The Martial Doctor-Chapter 128 - 119: The Pharmacy Plan

"No, don’t chase me, go away, go away..."

"Junior, save me, help me!"

"Boohoo, Junior, I’m so scared..."

"Senior Sister, Senior Sister, don’t be afraid, I’m here." Watching her sweat profusely, her hands struggling to push away, and calling his name in her nightmare, Lin Miao felt heartbroken.

Yesterday’s events had left a significant shadow in her heart, causing her to have a nightmare while sleeping at night.

"Junior, I’m so scared..." As soon as Sun Youwei opened her eyes and saw Lin Miao sitting by the bed, she immediately threw herself into his arms and cried.

In her memory, apart from when their master passed away, she had never seen her Senior Sister shed tears like this at other times.

She was a girl with a gentle appearance but a remarkably strong heart.

But this time, she cried in her dream, obviously dreaming of something that scared and frightened her.

Lin Miao reached out to massage the Shaohai, Tongli, and Shenmen acupoints to help calm her mind.

After about half a cup of tea’s time, Sun Youwei stopped sobbing in Lin Miao’s arms, her cheeks flushed, eyelashes slightly trembling, obviously having distinguished dream from reality and having woken up.

"Yuzhu, bring in the hot water and washing kit..."

"No, Junior, wait a bit longer, I don’t want to get up now." Sun Youwei lingered in Lin Miao’s embrace, her cheeks burning, as she cherished the warmth of her Junior’s embrace.

"Alright, I’ll stay here with you." Lin Miao gently caressed her soft and beautiful hair.

Yuzhu brought in the hot water and washing kit, and Lin Miao directly lifted Sun Youwei from the bed and placed her on the soft stool in front of the dressing table.

Sun Youwei was so embarrassed she didn’t dare to raise her head.

Looking at the copper mirror at the beauty with a face to rival even the fairest flowers, Lin Miao felt a surge of love and care.

His Senior Sister was a wife gifted to him by the heavens, his first family in this world, and he would never let anyone hurt her.

"Senior Sister, shall I draw your eyebrows for you?"

"Does Junior know how to draw eyebrows?"

"If not, I can learn. When we get married in the future, I’ll draw your eyebrows every day." Lin Miao picked up an eyebrow pencil and lightly traced it over Sun Youwei’s eyebrows.

"Junior, are you done yet? Hurry up, the water is getting cold..."

"No problem, if it gets cold, Yuzhu can take it away and bring another basin, after all, our family doesn’t lack a bit of charcoal for boiling water."

Hearing this, