Chinese Medicine: Starting with Daily Intelligence-Chapter 190: Coming Up with a Plan

Li Xu's finger hovered over his phone screen for a long time before he finally lowered it.

'I can't. My calls are definitely being monitored.'

'I need to find another way.'

"Boss, what are you thinking about?"

Song Sisi walked out of the pharmacy and saw Li Xu spacing out.

Li Xu looked up, saw Song Sisi, and suddenly had an idea.

"Sisi, can I borrow your phone for a second?"

"Of course," Song Sisi said readily, handing him her phone.

Li Xu went out into the courtyard and dialed Ding Aiguo's number.

"Who is this?" Ding Aiguo's voice came through the phone.

"Chairman Ding, it's me, Li Xu," he said in a low voice. "My phone is being monitored, so I'm calling from someone else's."

There was a two-second pause on the other end of the line.

Ding Aiguo realized something was wrong.

After all, this was a harmonious society; whose phone gets casually monitored?

"What happened?"

Li Xu concisely recounted Xia Lei's ordeal, including his left kidney being illegally removed, the hospital's conspiracy, and Xia Lei's risky plan to go to the Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine for a follow-up exam today.

Finally, he added helplessly, "Now I'm being targeted too. Someone came to the clinic yesterday to threaten me, and they're monitoring my communications."

"The City Second Hospital?" Ding Aiguo's voice caught, and he sighed. "Doctor Li, I'm afraid you've gotten yourself into some serious trouble..."

Li Xu's heart sank. "Chairman Ding, does this mean even you can't..."

"Give me a few minutes," Ding Aiguo interrupted. "I'll ask around."

"Okay."

Li Xu paced back and forth in the courtyard, his heart filled with anxiety.

'Based on that conversation, Ding Aiguo must know something about the City Second Hospital.'

Ten minutes later, Ding Aiguo called back, his voice even heavier than before:

"Doctor Li, this matter... runs much deeper than you think."

Li Xu's heart plummeted. "What do you mean?"

"The City Second Hospital is indeed involved in this, but it's not just for profit." Ding Aiguo seemed to be choosing his words carefully. "Some... big shots need organs..."

Li Xu was shocked.

'So that was the real story?'

'No wonder they could mobilize such vast resources.'

Ding Aiguo continued, "I can't get involved in this, nor do I dare to. There's one more thing..."

"What is it?"

"Your patient, Xia Lei, and his friend were detained an hour ago for fraudulent use of a health insurance card."

Although the weather was beautiful today, the sun shining brightly,

Li Xu felt as if a massive cloud hung in the sky.

Dark and oppressive,

it made it hard to breathe.

Li Xu felt a profound sense of powerlessness.

Ding Aiguo continued, "But some things are beyond our control. What I can do is ensure your safety—they were planning to make a move on you, and I just stopped them. However, I'm not sure if they'll keep their word. Doctor Li, for a while, maybe you can go out of town to gather herbs... and don't take your phone."

Li Xu was silent for a long time, finally squeezing out a single phrase: "Thank you."

After hanging up, Li Xu returned the phone to Song Sisi, his face grim.

"Boss, are you okay?" Song Sisi asked cautiously.

She could tell something was wrong with Li Xu.

Li Xu shook his head. "I'm fine, just a small problem. By the way, starting tomorrow, you don't need to come in. You're on paid leave for a week."

"Why?" Song Sisi wasn't happy about it. "Why the sudden vacation?"

Li Xu was about to make up an excuse.

His phone rang.

Li Xu's heart leaped.

He took a deep breath, picked up his phone, and realized he'd been overthinking it. It wasn't the mysterious organization, but a call from Li Garden.

"Doctor Li, I've been drinking your Zither Fish Tea, and I've been feeling much better these past two days. It really works. You said you were going to prescribe me some medicine, right? When can you come over?"

Hearing this, Li Xu's eyes lit up.

He remembered what Ding Kaifang had told him a few days ago.

Elder Li was an extremely powerful retired big shot.

Even the city's top leaders had a hard time getting a meeting with him.

'Maybe... he can help.'

"Elder Li, I'll head over this afternoon."

"Excellent. I'll have tea waiting."

...

Li Xu hung up the phone, his mind racing.

'This retired big shot might be my last hope.'

First, he had Song Sisi leave.

Then he began to think about how to make the most of this opportunity.

Li Garden's liver was in bad shape, and the toxicity was severe.

Coupled with his advanced age, his condition would be very difficult to treat.

Li Xu thought for a moment and quickly came up with an idea.

He opened a drawer beneath his medicine cabinet where he kept his treasured medicinal ingredients.

He found a palm-sized box.

The moment he opened the box, a faint, clean fragrance of herbs and wood filled the air.

Inside the box, laid flat, was a nearly transparent toad skin, about the size of a palm. Under the light, it shimmered with strange golden patterns, like a spiderweb embroidered with gold thread.

Golden toad skin!

"Looks like I'll be needing you..." Li Xu muttered to himself.

Golden toad skin is the naturally shed epidermal membrane of the Chinese Giant Toad, and the ones with golden threads are one in ten thousand.

He had acquired this one in the summer, snagging a bargain at the medicinal herb market based on a tip from the System.

He had obtained two at the time. One was sold to the District Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine to save a critically ill patient with liver ascites, and he had treasured the remaining one ever since.

Li Xu put on white gloves and carefully picked up the toad skin with a pair of tweezers, holding it up to the light to examine it.

Perfect quality—whole and undamaged, with clear and continuous golden patterns. It was as thin as a cicada's wing, yet remarkably tough.

Golden toad skin of this grade was impossible to find on the market; it was a priceless treasure that couldn't be bought even if one had the money.

He gently placed the toad skin back in the box and began to prepare the other accompanying herbs: wild Danshen to invigorate blood and remove stasis, Yunnan Poria Cocos to strengthen the spleen and drain dampness, Changbai Mountain Schisandra to act as an astringent... Each herb was carefully selected. The combination needed to maximize the detoxifying effects of the golden toad skin while neutralizing its cold nature to avoid harming Elder Li's already weak spleen and stomach.

As he prepared the medicine, Li Xu's thoughts churned.

His and his patient Xia Lei's situation was dire.

Xia Lei was detained, the evidence had likely been destroyed, and conventional methods were almost hopeless.

As for himself, although Ding Aiguo had intervened, his safety wasn't one hundred percent guaranteed.

And Elder Li—the retired big shot whom even city leaders struggled to meet—was perhaps his only chance.

'I have to cure his liver toxicity,' Li Xu thought.

Only by making Elder Li owe him a sufficiently large favor would he have the leverage to ask for help.

...

「Suburbs, Li Garden. 4:00 PM.」

Li Garden was located in the western suburbs, set apart from other buildings and surrounded by lush greenery, giving it the air of a reclusive master hidden within the city. After Li Xu arrived, a housekeeper led him to a pavilion.

Although it was autumn, the afternoon weather was not yet too cool.

Elder Li was resting with his eyes closed in a wicker chair inside the pavilion. The fragrance of tea wafted from the root-carved table in front of him.

Hearing footsteps, he opened his eyes, which were kind and gentle.

"Doctor Li, you're finally here." Elder Li smiled and sat up, gesturing for Li Xu to take a seat. "That Zither Fish Tea of yours is truly marvelous. I've been drinking it for three days, and my symptoms have lessened considerably."

...