The Physician of Traditional Medicine Returns from Murim - Chapter 141

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 141

I connected to the video conference.

This was the first time I was creating a room for a purpose other than studies or operational meetings with the Seongsoo Oriental Medicine Clinic branch directors.

We decide on additional medication or treatment termination after result consultations on a monthly basis, but since Paolo and his guardian would have already returned to their country by this time, it was an unavoidable decision.

We couldn’t include an interpreter on a phone call either.

Min Jeong-eun and I opened the meeting room 30 minutes before the scheduled time.

The purpose wasn’t to make full preparations for a VIP…

I had something to discuss with her as well.

“Clinic Director, I found it!”

Min Jeong-eun’s face was very bright from the moment we exchanged greetings.

If she said she found it, it could only be the cause of her diarrhea.

For the first two weeks, she experimented with flour. She tried consuming flour after cutting out all the suspicious foods I had mentioned. Bread, rice cakes, noodles, even spaghetti noodles.

But her intestines showed no reaction whatsoever.

“It’s not flour…?”

She had been convinced that if food was the problem, it would be flour, so she was very confused.

Were the spaghetti noodles sold in South Korea different from those in Italy?

That was possible, but I prioritized the possibility that other foods were the cause.

And this week, I instructed her to stop eating flour and try milk instead.

“When I drank milk, my stomach started gurgling from the very next day! If it weren’t for the medicine you gave me, Clinic Director, I would have suffered for days! After the diarrhea subsided, I immediately tried cheese, and it was the same. Even when I made risotto without noodles, it was exactly the same!”

“You can stop experimenting now. It’s definitely dairy products.”

Min Jeong-eun, who had been extremely distressed thinking she might have to give up flour forever, fortunately found the right answer on her second attempt.

To think she tried it three times, even though she had gotten used to diarrhea.

“But that’s surprising. Since they give milk for school lunch in South Korea, people usually know if dairy products are the problem.”

“Oh, I originally hated milk so I didn’t know! I used to collect the school lunch milk for a week and use it for bathing. I don’t dislike cheese, but when I was in South Korea, I only ate it occasionally, so the diarrhea probably wasn’t that frequent.”

“I see. Unfortunately, cheese is…”

“I’m so relieved it’s not flour. Rather than not being able to eat both bread and noodles, I’d rather live with diarrhea for the rest of my life!”

Min Jeong-eun smiled brightly.

I had a lot to say about the dangers of seemingly mild diarrhea, but since she seemed willing to give up cheese, I didn’t bother adding more.

“Right. It’s fortunate that flour isn’t the problem. As for cheese… can you make pizza without cheese?”

“Of course! There are so many different recipes. It’s just a shame that I can’t make my husband eat pineapple pizza anymore. Should I try putting it on tortillas?”

“Ah.”

“My husband heard the story and said he’d try to expand his tomato and oil pasta recipes, so we’ll be able to eat various things!”

“That’s fortunate.”

“But Clinic Director, I have lactose intolerance, right? Separate from my constitution?”

Lactose intolerance.

Since milk doesn’t agree with her, that would be the first thing to come to mind.

It’s a condition where the body doesn’t produce lactose-breaking enzymes well, and many people who get diarrhea just from drinking milk fall into this category.

“Hmm, seeing that you can’t handle cheese at all either, it might be different from lactose intolerance. If you want a definitive diagnosis, you could try a lactose tolerance test or stool acidity test…”

But when processed into cheese or yogurt, much of the lactose disappears, so there are often no problems.

Then milk allergy? If it’s mild, it might only cause diarrhea, but there should have been skin symptoms at least a few times.

“There are often cases where people can’t eat something even when tests show nothing. If it is lactose intolerance, it would be okay to gradually increase the amount, but I recommend blocking it as much as possible.”

“Oh, yes. I wonder if there are other foods that don’t agree with me…”

“I’ll send you a file about foods that suit and don’t suit people with Soeumin constitution. From what I can see, Min Jeong-eun, you don’t have an extremely biased constitution, so you don’t need to follow it strictly.”

“Yes, thank you!”

It seemed she was very interested in constitution, separate from her current diarrhea symptoms.

Should I have sent her to Branch 4 after all? When it comes to constitutional consultation, they would have become experts by now.

While talking about Min Jeong-eun and her husband’s constitutions, Chairman Rich knocked on the door.

Of course, that meant he had requested to join the video conference.

“Oh, you’re here right on time.”

