The Physician of Traditional Medicine Returns from Murim - Chapter 136

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

Chapter 136

“…So, I think pulse diagnosis is extremely important in distinguishing between deficiency and excess patterns.”

– Oh, there are definitely many parts we can utilize!

– Thank you for today’s study session as well!

A study session conducted via video conference, where all the Network Branches directors gathered.

Although I always said that everyone didn’t necessarily need to attend, it was a peculiar gathering where no one had ever missed it without unavoidable circumstances.

“Oh right, I was thinking of combining that manual with our study materials to organize them into a book. Would that be okay?”

As soon as the study session ended, I brought up the matter I had been considering.

– That sounds great.

– I don’t mind.

– Are you planning to organize it all by yourself, Clinic Director?

Fortunately, Hwang Sanghun, Kim Chunsik, and Chu Miyoung, who had attended since the early days and contributed a lot, nodded their heads.

– !

Lee Ahreum also clapped her hands with sparkling eyes from beyond the screen.

I gave you all the manuals, didn’t I? You don’t need to covet the study materials so much either – I was obviously going to share 100% of everything within the network anyway.

I answered Chu Miyoung’s question first.

“That’s right.”

– I’ll help you!

“Oh, I’d be grateful if you help, but you’re busy so you don’t need to push yourself. The materials are already good. I won’t forget to include everyone as co-authors.”

– Come on, you’re the busiest one, Clinic Director! Please let me help!

– I’ll join in too.

– I might not be much help, but… I can do things like layout design and arrangement! Let me know if you need illustrations too!

Huh? I didn’t expect so many people to voluntarily offer to help.

Chu Miyoung and Hwang Sanghun were one thing, but even Lee Ahreum stepped forward saying she wanted to help with anything.

She must be busy enough just adapting to her own work.

Hmm, it wouldn’t be polite to decline too much, would it?

“Thank you all. Director Lee, please help slowly once you’ve adapted. It’ll take quite a while to organize the manuscript anyway.”

– Yes!

“You all worked hard today. Nothing particular happened, right?”

We had the study session, and I had also taken care of the matter I wanted to discuss at this meeting.

It wouldn’t matter much to end it now, but everyone seemed reluctant as if no one was thinking of disbanding.

– About Ms. Shin Heejoo that I referred last time. She visited our clinic once and her complexion had improved so much! She said her menstruation, which had stopped, started again too!

Then Chu Miyoung brought up the name of a patient who had been quite a headache for a while, as if she had been waiting for this moment.

It was the patient who, after much deliberation, she had referred to me for eating disorder treatment.

Since Daegu is close, she must have stopped by for treatment.

“That’s really fortunate.”

– Divine Physician, could you also teach me how to persuade patients who lack insight next time? If that patient had come to me, I might have broken my seal and scolded her…

“That’s not really my specialty either, but if you want, I can tell you the method I used.”

– Ah, thank you. …That’s right! I have a concern too. Do you remember the patient I treated last time? Cheonwon-il. That gentleman wants to give me a painting as a gift, but I’m not sure if I should accept it.

Hmm? Isn’t this bragging rather than a concern?

Ahem, I received one too, you know?

“Is there a reason you shouldn’t? We’re not civil servants or anything.”

– He might just casually draw it, but it’s burdensome when he’s offering something that sells for so much money.

“Ah?”

I paused while chatting with Kim Chunsik.

Right.

Even if Seong Myeongin was a newcomer, Cheonwon-il was a very famous painter, wasn’t he?

“…This is serious. I already said yes right away.”

– He said he’d give one to you too, Divine Physician? Then I feel a bit more at ease.

No, shouldn’t I decline too?

When Grandmother Heo Sunnam asked if it would be okay to give me a gift, I naturally said yes!

She said she’d load it in the car when coming up to Seoul this time, and I told her to go ahead.

I didn’t think about it at all, did I?

– How are things at Branch 4~?

While my head was complicated with thoughts about the painting, Chu Miyoung changed the topic.

Come to think of it, is it going well? The SNS is running well, and the sales seem fine since the franchise fees coming in are the highest among other branches… I wonder if there’s any profit left.

– Haha…

When his story came up, Yu Gyeonghun, who had been unusually quiet today, let out a sigh.

“Do you have some concerns too, Director Yu? Are you not getting as many patients as you expected?”

The answer came from Jeon Minji.

