Whether looking at his pulse or his symptoms, Uncle Liu’s condition perfectly matched the diagnosis of insomnia from deficiency fatigue and vexation. Theoretically, using Sour Jujube Seeds Soup to nourish yin and blood, clear away heat, and soothe irritability should have brought immediate relief. Recovery should have been easy.

So why hadn’t it worked at all?

Professor Gao was completely baffled.

Just then, something clicked for Li Xu, who was standing nearby.

He recalled what he had seen and heard in Xingtai a while back.

He said to Professor Gao, "Professor Gao, do you think it’s possible that the problem isn’t the formula, but... the ingredients?"

"The ingredients?"

Upon hearing this, Professor Gao thought for a moment before it dawned on him.

That’s it!

’How could I have overlooked such a crucial detail?’

He recalled having witnessed the severe problem of premature harvesting of sour jujubes in Xingtai.

The principal ingredient in the Sour Jujube Seeds Soup formula is, of course, the sour jujube seeds themselves.

You could say that seventy percent of the entire formula’s efficacy depends on the quality of this one ingredient.

And the vast majority of sour jujube seeds on the market right now were just the unripe, green ones with extremely poor medicinal effects, passed off as the genuine article!

If Uncle Liu had bought a patent medicine made from these substandard ingredients, then forget half a month—he could drink it for half a year and still see no effect.

"Sigh. A mistake, a real mistake," Professor Gao said, vexed.

Before he prescribed the medication for Uncle Liu, he hadn’t yet been to Xingtai and was unaware of the true situation with the sour jujube seed supply. As a result, he had overlooked the issue of the medicine’s actual potency.

He said apologetically, "Sir, I’m truly sorry. It seems the problem lies with the medicinal ingredients."

Professor Gao considered this for a moment. He was about to write a new prescription for Uncle Liu, one that abandoned the use of sour jujube seeds as the principal ingredient in favor of other calming herbs.

Just then, Li Xu made a suggestion. "Professor Gao, I’d like to recommend a medication. It’s a new calming medicine from Ding’s Pharmaceutical Factory called the ’Dragon Bone Calming Pill.’ It’s extremely effective for promoting sleep."

"Dragon Bone Calming Pill?"

A flicker of curiosity appeared in Professor Gao’s eyes when he heard the name.

He knew Li Xu had close ties with Ding’s Pharmaceutical Factory in Feng City.

He also knew that the recent patent medicines launched by Ding’s Pharmaceutical Factory—with formulas provided by Li Xu, such as Watermelon Frost and Dragon Bone Powder—had been hugely successful on the market and had stellar reputations.

But this was the first time he had heard of the Dragon Bone Calming Pill.

Professor Gao asked, "You developed this one, too? What’s special about it?"

Li Xu explained simply, "Yes, Professor Gao. I developed it by improving an ancient formula, taking advantage of our raw material supply at Ding’s Pharmaceutical Factory. Its core principal ingredient isn’t the traditional sour jujube seeds, but rather—Dragon Bone. Its ability to calm fright, quiet the spirit, pacify the liver, and subdue hyperactive yang far surpasses that of ordinary calming medications."

"Oh? Using Dragon Bone as the principal ingredient?" Professor Gao nodded upon hearing this.

As a veteran master of Chinese medicine, he naturally knew that Dragon Bone was an excellent and potent sedative herb.

However, because the raw material is rare and expensive, very few patent medicines on the market were extravagant enough to use it as a principal ingredient.

Since Ding’s Pharmaceutical Factory had the resources and boldness to do so, the medicine’s effects were bound to be impressive.

He no longer objected. Instead, he said to Uncle Liu, "Sir, since Doctor Li has recommended it, you should give it a try. Go to the pharmacies outside and see if you can find this ’Dragon Bone Calming Pill.’"

Uncle Liu nodded, and holding the name of the medicine Li Xu had written down for him, he left, still half-believing and half-doubting.

...

After leaving the hospital, Uncle Liu began searching the nearby pharmacies one by one.

However, after asking at several large pharmacies in a row, the answer was always the same: "Never heard of it."

"Dragon Bone Calming Pill? Which company makes it? We don’t have it here."

"It must be new. We haven’t been stocked with it yet."

As time ticked by, Uncle Liu started to get frustrated.

He felt like this was probably another wasted trip.

He walked past a street corner and saw another pharmacy.

’If this place doesn’t have it either, I’m giving up,’ he thought. ’My insomnia is probably incurable.’

"Excuse me, do you sell ’Dragon Bone Calming Pill’?" he asked, his voice weak and tired.

To his surprise, the moment the shopkeeper heard him, he enthusiastically pulled a bottle of medicine from the shelf.

"We do, sir," the shopkeeper said with a smile. "This is a new product from Ding’s Pharmaceutical Factory. It works wonders, but it’s just hit the market, so a lot of pharmacies haven’t had a chance to stock it yet."

When Uncle Liu saw that they actually had it, hope instantly rekindled in his heart.

"How much is a bottle?"

"Not expensive at all," the shopkeeper said with a chuckle. "Forty a bottle. It’ll last you a week."

"Forty?" Uncle Liu felt a sting of reluctance when he heard the price. The large box of Sour Jujube Seeds Soup he had bought before was only a little over thirty.

But then he thought of the misery of those sleepless nights and gritted his teeth.

"Fine. I’ll take a bottle."

Back home, after dinner, Uncle Liu followed the dosage on the instruction label and took a dozen or so dark brown pills.

He lay down in bed, not holding out much hope.

But miraculously, that night, he didn’t toss and turn endlessly as he usually did.

Before he knew it, a gentle wave of drowsiness washed over him.

When he was woken the next morning by the sound of birds chirping outside his window, he glanced at the alarm clock on his nightstand. It was already seven o’clock.

He had actually slept through the entire night!

"Oh, my heavens." Uncle Liu leaped out of bed, feeling clear-headed and refreshed, his body brimming with energy.

He was so excited he kept muttering, "It’s a miracle. A true miracle."

...

In a park early one morning, a group of spry, older ladies were chattering away, their faces beaming with excitement.

They were members of the "Compassion and Good Karma Release Group."

Today, they were heading to the moat on the outskirts of the city to hold a grand "life release" ceremony.

"Sisters, is everything ready?"

The organizer, Zhao Chunxiang, clapped her hands and asked loudly.

"All ready!"

The ladies all began to show off their "release" items for the day, a dazzling and jaw-dropping assortment.

Some carried bags of wriggling loaches;

some held plastic tubs containing red-eared sliders;

and one even carried a vacuum-sealed bag of fish tofu from the supermarket, calling it, grandly, "rescuing the souls of the fish."

But among the crowd, a woman named He Li had prepared a "release" item that was even more unconventional.

At her feet sat two large, sealed cases of mineral water.

Twenty-four bottles in total.

"Sister He, are you releasing mineral water again today?" another woman asked curiously.

"But of course," He Li said with a mysterious look on her face.

She began to share what she had learned at a lecture from some "master." "You all don’t know! There are eighty-four thousand microorganisms in this water. When we pour one bottle of mineral water into the river, we’re saving eighty-four thousand lives and earning eighty-four thousand merits."