Chinese Medicine: Starting with Daily Intelligence

Chapter 554: Chapter 554: Alcohol Test

"It’s not just for drinking *after* you’ve had alcohol." Li Xu pointed to himself and smiled. "I drank quite a bit myself, and now I’m completely fine."

It finally dawned on everyone.

That’s right!

Li Xu had been one of the main drinkers tonight, too.

While he hadn’t gone as crazy as Hu Qiming, he had still put away a solid eight ounces of baijiu.

Normally, he would have been long passed out, but now his face wasn’t even flushed, his breathing was steady, and his thoughts were clear. It turned out he had come prepared.

"So you’re saying... this tea can also prevent you from getting drunk?"

Hu Qiming’s eyes grew even brighter, and his mind felt a little clearer. "Li Xu, if this is for real, won’t we be invincible whenever we go out drinking? We could drink a thousand cups and not get drunk!"

"I want to go home and try to mix some myself."

Hu Qiming was eager to give it a try. "Isn’t it just kudzu root and pearl? Those two ingredients aren’t hard to find."

But Jiang Peng, who was beside them, shook his head and cut right to the heart of the matter. "Old Hu, don’t be so naive. The batch you mix might not have any effect. If just anyone could make it, it wouldn’t be called a secret recipe."

Hu Qiming was puzzled. "Isn’t it just kudzu root tea? Even if there’s something special to it, we can just ask Li Xu."

He said it subconsciously.

But as soon as the words left his mouth, he regretted them.

Li Xu just smiled without saying a word.

It dawned on Hu Qiming that he had overstepped a boundary.

’A secret recipe in Chinese medicine is someone’s livelihood. How could he just casually tell you the specific ratios and processing methods?’

’What kind of kudzu root do you choose?’

’How finely do you grind the pearl?’

’What are the exact proportions? How do you brew it? What’s the right sequence?’

’There’s a world of knowledge in all this.’

"Heh heh, I get it, I get it. A trade secret, of course."

Hu Qiming laughed awkwardly to cover his blunder.

Everyone else tactfully moved on from the topic. After drinking a little more tea and chatting about work, they all went their separate ways.

With the kudzu root and pearl tea in their systems, the few men who would have needed to be carried out could now hail their own cabs home. Miaoli no longer had to worry about how to transport them.

Li Xu and Hu Qiming were the last to leave.

As the two of them walked out of the restaurant, they were about to hail a cab.

"Doctor Li, Dr. Hu."

A familiar voice called out.

It was Ding Kaifang, also coming out of the restaurant.

His face was flushed and beaming; he had clearly just finished a business dinner as well.

"President Ding? What a coincidence."

Li Xu greeted him.

"Yes, I just finished dinner with a few friends myself." Ding Kaifang warmly grabbed them. "Come on, come on, I’ll have my driver take you. It’s hard to get a cab this late at night."

The two didn’t refuse and got into the car.

The car had just passed an intersection when a sea of flashing police lights appeared up ahead, with a long line of cars queued up.

The traffic police were conducting a drunk driving checkpoint.

Seeing the scene, Hu Qiming flinched, a trace of trauma surfacing. He ducked his head slightly. "Why are they checking every single day lately?"

Ding Kaifang chuckled. "The city recently launched a ’100-Day Campaign’ to crack down on drunk driving. They’re setting up random checkpoints every night. Don’t worry, my driver hasn’t had a single drop."

Sure enough, when it was their car’s turn, the driver blew into the breathalyzer, the device didn’t go off, and they were waved through.

Just as the car was about to start moving again, Li Xu suddenly said, "Driver, wait a moment."

He then rolled down the window and gestured to the traffic officer.

"Doctor Li, what’s wrong?" Ding Kaifang and Hu Qiming looked puzzled.

Li Xu said to the officer on duty, "Officer, could you let me take the test? I want to check my current alcohol level."

