Physician's Odyssey

Chapter 711 - Outline of the TCM Empire

Translator: Thyaeria

Although it’s reaching the end of summer and the beginning of autumn, Hanzhou City’s weather is still pretty hot. Xia Yu was someone who’s afraid of heat, so he set the air-conditioning to the coldest.

“Set it a little higher or you’ll fall sick.” Su Tao reminded him with a smile.

Xia Yu naturally knew that Su Tao wasn’t scaring him, so he immediately turned the temperature higher and wore an awkward smile, “I’ll have an air-conditioning problem every winter, but there’s nothing I can do to help it since I’m afraid of heat. I would rather fall sick instead.”

“Four seasons in a year, sowing in spring and growing in summer, have their own rules and regulations, and they’re fitting to the body’s metabolism. Spring and summer represent Yang, and it replenishes the Yang energy in the body. It’s the best season to get rid of any hidden illnesses by using the metabolism. The aid-conditioning problem is a problem in the lungs in TCM. If it’s not treated in time, it will cause pathogens to gather in the body and worsen the condition. The typical treatment is using heat to disperse the pathogens. It can also be treated with food such as scallion beancurd soup, black bean. Scallions can disperse the heat; the nature of beancurd is cold and it tastes sweet, and it can alleviate dryness.” Xia yu smiled.

“Jingjing prescribed me Mulberry Tea the other day and it took effect in just a day.” Xia Yu laughed.

“That’s because you’re already suffering from the air-conditioning problem, and this is the reason why she gave you mulberry. But any medicine cannot be taken for a long period. It’s beneficial to your body if you take it occasionally, but you have to pay attention to it with your consumption. Taking an appropriate amount can relax the bronchial tube, but taking it for a long time will cause a huge effect on your central nervous system instead.” Su Tao patiently shared his TCM knowledge with Xia Yu. After all, Xia Yu is a member of the Three Flavour Hall. Even if he’s not a physician, he can at least have some knowledge of maintaining his health.

Xia Yu naturally knew the meaning within as he smiled bitterly, “I realised that I should start learning some common knowledge in TCM. When my relatives knew that I’m working in Three Flavour Hall, they would practically treat me as a physician and often ask me weird questions.”

“It’s actually not hard to learn TCM, but knowing the theories and herbal effects are important.” Looking at Xia Yu’s head swelling, Su Tao no longer continued and smiled.

Everyone has their own specialty. In terms of investigation, no one can compete with Xia Yu. But if you get him to memorise some medicinal effect, it will be making things difficult for him.

“I’m more suitable for physical stuff. As for the brainy matters, I’ll leave it to you guys.” Xia Yu stepped on the red light when he saw the red lights. At this moment, he recalled something and spoke out, “The Films and Movies Project is going to start, and the scale is massive. Aside from maintaining the Old Street, nearly one hundred acres nearby will be demolished. I’ve seen the blueprints, and it’s more imposing than I’d thought. According to Ms. Yan, she’s planning to make it into a TCM Cultural Project, creating the second medicine capital.”

Su Tao had heard of Yan Jing mentioning this matter. Films and movies are two completely different concepts compared to a medicine capital.

The He City in Huaibei Province is the largest place for herbal collection in the country, but there weren’t any branding advantages.

According to Yan Jing’s intention, she intends to forge Hanzhou City into a brand for TCM culture, making people think of Hanzhou City to think of TCM. Not only is the best TCM pharmacy located here, but they also have the most complete set of TCM projects.

The Films and Movies City will include projects related to TCM, such as TCM Healthcare Condominiums and TCM Museums. So much so that Yan Jing even applied to construct a TCM institute. If it was approved, there will be an outline of Su Tao’s TCM Empire.

The reason why they plan to set the TCM Empire in Hanzhou City is because Su Tao has a pretty good relationship with Zhang Ping. Under his help, they will be able to receive the greatest support from the government. Previously, Du Ping revealed to him that Zhang Ping has even requested the City National Development and Reform Commission to put TCM into part of the city’s development, building Hanzhou City into a TCM Cultural City in ten years.

It’s truly rare to see that a physician could affect the future development of an entire city.

It was mainly because Zhang Ping saw an opportunity in this matter.

Hanzhou City used to be a tourism city without any large-scaled enterprises. So if they want to increase their competitiveness, they will have to take an alternate route.

For half a year, Hanzhou City has been reported on by the media many times because of Su Tao and the Three Flavour Hall. It made Zhang Ping see an opportunity in this, not to mention the government support to promote the development of TCM that strengthened his confidence.

TCM isn’t just a name, but a national essence, much like martial arts, opera, and calligraphy. Most importantly, it was something linked to the welfare of people. This is a huge market, and it also fits Hanzhou City.

While many cities are fighting to establish their internet industry, Hanzhou City chose TCM. It was baffling, but Zhang Ping was confident.

