The Physician of Traditional Medicine Returns from Murim - Chapter 42

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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 42

I underwent a brief witness questioning and was released.

The stalker pointed at me and babbled about how his body had stiffened because of me, but who would believe something like pressure point attacks? “He was just too shocked” was much easier to understand.

Chu Miyoung said she would hire a lawyer and proceed with a proper lawsuit. Now that they’d caught him red-handed, there was nothing to worry about.

If the stalker bastard counter-sued for assault, things could get complicated, but she smiled brightly, saying she’d gladly pay the fine.

“It’s already gotten so late.”

By the time the investigation ended, it was quite late.

Since neither of us had clinic hours the next day, Sunday, Chu Miyoung invited me to her home.

It was the new apartment in the city center that I had followed her to a few days ago, all the way to the underground parking lot.

Her home was as neatly decorated as her oriental medicine clinic.

“Thank you so much, Clinic Director. Honestly, I never thought it would actually work… Now I can sleep peacefully.”

Chu Miyoung said as she poured black tea into an expensive tea set.

“Don’t mention it, it was the natural thing to do.”

“Natural…? Where would you find someone who goes this far for a complete stranger?”

She expressed excessive gratitude, saying it was unbelievable, but I hadn’t really taken any risks.

Does the strong helping the weak need a reason? That’s what chivalry is about.

“A complete stranger? I thought we were friends now.”

I said with a grin. Well, aren’t we family? Actually, we are strangers.

But originally, a physician! Rushes into battlefields to save dying strangers!

A chivalrous warrior! Trains martial arts their whole life to sacrifice themselves for a crying child asking for help!

…Yeah, honestly I’ve always liked this kind of romance.

Why else would I have gotten into martial arts novels?

“Friends…”

It wasn’t that difficult, and in some ways I did it for fun, but Chu Miyoung began tearing up with emotion.

Goodness, what a tearful young lady.

“I’m, I’m trash! Last time, when I recorded at your clinic. It wasn’t because of that stalker bastard. I really did have bad intentions. But you…!”

So that was it? This didn’t matter much either. I had somewhat suspected it.

“I know. It’s okay.”

Why blame yourself over something like that all this time?

Recording with your own voice included isn’t illegal anyway, and I suffered no real damage.

Unlike when I playfully patted her head earlier, I properly stroked Chu Miyoung’s head with comforting intent.

“You’ve really been through a lot of mental anguish.”

“Waaaaah!”

In the end, she burst into tears like a child.

Being tense because of the stalker, then getting angry and cursing, then crying from emotion. It was a day of many emotional ups and downs.

I tore off some tissue and handed it to her.

Instead of the caffeinated black tea, I found calming herbal tea and brewed it fresh. I’d have to finish the black tea myself.

“Clinic Director~ You’re so cool.”

Chu Miyoung said as she sipped the tea I had freshly brewed for her.

“I am pretty cool.”

I nodded without being modest anymore.

Then Chu Miyoung stopped crying as if she’d been waiting for this, and smiled broadly.

“Where did you learn martial arts?”

And so began the barrage of questions.

“Um… from a martial arts master who dreams of living in seclusion.”

Thinking I was joking, Chu Miyoung pouted her lips.

“Tch, then what about chuna therapy? Do they teach it like that at Korean University? Or at conferences?”

Of course I learned it at school too, but it was over 20 years ago so my memory was hazy.

What I use now is the manual therapy technique I learned from Master at the Medical Institute.

“That’s a trade secret.”

Since I couldn’t reveal the source, it was best to deflect appropriately.

“Oh… I suppose that’s natural. I asked an inappropriate question.”

She wasn’t begging me to teach her, and it wasn’t really a secret technique worth hiding, so I wasn’t particularly offended.

“Hehe, even if I told you, you wouldn’t be able to copy it right away anyway.”

But teaching it wouldn’t be easy either.

Not to mention martial arts, even chuna techniques that look simple require considerable experience to master properly. Even for cervical adjustment, I only got the hang of it after adjusting about a thousand patients’ necks.

