Guo Yu cleared his throat and spoke quickly. "Dean, it’s mainly about the remarkable efficacy of the True Martial Soup. For patients we’ve admitted with yang deficiency and fluid retention, their edema subsides quickly and their palpitations improve significantly after taking it."
He flipped open his notebook. "For instance, there was an elderly woman last week with chronic heart failure who was on daily furosemide. After supplenting her treatnt with True Martial Soup for a week, we reduced her diuretic dosage by a third, and her shortness of breath is almost completely gone."
"It’s the sa in our gynecology departnt," Lü Ying chid in. She had intentionally worn her hair up today, making her look particularly sharp. "For our patients with polycystic ovary syndro, conditioning their systems with True Martial Soup has made their nstrual cycles noticeably more regular."
"The results are even better for patients who are particularly sensitive to cold and suffer from edema."
Gao Jiandong couldn’t wait to jump in. "The key is that the Aconite is high-quality!"
The head of the respiratory departnt, a man with a booming voice, had completely cast aside his prior reservations about Li Xu. "The Aconite from Advisor Li has only a mild numbing taste after being decocted, but its effects are potent. It’s completely different from what we were using before."
The discussion in the conference room grew increasingly animated.
The heads of the rehabilitation, acupuncture, and gastroenterology departnts all spoke up, each one ntioning the remarkable efficacy of the Aconite.
The wrinkles on Dean Sun’s face eased, spreading out like a blooming chrysanthemum.
"Excellent, excellent!" he said with a laugh, banging his hand on the table. "Procuring Advisor Li’s Aconite was absolutely the right decision!"
He imagined the Guanghe District Hospital of Traditional Chinese dicine outshining all the others during the city-wide hospital evaluations and couldn’t help but sit up straighter. "If this trend continues, we’re a lock for this year’s top performance award!"
Just then, an assistant knocked gently on the door. "Dean, Advisor Li is here."
"Quick, show him in!" Dean Sun scrambled to his feet to open the door himself.
As Li Xu stepped into the conference room, all the departnt heads greeted him enthusiastically.
It was a complete reversal from before.
Previously, when the hospital had appointed him as an advisor, many people had been unconvinced.
Now, Li Xu had earned their respect through sheer competence.
"Advisor Li, perfect timing!" Dean Sun said, enthusiastically pulling him toward a chair. "We were just discussing the efficacy of the True Martial Soup."
Li Xu gave a small smile and placed the bag he was carrying onto the conference table. "Then it seems I brought these samples at just the right ti."
"Samples?" Dean Sun eyed the bag on the table with curiosity.
"True Martial Pills," Li Xu said, opening the bag and taking out ten boxes. "Considering that decocting the soup is inconvenient, we developed a patent dicine in pill form to make treatnt easier."
Guo Yu was the first to lean in. He opened a box of the True Martial Soup Pills and poured a few dark-brown pellets into his palm.
The pills were perfectly round and plump, with a faint luster to their surface, resembling fine rosewood beads.
"This quality..." Guo Yu held them up to the light, examining them closely. "They’re much better than the ones we make ourselves."
Lü Ying took one and gently broke it in half. The cross-section was fine and uniform. "No impurities. The scent is pure."
She looked at Li Xu. "The manufacturing process must be quite sophisticated, I take it?"
Li Xu nodded. "It’s from the new production line at Ding’s Pharmaceutical. The whole process uses low-temperature preparation to preserve the Aconite’s active ingredients."
He looked toward Dean Sun. "Although so dications must go through the centralized procurent program, the hospital does have so discretionary purchasing authority..."
Dean Sun understood, stroking his chin in thought.
"Alright," Dean Sun decided. "We’ll start by procuring a three-month supply. The internal dicine, gynecology, and rehabilitation departnts can begin a trial run."
He turned to the head of the pharmacy departnt, Director Han. "Director Han, please coordinate with Advisor Li on the procurent process."
Director Han nodded eagerly, already pulling out a notebook to start taking notes.
