The Physician of Traditional Medicine Returns from Murim - Chapter 281

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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 281

There are about ten or so Korean medicine universities nationwide, but excluding Korean University, there’s no particular hierarchy among them.

When comparing two or more schools, the only difference is a preference for those closer to Seoul or located in major cities as comprehensive universities.

However, during the application process, certain schools’ admission scores can skyrocket in rotation, and sometimes what’s called a “vacancy” occurs for no particular reason.

“If I had attended Daejeon University of Korean Medicine, I wouldn’t have such regrets…”

Coincidentally, the year these two applied, Daejeon University of Korean Medicine’s admission scores exploded.

Ryu Jinseong and Yu Minseong pledged to definitely return to their hometown after graduation and tearfully enrolled in different universities.

But even after graduation, things didn’t go smoothly.

They were also rejected in the regional lottery for public health service, ending up serving in Jeollanam-do and Gyeongsangbuk-do respectively.

Well, public health service in the Chungcheong region has always been highly competitive.

In any case, therefore.

Now they absolutely didn’t want to postpone their life with bread any longer.

If they opened their clinics elsewhere too, they might never be able to return to Daejeon.

Such a sense of crisis struck both of them.

“As far as I know, that bakery has several branches just in Daejeon.”

“They’re all delicious. But since my home is near the headquarters, I have memories there.”

“The clinic location I’ve been looking at is also on Jungang-ro!”

The strategy of opposite ends of Daejeon was too much.

Both insisted on near the headquarters.

“…I see. You absolutely must open your clinic in this area.”

“Yes!”

“That’s right.”

I searched for that bakery on the map app and displayed the distance.

Ryu Jinseong pointed to the commercial building he had been looking at, and Yu Minseong drew a circle, insisting he would open within a 10-minute walk from the bakery.

“Now, let’s see. Even if I choose one of you two, the planned clinic location won’t change, right? You’ll stick to the area even as a private Oriental medicine clinic.”

Ryu Jinseong immediately nodded.

Yu Minseong moved the map around this way and that, but eventually pointed to the same street.

“I don’t think there’s much good in you two competing. What do you both think?”

“Pardon?”

“You’re both truly amazing people. Clinic Director Ryu and Clinic Director Yu were both confident you could beat your competitor at first. How do you feel after hearing each other’s stories?”

Thanks to interviewing together, Ryu Jinseong heard Yu Minseong’s life story, and Yu Minseong learned about what Ryu Jinseong had been doing.

“Honestly, you’ve never met anyone like each other before, right?”

I asked while making eye contact with each of them.

Probably not.

Most students who enter Korean medicine universities were people who lived quite diligently until high school, but within the group, those who work insanely hard get separated out.

Moreover, these two showed outstanding performance even in environments perfect for slacking off.

“…That’s true.”

Perhaps guessing what I was trying to say, Yu Minseong nodded reluctantly.

“Clinic Director Ryu feels the same, right? You’ve never seen anyone work as hard as you do until now?”

“I did think Clinic Director Yu was amazing. I’m still lacking in bone tapping therapy, but he’s already tried it.”

As expected.

Just as I was surprised by both of them, Yu Minseong and Ryu Jinseong were surprised by each other.

Even if they had confidence to overwhelm at first, now they had no choice but to acknowledge each other.

“Since meeting like this by chance is also fate, how about opening a clinic together?”

I finally brought up the main point.

It was a partnership proposal.

“Together? Clinic Director Yu and I?”

“A partnership with a complete stranger…”

Ryu Jinseong was flustered, and Yu Minseong, perhaps having guessed, tapped his lips thoughtfully.

“Originally, not doing partnerships is a maxim of this field, no, of society as a whole. But nothing is ever absolute, and wouldn’t complete strangers be better for partnerships than friends?”

The trend of large-scale Oriental medicine clinics is already popular.

To have competitiveness in busy districts, evening treatment and 365-day treatment without holidays are almost basic.

And this schedule absolutely cannot be handled alone.

“What were you thinking about treatment days originally? Weren’t you considering expansion?”

“Of course I was planning to treat 7 days a week, until 8 PM on weekdays! Once the Oriental medicine clinic stabilizes and my body gets tired, I’d change to resting one day like Tuesday or Thursday!”

