Chapter 79

Chen Jue wasn't the type to keep things to himself, so he showed his medical notes to Imperial Physician He. The physician was floored for a good long while—not just because Chen Jue had casually handed over his hard-won medical wisdom to someone else, but because the notes were incredibly practical and full of innovations. At the very least, there were tons of prescriptions that had his heart pounding with shock and excitement.

His hands were almost shaking as he asked Chen Jue, "This... where did all this come from... there's so much of it..."

Chen Jue thought to himself that he had only shown him a portion—not because he was being secretive. Medicine doesn't have borders; in the future, people wished they could cram medical knowledge into everyone's heads.

The one thing he held back was surgery. He was afraid of scaring the old imperial physician. Imperial physicians usually played it safe, and something like cutting people open was way too much for him to handle right away.

Western medicine and Chinese medicine just didn't always see eye to eye.

Western medicine went in and cut out the problem fast, while Chinese medicine focused on slowly rooting the problem out—using acupuncture, massage, and herbs to chip away at the illness. Hua Tuo's brain surgery never really caught on over the centuries, which just went to show that Western medicine couldn't really work in this ancient world.

He wasn't being totally generous with Imperial Physician He—he had a little favor to ask. He wanted to learn acupuncture from him.

The chances of doing Western-style surgery here were still way too slim. The medical setup just wasn't good enough, and those precise operations couldn't be done. So he wanted to learn acupuncture.

Director Zhou had offered to teach him once, but he didn't have the time back then. Now it was too late to regret it.

With that goal in mind, Chen Jue held nothing back when talking to Imperial Physician He.

Anything the physician wanted to know about his prescriptions, Chen Jue shared freely. The medical text Chen Jue had spent six months writing—including his own personal experiences from this half-year of pregnancy, all written down in painstaking detail—filled three whole volumes.

Imperial Physician He sat down and didn't budge. If Huo Jilin hadn't kept reminding him, he would've totally forgotten that Chen Jue was a pregnant man who needed to turn in early.

When Imperial Physician He was immersed in the medical texts Chen Jue had written, it was way too easy to forget Chen Jue was a pregnant man. Even regular folks rarely got the chance to learn this kind of orally passed-down, generation-to-generation medical knowledge—let alone a village boy from a poor little hamlet like him.

So as he read, Imperial Physician He couldn't stop himself from asking Chen Jue, "Who was your teacher?"

Huo Jilin gave a light cough right then. It wasn't a rude interruption—in this day and age, you were supposed to keep your master a secret.

Imperial Physician He shouldn't have gone there.

Chen Jue didn't do what Huo Jilin was worried about—he didn't name any medical university. He just said, "I grew up in a Taoist temple and learned from the masters there."

Taoist physicians were famous back in the day, and they knew a little bit of everything—Chinese medicine, Taoist arts, you name it. The Zhuyou Ritual was part of that tradition, and he could lump it all together with his broader studies, which covered both Chinese and foreign medicine.

He didn't name any one master, so there was no risk of getting caught. Each master taught him something different, and he just put it all together—nothing wrong with that.

Sure enough, Imperial Physician He sighed in admiration: "There really are hidden masters among the common folk. Your teachers are just as good as I am—they know so much, and so thoroughly. I've really learned something today."

Chen Jue smiled and said, "Imperial Physician He, you're too modest. You're the real deal when it comes to Chinese medicine. I still want to learn acupuncture from you!"

Huo Jilin watched Chen Jue with amusement. So Chen Jue could butter people up too. He'd thought he'd have to do the smooth-talking himself, but Chen Jue had already worked the whole thing—dangling the bait, waiting for Imperial Physician He to bite, and only then revealing what he really wanted. After seeing Chen Jue's medical text, the physician now owed him one.

Chen Jue never schemed about anything else—except medicine. He genuinely loved it.

Well, looks like bringing Imperial Physician He up early had paid off after all.

With his back to the physician, Huo Jilin gave Chen Jue a thumbs up. Chen Jue pretended he didn't see it and kept looking at Imperial Physician He with eager eyes.

Imperial Physician He was already giving Chen Jue a knowing look—he'd figured out he'd been played.

He turned to look at Huo Jilin. So this Boss Huo had invited him up this early—he really did have an agenda!