The other departnt heads also began clamoring for an allotnt, and the conference room instantly beca a hive of activity.
"Advisor Li," Dean Sun suddenly said in a hushed tone, "about that... there’s no issue with the Aconite supply, is there?"
"Rest assured," Li Xu said. "In total, we have over three tons of processed Aconite. It’s enough to last a very long ti."
...
[Classmate Group Chat]
Miaoli posted in the group, tagging Li Xu. "Our dear classmate Li Xu is on another level now, even producing his own patent dicine."
Jiang Peng: "@Li Xu, what’s this about?"
Hu Qiming: "I know about this. I asked him last ti. He’s working with Ding’s Pharmaceutical Factory and was planning to produce True Martial Soup Pills. So they’re out now?"
Miaoli: "Yep, my hospital just started purchasing them. Plus, the Aconite he supplies is really effective. The recovery rates for related illnesses in my departnt have seen a major boost."
Hu Qiming: "For real? They work that well?"
Miaoli: "My departnt head told not to say too much, hehe. But you’ll all see when the year-end reviews co out."
Li Xu replied in the group: "The results are genuinely good. You could ntion it to your director and suggest a trial."
Hu Qiming: "Okay, I’ll talk to my director right now, but no guarantees he’ll agree to use it."
...
「City Hospital of Traditional Chinese dicine.」
Hu Qiming put down his phone.
He was sitting next to Deputy Chief Physician Lin Guorui, observing and learning while also serving as his assistant.
"Next!" Lin Guorui pressed the button on the calling device.
Seizing the brief mont before the next patient entered, Hu Qiming leaned closer. "Director Lin, I heard the Guanghe District Hospital of Traditional Chinese dicine has been using a new type of True Martial Pill with excellent results..."
Lin Guorui didn’t even look up, his fingers tapping away at the keyboard. "Xiao Hu, you’ve been studying under for this long and you still don’t know the difference between a patent dicine and a decoction?"
His expression was stern. "The principle of True Martial Soup is ’adjusting the ingredients based on the patient’s specific symptoms.’ Once you make it into a pill, its efficacy is reduced by at least thirty percent."
Hu Qiming said, not ready to give up, "But my classmate is at the Guanghe District Hospital of Traditional Chinese dicine, and their data shows..."
"Guanghe District?" Lin Guorui scoffed. "Weren’t they one of the lowest-ranked hospitals in last year’s city-wide evaluation?"
Before Hu Qiming could answer, he shook his head. "Besides, you need to look at long-term dical data. A one or two-month fluctuation doesn’t prove a thing."
The examination room door opened, and an elderly woman walked in unsteadily, clutching her chest.
Hu Qiming had no choice but to swallow his words and get up to help the woman to her seat.
After a flurry of activity, Hu Qiming took advantage of a mont when Director Lin went to the restroom to quickly send Li Xu a ssage: "My director isn’t buying it. He says pills are inferior to decoctions."
Li Xu’s reply ca back almost instantly: "It’s fine. Let the data speak for itself."
BEEP— The sound from the calling device cut through Hu Qiming’s thoughts.
He glanced up at the clock. It was already four in the afternoon, and a dozen or so patients were still waiting outside the exam room.
Lin Guorui returned, shaking water droplets from his hands. The cuff of his white coat was damp. "Xiao Hu, I know you and that Li Xu fellow are classmates."
The swivel chair let out a soft creak as he sat down. "But dicine is a rigorous science. It doesn’t run on favors between classmates..."
...
[Today’s Intel: Massage Scripture—Technique Analysis and Demonstration.mp4]
’This intel is pretty direct,’ Li Xu thought. ’It just gave the entire Massage Scripture.’
In fact, you could already buy copies of the *Massage Scripture*.
The *Massage Scripture* was one of the earliest surviving specialized works on massage and Tuina. It had been continually refined by later generations and contained a wealth of knowledge on the subject.
Even so, learning massage from the book alone was next to impossible.
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