Feng City Chinese Herbal Medicine Wholesale Market.
Li Xu was selecting medicinal herbs.
His father had passed away in an accident six months ago, leaving him the ancestral Li's Traditional Chinese Medicine Clinic.
Li Xu was carrying on his father's business.
Although he had majored in traditional Chinese medicine in college, he didn't have much practical experience.
This was especially true when it came to selecting medicinal herbs.
His knowledge was purely from textbooks.
He had heard from his father that the medicinal herb business was full of shady dealings.
For a moment, he couldn't tell if the Sea Gold Sand in front of him was any good.
"Brother, this is top-quality Sea Gold Sand. Just look at this powder, this texture, this color..."
The shop owner pitched enthusiastically. "It's all good stuff, imported from the south."
Sea Gold Sand is the spore of a perennial herbaceous climbing plant. It's harvested in the fall, air-dried naturally, and then sifted to remove the stems and leaves, becoming a traditional Chinese medicine used as a diuretic to treat urinary problems.
Li Xu scooped some up. It felt smooth. He held it under his nose and sniffed. It seemed similar to the Sea Gold Sand his father used to buy for the clinic.
'It should be real.'
Li Xu nodded, just about to say he would buy it.
A voice echoed in his mind.
[Binding with the Daily Intelligence System...]
[Binding successful.]
A screen of light that only he could see appeared before his eyes.
[Host: Li Xu]
[System Level: 1 (One piece of intelligence can be received daily)]
[Today's Intelligence: All Sea Gold Sand sold in the Feng City Chinese Herbal Medicine Wholesale Market has been adulterated with sand and red brick powder. Among them, Kang's Chinese Herbal Medicine Wholesale has the highest adulteration rate, as high as 65%. Lingzhi Hall has the lowest adulteration rate, at 21%.]
'A system?'
Once Li Xu processed what was happening, he was overcome with a mix of shock and delight.
'To think I'd actually get a life-changing system.'
'This is great!'
Before he could even savor the moment,
the shop owner urged, "Brother, are you buying or not?"
Li Xu looked up and saw the shop's name: Kang's Chinese Herbal Medicine Wholesale and Retail.
"I'll go look somewhere else."
With that, he put down the Sea Gold Sand and walked away without a second glance.
'Son of a bitch.'
'Adulterated with 65% sand and red brick powder.'
'That's just too crooked.'
Regular-quality Sea Gold Sand costs 200 yuan per jin.
And sand and red brick powder?
The cost is almost negligible.
The merchant mixes in 65% powder, so one jin of the Sea Gold Sand mixture only contains 35% real Sea Gold Sand. That means they're using 70 yuan worth of material and selling it for 200 yuan.
It was an outrageous profit!
If it were just about overcharging, that would be one thing.
But the key is that Sea Gold Sand is a medicine for treating illnesses.
When a doctor prescribes medicine, there's a specific dosage.
Adulterated with sand and red brick powder, the dosage is insufficient, and the medicinal effect is diminished.
If it can't cure the illness, people will say traditional Chinese medicine doesn't work.
Can you really blame traditional Chinese medicine?
Li Xu took a few steps, then suddenly stopped.
'Today's intelligence clearly stated that all the Sea Gold Sand sold in the entire Feng City Chinese Herbal Medicine Wholesale Market is adulterated.'
'So I shouldn't buy any?'
Li Xu shook his head. "No, that won't work. Sea Gold Sand is a commonly used herb for urinary tract problems."
'What should I do? Go somewhere else?'
'But who can guarantee that I'll be able to buy the real thing somewhere else?'
For a moment, Li Xu was quite conflicted.
"Hey, I've got it!"
Suddenly, an idea struck Li Xu.
'Today's intelligence specified the adulteration percentages for two shops selling Sea Gold Sand.'
'In that case, I can reverse-calculate the correct dosage.'
'For example, Lingzhi Hall has the lowest rate, adulterated with 21% sand and red brick powder.'
'After I buy it, when I prescribe it, can't I just increase the dosage to make up for the missing 21%?'