I’m somewhat more talented at teaching than Master, but I can’t exactly implant techniques like AI, can I?

“…”

Chu Miyoung hung her head low, seriously pondering something.

“What are you agonizing over so much? It’s fine. You can ask questions.”

“….”

Then soon, she suddenly raised her head and grabbed my hand.

“Clinic Director, could you please teach me chuna therapy and prescriptions?”

“I just told you it’s not easy….”

“I’m not asking you to do it for free! And I’m not trying to steal techniques when I just opened nearby. I’ll relocate as soon as my commercial lease expires!”

Huh?

Chu Miyoung made a truly unexpected proposal.

Going that far to learn it… Actually, that makes sense. Did she recognize the value after receiving chuna therapy once?

“You don’t need to go that far. I refused because it would take quite a long time to teach properly.”

I waved my hand dismissively.

Actually, it would be fine if she followed me around to learn like the Medical Institute disciples, but since Chu Miyoung has her own practice, wouldn’t she have to make time on weekends or late at night?

Setting aside my own inconvenience, from experience, there weren’t many who learned anything properly that way.

If you’re going to do it, you need to commit properly and become an inner disciple. What could you achieve with lectures once a week? Surely she’d start coming once a week, then the frequency would decrease with various excuses, and eventually it would fizzle out.

That would just be a waste of time. I’d be much better off playing games during that time.

“I really want to learn that time-consuming thing properly, just once.”

But Chu Miyoung didn’t give up easily.

She suddenly knelt down and pleaded with me.

Ugh, how am I supposed to refuse this….

“I was planning to pay the penalty and leave the Haneul Medical Center Network soon anyway. If you teach me, I’ll give you 10% of my monthly revenue after I relocate!”

Huh?

“…10% of revenue?”

Not even net profit?

“Ah… is that too little? Then 15%?”

Chu Miyoung rolled her eyes slightly and raised the percentage.

No, the number isn’t the issue right now!

“You’ll pay tuition based on revenue? Until when?”

“Well, continuously…right? Like a franchise agreement, and you could advise me when I don’t know something during treatment….”

This changes things completely.

She’ll pay 10% of revenue for as long as she practices? That’s….

‘That’s amazing?’

I said it wouldn’t be for free, but I expected her to offer a few million won at most.

It would be awkward to transfer that much value in a short period, so I was just going to refuse.

‘But if she’s really prepared to pay a proper price.’

There’s nothing I can’t teach her.

If she learns it properly, it would help countless patients who would meet her as a doctor, and it would be extremely beneficial for me too.

Isn’t this the network form I’ve been secretly dreaming of? When I don’t even know how to operate one yet, she’s offering to pay franchise fees just for teaching prescriptions and chuna therapy techniques.

‘Auto-hunting jackpot…!’

This is it.

“How much is the penalty fee? Are you sure it’s okay?”

“It’s fine!”

“I’ll consider it positively, so sit comfortably and let’s talk.”

“Yes!”

Suddenly asking her to leave also bothered me. Wouldn’t it be fine to start after her contract period ends? I’ll be receiving franchise fees for quite a long time anyway.

Chu Miyoung straightened her knees and sat comfortably on the sofa again.

“I was already considering withdrawal anyway. My current monthly revenue is 3 million, but expenses including franchise fees, advertising costs, labor costs, rent, and other things come to 3.5 million. I’m losing 500,000 per month. In this case, it’s better to pay the 2 million penalty and quit.”

…What?

This person really surprises me multiple times.

“What, what are you doing that monthly expenses reach 3.5 million? You have multiple nursing assistants and even skincare specialists, so labor costs must be much higher than mine….”

“Well, first the rent is 3 million.”

…More than three times mine?

Well, of course it was a bit bigger. The waiting room was incredibly luxurious.

And right in front of the station versus walking uphill for 10 minutes from there… that’s quite a difference. It’s 10 minutes at my pace, so it might take longer for ordinary people.

