There can't be a Harvest Moon in the RimWorld.

Before noon, Gray and I finally bought the herbs and returned to Dr. Dort's hospital.

Dr. Dort, with his thick eyebrows and large eyes, was still waiting to see patients in the hospital, carefully flipping through a medicine book and occasionally making some marks in the book.

Hearing my call, Dr. Dort rushed to the door and greeted us with a broad smile.

"Great! With these medicines, I can definitely continue my research!"

"That's good, doctor. We've been running all over the Mads Mountains this morning..."

Just as I was about to take credit, I suddenly heard Gray interrupt, "At the foot of the mountain."

"........."

"That's a very large area!"

But Dr. Dort didn't listen to us at all. His attention was completely drawn to the herbs. He poured a large bag of herbs onto the ground and began to select, classify, and sift them one by one.

Gray also knelt down to help process the herbs with practiced ease. Seeing how quickly they got into the swing of things, I couldn't stay out of it, so I had to join in too.

“Marcus, let me tell you how to handle this.”

Dr. Dort was focused on his work, yet he still managed to explain things to me.

"Our first step involves picking, sorting, and sifting to remove dust, impurities, and non-medicinal parts, ensuring the medicine is clean and pure."

For example, you see here we need to remove the branches and leaves from the herbs, brush off the fuzz on the back of the red herb, and scrape off the rough skin of the magnolia bark and other similar herbs.

"If the medicinal materials are processed in this way, they are basically qualified, and I can use them to make medicine."

But doctor, the medicine you made this way burns my throat!

"Dr. Dort, could you improve the taste of the medicine? It feels like it's numbing my throat, which is really unpleasant."

Dr. Dort scratched his head and said.

"But these are the only methods I learned at school. Modern medicine basically uses drugs that have been purified multiple times, and my equipment here is insufficient, so many methods have not been implemented."

I recalled the traditional Chinese medicine techniques from my past life and couldn't help but offer my suggestion.

"I do know some solutions, doctor, would you like to take a look?"

"Oh?" Dr. Dort asked rather humbly, "Marcus, what are your thoughts?"

"For example, in the processing of medicinal materials, there is a method called water processing, which involves using water or other liquid excipients to process the medicinal materials. The purpose of water processing is mainly to clean the medicine, soften the medicine, and adjust its properties."

"For example, one method I happen to know is called bleaching. The medicine is soaked in a wide or flowing stream of water for a period of time, and the water is changed repeatedly to remove the fishy smell, salt and toxic components."

"That's a great idea! I now have a basic understanding of the medicinal properties of herbs. With a few more adjustments, I should be able to reduce the paralysis. Thank you so much, Marcus!"

Judging from Dr. Dort's grateful expression, I knew that in my past life, traditional Chinese medicine techniques were significantly more advanced than the pharmaceutical methods of this small town. Of course, the most likely reason was the difference in development direction. Dr. Dort already had a highly effective stimulant, so he probably wouldn't waste time on pharmaceuticals and would spend more time on case studies.

In the secluded little town of Kuangshi, my rudimentary knowledge of traditional Chinese medicine proved even more applicable.

"I also know a method of simmering medicine. Wrap the medicine in wet flour or wet paper, and heat it in hot ashes until the flour or paper is charred black. This can reduce the potency and side effects of the medicine. I think you could try it, doctor, to adjust the efficacy of the medicine."

"Anything else? Marcus, please continue!" Dr. Dort had already taken out his notebook, ready to start taking notes.

"Then I'll tell you all the methods I know. Doctor, you can study them and see if you can use them."

"The boiling method is to heat the medicine together with water or liquid excipients."

Steaming is a method of heating medicines using steam or a water bath. For example, steaming rhubarb with wine can moderate its laxative effect. Some medicines require repeated steaming and sun-drying to achieve their desired medicinal effects.

Quenching is a method of rapidly immersing a drug in cold water or liquid excipients after it has been heated until it is red-hot, thus making it brittle. Quenching not only makes the drug easier to pulverize, but also greatly enhances its absorption by the excipients, allowing it to achieve the desired therapeutic effect.

I took a breather and watched Dr. Dort writing furiously, then added.

"Other commonly used methods include germination, fermentation, frosting, and some other processing methods. These may also be applicable to fresh medicinal herbs. The aim is to change the original properties of the medicine, increase new therapeutic effects, reduce toxicity or side effects, or make the medicine more effective and of higher quality and purity."

After I finished speaking, Dr. Dort was eager to begin his drug development.

"Great!" His eyes gleamed with excitement as he quickly sorted all the medicines, ready to begin the research and development process.

…………

"Marcus, you even know anything about pharmacology?"

Mr. Dart looked incredulous as he came out of the kitchen and placed lunch in front of me.

I spent the whole morning climbing the mountain and processing herbs, and I was starving. I grabbed my lunch and started eating immediately, only able to mumble, "I know a little bit..."

