too slowly. I'm going to get an IV drip..."
Without waiting for Li Xu to say more,
he strode forward quickly.
His destination was the Weimin Clinic, just a few dozen meters ahead.
It was an ordinary clinic.
It focused primarily on Western medicine.
The most common treatment method was the IV drip.
Although IV drips carry significant risks
and don't actually cure the underlying illness,
they can quickly alleviate a patient's discomfort, making them the choice for many ordinary people.
"Sigh!"
Li Xu shook his head.
'There's nothing I can do. The guy doesn't trust me.'
He glanced north at the Weimin Clinic.
It was just past eight in the morning,
but the clinic's entrance was already crowded with vehicles—cars and electric bikes alike.
Compared to the bustling Weimin Clinic, Li's Traditional Chinese Medicine Clinic seemed even more deserted.
'The flu has been raging lately; a lot of people have caught colds...'
Li Xu went back inside, disinfected his hands with alcohol, and returned to his book.
...
"Son, time for your medicine."
Wang Qin had woken up early to brew the Chinese medicine and now brought it to Zhang He.
Chinese medicine is very bitter,
and many people can't stomach it.
But Zhang He took the bowl and drank it all in one go. GULP, GULP.
"Candy!"
Wang Qin quickly handed him a piece of candy.
Zhang He unwrapped it and popped it in his mouth.
"Mom, are my eyes still red?"
Zhang He asked.
"Let me see."
Wang Qin looked closely, then said with pleasant surprise, "Much better than yesterday! There are still a few red veins, but at this rate, you should be all better by tomorrow. How do you feel?"
"I feel pretty good. My stomach isn't bloated anymore, my head doesn't hurt, and I can see clearly, though things are still a little blurry."
"That's much better already."
Wang Qin breathed a sigh of relief.
Although they had taken her son to the City People's Hospital right away,
the hospital had diagnosed him with chronic conjunctivitis.
The medicine he took after coming back had no effect.
It had dragged on for nearly a month.
She had originally planned to take a few days off work to take her son to the provincial hospital.
But then, things took an unexpected turn.
After just two doses of Chinese medicine, his condition had clearly improved.
She estimated he would be completely recovered in another day.
"Sigh, your Uncle Li was so skilled. Even the prescriptions he left behind can cure your illness. What a shame he passed away so early..."
Wang Qin lamented.
RING RING RING.
The phone rang.
It was Li Xu, calling to ask about Zhang He's condition.
"Xiao Xu, Zhang He is much better, thank you! If it weren't for you, we would have gone to the provincial capital and wasted a lot of money."
Wang Qin thanked him profusely.
"We're neighbors, Aunt Wang, no need to be so polite. If you really want to thank me, you could help spread the word so I can get some more patients."
"No problem, I'll definitely help you with that."
After hanging up the phone,
Wang Qin muttered, "My son's illness was cured by your father's prescription, not your own skill. How am I supposed to promote that?"
Zhang He suggested, "Then just say Uncle Li left behind a wealth of medical experience. We have to help Brother Xu; it's not easy for him on his own."
Wang Qin patted her son's head. "Don't worry, I know what to say."
...
Wang Qin was quick to act.
When Li Xu went out to buy some liangpi for lunch, the auntie selling it chattered, "I heard your father's old prescription cured Wang Qin's son's eye problem? Oh, what a shame your dad passed away. You should study the prescriptions he left behind. Once you've mastered them, I'll come to you for any headaches or fevers I get."
After buying the liangpi,
he ran into Aunt Li, who swept the streets in the area.
"Your dad was the best doctor around here. When he was alive, the Weimin Clinic almost went out of business. I can't believe he passed so soon. Sigh, now the Weimin Clinic is back on its feet... COUGH COUGH..."
"Sigh!"
Li Xu let out a sigh.
'I finally manage to cure a difficult case,'
'and the credit goes to my old man again.'
'Oh well,'
'nothing to get worked up about.'
"Aunt Li, have you caught a cold? Don't try to tough it out, you should go get it checked."
"I got an IV drip yesterday. It's too crowded right now, so I'll go back when there are fewer people," Aunt Li said.
Another day passed.
Not a single patient came to the clinic.
Li Xu could only hope that tomorrow's intelligence would be more useful.
'Please don't give me intelligence about specific individuals anymore. Even if I know it, it's useless for now.'
Li Xu glanced at the system screen.
[Time remaining until next intelligence refresh: 1 hour 20 minutes]
'Time for bed.'
...
RING RING RING!
Li Xu reached out and expertly hit the snooze button for another five minutes.
But then he remembered today's intelligence.
He was instantly wide awake.
He silently thought, 'View.'
A semi-transparent box appeared before his eyes.
[Today's Intelligence: Wang the Third from Wangjia Gou has had a poor harvest of Daqing Leaf this year due to disease, and the quality is bad. Medicinal herb purchasers are offering an extremely low price. Unwilling to sell so cheaply, he has decided to set up a stall at the medicinal herb market to try his luck. What he doesn't know is that his Daqing Leaf is miraculously effective against the recently rampant H3N2 influenza A virus.]
"Huh?"
Li Xu blinked.
'I think I've just received an incredible piece of intelligence...'
Daqing Leaf is the leaf of the plant Solanum nigrum.
In ancient times, it was often used as a dye.
The "blue" in the saying, "Blue is extracted from the indigo plant, but is bluer than the plant it comes from," refers to Daqing Leaf.
Later, it was also used as a medicinal herb in Chinese medicine.
The leaves of Solanum nigrum are Daqing Leaf, and its root is Ban Lan Gen.
Both have the effect of clearing heat and detoxifying the body.
In modern times, there are many different types of flu viruses.
Daqing Leaf, Ban Lan Gen, Honeysuckle, Forsythia Suspensa, and dandelion are all common Chinese medicinal herbs used to treat flu viruses.
Just as no two leaves in the world are identical,
no two Chinese medicinal herbs have the exact same properties.
Some are weaker in effect, while others are stronger.
It was entirely possible that, due to various factors, the Daqing Leaf grown by Wang the Third from Wangjia Gou was perfectly suited to suppressing the H3N2 influenza A virus.
"This is great!"
Li Xu grew excited.
This one piece of intelligence was worth hundreds of ordinary ones.
Because so many people had the flu right now,
if he acquired Wang the Third's Daqing Leaf,
he would have an effective medicine to treat it.
Without a second thought, Li Xu quickly got out of bed to wash up.
He didn't even have time for breakfast.
He was afraid of wasting any time.
He didn't take the bus.
Instead, he hailed a taxi and went to the traditional Chinese medicine market.
The market was filled with individual shops,
but there was also an area
specifically for casual vendors to set up stalls.
Li Xu headed straight for the stall area.
After wandering around for a while,
he found that no one was selling Daqing Leaf at all.
'Could someone have bought it all already?'
Li Xu's heart pounded with anxiety.
This piece of intelligence was his chance to turn around the reputation of Li's Traditional Chinese Medicine Clinic.
If he missed this opportunity, there was no telling when the next one would come.
Just as he was starting to panic,
he saw an old man approaching from a distance, carrying a woven plastic sack on his back.
The man stopped in an empty spot at the far end of the market and opened the sack.
Inside was a batch of extremely poor-quality Daqing Leaf.