Chinese Medicine: Starting with Daily Intelligence

Chapter 555: Chapter 555: Planning for Production

"Do you have any alcohol here?"

Ding Kaifang was taken aback. "Alcohol? Of course. I always keep some in my office for guests. How many bottles do you need? What for?"

Li Xu held up one finger. "Just one bottle is enough. And we drink it now."

"Now?"

Ding Kaifang glanced at the wall clock. It was only 9:30 in the morning. "Drinking this early?"

"To test the medicine’s effect, of course."

Li Xu twisted open the cap of a mineral water bottle, poured a cup of the kudzu root and pearl tea, and handed it to him. "Drink this first, then the alcohol."

Ding Kaifang was a smart man and had already guessed most of it.

He took the cup and stared at the clear, bright liquid, his heart pounding with excitement.

’If this is really a hangover-curing tea with unbelievable effects, what would that mean?’

’It would mean a blue ocean market worth hundreds of billions.’

These days, what business dinner or office party doesn’t involve alcohol?

But how many people actually want to suffer through getting drunk?

If there was a product that could let you drink a thousand cups without getting drunk, or sober you up quickly, it would be a license to print money.

His heart filled with excitement, Ding Kaifang tilted his head back and drank the tea in one gulp.

It was sweet going down, with a faint, clean fragrance of herbs. It was very easy to drink.

Then, he had his secretary bring a bottle of Maotai from the small storeroom in her office.

"Doctor Li, well then... I’ll drink it?"

Ding Kaifang didn’t even ask for peanuts or other snacks; his anticipation for the future was the best accompaniment to the drink.

He took a stemmed glass and filled it to the brim—about four ounces.

He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and downed it in one go.

The harsh alcohol slid down his throat and into his stomach, like a ball of fire.

Because he drank too quickly on an empty stomach, the heady rush of alcohol went straight to his head.

Ding Kaifang felt his vision start to double. His head was spinning, and his feet felt unsteady.

His heart skipped a beat. ’Could Doctor Li have failed this time?’

’Is the medicine not working?’

However, just as that thought surfaced...

A strange sensation suddenly rose from his stomach.

It was like a cool breeze that instantly extinguished the alcoholic fire.

His mind, which had started to grow fuzzy, felt as if it had been doused with cold water, snapping back to clarity.

The top-heavy, dizzy feeling receded like a tide within just a few short minutes.

In its place was an unprecedented feeling of comfort and clarity.

"Huh?"

Ding Kaifang’s eyes flew open. He stared at his hands in disbelief, then looked at the empty glass on the table.

That four ounces of Maotai felt like he had just drunk a glass of plain water. Aside from the lingering taste of alcohol in his mouth, his body showed no signs of intoxication.

’This is just too incredible.’

"Amazing. Truly amazing."

Ding Kaifang was so excited he was nearly incoherent. "Doctor Li, what on earth is this medicine? It’s unbelievably potent."

Seeing the desired effect, Li Xu stopped being mysterious. "This is my latest creation, ’Kudzu Root Pearl Tea.’ The main ingredients are kudzu root and Pearl, supplemented with Persimmon Seed, Dried Tangerine Peel, and others, all prepared through a special process."

"Kudzu root detoxifies alcohol and protects the liver, while Pearl calms the spirit and soothes shock. The combination not only accelerates alcohol metabolism but also protects the stomach lining and nervous system."

Ding Kaifang was overjoyed. His inner businessman emerged, and he immediately asked, "Are there any technical barriers? Can the formula be easily reverse-engineered?"

Li Xu shook his head. "In terms of the Chinese medicinal ingredients, it’s hard to keep it completely secret. After all, neither kudzu root nor Pearl is particularly rare. If someone takes it to a lab for analysis, they’ll be able to figure out the main components."

"However..." Li Xu’s tone shifted. "The core lies in the ratios and the preparation method. Specifically, the fineness of the ground Pearl Powder and the timing of its addition are key. Moreover, right now I’m using top-grade wild Pearls we harvested from the sea, so the effect is naturally top-tier."

"If we mass-produce this later, we obviously can’t use such high-grade ingredients. Regular cultured Pearl Powder will do. Although the effect will be slightly diminished, it will still blow every other hangover product on the market out of the water. More importantly, kudzu root is a common medicinal herb and is inexpensive, which means our production costs will be extremely low, and the profit margin will be huge."

Ding Kaifang’s eyes lit up as he listened. He nodded solemnly. "Understood. Our pharmaceutical factory has the strictest confidentiality procedures. I will assign a dedicated person to handle this core formula, and we’ll keep it top secret, like the Coca-Cola formula. Only you and I will know it."

From there, everything proceeded smoothly.

The two agreed to position the product as a "functional beverage" rather than a medicine.

This would make the approval process relatively simple, avoiding the need for lengthy clinical trials and allowing them to get it to market quickly.

They decided to name it "Kudzu Root Tea" and market it primarily for business entertainment and social gatherings.

Ding Kaifang immediately arranged for someone to file for a proprietary patent while also contacting raw material suppliers, preparing to go big.

...

「City Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Internal Medicine Department.」

Today was Hu Qiming’s first day truly seeing patients independently.

He wore a brand-new white coat with a stethoscope draped around his neck, and had even deliberately styled his hair to look sharp.

Although he had occasionally filled in for Lin Guorui when he was too busy, this felt completely different.

Before, he was "substituting." Now, he was "in charge."

He took it very seriously. His desk was wiped spotless, the Pulse Pillow was placed just so, and he felt a mixture of nervousness and anticipation.

However, reality was a bit harsh.

Because he was still a young attending physician and not one of those senior experts whose consultation fees cost tens or even hundreds of yuan, not many patients came to see him.

Most patients still put their faith in older experts; upon seeing how young he was, they would often take one look and leave.

It wasn’t until half an hour into his shift that a middle-aged couple walked in with a five or six-year-old child.

"Doctor, please take a look at our child. He has a cold," the father said.

Hu Qiming immediately gave them his full attention. "What are the symptoms? Does he have a fever?"

"A fever. It reached 38.5 degrees last night," the mother added. "He has a weak constitution. In the past, when he got a cold, we’d just give him some fever reducer and a children’s cold remedy, and he’d be fine. This time, he’s been on medication for two days, but the fever keeps coming back, and he has a cough. That’s why we rushed him over."

Hu Qiming examined the child carefully. His tonsils were slightly red, auscultation of the heart and lungs revealed no obvious abnormalities, his pulse was floating and rapid, and his tongue had a thin, yellow coating.

It was a very typical case of wind-heat type common cold.

He breathed a sigh of relief.

He had treated this common ailment many times under Li Xu, so he was quite experienced with it.

"It’s nothing serious, just a regular wind-heat cold," Hu Qiming said as he wrote out a prescription. "I’ll prescribe two doses of Chinese medicine, mainly to clear heat, detoxify, ventilate the lungs, and stop the cough. Take it when you get home, drink plenty of water, and the fever should go down."

The formula was a modification of the classic Yin Qiao San.

The patient took the prescription and left.

Hu Qiming felt a small sense of accomplishment. He had finally taken his first step.

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