Gray added from the side, "Boss Marcus also knows forging and taught me a lot. I'll experiment this afternoon to see if I can forge the equipment he mentioned."

"I never would have guessed!" Boss Dart exclaimed. "Pharmaceutical manufacturing, forging, cooking, farming—I've heard and seen so many skills, Marcus. What else are you good at that you haven't shown yet?"

"I'm not that great, I just happen to know a little bit about everything. I don't really understand other things."

With the help of the colonist system, I can already be considered an all-rounder. In addition, I often awaken memories from my past life. Although most of them are useless, useful ones like traditional Chinese medicine will gradually appear. Overall, I will know more and more things.

"I still hope you can show more talent in making money."

Mr. Dart subtly expressed his displeasure at me for freeloading.

"Haha, father-in-law, don't worry..."

"Don't call me father-in-law!"

"Alright, alright, Mr. Dart, do you think I'd be short of money when I can do everything? Just wait and see me escape poverty in one year, become rich in two years, and reach the pinnacle of life in three years!"

"I hope your confidence matches your appetite, but seeing is believing."

"Okay, boss, another one, please!"

I shamelessly ordered another set meal, and when I turned to look inside the hotel, I noticed that a new TV had been added!

"Boss, looks like you've struck it rich! Is this TV brand new?"

Mr. Dart poked his head out of the kitchen and said proudly, "Zack just brought this over for me. The patrons often complain about not having anything to talk about and want more entertainment; they don't want to keep watching Dick and Sebala act crazy while they're drunk."

"I'll just buy a TV, then everyone won't be bored. But we don't have much signal here, can you help me see what programs we can watch?"

I like this!

I haven't touched a TV since leaving Shining City, so I don't know what shows are popular here.

The first station is the weather forecast.

Well, weather forecasts are still useful.

Channel 2, Current Affairs News.

Yes, a news channel is essential.

The third channel is TV shopping.

Selling modular cabinets?

The third channel is TV shopping.

Selling prefabricated kitchens?

The fourth channel is TV shopping.

Selling refrigerators?

Fifth station...

The sixth station...

seventh……

eighth……

what the hell!

Boss! Your TV is full of shopping ads!

You're not buying a TV, you're just giving away a TV with an ad!

Chapter 50 Lin's Thoughts

"Dad, did you get ripped off when you bought this TV?" Lin, who was cleaning upstairs, appeared and awkwardly flipped through the channels, watching one advertisement after another flash across the screen.

“Zack has told me about this,” Mr. Dart sighed and explained to us.

Originally, Mineral Town was located in an unclaimed area of ​​the open sea, and even in this relatively prosperous period of civilization, it was still considered a remote and impoverished place.

The federal government closest to Mineral Town currently operates under a private television station system, which combines six or seven television production companies with local television networks to form a broadcasting television group—a free competition model.

Due to the unique nature of private television, they collect television fees in their local area on a regular basis before broadcasting television programs. They mostly do not have the concept of satellite television as we know it today, and primarily rely on cable television.

Mineral Town is too remote, and it's unlikely that any company would be willing to lay cables and provide TV service. Therefore, the only TVs available here are public channels transmitted via satellite, such as news and weather.

The only ones left willing to spend money on a wide-net strategy are small TV shopping channels.

“Then I really misunderstood Zack. I also didn’t think he was capable of fooling the boss,” I said.

But Lin was still not very happy. After all, the television she had placed high hopes on only had commercials that kept up with the times. The rest of the old-fashioned and lengthy public programs were simply not attractive to her.

"Can we watch programs from other places?" Lin asked, still unwilling to give up.

I thought back and realized that in the original world there were devices that could be used for terrestrial satellite reception, for illegally watching satellite television with signal transmission.

Could this device be manufactured for use in televisions?

After this bold idea popped into my head, I felt it had great potential, since it wasn't illegal in this remote and impoverished area anyway.

"How about I go back and take a look? I might have some ideas."

The basic setup requires a satellite antenna, receiver, and LNB; other components can be gradually improved based on the technological level of this world.

"Really, Marcus?"

Lin looked at me expectantly, her face full of longing.

Mr. Dart, unable to bear seeing the disappointment on his daughter's face, said to me sincerely, "Then thank you very much, Marcus. If you need it, you can take this TV back and experiment with it."

I quickly waved my hand and said, "No need, boss. I'll study it first, and if I find any results, I'll experiment with it. Don't have too high hopes."

Lin quickly said, "Is there anything I can help you with? Good luck!"

"Of course, don't you think, Gray?"

Gray, who had just finished eating and was feeling drowsy, suddenly heard someone call him. He nodded in daze, then seemed to snap out of a dream: "It's my duty... what should I do?"

"We should repay Boss Dart for the meal he gave us, shouldn't we?" I chimed in.