The call from Ding Kaifang ca while Li Xu was taking a patient's pulse at the clinic.
His phone rang abruptly, startling him.
He didn't answer. Instead, he silenced it and continued to check the patient's pulse.
Only after writing a prescription and seeing the patient out did Li Xu finally answer the call.
"Doctor Li! The frost has appeared! It's a complete success!" Ding Kaifang's voice was so excited it was practically a different pitch. The clamorous, amazed shouts of workers could be faintly heard in the background.
Li Xu understood instantly. "The Waterlon Frost?"
"Yes, the Waterlon Frost."
After hanging up,
Li Xu gathered his things. "Sisi, co with to the pharmaceutical factory."
Half an hour later, when they stepped into the shaded pavilion at Ding's Pharmaceutical, the sight before them made both of them hold their breath. Three hundred purple clay jars were arranged in neat rows, each one coated in a layer of crystalline white frost. The occasional sunbeam piercing through the pavilion's canopy made them glitter with a delicate light.
An autumn breeze swept through, carrying the crisp scent of plants and herbs. The frost-like crystals quivered like true first snow, looking as if they might scatter with the wind at any mont.
"It's so beautiful..." Song Sisi subconsciously lightened her steps, afraid of disturbing this miracle of nature.
She crouched down to observe the frost crystals up close. Under a magnifying glass, the crystals revealed a perfect hexagonal structure, their edges as sharp as blades, yet they refracted the sunlight into a rainbow of colors.
Li Xu reached out and gently touched the side of a jar, a faint coolness spreading across his fingertips.
He carefully scraped off a tiny pinch of the frost, placed it on the tip of his tongue, and tasted it. "Salty, cool, and slightly bitter. Top quality."
He turned to Ding Kaifang. "Have the workers start harvesting it. Rember to scrape it off gently with bamboo spatulas. Don't use any tal tools."
The workers imdiately got to work. Each held a specially made bamboo sliver, gently scraping off the frost as if they were plucking tea leaves.
Song Sisi tried her hand at it as well and discovered that the seemingly fragile crystals were surprisingly tough. Scraping them off produced a faint "SHHH" sound, like real snowflakes rubbing against each other.
"Doctor Li, is this Waterlon Frost better than the ordinary kind?"
Ding Kaifang asked, rubbing his hands together.
Originally, he hadn't been very optimistic about this Waterlon Frost.
But things were different now.
It looked miraculous.
'Its effects probably won't be bad, either!'
Li Xu fetched a cup of warm water and sprinkled in a small amount of the frost. "The *Supplent to the Compendium of Materia dica* records that this substance treats throat ailnts with miraculous effect."
The frost slowly dissolved in the water, releasing tiny bubbles.
"It has a cold and cooling nature, allowing it to clear heat, detoxify, reduce swelling, and alleviate pain. It has a remarkable effect on sore throats, canker sores, and bleeding gums."
Li Xu explained in detail that the active ingredients in the Waterlon Frost could rapidly penetrate the mucous mbranes, form a protective layer over the affected area, and inhibit bacterial growth at the sa ti.
Modern research has also confird that the high concentration of sulfates it contains does indeed have significant anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects.
"Want to test its effects?" Ding Kaifang suddenly suggested. He turned and yelled to the workers, "Anyone have a canker sore or a sore throat? Co over and let Doctor Li take a look!"
The area imdiately fell silent.
The workers looked at each other, but not a single person raised their hand.
"Well..." Ding Kaifang scratched his head in embarrassnt. "I didn't expect everyone to be so healthy."
Li Xu couldn't help but smile. "It's a good thing that everyone is healthy. As for testing it, there's no hurry."
He turned to the workers who were collecting the frost. "After harvesting, package it according to standard procedures. Rember to protect it from light and moisture."
Afterward, the two of them went to the office
to discuss the next steps.
Now that the Waterlon Frost was produced, it could be used as a custom-prepared redy in the clinic, but it couldn't be sold on pharmacy shelves.
It needed to go through the approval process.