“I was going to do 7 days a week, then hire a vice director depending on the situation.”

Since they’re such thorough people, they seemed to be thinking about 365 days.

“No matter how good your stamina is, having no days off will be much harder than you think. And finding a vice director who follows through as much as Clinic Director Yu thinks… honestly, it’ll be almost impossible. Group projects were always difficult, right?”

“I did always end up being the group leader. Hmm.”

The more someone shows over-performance, the more they expect similar results from their employees.

But ordinary people don’t have that level of responsibility and ownership while working for a salary.

‘Well, there are exceptions like Sanghun, but those are extremely rare cases.’

I believe both Yu Minseong and Ryu Jinseong would be excellent with patients, but using a vice director would be a completely different story.

“That’s why I’m saying to go with a two-director system from the beginning.”

“I usually don’t recommend starting big. I prefer low costs. But I’m confident you two will hit three-digit daily patient averages within three months. Only the size of the clinic area will determine the limit. Rather than struggling to increase bed numbers in a cramped hospital and getting headaches from hiring and training a vice director, I recommend starting big from the beginning.”

I spoke definitively.

With two people who provide treatment like that, it’s worth taking a big gamble.

“Is that the solution from Director Han Yewon, the representative of Seongsoo Oriental Medicine Clinic?”

Yu Minseong’s eyes lit up.

Right, this friend said he was impressed by my ability to grow the clinic, didn’t he?

“It’ll definitely work better than stealing patients from each other. Since your treatment styles are similar, you’ll be able to trust and refer patients to each other. You’ll be much more comfortable, both physically and mentally.”

If one preferred treating ligaments with ultrasound-guided pharmacopuncture while the other treated kidney meridian disorders with Sa-am acupuncture, I wouldn’t have made this suggestion.

Imagine if a patient received acupuncture on their back muscles and ligaments on Monday, but on Tuesday when their back hurt, they were suddenly told they needed treatment on foot acupoints instead. How confused would the patient be?

In that case, the patient bases wouldn’t even overlap.

“Is that so…! Besides, having one large 365-day clinic would be more intimidating for new competitors than having two single-doctor clinics. There must be other competitors eyeing the area near the bakery, so to secure our position first, going big would be…”

Ryu Jinseong nodded as well.

The latter concern didn’t seem worth worrying about much, but since the main point aligned, he didn’t object.

“I think it sounds good. Actually, I had considered partnership due to lack of capital. I gave up on the idea because I couldn’t find the right person. If someone half-heartedly contributes money and then acts all high and mighty… Ugh. A big reason I want to join the Seongsoo Oriental Medicine Network is to associate with people who are as passionate as I am.”

Yu Minseong asked what the director thought.

“I think I could learn and grow together with Director Ryu. I’d also learn bone percussion therapy from Director Ryu!”

Ryu Jinseong answered seriously.

It seemed he was quite bothered by not having mastered bone percussion therapy yet.

“You’ve made a wise decision. I really didn’t want to lose either of you, so working together will make you both much more successful. I’ll help coordinate things like investment funds and profit distribution whenever needed.”

And so.

The opinions of all three of us, including myself, came together as one.

* * *

The next day, I recommended that Ryu Jinseong and Yu Minseong observe our clinic.

Naturally enough, both immediately accepted, saying they wanted to learn something more even if just for an hour.

“Wow, how many people came in just one hour? Treating like this, Doctor Han must see 70 to 80 patients a day, right?”

“You two will be doing the same soon. You were seeing 30 to 40 patients on the island, but the upper limit is completely different in a metropolitan city.”

“Ooh…! I can’t wait to meet many patients!”

The eyes of the two people following me around all morning looked like they could shoot lasers.

“Could we borrow just one bed? I’d like to try Director Ryu’s acupuncture.”

“Ah, sure. Please try it on me too.”

During lunch break, they experienced each other’s acupuncture.

I gave them the end bed and received acupuncture myself, thinking I might have some advice to offer.

“…”

“Wow, the needle sensation is incredibly similar! I wouldn’t be able to tell the difference if asked.”

You might think all acupuncture is performed similarly, but it’s actually quite different.

Some believe in quickly piercing the skin with sharp taps, while others gently tap-tap.

Some acupuncturists roughly stimulate the muscle area, while others persistently search for the exact acupoint.

