This Doctor Is Too Wealthy

On the Office Desk, a row of Medicine Ingredients was laid out. Du Heng pointed to these Medicine Ingredients and said, "Take a look, these are the medicines."

The Pharmacy Doctor walked closer, lowered his head to examine them one by one, occasionally picking up a piece or two, pinching them, and smelling them.

"Dean, the processing method for this scutellaria baicalensis is incorrect. These scutellaria baicalensis haven't been thoroughly steamed, nor are they naturally air-dried; they've been dried with sulfur," the Pharmacy Doctor said somberly, sharing his findings.

Sulfur can be used to fumigate Medicine Ingredients, but there are specific requirements. Not every herbal material is suitable for sulfur fumigation.

"And this fructus aurantii, it has also been fumigated with sulfur." He took a small bite, tasted it briefly, and then spat it out. "The sour taste is too strong; its medicinal properties have been damaged."

The prescription written by Wu Buwei had a total of seven Medicine Ingredients, and now two had issues.

However, judging by the Pharmacy Doctor's actions, he showed no intention of stopping.

"Also, this radix inulae is a bit damp."

As soon as the Pharmacy Doctor finished, Du Heng immediately said, "Wait, did you say this is radix inulae? Not sojutsu var?"

"It's radix inulae. I wouldn't mistake this. But radix inulae is also a Medicine Ingredient for diarrhea, isn't it? What's wrong?"

"Because the prescription doesn't call for radix inulae; it calls for sojutsu var."

The Pharmacy Doctor looked down at the Medicine Ingredients on the table. "There's no sojutsu var here."

Du Heng took a deep breath. "Continue looking."

"The others, like rhubarbs and hawthorn, have no major problems, but they might have been stored improperly and are a bit damp."

"Alright, thank you for your help. You can head off now."

Instead of hurrying to leave, the Pharmacy Doctor paused and said, "Seeing these Medicine Ingredients reminds me of something. Since last month, the amount of medicine village doctors have been purchasing from our Health Clinic has decreased significantly. It's reached the point that, aside from liquids, purchases of all other medicines have virtually stopped. Also, a representative from a company selling Traditional Chinese medicinal materials has been calling me every day recently. Their quoted prices are indeed two points lower than market prices, so I was somewhat tempted and made contact. However, after examining their Medicine Ingredients, I found they are similar to the ones we have today. Most of the processing methods for their Medicine Ingredients are incorrect. While this doesn't affect their usability, it greatly reduces their efficacy, so I stopped contacting them.

"Seeing these two Medicine Ingredients just now, they look very similar to what I encountered before. Considering the recent volume of medicine purchased by the village clinics, I have a guess. Dean, do you think they could have directly contacted the village doctors?"

Being reminded of this, Du Heng thought it was indeed possible, so he asked the Pharmacy Doctor, "When village doctors purchase medicine, is it mandatory for them to get it from the Health Clinic?"

This was something Du Heng wasn't very familiar with, so he needed to ask for clarification.

The Pharmacy Doctor shook his head. "There's no such requirement. It's just that individual village doctors purchase small amounts of medicine, so their unit price is slightly higher. That's why some commonly used medicines are purchased by the Health Clinic in bulk, and then we distribute them to each village doctor. This reduces costs significantly and allows for a relatively lower final sale price."

Du Heng thought for a moment. "Alright, I understand."

Seeing that Du Heng didn't want to discuss the issue further, the Pharmacy Doctor turned and left for home.

Watching the Pharmacy Doctor leave, Du Heng sat in his chair, looking at the patient on the treatment bed, lost in thought.

It wasn't that he didn't want to discuss the topic. The main reason was that there was still a patient and three young men present. If they talked too much, who knew what they might say when they left.

However, the information from the Pharmacy Doctor, along with the Medicine Ingredients on the table, indicated that this issue wasn't simple. If not handled carefully, it could lead to some rather negative consequences.

The young man in the lead saw that his companion hadn't needed the toilet for quite some time, and noticing Du Heng was looking down, lost in thought, he took the initiative to ask, "Doctor, can we go back now?"

Du Heng was startled from his thoughts, checked the patient's condition, and said, "Wait another hour, then drink the medicine again to consolidate the effect."

The young men exchanged glances, then obediently waited to the side, chatting to pass the time.

Once again, Du Heng fell deep in thought, contemplating how to resolve the issue.

When Wang Shuqiu entered, he was still deep in thought.

"Hey, what are you thinking about?" Wang Shuqiu tapped lightly on the table.

Du Heng looked up at Wang Shuqiu, a smile appearing on his face. "Off work?"

"Of course, I came to get you. Let's go home."

"Wait a moment, there's still a patient here."

Wang Shuqiu glanced at the group of people chatting by the door and smirked. "How much longer? If it's going to be a while, I'll wait in your Dormitory."

Du Heng checked the time. "About twenty minutes. Once he drinks the medicine and is feeling alright, he can go."

"Alright, then I'll wait for you in the car."

"Okay."

Du Heng accompanied Wang Shuqiu out, then went to prepare the patient's Decoction medicine.

Unexpectedly, when he arrived at the decoction room, he saw Wu Buwei sitting by the entrance with a book. Inside the decoction room, the pot was bubbling, steam rising from it.

Du Heng hadn't seen Wu Buwei for a while and thought he had gone home after work. He didn't expect the young man to be so diligent, squatting there reading.

"Why aren't you reading in the office? What brings you here to read?"

Wu Buwei heard the voice, put away his book, and stood up. "Senior Brother." He scratched his head. "The patients and their families were chatting in the office, and I saw you were thinking, so I came out. I figured I might as well decoct the medicine."

"Then you go ahead and read. I can watch over the decoction."

Wu Buwei, however, had lost interest in reading at that moment and asked with confusion, "Senior Brother, regarding this patient, why was there such a big difference with the same prescription before and after? Was it because you added acupuncture?"

Du Heng shook his head. "That's not it. My purpose for adding acupuncture was indeed to quickly stop the diarrhea and make the patient's Gastrointestinal system more comfortable. The Decoction medicine still played the key role. The main reason it wasn't effective before is that there were problems with the Medicine Ingredients they used."

Wu Buwei hadn't been present when the Pharmacy Doctor was speaking earlier, so he wasn't clear on the details. Hearing Du Heng now, he was full of questions.

"You saw that pile of Medicine Ingredients on my table, right?"

"Yes, what's wrong with them?"

"Some of the Medicine Ingredients' processing methods were problematic, and others had gotten damp, affecting their efficacy. Also, you prescribed sojutsu var, but the Medicine Ingredients provided were radix inulae. Although both treat diarrhea, radix inulae is much less effective than sojutsu var. Furthermore, switching to radix inulae made the original combination of Medicine Ingredients somewhat inappropriate."

Wu Buwei was also aware of the differences between the two kinds of Medicine Ingredients. He frowned and said, "Sojutsu var is priced at around 50 yuan for 500 grams, while radix inulae is much cheaper, around 10 yuan for 500 grams, and even cheaper ones go for 7-8 yuan. Could it be that the clinic that prescribed the medicine was trying to save money on this?"