What to do? Lin Yao didn't know what to do. Should he just let the grass's tendrils absorb the medicinal energy? There was a continuous flow of medicinal energy in such a small spot. How long would it take to absorb all this in such a large area? Should he spend the night here and guard it for days and nights to let the grass eat its fill? Lin Yao was at a loss.
These Ganoderma lucidum mushrooms looked fresh and plump, unlike the shriveled, withered ones sold in pharmacies. Lin Yao reached out and stroked the slightly soft mushroom body, inhaling a fragrant, decaying wood scent—a scent he knew was unique to Ganoderma lucidum. The aroma was so pleasant that Lin Yao couldn't help but squat down, bending closer to try and smell it more clearly.
The grass's tendrils stretched further, absorbing a much higher concentration of medicinal vapor—dozens of times greater than when Lin Yao was standing. Could it be because the grass's tendrils were exposed to the air? Lin Yao wondered, then immediately realized the reason. That was it! The grass had previously refused to leave his body because exposing its tendrils to the air would harm it. He hadn't considered this when approaching the mixed forest, but now he understood that the medicinal vapor from the Ganoderma lucidum spores in the air was causing the grass's tendrils to recklessly expose themselves. The spores produced by this ancient Ganoderma lucidum must be extraordinary for the grass to behave this way.
Thinking of this reason, Lin Yao quickly put it into action. He knelt down, lay on the ground, and slowly brought his mouth close to the Ganoderma lucidum fungus until it was pressed against the grayish-white, soft fungus.
The tiny, seed-like plant suddenly leaped onto Lin Yao's chest, then began to vibrate violently. Lin Yao felt the tendrils of the plant extend even further, enveloping an area of over ten square meters along the Ganoderma lucidum's mycelium. The tendrils also changed, constantly branching and extending, as if a main root had sprouted countless branches and tendrils, completely covering the Ganoderma lucidum and absorbing its medicinal properties.
Lin Yao lay motionless on the ground, his mouth tightly gripping a protruding piece of fungus. He was so exhausted that he didn't even want to move a little finger. He quietly felt the medicinal energy rushing into his mouth like a high-pressure water jet. After the medicinal energy reached the seeds of the grass, it was completely absorbed without any leakage, not even the neutral medicinal energy that the grass used to release.
Time slowly passed, and Lin Yao's phone rang. But he couldn't speak at the moment. He fumbled to hang up, sent a text message saying "I'm fine, don't bother me," and then put the phone on the ground to continue focusing on sensing the condition of the grass.
After an unknown amount of time, the medicinal vapor contained in the fungus on the surface of the ground gradually decreased. Lin Yao felt the tentacles begin to extend along the fungus into the depths of the ground. The absorption of the medicinal vapor became faster and faster, and the concentration also became higher and higher. It was not until Lin Yao felt that the tentacles had extended to a depth of more than 20 meters underground that they stopped extending. It seemed that this was the deepest part of the fungus.
The light in the forest grew dimmer and dimmer until Lin Yao could only make out a grayish hue of the Ganoderma lucidum before him. Only then did the little grass stop absorbing the medicinal energy, and all its tendrils instantly returned to Lin Yao's body, shrinking back into the seed. The seed's vibrations continued unabated, growing increasingly intense, even making Lin Yao worry that they might shatter his sternum and heart. However, this worry was unfounded, as the little grass seemed to be located in a separate space within his chest, unrelated to his heart and internal organs.
With a snap, Lin Yao seemed to hear a sound from his chest. The seed of the grass suddenly stopped vibrating and floated there quietly. Upon closer inspection, Lin Yao discovered that the seed's outer shell was full of cracks, one of which was very deep and went straight into the seed.
Is it about to sprout? With a wave of doubt, the phone rang again. Lin Yao glanced at the time; it was already four in the afternoon. He had no choice but to get up, brush the moisture off his chest and the mud off the ground, and retrace his steps. As he left, Lin Yao didn't notice that the Ganoderma lucidum fungus behind him had changed color, from grayish-white to earthy yellow, and quickly sank, merging into the humus like soil, leaving no trace of the fungus.
As Lin Yao emerged from the mixed forest, he felt the bright sunlight outside and was in a good mood. The grass had eaten its fill, and he was exhausted, but it was all worth it.
