The Physician of Traditional Medicine Returns from Murim

It might have been a somewhat rude request.

This wasn’t some big company conducting a coding test, but a small Korean medicine clinic doing a test on identifying herb quality for hiring.

If it got posted online, people would surely criticize, saying “What kind of place does that?”

“This is my first interview like this.”

But An Ju-hee grinned as if she’d been waiting for this.

Unlike her previous aloof attitude, she now sat up straight.

Her demeanor suggested she was confident about any test regarding medicinal herbs.

“Let’s go to the decoction room together.”

The herb I had prepared for verification was ginseng.

Korean ginseng has been considered the world’s best since ancient times. It appears multiple times in Chinese medical texts and is indeed the most effective when used.

I laid out three types of domestic ginseng along with two types of Chinese ginseng and American ginseng that I had obtained separately.

“Based on the scent you mentioned earlier, could you pick out the best one?”

It wasn’t difficult to distinguish the foreign ginsengs as they look quite different.

American ginseng has short lateral roots and an uneven body, while Tianqi ginseng from Yunnan Province in China is darker and rounder. And Changbai ginseng from Jilin Province is a bit plumper, you could say?

“Oh, you use American ginseng too? It has higher levels of the pharmacologically verified ginsenoside compounds. But its nature is cool, so its uses are a bit different from regular ginseng.”

An Ju-hee picked up the American ginseng on the far left as she spoke.

I had only wanted her to pick out the best domestic ginseng, but she started explaining each one.

“Isn’t it a bit odd to group Sanqi (another name for Chinese Tianqi ginseng) with these? It has clear advantages for nourishing and stopping blood, but comparing it to Korean ginseng… it should be compared with this one. Among these six, Changbai ginseng has the weakest scent.”

As An Ju-hee said, Sanqi ginseng had markedly different effects from the rest.

Somehow in Korea, Sanqi ginseng is lumped together with Chinese ginseng for comparison, but it’s an essential battlefield item with immediate effects on all internal and external bleeding symptoms, and was even called “more valuable than gold” because people wouldn’t trade it for gold.

The ginseng used in China was more the Changbai ginseng from Jilin Province, former Goguryeo territory.

This isn’t bad either. Of course, I prefer ginseng grown on the Korean peninsula.

“This one’s the best. It’s Geumsan ginseng, right?”

An Ju-hee unhesitatingly picked out my favorite ginseng.

“The origin doesn’t always correspond to quality, but this is definitely top-grade. Is the middle one from Yeongju, and the right one from Hongcheon?”

She evaluated and ranked each of the three domestic ginsengs.

Wait… how on earth does she know the cultivation areas?

“Are they all correct?”

“Yes. As you said, our clinic uses Geumsan ginseng. We don’t use foreign ginseng very often.”

“Ooh, good. What’s the next question?”

An Ju-hee’s eyes sparkled.

…Will she get angry if I say this is it?

I really just wanted to see how she could tell, but…

Looking at An Ju-hee’s face reminded me of my old disciples.

They would study hard wanting to show their abilities, but if you suggested postponing a test, they’d get sulky instead.

I reluctantly brought out some deer antler.

“Distinguishing between deer antler wax, upper, and middle sections… is that too easy?”

Clack. Clack. Clack. Clack.

An Ju-hee arranged the deer antler sections in order from highest to lowest grade.

Deer antler refers to deer horns, and since the composition differs quite a bit between parts close to the head and the tips, they’re named wax, upper, middle, and lower sections starting from the tip.

The wax section is the highest grade and most expensive, followed by upper, middle, and lower sections in that order.

Of course, An Ju-hee picked up the wax section without hesitation.

“This is the wax section, with the highest concentration of nutrients and cell growth points. It’s especially good for children’s herbal medicines and is recommended for elderly people who need a significant boost in energy.”

“Yes.”

“The upper section has a lot of vascular tissue, so the cross-section is dark red. It’s excellent for improving blood circulation, making it useful for women who need to resolve blood stasis.”

Thinking the distinction itself was too easy, she recited the effects as well.

“The middle section is hard and has more minerals than growth factors. It’s sometimes used in tonics due to its price advantage. If the goal is bone healing or osteoporosis treatment, you might deliberately choose the middle section.”