'Besides, sand and red brick powder rarely react with other Chinese herbs.'
'Mixing it in won't affect the medicinal properties.'
"That's what I'll do."
Li Xu went to Lingzhi Hall.
"Boss, what can I get for you?"
A young female clerk greeted him.
"Sea Gold Sand."
"Our Sea Gold Sand is the best in the whole market, absolutely no adulteration. You've come to the right place, Boss."
"Let me see."
"Right this way..."
Li Xu walked over to the bag of Sea Gold Sand, pinched some, and felt it carefully.
The texture was fine, and the aroma was rich.
It was much better than the one at Kang's.
"Weigh out five jin for me. By the way, how much is it per jin?"
"Two hundred forty yuan."
"That expensive? Other shops only charge two hundred."
"Boss, like I said, ours is absolutely not adulterated. It's a bit more expensive, but you're getting the real deal."
Li Xu was speechless.
'If I hadn't seen the intelligence report, I would have actually believed you.'
'Although Lingzhi Hall adulterates less, their price is higher. All things considered, it's not much better than Kang's shop.'
"Don't think I'm some kind of amateur."
Li Xu grabbed a handful of Sea Gold Sand and spread it in his palm.
'Knowing the result makes it much easier to work backward to the cause.' "Look," he said, "some of this isn't Sea Gold Sand. These bits are hard and have an earthy smell. It's obviously sand."
"Heh heh, Boss, you've got a sharp eye. How about this? I'll knock twenty yuan off for you. Two hundred twenty yuan a jin, how does that sound?"
The female clerk wasn't the least bit embarrassed about being called out, and she just grinned as she spoke.
"Fine."
Li Xu nodded. He didn't have any better options.
At two hundred twenty yuan per jin, five jin cost him one thousand one hundred yuan.
Afterward, Li Xu also bought some other common herbs like licorice, honeysuckle, and isatis root.
He bought them all from Lingzhi Hall.
'I wonder if these are fake, too.'
But even if they were fake, without a prompt from the system, Li Xu wouldn't be able to tell.
Take honeysuckle, for example.
Many merchants substitute it with the inferior mountain honeysuckle,
and unless you're an expert who has been immersed in the trade for decades, it's impossible to tell the difference between the two by appearance or smell.
...
Old District, Construction Road.
This was where Li's Traditional Chinese Medicine Clinic was located.
After returning, Li Xu restocked the respective medicinal herbs in the antique-style medicine cabinet.
He made a special note for the Sea Gold Sand,
so he would prescribe a larger dose when using it.
After he finished, Li Xu didn't rest.
He picked up a book on traditional Chinese medicine and began reading with focused concentration.
As an ancestral clinic, Li's Traditional Chinese Medicine Clinic used to have many patients. While it was never crowded, there was a constant stream of people.
But ever since Li Xu had hastily taken over, the clinic's quality of diagnosis had plummeted.
The clinic immediately became deserted.
If he hadn't bound with the [Daily Intelligence System] today,
Li Xu really wasn't sure if he could have held on.
Most of the day passed without a single patient.
Li Xu got up to stretch his arms and legs.
After all, sitting for long periods wasn't good for his health.
He walked to the entrance and saw a student passing by.
"Zhang He, are your eyes still not better?"
"No."
Zhang He said, annoyed.
"You can't just let it drag on like this," Li Xu advised. "You should go to a major hospital to get it checked out again."
Zhang He was the neighbor's kid. He'd had a strange illness for almost a month now.
Every morning, his eyes would become red and his vision blurry. After noon, the redness would completely fade, and his vision would become clear again.
This pattern repeated daily without the slightest change.
His mother had taken him for an eye exam and he was diagnosed with chronic conjunctivitis, but the medication had no effect.
His mother had even asked Li Xu to take a look.
Li Xu had spent a long time taking his pulse but couldn't figure out the cause.
"Yeah, my mom said that after she's done with work in a few days, she's going to ask for leave from her company to take me to the provincial capital to see a doctor," Zhang He said.
...
PS: New author, new book. Please add to your collection.