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Thank you to "Don't Kill Me", "Mud Pit", "Fat Liang", "I'm a Little Snake", "Angry Monkey", and "k Cabinet" for their generous donations!
Thank you "Don't Kill Me" for the 3K votes to urge me to update! This is a gift from you, thank you!
I wasn't in a good writing mood today. I had originally written a folk remedy for stomach ailments, which I've used a few times myself, and my family members have used as well. It's very effective for stomach problems, even curing them completely. But after finishing writing it, I suddenly remembered that cycad fruit is poisonous. After checking online, I found cases of poisoning from cycad fruit, and I was worried that people might not be able to control the dosage and would have problems using my remedy, so I deleted it. As a result, I had to change the plot, which made me lose my writing ability, so today's content is not very good. Please forgive me!
I won't be able to get the 7 votes and 9,000 requests for more updates from yesterday, sorry!
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Chapter 105 Unreasonable Demands
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Creating a path was difficult, but returning home along the existing route was equally challenging. It took Lin Yao a full hour to return to the stone steps he had started from, thanks in large part to the dense vegetation that made the path quite conspicuous, allowing him to avoid having to forge a new one and saving him a considerable amount of time.
When Lin Yao returned to the front gate of Qingcheng Mountain, his uncle Lin Hongqi and his group had been waiting for almost two hours. Nannan was asleep in Alina's arms, while Xiao Guli was forcing himself to stay awake and snuggled up to Ge Yong, waiting for Lin Yao's arrival.
"Yao'er, what's wrong? Are you alright?" Lin Hongqi saw Lin Yao's miserable state, like a beggar, and hurriedly went forward to check on his body. Although he already knew that Lin Yao's body had recovered, his long-standing habit still made him very nervous.
"It's nothing, Uncle. I just got scratched by some bushes. It's nothing serious." Lin Yao grinned, giving everyone a reassuring smile. However, the filth on his face and the ripped clothes made him look even more pitiful.
"Daddy, Daddy!" Little Guli cried out and rushed into Lin Yao's arms. Then, he frowned and looked at his face, reaching out his little hand to gently touch the scratches on his face, looking distressed. "Daddy, does it hurt a lot?"
"Dad, it doesn't hurt. It's just some superficial wounds, it's nothing serious." Seeing that everyone's expressions were the same, Lin Yao guessed that he looked pretty miserable, so he quickly explained, "It's really nothing serious. I suddenly remembered that we were missing a few herbs at home, and luckily there are some in Qingcheng Mountain, so I went to look for them."
Seeing that Lin Yao was indeed alright, Lin Hongqi immediately waved his hand and said, "Get in the car and hurry home for dinner."
Little Guli fell asleep in Lin Yao's arms before even getting on the bus; the day's journey had left him exhausted. Ruan Lingling, the last to board, secretly wiped away her tears with her sleeve, secretly relieved that Lin Yao hadn't met with any serious trouble, and also relieved that no one had noticed her tears.
Back in Chengdu, before even having dinner, Lin Hongqi gathered Luo Jimin and Lin Hongmei, whom he had specially summoned, in Lin Yao's bedroom to discuss important matters.
Lin Hongqi received a call from the military headquarters in the afternoon. The leader was very dissatisfied with the progress of the matter. He had been traveling for the past few days, and every time the matter was brought up, Lin Yao had made excuses by saying that he had not thought it through. This time, he simply invited his sister and brother-in-law over and directly confronted Lin Yao, demanding an answer from him.
"Uncle, tell us what your military department thinks first. Let's get straight to the point and settle the terms quickly. We haven't had dinner yet, and the little guy is hungry." Lin Yao knew he couldn't delay any longer, and his reunion with Lin Hongqi was coming to an end, so he spoke directly. Little Guli wouldn't go to eat if he couldn't see his father, and he didn't have time to delay any longer.
“Here’s the thing, Jimin, you’re all here, we’re all family, so I won’t make any empty promises.” Lin Hongqi looked a little embarrassed, frowned and pondered for a while before continuing, “The military’s idea is to let me take the prescription back first, verify its feasibility, then determine its value, and then we can discuss a reasonable transfer price.”
"So you don't believe our family will hand over the real formula to the state?" Luo Jimin's voice was loud, and his expression was somewhat angry. As a former soldier, being doubted like this made him extremely uncomfortable.
