In this kind of private kitchen restaurant, you do not order dishes. You just roughly tell the waiter your preferences, such as sweet or savoury, light or heavily spiced.
Zhao Xiaodao let Lu Zheng and the other person decide. Lu Zheng did not stand on ceremony and asked the kitchen to serve a few classic Shandong dishes.
After the waiter poured tea for everyone and quietly left the room, Lu Zheng reached into his pocket, took out a porcelain bottle, placed it on the table, and asked earnestly, “Are you sure you do not want to think about it a bit more? This is the very first batch I ever refined. It is genuinely a three-no product: no certification, no testing, unknown side effects.”
Zhao Xiaodao picked up the bottle with a sly grin. “Brother Lu, stop testing me. I am not stupid. Do you think I missed Sister Wan’s delighted expression just now?”
Good grief, calling her Sister Wan already. This big star was really lowering herself quite a lot.
Well, Zhao Xiaodao had originally wanted to become his disciple. Now she had not even dropped a generation, so she had actually come out ahead.
Lu Zheng smiled faintly and made an inviting gesture. Zhao Xiaodao uncorked the bottle and tipped out a pill about one centimetre in diameter. It was pure white like jade, with delicate milky cloud patterns on its surface.
The moment the pill left the bottle, a faint, refreshing medicinal fragrance filled the room and even drifted out through the cracks of the door.
“It smells amazing!” Zhao Xiaodao exclaimed in shock.
Lin Wan hurriedly said, “Eat it quickly before the potency escapes.”
Startled, Zhao Xiaodao popped the pill into her mouth, lifted her teacup, then paused. With the pill still in her mouth she mumbled, “Is it all right to swallow it with tea?”
Lu Zheng nodded, unable to suppress a laugh. “Yes, yes. Any drink will do.”
Zhao Xiaodao hastily took a sip of water and swallowed the pill.
“Gulp! Done!” Having taken the pill, she let out a breath and patted her chest. Nothing seemed to happen.
Lu Zheng curled his lip and nodded again. “It takes time for the effects to show. Check the results tomorrow morning.”
“Great!” Zhao Xiaodao sniffed. Although the pill was gone, some fragrance still lingered in the bottle. She could not help asking, “Why does this pill smell so good? Just smelling it makes me want to eat another one.”
“Of course, because it is made from top-quality medicinal ingredients,” Lu Zheng replied matter-of-factly.
This pill had been refined by him in the Great Jing dynasty, using wild herbs collected from Renxin Hall. Although it contained no true spiritual medicine, every ingredient was at least a hundred years old, and he had even added some stalactite essence, which definitely counted as a spiritual material.
With a trace of spiritual material combined with the formula for the Beauty Retaining Pill and tempered by true qi, it was no longer the lowest grade of mundane beauty medicine.
“Is that so?” Zhao Xiaodao blinked, impressed but not really understanding.
Lin Wan looked at Lu Zheng questioningly. “Did you use some powerful spiritual herb?”
Lu Zheng returned her glance. “Of course not.”
Stalactite essence was something his family drank casually whenever they felt like it. How could that count as a spiritual herb?
At that moment, there came a rhythmic knock on the door.
“Come in!” Zhao Xiaodao called, thinking the waiter was bringing food. She remarked in surprise, “They are quick today. Not many customers?”
However, the person who pushed the door open was not a waiter. An old man entered first, followed by a middle-aged man and a couple.
“Brother Chao, Sister Li!”
Zhao Xiaodao stood up quickly. The couple at the back turned out to be Deng Paopao and Sun Niangniang.
“Xiaodao?”
Seeing Zhao Xiaodao, the couple were equally surprised. “You are in Haicheng?”
“Just here for a schedule. What a coincidence,” Zhao Xiaodao laughed.
“You came to Haicheng and did not look for us. Are you not giving us face?” Deng Paopao joked.
He and Zhao Xiaodao had worked together a few times and got along well.
“It is only one day, so I did not want to bother you,” Zhao Xiaodao explained, then looked at the other two people with curiosity.
“Let me introduce everyone.”
Since they had come uninvited, Deng Paopao naturally explained first. “This is Master Duan Chengru, a great master of traditional Chinese medicine. He has been in Beidu all along and only returned last year. This is Mr Duan Yukai, chairman of Nansheng Pharmaceutical Group.”
“Hello, everyone!” Zhao Xiaodao greeted them. Lu Zheng and Lin Wan stood up politely and nodded.
“Hello. Sorry for intruding,” Duan Chengru said amiably with a chuckle, apologising first. His gaze then fell on the porcelain bottle on the table, and he stated his purpose. “I was passing by the door just now when I suddenly smelled an extremely tempting medicinal fragrance. I followed the scent here. May I be so bold as to ask what medicine that was? Could I take a look?”
“Eh?”
Zhao Xiaodao was taken aback. She had not expected Duan Chengru to make such a request. Not daring to answer, she instinctively looked at Lu Zheng.
In fact, the moment Duan Chengru entered, Lu Zheng had already recognised what he was. The faint scent of Chinese herbs on him could not be hidden.
It was normal for a doctor to be curious about an unfamiliar medicine. Lu Zheng understood, but that did not mean he had to tell him.
“It is just a detoxifying and beauty-enhancing pill, nothing special. Something I made for fun. I have already given it to Xiaodao.”
Zhao Xiaodao nodded repeatedly. “Yes, yes, I have eaten it.”
The pill clearly looked extraordinary and might be something that could not see the light of day. Zhao Xiaodao felt lucky she had swallowed it quickly.
“What? You have already taken it?” Duan Chengru was stunned and asked instinctively, “Just one pill?”
Lu Zheng nodded. “Just one.”
“Well then…”
Duan Chengru nodded, a little disappointed. Although he was still curious, he would not pester them and prepared to take his leave.
Duan Chengru had given up, but Duan Yukai suddenly spoke. “I wonder whether this gentleman simply did not bring any more, or whether there are none left at all? If you did not bring any, could we arrange a time for my father to take a look?”
Seeing Zhao Xiaodao grow uneasy, Duan Yukai suddenly became suspicious. His gaze towards Lu Zheng and Lin Wan now carried wariness and disdain.
Duan Yukai’s words were very rude. Lu Zheng could not help frowning. “What if I did not bring any? What if there are none left?”
Duan Yukai gave a cold snort. “Every medicine has some toxicity. Has the pill you made yourself undergone pharmacological and toxicological evaluation? Do you have approval documents? Has it passed clinical trials? Do you have trial reports?”
Lu Zheng was speechless.
Seeing Lu Zheng silent, Duan Yukai continued indifferently, “You have none of that, yet you dare give it to a celebrity like Miss Zhao. What exactly did you tell her?”
At this point, Duan Yukai suddenly sneered. “Is it really just for detoxing and beautifying the skin? Or does it make one younger, granting eternal youth?”
Lu Zheng remained speechless. Are you an immortal or something?
Although he had only told Zhao Xiaodao it was for nourishing the skin and enhancing beauty, the actual effects of this pill certainly went far beyond those words.
Before Lin Wan could speak, Zhao Xiaodao exploded first at Duan Yukai’s questioning of Lu Zheng.
“Mr Duan, please watch your words. Brother Lu is my guest. I trust him. Moreover, this is the private room I booked. I will not allow anyone to question my guest here. You are not welcome. Please leave!”
