Chinese Medicine: Starting with Daily Intelligence-Chapter 123: Reporting

Liu Haibo’s heart sank when he heard Zhang Zhigang say he had started stocking another brand of eye drops, but his expression remained unchanged. "Oh? What product is so charming that it could make Boss Zhang stop selling our 35-yuan Bright Eye Drops?"

"Mao Duddu Eye Drops, a new product from Ding’s Pharmaceutical." Zhang Zhigang rubbed his hands together, his eyes lighting up. "Ninety-eight a bottle, and they’re selling like hotcakes!"

"Ninety-eight?" Liu Haibo almost spat out the water he had just sipped. "Boss Zhang, you’re not joking, are you? What kind of eye drops can sell for that price? Bright Eye Drops are only 35, and even imported brands are only around a hundred..."

Zhang Zhigang smiled mysteriously and pulled an exquisite little blue bottle from under the counter. "Manager Liu, why don’t you try it for yourself?"

Liu Haibo stared at the bottle, which was printed with a cartoon foxtail grass design. His first instinct was to refuse.

Especially the manufacturer printed on the bottle—Ding’s Pharmaceutical.

Liu Haibo sneered, "Made by the Ding Group, right? I admit they’re a large conglomerate, but they’re just a novice in the pharmaceutical industry. Their factory was on the verge of bankruptcy. What kind of good product could they possibly make? Boss Zhang, don’t let them fool you."

Zhang Zhigang just smiled without saying a word, waiting for Liu Haibo to try it.

"Alright, I’ll give it a try." He took the bottle, tilted his head back, and applied a drop.

As an employee of Baixing, trying a competitor’s product seemed inappropriate.

But his professional instincts made him change his mind—he had to know what made a long-term client switch to another company.

He tilted his head back, squeezed a drop into his right eye, and blinked instinctively.

In an instant, a cool, soothing sensation spread from his eyeball. The dryness was immediately relieved, and even the redness from staring at reports for hours seemed to fade.

What was even more amazing was that the comfortable feeling didn’t dissipate, unlike Bright Eye Drops, which wore off after just a few minutes.

"This..." Liu Haibo stared at the small bottle in his hand, shocked. "How is this possible?"

"Amazing, isn’t it?" Zhang Zhigang said proudly. "I had the same reaction the first day I tried it. Now, a lot of my regular customers come in specifically to buy it. We get a ton of repeat business."

Liu Haibo suppressed his shock and asked, feigning composure, "What are the ingredients? For it to be this effective, it doesn’t contain hormones, does it?"

"It’s a pure traditional Chinese medicine extract, a patented product." Zhang Zhigang pointed to the description on the box. "Foxtail grass extract. It’s completely safe. My daughter uses it every day without any issues."

Liu Haibo’s mind raced.

As an industry insider, he knew that there was no eye drop on the market that was so fast-acting yet safe.

Although Baixing’s Bright Eye Drops sold well, it was mainly due to marketing and distribution channels; its actual effects were mediocre.

’If Mao Duddu is really this amazing...’

"Manager Liu?" Zhang Zhigang’s voice pulled him back to reality. "Look... I won’t be ordering as many Bright Eye Drops this time. The inventory I have in the store is enough to last a while..."

"I understand, I understand." Liu Haibo forced a smile. "Business is business. Of course, you have to choose products that sell well. But Boss Zhang, we’ve been partners for so many years. If Baixing launches a new product, you have to give us priority consideration."

After leaving Kangning Pharmacy, Liu Haibo immediately drove to the next partner pharmacy on his list.

The owner of Sunshine Pharmacy had a shifty look in her eyes when she saw him, and that same little blue bottle was brazenly displayed where Bright Eye Drops used to be. Boss Cai at People’s Pharmacy hemmed and hawed, saying he didn’t need to restock for now...

What shocked Liu Haibo the most was at a large chain pharmacy downtown. He personally witnessed a woman who looked like an office worker specifically ask for "Mao Duddu." When the clerk said it was temporarily out of stock, she disappointedly said she would come back tomorrow.

"Are these eye drops really that good?" Liu Haibo struck up a conversation, feigning curiosity.

