The Physician of Traditional Medicine Returns from Murim - Chapter 148

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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 148

I entered Yongho Restaurant with Lee Ahreum.

“Wow, so this is where you have dinner, Clinic Director?”

It looked like an ordinary Chinese restaurant on the outside, but Ahreum seemed fascinated as she looked around the establishment.

“I drop by often. The owner here used to receive treatment at our traditional Korean medicine clinic.”

“Ah!”

“They also sell some rather unique dishes.”

I had said we were going to eat jjajangmyeon, but that was just an expression for going to a Chinese restaurant.

In fact, I hadn’t eaten jjajangmyeon here that many times.

The noodles you could only get here tasted remarkably similar to those from Jinhua Guesthouse, which had been my regular spot in Sichuan Chengdu.

– Waiter, bamboo leaf liquor, noodles, and a plate of dumplings please.

That’s what I had said when I first came to visit Yongho Restaurant.

Of course, not to Jin Yongho, but to Jin Yunho.

He frequently visited his father’s restaurant and was sitting at the counter, and he was very happy to see me.

– Yes, miss! Here’s your order!

I hadn’t expected Jin Yongho to actually make noodles for me.

And they were delicious too.

Different from the noodles commonly eaten in South Korea.

Also different from the bland noodles you could get at any random inn in the martial arts world.

Exactly! The ones I loved! Jinhua Guesthouse’s noodles!

Didn’t they have that distinctive spicy flavor?

‘Come to think of it, I owed them quite a lot…’

I had become close with the cook there while treating him.

Though what I did for him wasn’t much.

After all, it wasn’t a chronic condition commonly experienced by chefs like Jin Yongho, but a stab wound from a blade.

No, the cook at the inn I frequented was actually a powerhouse who had once made a name for himself in the martial arts world.

He had declared his retirement and was living happily doing the cooking he loved, but had unwillingly gotten caught up in past grudges.

Since it was quite a deep sword wound, I tried to move him to the medical institute to stitch it up, but he stubbornly refused to enter Dangjia Hall.

Even if I couldn’t perform brain surgery by opening the skull like Hua Tuo in Romance of the Three Kingdoms, I could at least suture stab wounds.

I was rather unusual for mainly treating outsiders’ ailments, as the physicians there were originally trained for treating martial artists’ external injuries and researching poisons.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the Sichuan Dang Family’s Medical Institute was more skilled at treating external injuries than anywhere else in the Central Plains… He must have had some grudge against the Dang Family too.

Anyway, I made do by disinfecting and sprinkling wound medicine on it.

Fortunately, with the excellent recovery ability befitting a martial artist, he recovered in just a few days.

And through that incident, we became close and he would make dishes I requested.

After eating only Sichuan cuisine for several years, I wanted to eat something like kimchi stew.

“Wow, there are so many unique menu items?”

Ahreum said.

Over there I had looked for Korean food, but now that I was back in modern times, I craved Sichuan cuisine again.

And Jin Yongho was the perfect chef to satisfy my mixed culinary preferences.

Because he had put Korean-style Chinese dishes like jjajangmyeon, jjamppong, dumplings, and sweet and sour pork on the menu, as well as Chinese dishes he personally researched.

“Right? That’s why I come here often.”

“Haha, I’m really happy that you like it, Clinic Director. There aren’t as many customers as I thought there would be.”

“Oh… Don’t Chinese people come?”

“Mostly Chinese people visit. But actually, I thought martial arts cuisine enthusiast customers like me would come occasionally.”

Jin Yongho said sheepishly.

Even if people like martial arts novels, there aren’t many who would specifically seek out the cuisine.

Unless they commit fully to the concept with costumes and interior design like our Branch 4 clinic directors.

“Still, since you’ve honed these skills, you wouldn’t have to worry even if you got transported into a martial arts novel. Within 3 years you could rise to become the head chef of Chengdu’s finest inn, and in 10 years you could open your own shop and build a building.”

“Hahaha! Just hearing about it is exciting!”

Jin Yongho played along with me.

“Transported? Do you mean the kind of possession I know…? Like being possessed by a ghost?”

But Ahreum tilted her head, not understanding what I was talking about.

