Chinese Medicine: Starting with Daily Intelligence

Chapter 560: Chapter 560: We’ll Do It Ourselves

Dong Haitao wasn’t a fool.

He had clearly studied the loopholes in traditional Chinese medicine testing, which was why he dared to be so arrogant and brazen, even in front of the police.

Watching Dong Haitao’s smug, triumphant expression, Li Xu’s brow furrowed tightly.

"Sigh."

Li Xu sighed and turned to leave.

"Doctor Li, where are you going?"

Lin Guorui saw this and quickly hurried after him.

Li Xu shook his head and said, "There’s no point in watching any longer."

"Dong Haitao has exploited a loophole in the regulations and is fully prepared. Even with the police here, as long as he can produce his so-called compliance reports, this will most likely just devolve into endless wrangling."

"This time... it’s destined to be a dead end."

"It’ll even be difficult to get his warehouse seized. Because on a legal level, he’s ’in compliance’."

"What’s more..."

Li Xu didn’t say it out loud, but Dong Haitao had powerful backing to be able to monopolize the traditional Chinese medicine market in Feng City.

A minor issue like this wouldn’t be enough to take him down.

...

After hearing Li Xu’s analysis, Lin Guorui also felt his heart sink. A tide of helplessness washed over him.

"Is there... really nothing we can do about these crooked merchants? Are we supposed to just stand by and watch them harm people with fake medicine?"

Lin Guorui asked, unwilling to accept it.

Li Xu stopped, looked up at the pitch-black night sky, and thought of a possibility.

"There is a way."

"What is it?"

Lin Guorui asked urgently.

Li Xu turned, looked at Lin Guorui, and said, word by word, "Since the rules have loopholes, and since bad money drives out good, then we’ll create new rules and bring the good back."

"We’ll open our own herbal medicine company and establish the strictest quality standards. We’ll use real, authentic, even top-grade traditional Chinese medicines to defeat the likes of Dong Haitao and take the market back."

Lin Guorui was stunned for a moment, then shook his head with a bitter smile. "That’s... easier said than done. Putting aside funding and distribution channels, just controlling the entire supply chain isn’t something that can be achieved overnight. Besides, in the current murky market, making good medicine means high costs, and high costs mean being at a disadvantage in a price war..."

"Difficult doesn’t mean impossible."

Li Xu didn’t explain further. "Someone has to do it."

The two parted ways at the intersection and headed home.

Back at the clinic, Li Xu didn’t read a book or scroll through his phone as he usually did.

He sat in his chair, his fingers tapping lightly on the desk. What he had just said to Lin Guorui wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment impulse, but a decision made after careful consideration.

After thinking for half an hour, he picked up his phone and called Ding Kaifang.

"Doctor Li, still up so late?"

Ding Kaifang said excitedly, "Are you calling about the Kudzu Root and Pearl Tea? Don’t worry, the paperwork was just completed today—it was greenlit all the way. The production line is also calibrated. We can officially start production tomorrow and aim to have it on the market by next week. I’ve even thought of a slogan—’A toast to the past, sharpens the mind without the harm’."

Hearing this, Li Xu’s mood improved slightly.

Once the Kudzu Root and Pearl Tea hit the market, its incredible hangover-curing effects would definitely sweep the market and generate massive cash flow.

"President Ding, I have complete confidence in you when it comes to the tea. I’m calling you today because I have a more important idea."

Li Xu recounted in detail the fake medicine incident at the City Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine and his disgust for crooked merchants like Dong Haitao. Finally, he proposed a bold plan: for Ding’s Pharmaceutical Factory to enter the market of selling processed traditional Chinese medicinal herbs.

After listening, Ding Kaifang was silent for a moment, then said with some hesitation, "Doctor Li, I understand how you feel. Ding’s Pharmaceutical Factory is certainly strong enough now. In Feng City, with your reputation and our connections, taking over the supply contracts for the City Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine and a few other hospitals shouldn’t be a major problem."

"But..." Ding Kaifang’s tone shifted. "Outside of Feng City, it’s a red ocean market. Every region has its own local kingpins and established networks of interest. It won’t be easy for us to break in. And as you said, our costs will be high for making authentic medicine. The hospitals might not be willing to pay."

Li Xu sneered and retorted, "Why would it be hard to expand? President Ding, have you forgotten the trump cards we’re holding?"

"Mao Dudu Eye Drops, True Martial Pills, Aloe Vera Frost, Dragon Bone Powder... not to mention the upcoming Kudzu Root and Pearl Tea and high-end Agarwood Sanitary Napkins."

"Which of these medicines isn’t an exclusive formula? Which one isn’t a bestseller that’s popular across the country, or even internationally?"

"If those hospitals want to stock our bestselling medicines, they must also purchase our processed medicinal herbs. If they refuse to buy our quality herbs and just want to fool people with fake ones, then sorry, we won’t sell them a single pill of our blockbuster drugs."

"This is called—bundle selling. It’s also an overwhelming, next-level attack."

Upon hearing this, Ding Kaifang slapped his thigh in a sudden realization. "Oh, how could I have forgotten about that! HAHAHAHA, Doctor Li, you’re absolutely right! We’re holding a nuclear weapon here!"

"Ding’s Pharmaceutical Factory is a whole different company now. We’re in a seller’s market. If those hospitals dare to pull any shady backroom deals, we’ll just cut off their supply. Let’s see who comes begging to whom."

The more Ding Kaifang thought about it, the more excited he became. This wasn’t just a righteous counterattack; it was a massive expansion of their business empire.

"Alright, Doctor Li, I’m in. We’ll be the conscience of the industry and drive all those black-hearted drug merchants out of business."

However, after the excitement died down, Ding Kaifang brought up a practical problem. "Doctor Li, the strategy is sound, but there’s a tactical difficulty. Our company has only ever made finished medicines; we don’t have a professional team for authenticating and procuring traditional Chinese medicinal herbs. The waters in the medicinal herb business run very deep. Without a true expert at the helm, I’m afraid we’ll get cheated too."

Hearing this, Li Xu also fell into deep thought.

It was true.

To sell high-quality medicinal herbs, you first had to be able to procure high-quality medicinal herbs.

That required a pair of fiery, discerning eyes.

Talent like that was incredibly hard to find.

Many old TCM doctors might be brilliant at treating illnesses and writing prescriptions, but if you actually asked them to go to a medicinal herb market and differentiate between piles of similar-looking roots and barks—which were wild, which were cultivated, which had been fumigated with sulfur—they wouldn’t necessarily be able to tell the difference accurately.

This was a job that could only be handled by a seasoned master, a TCM expert who had been immersed in the industry for decades.

Li Xu ran his hands through his hair, vexed.

With the help of his ’intelligence’, he could probably handle it himself.

But he was a doctor. His main job was to treat patients and save lives, not spend all his energy running around the world’s medicinal herb markets.

’Who can I find?’

After hanging up, Li Xu paced around his room.

He was young, after all, with a limited social circle. Most of the people he knew were clinical doctors.

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck him.

’I’ve got it.’

He might not know many people, but his teacher—Professor Gao Guanghui—knew plenty.

His teacher was a titan in the world of traditional Chinese medicine, with students all over the country. He definitely had the connections.

Li Xu immediately called Professor Gao Guanghui.

...

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