"Boss, this one, this one... and those few over there... how much are they?"
Li Xu pointed to two large stones, two medium-sized ones, and three small ones.
"Let me see..."
The middle-aged, chubby man walked around the stones, estimated their weight, and said, "This one is about 1,500 jin, and that one is 2,000 jin... You're building a rockery, so you don't need them processed. I'll give them to you for 18,000 yuan. Those other stones aren't in good shape—their texture is too loose—so I'll just throw them in for free."
"What? That expensive?!"
Li Xu was stunned.
He thought stones would be cheap.
"It's not expensive, little brother. These are both top-quality bluestones. If they were processed into slabs, they could sell for 20 yuan a jin."
"I'm just building a small rockery in my courtyard to improve the feng shui. I don't need anything that high-quality... I won't take these two. Just give me those two smaller ones."
"Alright. I'll give you these two for 7,000 yuan, but I can't throw in the others for free. I'll charge you 1,000 yuan for them."
A total of 8,000 yuan.
'It's still not cheap.'
Of course, Li Xu was still making a profit.
Ordinary Dragon Bone on the market went for three to five hundred yuan per jin, while Five-Floral Dragon Bone could fetch up to 1,500 yuan per jin.
Li Xu estimated that the large Dragon Bone stone could yield at least seventy to eighty jin of Five-Floral Dragon Bone.
The total value would exceed 120,000 yuan.
And they were all rare treasures.
"Okay. Can you help me get them delivered?"
"How far?"
"It's in the city, on Construction Road."
"No problem. This is my business card. If you need more stones in the future, brother, feel free to contact me."
Li Xu took the business card. Printed on it was: Hengchang Stone Co., Ltd. of Shanyang County, General Manager Guo Hengchang.
Guo Hengchang made a call, and a truck arrived to load up the stone materials.
However, trucks weren't allowed into the urban area of Feng City during the day.
It wasn't until after 10:00 PM that the truck pulled up outside Li Xu's clinic with the stones.
Two workers used tools to unload the stones and place them in the courtyard.
"COUGH, COUGH, COUGH..."
The stones were heavy, and even with tools, the two workers were completely exhausted. One of them, in particular, couldn't stop coughing.
"Thank you for your hard work, big brother."
Smoking was forbidden in the clinic, and since Li Xu didn't have any cigarettes to offer, he handed the man a glass of warm water instead.
"It's nothing, just an old problem."
The worker took the water and drank it down with a GULP.
"What kind of problem?"
As a doctor, Li Xu asked out of instinct.
"Pneumoconiosis!"
Wu Dashan sighed. "Most of us who work with stone get this. We spend all day in the dust. Even with a mask, you still breathe in a lot of it."
"Haven't you seen a doctor about it?"
"I have. I've taken a lot of medicine, but it only helps sometimes."
The other worker chimed in from the side, "The main problem is that the medicine is expensive. We only make two or three hundred a day, and one box of medicine costs over a hundred."
"I see..."
Li Xu thought for a moment, then said, "Big brother, as you can see, this is a TCM clinic, and I'm a doctor. If you trust me, I can take a look at you and prescribe a couple doses of medicine. Consider it a thank you for your help."
"Oh, I couldn't possibly."
Although Wu Dashan said that, he still followed Li Xu into the clinic.
Usually, going to the hospital meant registering and waiting in line.
Now that someone was offering to treat him for free, he was willing to give it a try.
"Your hand."
Li Xu took his pulse, then took out a stethoscope to listen to the breathing in Wu Dashan's lungs.
"Your case isn't too severe. There isn't much fibrosis in your lungs. A few doses of medicine should cure it."
"Really?"
Wu Dashan found it hard to believe.
"Of course."
Li Xu began to prepare the medicine.
This time, there was no prompt from the system's intelligence.
He was relying entirely on his own experience.
In truth, he didn't have much clinical experience.
