The Physician of Traditional Medicine Returns from Murim - Chapter 160

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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 160

The highly suspicious patient returned for a follow-up visit after just 3 days.

Shin Yejin was clearly tense as she surveyed the clinic.

Half of me suspected she might be a spy sent from another network, while the other half felt sorry thinking she might genuinely be a patient who was shocked after seeing Park Haru.

Since I thought she wouldn’t come back either way, I was a bit surprised.

“I’m sorry for having unnecessary suspicions. You treated me so carefully, but my team leader said strange things that made me have ridiculous misunderstandings! Thanks to you, my cough improved a lot and the stiffness got much better too! Thank you!”

Moreover, she told me the content of her misunderstanding while offering apologies and gratitude.

What, a religious group? That’s too much!

Even if I did treat patients like I was throwing darts!

Even if I randomly placed the meditation breathing method scripts I recorded for Myeong Seonju and Kim Ijin anywhere!

Even if she encountered Park Haru suddenly getting inspired and playing music…! No wait, that one is definitely strange.

“Haha, I understand. Park Haru was doing that right when you arrived.”

Right, she could think that way.

I also smiled brightly and honestly told her about my own misunderstanding.

“Yejin, you seemed so nervous that I wondered if someone came to spy from another clinic. Since we both misunderstood each other, let’s call it even, shall we?”

But Shin Yejin’s eyes wavered again.

“Clinic Director… you don’t really do prophecy? Mind reading? Things like that, right?”

“What are you talking about~!”

Weren’t we all cleared up?

Prophecy, really. I don’t have such fantasy-like abilities at all.

“Actually, my uncle is also a Korean medicine doctor… He was amazed when he heard about the candy… He’s curious if you supply outside the network too…”

Shin Yejin flinched and trembled her shoulders while confessing truths I didn’t even ask about.

“Oh, really?”

This was actually positive information.

“Shall I give you some samples? The supply isn’t confirmed yet, but if your uncle tries them and is interested, please contact us!”

“Oh, would that be okay?”

“Of course! I’d be grateful!”

It was a good opportunity to check if there would be demand.

For me, if I could increase production and expand to other clinics outside the network, there would be nothing bad about it at all!

* * *

It was a project that An Juhui had proposed.

She wanted to try producing medicines in various forms besides decoctions.

Her intention to spread the beauty of Korean medicine to many people was good, but I wasn’t very positive about it.

As I thought when I discouraged the couple at Branch 4 from their cafe, the fact that it tasted bad was a very fatal flaw.

If it’s going to taste bad anyway and be taken as medicine, it’s better to just swallow it as powder or liquid – why would anyone bother sucking on candy?

However, I didn’t particularly discourage it.

Since we’d be using existing facilities and distribution networks, the investment cost was low, and if it went well, it could open new paths.

So An Juhui first tried making candies good for throat pain, such as Eungyo candy, Makmundong candy, and Socheongryong candy.

She conducted various experiments to complement the taste without interfering with the medicinal effects.

“This is better than I thought? This level seems edible?”

After some time.

While there was no solution for extremely bitter medicinal herbs like Hwanggeum or Hwangryeon, we produced several candies that seemed reasonably okay to eat.

It seemed like a lot of mint was added – it had a refreshing feeling, and when I sensed the energy, the medicinal properties of other herbs remained intact.

Of course, we made them not only as candies but also in more popular forms like powder and pills.

I also tried them together, selected ones with good medicinal properties, distributed them to each branch, and decided to observe the reactions.

– Quite a lot went out. Many Japanese customers bought them?

Through the video conference, Jeon Minji said.

At Branch 4, since there were many foreign patients who didn’t have time for customized prescriptions, the demand for ready-made medicines was quite high.

“How’s the response? Do they say the effects are good?”

– I’m not sure about that… We don’t do follow-ups well.

The problem was that there were too many patients who came once and never returned, so we couldn’t properly confirm improvement rates.

