Li Xu returned from the Qinling Mountains.

He was carrying a lot, so he had a driver from the factory pick him up.

He put his travel bag in the trunk.

It was packed full of treasures from his trip.

Plump hardy kiwis, various mushrooms carrying the fragrance of the mountain forest, translucent bee pupae, and some wild medicinal herbs.

Upon returning to Feng City, he first had the driver take him to Li Garden to deliver some of the natural ingredients to Elder Li.

When Elder Li saw these mountain delicacies, his eyes lit up.

These pure, natural, and pollution-free wild delicacies were the kind of thing you couldn’t find on the market even if you tried.

He picked up a hardy kiwi to examine it closely, then sniffed the fresh aroma of the mushrooms, his face beaming with a smile.

"Doctor Li, you can’t buy things this good in the market. Thank you, this is so thoughtful of you."

Elder Li was grinning from ear to ear. "There’s a holiday next month. I’m planning to cook another big meal. You all should come over, and we’ll have another proper feast."

Li Xu smilingly agreed. Elder Li’s cooking always left you wanting more.

After saying goodbye to Elder Li, Li Xu returned to the clinic.

As soon as he walked in, he saw Song Sisi giving a patient a massage. Her technique was skilled, and the patient’s face wore a relaxed expression.

Li Xu walked over, lent a hand, and took over from Song Sisi to finish the rest of the treatment.

After seeing the patient off, Song Sisi immediately latched onto him, asking curiously, "How was your trip? Tell me all about it!"

Li Xu looked at her sparkling eyes and said with a smile, "The snow in the Qinling Mountains was beautiful. It was a vast expanse of white, like a fairytale world."

"Wow, snow in the Qinling Mountains! It must have been gorgeous."

Song Sisi had a look of longing on her face. "Besides the snow, did anything else interesting happen?"

Li Xu thought for a moment and teased, "Nothing interesting, but there was something thrilling. I ran into a wild boar in the mountains. It suddenly charged out of the woods. If I hadn’t scrambled up a tree, I might have been a goner."

"A wild boar?"

Song Sisi looked concerned. "Oh my god, were you hurt? What happened then?"

"Then I ran into some people I knew. They were out hunting, so they ended up killing the boar."

Li Xu then asked, "How was the clinic while I was gone? Did those reporters and social media people keep coming?"

Song Sisi pouted. "Don’t even ask. For the first two days, there was a huge, noisy crowd, like they wanted to tear down the clinic door. Later, probably because you weren’t here and there was no new dirt to dig up, they gradually dispersed. It’s much quieter now, and the clinic is back to normal, with only actual patients coming to see a doctor."

Li Xu nodded, breathing a sigh of relief.

’I can finally see patients normally again.’

Just as they were speaking, the clinic door was pushed open, and Ding Kaifang walked in.

He looked a little tired, but his expression was excited.

"Doctor Li, you’re back."

Seeing Li Xu, Ding Kaifang couldn’t wait to speak. "I’ve settled things with Cao Xianjun from Medicine King Valley. They’ve agreed to supply us with Panlong Seven."

Li Xu wasn’t surprised.

Cao Xianjun had practically agreed back when they were in Medicine King Valley.

Ding Kaifang continued, "There is a slight downside, though. Cao Xianjun said this year’s entire supply of Panlong Seven has already been promised to Panlong Pharmaceutical, so they can’t supply us for now. But they promised they’ll provide it to us as normal starting next year."

Li Xu nodded. "That’s fine. The important thing is that we secured the deal. Let’s start preparing the qualification approvals for Panlong Seven. Once the herbs arrive next year, we can go directly into production."

Ding Kaifang said with a smile, "I’ve already assigned someone to handle it. We’ll try to get the qualifications as soon as possible. With Panlong Seven, our product line will be even more diverse."

The two chatted a little longer about the pharmaceutical factory before Ding Kaifang left.

That evening,

Li Xu took Song Sisi out for a meal at Songjiang Noodle House, and then they went their separate ways.

The next morning, Li Xu opened his intelligence system to check the latest intel.

The intel was a treatment plan for a lung cancer patient.

The patient described in the intel was Ai Shengbing, male, 23 years old. For three months, he had experienced chest tightness, shortness of breath, wheezing, and palpitations, with symptoms worsening over the past week.

Six months ago, he was diagnosed with lung cancer and underwent three months of Western chemotherapy.

His current symptoms included malignant pleural effusion and pericardial effusion. He was emaciated, standing at one meter seventy but weighing only a little over thirty kilograms. His face was pale, and Western medicine had given up on treatment. His attending physician had told the family to prepare for the worst.

"Only twenty-three years old..."

Li Xu sighed softly, his heart heavy.

Lung cancer was a catastrophe for anyone at any age, let alone for someone so young.

The treatment plan provided by the intel was a long-term one.

As for whether it would ultimately be effective,

the intel didn’t provide a definite answer.

After all, any changes that occurred while the patient was on the medication were uncertain.

It was possible that with the help of the medicine, the patient’s latent potential could be stimulated, and his body would gradually improve.

It was also possible his condition could take a sharp turn for the worse.

Normally, it was extremely difficult to completely cure late-stage lung cancer.

However, the patient was young, after all. His body’s ability to recover and his response to treatment might be better. Perhaps there was still a glimmer of hope.

...

In the morning, there weren’t many patients. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

Li Xu saw them as usual.

A little after ten o’clock, a woman walked in, pushing a young man who was little more than a skeleton in a wheelchair.

The young man’s face was ashen, his lips purple, and every breath was accompanied by a pained groan.

A catheter protruded from his chest, connected to a clear drainage bag containing a sloshing mixture of blood and fluid.

The woman’s face was weary, and her eyes were red and swollen, clear evidence of a long and painful ordeal.

"Are you Doctor Li Xu?"

the woman asked, her voice hoarse.

Li Xu nodded. "I am. And you are? What’s the patient’s situation?"

"My surname is Wang. This is my son, Ai Shengbing."

Wang Xiufang recounted his situation, her voice catching. "My son has lung cancer, and Western medicine has given up on him. It was Professor Dong Chen from Northern Hospital who recommended we come find you. He said your medical skills are brilliant and that you might have a way..."

Hearing the words "Professor Dong Chen recommended," Li Xu instantly understood Dong Chen’s intentions.

’This is clearly a ’kill with a borrowed knife’ scheme. He wants to palm this terminal patient off on me so that if I can’t cure him, he can use it as an opportunity to suppress me.’

Suddenly, Li Xu felt someone nudge him.

He turned his head and saw Song Sisi beside him, secretly trying to catch his eye.

Li Xu knew Song Sisi was worried he would get into trouble.

But now that he had the intel, he couldn’t just stand by and watch a young life wither away.

He walked over to Ai Shengbing and carefully observed his condition.

Ai Shengbing was emaciated, his spirit listless, his gaze unfocused.

The catheter in his chest was still slowly draining the mixture of blood and fluid—what Western medicine calls a pleural effusion. Wang Xiufang had to drain this fluid for him every day.

Li Xu took Ai Shengbing’s pulse. It was deep, thin, and weak.

He gently parted Ai Shengbing’s lips to observe his tongue.

The tongue was pale with a white, watery, and slippery coating—paler even than a normal light-red tongue. This indicated severe blood loss, leading to a deficiency of both qi and blood.

The white, slippery coating also proved there was a large amount of phlegm-fluid in his body.