Huo Jilin didn't bother defending himself. On this one, Imperial Physician He was really doing him dirty.

He'd genuinely been worried about Chen Jue going into labor early, and since Imperial Physician He happened to be interested in their Chen's Pharmaceutical medicine packets, he'd used that as an excuse to get him up here. His plan was to have the physician here to make sure Chen Jue's delivery went smoothly.

Huo Jilin looked at Chen Jue's round belly and let out a very quiet breath. He didn't want Chen Jue learning acupuncture while lugging around that big belly.

But seeing the spark in Chen Jue's eyes, Huo Jilin knew that even if he said no, it wouldn't matter. This was what Chen Jue wanted.

With this thought, Huo Jilin smiled and said to Imperial Physician He, "Imperial Physician He, since you're already here, why not treat it as spreading the good word about our traditional Chinese medicine? You've seen my husband—he's crazy talented, a real prodigy in medicine. He'd never make you look bad. Why not take him on as your last disciple?"

Imperial Physician He pointed at Huo Jilin and said, "You make it sound so simple. He's about to pop any day now—how am I supposed to teach him? And after he has the kid, shouldn't he stay home and be a good husband and father?"

That was Imperial Physician He's way of saying yes. He was happy to admit Chen Jue was gifted and that having him as a last disciple wouldn't hurt his reputation one bit.

As for everything else...

Huo Jilin thought for a moment and said, "Imperial Physician He, rest assured. Once he's had the child and finished his confinement, I'll send him to study with you. As for the husband-and-father duties—I can handle those myself."

If he couldn't do it himself, couldn't he just hire someone?

He wouldn't let Chen Jue be trapped at home because of a child. If that had been the case, he would never have established Chen's Pharmaceutical in the first place.

Imperial Physician He was rendered speechless.

Chen Jue's brilliance had already impressed him, and now Huo Jilin had left him with nothing to say.

He'd seen useless husbands stay home with the kids while their wives ran the business—like the lady who ran the Jiangnan silk shop. Her husband couldn't hold his own in public, had no presence, and no authority.

But Huo Jilin was not that kind of man.

He had walked into their pharmacy in coarse clothing, and when no one thought well of him, a few calm words had managed to persuade even the slippery Shopkeeper Dong. Now, thanks to his caterpillar fungus, Shopkeeper Dong had carved out new territory and was highly valued by his employer.

In those days, Shopkeeper Dong had praised Huo Jilin to the heavens, treating him as his benefactor. He had assumed that Wanchun Hall was Huo Jilin's path upward—his one and only reliance.

But then Huo Jilin had carved out another path—one wider and longer.

The medicine packets. Chen's Pharmaceutical's medicine packets.

Even though Imperial Physician He knew nothing of business, he understood that countless people would use Huo Jilin's medicine packets. Given enough time, they would replace traditional herbal medicine.

That was terrifying.

If Imperial Physician He could see it, how could Shopkeeper Dong not? So at home, he slapped his thigh and complained that Huo Jilin was playing favorites!

Why treat Jishi Hall so well? Why put the medicine packets in Jishi Hall? Why not partner with him?

How was his Wanchun Hall inferior to Jishi Hall?!

Of course, Shopkeeper Dong only dared to grumble in front of Imperial Physician He. When he finally got the chance to see Huo Jilin delivering caterpillar fungus, his face was still plastered with smiles as he begged Huo Jilin to partner with him.

Huo Jilin said only one thing.

"Shopkeeper Dong, a hundred packets of this medicine earn less than a single caterpillar fungus. If you're willing to accept this price, if you're willing to offer affordable medicine to the common people, then I'll put up the Chen's Pharmaceutical sign in Wanchun Hall as well."

That was the difference between Jishi Hall and his Wanchun Hall.

Huo Jilin had understood this from the very beginning, which was why he had split the two types of medicine between two pharmacies.

Shopkeeper Dong fell silent. The patients who came to Wanchun Hall were from the middle and upper classes. If they saw these low-priced medicine packets, what would they think of his expensive caterpillar fungus?

The two were contradictory—they couldn't coexist. How to choose? Huo Jilin had thrown the question back at him.

While Shopkeeper Dong was struggling to decide, Huo Jilin offered him another possibility. He said that in the future, he would develop medicines for the heart, the internal organs, and even kidney-strengthening formulas—medicines that didn't require special brewing, giving patients their privacy.