“Hmm, I prescribed them a few times mainly to regular acupuncture patients, and 3 out of 10 said they improved a lot, while 4 said they seemed okay and requested re-prescriptions.”

– My patients also had quite a few repurchases!

The prescription cases from the main clinic were quite excellent.

Even setting aside the tendency for Hwang Sanghun’s patients to always say everything was good.

– That’s very good then?

“I only prescribed to patients whose pattern identification matched. Anyway, the effects are definitely good.”

– I think so too. The Makmun candy is especially good. Acute colds don’t come often anyway since they go to hospitals, but patients with yin deficiency who have dry mouth, heat sensation in the upper body, or dry cough showed high satisfaction.

Kim Chunsik also agreed that the effects were clearly present, but.

– Everything’s good, but 9,000 won is too cheap! Even if you reduced the amount of medicinal herbs, still, you should charge at least 15,000 won!

Chu Miyoung shook her head, saying the pricing was too disappointing.

– Isn’t ten candies for 15,000 won too burdensome?

– But then Doctor Han wouldn’t have much profit left, would he?

– True, it’s good for us, but I’m worried other branches might cannibalize demand for non-covered herbal decoctions.

Yu Gyeonghun also expressed his concerns.

He worried that patients who could afford expensive herbal decoctions might end up satisfied with just candies.

At this rate, I wouldn’t have much profit left, and it would just be a way to give An Juhui some incentives.

“That’s something the Korean medicine doctor should control. If the situation requires customized herbal decoctions for fundamental treatment, then you should strongly recommend that.”

But there wasn’t a big problem.

An Juhui hadn’t demanded much incentive either, starting this half out of curiosity, and I didn’t mind not having much profit left.

Wouldn’t it be good anyway to have a means to treat patients who don’t need to take medicine for as long as a month, or patients who find the cost burdensome?

“And I think it would be even better with mass production. Korean medicine clinics outside our network have shown interest too.”

When I shared Shin Yejin’s uncle’s story, the clinic directors were very pleased and painted a hopeful future.

Though Chu Miyoung was still sulking, saying it would be better to raise the price.

“Haha, thank you for thinking about it. Let’s experiment a bit more first and adjust the supply price.”

Chu Miyoung reluctantly nodded.

Alright, let’s end the business meeting here. Let’s hurry up and go to sleep.

– Doctor Han, wait a moment.

But Kim Chunsik suddenly called me.

– It’s nothing major. An acquaintance in Busan contacted me about his daughter’s case. Would it be okay to send her to you?

“Of course.”

I also send patients in the metropolitan area to Kim Chunsik when they receive referrals but find it difficult to come down.

There’s no need to ask – just send them, right?

– That friend is a Korean medicine doctor, so I’m asking in advance in case it might be burdensome.

I tilted my head.

The child’s father is a Korean medicine doctor, but he’s coming to me?

– He was my student when I was a professor. He helped with his parents’ business and just opened his practice, so despite his age, he has little experience. His daughter isn’t getting better, so he asked me for advice…

Ah, then I understood.

My students also often bring cases to me when treatments don’t work.

Even now, Hwang Sanghun, Lee Ahreum, and Chu Miyoung frequently consult with me.

Come to think of it, back when I was called the Divine Physician, completely unknown clinics would send patients to see me, right?

– That friend diagnosed it as White Tiger Decoction syndrome, and from what I heard, it seemed like White Tiger Decoction would help, but it had no effect. Since I couldn’t check the pulse, the diagnosis might be wrong, but personally, I think it could be an issue with the quality or quantity of medicinal ingredients. From my experience prescribing at the hospital, there’s quite a difference in gypsum quality. I’d like you to take a look and make a judgment.

“I’ll do that. I don’t find it burdensome at all, so feel free to send anyone.”

– Well, I’m counting on you.

* * *

Some time later, I met the patient Kim Chunsik had mentioned.

