Chinese Medicine: Starting with Daily Intelligence-Chapter 153: Driving Down the Price

In the conference room, Liu Bohong served hot tea.

Dong Haitao rubbed his hands together and said with a smile, "President Ding, the current market price is 3.7 yuan. We’re old friends, so how about 3.6 for you?"

Ding Kaifang slowly blew on the tea leaves in his cup. "President Dong, I hear the ginger over in Guangxi has already dropped below 3 yuan."

"How can you compare the two?" Dong Haitao immediately retorted. "This here is authentic Yunnan small yellow ginger. The gingerol content..."

"3.5 yuan," Ding Kaifang cut him off. "Take it or leave it. If not, we’ll look elsewhere."

Dong Haitao put on a reluctant expression, but inwardly he was pleased. After all, he had mixed in a lot of second-rate Guangxi ginger.

If he could sell it, he could at least recoup some of his costs.

"Done! Let’s just say I’m making a friend!"

Afterward, they went to the warehouse to inspect the goods.

Dozens of wooden crates were stacked neatly, stamped with the words "Yunnan Small Yellow Ginger."

Dong Haitao signaled for a worker to open a few crates. The golden-yellow ginger pieces gleamed enticingly under the warehouse lights.

"Look at this color!" Dong Haitao said, proudly picking up a piece. "And smell that pungent aroma. You won’t find anything like it on the market!"

Li Xu inspected them with a neutral expression.

This crate was labeled "YX-1".

He glanced around and spotted "YX-7" in a corner—one of the numbers mentioned in the intel he had received.

He started walking toward it.

Liu Bohong, who had been watching their every move, saw this and immediately opened "YX-3," calling out to Li Xu, "Doctor Li, take a look at this crate. The quality is excellent."

Li Xu wasn’t in a hurry to expose them. He stopped, examined it carefully, and said, "Not bad."

Then, he pretended to inspect a few more of the good crates,

gradually making his way toward "YX-7."

Liu Bohong watched anxiously,

but he couldn’t very well just drag Li Xu back.

"Let’s open this one, too."

Li Xu pointed at "YX-7."

"Er..."

Dong Haitao’s expression shifted slightly. "Oh, alright..."

He couldn’t refuse.

The more he resisted, the more suspicious it would look.

Dong Haitao signaled for the worker to pry open the lid.

The top layer of ginger was good quality, just like the small yellow ginger in the other crates.

Dong Haitao said with a smile, "Doctor Li, President Ding, rest assured, all our small yellow ginger is of the same quality. We would never try to pull a fast one."

Then, he quickly changed the subject. "It’s getting late. How about I treat you both to lunch at the Feng City Restaurant? I hear they got a fresh batch of seafood in today. The flavor is supposed to be exceptionally pure..."

Ding Kaifang, unaware there were counterfeit goods in the warehouse,

was instantly distracted. He chuckled. "I’m one of the shareholders of the Feng City Restaurant, and even I didn’t know they got fresh seafood. You’re well-informed, President Dong."

Dong Haitao laughed heartily. "President Ding, your business is so large you don’t have time for food and drink. Unlike us, with just one company. When business is slow, all we can think about is finding good places to eat."

Li Xu didn’t join their discussion. He reached into the crate and began to dig.

He pushed aside the top layer of small yellow ginger.

Underneath was dark-colored ginger with mold spots, giving off a faint, rotten smell.

"President Dong, is this what you call ’top-grade goods’?" Li Xu asked, breaking open a piece of moldy ginger to reveal the blackened fibers inside.

Cold sweat instantly beaded on Dong Haitao’s forehead. "This... This must be a mistake! A worker must have packed it wrong! Manager Liu! Go find out what happened!"

Li Xu picked up a piece of the moldy ginger and rubbed it between his fingers. "President Dong, this Guangxi ginger is already starting to produce aflatoxin. Using it for medicine would cause huge problems."

The atmosphere in the warehouse instantly froze.

Dong Haitao’s face went from red to white, then from white to ashen. He finally kicked Liu Bohong hard. "Useless! How do you manage this warehouse?!"

Liu Bohong quickly explained, "It rained a lot recently, maybe the warehouse leaked. Doctor Li, President Ding, don’t worry, only this one crate is bad. The rest are all fine."

"Oh, is that so?"

