976 Making Medicines Available throughout the World (1/2)
”But Dr. Wang was several feet away from him back, yet the doctor got him to his knees simply by pressing at the air. Miao Zhengnan was unable to move at all! That's just too surreal!” Whenever he recalled what had happened there, Miao Chengtang was always in awe.
”That wasn't something I was aware of before,” Xu Xinyuan said. ”To be such a young age yet have such a level of powers, where did he learn all that from?”
”Let's get back to you for a bit. Are you thinking of going elsewhere?”
”I'll just stay back at Tianjin,” Miao Chengtang humbly said. ”If I keep moving around places, it will make me feel like a dog that nobody wants.”
The place he had once called home did not allow a person like him to exist. He was unable to stay in southern Yunnan as well. He would have felt like a failure if he were unable to stay in Tianjin.
”Sigh, don't put it that way,” Xu Xinyuan hurriedly replied.
”I've made arrangements with the landlord,” Miao Chengtang said. ”I'll be moving away from that apartment. Tianjin is quite a big place.”
”Alright, duly noted,” Xu Xinyuan said.
He had a point. Tianjin was a huge place. The people from the village would have had to look for years before they were able to find him again.
”Is there anything else you'd like to talk about?” Xu Xinyuan asked.
”There is nothing else,” Miao Chengtang replied. ”Thanks for all that you've done for me.”
”Come on, don't be a stranger, OK?”
After that, the conversation between them felt rather dry. They had next to nothing to talk about.
Finally something substantial came up. ”Oh, right. How did Wang Yao manage to cure the bug curse?”
”I've thought about that,” Miao Chengtang said. ”He probably has something capable of working against the curse at his clinic.”
He was someone from the Valley of Thousands of Medicine, so he was able to guess, to a certain degree, what was in the medicine Wang Yao had given him. Of course, he was unable to learn the key ingredients.
”What would those be?” Xu Xinyuan asked. ”If we could get our hands on those herbs, would that mean that we wouldn't need to fear the Valley of Thousands of Medicine from here on out?”
”It would be great if we were to be able to do so,” Miao Chengtang said. ”However, I'm still quite an outsider when it comes to herbs. It's worth knowing that even if a concoction was made from the same set of herbs, changing doses in key ingredients makes a huge difference in the medicine's effectiveness. Telling the ingredients apart itself would be extremely difficult in the first place. From what I can tell, there are only a handful of people capable of telling the ingredients, as well as the doses, apart. I reckon that not even Miao Xihe can do that much.”
”Is it that much trouble?”
”Yes, it is that much trouble.”
”Well, there's a high chance that he wouldn't do so unless he has something rivaling the likes of the Blood Orchid,” Miao Chengtang said. ”I did take a look at the village he was in. The place consisted mostly of hills and mountains, and there were hardly any old jungles to be found. There just isn't enough spiritual Qi around the place to nurture those legendary herbs. Furthermore, this is still the north, and Miao Xihe knows next to nothing about these parts. Judging from what I know about him, while he is very capable, he is also very cautious. He won't send people out into southern Yunnan without good reasons for fear of bringing trouble to the village.”
”Hmm.” Xu Xinyuan nodded.
A visitor arrived in the clinic at the village thousands of miles away.
It was Zheng Weijun.
It was the eighth day of the New Year, which was when Nanshan Pharmaceutical Company began working again. Zheng Weijun arrived at the clinic early in the morning.
”Happy New Year, Master.”
”Happy New Year.”
Zheng Weijun appeared very happy and sprightly. He looked to be in high spirits.
That was due to Nanshan Pharmaceutical Company's first product turning out to be a massive hit. Hardly anyone wanted the product at first. Now, it had become so sought-after that they couldn't meet the demands. The changes during the past several months had been like that between heaven and earth. When he went home, he was showered with praise and admiration because of his achievements with that particular medicine. While he was elated inside, he maintained a deadpan face.
”Didn't you people say that I was inferior to my big brother? Didn't you people try to push me out before? Well, I'll have you know that I'm capable of making something out on my own.”
When he handed over the power and resources in his hands back then, no one in his family thought much of his future. Now, everyone thought better of him.
”Many large clients called during the festivities.”
”Did they want more?” Wang Yao asked.
”Yes, they want more,” Zheng Weijun replied.
”Feel free to meet their demands, but absolutely no compromising the demands I've put forth,” Wang Yao said.
His demands were simple. The herbs needed to be grown in the wild, and they had to be the right age.
Good medicine could only be produced with good ingredients.
It was a simple thing that everyone knew, yet few individuals or companies were capable of implementing it.
Society was teeming with people out to get wealth and fame at all costs. There were not enough people who focused on what they did.
”When can we start producing the second medicine?” Zheng Weijun asked.
”This is the prescription for the second medicine. You can begin production at any time. The same rules apply. The herbs need to be ones grown in the wild.” Wang Yao handed the prescription over to Zheng Weijun.
”Rest assured, it will be done as you asked.” Zheng Weijun took the prescription and read it over. He committed the required herbs to memory.
There were going to make Heat Clearing Powder.
White Poria, radix glycyrrhizae, atractylodes, dahurian angelica root, dandelion, water-plantain, atractylodes macrocephala, incised notopterygium…
The medicine was effective for clearing damp heat and chi in the body, aid with perspiration, and ward off coldness.