It was already afternoon by the ti Li Xu returned.
He received another call from Ding Kaifang.
The weather had turned colder these past few days, and there was even frost in the mornings.
It was the perfect ti to make Waterlon Frost.
He asked Li Xu to co over and provide guidance.
Li Xu agreed to go tomorrow.
Thinking about Lin Xiaoyu’s massage appointnt, he shook his head. ’Looks like I’ll have to cancel on her again.’
He called Lin Xiaoyu again and asked her to co the day after tomorrow instead.
When Song Sisi heard this, she felt a great sense of responsibility. "Boss, I need to learn massage as quickly as possible so I can help take so of the burden off you."
"That’s right."
Li Xu agreed with her.
Right now, the clinic relied solely on him.
Whenever he had sothing to take care of,
the clinic had to close.
It affected normal business hours.
If Song Sisi learned how to perform massages, she could at least keep the clinic open when he was busy.
"When you go ho, keep studying the acupoints. First, morize them and their precise locations. In three days, I’ll test you."
"Huh? Three days? There are so many acupoints... I can’t possibly morize them all."
"Weren’t you just full of ambition a mont ago?"
"Alright, I’ll try."
...
「The next morning.」
Li Xu washed up, preparing to go to Ding’s Pharmaceutical Factory.
’I almost forgot to check the intelligence report.’
[Today’s Intelligence: Feng City collector Ye Shihui, due to his company’s cash flow problems, has decided to sell a portion of his collection tomorrow. He has already notified friends within his circle. Among them, Ding Aiguo will be heading to the Ye Family’s villa. The collection includes a rare rhino horn and Musk. The Musk in particular...]
’Huh, more good stuff?’
Li Xu’s eyes lit up.
Rhino horn and Musk weren’t just collector’s items; they were also precious traditional Chinese dicinal ingredients.
Rhino horn, in particular, was now banned from sale worldwide.
Only pieces over eighty years old were permitted to be traded.
Many dicinal formulas had beco useless due to the lack of rhino horn.
Not to ntion the piece of Musk in Ye Shihui’s collection... According to the intelligence report, it was the absolute highest quality.
Generally speaking,
even if an ordinary person knew the location and ti of such a private auction, they wouldn’t be able to get in.
But Li Xu knew Ding Aiguo.
He could get in with a recomndation from Ding Aiguo.
’I’ll find a chance to talk to Ding Kaifang today...’
Li Xu formulated a plan.
He planned to ’learn’ from Ding Kaifang that Ding Aiguo was attending the auction, and then use that as an opportunity to contact Ding Aiguo.
After breakfast.
Li Xu took a taxi to Ding’s Pharmaceutical Factory.
Arriving at the factory grounds.
A late autumn wind swirled a few withered leaves past his feet, and his breath condensed into a thin mist in the air.
The weather had indeed gotten much colder.
The factory workers were already busy.
"Doctor Li!"
Ding Kaifang walked over, wearing a jacket, the tip of his nose slightly red from the chilly wind. "The raw materials are all ready. We were just waiting for you to guide us."
The two of them walked through the morning mist-shrouded factory grounds and arrived at a specially constructed work shed.
Inside the shed, three hundred Yixing purple clay jars were arranged in neat rows, gleaming with an antique luster.
Stacked beside them were pre-cut waterlon slices—all from large, black-skinned waterlons carefully selected in the height of sumr. After being air-dried for over a month, their rinds were slightly wrinkled and gave off a unique, fresh sweetness.
"We used top-grade Mangxiao from the Northwest, just as you requested," Ding Kaifang said, pointing to several large burlap sacks. "It’s already been ground and sifted."
Li Xu put on a pair of gloves and picked up a waterlon slice to inspect it closely. "The rind thickness needs to be uniform. If it’s too thick, it will affect the frost formation, and if it’s too thin, it will rot easily."
He put down the slice and walked over to the purple clay jars. "Have all the jars been boiled in water?"
"Boiled three tis and sterilized with UV light for half an hour," Ding Kaifang replied quickly. "We followed the procedure you gave us to the letter."
Then, twenty workers in sterile suits lined up in an orderly fashion.