Ding's Pharmaceutical Factory had a need for drug manufacturing and had previously obtained the production license for Waterlon Frost.
Now, they needed to take the finished product for review.
"I'll take so for the clinic. Package the rest individually, 3.5g per bottle, then start the approval process," Li Xu instructed.
Ding Kaifang gave his assurance, "Don't worry, Doctor Li. I'm very familiar with the procedures. At the latest, we can get it through the whole process and approved for sale in half a month. By then, the packaging will all be ready. It's just... the raw materials..."
He hadn't been optimistic about the Waterlon Frost before.
But things were different now.
So, Ding Kaifang was now worried about the supply of raw materials.
Li Xu said, "Let's see how effective it is first. If it works well, I'll contact that person again and have him continue growing this type of waterlon next year. But this is all we're getting for this year's yield."
Ding Kaifang nodded. "That works. It's already autumn, after all. Just like with the Mao Duddu Eye Drops, we'll promote it this year and start mass production next year. Oh, by the way... Dr. Li, didn't you say there was also a batch of special foxtail grass? When can you get it? We'll be able to resu production of the Mao Duddu Eye Drops then."
"I'll go check in the next couple of days, but I can't guarantee that it's the special foxtail grass."
Li Xu calculated the ti.
It had been over two months since his last trip to Bailingyu Village, deep in the Qinling Mountains.
'The foxtail grass seeds I scattered around the village should have grown by now.'
'I'll go check in the next couple of days.'
'If the results are good,'
'I'll lease all the land around the village and turn it into a foxtail grass cultivation base.'
"Doctor Li, once the Waterlon Frost is approved, what should we price it at?" Ding Kaifang asked.
Li Xu countered, "What price does President Ding think is appropriate?"
Ding Kaifang already had a plan in mind. "I've done the math. Our costs aren't high. For a 3.5g bottle, the total cost is no more than 2 yuan. The retail price for ordinary Waterlon Frost on the market is around 10 yuan, but ours is more effective, so it should be worth more. I think we can set the retail price at 16 yuan and the factory price at 12 yuan. After all, our quantity is limited right now, so we're not aiming for massive sales."
Li Xu nodded. "Alright, we'll go with President Ding's suggestion."
It was getting late.
Li Xu took so of the Waterlon Frost and headed back with Song Sisi.
Ding Kaifang stayed busy until the evening.
"Honey, are you coming ho for dinner tonight?" his wife, Lin Yue, called to ask.
"I am, but it'll be a bit late," Ding Kaifang said. "Has Duoduo done her howork?"
"Sigh, I was just about to tell you. She has a cold, and her throat hurts." Lin Yue's voice was filled with worry. "Is Doctor Li's clinic open at night? I was planning on having him take a look at her."
"What?"
Ding Kaifang's face lit up with a pleasant surprise. "Duoduo has a sore throat? That's great!"
Lin Yue: "..."
'What's going on? My daughter has a cold and a sore throat, and my husband is this happy?'
She didn't know how to react for a mont.
After a few seconds of silence,
Lin Yue's voice suddenly shot up as she demanded angrily, "Ding Kaifang, say that again? Duoduo is sick, and you said, 'That's great'!?"
Only then did Ding Kaifang realize his slip of the tongue. He quickly explained, "No, no! I an, it's perfect timing! Our factory just produced a batch of Waterlon Frost that specifically treats sore throats!"
"Waterlon Frost?" Lin Yue's tone was still full of suspicion.
"It's... Ugh, I'm on my way ho now!" Ding Kaifang hastily hung up the phone, grabbed a bottle from the first batch of freshly packaged Waterlon Frost, and put it in his briefcase.
Half an hour later, Ding Kaifang's rcedes drove into the villa complex.
He bounded into the house, not even bothering to change his shoes as he rushed straight to his daughter's bedroom.
"Daddy..." Duoduo was leaning against the headboard, her little face listless.
Her usually lively pigtails now hung limply, and her voice was so hoarse it sounded like it was full of sand.
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