Physician's Odyssey

Chapter 356 - Humans are afraid of fame, while pigs are afraid of being fattened

Translator: Thyaeria

Song Sichen and Dou Fanggang’s appearance in He City to provide a charity consultation caused a sensation in the medicine capital.

It wouldn’t cause such a sensation in other cities. After all, TCM wasn’t well spread in other cities.

But He City was the medicine capital, and it was the largest TCM herbal center in the world. Hence, the commotion it created in this city far exceeded the effect of other cities.

In the international herbal industry, those famous ones were like the Medicine King Hall, which was an old brand. Now, the emerging Three Flavour Hall has attracted a lot of people’s attention.

By putting ‘Three Flavour Hall’ into the search engine, the first thing that appears would be the Three Flavour Cosmetics International’s official website, which the Three Flavour Hall’s Baidu introduction followed after.

“The Three Flavour Hall was established in the final years of the Qing Dynasty’s regime, and the main outlet is located at Huainan Province, He City’s Old Street. The in-house doctor, Su Tao, received guidance from the two TCM grandmasters, Song Sichen and Dou Fanggang, and was known as a leading figure amongst the younger generation in the TCM industry...”

Bai Fan’s face was ugly. He never expected that the business in his newly opened Medicine King Hall’s business would be so terrible.

Not too far away, Luo Ran was terrified as he glanced at Bai Fan. He had no idea when his Senior Brother would fly into a rage.

Compared to when Xu Tiande was the Sect Master of the Medicine King Valley, Bai Fan’s management made everyone feel uneasy, since they would suffer Bai Fan’s rage if anything did not go as he planned. This was due to the fact that he had an indifferent character.

Bai Fan inherited Xu Tiande’s slyness, and he also inherited the technique of controlling the disciples. He even added a few new medicines to Xu Tiande’s initial prescription. So if anyone dared to betray him, then they would suffer the torture of the poison and taste life beyond death.

“Mr. Duanmu left He City yesterday!” Luo Ran reported.

“That useless piece of trash!” Bai Fan roared as he continued, “After receiving a sum of money, he couldn’t even bring any effect, and still has the face to leave?!”

Duanmu Xiong knew that he couldn’t compete with Dou Fanggang, so he quietly left. As for the reward that Bai Fan promised, he didn’t have to face to ask for it. He understood Bai Fan’s character, and this was a person who would never do anything to make a loss. Putting it in a nutshell, you had to show that the money was well spent. Otherwise, you would have to spit it back out.

So Duanmu Xiong only gave Luo Ran a call when he boarded the plane and secretly left.

Luo Ran felt his throat go dry as he swallowed a mouthful of saliva before continuing his report, “Senior Brother, the new branch is completely deserted. With Song Sichen and Dou Fanggang’s charity consultation in the Three Flavour Hall, they have already made a name for themselves, and it’s meaningless for us to keep doing this. Shall we close it down? Otherwise, we will suffer a loss!”

Bai Fan looked at Luo Ran. His cold gaze made the latter feel a chill down his spine before he slowly shook his head. “No way! Even if there’s no income from the new branch, it still has to stay as a strategic position.”

After a brief pondering, Luo Ran asked, “Senior Brother, I’ve secretly investigated the Three Flavour Hall. Although their business is pretty good, they sold their herbs at a low price, and it practically brings no profit. Our Medicine King Hall has a stable income from the daily sale of herbs, and we don’t have to place them in our eyes. The Three Flavour Hall isn’t on the same level as us, so aren’t we being too paranoid?”

Bai Fan felt that Luo Ran was too short-sighted and had no idea of the Three Flavour Hall’s terror. Although the Medicine King Hall might seem massive with so many branches around the nation, they did not have any competitiveness. To put it simply, since customers can buy herbs from them, they can also buy it from other pharmacies.

If Su Tao’s plan succeeds, it would form into an influence and patients would recognise the physicians in the branch, and they would go after the reputation. As long as customers visit your store, it would be easy to gain profit by putting some work into it.

“You can’t see where the key in this matter lies!” Bai Fan waved his hand as he continued, “For our new branch, we will follow the Three Flavour Hall’s model. Arrange for someone decent in the sect over; we will provide medical consultations as well.”

Luo Ran was stunned and felt that Bai Fan might be making too big of a fuss out of a small matter. However, Bai Fan was the decision-maker in the Medicine King Valley, and no one could interfere with his decision. If Ole Seventh wasn’t in prison, the latter might be able to put in a few words. To Bai Fan, Luo Ran was just a tool. Thus, Luo Ran nodded his head and responded, “Then I will deal with this immediately!”

The Medicine King Valley had many decent physicians, and most of them held a position in various hospitals. After all, the business of the Medicine King Valley, the Medicine King Hall, didn’t require any personnel with powerful medical skills.

The Medicine Deity Corporation had two vital businesses. Firstly, the pharmacy chain, the Medicine King Hall; secondly, their skincare products.

Although the Medicine King Hall was progressing slowly, it was steady with a healthy cash flow. It was considered a top-tiered business that even attracted the attention of financial capitalists.

