Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 151

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 151
When my daughter returned home safely, Gungwi became the happiest father in the world.
Seeing this, Jegalling granted Gungwi a leave of absence.
“Why is our daughter so thin? Has she been suffering? Let’s get you something to eat. Gak-yeon.”
Gungwi’s eyesight had deteriorated.
Had he seen Wang Gak-yeon’s plump cheeks, such words would never have escaped his lips.
Assisting with the trading guild’s affairs and serving as a guard for the Gongseon Family were hardly safe occupations, yet the young family head Gongseon Hyeon enjoyed keeping a spirited and vigorous girl by her side and feeding her well.
Just as she fed her cousin Gongseon Yeong, she fed Wang Gak-yeon equally well.
As a martial artist with tremendous physical activity, she would never gain excessive weight, nor would her complexion ever suffer.
With lustrous cheeks gleaming with vitality, Gungwi began feeding her frantically, lamenting that his daughter had become as frail as a sickly chicken.
And Wang Gak-yeon, tasting the flavors of her hometown (?), began eating without a single complaint.
The reunion between father and daughter began with food.
It was quite a conventional reunion.
Separately, Jin Cheon-hee shared business matters and recent events with Gongseon Hyeon and Gongseon Yeong.
The three sat in a warm tea room with an ondol, each holding a dried persimmon that Yoo Ho had given them.
“Wow, so the Gongseon Family’s succession has been settled?”
“Well… it seems it will be settled that way.”
Gongseon Hyeon spoke with lingering reluctance.
She still believed that Gongseon Yeong, being the eldest, should assume the position of family head.
“It’s good if the family finds peace. From what I hear, Gongseon Yeong…”
Gongseon Yeong spoke quickly.
“Sister. We agreed not to use formal titles.”
Gongseon Yeong wished for Jin Cheon-hee not to be formal with her.
“…Yes, Gongseon Yeong, you’ve been telling everyone far and wide that you have no interest in being family head anyway.”
If even a doctor in a distant place had heard of it, the story had already circulated through the martial world many times over.
Thus Jin Cheon-hee brushed away the dust from rumors that had settled long ago.
Her older sister Gongseon Hyeon furrowed her brow.
“Yes. That’s true. My foolish younger sister has been spreading it around everywhere.”
“What’s wrong with that? Did you say it was fine? Then you’re going to make me family head anyway.”
“Yeong.”
“No way. If you want to end the Gongseon Family in my generation, then try making me family head. And sister, drop it. How long are you going to keep this up?”
“….”
Thus Gongseon Hyeon began setting down her stubbornness one piece at a time, yielded by Gongseon Yeong.
‘That too is life.’
Jin Cheon-hee smiled quietly to himself.
And in another sense, he felt reassured.
From a third party’s perspective, Gongseon Yeong truly lacked the qualities to be a family head.
“Continuing the conversation, Wang Gak-yeon—that girl is truly remarkable. She reminds me of our Yeong when she was young.”
“Sister.”
“Understood. I will speak more comfortably from now on. Would that be acceptable?”
I replied.
“That’s exactly what I hoped for.”
Gongseon Hyeon spoke to me without formality.
It was a rare experience for her, which also meant I was someone particularly special to her.
Hearing the past events from Gongseon Hyeon, it was indeed so.
Wang Gak-yeon received a letter of recommendation from me and headed to the Gongseon Family.
Work at the Yunlong Courier Bureau wasn’t bad, but perhaps out of consideration for her father Gungwi, they hadn’t given her difficult assignments, and it seemed she felt a sense of crisis that she would continue to be pampered in her father’s embrace at this rate.
An age when blood runs hot.
This time, Wang Gak-yeon headed to the Gongseon Family.
“Perhaps wanting to make an impression from the first moment, she brought the head of a bandit leader, preserved in salt.”
“….”
I lost my words for three seconds.
Soon, I barely regained my composure and spoke.
“That’s not the modern way of doing things.”
“Martial artists of older generations still do it that way, but even so, such things are sent to one’s enemies. Besides, it’s also the way of the heterodox sects.”
What must the Gongseon Family have thought, seeing a ten-year-old child arrive at the gates of the orthodox sect, announcing she had taken the head of a bandit leader, presenting it in a salt box?
‘…Our Gak-yeon really does take after Uncle Gungwi.’
Especially when she works, she doesn’t look back—they’re like two peas in a pod.
“In any case, her skills are truly impressive. Thanks to her, the trading guild members have had their lives saved countless times.”
“The way you call her by a pet name…?”
“She resembles our Yeong when she was young, so we’ve grown quite fond of her.”
Did Gongseon Yeong also bring back an enemy’s head in a salt box?
I squeezed my eyes shut.
Since reading the Records of the Three Kingdoms long ago, I never thought I’d hear such stories again.
The three of us chatted away, drinking tea as we shared accumulated stories. As time passed.
It was time to move to the main topic.
“Now that I think about it, why Jade Green instead of Ondol?”
Ondol is architecture, while Jade Green is at best a board game.
The amounts of money involved are different.
I naturally thought the Gongseon Trading Guild would bid on Ondol as well, but they only touched Jade Green.
Gongseon Hyeon spoke.
“Architecture isn’t bad. But when I thought about repairs, expansions, and renovations for people living in those houses across generations, it gave me a headache. I judged that the Gongseon Trading Guild should focus on selling stable, modest items rather than expansion at this time.”
People of this era didn’t build houses carelessly.
It was an age where once you built a house, you naturally lived in it until death.
It seemed Gongseon Hyeon had considered that aspect as well.
She spoke.
