Elixir Supplier

“But Dr. Wang was several feet away from him back, yet the doctor got him to his knees simply by pressing at the air. Miao Zhengnan was unable to move at all! That’s just too surreal!” Whenever he recalled what had happened there, Miao Chengtang was always in awe.

“That wasn’t something I was aware of before,” Xu Xinyuan said. “To be such a young age yet have such a level of powers, where did he learn all that from?”

“Let’s get back to you for a bit. Are you thinking of going elsewhere?”

“I’ll just stay back at Tianjin,” Miao Chengtang humbly said. “If I keep moving around places, it will make me feel like a dog that nobody wants.”

The place he had once called home did not allow a person like him to exist. He was unable to stay in southern Yunnan as well. He would have felt like a failure if he were unable to stay in Tianjin.

“Sigh, don’t put it that way,” Xu Xinyuan hurriedly replied.

“I’ve made arrangements with the landlord,” Miao Chengtang said. “I’ll be moving away from that apartment. Tianjin is quite a big place.”

“Alright, duly noted,” Xu Xinyuan said.

He had a point. Tianjin was a huge place. The people from the village would have had to look for years before they were able to find him again.

“Is there anything else you’d like to talk about?” Xu Xinyuan asked.

“There is nothing else,” Miao Chengtang replied. “Thanks for all that you’ve done for me.”

“Come on, don’t be a stranger, OK?”

After that, the conversation between them felt rather dry. They had next to nothing to talk about.

Finally something substantial came up. “Oh, right. How did Wang Yao manage to cure the bug curse?”

“I’ve thought about that,” Miao Chengtang said. “He probably has something capable of working against the curse at his clinic.”

He was someone from the Valley of Thousands of Medicine, so he was able to guess, to a certain degree, what was in the medicine Wang Yao had given him. Of course, he was unable to learn the key ingredients.

“What would those be?” Xu Xinyuan asked. “If we could get our hands on those herbs, would that mean that we wouldn’t need to fear the Valley of Thousands of Medicine from here on out?”

“It would be great if we were to be able to do so,” Miao Chengtang said. “However, I’m still quite an outsider when it comes to herbs. It’s worth knowing that even if a concoction was made from the same set of herbs, changing doses in key ingredients makes a huge difference in the medicine’s effectiveness. Telling the ingredients apart itself would be extremely difficult in the first place. From what I can tell, there are only a handful of people capable of telling the ingredients, as well as the doses, apart. I reckon that not even Miao Xihe can do that much.”

“Is it that much trouble?”

“Yes, it is that much trouble.”

“So, from your perspective, if Miao Xihe learned that Dr. Wang has the herbs needed to cure the bug curses, as well as his location, do you think Miao Xihe will send someone to rob the doctor?” Xu Xinyuan asked.

“Well, there’s a high chance that he wouldn’t do so unless he has something rivaling the likes of the Blood Orchid,” Miao Chengtang said. “I did take a look at the village he was in. The place consisted mostly of hills and mountains, and there were hardly any old jungles to be found. There just isn’t enough spiritual Qi around the place to nurture those legendary herbs. Furthermore, this is still the north, and Miao Xihe knows next to nothing about these parts. Judging from what I know about him, while he is very capable, he is also very cautious. He won’t send people out into southern Yunnan without good reasons for fear of bringing trouble to the village.”

“Hmm.” Xu Xinyuan nodded.

A visitor arrived in the clinic at the village thousands of miles away.

It was Zheng Weijun.

It was the eighth day of the New Year, which was when Nanshan Pharmaceutical Company began working again. Zheng Weijun arrived at the clinic early in the morning.

“Happy New Year, Master.”

“Happy New Year.”

Zheng Weijun appeared very happy and sprightly. He looked to be in high spirits.

That was due to Nanshan Pharmaceutical Company’s first product turning out to be a massive hit. Hardly anyone wanted the product at first. Now, it had become so sought-after that they couldn’t meet the demands. The changes during the past several months had been like that between heaven and earth. When he went home, he was showered with praise and admiration because of his achievements with that particular medicine. While he was elated inside, he maintained a deadpan face.

“Didn’t you people say that I was inferior to my big brother? Didn’t you people try to push me out before? Well, I’ll have you know that I’m capable of making something out on my own.”

When he handed over the power and resources in his hands back then, no one in his family thought much of his future. Now, everyone thought better of him.

“Many large clients called during the festivities.”

“Did they want more?” Wang Yao asked.

“Yes, they want more,” Zheng Weijun replied.

“Feel free to meet their demands, but absolutely no compromising the demands I’ve put forth,” Wang Yao said.

His demands were simple. The herbs needed to be grown in the wild, and they had to be the right age.