"They’re super effective!" the woman said excitedly. "My best friend recommended them. She said her eyes feel incredibly comfortable after using them, and they don’t get tired even after looking at a computer all day. For a corporate drone like me working 996, it’s exactly what I need!"

At six in the evening, Liu Haibo sat in his car, his investigation notes for the day spread out before him: visited 8 pharmacies, 6 were primarily pushing Mao Duddu, 2 were considering stocking it; questioned 12 consumers, 9 had heard of Mao Duddu, and of those, 5 were already repeat customers.

He took a deep breath and dialed the number for the sales director of Baixing Eye Medicine Group.

"President Zhao, we have a situation here in Feng City..." His voice was filled with anxiety. "There’s an eye drop called Mao Duddu that’s eating into our market share. Its effects... its effects are much better than Bright Eye Drops."

The immediate reaction from the other end of the line was skepticism. "How good could the effects be? Is it another knockoff from some small factory?"

"It’s a product from Ding’s Pharmaceutical. Ninety-eight a bottle, and it’s selling better than our 35-yuan one." Liu Haibo swallowed hard. "I tried it myself. It takes effect within 30 seconds, there’s a noticeable improvement in clarity, and the effects last a long time... President Zhao, this product is no simple matter."

"Ding Clan? Aren’t they in real estate?" The sales director’s voice suddenly rose. "What do they know about pharmaceuticals! Wait... are you saying the effects are really that good?"

"It’s the absolute truth. The pharmacies I visited are all scrambling to stock it, and the word-of-mouth among consumers is excellent."

Liu Haibo wiped the sweat from his forehead. "President Zhao, if we don’t respond quickly, I’m worried that next quarter’s sales figures for Feng City will..."

"I get it." Zhao Ming cut him off. "Express mail a sample and your research materials back to headquarters. The R&D department will analyze the ingredients. Also, don’t alert the distributors for now. Just act like you don’t know anything about this."

After hanging up, Liu Haibo stared at the reports on his desk, feeling a seed of doubt about his own company’s product for the first time.

’If Mao Duddu really launches on a massive scale, will the eye drop market that Baixing has dominated for so many years crumble like a sandcastle against the tide?’

...

After his appointment at Li’s Traditional Chinese Medicine Clinic, Chen Dacheng returned home carrying a bag of medicine and laid out the several packets of herbs one by one on his kitchen counter.

He untied a packet, and a strong medicinal aroma immediately filled the air.

He carefully took out the few dark-brown slices of Aconite and placed them in his palm to examine them closely.

"This medicine is so expensive, I can’t let any go to waste..." he muttered to himself, but couldn’t help grumbling inwardly, ’Will this really work? It’s not like I haven’t had True Martial Soup before...’

Despite his doubts, his years of experience decocting herbs made his movements swift and practiced.

He took out a small clay pot specifically for decocting medicine, filled it with enough water, put the Aconite slices in first, brought it to a boil over high heat, then turned it down to simmer slowly.

The clock on the wall went TICK-TOCK. Chen Dacheng sat on a small stool, his eyes glued to the clay pot, stirring it with chopsticks every now and then. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

’The Aconite has to be decocted long enough first, otherwise it’s toxic...’

He muttered the instructions he’d heard from the old traditional Chinese doctor, fine beads of sweat forming on his forehead.

The kitchen gradually filled with the unique, pungent aroma of the Aconite. It was a bit sharp to the nose, yet carried a strange medicinal fragrance.

Thirty minutes later, Chen Dacheng added the other herbs to the pot one by one.

The Poria Cocos was as white as snow, the Atractylodes a pale yellow, and the slices of white peony were as thin as a cicada’s wings.

He could tell they were all high-quality herbs.

Much better than the ones he had gotten from the Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

The medicinal soup in the clay pot gradually turned an amber color.

Once the decoction was ready, Chen Dacheng strained the dark brown liquid, which filled a bowl perfectly.

He took a deep breath, and after waiting for the medicine to cool slightly, he closed his eyes and drank it all in one go.

"Tsk... so bitter!" He grimaced and quickly popped a piece of rock sugar into his mouth.