The young officer was stunned for a moment, then frowned and scolded him with displeasure, "This is official equipment. Do you think you can just try it out whenever you want? Don’t cause trouble, move along."

Li Xu didn’t get angry. He simply replied in a calm tone, "Could you please make an exception? I just want to verify something."

Just then, a middle-aged officer from further back saw the car wasn’t moving and thought there was an issue, so he hurried over.

"What’s going on?"

The young officer quickly explained the situation.

Inside the car, the sharp-eyed Ding Kaifang looked through the window and immediately recognized him as Captain Zhang of the city’s traffic police detachment. He had met him a few times before.

He opened the car door, got out, and greeted him:

"Well, if it isn’t Captain Zhang! Still on the front lines this late? Thank you for your hard work."

When Captain Zhang saw it was Ding Kaifang, his expression softened considerably. "Ah, so it’s President Ding. What’s this? Is this a friend of yours?"

Ding Kaifang quickly explained the situation, saying it was just a small request.

Captain Zhang looked at Li Xu. Although he felt it was a bit absurd, he gave in for President Ding’s sake and waved his hand. "Alright, then. Let him take the test. Make it quick, don’t hold things up."

The young officer took out the breathalyzer and handed it to Li Xu.

An astonishing scene unfolded.

Li Xu took a deep breath and blew hard into the tube for five seconds.

"BEEP—"

The device’s screen lit up, and the displayed value was an astounding: 0 mg/100ml!

"What?"

Hu Qiming, standing nearby, looked as if his eyes were about to pop out of his head.

He had personally watched Li Xu drink a solid eight ounces of baijiu!

’It’s been less than an hour, how could it possibly not register?’

’This defies science!’

Even the officer was stunned for a moment. Thinking the device was broken, he even blew into it himself to test it. It wasn’t broken.

Li Xu smiled, then pulled Hu Qiming over. "Old Hu, you come take the test, too."

Hu Qiming took it, trembling. His heart was pounding.

’Although his head felt clear, he had drunk so much, after all. He could still smell the alcohol on himself.’

He closed his eyes and blew.

"BEEP—"

The reading showed: 15 mg/100ml.

Although there was a reading, according to regulations, anything below 20 mg/100ml doesn’t count as driving under the influence.

"Holy shit."

Hu Qiming was completely dumbfounded. "I... this counts as not having had a drink?"

You have to understand, he had downed well over eight ounces himself!

Normally, a test at this point would have definitely put him over the legal limit for intoxication (above 80 mg), and he’d be sent straight to jail.

’And now it doesn’t even count as driving under the influence?’

The officers, of course, had no idea about the secret behind all this. They just assumed the two might have had a soft drink or eaten some food containing a trace of alcohol, so they paid it no mind and waved them on.

Back in the car, Ding Kaifang stared at the two men, completely baffled. "Doctor Li, Doctor Hu, did you two... actually drink or not?"

Li Xu leaned back against the seat, a smile playing on his lips. "I have good news. As for the details, I’ll come to the factory tomorrow and tell you everything."

Ding Kaifang looked at Li Xu’s mysterious expression. Though he didn’t know the specifics, his keen business instincts were telling him—

’It’s time to make a fortune again!’

...

「The next morning.」

Li Xu prepared some more of the kudzu root and pearl tea, gathered some of the raw ingredients, and took everything to Ding’s Pharmaceutical Factory.

Ding Kaifang had long been waiting, practically itching with impatience.

The scene from last night, where Li Xu and Hu Qiming had evaded the breathalyzer’s detection as if by magic, had left an extremely deep impression on him.

"Doctor Li, you’re finally here."

Ding Kaifang rushed to greet him, his eyes fixed on the bottle in Li Xu’s hand. "Is this...?"

Li Xu smiled and placed the mineral water bottle on the table. "That’s right. This is what we relied on last night. But, President Ding, why don’t you experience it for yourself?"

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