The moment the Medicine Deity Corporation goes online in the stock market, it’s estimated to have about 40% price-to-earnings ratio. After the Medicine Deity Corporation receives supplement fundings, it would become a giant in the country’s TCM industry.

The reason why Bai Fan interacted with Rangure so often was in the hope that he could make use of her funds to enter the stock market.

He’s no pushover. He knew that Rangure was also using him to approach Wang Guofeng, and now, she was trying to approach Su Tao, which made him feel a little uneasy.

However, they’re just making use of each other, and once he had gained enough benefits, Bai Fan would be able to abandon Rangure.

After recalling her bewitching figure, even he couldn’t help feeling the urge to conquer her, despite not usually having any interest in the deed between men and women. He did not want to conquer Rangure for his physical desire, but the ambition of a man.

As the Sect Master of the Medicine King Valley, he was young, wealthy, and powerful. So if he wanted to resolve his biological needs, many women were willing to send themselves to his door.

However, he faced those women with disdain. He’s a perfectionist, and it went the same for women. Only a woman that was flawless in every aspect could attract his attention.

Letting out a sigh, Bai Fan was helpless. But the Medicine King Hall also had to be upgraded, or they would be eliminated by their competitors.

He’s an executive with a strong sense of danger.

Su Tao’s existence made Bai Fan worried, since the development of the Three Flavour Hall would force those in the same industry to upgrade themselves as well.

Bai Fan could imagine that in just a few years, every pharmacy would have to change their model if they wanted to survive. They would have to abandon their model of selling herbs to provide medical treatments and upgrade themselves.

The country’s policy was also trying to propose and put everything into effect, and no one could go against that flow.

After the new year, the construction began in the Old Street. It was mainly meant to generalise all the buildings’ styles, and it’s estimated to complete within half a year. In this period, the construction would not affect any business operations in the street.

Su Tao, Cai Yan, and Xia Yu returned to the Old Street. Although it was raining, the popularity of the Old Street was more bustling. Many people held the mindset of reminiscing about the past as they took a look and hoped that the original could be preserved.

Because of how Su Tao defeated Kim Jung-ho during the International Medical Summit, his fame grew. So despite the expansion of the Three Flavour Hall, it was still crowded.

“According to this momentum, the Three Flavour Hall will have to be expanded further.” Cai Yan smiled as she joked with Su Tao, “Should I talk with Grandpa Xu and see if we could buy his papercutting store?”

“Don’t! Unless you want me to be cursed by him!” Su Tao knew that Cai Yan was just joking, so he pressed on his cap and entered the store.

Even if Su Tao wore sunglasses and a cap, his iconic robe betrayed him. Hence, he was immediately recognised and they exclaimed, “That’s Su Tao!”

Many admirers came for Su Tao’s fame, so they broke out into cheers whenever he’s here. The pharmacy was a place where it should be quiet, but it was covered in a commotion.

Since he was recognised, Su Tao couldn’t hide anymore and removed his sunglasses and cap. Waving his hand to the crowd, he said, “Nice to meet all of you. I’m Su Tao! Please don’t cause a commotion, since there are patients receiving treatment, and they need silence!”

“Physician Su, you’re my idol! Can I take a photo with you?” A delicate figure raised her camera as her voice suppressed everyone else.

“Of course, but it’s not appropriate now.” Su Tao apologised as he amicably waved his hand.

Liu Jianwei walked over with his face sunk. He easily cleared the way for Su Tao. Under his help, Su Tao successfully made his way in. As the protagonist left, the crowd slowly quiet down, but most of them were still excited about seeing Su Tao himself.

Su Tao finally experienced the feeling of being chased like a celebrity. When he was surrounded, he had no idea how many times he had been touched and was molested by his female fans. Of course, male fans weren’t excluded. It was as if it’s a glorious thing to touch him, which made Su Tao not know whether to laugh or cry.

Xiao Jingjing came up and smiled. “Master, you’re finally back! Many people have been coming to ask when you were returning. Your admirers are not only those from Hanzhou City but from the other cities as well!”

“Humans are afraid of fame, while pigs are afraid of being fattened!” Su Tao showed a self-ridiculing smile as he asked, “There were no troubles while I was gone, right?”

“With Uncle Jianwei, what trouble can we face?” Xiao Jingjing smiled. “The local police are also patrolling here often!”

Nodding his head, Su Tao was pleased in his heart. Liu Jianwei has successfully integrated himself into the Three Flavour Hall, which was something worth celebrating.

“Right, where’s Bassoon? I want to meet him!” Su Tao suddenly recalled the Thai. The latter must have been waiting for him for a long time now.

“He has been shutting himself in the room and never steps out. Even when his meals were delivered by us.” In Xiao Jingjing’s view, Basson was a weirdo. Hence, she did not dare to interact with him too much.

As Su Tao stood up, he came to Bassoon’s room under Xiao Jingjing’s lead.

When Bassoon saw Su Tao, his gloomy expression showed a little fury as he charged towards Su Tao. After that, he kneeled on the ground and begged, “Please bring me to save Nida!”

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