Good medicine could only be produced with good ingredients.

It was a simple thing that everyone knew, yet few individuals or companies were capable of implementing it.

Society was teeming with people out to get wealth and fame at all costs. There were not enough people who focused on what they did.

“When can we start producing the second medicine?” Zheng Weijun asked.

“This is the prescription for the second medicine. You can begin production at any time. The same rules apply. The herbs need to be ones grown in the wild.” Wang Yao handed the prescription over to Zheng Weijun.

“Rest assured, it will be done as you asked.” Zheng Weijun took the prescription and read it over. He committed the required herbs to memory.

There were going to make Heat Clearing Powder.

White Poria, radix glycyrrhizae, atractylodes, dahurian angelica root, dandelion, water-plantain, atractylodes macrocephala, incised notopterygium…

The medicine was effective for clearing damp heat and chi in the body, aid with perspiration, and ward off coldness.

Common herbs were used.

Zheng Weijun committed the list of herbs to memory and carefully put the prescription away. It was a symbol of a treasure that money could not buy.

[Mission: Make the medicines available to the world.]

Wang Yao heard a voice in his mind.

[Make the medicines available to the world in three years.]

The explanation of that line was clear.

It meant that every city in the country was to be provided with medicines from Nanshan Pharmaceutical Company.

The mission was to be accomplished in three years.

It was not a long or short period.

“It seems like we better hurry,” Wang Yao said.

“Hmm? Did you say something?” Zheng Weijun asked.

“Umm, no, it’s nothing. I was just thinking that we need to get a huge plot of land in the wild to cultivate the herbs just to supply ingredients to the factory.”

“Hmm, that is a good suggestion, Master,” Zheng Weijun said. “I thought of that myself as well. It would be best to have one such place in the north and the south, respectively. Due to environmental factors, some herbs will only grow in the north while some will only survive down south.”

He hailed from a clan that had been in business producing medicines, so he had known that for a long time ago.

“Well, in that case, I think we should start with the village by planting some commonly used herbs capable of surviving here around the mountains,” Wang Yao said. “I’ll keep an eye out on the quality myself.”

“That’s a great idea,” Zheng Weijun replied.

There was a time when the factory lacked a certain herb. It was not that the herb could not be found. It was just that the ones grown in the wild were hard to come by. As such, Wang Yao provided some to the factory, which were all planted in the herbal field on the southern mountain. It was fortunate that the required amount was not too much, or he would not have been able to meet the demand. The factory inspector of the ingredients had practically sung praises of the quality of those herbs produced. He had even claimed that he had never seen herbs of such quality in the decades he had been in the industry.

“That settles it.”

“Sure.”

The two men chatted in the clinic for a bit. Before long, it was time for them to head to town to get the re-opening ceremony underway, which included lighting firecrackers. The scene was joyous.

Merchants believed in that way of doing things. They thought it was auspicious to do so.

The scene was quite rowdy.

The workers who had shown that day received red packets. Everyone was happy. The company had issued red packets at the end of the year, so they had earned quite a lot. They were all pleased to see a second round of red packets being issued. Besides, few would have said no to more money in their pockets. Receiving red packets at the start of the year was a good sign.

Given that everyone was so happy, they were naturally high-spirited in their work.

Wang Yao drank two glasses of liquor at noon.

Su Xiaoxue got a call in the afternoon.

“Alright, Mom. Sure, I’ll talk to him.”

“Master, do you remember Xiao Rui from the He family?”

“I do. Are you talking about that 15-year-old glass kid?” Wang Yao asked.

“Yeah, that’s him,” Su Xiaoxue said. “His family was asking when you’d be around. They are thinking of bringing the kid around for treatment.”

“Hmm, let me think for a bit,” Wang Yao said. “How about in three days?”

He had been thinking of ways to treat the boy’s illness for quite some time. After thinking hard, he had thought of one way. Coincidentally, it allowed him to use the latest medical technique he had learned—medicinal baths.

Ingesting medicines and taking medicinal baths allowed both inner and outer issues to be addressed.

“Alright, I’ll tell his family,” Su Xiaoxue said.

“Yeah, sure.”

Wang Yao started to get busy. He needed to prepare wooden barrels to be used for the bath, which was something he had to make on his own.

He remembered everything about crafting a barrel. The first thing he needed to do was to get the materials ready. High-grade wood was required. He called Zheng Weijun.

“Sure, no problem at all.”

The materials Wang Yao needed were transported to him in the next morning.

“What do you need this for, Master?” Zheng Weijun asked.

“To make a huge barrel for a medicinal bath.”

“I’ll help out.”

“Very well.”

Wang Yao closed his clinic for the day. The two of them toiled for over a half a day before the wooden barrel was finished.

…