Xingtai Suburbs. Northern Divine Wood Sour Jujube Processing Co., Ltd.

Xu Bingguo stood before the empty purchasing station, his face a mask of sorrow.

Behind him were several massive warehouses.

They were filled with a mix of green and red Sour Jujube Seeds.

These past few days, he felt like he was on a massive ship sinking at an alarming rate. His heart was filled with despair.

Just as he was succumbing to hopelessness, the phone in his office began to ring. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

He answered listlessly.

"Hello, is this Northern Divine Wood Company?"

A polite, youthful male voice came from the other end. "I’m a representative from Ding’s Pharmaceutical Factory in Feng City. I’m calling to discuss purchasing a batch of Sour Jujube Seeds."

Ding’s Pharmaceutical Factory?

Hearing that name, Xu Bingguo’s anger flared up instantly.

He had already found out that it was this very company, Ding’s Pharmaceutical Factory, whose Dragon Bone Calming Pill had seized the market from the Sour Jujube Seeds Calming Soup, causing their entire industry chain to collapse.

One could say that Ding’s Pharmaceutical Factory was the main culprit behind the sluggish sales of Sour Jujube Seeds.

He was about to start cursing them out.

But then he heard what the other party said next.

He forcefully swallowed the curses on the tip of his tongue.

"What did you say? You... you want to buy our Sour Jujube Seeds?"

Xu Bingguo asked in disbelief.

"Yes."

"How... how much do you need?"

"We’ll take as many as you have."

Xu Bingguo felt like a giant pie had just fallen from the sky and hit him.

He had no time for anger, nor for any business rivalries.

All he wanted now was to get rid of this pile of "trash" that was on the verge of molding.

"Yes, yes, yes, no problem, no problem at all."

He hastily agreed.

However, the other party then proposed an extremely strict condition.

"Manager Xu, our quality standards are very high. We will dispatch a professional quality inspection team to conduct random checks on all the goods. We only want fully ripened, red Sour Jujube Seeds. There cannot be a single green seed mixed in, or we won’t take any of it."

"No problem, absolutely no problem. You can rest assured."

Without a second thought, Xu Bingguo agreed on the spot.

After hanging up, he shot into the workshop like a man possessed and shouted at the still-sighing workers:

"Stop lazing around! Get a move on, now! Sift through everything and pick out all those green Sour Jujube Seeds we mixed in before. We’ve finally landed a big client, and we can’t afford to scare them off by trying to pass off inferior goods!"

...

Dashan Village.

Village Chief Liu Jun squatted at the entrance of the village committee office, chain-smoking in frustration.

The ground at his feet was littered with cigarette butts.

In the courtyard, a group of idle villagers had gathered and were complaining nonstop.

"Sigh, what rotten luck. If I’d known this would happen, I would’ve just picked the green dates and sold them back then. Look at us now. We worked so hard waiting for them to ripen, and now no one wants them."

"Exactly! Village Chief, didn’t you say the red dates could sell for over ten yuan a pound? And now? No one will even take them for three yuan a pound."

Liu Jun had explained until his mouth was dry.

But the short-sighted villagers refused to see reason.

They only saw their immediate losses, failing to understand that their own actions of "robbing the green" were what ultimately led to this disaster.

Liu Jun could only try to find a way to sell the mountain of ripe sour dates himself.

He thought of Professor Gao, who had once given a lecture in their village.

Clinging to a sliver of hope, he called Professor Gao.

After hearing him out, Professor Gao was also powerless to help.

"Village Chief Liu, it’s not that I don’t want to help you. I’m not in Xingtai right now. Besides, the market situation isn’t something a mere doctor like me can influence."

Just as Liu Jun was about to lose all hope,

Professor Gao added, "But... I can recommend someone to you. He might have a solution."

"Who?"

"Li Xu. The young doctor who came to your village with me last time."

Professor Gao continued, "He’s a major shareholder in a pharmaceutical factory. Perhaps he can help you offload some of your stock."

Hearing this, Liu Jun felt as if he had grasped a final, life-saving straw.

He quickly asked for Li Xu’s contact information and dialed the number.

When Li Xu heard Liu Jun’s plea,

He naturally didn’t refuse.

He had already instructed Ding Kaifang to acquire sour dates on a large scale.

"Village Chief Liu, I can buy all the sour dates you have. However, I have one condition."

"What is it? Please, tell me."

"They must be fully ripened, red sour dates. I won’t take a single green one."

"No problem! Absolutely no problem! What we have left now are all the best red dates!" Liu Jun excitedly promised.

"Good," Li Xu said. "Organize your people to harvest all the dates and process them into the cleanest possible seeds. Ding’s Pharmaceutical Factory will buy however many you can produce."

"That’s wonderful! Wonderful!"

Liu Jun was so happy he nearly jumped for joy.

After hanging up the phone,

He turned to the villagers who were still sighing in the courtyard and announced loudly:

"Everyone, stop looking so glum! I have good news for you all—I’ve found a buyer!"

"What? For real?"

"Village Chief, you’re not pulling our leg, are you? Who would dare to buy sour dates now?"

Hearing this, the villagers crowded around, skeptical but hopeful.

Liu Jun straightened his back and said proudly, "Of course it’s real. It’s a pharmaceutical factory. Their management has given their word: as long as we harvest ripe, red sour dates, they’ll buy everything we’ve got."

"That’s great!"

"We’re saved!"

In an instant, a joyous atmosphere enveloped the entire village committee courtyard.

Although Liu Jun also told them that the current purchase price had dropped back to three or four yuan a pound, far from the hyped-up prices of a while ago.

But for the villagers, just being able to turn what they had into actual money was enough to make them content.

It was a hundred times better than letting the dates rot on the mountainside.

...

Li’s Traditional Chinese Medicine Clinic.

After enjoying a great meal with Song Sisi at Li Garden, Li Xu didn’t rest. He opened the clinic for consultations the very next day.

Even though he had been away for some time,

His reputation as a "Divine Physician" had already spread far and wide.

Every day, a steady stream of patients, drawn by his fame, came to see him.

In the morning, a white-collar woman in her thirties arrived.

She wore a thick face mask, her face was flushed, and she looked lethargic. The moment she sat down, she couldn’t stop coughing.

"Doctor... COUGH COUGH... I... I have a cold. I have a fever and my whole body aches. Please, you have to help me."

Li Xu took her pulse and examined her tongue coating.

Her pulse was floating and rapid, her tongue was red, and its coating was thin and yellow.

’This is a classic case of ’wind-heat’ common cold, which is essentially the flu—currently at its peak season.’

As the weather grew colder and the temperature difference between day and night increased, flu patients like her were becoming more and more common.

Li Xu didn’t prescribe a complicated formula.

He prescribed three doses of an antipyretic and detoxifying soup.

The main ingredient was Daqing Leaf, supplemented with a few common medicinal herbs like Honeysuckle and Forsythia Suspensa.

He had bought the Daqing Leaf from Wang the Third back in the summer; it was exceptionally effective for treating the flu.

He had bought a large quantity at the time.

It was enough to last for a long while.

However, the number of flu patients had been increasing recently. ’At this rate, I might run out this winter.’