“That’s correct.”

I mainly use the wax section but keep the upper and middle sections on hand to use as needed.

The lower section isn’t in the clinic.

This is the lowest part of the deer antler, connecting to the head. It’s undergone ossification, making it hard and rich in minerals, but it has almost no value as a medicinal “deer antler.”

“May I take a look at other herbs?”

“Of course.”

Just when I thought I really had no more questions to ask…

An Ju-hee started taking out and examining various herbs on her own.

“Ah! This is how Astragalus should be. You use good quality.”

She smelled them too.

“You use aconite as well? Hm? It’s raw aconite? Surely you don’t use it without processing?”

She also expressed doubts about unusual herbs.

Aconite is the lateral root of a plant called Aconitum carmichaelii in the buttercup family. It’s extremely hot in nature and toxic.

You could say it’s closest to extreme yang among plants usable as medicinal herbs.

Processing is a method of changing herb characteristics, and for toxic herbs like aconite, it’s essentially mandatory.

The methods vary slightly, but soaking in salt water and then boiling is most common, and occasionally raw aconite is decocted under pressure and used as is.

“Ah, I process it myself. Buying pre-processed ones removes all toxicity, but it also reduces effectiveness.”

Of course, I prioritize safety and process it as much as possible for ordinary patients.

However, I do have one patient who really needs extreme yang energy.

Regular aconite wasn’t enough to suppress Seol Yu-hee’s yin energy, so I deliberately stocked raw aconite to control the toxicity myself.

“Don’t worry, I won’t ask that of you. I have one patient I need to pay special attention to, so I keep this separately.”

“I didn’t ask because I didn’t want to do it. It actually sounds interesting.”

An Ju-hee looked around the rest of the decoction room with great interest.

“It’s quite spacious, and well-managed. Have you been managing it yourself until now?”

“Yes. It’s as important as diagnosis and prescription.”

“If I work here, will I only handle preparation? No other miscellaneous tasks?”

An Ju-hee asked, tilting her chin up.

“There are no miscellaneous tasks unrelated to herbal medicine. Basically, you’ll prepare prescriptions from me and the directors of the other two branches. You’ll also need to place orders. Of course, if you find better pharmaceutical companies than what we’re currently using, feel free to switch.”

“…!”

“The items we contracted from the place we met recently haven’t arrived yet, so you can start by slowly organizing the inventory.”

“Are you handing over all authority?”

“Of course.”

If I’m handing over my work and responsibility, I naturally have to hand over the authority.

I nodded.

“We’ll soon move the decoction room to the second floor to use the entire space. Ah, if you have any preferred machines, please let me know. I’m thinking of purchasing one more.”

“…Is there enough volume to operate an external decoction room for three branches?”

This was a point An Ju-hee might find puzzling.

Of course, each branch produces quite a lot of medicine, but considering the opportunity cost of renting space and the herbal pharmacist’s salary at this point, it’s a loss.

But sometimes, there are times when you need to invest even if it means accepting a temporary loss.

“To provide the best medicine, we’re willing to sacrifice a little profit.”

“Ah!”

“The number of network-affiliated branches will gradually increase, so we need to have the facilities ready first.”

Right now, I’m close with all the branch directors, so I can ask them to use our external decoction room, but who knows what will happen in the future?

Before the branches increase to 10 or 20 and go beyond my control, I wanted to make sure to specify in the contract that decoction would be done here.

“You’re envisioning quite a grand dream.”

I chuckled at An Ju-hee’s words.

“Would you like to be part of my dream?”

It’s not that grand, but… have I gotten used to this kind of talk after my conversation with Lee Ah-reum recently?

It might not be grand enough to call a dream, but An Ju-hee was essential to the future I envisioned.

She could handle the preparation part as well as, or perhaps even better than I could.

“When should I start?”

An Ju-hee willingly agreed to become a colleague.

“The sooner the better.”

“Give me a week until I find a place in Busan.”

Since our aspirations aligned, the subsequent negotiations went smoothly.

Her desired salary didn’t differ much from what I had in mind, and the only thing An Ju-hee separately requested was to specify her job duties in detail in the contract.