But in Shanyang County, which was under the jurisdiction of Feng City, pneumoconiosis was a common chronic illness.
When his father was alive, he had treated many similar patients.
So, there were treatment records he could reference.
More importantly, since he had taken over the clinic, the number of patients had dropped sharply. As a result, most of the medicinal herbs were still the ones his father had left behind.
There were no fakes.
Their efficacy was guaranteed.
That was why Li Xu was confident he could treat him.
Li Xu took out Fritillaria, licorice, lily bulb, and other herbs.
Fritillaria clears heat and moistens the lungs; licorice moistens the lungs and stops coughing; lily bulb calms the mind and soothes the spirit, nourishing the heart and moistening the lungs...
The combination of herbs was very effective for treating the lungs.
"I've prepared two doses for you. Go home, drink them, and see how they work. If you feel an effect, come back for a few more."
Li Xu handed the medicine to Wu Dashan.
"Thank you, thank you."
Wu Dashan took the medicine and left happily with his companion.
Li Xu closed the clinic door and went into the back courtyard.
He turned on the courtyard light.
The large stones were clearly illuminated.
Among them were three Dragon Bone fossils.
One large and two small.
Li Xu began to study them with great interest.
He rummaged through his cabinets and drawers, finding a carving knife used for processing medicinal herbs.
It was another item left behind by his father.
The knife was sharp, and the sedimentary rock fossil was relatively soft.
Cleaning it wasn't difficult.
SHH, SHH, SHH...
Stone powder fell away.
Revealing more of the fossil's shape.
If Boss Guo from Hengchang Stone Materials had seen the true appearance of this stone, he would never have treated it as scrap.
Li Xu didn't continue.
Because if he went any further, he would reach the Dragon Bone fossil itself.
And since Five-Floral Dragon Bone has an extremely loose texture, it shatters easily.
It was best to extract it using a method of pasting and reinforcing it with Rough Edge Paper.
Rough Edge Paper is a type of soft, fine-fibered bamboo pulp paper.
It possesses a certain degree of toughness and breathability.
Pasting it on wouldn't accelerate the fossil's weathering.
Li Xu didn't have any in his shop, so he couldn't continue.
Besides, it was dark out, making it hard to see clearly.
Li Xu washed up and went to rest.
「The next morning.」
He first checked the system.
[Today's Intelligence: Aunt Li from the Garden District has a kidney deficiency and weak qi, leading to night sweats, spontaneous sweating, and frequent urination. To astringe sweat and consolidate essence, take two taels of Five-Floral Dragon Bone, three taels of Mountain Yam, one tael of Goji Berries, one tael of Danggui, and two taels of Astragalus Root to supplement qi and consolidate the kidneys.]
"Heh... I can already put it to use."
Li Xu could tell that today's intelligence was specifically about the Five-Floral Dragon Bone.
It was perfect, as he also wanted to verify the true effects of the Five-Floral Dragon Bone.
But before that, he had to extract the Five-Floral Dragon Bone first.
After washing up and eating breakfast, he first went out to buy a stack of Rough Edge Paper.
He waited for Song Sisi to arrive, then had her watch over the clinic.
"Boss, where are you going?"
"I'm going to the courtyard to prepare some medicinal materials. You watch the front. If a patient comes, call for me."
"Okay."
...
「Half an hour later.」
Using the Rough Edge Paper, Li Xu extracted two sections of Five-Floral Dragon Bone from the small fossil.
The bones were thick and sturdy, and it was impossible to tell what part of the body they came from.
He weighed them: seven jin and three taels in total.
"Doctor, a patient is here."
Song Sisi poked her head in and called out.
"Alright, I'll be right there."
Li Xu put away the Dragon Bone.
He glanced at the other two Dragon Bone fossils.
'Leaving them in the courtyard won't do.'
'It's fine on sunny days, but on overcast or rainy days, the dampness could easily affect their medicinal properties.'
'I'll have to move them inside when I have time. They need to be kept dry.'