Li Xu stood before the team, his voice soft but exceptionally clear. "The creation of Waterlon Frost relies on ’a masterpiece of nature and craft.’ Making it during the frost season allows it to best absorb the cold energy of heaven and earth."
He demonstrated by picking up a waterlon slice and evenly sprinkling a layer of Mangxiao on it. "The ratio must be precise—a seventy-thirty split between waterlon and Mangxiao."
The fine, white Mangxiao fell upon the dark green rind, like the first snow on cyan tiles.
"When packing the jars, don’t press down too hard. You need to leave gaps to allow the frost to precipitate naturally."
After observing carefully, the workers split into groups and began the process.
Li Xu moved between the groups, correcting their techniques from ti to ti. "This layer of Mangxiao is too thick... This slice of waterlon is unevenly cut..."
Ding Kaifang followed behind him like a diligent student, writing down every word Li Xu said in a notebook.
When he saw Li Xu crouch down to inspect the bottom of a jar, he couldn’t help but ask, "Doctor Li, why must we use purple clay jars? Wouldn’t stainless steel containers work?"
"Purple clay is breathable but not water-perable." Li Xu lightly tapped the side of the jar. "It allows the waterlon and Mangxiao to complete their reaction as if they were breathing."
He pointed to the mouth of the jar. "The lid can’t be sealed too tightly, either. You must leave a small gap, just like the ’breathing exercises’ one does during cultivation."
The temperature in the work shed gradually ward as the sun rose higher.
By the ti the last jar was sealed, it was already late in the morning.
The workers carefully moved the jars onto custom-made racks—specially designed ventilation racks with thirty centiters of space between each shelf to ensure air circulation.
"What’s next?" Ding Kaifang asked, rubbing his hands together.
"We wait," Li Xu said, taking off his gloves. "After three days, a layer of frost will have precipitated on the outside of the jars."
"By the way..."
Li Xu asked, feigning nonchalance, "I haven’t seen Chairman Ding around lately. What has he been busy with?"
Ding Kaifang smiled. "I’m handling all the company business. My dad has beco a hands-off boss, more passionate about his antiques and precious dicinal ingredients."
"Oh?" Li Xu pressed. "Has he acquired anything good recently?"
"Well, he bought so cypress wood, but I thought it was just so-so."
"High-quality cypress wood can be very valuable. Is he free tomorrow? I’d like to take a look."
"I’m afraid not. He got a call from a good friend yesterday about attending a private auction."
"What kind of private auction? Can outsiders get in?"
"Others can’t, but if you want to go, Doctor Li, it’s no problem. I’ll have my dad take you."
...
Song Sisi sat cross-legged on her apartnt bed, a thick copy of the *Human Acupoints Atlas* spread open before her.
Dense clusters of acupoint markers dotted the human silhouettes on the pages like constellations.
’The Baihui Acupoint, at the intersection of the midline of the head and the line connecting the tips of the ears...’ she muttered, tapping the top of her own head while drawing a crooked diagram in her notebook. ’It mainly treats headaches, dizziness...’
The first few acupoints went smoothly. Zusanli, He Gu, Neiguan... She had often heard Li Xu ntion these common points when she was preparing prescriptions.
But when she turned to the acupoints on the back, her brow gradually furrowed.
’The Dazhui Acupoint... below the spinous process of the seventh cervical vertebra...’ She reached back to feel her own neck but couldn’t pinpoint the exact location. ’1.5 cun lateral to the first side line of the bladder ridian, 3 cun to the second side line...’
The tiny words on the page began to dance before her eyes.
Song Sisi rubbed her sore eyes and decided to try a different thod—she taped the acupoint chart to the wall and used colored stickers to mark it.
Red stickers represented major acupoints, while green stickers marked commonly used treatnt points.
’The Fengchi Acupoint, in the depression between the sternocleidomastoid and the upper part of the trapezius muscle...’
She faced the mirror, tilting her head to find the depression on the back of her neck, but twisted it at an awkward angle. "OUCH!"
Song Sisi discovered with frustration that she couldn’t match the locations to the acupoints she had morized by na, and for the locations she could find, she couldn’t rember their functions.
She flopped onto the bed, covered her face with the book, and stared blankly, slling the ink.
"Why are there over sixty acupoints on the foot alone..." she wailed, rolling over. "This is way too hard..."
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