Chinese Medicine: Starting with Daily Intelligence

Chapter 626: Chapter 626: Detection Data

「The next day.」

Old Wang went to work as usual, but his gaze was restless and unfocused.

In the morning, he deliberately found an excuse to send the other two young warehouse keepers away to take inventory of the outer packaging materials warehouse.

"Xiao Li, Xiao Zhang, the cardboard boxes over there seem to have gotten damp. Go take a look. Be thorough, and don’t let it cause any problems."

Old Wang instructed.

"You got it, Uncle Wang."

The two young men, suspecting nothing, took the inventory sheet and left.

Watching them walk away, Old Wang’s heart began to race.

He put on his gloves, grabbed a set of keys, and walked toward Finished Goods Warehouse No. 1.

This was where the first batch of "Ding Clan Natural Herbal Shampoo," which had just come off the production line a few days ago, was stored.

The main door to Warehouse No. 1 had a double lock: one electronic and one mechanical.

Old Wang only had the key to the mechanical lock. The code for the electronic lock was known only by President Ding and a few senior executives.

However, as a veteran employee, he knew about a "loophole" that very few people were aware of.

The warehouse’s ventilation ducts.

Warehouse No. 1 was a converted old factory building, so its ventilation ducts were quite large. Although a protective grille had been installed, the screws on one of the access hatches had long been loose. With enough strength, it could be removed.

Old Wang moved a ladder into position and climbed up to the ventilation opening.

He was getting old, and his movements were clumsy. He nearly slipped and fell several times.

But he gritted his teeth and scrambled desperately upward.

Finally, he managed to remove the grille and squeeze into the duct.

The duct was filled with dust, so stuffy it felt suffocating.

Old Wang crawled forward on his hands and knees. His knees were scraped raw, and his face was covered in black grime.

After crawling for about ten meters, he reached the section above the finished goods area.

Through the grate, he could see the boxes of shampoo below, piled up like mountains.

’I’m sorry, President Ding...’

Old Wang thought to himself, then untied a rope from his waist. A custom-made hook was attached to the end.

He carefully lowered the hook.

The hook snagged the handle of a cardboard box perfectly.

Gritting his teeth, Old Wang put all his strength into his arms and pulled.

The box was heavy, but for someone accustomed to manual labor, it was still manageable.

Little by little, the box was hoisted up.

He quickly opened the box, took out two bottles of the "Supreme Edition" shampoo, and tucked them inside his shirt.

Then he resealed the box and carefully lowered it back into place.

The entire process didn’t take long, and no one discovered him, but it was so nerve-wracking for Old Wang that his back was soaked with sweat.

If anyone had walked in right then, or if a security camera had panned in his direction, he would have been finished.

Once he had the goods, Old Wang retraced his steps, restored the ventilation opening to its original state, and cleaned up any traces he had left.

「On the outskirts of Feng City, in an ordinary-looking restaurant.」

Old Wang handed the two bottles of "Supreme Edition" shampoo, wrapped in layer upon layer of newspaper, to Zhang Wei.

Zhang Wei opened the package to inspect the contents. After confirming everything was in order, he initiated an online bank transfer on the spot, sending one million to the account of Old Wang’s son.

"A pleasure doing business with you."

Zhang Wei clapped Old Wang on the shoulder, gave him a meaningful smile, and turned to disappear into the night.

Old Wang sat frozen in his chair, staring at the transaction notification on his phone, a whirlwind of emotions churning inside him.

He knew that from this moment on, the honest, dutiful warehouse manager he once was was dead.

...

Just a few hours later, the two sample bottles had traveled a thousand miles to appear in the conference room at the headquarters of the Beauty and Hairdressing Association.

The representatives from several major daily chemical giants sat with grave expressions, like prisoners awaiting judgment.

"Quick, send it to the testing center. Put a rush on it."

President Gao Tang commanded.

One of the bottles was immediately sent away.

The two-hour wait felt as long as two centuries.

Finally, the test results were in.

A dozen or so copies were distributed to everyone present.

The only sound in the conference room was the rustling of paper, followed swiftly by a series of sharp, staggered gasps.

"Th-this... How is this possible?"

The representative from P&G shot to his feet, his voice cracking as he pointed at the data on the report. "Active ingredient content... as high as 35%? And it’s all-natural plant extracts?"

"Look here," the Unilever representative said, pointing to another item. "The concentration of scalp-nourishing factors... is hundreds of times higher than the top products on the market, and the penetration rate is an astonishing 98%."

"And these unknown components..." The representative from Baawang said, his brow furrowed. "The analysis shows multiple, extremely complex alkaloids and terpenoids. They’re structurally stable and highly active. These components can’t be found in any existing cosmetics ingredient database, but pharmacological tests show they have a... miraculous effect on improving scalp microcirculation and repairing hair follicles."

Gao Tang stared at the report, his hands trembling.

’How is this a test report for shampoo?’

’This is a user manual for some kind of black technology from the future!’

"How did they do it?" the P&G representative exclaimed, insisting it was impossible. "According to the ingredient list on the packaging, it’s just common Chinese herbs like Chinese arborvitae leaf, ginger, and Danggui. How could they produce this kind of effect? It’s not scientific!"

The Baawang representative sighed, his tone complex. "Gentlemen, you may not understand the mysteries of traditional Chinese medicine. The magic of Chinese herbs lies in their formulation."

"A single herb might have unremarkable components. But when specific herbs are combined in precise ratios, in a specific order, and processed at a specific temperature and for a specific duration, they undergo extremely complex chemical reactions, sometimes even creating entirely new, unknown active substances."

"It’s like hydrogen and oxygen. Separately, they are gases; together, they become water. This qualitative change, born from synergistic reinforcement, is the very soul of Traditional Chinese Medicine."

"That... is why it has such a powerful effect."

The P&G representative grew desperate, as if grasping at his last straw. "Then can’t we reverse-engineer the specific formula from the ingredient list? Since we know the raw materials, we should be able to figure it out through trial and error, right?"

The Baawang representative shot him a look like he was an idiot and shook his head. "You’ve been in this industry for so many years. How can you ask such a naive question?"

"A Chinese medicinal formula is all about the ’dosage.’ For each herb, one gram more or one gram less can result in a world of difference. Even a one-minute difference in decoction time, or a one-degree difference in heat, will produce a different outcome."

"Thirty grams of Chinese arborvitae leaf might promote hair growth, but thirty-five grams might just reduce internal heat. The number of permutations and combinations is in the tens of thousands. And that’s not even counting the crucial ’special processing techniques,’ which are their core trade secret. Reverse-engineer it? Harder than climbing to the heavens!"

The conference room fell into a dead silence.

The Unilever representative broke the silence. "So what do we do now? Just sit back and watch them devour our market share?"

The P&G representative gritted his teeth, unwilling to concede. "The ingredients may be unbelievable, but data is just data. The actual user experience might not be as good as we imagine. After all, a shampoo also depends on sensory experiences like its lather, fragrance, and smoothing effect."

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