– Local patients have increased quite a bit too. But there are way more tourists than expected. These days, Chinese and Japanese people come too, you know?

– You’re paying the general rate, right?

– Travelers can’t use health insurance anyway, so of course. We’re charging a flat rate of 50,000 won for constitution examination and 10-minute consultation, and 50,000 won for acupuncture, but there are still too many!

“Oh, really?”

There are foreigners willing to pay 100,000 won just for consultation and treatment…?

I mean, people do tend to spend money freely when traveling abroad, but that’s still expensive.

Then again, opportunities to get health consultations from Cheonma probably aren’t common.

– That must be quite troublesome, right? It’s not like you can just turn them away.

Kim Chunsik tried to empathize with their predicament.

– So I’m wondering if I should learn Chinese.

– …?

Yu Gyeonghun’s concern was something entirely different.

– Minji knows a little Japanese, but we’re both complete beginners when it comes to Chinese. These aren’t just casual tourists – they’re all seriously seeking consultations, and I feel bad that half our time gets eaten up by guide translations every time. But we don’t know how long Chinese visitors will keep coming in such numbers…

Ah.

So that’s what it was. Okay, I understand.

“Learning it wouldn’t hurt.”

– Heh, hehe… Is everything alright at the main branch?

“Well, nothing particular on our end.”

– We’re still adapting to the new system. Nothing special seems to be happening.

– You’re busy teaching me! Huk, I’ll work hard!

“Oh, there is one unusual patient. Someone asking for prenatal tonic medicine.”

It wasn’t exactly special news, but since we often share cases, I brought up the patient I remembered.

As expected, Kim Chunsik’s eyes lit up.

– Oh! That’s rare these days, how nice. Maybe one or two a year at most. In the old days, pregnant women used to prepare bulsusan in advance.

“One or two a year? This is my first since opening the clinic.”

– There was a prenatal tonic patient? I didn’t know since we don’t see them much these days. Who referred them?

Hwang Sanghun also asked with curiosity.

“Oh, a friend of actress Park Seseun, but she hasn’t come yet. She said she’d come next Monday?”

– A friend of actress Park Seseun? Is she a celebrity? Should we clear the 3rd floor… What’s her name?

“I think it was Nam Hyeonjeong. There was no such request though.”

Even if there was, clearing an entire floor’s waiting room during clinic hours would be a bit much.

Unless we charged extra and saw her after clinic hours entirely.

-?!

-?

-?

-????

But everyone’s jaws dropped.

Their faces seemed to say ‘What did you say?’

Ah, I really need to study up on celebrities!

I turned on my phone and searched the name.

“KR Hotel Vice President? KR… Korean Air?”

A second-generation chaebol from a major conglomerate owning multiple hotels and airlines popped up.

– Is it really that Nam Hyeonjeong? It’s a common name, so it’s not someone with the same name, right?

Lee Ahreum’s eyes trembled.

Anyone else making the referral would naturally think that way.

“The person who referred her is also a chaebol.”

Since she said she was Park Seseun’s friend, this must be the right person.

* * *

Monday.

The very Nam Hyeonjeong who appeared in the portal search results entered the examination room exactly at the time she mentioned she would visit.

“Hello!”

“Hello. Seseoni referred me.”

I greeted the patient brightly as always, but the patient’s expression was stiff as could be.

She was a woman who looked like she’d stepped right out of an ID photo.

Maybe because she was wearing a black dress, she seemed even paler than in the photos.

“I had given up on having a child, but suddenly got pregnant, so I’m happy but also worried since I’m having a late pregnancy.”

She expressed emotions with words, but her face didn’t move a muscle.

Late pregnancy? Checking the chart, she was 40 years old. Even considering today’s trend of later first pregnancies, it could indeed be called a late pregnancy.

“You must have had a hard time coming all the way here in your final trimester.”

I was about to ask how she got to Busan, but stopped myself.

How much could distance matter to someone who owns airplanes?

“You should come. Still, I’ll need to check your pulse.”

Nam Hyeonjeong smoothly extended her hand.

Hmm, she was the type who wanted her pulse checked right away.

I briefly closed my eyes and felt her pulse.

As I had mentioned last weekend, there’s quite a bit of information you can gather from the pulse.

“It’s a slow pulse. It’s soft and regular, but a bit slow.”

“Is there no major problem?”