Having heard about her previous workplaces, I gladly accepted.

“Well then, I’ll see you next week!”

She had come in with a skeptical expression and crossed arms, but now left the clinic with a bright smile.

I too was in an excellent mood, having gained a valuable person.

◆◇◆◇◆

With An Ju-hee’s arrival, my and the staff’s workload decreased significantly.

After consultations, it used to take at least an hour to prepare 4-5 prescriptions.

Our routine was that I would start the decoction machine before leaving, and the staff would package and ship the medicine as soon as they arrived at work.

Sometimes we also had to place orders when herbs ran out.

But now I just write prescriptions, and An Ju-hee handles everything from preparation to writing usage instructions and shipping, so I’ve handed over all aspects related to herbal medicine.

“How do you feel about us doing the decoctions for the directors? Is it okay?”

I casually asked during a video conference with the other branch directors.

“Ah, yes!”

For Chu Mi-young, who originally used other external decoction rooms, the process wouldn’t have changed much, but I wonder if there was a response from patients?

“There was an atopic dermatitis patient whose treatment was stagnating, but they improved noticeably. Of course, it’s subtle whether it’s due to cumulative effects or the change in herbs!”

“What prescription did you use?”

“White Tiger Decoction plus ginseng with extra gypsum!”

Adding more gypsum to White Tiger Decoction plus ginseng?

White Tiger Decoction alone contains 20g of gypsum per packet, and she added even more.

Gypsum is a rarely used herb for the same reason as aconite.

If aconite is extreme yang, gypsum is extreme yin. If she prescribed such an extremely cold herb with an additional increase, the patient must have had severe excess heat.

“Then there might have been a difference in the gypsum. I don’t know much about mineral herbs either, but the herbal pharmacist changed the supplier.”

“Ooh, I’m curious. I hope I get a patient who needs gypsum too.”

Kim Chun-sik added a comment to my and Chu Mi-young’s words.

“Haha, everything else is good too, so please use us a lot.”

“Sure, thanks.”

“Well, that’s enough small talk… shall we start studying? Sang-hoon oppa looks bored.”

“Huh? No, I was just trying to see when to use White Tiger Decoction plus ginseng.”

“Everyone’s so enthusiastic. Since we’ve brought up gypsum, let’s study the White Tiger Decoction pattern.”

Alright, the user feedback is positive.

I pulled a book from the shelf.

I thought someone might try to escape, but are we surprisingly maintaining regular academic exchange meetings?

These days, Kim Chun-sik gives lectures on ancient prescriptions, and honestly, his perspective different from my master’s is quite interesting.

◆◇◆◇◆

A few days later.

[Director, how are you? This is Park Seon-yun. I have a favor to ask, is it alright if I call you for a moment?]

A message came from Park Seon-yun.

I tensed up.

I’ve become close with Park Se-sun and occasionally exchange greetings, but this side never contacts me without a reason.

The last time was when I asked for a favor.

‘Come to think of it, I made an empty promise then.’

Did he find something to ask so quickly? What could it be?

“Hello? You said a favor, what’s the matter? Is there anything I can help with?”

– Ah, yes! You contacted me right away. Actually, my grandmother suddenly got injured. I was wondering if I could ask for a consultation.

But it didn’t seem to be a difficult matter.

I tensed up for a moment thinking it might be company-related talk, but if it’s about treatment, that’s my job, no need to call it a favor.

“Of course. I’ll treat her to the best of my ability. Come to the clinic!”

But Park Seon-yun expressed some difficulty.

“The thing is, she hurt her hip joint somehow and has trouble getting up. …Is it possible for you to make a house call?”

Ah, a home visit?

“How far do I need to go?”

“She’s in Busan! In the Haeundae area.”

This is certainly something he might hesitate to ask as a favor.

But Park Seon-yun has done things for me.

Even if the connection with An Ju-hee was coincidental, getting a wholesale herb connection from China is worth far more than one or two house calls.

“That’s close then. I’ll come right away this evening.”

I accepted the request.

But after hanging up, I thought about it.

‘If it’s Park Seon-yun’s grandmother, is she nearly 90?’

Wait, PK Honorary Chairwoman Choi Gwi-jae…?

That’s an incredibly big shot!