‘I really operated on ultra-low costs. Even when I had so few patients, I never ran a deficit!’

Chu Miyoung continued speaking.

“The labor costs you just mentioned are over 10 million, Haneul Clinic franchise fee is 10% of total revenue, 5% separately to the Cheonan branch where I used to be assistant director, and if I want to add advertising beyond central advertising, that costs more too… Oh, that’s over 5 million, right? I also have to pay interest on loans I took for deposits and key money, plus there are ongoing costs like herbal medicine and product purchases….”

Wait, wait!

“The Haneul Clinic franchise fee aside, what about the Cheonan branch?”

“Yes. I learned from the director there, and they connected me with Haneul Clinic. Actually, I heard 15% isn’t expensive for franchise fees. It’s taken from the main office’s share.”

If you put it that way, it makes sense.

But in common terms, that’s a pyramid scheme.

“…Taking money like that, how did the Cheonan branch teach you? Come to think of it, I wanted to ask. Why did you use Sipmi Paedok-tang for patient Jeong Inseong?”

“That was Sipmi Paedok-tang?”

“I had a hunch, but you didn’t know?”

“It was like acne prescription #1, #2, #3.”

“….”

“Ah, even though they hid their prescriptions, they did teach me well about things like internal and external clinic advertising, personnel management, and such.”

Personnel management – Seo Inae had told me about that. You know, hiring people in 14-hour shifts to avoid giving them benefits?

“Hah…”

I felt overwhelmed by Haneul Clinic’s tyranny and my mouth hung open.

Wasn’t this almost like being scammed?

According to my research, there were many networks operating just fine, so these guys must be running things in a particularly bizarre way, right?

“Alright. I’m confident I can do much better than that. As long as you don’t give up halfway, I’ll take responsibility and teach you everything.”

At first, I thought it might be too burdensome to start by losing all the money invested in penalty fees, key money, and such, but after hearing the details, abandoning the sunk costs was actually the wiser choice.

And Chu Miyoung had finally found the right person this time.

“Let’s start with classes every weekend. Handle the penalty fees, contract termination, and transfer issues by consulting with a lawyer, and if you have time before relocating, I’d like you to observe at our clinic.”

“…!”

Chu Miyoung’s face lit up as she clasped her hands together. When I gave her a definite answer that I would accept her proposal, she was overjoyed and her eyes sparkled.

“Thank you, Director! Or should I say Representative? Master? I’ll serve you as my Master!”

“…Just call me whatever you’re comfortable with. And you don’t have to relocate immediately.”

“Yes! Anyway, since Haneul Clinic picked this location too, there was a condition that I’d have to close the business to terminate the contract! I’ll sort it out as soon as possible! Please take good care of me!”

I extended my right hand for a handshake.

From now on, she and I were both master and disciple as well as business partners.

Squeeze.

Chu Miyoung’s eyes blazed as she grasped my hand.

A strong will to learn properly and definitely succeed.

I too burned with ambition along with a deep sense of responsibility.

Unlike those thugs who hide prescriptions while taking advantage of people, I had to create a network for everyone – myself, the branch directors, and the patients they would meet on the front lines.

Today was exactly that turning point.

We made a contract with our hearts before any documents.

To celebrate the birth of Seongsoo Oriental Medicine Clinic’s second branch, Chu Miyoung brought out her most expensive wine.

“I think there will be a lot to learn in many ways. Prescriptions aside, how did you train your staff so that the person at the desk could handle all those patients by herself?”

My disciple’s first question in the now relaxed atmosphere.

Seo Inae?

…She just happened naturally.

“Our goals had some overlap. Well, I was lucky. And it’s reaching its limit now. I need to hire new staff soon too.”

I had decided to hire additional staff when it exceeded 40 patients a day for three or more times, judging that Seo Inae couldn’t handle it alone, right?

I haven’t mentioned it separately, but we’ve exceeded 40 patients almost every day for a week now.

I need to find someone as soon as possible.

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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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