Free Web NovelChapter 517: Chapter 517: Good News
Sophie’s Japan headquarters, the president’s office.
Ishii leaned back comfortably in his leather chair, a cup of freshly brewed Shizuoka Green Tea in hand, gazing out the window at the Tokyo Tower.
It had been a week since Sophie’s high-end sanitary napkins launched. Although they were being viciously criticized online, their sales were surprisingly strong.
After all, there would always be a group of people in the world who only bought the most expensive things.
While total sales hadn’t returned to their previous peak, they had at least stabilized their position, and their brand image was now firmly established.
"Hmph. That Ding Clan is nothing but small fry."
Ishii snorted, feeling quite pleased with himself.
Just then, the office door was violently thrown open.
The marketing manager rushed in with a panicked expression, not even bothering to knock.
"Idiot! What’s the rush? Show some composure!"
Ishii’s brow furrowed as he scolded him in displeasure. "As an elite of the Great Japanese Empire, you must remain calm at all times."
"P-President, this is bad."
The marketing manager didn’t even have time to apologize, gasping for breath as he said, "Something terrible has happened! Our high-end sanitary napkin sales... they’ve plummeted!"
"What?"
Ishii’s hand trembled, spilling scalding tea all over it. "Plummeted? How is that possible? Weren’t things fine just a few days ago?"
"It’s because... because of Ding’s Pharmaceutical Factory."
The manager tremblingly handed over a report. "They also released a high-end sanitary napkin. The price... the price is ten times ours, 5,000 yuan a piece."
"What? 5,000?"
Ishii thought he had misheard. "Are they insane? Who would buy something at that price?"
"That’s the problem." The manager looked miserable. "It’s expensive, but they used genuine Ten-thousand-year-old Agarwood. The effect... the effect is on a completely different level. We bought some to compare. The fragrance and experience... compared to their product, ours is basically... roadside garbage."
"Right now, all the wealthy wives and socialites are frantically snapping up the Ding Clan’s product, even treating it as a status symbol. Meanwhile, the people who bought our product are all online calling us scammers, saying our plastic pads are just an ’idiot tax’..."
"Our return rate... has already skyrocketed to 80%."
PFFT—
Ishii nearly coughed up a mouthful of old blood.
He felt like the sky was falling.
He thought he was a player in a high-stakes game, but he never expected them to start playing on a whole other, god-like level. How could he even compete?
...
「That weekend, at Li’s Traditional Chinese Medicine Clinic.」
Hu Qiming arrived in a hurry, a black backpack slung over his shoulders.
This was a far cry from his past self, who would simply go through the motions of his hospital’s "grassroots assistance" assignments. Back then, he’d just set up a table at the entrance, measure some blood pressure, and kill time.
The Hu Qiming of today had eyes filled with a thirst for knowledge.
Ever since he had personally witnessed the miracle of Li Xu dominating the field at the Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, bringing someone back from the brink of death with the Ghost Gate Thirteen Needles and Ten Thousand Year Agarwood, Hu Qiming had become his complete fanboy.
Although the two were university classmates,
now, he was more than willing to consider himself an apprentice.
"Li Xu, morning."
Hu Qiming greeted him familiarly as soon as he walked in. Then, he very consciously pulled up a small stool, sat down next to Li Xu’s consultation desk, and took out a small notebook.
Li Xu was in the middle of seeing a patient and simply nodded at him.
Sitting before the desk was a married couple in their thirties.
The woman’s face was flushed, her eyes anxious;
the man, on the other hand, wore a look of concern.
"Doctor Li, my wife’s period had already returned to normal, but now it’s been delayed by over half a month. I kept telling her to come see you, but she wouldn’t, saying she was too busy with work and that it was nothing."
The man said with a hint of helplessness.
Li Xu didn’t speak. He gestured for the woman to extend her wrist, and he gently placed three fingers on her pulse.
The patient was a regular, Sister Zhang from the neighboring residential complex.
She had been treated by Li Xu for a period of time before for dysmenorrhea caused by a ’cold uterus’.
Sister Zhang gave a slightly sheepish smile and didn’t answer, merely glancing at her husband with a guilty conscience.
A moment later, Li Xu finished with her left wrist and then switched to her right.
His eyebrows raised slightly. The pulse beneath his fingers was fluid and flowing, like pearls rolling on a plate—smooth and rounded against his touch.
This was a classic slippery pulse.
Moreover, the deeper pulse was strong and unceasing.
Li Xu withdrew his hand but didn’t rush to a conclusion. Instead, he asked, "Have you had any other discomfort recently? For example, nausea, wanting to vomit, or having a particular craving for sour or spicy foods?"
Sister Zhang thought for a moment and said, "Not really any other particular discomfort. It’s just that sometimes I dry heave a little when I brush my teeth in the morning, but I thought my pharyngitis was acting up. Also, I’ve been getting tired easily and always feel like sleeping."
At this, she glanced at Li Xu a bit embarrassedly. "It’s just him; he was worried and insisted I come get it checked."
Sister Zhang’s husband also looked at Li Xu nervously.
Everyone in Feng City now knew that Li Xu’s medical skills were god-like. If he said something was wrong, then something was definitely wrong.
Li Xu nodded slightly and said with a smile, "Congratulations, you’re pregnant."
Those words struck them like a bolt from the blue.
The couple was stunned speechless.
The few middle-aged women waiting in line behind them all craned their necks to look over, the flames of gossip burning brightly.
"R-Really?"
Sister Zhang’s husband stammered, his voice trembling. "Doctor Li, you... you’re not joking, are you?"
Sister Zhang also covered her mouth, a look of shocked delight on her face.
Li Xu smiled and nodded, his tone certain. "Why would I joke about something like this? The pulse indicates it’s been over a month. You can go to a hospital later to register, get a blood test or an ultrasound to confirm it, but you should be pregnant. And the fetal signs are very stable."
"That’s wonderful, just wonderful."
Sister Zhang’s husband was so excited he shot to his feet and hugged her tightly.
You couldn’t blame them for being so emotional.
They had been married for five years and trying to conceive for three. For this child, they had visited countless hospitals, taken all sorts of Chinese and Western medicine, and were even on the verge of trying in vitro fertilization.
They never imagined that on this seemingly ordinary weekend, such a wonderful surprise would just fall into their laps.
"Thank you, Doctor Li! Thank you so much!"
Sister Zhang’s husband excitedly shook Li Xu’s hand. "If you hadn’t helped my wife get her health in order before, this child definitely wouldn’t have come."
He suddenly remembered something and asked in a low voice, "Doctor Li, can you... can you tell if it’s a boy or a girl?"
Li Xu was taken aback for a moment, then he couldn’t help but chuckle.
It was a question nearly every expectant parent was curious about.
Before Li Xu could speak, Sister Zhang playfully slapped her husband. "Are you silly? It’s only been a short while, how could anyone know if it’s a boy or a girl? As long as the baby is healthy, that’s all that matters."
Her husband scratched his head, embarrassed. "Heh, I’m just giddy with happiness. It was just a casual question."
An eager-to-help auntie with permed hair waiting in line chimed in, "Oh, young man, hospitals don’t let you ask that nowadays. It’s illegal. Besides, if a TCM doctor could tell the gender just by taking a pulse, ultrasound machines would have been out of a job long ago. Right, Doctor Li?"