“Moreover, since our Gongseon Trading Guild isn’t connected to a courier bureau, moving such heavy materials would incur significant costs.”
It seemed various calculations were involved.
Gongseon Hyeon spoke.
“In that sense, Bota Courier Bureau and Bota Trading Guild’s interest in Ondol is a good choice. I heard the guild master is someone named Gong Ban-ha, and she’s quite skilled. She’ll make for a worthy competitor.”
In the Gongseon Family’s language, “competitor” translates to “guard your neck well.”
Trading guild competition is a battlefield with everything except swords.
Actually, swords are used too. Quite a lot.
Still, the Bota Trading Guild is merely a newborn babe born from the Yunlong Courier Bureau.
It’s not at the level of facing the Gongseon Trading Guild head-on.
At most, it would only serve as a reminder to remember this.
“In contrast, the Qingyu tiles are easy to produce since we can hire craftsmen readily, and as long as bamboo supply remains steady, we can keep manufacturing them. Moreover, the sect leaders of major martial factions prefer pieces made from jade or black stone rather than bamboo, so if we carve them to order, that would generate additional profit. And furthermore…”
Gongseon Hyeon’s eyes gleamed with light.
“I found it quite entertaining when I tried it myself.”
“Wow, you actually tried it?”
“I gave it a go when I came to the Baekrin Medical Guild’s Bunta branch. Time simply flew by. No matter how much I thought about it, there was one part that kept getting overturned by a single tile card.”
Gongseon Yeong grinned widely.
“I was luckier than my sister.”
The Taiyang physique’s smile was far too bright.
Jin Cheon-hee spoke.
“The profit margin is thirty percent.”
“Exclusive rights?”
“Yes. In exchange, we’ll publish how to use the tile cards in the Medical Journal, and the Medical Guild’s Bunta branch will continue purchasing them steadily.”
The craftsmen here were medical specialists, not tile card specialists.
Though they had produced several Qingyu tiles upon Jin Cheon-hee’s commission, the expertise for such work would be better handled by craftsmen belonging to the Gongseon Trading Guild.
“That sounds like a favorable transaction.”
With those words, I bit into a dried persimmon.
“It’s sweeter than I expected?”
“I made it according to your taste, Master.”
Since meeting Jin Cheon-hee, I had developed a particular fondness for sweet things.
Naturally, such refreshments began arriving only in sweet varieties, and the sugar content of dried persimmons became important.
“…Delicious.”
I should take a few more with me on the way back.
* * *
“Is that so? You made such a transaction?”
My Master’s eyes sparkled brilliantly.
Jin Cheon-hee explained to my Master the details of the transaction, what would be published in the Medical Journal, and how the work would proceed at the regional branches.
Jegalling spoke.
“Indeed, with such a transaction, there’s nothing for us to lose. Truly our Hee. Your medical skills are unparalleled under heaven, yet you possess commercial talent as well.”
At those words, Jin Cheon-hee’s face flushed. As expected, Jegalling continued.
“We must publish this in the Medical Journal at once! Think about it—the martial world is full of sword-wielders like grains of sand, but talented individuals capable of managing and leading a sect are rare!”
It seemed my eight-prohibition restraint was about to run wild again.
Jin Cheon-hee hurriedly tried to dissuade me.
“Once the trading guild moves, everyone will know anyway. Besides, when we publish in the Medical Journal how to use fake ondol, we’ll also warn about what dangers might arise, so it should be fine.”
Would that work?
My Master fell into thought before speaking.
“Sigh, what a pity. It would have been a grand opportunity to boast about my disciple to the other sect leaders.”
That was true.
I was still “my Master’s friend’s disciple.”
It was a position comparable to Korea’s “my mother’s friend’s son.”
‘I heard about it later, but Namgung Un apparently got scolded terribly because of me.’
-Seo Baek-ryong, disciple of Baek Rin-ui-seon, has already achieved the Hyeop realm at that age!
-Seo Baek-ryong’s inner energy has reached a full Gapja at his age, or so the letter stated!
…Fortunately, my Master hadn’t been spreading this Gapja business around elsewhere.
If the Namgung Family Head found out, Namgung Un would face another round of nagging.
I was unintentionally burdening the later generation of the martial world.
Except for Dang-a, that is.
-Yes, our Dang-a. How remarkable… the champion of the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering…!
-D, Dang-a. Rather than that, wouldn’t it be better to breathe some fresher air?
-Dang-a. Blood, sealing… we are the righteous path. Dang-a. You may feel that way now, but when you grow up….
-Dying before turning twenty! Where does such talk come from! The Dang Family has no such demonic art!
-The seal of the Black Flame Dragon is breaking. I want to stop you from shouting that in the middle of the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering.
-If you really must, just say it quietly like a technique name….
-No, of course I’m on Dang-a’s side. But… Father… he… tried it… so.
-Dang-a. Father tried it too. But it wasn’t very good. Dang-a.
…Reconstructing the rumors in modern terms, roughly these were the stories circulating.
The Dang Family was famous for doting terribly on their descendants, and whether on Earth or in the martial world, people lived the same way.
Hyeolpyeon-wang Dang-a was thoroughly enjoying her turbulent youth.
Because of this, the Dang Family had no energy to drag me along and compare me with Dang-a.
They were already overwhelmed just controlling their daughter’s Black Flame Dragon, conceived during adolescence.
Regardless, my ondol and jade began spreading throughout the martial world.
Whether the Bota Trading Guild and Gongseon Trading Guild would profit remained to be seen.
I decided not to be too greedy.
‘Still, it should sell more than soap did.’
I simply hoped to recover the losses from the failed soap business.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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