“Sister, you’re so white and pretty! I want to become white like you too!”

A very outgoing child spoke to Seol Yuhui while registering.

“My face is too red. The kids keep teasing me, calling me a radish. But sister, do you know what a radish is? I thought it was a bright red radish, but it’s just a carrot, right?”

“Haha, you must have a lot of heat. If you take the medicine the doctor gives you well, you’ll feel cooler. Oh, ignore the kids who tease you. Those kids would tease you for being white if you were white. Sister got called Snow White when she was Eunyeong’s age.”

“Eh, but sister is so pretty!”

Seol Yuhui smiled gently and guided the child to the examination room.

The child’s name was Im Eunyeong. 11 years old.

As Seol Yuhui had said, she clearly looked like she had a lot of heat.

Even without concentrating my energy to look, her yang energy was overflowing, and her face was red even to someone not sensitive to energy.

If she had been born in the South Sea Solar Palace or South Barbarian Beast Palace that used extreme yang martial arts, she would have been excellent talent.

In modern society, there aren’t many places to release yang energy.

“Hello. I’m Im Suchul, and I run Gijang Sucheon Korean Medicine Clinic in the Gijang area.”

The child’s father introduced himself first.

Hmm, he named his clinic very intuitively.

The father also had considerable yang energy but it was contained, while the daughter showed no control at all.

“What’s the most uncomfortable issue?”

“The biggest problem is sweating. Even with a little exercise, her top gets completely soaked. It’s troublesome even for a boy to be like this… it’s awkward. In summer like this, we have to change her clothes once at lunch.”

“It’s not like spontaneous sweating or night sweats, right?”

Since the guardian was a Korean medicine doctor, I comfortably used Korean medical terminology.

Spontaneous sweating is a phenomenon where cold sweat appears even when still, indicating qi deficiency syndrome.

Night sweats are cold sweats that flow during sleep at night, indicating yin deficiency syndrome.

Spontaneous sweating is seen as lacking the strength to control the body surface, while night sweats are seen as kidney water being insufficient to protect yin, causing it to leak out.

“I don’t think so. It’s not cold sweat either, and it pours out when it’s a bit hot or after exercise. From what I see, it’s completely an excess syndrome.”

While there are deficiency syndrome sweats like spontaneous sweating and night sweats, there are also excess syndrome sweats that are simply due to too much heat for temperature regulation.

The basic principle of Korean medical pattern identification is distinguishing between cold-heat-deficiency-excess.

Getting this backwards can lead to prescriptions with side effects.

“Does she eat well and drink a lot of water?”

“She eats very well. Even when we give her lukewarm water, she prefers cold water.”

“But I need to drink cold water to feel cool!”

Polydipsia, polyphagia.

“Do you sleep well?”

“Yes! About 10 minutes after lying down?”

“How’s your blood sugar?”

“Yes. All my blood test results are normal.”

“What’s your height and weight?”

She looked a bit chubby, so when I asked about her weight, Im Eunyeong answered readily.

“150cm and 52kg.”

She’s tall for her age and weighs quite a bit.

It wouldn’t be unreasonable to say her metabolism is hyperactive.

“Let me check your pulse.”

Thump, thump, thump.

It beat very vigorously.

While a child’s pulse is naturally faster than an adult’s, this was the most forceful pulse I’d felt in the past six months.

“Please stick out your tongue and say ‘ah~’.”

Even her tongue was on the red side with yellowish coating.

“It’s rare to see such a textbook case of a patient…”

Modern people, especially those who come to traditional Korean medicine clinics for herbal medicine, are 80% deficiency syndrome cases.

No wonder people confuse the terms herbal medicine and tonics.

So you have to be careful not to mistake excess syndrome patients for deficiency syndrome.

In Im Eunyeong’s case, it was such clear excess heat that there was no way to confuse it.

“There’s nothing to worry about, right? You said White Tiger Decoction didn’t work for this patient?”

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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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