“Jimin, it’s not like that, listen to me.” Lin Hongqi quickly waved his hand and hurriedly explained, “To be honest, we have a clear understanding of all the raw materials you purchased, and we even know the proportion of each ingredient.”
Luo Jimin and Lin Yao exchanged a glance, realizing that Xinglin Pharmaceutical Factory's production was being monitored, and that the government had sampled and analyzed the components of the pulverized raw materials. Neither father nor son showed surprise; this was commonplace, and many pharmaceutical groups and organizations likely had also obtained such medicinal formulas.
"The pharmacology and pharmacology experts convened by the military analyzed this formula and also tried it out, and found that it could not be replicated," Lin Hongqi continued. "They determined that the most crucial step is microbial cultivation. Only the original liquid synthesized after these medicinal materials are decomposed by microorganisms has real efficacy; otherwise, the formula can only produce medicinal components that are toxic to the human body."
“Uncle, you’re right, but that’s not a reason for our family to give you the formula first.” Lin Yao’s tone was very formal, no longer speaking to an elder.
“I know.” Lin Hongqi glanced at Lin Yao, still frowning. “The experts’ opinion is that we need to see the microbial strains first to determine if you really have the ability to use this formula to manufacture the medicine. What they obtained was a sample of the medicine mixed in the cultivation tank. The composition was too complex, and they said they couldn’t extract the microbial strains.”
Lin Yao sneered inwardly. How could those experts come up with such an excuse? Treating their own family like laymen to fool them. If they didn't have the ability, how could they produce so many medicines? They really just wanted their family's formula for free.
"Brother, just tell me straight, what exactly happened?" Luo Jimin was an expert, and these excuses wouldn't fool him. "Are you trying to avoid paying?"
“Jimin, that shouldn’t be the case.” Lin Hongqi glanced at Luo Jimin, lowered his head slightly, and sighed. Even he himself felt that his words were not convincing.
Lin Hongqi was born into a family of doctors. Although he did not practice medicine, he still had these basic common sense. At this moment, he also felt that the military's excuse was not convincing. "The military experts explained it this way: a few years ago, they bought a prescription from the people. In the end, because the conditions required for its implementation were too harsh, the prescription had almost no application value. So this time, they asked to obtain the strain in advance and only paid the transfer fee after the experiment was successful."
Luo Jimin was well aware that the colonies in the culture pool could not reproduce normally and that special catalytic enzymes had to be added, but the military should not be aware of these things. Lin Hongqi's request clearly exceeded the scope of normal technology transfer and was tantamount to extortion.
“This won’t do. Have those experts lost their minds? How could they say such unprofessional things?” Luo Jimin said seriously, without any change in tone just because the person standing in front of him was his brother-in-law. “If you want the prescription for free, just say so. If you can personally benefit from it, that’s fine too. But you can’t treat our family like fools. This kind of operation is absolutely unacceptable.”
“Brother, where did this expert come from? How could he say such unprofessional things?” Lin Hongmei couldn’t help but speak up. She didn’t mean to embarrass her brother, but this kind of talk was just too absurd. “If you have the strain, do you still need to send someone to Chengdu? You have the medicinal formula and the strain that can be cultivated, so you can start production directly. Why would you need to send someone here on official business?”
“Hongmei, sigh…” Lin Hongqi glanced at Lin Hongmei, but didn’t say anything in the end. He just sighed and shook his head without saying a word.
"Uncle, I won't say anything bad about your commander. I guess you're in a hurry to go back and report, so we won't keep you. How about we book your plane ticket for tomorrow or the day after?" Lin Yao found it amusing. He originally wanted his uncle to go back with some credit, but now that he saw that the other party had no sincerity, he was afraid that they couldn't reach an agreement. He figured he might as well let him go back to Shenyang empty-handed. He thought it wouldn't affect him much. This request was really unreasonable.
"Tomorrow then." Lin Hongqi's voice sounded a little listless. "I won't fly to Shenyang. I'll fly directly to Beijing. This time, the 27th Army of the Beijing Military Region is jointly developing this project with our 39th Army. The expert team is all in Beijing. I need to go there first to report on the mission."
"Beijing?" Lin Yao was suddenly taken aback, vaguely sensing that something was wrong. "Uncle, didn't you say that your army commander ordered you to come this time? And that your 39th Army wanted to develop the product itself? How did it get involved with the Beijing Military Region?"