In the internet industry, things are constantly getting replaced as time passes. However, the medical industry is something that won’t change. Right now, it’s not too late to inject the soul of TCM into this city.

All of a sudden, Su Tao felt pressured. When a city’s development is linked together with you, you will subconsciously feel a higher demand for yourself.

“Mr. Zhang has sent people to visit the Three Flavour Hall numerous times, hoping that you can become a member of the City People’s Political Consultative Conference.” Xia Yu stepped on the gas as the vehicle flew out once more.

“He mentioned to me previously, but I’ve already rejected him. My current schedule is unstable, and I can’t possibly participate in so many of their meetings.” Su Tao smiled.

“Many people are hoping to get into it. Although it’s a position without any authority, it’s a platform to get to know more people.” When Xia Yu finished his words, he suddenly realised how laughable his words were. His boss, Su Tao, is a National Healer, and those people he came in contact with were practically leaders of the nation, so he probably couldn’t be bothered with those people in the City People’s Political Consultative Conference.

At the same time, Xia Yu felt prideful and rejoiced over his choice back then. Back then, his intuition told him to follow Su Tao. But he never expected that in just half a year, Su Tao had become a millionaire, while he became Su Tao’s trusted aide with an annual income of millions. Most importantly, he even found a celebrity as his lifelong partner.

Su Tao was the noble person in Xia Yu’s life, and the latter had never doubted this fact. It was also these deeply rooted thoughts that made Xia Yu unbelievably loyal to Su Tao.

Su Tao understands Xia Yu well. Although he previously worked as a private investigator, a career that lacks morality, the military temperament was deeply rooted in his bones from his experience in the army.

When they arrived at the Three Flavour Hall, it was already 10 a.m., with a long queue outside. As the main pharmacy, the stream of people will only increase daily. Hence, Su Tao had no choice but to expand his pharmacy. Due to the fact that those stores around his pharmacies were old stores in Hanzhou City, it wasn’t appropriate to him to expand horizontally. Hence, he could only expand vertically.

Cai Yan had already submitted an application to the related departments, and due to Three Flavour Hall’s worth in the city, she swiftly received the approval.

The Three Flavour Hall no longer lacks money right now, so Cai Yan had found the best team to work on the design, spending over ¥2,000,000 in the process. But even so, Su Tao still wasn’t too satisfied with some of the details. In his view, the Three Flavour Hall’s original style must be maintained.

After all, he’s someone to reminisce about the past.

However, for the Three Flavour Hall to develop and expand, they will have to keep up with the trend.

In the end, Su Tao only gave a request to leave his grandfather’s room untouched. As for the rest, Cai Yan can do whatever she wants with them.

To prevent chaos caused by his appearance, Su Tao chose to enter through the backdoor, and he bumped into the papercutting store’s owner, Grandpa Xu. Due to the Three Flavour Hall’s popularity, there’s a massive influx of people on the street daily. Grandpa Xu’s store gradually became famous as he had received many awards in the past. His grandson was a young man with ideas, so he posted a video of his grandfather on the internet and garnered much attention.

Grandpa Xu had also done an innovation in his work, and many of his works were suitable to be used in new houses. Hence, many wealthy people sought after his work, with the highest sale being ¥50,000-60,000.

Due to the handicraft, his grandson had also started learning from his grandfather. Aside from that, Grandpa Xu even took several apprentices.

The rarer it is, the greater its value. If someone wants to increase the value, they will have to put a limit on it. Right now, Grandpa Xu no longer does things himself. Aside from teaching, he would spend most of his time gathering with his old friends, playing chess and drinking tea.

Despite the development of the Three Flavour Hall, they still kept an area for senior citizens, allowing many old people to spend their time here.

Seeing Su Tao coming in, Grandpa Xu waved his hand, “Look who’s back! Little Su, come and help me here! I’m losing, and I’ll have to depend on you if I can save it.”

Although Su Tao is not famous, he still maintained his relationship with the folks here. Smiling as he walked over to Grandpa Xu, he glanced at the chess before he shook his head and smiled, “Grandpa Xu, I can’t help you with this situation.”

“You have pretty good eyesight!” Grandpa Xu laughed.

In China, aside from Go, there is also Chinese Chess.

The Chinese Chess before Grandpa Xu is one of the four famous ‘Earthworm Descending Dragon’ plays, with three soldiers left to the black side, while one soldier and two carts left to the red side. Although the red side might have an advantage, it was ultimately controlled by the soldiers, blocking the two carts.

Using small to gamble big and winning the strong. This is the joy behind Chinese Chess.

After talking to Grandpa Xu briefly, Su Tao continued in and was stopped by Xiao Jingjing, “A patient is causing trouble inside. Master, why don’t you return to your room directly?”

“It’s rare for me to be here, and since there's trouble, I naturally have to deal with it personally. Otherwise, what’s the meaning of me being the boss?” Su Tao smiled.