In Master’s case, he just inserts without a guide tube, and when done quickly, you don’t even feel it.

“Amazing…”

Ryu Jinseong and Yu Minseong’s acupuncture techniques were surprisingly similar in how they gently penetrated the acupoints.

After experiencing this, there were no more reservations.

We drafted a contract immediately after Wednesday’s treatment ended.

We scheduled to meet again in Daejeon in a few days.

After they left, I shared the meeting story with the other directors.

– Partnership? Will that work out? I’m sure Director Han handled it well, but partnerships really… I’ve seen countless seniors, juniors, and students meet terrible endings.

– That must be quite a difficult choice.

Initially, the reaction wasn’t very positive.

Especially Kim Chunsik and Im Suchul, who had extensive social experience and had encountered numerous negative cases, seriously considered whether they should discourage it.

– Being allowed to participate in study sessions even before opening, what an honor.

– What? I can look through all these case studies? Such precious materials! Thank you! I’ll master everything by next week!

But once they saw the enthusiasm of the two people who actually participated in the video conference.

The other directors’ opinions quickly changed.

– I think those two will do well.

– They’re a perfect match, aren’t they?

There was no need to drag it out.

I immediately went on a business trip to Daejeon ten days later to check out the commercial building Ryu Jinseong had found.

In the station area, with tremendous foot traffic.

Usually such places get many new patients but have difficulty forming regular customers… but I wasn’t particularly worried.

As I was looking around the commercial building, Yu Minseong and Ryu Jinseong appeared right on time.

“Director, you’re here! Since waiting in line would be tiring, I bought fried cream bread in advance!”

Ryu Jinseong held out a paper bag full of bread to Yu Minseong and me.

In Busan, he came early to avoid getting lost and waited in line, and in Daejeon, he even had the sense to buy bread in advance.

“Wow, thank you.”

Yu Minseong, who had just arrived, also received the bread with a bright face.

As expected of people who like the same bread, they got along so harmoniously.

“Wait, how could you only buy fried cream bread? Director, are you from out of town?”

I thought we would have a conversation.

Yu Minseong criticized the bread that Ryu Jinseong had chosen.

“That’s the most delicious one though? Classic is the best. Don’t you know?”

“What are you talking about? I’d rather eat plain bread! There’s salt bread, mentaiko baguette, kimchi glutinous rice balls, Boumunsan Echo – you should eat proper things like these. How could you eat fried soboro…! This is the first time I’ve seen someone from Daejeon eat fried soboro!”

But it’s delicious…?

I guess it’s not Yu Minseong’s taste.

“What are you saying! My parents and grandparents said they’ve only eaten fried soboro for 50 years!”

“Where was fried soboro 50 years ago? Steamed buns would be more classic.”

“That’s what my grandfather said. …Was it 40 years ago?”

The two of them growled and debated about the bakery’s history and taste for quite a while.

…But even I couldn’t give them a conclusion about which side was right.

Of course not, I have no idea at all.

Still, the bread that Ryu Jinseong bought was delicious.

“Look it up later or go ask them. How about the location, do you like it?”

“Ah, yes. It would take 7 minutes on foot. I’m very satisfied.”

Yu Minseong confirmed that the bakery was visible within his sight and immediately gave an okay sign.

Is that all it takes?

‘Well, I’m not in a position to talk about others.’

It might be better than me, who only considered feng shui perspectives when I first opened my clinic.

Anyway, having a famous bakery nearby would be advantageous for foot traffic.

In any case, it’s good that he likes it.

After checking the vacant commercial building through the realtor that Ryu Jinseong had met beforehand, we immediately signed a lease contract.

While we were at it, we met with the interior contractor that Yu Minseong’s friend’s father runs, discussed the direction and got estimates.

We also stopped by because Ryu Jinseong’s grandfather had invited church members to his home, and we greeted them saying we would be opening soon.

“Definitely when we join forces, things get done smoothly.”

“I was also at a loss, but with Doctor Han and Director Yu helping me, everything is progressing in an instant!”

Since it was a new opening rather than a takeover, we had to prepare and decide everything from start to finish ourselves.

From the number of beds to purchase to medical equipment and opening gift items.

We handled all of those things in an instant.

And so quickly, the day of opening approached.

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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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