Li Xu’s eyes darted around, and he walked over to crate "YX-22." "Open this one."

Liu Bohong cursed inwardly.

’How can he be so lucky?’

’He picked two, and both were bad ginger.’

He hesitated to act.

Ding Kaifang shot him a questioning look. "Is there a problem with this one, too?"

"Of course not."

Resigned, Liu Bohong had no choice but to tell the worker to open it.

He silently prayed that Li Xu wouldn’t find anything.

The ginger in this crate wasn’t moldy.

However, it wasn’t small yellow ginger, but the second-rate Guangxi ginger.

Ding Kaifang and Li Xu exchanged a glance. Without a word, they made the same move, turning to leave. "President Dong, it looks like this deal is off."

"No, no, no!" Dong Haitao hurriedly blocked their path. "It’s all a misunderstanding! The workers were careless. Doctor Li, President Ding, please give me another chance. I guarantee it’ll all be Yunnan small yellow ginger! The price... I’ll lower the price a bit more. How about 3.4 yuan?"

Li Xu and Ding Kaifang looked at each other, and the latter sneered, "3.2 yuan. And we’ll re-inspect everything. If we find even one more adulterated crate, we’re returning the whole lot."

Looking like a deflated balloon, Dong Haitao finally nodded in defeat. "...Deal."

After leaving the warehouse, the two didn’t linger at Chuanlong.

As for lunch... they had no interest in eating with Dong Haitao.

On the way, Ding Kaifang remarked with emotion, "Dong Haitao is no legitimate businessman. He has zero integrity. The only reason he gets by is because he has some connections. I really have you to thank for today. Otherwise, once that shipment arrived at our pharmaceutical factory, they would have absolutely denied everything. They might have even turned it around on us and claimed we were the ones who ruined the ginger."

Li Xu nodded. "It’s best to have as little to do with people like him as possible in the future."

Ding Kaifang said, "This will be the last time."

With the medicinal ingredients secured, the two discussed the production of the True Martial Soup Pill.

Li Xu went over a few key points.

They also signed a new contract.

"Doctor Li, signing a new contract for every medicine is too much trouble. Why don’t you become a shareholder? Invest in our Ding’s Pharmaceutical Factory. It might not be very profitable right now, but I believe things will definitely get better."

Ding Kaifang offered.

Li Xu thought for a moment. He didn’t refuse, but he didn’t immediately agree either. "Let’s see what the market feedback is for the True Martial Soup Pill first."

So far, he only had one product: the Mao Duddu Eye Drops.

And he still didn’t know if the supply of mutated foxtail grass was sustainable.

If he invested in Ding’s Pharmaceutical Factory, his stake wouldn’t be large.

Once the True Martial Soup Pill became a bestseller... right, and there was also the Watermelon Frost.

If these few products sold well,

then he would have more say.

"Alright, then we’ll wait a while."

Ding Kaifang also wanted to see the feedback for the True Martial Soup Pill.

...

「Guanghe District Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine」

The gynecology clinic.

Lü Ying was consulting with a patient.

"Ms. Wang, you said you’ve had an aversion to cold for ten months now?"

"Yes, it started last year... ever since the miscarriage."

Lü Ying noticed Ms. Wang’s shoulders flinch involuntarily when she said the word "miscarriage."

As an attending gynecologist, she had seen too many patients like this—twenty minutes on the operating table could lead to years of physical and psychological trauma.

"Was there a lot of blood loss at the time?"

"Yes, the doctor said it was twice the normal amount. After that, I became extremely sensitive to the cold. I started taking the Aconite and Ginseng Pill, which helped a little, but not enough. It’s gotten worse since last month. I have to wear two pairs of socks at night just to fall asleep."

Lü Ying’s pen glided quickly across the paper, recording the key information.

Induced abortion, major blood loss, worsening aversion to cold... the clues began to connect in her mind.

She gestured for the patient to stick out her tongue. The tongue itself was pale and white, with clear teeth marks on the edges, and a thin, white coating.

"Let me check your pulse."

When her fingertips touched the patient’s wrist, Lü Ying frowned slightly.

The pulse was wiry and thready, like a stream about to freeze over in winter—a classic sign of insufficient Yang Qi.

But what concerned her more was a peculiar tension—this wasn’t just Yang deficiency, but also a sign of disharmony between Ying and Wei Qi.