“500,000! If Tianyitang wants to buy out the entire formula, it will cost 1.5 million!” Liu Benli said softly, bowing his head.
"Didn't you already agree on a price of one million? How come you're raising the price again now that everyone else has agreed?" Tang Yu said unhappily.
"It's one thing to use this trivial skill to flaunt your wealth and status, but it's not some peerless secret formula. Tianyi Hall can do whatever it wants, and it's already good enough if other places can buy it for two or three hundred thousand. This ability to manipulate prices is even more potent than your medicine!" Lin Fengyi said disdainfully. Then he and Wu Qiguang shook their heads and turned away.
Song Hao smiled, then said to Liu Benli, "Alright, I need to see the final effects on these patients and whether your medicine has any side effects. Wait three more days, and I'll give you an answer in three days. And all your food and lodging during these days will be covered by Tianyitang." With that, he turned and left.
As a result, everyone left, leaving Liu Benli standing there in the cold. He muttered to himself, "My medicine is the best in the world. Since you all recognize its value and have taken a liking to it, you must buy it. At this price, only your Tianyi Hall can afford it. I'm only selling it because I've seized the right opportunity."
Tang Yu and Song Hao returned to the office, and Tang Yu said angrily, "This person is too greedy! One million is already an exorbitant price that is far beyond what it is worth. Tianyitang is not desperate for this medicine. Let him go. I don't want to see Tianyitang being ripped off by this kind of person."
"I find this guy quite interesting!" Song Hao laughed. "He's very good at seizing opportunities! It's just his get-rich-quick mentality, so don't blame him too much. After all, he has this secret formula, and how high a price he can sell it for is his skill. Let's see the final effect of this medicine in the next day or two. I'd be happy to make him a millionaire!"
Tang Yu said, "This medicine is quite irritating to the skin. Even if we buy his secret formula and prepare it, it can only be used at Tianyitang. We must carefully control the degree of adverse reaction when applying the medicine. Therefore, it cannot be produced and sold for the time being. So, it will not be very profitable for Tianyitang."
Song Hao said, "Since it's a good medicine, there's no harm in buying it. We can keep the medicine but not the person."
That evening, Song Hao for some reason remembered the book "Extraordinary Prescriptions and Verified Formulas," so he took the original out of the safe and looked through it. He had made a copy before and sent it to Song Zihe, Lin Fengyi, and others for research, which resulted in the contribution of more than ten good prescriptions to Tianyitang Pharmaceutical.
This book lists almost every disease imaginable. Song Hao found the "Stroke" section, which also recorded some remedies for treating facial paralysis. One of the remedies involved peeling and mashing castor seeds and applying the paste to the affected side; it was very effective for short-term facial paralysis. This was originally a Song family remedy, already in use at Tianyitang.
"Kouyan Fuzheng San! Huh! There's actually a formula with the same name here!" Song Hao saw these seven words on the last page of a book.
Upon closer inspection, a thought struck me. This prescription uses croton as the main ingredient, along with several other potent Chinese herbs such as aconite and aconitum carmichaelii.
"Liu Benli's Mouth and Eye Tonifying Powder is extremely potent. Judging from its skin irritation, it must contain very hot herbs. Could these two be from the same formula? Otherwise, how could the names be so coincidentally the same! If they are from the same formula, it means that Ding Fengjie encountered Liu Benli when he traveled the world as a doctor. Either he obtained the secret formula from Liu Benli, or he gave the secret formula to Liu Benli. Yes, I'll prepare a batch first, and then I can see if they are from the same formula. After clinical verification, if the two formulas have the same effect, wouldn't that save Tianyi Hall 1.5 million?" Thinking of this, Song Hao was overjoyed and quickly copied it down.
Then Song Hao called Qiu Wei and asked him to come over. Qiu Wei had been staying at Tianyitang for the past few days and hadn't returned to Baicaoyuan.
Not long after, Qiu Chuan came over, "Master, you wanted to see me."
Song Hao handed him the prescription for "Mouth and Eye Strengthening Powder" and said, "Go back to the Hundred Herbs Garden right now and prepare a few pounds of medicine for me according to this prescription. Remember, you must strictly follow the processing method to remove the irritating effects of some of the ingredients on the human body, otherwise it will harm people. Also, this prescription can only be known to you and your sister, so do not reveal it for now."
