Elixir Supplier

“What is this? It tastes so weird,” a villager said after taking a sip of the water grass soup.

“It’s herbal soup I guess,” another villager said.

“What herb?” a middle-aged villager asked.

“The herb from Dr. Wang. I heard it will stop the disease from spreading,” a young villager said.

The villagers started to get the water grass soup in the office of village production team. The village was not big. It only had a population of over 100 people. Hot air came out of a big pot, which contained water grass soup.

Some of the villagers didn’t need to take the soup. After they had been infected, the antibody was already in their bodies.

“Is this soup going to work?” a villager asked.

“Of course! Dr. Wang tested it on sheep. Those two dying sheep are now very much alive,” an elderly villager said.

“Really?” the other villager asked.

“Do you think I’m lying about it?” the elderly villager asked.

…

In Jia County

Dr. Long was having a meeting with the other doctors.

“We need to take the blood of some patients who have fully recovered. It will help our research on an antivirus serum,” he said.

“We can start from the patients in the hospital,” a doctor said.

Dr. Long had already started to take blood from fully recovered patients. He was just informing the other doctors in the meeting.

“Dr. Long, we really appreciate your help. The medication you provided really worked well on those patients,” another doctor said.

“You are welcome,” Dr. Long said with a smile.

The formula he used was actually from Wang Yao.

“Who is that young man? I didn’t expect he would be such an extraordinary doctor,” Chen Jingzhi’s assistant said. “Professor Chen, the formula provided by Dr. Long proved to be effective.”

“When did he provide the formula?” Chen Zhijing asked. He and his assistant were having a conversation in a temporary office arranged for them.

“After he had paid a visit to the village,” Chen Zhijing’s assistant said.

“Oh, I see.” Chen Jingzhi suddenly figured out what had happened.

Dr. Long didn’t provide any formula before his visit to the village. Chen Jingzhi believed the formula didn’t belong to him.

“Aye, some people are just shameless,” Chen Jingzhi said with a sigh.

“Are you talking about Dr. Long?” the assistant asked.

“Nothing. What happened to the water grass and leaves?” Chen Zhijing asked.

“I’ve asked people to grow the water grass. They are not hard to grow. They just need suitable temperature and nutrition. They actually grow quite fast. Dr. Wang is testing the effect of the water grass in the village. The outcome is satisfactory,” the assistant said.

“That’s good,” Chen Jingzhi said.

At last, they saw some hope.

“Professor Chen, how come someone could figure out the water grass and leaves can treat the disease?” the assistant asked.

“That person is very clever,” Chen Zhijing said.

“Clever? I see,” the assistant said.

…

In the village, hot air continued to come out of the big pot. However, the thing in the big pot had changed from water grass soup into yummy lamb, which smelled very nice.

“Sir, what are you cooking?” Wang Mingbao asked.

“Hi, you two have been working so hard lately. We don’t have much to thank you, but we wanted to cook something nice for you two,” the secretary said.

He really liked Wang Yao and Wang Mingbao, who had tried their very best to help the residents in the village and asked for nothing in return. Therefore, he butchered a lamb in the morning and threw the meat into the big pot.

“Sir, we plan to leave after two days,” Wang Yao said.

“How? The police force probably won’t allow you two to leave,” the secretary said.

“I’ll sort it out,” Wang Yao said.

“Okay, visit us when you have time,” the secretary said after he had a few mouthfuls of smoke.

He knew Wang Yao and Wang Mingbao didn’t belong to their village. The two young men had their own families and careers. They had been staying in the village long enough and contributed a lot to the village. He just couldn’t thank them enough.

“Come here, let me propose a toast to you two.” The secretary picked up a glass of wine.

“Thank you.” Wang Yao stood up immediately.

The secretary drank and talked a lot. Wang Yao just listened. He didn’t talk much.

After two days, the spread of the disease was controlled. The formula provided by Dr. Long was proved to be effective. Although it wouldn’t cure the patients, it stopped the patents becoming worse. A pharmaceutical company had contacted Dr. Long. The company offered him a high price to purchase the formula.

That Young man… Dr. Long was thinking about Wang Yao. I’m not sure if he has other formulas.

As a doctor, he knew how high the profit a new drug could bring. He knew how valuable the formula was. His assistant came as he was thinking.

“What? They are leaving? Who gave them permission!” As soon as Dr. Long heard the news, he became anxious.

“People holding high position in the government department,” his assistant said.

“What people? What department?” Dr. Long asked.

“People from the government department in the province,” his assistant said.

“Province? For him?” Dr. Long frowned.

He realized Wang Yao probably had a strong social network. If his guessing was true, things would become more complicated.

“Well, I heard that Professor Chen gave the permission,” his assistant said.

“Professor Chen?” Dr. Long was slightly relieved.

If it was truly Professor Chen who gave the permission, it wouldn’t be so bad. Although Professor Chen was sent from Beijing, he wouldn’t stay here for long. In addition, even an out-of-town dragon couldn’t overpower a local snake, let alone Professor Chen, who was not a dragon.

I should try to keep him in the village, Dr. Long thought.

He started to talk to relevant people immediately.

“Don’t mention it again,” one of his superiors said.

This was the only answer he got.

“What’s going on?” Dr. Long was surprised.

Things were out of his expectations. His superior sounded firm.

Meanwhile, Wang Yao and Wang Mingbao were packing up in the village. Wang Yao’s vehicle was loaded with stuff.

“Thank you, thank you all,” Wang Yao said to the villagers.

“Dr. Wang, please come back to see us often,” a villager said.

“Just consider this place as home,” another villager said.

“Okay, I will,” Wang Yao said.

He responded to every villager. They were really nice and welcoming.

“We’ve gotta go,” Wang Yao said.

