"I want one hundred," Li Xu said. "I can’t take them live, so please have them slaughtered for me. I mainly need the Chicken Gallbladders. I can’t eat all that meat."

"One hundred? No problem!"

Zhang Youde readily agreed. "We’ll process the Chicken Gallbladders for you. As for the meat..."

He paused for a moment. "How about this? We can process it for you and deliver it to an address of your choice."

Li Xu thought about it. There was no way he could eat so much chicken by himself.

He suddenly thought of Song Sisi.

Song Sisi had a large family back in her hometown.

And with the holidays coming up, it was the perfect opportunity to send some to her family.

"That’s alright. I have a friend; just deliver the chicken to her place."

With that, Li Xu gave Song Sisi’s address to Zhang Youde.

"No problem, I’ll make sure everything is arranged perfectly for you!" Zhang Youde promised readily.

Afterward, Li Xu called Song Sisi.

He told her that the meat from one hundred chickens was being delivered to her family’s home.

At first, Song Sisi thought Li Xu was joking.

After confirming it several times,

she stammered, "Uh... just sending chicken... that’s not customary where I’m from. Maybe... you could also buy some liquor..."

Uh...

Li Xu immediately realized Song Sisi had misunderstood.

He explained, "I needed the Chicken Gallbladders, but I can’t eat all the meat, so I’m sending it to your parents for them to share... However, if you’re in such a hurry, we can buy some better meat, milk, liquor, and other gifts to send over during the holidays."

"You’re the one who’s in a hurry."

Mortified, Song Sisi immediately hung up the phone.

When Li Xu returned to the clinic,

she had already requested time off and ’fled’ the clinic.

Li Xu laughed.

’I didn’t expect Song Sisi to be so thin-skinned.’

Li Xu got the Chicken Gallbladders and examined them closely.

These Chicken Gallbladders were golden-yellow and tough in texture. They were indeed a bit better than what was commonly available on the market.

However, for some reason, he felt like something was missing.

When his father was still around, he had also personally slaughtered chickens and removed their Chicken Gallbladders.

He felt that those had been more potent, and their color had been deeper.

Still,

Li Xu didn’t dwell on it. After all, finding Chicken Gallbladders of this quality in the city was already quite good.

He carefully processed the Chicken Gallbladders, preparing them for Ai Shengbing’s next stage of treatment.

The next morning, Li Xu opened his intelligence system to check the day’s intel.

[Today’s Intel: Yude Free-range Chicken only has a few hundred genuine free-range chickens on the surface. The rest are purchased from other farmers, passed off as free-range, and temporarily placed on the mountain for customers to see before being caught and sold... The registered trademark for the chicken is actually ’Yude Tu’, not ’Yude Free-range Chicken’...]

Li Xu froze the moment he saw this piece of intel.

"Yude Free-range Chicken"... "Yude Tu"... He mulled over the two names, unsure whether to laugh or cry.

’Isn’t this the same kind of wordplay as the "Qianhe 0" scam?’

He finally understood why the grass at the chicken farm was still so lush.

So those so-called "free-range chickens" weren’t raised on the mountain for long periods at all.

They were just temporarily moved to the mountain,

paraded in front of customers,

and then caught and slaughtered.

’It’s a ’rooster’ scam!’

Li Xu felt a headache coming on.

These days, it was already impossible to guard against scams like the Yangcheng Lake "dipped crabs" or the Chagan Lake "dipped fish."

He never imagined free-range chickens would have this kind of "rooster" routine.

The Chicken Gallbladders in his hand were clearly just from ordinary broiler chickens; they wouldn’t have the medicinal potency he required at all.

The intel offered no more clues, so he would have to find genuine free-range Chicken Gallbladders himself.

Li Xu wracked his brain.

Then he thought of Wang the Third from Wangjia Gou.

Wang the Third was a genuine villager whose family had been farmers for generations. He would definitely know the local free-range chicken situation like the back of his hand.

He picked up his phone and first dialed Ding Kaifang’s number.

"President Ding, I need to tell you something. Have Feng City Restaurant stop ordering ’Yude Free-range Chicken.’ They aren’t real free-range chickens at all; they’re fakes."

Ding Kaifang was shocked. "What? Fakes? Doctor Li, are you sure? They have a registered trademark."

"I’m sure."

Li Xu explained briefly, "Their trademark is ’Yude Tu,’ not ’Yude Free-range Chicken.’ They’re running a ’rooster’ scam. On the surface, they look like free-range chickens, but they’re actually fifty- or sixty-day-old broiler chickens bought from elsewhere and temporarily put on the mountain to pass them off as genuine."

"Holy shit!"

Ding Kaifang was stunned. "I’ve even had dinner with Wang Youde! He swore on his life back then. I can’t believe that bastard scammed me too. I’ll tell Feng City Restaurant right now to terminate their contract and hold them accountable."

"Alright, I’ll leave this to you."

Li Xu hung up and called Wang the Third.

"Uncle Wang, what have you been up to lately?"

Li Xu asked.

"Doctor Li, it’s you! The weather’s gotten cold, so I haven’t been busy. Just resting at home," came Wang the Third’s honest-sounding voice.

Li Xu got straight to the point. "Uncle Wang, I’d like to ask you for a favor."

"What is it? Just say the word. If I can help, I absolutely will."

Wang the Third promised, patting his chest.

"I’m looking for a batch of real free-range chickens. The kind raised in the countryside, with a long growth cycle, preferably homegrown," Li Xu said. "I need their Chicken Gallbladders for medicine."

"Hah, that’s nothing."

Wang the Third’s face lit up. "Doctor Li, you’ve come to the right person. Not many people raise chickens anymore. In a village of several hundred households, only a few families do. It’s hard for an outsider to find them, but who am I? Everyone in the surrounding villages knows me. Don’t worry, I’ll go ask around for you today. I guarantee I’ll find some to buy."

"That’s great. Thank you, Uncle Wang."

Li Xu was overjoyed.

Wang the Third continued, "Homegrown free-range chickens from the village have firm meat, and the flavor is just incredible. I even have a few at home myself. How many do you need?"

"A hundred, preferably."

Li Xu said.

"No problem."

Wang the Third hung up the phone and, without another word, drove his three-wheeled vehicle out to "hunt for chickens" in Wangjia Gou and the surrounding villages.

He went door-to-door, asking who had free-range chickens.

However, the situation was more difficult than he had imagined.

Although some families did raise free-range chickens,

everyone was better off financially now.

The villagers treasured the real free-range chickens, especially the older, sturdier hens that had been raised for a long time. They were mostly kept for their own meals or as gifts for the holidays.

They weren’t interested in the little bit of money they’d get from selling them.

"Old Third, why are you suddenly buying chickens? This one’s my egg-laying hen. She’s not for sale!"

"This black-feathered one is for my kid when he comes back for the New Year. I wouldn’t sell it for any amount of money!"

"Free-range chicken meat is fragrant, and the soup is nourishing. I can’t bear to sell mine."

Having been turned away at every door, Wang the Third could only call Li Xu.

"Doctor Li, this is going to be tough!"

Wang the Third’s voice was filled with helplessness. "I’ve been running around all day and only found about twenty-something chickens, but people just won’t sell. They’re all keeping them for themselves."