"Have you figured it out?" Su Yurou asked excitedly.
"It's just a minor achievement," Lin Fan said with a grin, gesturing with his fingernail-sized thumb.
"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" Su Yurou exclaimed.
"Why would I tell you?" Lin Fan was taken aback. "I run a medical clinic, and you run a beauty salon. We're worlds apart. Why would you care about medicine for external wounds?"
"Why wouldn't I care!" Su Yurou acted as if she'd heard the biggest joke in the world. "Haven't you heard of the medical beauty industry? Medicine and beauty have always gone hand in hand. If your external wound medicine can prevent scarring, its value would be immense!"
"This..." Lin Fan's understanding of beauty was limited to things like eyebrow tattooing, manicures, skin care, and whitening. He had never considered any connection between medicine and beauty, nor had he thought about it in that way.
"Xiao Fan, you completely underestimate its value!" Su Yurou stepped forward and placed her hands on Lin Fan's shoulders. "This little external wound medicine might just make you a billionaire!"
"Is that for real?" Lin Fan grinned.
"I..." Seeing Lin Fan's flippant expression, Su Yurou said angrily, "Be serious! I'm not joking. It might be worth even more."
"Is it that magical?" Lin Fan was skeptical. "There are plenty of effective external wound medicines on the market. Take Yunnan Baiyao, for instance. It's famous and inexpensive. I've even made my own medicine, and the effect isn't that much better, except it doesn't leave scars..."
"Just doesn't leave scars?" Su Yurou glared fiercely at Lin Fan.
Lin Fan flinched. "Don't look at me like that." He took a couple of steps back. "A bottle of Yunnan Baiyao costs only a little over ten yuan. The cost of the small amount I used for Xiao Hao is nearly a hundred yuan. I'm not making any money from him. How can I sell it at such a high price?"
"Expensive?" Su Yurou chuckled. "In the beauty industry, don't talk about expensive. People still get injections of whitening serum that cost tens of thousands of yuan, and many spend hundreds of thousands a year." She leaned in again. "Xiao Fan, I've always known you're capable. If you were to apply your medical expertise to research beauty products, believe me, your name would be on the Forbes list!"
"Alright, alright, spare me the Forbes talk." Lin Fan instinctively resisted Su Yurou's enthusiasm.
Su Yurou was anxious but helpless. He possessed such skills, and with a little effort, he could earn more than others in a lifetime. Why wasn't he tempted?
Lin Fan sat back in his armchair, took a sip of tea, and changed the subject. "Why are you here today? I forgot to wish you a Happy New Year."
"Happy New Year to you too." Su Yurou found a chair and brought it over, sitting opposite Lin Fan.
"Xiao Fan, something big has happened in Yunqing City recently. You know Li Si, who used to be close to Zhou Yi?"
"I do." Lin Fan was surprised Su Yurou brought this up.
"Li Si has been arrested."
"Oh." Lin Fan nodded.
"You already knew?" Su Yurou was somewhat surprised.
Lin Fan nodded. "She told me when I visited Sister Zhou's home for the New Year."
"So that's how it is." Su Yurou had initially wondered how Lin Fan, living in a remote village, could have known the news she had painstakingly gathered.
"Li Si's case has far-reaching implications. Many clients at the beauty salon are afraid to come anymore," Su Yurou sighed. She never imagined that a man she didn't even know would cause her business to plummet. Seeing that Lin Fan wasn't responding, she continued, "I was thinking of coming to you to see if there's a way to do some promotions or something to attract customers."
"I can't believe you..." Lin Fan was speechless. "Why would you come to me for a beauty salon promotion?"
"Hmph!" Su Yurou glared at him. "Who else would I come to? Should I find some random man outside?"
"Okay, okay." Lin Fan, afraid of being overheard, quickly pleaded for mercy. He glanced towards the entrance. "Where's your car?"
"It's parked quite far away, don't worry." Su Yurou was a little dejected. She felt like she was doing something illicit just to see him. Lin Fan breathed a sigh of relief. His sister-in-law's attitude had finally improved recently; he didn't want it to revert.
"Xiao Fan, stop beating around the bush and tell me about your external wound medicine."
"Alright." Lin Fan thought for a moment and then suddenly asked, "Can you understand this?" Seeing Su Yurou's indignant look, Lin Fan quickly waved his hand. "I saw a prescription for Jin Chuang Yao in an ancient medical text. It used to be called 'thief's medicine.' In ancient times, when thieves were caught, they were inevitably beaten severely, hence their great need for superior Jin Chuang Yao."
Lin Fan cited historical references, recalling, "The original prescription was three qian of Xiong Tu Bie, four qian of Dan Nan Xing, five qian of Xue Jie, three qian of Long Gu, four qian of Hong Hua, five qian of Chuan Qiang, Dang Gui..."
"Actually, the others are fine, but there's one ingredient called Long Gu. Do you know what that is?"
Su Yurou blinked. "Is it the 'dragon bone' from Oracle bone script?"
"Exactly," Lin Fan spread his hands. "Discovering Oracle bone script is a great boon for history and culture, but it's a curse for us traditional Chinese medicine practitioners." Su Yurou felt like laughing. Oracle bone script was so important, and yet this small TCM practitioner was lamenting over it.
"I researched for a long time and replaced Long Gu with something else."
"Xiao Fan, are you guarding against me?" Su Yurou keenly noticed that Lin Fan had been about to reveal the entire formula but had changed the subject mid-sentence.
"Uh~ I didn't mean to." Lin Fan, caught red-handed, chuckled awkwardly. After all, it was something he had put a lot of effort into researching. Giving it away so easily would be a disservice to his hard work.
"Alright." Su Yurou didn't tease him further. Instead, she asked, "Xiao Fan, can I handle the operation and development of your external wound medicine?"
"Operation and development?" Lin Fan had never imagined that the medicine he concocted could be "operated and developed." Was it a big star?
"First, make some samples. I'll take them back to test. If the results are good, I'll set up a new company specifically to promote this Jin Chuang Yao. No, you've led me astray. I need to think of a better name." Su Yurou then put on a thoughtful expression.
"Does it need to be this complicated?" Lin Fan didn't think the medicine he developed based on an ancient prescription had much value.
Su Yurou glared at him. "You don't think it's valuable, do you? In that case, we'll split the company shares fifty-fifty. I was originally planning to give you the larger share."