“Normally, that would be the case. It’s a pulse that appears when you’re healthy or the illness isn’t severe, when your energy is insufficient. But during pregnancy, a characteristic fetal pulse should appear. It’s a slippery pulse that doesn’t break even when pressed hard and bounces energetically. This happens because the baby settles in the uterus and creates pressure.”

“Oh my.”

“Your energy is very, very insufficient. Do you subjectively feel severe fatigue as well? You look fine on the outside though.”

Only then did the corners of Nam Hyeonjeong’s mouth slightly rise.

“I do feel that way. I’ve delegated as much work as possible, but since I’m the person in charge, I can’t rest completely.”

“You’ve been working until now at 9 months? You absolutely need to rest!”

“I’m only handling essential work from home.”

“Oh dear… I see. Please get as much bed rest as possible. It would be better to prescribe something that greatly tonifies your energy, more than typical prenatal supplements.”

“Please do that. I have no strength in my arms and legs at all.”

A state of qi and blood deficiency due to overwork.

Even normally, the birthing process consumes a lot of energy and causes significant blood loss, but to have such clear deficiency symptoms from before pregnancy.

I wanted to lecture her a bit, but she didn’t seem like someone who would listen.

It wasn’t at a dangerous level, so I should leave it at this.

I spoke about the parts I could help with through medicine.

“There are standard prescriptions for prenatal supplements. Dalsensan and Bulsusan, have you heard of them?”

“Yes. My mother and aunts also took those, and I heard that Dalsensan especially shortens labor time significantly for first-time mothers.”

Dalsensan, also called Chuktaeum, is a prescription whose name itself means medicine for smooth and quick delivery, taken in the last month of pregnancy.

Its main purpose is to strengthen qi and blood while reducing swelling in both mother and fetus.

It goes without saying that sufficient qi and blood are needed to exert strength, and it’s also a helpful prescription for preventing the birth canal from narrowing due to fat and edema, and for reducing swelling in the fetus whose body is bloated in the amniotic fluid.

“You’ve already researched quite a lot before coming?”

I had looked it up beforehand thinking an explanation might be needed, and there was even research showing that first-time mothers who took Dalsensan had an average labor time of 4 hours and 22 minutes compared to the Korean first-time mother average of 7 hours and 15 minutes.

“My mother emphasized that I must take it. I also want to avoid difficult labor if possible. Is my constitution suitable for taking both Dalsensan and Bulsusan?”

“Childbirth greatly depletes qi and blood even for mothers overflowing with energy, so there’s no constitution that particularly doesn’t suit it. We use the basic formula and make additions and subtractions from there.”

Nam Hyeonjeong nodded.

“What about Dannokyongtang? I heard Korean medicine doctors take this more than Bulsusan.”

Then she brought up the name of another prescription.

She really had researched a lot before coming.

“Bulsusan is a medicine composed of angelica and cnidium that facilitates uterine contractions, and Dannokyongtang is medicine that steeps deer antler very thickly to give you explosive strength. You need both. It’s not about choosing one or the other. I was going to recommend adding a lot of deer antler to Bulsusan anyway.”

Bulsusan means being well cared for as if Buddha is pushing with his hands, and it’s a representative famous medicine for helping smooth delivery.

And Dannokyongtang, as the name suggests, is originally medicine that steeps only deer antler. You drink in one dose the amount that would normally go into five days’ worth of regular prescription, greatly boosting your energy.

“What I most recommend is preparing medicine with increased amounts of ginseng and atractylodes plus deer antler added to Dalsensan first, then taking Bulsusan with deer antler. You have no appetite either, right?”

“…Yes. Seseoni ate throughout her entire pregnancy, but nothing appeals to me at all.”

“We definitely need to increase the amounts. I’ll help you build up as much energy as possible before delivery. The issue is that the cost varies depending on how much deer antler we put in.”

I took out the herbal medicine cost guide.

Generally, I don’t charge different amounts considering the unit cost of medicinal materials, but deer antler is a different story.

The raw material cost is too expensive and prices vary depending on the part – whether it’s the tip, upper section, etc. – so I have no choice but to charge different amounts.

So I would make recommendations, but if the cost was burdensome, I would proceed with less deer antler.

“Don’t worry about money and please prepare the best medicine.”

But Nam Hyeonjeong didn’t even look at the chart.

With the same expressionless face as when she started the consultation, she calmly waved her hand.

Ah, right, she was a chaebol.

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