Ah, such an innocent mind!

“Th-there are novels like that. Where modern people cross over to the martial arts world and learn martial arts while utilizing modern knowledge…”

Why is this so embarrassing to explain?

I was just going to say there are things like that and move on.

“I’ll study them!”

“No, please don’t.”

Ahreum’s burning passion got fixated on something strange.

That’s not it. You don’t need to study that. Let’s pretend you didn’t hear it.

“Sister, are you going to get into martial arts?”

But suddenly Jin Yunho butted in and spoke to Ahreum.

He seemed to have come out from the room attached to the kitchen after hearing my voice.

“For beginners, you should definitely start with orthodox martial arts. The Legend of the Condor Heroes…”

“No, I’m not getting into it.”

“No, that’s too old and would be hard to read now. Definitely Return of Mount Hua…”

“No, nobody’s going to start practicing! Clinic Director, really, you don’t need to bother reading it.”

How many times did he say “no”?

I barely managed to stop the Jin father and son from saying strange things.

“Come to think of it, this is the first time I’m meeting you today. You probably don’t know anything about martial arts novels, and haven’t tried much Chinese food either?”

Seo Inae had been around since Jin Yongho was receiving treatment, and had come with other staff members several times.

This was the first time she came with Lee Ahreum.

“Yes, she’s our Vice Director. She worked really hard doing chuna therapy today, so I brought her here to treat her to something delicious. So don’t make her feel burdened!”

I playfully made an X with both arms.

“Just order something ordinary. The black bean noodles here are delicious, and the chili shrimp is good too.”

I recommended menu choices to Lee Ahreum.

“What are you having, Clinic Director?”

“I’m having…”

Though I wasn’t going to eat black bean noodles.

“I called you here to try the newly revised fish-flavored pork.”

“Yes. I was planning to have fish-flavored pork and thin noodles. But don’t worry about me.”

“Ah, I see.”

Lee Ahreum looked at the menu for a long time, using my choice as reference.

“I’ll try the twice-cooked pork.”

Then she mentioned a Sichuan dish.

“You could just have black bean noodles…”

“I want to try something I haven’t had before!”

I said it was fine once more, but Lee Ahreum was firm.

Hmm, twice-cooked pork should be okay, right? It’s pork stir-fried with vegetables, and the seasoning is mild.

“Oh, excellent choice.”

But the chef wasn’t mild.

“Twice-cooked pork, the name is unique, isn’t it? It’s pork that’s boiled once, then put back in the pot and stir-fried. It got that name because the meat returned to the pot.”

“Ooh, that’s interesting!”

“They used to hold Ancestral Rites with boiled pork, and when the rites ended, everything would be cold, so they’d stir-fry it with vegetables. But twice-cooked pork sold abroad doesn’t boil the pork first and just stir-fries it directly, so that distinctive flavor doesn’t come through well.”

“Wow, so you cook it the traditional way?”

“Of course. You have to stir-fry the vegetables with the oil that comes out when boiling the pork.”

Jin Yongho was very excited by Lee Ahreum’s enthusiastic responses and talked about twice-cooked pork and fish-flavored pork.

Even I, who had eaten twice-cooked pork countless times, was hearing this story for the first time.

Master had occasionally made it for me and I’d often ordered it at inns, but I’d never heard such stories.

“Here we have fish-flavored pork, twice-cooked pork, and thin noodles!”

“Thank you for the meal!”

The food came out shortly after.

Thinking we might have ordered too much meat, I took a bite of the fish-flavored pork.

“Oh.”

The sourness of what was presumably newly acquired fish-flavor sauce combined fantastically with Jin Yongho’s signature spicy taste.

“It’s delicious!”

Unlike Lee Ahreum, I have no talent for reactions, so I gave a brief assessment.

“It suits your taste, Clinic Director?”

Jin Yongho immediately realized that I was genuinely impressed.

“Can I try some too?”

“Of course. Let’s eat together.”

I offered the fish-flavored pork and also took a bite of the twice-cooked pork.

“Mm, this familiar taste as expected. Excellent.”

“Did you study in China too, Clinic Director?”