"The prescription for mouth and eyes is correct!" Qiu Wei looked at the prescription in his hand and asked in surprise, "Master, you bought that person's secret prescription?"
"No, it's a prescription from our Tianyi Hall that I just discovered. I wanted to verify if it's the same prescription as Liu Benli's," Song Hao said.
“If it’s the same prescription, that would be wonderful! That guy sat in the clinic all day bragging that his secret formula had impressed Tianyitang, and that Tianyitang would definitely offer a high price to buy it. How annoying! Baicaoyuan has all these herbs, but we’ll choose the best quality ones, and my sister and I will prepare them ourselves. Don’t worry, Master, I’ll send them over tomorrow morning,” Qiu Wei said.
"The sooner the better!" Song Hao said happily, "If the two prescriptions are the same, Tianyitang will save 1.5 million. Otherwise, I plan to buy the secret prescription from Liu Benli. The medicine is indeed very effective."
"I'm going back to the Hundred Herbs Garden to prepare the medicine right now. Hehe! If it really is the same prescription, that person will be dumbfounded! He'll have boasted all day for nothing! Today, Master was going to buy it for a million, but he raised the price himself. Hehe! Tomorrow he'll definitely regret it to the core!" Qiu Wei laughed and turned to leave.
Song Hao then called Luo Feiying again, but Luo Feiying's phone was still switched off.
Song Hao frowned and said, "Yingying, why aren't you on the phone? How can we help you if we can't reach you? What exactly happened to the Luo family?"
With a feeling of worry and unease, Song Hao went to sleep.
Chapter Twenty-Five: Mouth and Eye Correction Powder 3
Those who speak well of Heaven will find their words resonating with humanity; those who speak well of the past will find their words verified in the present; those who speak well of Qi (vital energy) will find their words manifesting in all things; those who speak well of responsiveness will align themselves with the transformations of Heaven and Earth; those who speak well of transformation and change will understand the principles of the divine. — *The Great Treatise on the Transformation of Qi* (Neijing)
_________________
The next morning, Song Hao stood by the window, drew back the curtains, and let in a soft ray of sunlight. Song Hao's room was on the top floor of the Tianyitang building, which was also the tallest building in Baihe Town. Looking out the window, he had an unobstructed view of the scenery ahead. In the distance, the Baihe River flowed like a white ribbon, and the Baihe Bridge arched like a flying rainbow.
At this moment, Song Hao saw a car slowly drive into the gate of Tianyi Hall. After it stopped, Qiu Wei got out of the car, carrying a bag, and walked into Tianyi Hall excitedly.
"That's fast! The Mouth and Eye Tonifying Powder must be ready!" Song Hao smiled.
"Master!" Qiu Wei saw Song Hao, placed a packet of medicine on the table, and said excitedly, "I've been busy most of the night and finally finished preparing it. My sister said that she has specially processed several highly toxic medicines, which has basically removed the toxicity. It won't harm people even if applied to the skin for several hours." As he spoke, he opened the packet of medicine.
When Song Hao stepped forward to take a look, he was delighted to find that the color of this packet of Mouth and Eye Tonifying Powder was almost identical to Liu Benli's medicine sample, and it even smelled the same. He tasted a little and experienced the same numbing sensation on his tongue.
"It should be the same prescription!" Song Hao said with delight. "Take some first and have all the patients with facial paralysis in the clinic today try it. If it has the same effect as Liu Benli's medicine, it must be the same prescription."
It was time for Tianyitang to open for business. Tang Yu first went to Song Hao's office and said admiringly, "The feedback from below has come in. The symptoms of the thirteen patients who received the medicine from Liu Benli yesterday have basically healed by this morning. Only one patient is not yet fully recovered, but he has recovered a lot. The reason is that this person has suffered from this disease for half a year, and old ailments are difficult to cure in a short time. The medicine is truly miraculous, taking effect within 24 hours, which is really beyond people's expectations. It seems that Liu Benli has secured this deal with Tianyitang." Faced with the miraculous effect, Tang Yu also acknowledged the medicine's effectiveness.