“Oh my, I took up too much of your time, Clinic Director. I’ll accept the invitation right away. Thank you so much! If it weren’t for you, Clinic Director, I would have been blaming innocent flour!”

Min Jeong-eun rattled off her thanks and then clicked to accept the invitation.

Soon, Paolo and his father’s faces appeared on the screen.

“Paolo, hello~ Chairman, hello~”

And there was one more person.

A blonde middle-aged woman. She seemed to be Paolo’s mother.

As soon as I thought that, she smiled brightly and waved her hand.

Not only her, but Chairman Rich’s face was also very bright.

From their reactions, there seemed to have been significant improvement.

Tics during adolescence that haven’t been around long often improve within a month or two.

“Nice to meet you, I’m Paolo’s mother! Thanks to you, my son’s illness has completely healed, she says.”

So she was indeed the mother. Had he recovered 100%?

While Paolo’s mother and Min Jeong-eun took turns speaking, I caught Chairman Rich’s lips moving about 20 times.

Sensing the crisis that he might let out a roar about how much better his son had gotten, I smiled and lowered the volume.

Click.

But Chairman Rich was just smiling, and Paolo’s microphone turned on.

“Thanks to the Korean Medicine Doctor, my head nodding got better. Thank you very much.”

“…!”

And he spoke clearly in Korean.

It wasn’t like other foreigners who pronounce it as “kamsahamnida.”

“Oh my, did you prepare this in advance? Did you practice?”

“Thank you so much. I wanted to say it myself.”

Paolo smiled shyly.

Wow, he’s so adorable.

Seeing this doll-like child speak so clearly made my heart melt naturally.

“My, you’re so mature. The doctor is grateful that you said this too.”

Paolo giggled after hearing my words translated.

Does he know how he looks?

No, he’s not one of the Tang Family kids! I shouldn’t feel sorry for overlapping those strange fellows with an innocent child.

I composed myself and.

“Please ask if he’s 100% recovered, or if the initial state was 100, how much of the symptoms remain.”

I fulfilled my duty as a doctor.

When I checked through Min Jeong-eun, a very positive answer came back.

“He says about 5% remains. Once every day or two, when he’s conscious of not doing it, he might nod, but the symptoms where he felt like he’d go crazy if he didn’t do it like before have disappeared.”

“He’s definitely caught the flow. That’s really fortunate.”

Though I had expected this, seeing happy patients made me incredibly joyful every single time as well.

“I can’t check his pulse, but just looking at his face, the tension seems to have eased. The liver qi stagnation I mentioned last time, the blocked wood qi has been sufficiently cleared. It would be good to take medicine for one more month that can guide and nurture the fire qi in the right direction, calming the spirit so it doesn’t boil up recklessly.”

Only then did Chairman Ricci open his mouth that had been itching to speak.

“Oh, of course I’ll do that!”

…Turning up the volume to hear Paolo’s voice was a mistake.

I flinched and pulled my face away from the monitor.

“Taking medicine might be troublesome, but let’s hang in there for just one more month.”

Paolo continued to smile even after hearing my words.

“He says it’s not bothersome at all, and thanks to it, he can read books well too.”

“Is he exercising well too?”

Paolo nodded.

“He says he walks and runs while taking walks, and he’ll try to gradually increase his running time.”

“Excellent. Just continue managing well as you have been. There weren’t any particular problems in the last examination, but please let me know if any changes appear.”

Both Paolo and Chairman Ricci said there weren’t any.

Then I had already decided what medicine to use.

The medication instructions… I should leave that to An Juhui. Last time when I asked her to write using the five elements, she wrote it perfectly like some martial arts manual.

“If there are no other questions, I’ll wrap up today’s consultation.”

Paolo quietly nodded.

Chairman Ricci smiled brightly and said something lengthy.

It must be praise or words of encouragement. It could also be praise for Eastern medicine.

I calmly waited for his words to end.

But Min Jeong-eun’s interpretation was far beyond my expectations.

“Chairman Ricci says he’s really grateful, and if you ever come to Europe, you can stay at Ricci Hotel anytime. He says he’ll manage you as a VVIP.”

Huh?

“That, the hotel in Italy?”

“No. All of Europe. There are probably about 300 branches.”

“…”

What?

“He also sent other gifts by international delivery, and said he’ll contact you often from now on. Also, if you ever come to Rome, please contact him, and he gave you his personal number. He doesn’t need to deliberately adjust his schedule, but if he’s not on a business trip, he’d like to meet and greet you in person…”

No, wait a minute.

I haven’t even accepted the free hotel accommodation yet.