It sounded simple, but in fact, they had been examined over and over again. The policemen checked if their vehicle had been sterilized systematically. It was as if they were unsure if the vehicle contained any virus. If people got infected on their way back, someone would have to be responsible for it. At the end of the day, if anything happened, the local policemen would be in trouble.

“Goodbye,” Wang Yao said.

He turned around and had one last look at the village and villagers behind the fence. He felt a bit sad and lost.

“I’ll visit you in the future,” Wang Yao said.

“So will I,” Wang Mingbao said.

“I thought you are going to stay in the village with Miss Han. Why did you change your mind?” Wang Yao asked.

“She asked me to go with you.” Wang Mingbao was a bit sad when mentioning Miss Han.

“Why?” Wang Yao asked.

“She didn’t tell me the reason,” Wang Mingbao said.

“So, you just came along?” Wang Yao asked.

“Yeah, instead of staying here to upset her, I’d rather leave. I’ll come back here anyway. By the way, I have a good news, exciting news,” Wang Mingbao said.

“What news?” Wang Yao asked.

“Her ex-boyfriend has gone overseas.” Wang Mingbao looked excited.

“What ex-boyfriend?” Wang Yao asked.

“The one she used to date,” Wang Mingbao said.

“He’s her boyfriend, not ex,” Wang Yao said.

“Now that she’s met me, he will be her ex,” Wang Mingbao said. He sounded unreasonable.

“You are shameless,” Wang Yao joked.

Wang Mingbao laughed.

Screech! Bang!

The vehicle suddenly stopped. Wang Mingbao banged onto the windshield.

“What the hell?” Wang Mingbao cursed.

There was a bus in front of Wang Yao’s vehicle. A person stood next to the bus, which was parked at the corner of the road, in Wang Yao’s blind spot.

“Who parked the bus in the middle of the road and positioned it like this? Do they wanna die from a traffic accident?” Wang Mingbao was furious.

“Wait, the guy looks familiar. Isn’t he Dr. Long?” Wang Yao asked.

“Run him over,” Wang Mingbao said subconsciously.

“No need to get my hands dirty, this old man is not gonna live too much longer anyway,” Wang Yao said.

He opened the door and deliberately spoke loudly, as if he wanted Dr. Long to hear what he said.

“I…” Dr. Long suddenly became speechless due to anger.

“Hey, a good person doesn’t stand in the middle of the road. Go away,” Wang Mingbao said grumpily.

“Hello, Wang Yao,” Dr. Long said with a cough. He tried his best to squeeze a smile on his face.

“What do you want?” Wang Yao asked.

“The formula you gave me last time has been tested. It works well. I’ve submitted the formula to my superior and mentioned that you’ve also made contribution to the formula,” Dr. Long said with a smile.

Wang Yao didn’t say anything.

“Look, the officers in Jia County government wanted me to invite you for dinner to express their gratitude,” Dr. Long said.

“Really?” Wang Yao asked.

“Of course!” Dr. Long appeared to be very sincere.

“Okay, I’ll follow you,” Wang Yao said.

“Yes?” Both Wang Mingbao and Dr. Long were surprised. They didn’t expect Wang Yao would agree to go.

“Okay, good.” Dr. Long got into the small bus to lead the way to a restaurant.

“Hey, why do you want to go? I don’t think his intention is nice,” Wang Mingbao said.

“I know,” Wang Yao said softly.

“Then, why are you going?” Wang Mingbao asked.

“I’m just curious about what tricks he’s playing,” Wang Yao said. “In addition, I’m not done with him about taking my formula.”

Dr. Long, who was in his 50s, had been treating Wang Yao and Wang Mingbao as idiots. Actually, Wang Yao and Wang Mingbao had seen the news online that this shameless old man had taken all the credit in inventing the formula and didn’t mention Wang Yao at all. He had possessed the formula as his own. He had even started to negotiate a selling price with a famous domestic pharmaceutical company. Rumor had it that the formula could be worth over $1 million.

Dr. Long took Wang Yao and Wang Mingbao to the best restaurant in Jia county.

“He really is inviting us to a meal,” Wang Mingbao said.

At the meal table, there was more than one person. The officers from Jia County government and medical department had also come.

“Please take a seat.” Dr. Long appeared to be very welcoming.

“Waitress! Time to serve the dishes. The best dishes in your restaurant,” he said.

The dishes were served fast. As for whether those were the best dishes in the restaurant, no one knew. The waitress also brought a few bottles of wine.

After introducing Wang Yao to the officers from local government, Dr. Long sat down on the master’s seat. Everyone started to eat and drink.

The officers invited by Dr. Long had totally no idea who Wang Yao and Wang Mingbao were. They only know that Dr. Long was from the provincial hospital, so they agreed to attend the dinner.

At the dining table, Dr. Long proposed a toast. He then chatted with everyone. Gradually, he started to change topic on Wang Yao and Wang Mingbao. He asked where Wang Yao and Wang Mingbao were from and what they did for a living.

“May I ask who taught you medicine?” Dr. Long asked.

“No one,” Wang Yao said with a smile.

“Really?” Dr. Long was surprised. “You are really gifted!”

He grabbed some meat with chopsticks, put the meat into his mouth, and took some time to chew.

“Here we go, allow me to propose a toast to you. I just want to thank you,” Dr. Long said.

“No need,” Wang Yao said as he drank some water.

“By the way, Dr. Wang, do you have any similar formulas? I’m happy to buy them with high price,” Dr. Long said.

He finally showed his true purpose. Wang Yao totally understood why Dr. Long invited him for dinner.

“Dr. Long,” Wang Yao said.

“Yes?” Dr. Long replied.

“You are really shameless,” Wang Yao said calmly.

“You!” Dr. Long was shocked.

Suddenly, the atmosphere at the dining table became awkward.