“Uh… yes… briefly… very briefly.”

After eating all that spicy meat, I really craved some sorghum liquor.

“Shall I bring some bamboo leaf liquor?”

“Yes!”

Jin Yongho, who uncannily knew what I wanted, even brought bamboo leaf liquor.

Master didn’t like it much, saying the herbal taste was too strong, but I had a certain romance about it, didn’t I?

I had to have bamboo leaf liquor with fish-flavored pork, thin noodles, and dumplings.

So I always ate this combination together, which made me accustomed to it.

“Dad, just let me have one sip…”

“No.”

Jin Yunho, who harbored the same romance as me, pleaded with his father, but he was still 10 years too early.

“This only tastes like herbal medicine and alcohol, so you wouldn’t like it.”

“You say that, but you keep drinking it, Clinic Director!”

“Haha.”

I also sided with Jin Yongho, but it didn’t seem very convincing.

“People’s tastes are really divided on it, so you might be really disappointed if you try it when you’re an adult.”

“Aww!”

“If you really want to try it, I could make it with just the herbs and no alcohol…”

What goes in it again? Angelica, tangerine peel, gardenia, cardamom… the clove flavor is really strong too.

“Then that’s just herbal medicine!”

Can’t help it. Juk-yeop-cheong is medicinal liquor after all.

“Come on, the clinic directors are eating, don’t disturb them and go inside!”

“Haha, it’s fine. How’s your shoulder these days, boss?”

“Thanks to you, it’s completely fine! If it bothers me even a little, I’ll come right away!”

“That’s good to hear.”

“Yes. Oh, sorry for being so noisy. Yunho has gotten into cooking lately, so we’ve been making all sorts of things together.”

“You’re a good father.”

It didn’t seem like only Yunho was being noisy though.

“You two are so interesting to listen to!”

Since Lee Ahreum was also enjoying the conversation between the Jin father and son in her own way, I didn’t stop their attempts to recruit a newbie any further.

And so we had a pleasant conversation while

finishing an extremely stimulating dinner of very sweet, bitter, and strong liquor, spicy and sour meat, and even somyeon noodles that should have been bland but were made spicy.

“If your stomach feels bad tomorrow, go up to the 2nd floor and ask for Bulhwangeum-jeonggi-san. Teacher Juhui probably has some prepared.”

“Oh come on, surely I won’t get an upset stomach from just this much.”

“Do you handle spicy food well?”

“I love it. I think I’ll become a regular. The sweet and sour pork was delicious too! Next time I want to try the spicy jjajang, and after that I want to try malatang.”

Until just now, I was confused about whether she was saying she liked it because she really did, or just going along with it.

But now I think I understood.

She didn’t say a single word about the juk-yeop-cheong or fish-flavored shredded pork being delicious.

So she was always sincerely empathizing with everything…

In any case, I was glad the sweet and sour pork suited her taste.

“The food was great, but talking with you outside of work was so enjoyable! You’re extraordinary even after work!”

At the intersection where we each went to our homes, I said goodbye to Lee Ahreum and we parted ways.

And as soon as I got home, I turned on my computer.

‘My daily life after work isn’t something I could boast about anywhere though.’

It’s troublesome that she keeps having strange fantasies.

My routine is eating a bunch of stimulating food and then turning on games like this.

“Oh.”

As soon as I logged into the game and greeted my guild members, a message app flashed on the right side of the screen.

[Hanyewon, did you get off work? My vacation for those dates I mentioned got approved! There’s absolutely no problem with departure!]

When I checked the message on my phone, several links followed.

It seemed she had already found airplane tickets.

[I found direct flights so we can stay as long as possible! There aren’t many options since it’s less than a month away]

I figured as much.

It’s vacation season, and we’re looking last minute.

It’s probably expensive too, right?

But if not at times like this, when would I spend the money I earn?

I was about to enter the link Hwangseoyeong sent and make the payment without hesitation.

[Huh?]

But when I actually clicked it, it wasn’t just a link showing the schedule.

[Is this already paid for? What’s this?]

[Since you’re handling accommodation, I should buy the plane tickets!]

It was a ticket that Hwangseoyeong had already finished paying for.

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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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