After finishing their meal and cleaning up, Li Chu and his wife went to the kitchen. One of them chopped the filling for steamed buns, while the other kneaded the dough, preparing to make some more steamed buns for the dog that evening.

"Ding-dong, ding-dong," came the doorbell.

Ding Qiunan turned to look at her husband: "Who is this?"

"Who knows? Furry, go open the door!"

The children had finished eating and gone back to their house to rest, so now they had to call the dog to open the door.

As he shouted, he rubbed the flour off his hands, cleaned them, and then walked out of the kitchen and into the front yard.

When he arrived at the front yard, the gate was already ajar, but it was clear that no one outside dared to come in.

That's true. No matter who opens the door, with four big dogs squatting inside, no one who isn't familiar with the place would dare to come in.

Let alone those who aren't familiar with him, even Xu Damao, who comes here often, is the same. For some reason, it's fine when Lou Xiao'e comes along, but as long as Xu Damao comes alone, the dogs will definitely sit there staring at him, scaring him so much that he doesn't dare to come in and can only wait for someone to come and pick him up.

Xu Damao complained a lot about this, saying that Li Chu's dog guarded against him like a thief.

Perhaps this is just the dogs' simple logic; they might subconsciously believe that women are less dangerous than men. Who knows?

Li Chu walked to the gate and looked outside: "Hey, Squad Leader Song, it's you! What a rare guest! Please come in."

As he spoke, he opened the door and let Song Tangyuan push the car in.

Song Tangyuan pushed the cart inside and said, "I wouldn't have come here today without a reason; I have something to ask of you."

He's smart. He knows this classmate is different from others. He doesn't like excessive formalities. If you need anything, just say so. He'll definitely help if he can, and if he can't, he won't help no matter how much you beg.

Li Chu smiled slightly: "What are you talking about begging? We've known each other for twenty years, don't you know me?"

After Song Tangyuan had properly positioned the car and allowed each of the four dogs to take turns sniffing it, he followed Li Chu to the back.

"Your dog is practically a genius! How did you raise it? It's almost like a human, except it can't talk."

"They grew on their own, I really haven't taught them anything."

Upon reaching the central courtyard, Li Chu called out to the kitchen, "Qiu Nan, Tang Yuan is here. Let's go sit in the living room."

"Okay, Tangyuan, please sit down first. I'm currently holding onto this seat."

"It's alright, Qiu Nan, you go about your business. I need to talk to Li Chu about something."

Upon entering the living room, a wave of heat hit him, and Song Tangyuan quickly took off his hat, gloves, and scarf and hung them on the clothes rack.

"Oh my, your house! I envy it every time I come here. When it comes to enjoying life, you really know how to do it!"

"Isn't the point of working hard to improve our living conditions?"

After inviting Song Tangyuan to sit down, Li Chu poured him a glass of water and placed it on the coffee table in front of him.

"Tell me, what's wrong that you're coming to see me so soon, with the New Year just around the corner?"

Song Tangyuan organized his thoughts before saying, "It's kind of official business, really. I really didn't want to come, but our director ordered it, so I can't refuse. Whether it can be done or not is up to you to decide."

"Okay, go ahead and tell me, I'll listen."

This is also what Li Chu appreciates about Song Tangyuan. Apart from the time he was a little confused because of his cousin's matter, Song Tangyuan is usually a pleasant person to talk to and do.

"Here's the thing, it all started with your prescription."

"Prescription? What prescription?"

"You must have a bad memory. Your prescription has already ensnared so many people!"

"Oh, I see. What about the prescription?"

That matter is over, so why is it resurfacing now?

“We obtained your prescription through legitimate channels and they plan to study it. However, the higher-ups definitely won't approve such research, so the institute can only conduct research privately. But we haven't expected that after studying it for quite some time, we haven't gotten any useful results. Quite a few lab mice have died, and the institute really can't hold on any longer. That's why we're hoping to use our personal relationship to see if you can give us some guidance.”

Upon hearing this, Li Chu chuckled and shook his head, saying, "When you get back, make them stop immediately. Don't waste those lab rats. They were bought with a small amount of foreign exchange. Use them for useful experiments, don't squander them anymore."

"What do you mean by that?" Song Tangyuan was a little confused. Even if the white mouse was killed, it wouldn't be considered a waste, would it?

Against the Gods

"The drug I gave to the mice will only result in death. Even if you dissect the dead mice, you won't get any useful data."

"There's another way to say that?"

"So what do you think? Looks like you didn't watch the experiment?"

“You’re right, it wasn’t made by our Institute of Chinese Materia Medica.”

"It doesn't matter who does it. Go back and report to your director, and tell him to stop the experiment. There's no need to waste resources."

Song Tangyuan said with a wry smile, "Li Chu, my dear Dean Li, you have to give me something real. If I just say it like this, no one will believe me without proof!"

Li Chu thought for a while before speaking again: "Here's what we'll do, Tang Yuan. When you go back, tell your director that if they want to get effective experimental data for my prescription, they'll have to give it to people directly. If they give it to hundreds or thousands of people, they should be able to compare and get some useful data."

"Give it to people directly? And for hundreds or thousands? Are you kidding me, Li Chu?"

Song Tangyuan's eyes bulged out of their sockets. Who would dare to directly ask someone to take it? People have already died from taking this medicine before. Who would dare to ask someone to take it now? That would be asking for trouble.

Why would I tease you? I'm telling the truth! Although it might not sound nice.

"No," Song Tangyuan felt something was wrong; the more he said, the more confused he became.

"Li Chu, how did you manage to feed so many people without any problems?"

Do you think my practice of traditional Chinese medicine is fake?

"How so?"

"The prescription I wrote contains two parts. Only by using both prescriptions can it enhance a person's physical condition."

"Yes, we've thought of that."

"For this first prescription, I must personally take his pulse and prescribe medicine based on his pulse. Although the prescription is the same, the dosage will be different for different people. If you can't find the critical point and adjust the dosage properly, it will be like taking arsenic."

"If you take the second prescription without first taking the first, even a cow would be poisoned."