Chapter 414 - 412: Spotting the Flaw
At this moment, Zhang Yufei roughly understood that they had mistakenly entered a troublesome place. However, what puzzled Zhang Yufei was, if the project had already been successfully researched, then why would it matter if they left?
Moreover, aren’t the two of them already Zhang Ju’s apprentices? Why still worry?
"I know what you’re thinking—is it that as long as the project is completed, and since you’re my apprentices, there shouldn’t be any big trouble?"
Seeing their slightly wandering eyes, Zhang Ju immediately asked.
Chen Tianlong and Zhang Yufei both nodded with a wry smile, not expecting to be right on the mark.
"Isn’t that so?"
Chen Tianlong thought for a while, still somewhat confused.
Suddenly, he thought of something, frowned slightly, and weakly asked, "Master, is it possible... the new drug hasn’t been successfully developed? But that can’t be right, if it really hasn’t succeeded... there’s no need to be so strict, after all, it hasn’t succeeded before, so what if it’s leaked?"
"You guessed it right, it’s not that simple that it failed, but rather the prescription is theoretically effective, but practically it can’t achieve the expected result, and the most critical is... the company secretly released a trial production announcement and claimed to ship in three months!"
Saying this, Zhang Ju was also helpless, if he hadn’t been so arrogant at the time, such a rash decision wouldn’t have been made.
Ultimately, he also had his faults, and he couldn’t completely blame the company!
"Alright... Master, what’s exactly going on?" Chen Tianlong understood the general situation, and the remaining problem focused on that prescription.
"Chen Tianlong, my prescription contains a total of twenty main ingredients..."
Zhang Ju began to talk endlessly about the fundamental problem.
"Hiss... Green tea? Are you sure according to pharmacology, this medicine can achieve such effects? Bone Marrow Cleansing?"
Chen Tianlong was somewhat embarrassed after hearing this; the Compendium of Materia Medica is a Chinese herbal medicine book he’s been familiar with since childhood. Master Tan Tian was an old doctor, and many of the herbs in it were well-known to Chen Tianlong. As for the pharmacology, he had seen it in a book he carried around, and once memorized it thoroughly.
But the fact that green tea could have the effect of Bone Marrow Cleansing puzzled him.
"Yes, it’s green tea! The efficacy recorded in ancient books can’t be wrong. It’s based on countless experiments." Zhang Ju said.
"Wait, what was the ancient book you mentioned just now? From what era?" Chen Tianlong suddenly remembered something; some herbs had different names in different eras.
"Qingnang Scripture... Late Eastern Han Dynasty!" Zhang Ju said calmly.
"The Late Eastern Han Dynasty? Qingnang Scripture? Didn’t Hua Tuo get executed by Cao Cao back then, and the Qingnang Scripture was burned? There couldn’t be any left till now, only some hand-copied versions, and many of those were lost. I guess the green tea you’re talking about is something later generations speculated about."
After listening to Zhang Ju, Chen Tianlong analyzed the issue.
Sure enough, Zhang Ju’s brow furrowed, and he suddenly realized; initially, while researching, he had also had doubts but didn’t pursue them at the time.
Previously, he had discussed this Qingnang Scripture with a few friends. Everyone praised its brilliance but never spoke of its authenticity. Now that Chen Tianlong mentioned it, it indeed seemed true.
Zhang Ju hurriedly returned to his room, then took a biography from the bookshelf and read the historical records of Hua Tuo, feeling a sudden jolt in his mind and his brow tightly knit.
Indeed, Chen Tianlong had hit the nail on the head.
"Ah... it turns out to be my oversight, wasting a year of my time!" Zhang Ju was about to cry without tears, actually believing green tea could have Bone Marrow Cleansing effects.
However, a new question arose!
If not green tea, what should be used as a replacement?
"Master, could you let me see the prescription? I want to know what effect you are trying to achieve and what exactly is missing."
Chen Tianlong was now solely focused on saving Lin Wushuang. The sooner the prescription was completed, the sooner he could invite Zhang Ju back.
Zhang Ju thought for a moment, then took out a pencil and started writing on a piece of blank paper. Clearly, these herbs were memorized in his mind.
Why did Zhang Ju use a pencil rather than another pen?
The reason was straightforward; after writing, erase immediately, leaving no trace! This would cause Chen Tianlong and them less trouble.
After a short while, Zhang Ju had written down all twenty herbs, then handed it to Chen Tianlong and said, "Memorize it in a minute, and then erase it immediately!"
Chen Tianlong nodded, took the list, and in less than twenty seconds, handed it back directly. Zhang Ju was stunned, somewhat incredulous, looking at Chen Tianlong and asking, "Chen Tianlong, memorized?"
"Yes, memorized."
Chen Tianlong closed his eyes and recited these things twice again, basically keeping them in his heart.
Then, he compared these herbs, using the pharmacology he was familiar with, to quickly pair them. Whether it was because of the urgency that activated Chen Tianlong’s potential or for some other reason.
These twenty herbs, after less than three minutes of repeated pairing, Chen Tianlong surprisingly had a new prescription in mind.
"Alas... just missing one ingredient, it looks like it will take a long time to reconfigure the efficacy." Zhang Ju, knowing the truth, appeared quite helpless.
"Remove green tea... replace it with Elaeagnus angustifolia, which is an alias for the Chinese herbal medicine seabuckthorn, known in its finished medicinal form as seabuckthorn."
Chen Tianlong shared the replacement drug he thought of and continued, "You can also remove the fetal chrysanthemum and Plantago asiatica, as the function of seabuckthorn can fully replace these two herbs."
"What? Chen Tianlong, you mean, the twenty main ingredients can now be reduced to eighteen?"
Zhang Ju’s eyes widened; he never thought this student before him could actually be his teacher.
Dear god!
Could this be destiny? How could such an event have happened to him?
"Yes, your previous prescription was theoretically correct according to pharmacology, but it lacked an element from Elaeagnus angustifolia, called isorhamnetin. Although this component is trace, it’s the key to the entire prescription. Whether it can completely achieve Bone Marrow Cleansing, I’m not too sure, but it will be significantly more effective than before." Chen Tianlong explained.
"How much more?"
"Ten times... even dozens of times... or more." Chen Tianlong hadn’t personally tested it, so he didn’t make an assertion but said that from a pharmacology perspective, the efficacy should be considerable.
"Hiss..."
Zhang Ju took a deep breath; if it was as Chen Tianlong said, then this medicine would be sufficient.
Originally, the Bone Marrow Cleansing Pill was exaggerated by the media; there was never a 100% marrow cleansing, even a slight efficacy is good. Now hearing Chen Tianlong’s words, Zhang Ju seemed to see hope and was a bit impatient to try it out.
Chen Tianlong saw through Zhang Ju’s thoughts, faintly smiled, and said, "Why don’t we, Master, make a few to try; do you have test subjects?"
"Yes! The manor has dedicated drug testers." Zhang Ju replied.