Imperial Physician He was very much looking forward to their heart medicine, because when a heart attack strikes, there's no time to prepare—ready-made pills would be ideal.

Their pharmacy already stocked various pills and elixirs.

But none were specifically formulated to cure. If Huo Jilin and his team could develop an effective remedy, Wanchun Hall would truly become the top pharmacy in the capital.

That was also why Huo Jilin had invited him early to care for his husband—and why he'd agreed to come.

He also wanted to see Chen's Pharmaceutical for himself.

Everything he'd seen and heard here had impressed him. He now saw this small mountain village and the couple from it in a whole new light.

But what surprised him most was Huo Jilin's mindset.

He'd been thinking Huo Jilin was a man who could build a great enterprise—how could such a person possibly stay home to raise children and manage the household?

Most men wouldn't choose that path, let alone someone like Huo Jilin.

Imperial Physician He stared at Huo Jilin, dumbfounded and speechless. Huo Jilin smiled faintly and asked, "What, you don't believe I can do it, Imperial Physician He? Even if I can't calm a child, I can hire help. I'm telling you, I'm different from other men—I won't keep my husband stuck at home raising kids and running the house. With his medical achievements, he belongs in medicine."

Huo Jilin spoke with genuine sincerity.

Chen Jue glanced at him in surprise—not because he was grateful Huo Jilin wouldn't make him stay home, but because he was shocked he'd say something like that. Even without Huo Jilin, he'd have hired someone to watch the kid—Huo Jilin wouldn't have trapped him regardless.

What really got him was how much Huo Jilin's attitude had shifted.

The old Huo Jilin had said that if he couldn't land the Director of Cardiac Surgery post, he might as well come home.

Now he was admitting Chen Jue belonged in medicine.

The shift was so dramatic it made him suspicious.

Catching Chen Jue's skeptical look, Huo Jilin smiled. "Don't worry, I promise I can take good care of the kid. And I'll fully support your acupuncture studies—I mean it!"

Everything he'd said that night was true. From now on, he'd support Chen Jue in everything, putting Chen Jue's views first.

Chen Jue went, "Oh? Support me in everything?"

Huo Jilin pointed at Imperial Physician He. "A gentleman's word is his bond. Let Imperial Physician He witness this today—I mean every word I say. If I break my promise, may lightning strike me dead."

For other men, such an oath might be nothing more than a sweet lie, but for Huo Jilin, it was real. So every word he spoke to Chen Jue was true, sworn on his life.

Chen Jue stared at him steadily for a moment, saw the sincerity in Huo Jilin's eyes, and smiled at him. "Then if I need an assistant when I'm performing acupuncture, would you be up for it?"

Huo Jilin was about to thump his chest in assurance when he suddenly froze, cautiously withdrawing his hand.

Chen Jue countered, "What, scared?"

Imperial Physician He burst into laughter from the side.

This couple was truly amusing—not only had they reversed the traditional husband-wife roles, but they'd turned the natural order on its head.

Although Imperial Physician He was a traditional inheritor of Chinese medicine, his thinking wasn't that rigid. Especially since Chen Jue had impressed him so much, he felt that Chen Jue and Huo Jilin could stand on equal footing.

Huo Jilin coughed. "Well, that... let's discuss that another time. It's noon now—you should go rest first."

Chen Jue was only teasing Huo Jilin, watching him about to make a grand pledge and wanting to poke a hole in it.

Chen Jue stood up and said to the two of them, "Doctor He, I'll head to the medicine workshop for a look. You two keep chatting."

He knew Huo Jilin had things to discuss with Imperial Physician He—things he didn't need to know. Chen Jue didn't mind; everyone had their own affairs.

Lately, Huo Jilin had been receiving letters from unknown senders, and he hadn't shown any intention of sharing them with Chen Jue. Chen Jue wasn't a particularly curious person, so he didn't ask.

He and Huo Jilin were merely partners. Apart from their joint ventures, they were independent individuals.

So when Huo Jilin sent him away, Chen Jue didn't object. After all, maybe Huo Jilin had some private ailment he was too embarrassed to show Chen Jue and needed Imperial Physician He to look at instead, right?

After all, last time he wouldn't even let Chen Jue massage his lower back.

Chen Jue, being very understanding, took his leave.