300? How many is that? I can’t even grasp it.

Does that mean they’re in all the major cities in Europe, not just Italy?

That means I could travel around Europe almost for free, right?

“Ah, yes. I don’t know when I’ll go, but… I’ll definitely greet you.”

I’ve received various gifts in return.

There was even a merchant who offered me gold bars.

So I was relatively composed when I received the painting, but this kind of gift was a first.

Even when I treated the Martial Arts Alliance Leader’s son, I only received a bunch of useless recruitment offers!

Min Jeong-eun passed me the contact information Chairman Ricci had given.

“I can’t go anywhere in Europe, but if you travel and stop by Rome, I’ll guide you around Rome and the Vatican!”

Moreover, even she promised to meet again next time.

The video conference ended shortly after.

But my pounding heart didn’t stop.

‘Travel, huh.’

Of course, it wasn’t in my plans at all.

To go to Europe, I’d need to clear at least a week, right? With patients pouring in looking for me every day, how could I be away for more than a week?

…I would have thought just a few months ago.

But now I had Lee Ahreum.

I couldn’t bring myself to ask Hwang Sanghun to work more than a week without any days off.

But if the two of them took turns covering for me?

Wouldn’t it be okay to go on a trip at least once?

They even said they’d let me use the hotel for free…!

So the next day.

I tried to subtly sound out the two of them.

If they seemed like it would be too difficult, I’d postpone it for later, yeah.

“Hanyewon, could you spare me a moment?”

“Sure. What’s up?”

But Hwang Sanghun beat me to it.

“Could I use some vacation days the week after next, taking Thursday and Friday off?”

Since he normally rested on Wednesdays and Saturdays, it meant he was planning to go somewhere for 3 nights and 4 days.

“Oh, of course! Where are you going to have fun?”

This was the first time Hwang Sanghun had used consecutive vacation days like this.

No, he’d never used them for the purpose of resting at all, had he?

Every time he said he was going to continuing education or to attend some conference lecture.

But he shook his head bitterly.

“This year I want to visit my grandmother’s grave on her death anniversary.”

“Ah…. Of course, of course. Have a good trip! Whatever the reason, it’s perfectly fine!”

He said he’d cut ties with his parents and grandfather, but his deceased grandmother would be different.

I comforted Hwang Sanghun and told him he could freely use vacation days anytime. I said it would be good for him to rest completely and meet friends in Seoul too.

* * *

And 2 weeks later.

We decided that Lee Ahreum and I would handle consultations on Thursday, and I would handle them alone on Friday.

“Clinic Director, you don’t need to come in…! Or I’ll come in on Friday too!”

Lee Ahreum fretted unnecessarily, but she and I had different speeds when it came to acupuncture.

I could handle seeing twice as many patients on Friday, but Lee Ahreum right now would struggle even just doing acupuncture without saying a word, right?

“No. It wouldn’t be right for Director Lee to have a harder time because of Director Hwang’s vacation. I should be finding someone else to help, but since I’m working, there’s nothing to worry about at all. Director Lee, feel free to use vacation days whenever you want too!”

“I’m sorry…! I’ll practice getting faster so you can trust and rely on me…!”

It’s really okay though.

It’s just that I do acupuncture too quickly; Lee Ahreum wasn’t particularly slow either.

Anyway, I came to work on Thursday.

I held consultations on the 4th floor to respond immediately in case there were any patients who might cause trouble looking for Hwang Sanghun.

What’s troublesome to some becomes very loyal customers elsewhere, and Hwang Sanghun had a remarkable ability to attract such people.

Patients like the Four Kings grandmothers who came to the clinic 5 days a week naturally checked the vacation notice and didn’t visit.

“Ah… Director Hwang Sanghun isn’t here?”

But patients who came through referrals might miss it if they didn’t check the blog or Instagram.

I heard a voice in the waiting room pondering after being told Hwang Sanghun wasn’t there.

“Let’s just get treatment from the doctor who’s here today and see that doctor again when he comes back. Mom, my arm really hurts.”

“Tsk, fine.”

It seemed they decided to register.

Shortly after, the chart showed a young boy’s name and age of 14.

He entered the examination room with his mother, who looked somewhat difficult.

“Please sit over here.”

When I seated the patient in the chair in front of me, the guardian naturally sat on the sofa placed behind him.

She looked me up and down, then crossed her legs as if displeased.

And she said.

“My son does archery. He says his arm hurts.”

Whew, I could make it as a physiognomist!

I was right to come in today after all.

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