"Hehe! Not necessarily!" Song Hao laughed. "I also found a prescription with the same name in 'Examination of Miraculous Prescriptions'. I prepared it in the Hundred Herbs Garden last night. Let's try it today. If it is the same prescription, we won't need to spend a huge sum of money to buy it."
"It can't be such a coincidence that it's the same prescription, can it?" Tang Yu asked in surprise.
“This is a sample of the medicine. It looks and smells almost identical to Liu Benli’s Fuzheng Powder,” Song Hao said, pushing the packet of Fuzheng Powder in front of Tang Yu.
Upon seeing this, Tang Yu exclaimed with delight, "It's almost the same! You made so much!"
Song Hao said, "Isn't there still a patient who hasn't fully recovered? We'll switch to our Mouth and Eye Strengthening Powder. Also, this batch of samples was prepared by Qiu Ru and Qiu Wei, the siblings, and they've improved it. They've reduced the skin irritation of several of the most toxic ingredients in the original formula, so it's safe to apply for several hours without any problems. It also increases the duration of treatment and the therapeutic effect. We'll be able to find out if it's the same formula today. I'll wait for news tonight."
Tang Yu said happily, "Great! I'll oversee the clinical trial. We should be able to see results in a day. If it can achieve the same effect as Liu Benli's drug, that would be fantastic!"
Song Hao laughed and said, "I hope so! We should treat Liu Benli to good food and drink. In any case, it was this man who made me discover that there was a formula for Mouth and Eye Tonifying Powder in 'Miraculous Prescriptions' ahead of time. Even if it is the same prescription, we should still be grateful to him even if we don't buy his secret formula. Also, the potential of this 'Miraculous Prescriptions' is really too great, and we should seize the time to explore it."
It was three o'clock in the afternoon. Tang Yu arrived at Song Hao's office with a beaming smile.
"A resounding success! Both prescriptions are 100% from the same formula!" Tang Yu laughed. "Furthermore, our formulated 'Fuzheng San' has eliminated skin irritation, allowing for application for several hours, greatly enhancing its therapeutic effect. Today, we treated fifteen patients with facial paralysis, and all of them are now cured. The results are almost unbelievable; their mouths and eyes, which had deviated from their proper position, are gradually returning to normal. If the medicine hadn't been removed in time, they might have been pulled too far and become crooked to the other side. This has caused quite a stir in the clinic; even Grandpa and Teacher Lin have come to see it. I explained the reason, which made the old men exclaim in dismay that they hadn't discovered the readily available miraculous formula in time and almost had to spend a lot of money to buy it from someone else. During the treatment of the last two patients, I deliberately invited Liu Benli to come and see. He was incredibly surprised and restless. He was suspicious but not sure if it was his medicine. I took more than a pound of it! His medicine, on the other hand, was like a treasure; he only took out a tiny bit when he tried it yesterday."
"That's wonderful!" Song Hao said happily, "We've discovered this miraculous medicine by accident! Now it's time to confront Liu Benli, otherwise he'll be in a lot of trouble. Go and call him here, I still have some questions for him."
“Mr. Song…Mr. Song!” Liu Benli sat down in front of Song Hao with a dejected look on his face.
"Where...where did you get your medicine? It looks the same as mine. Did you secretly keep a sample yesterday and analyze the ingredients? But without knowing the proportions and processing methods, and altering the toxicity of some of the ingredients, you can't make it like this. Also, your medicine can be applied to the face for several hours, which is even better than mine!" Liu Benli looked completely bewildered.
Song Hao laughed and said, "Just as Mr. Liu said, even if we analyze the ingredients of your medicine sample, we still can't reconstitute the real Kouyan Fuzheng San. This is the difference between traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine. Western medicine can be successfully replicated once the ingredients are analyzed, but traditional Chinese medicine is different. There is a special processing method involved, which naturally changes the medicinal properties. This is impossible to imitate. Moreover, Tianyitang doesn't have the time or advanced equipment to analyze your medicine overnight."
"So what kind of medicine did you use today...?" Liu Benli asked in astonishment.
"Kouyan Fuzheng Powder!" Song Hao said, "The real Kouyan Fuzheng Powder uses croton as the main ingredient. It should be the secret formula you have. This was originally a secret formula of our Tianyi Hall, but we didn't notice it before. Your arrival has made us discover its amazing effects and practical value. We should thank you."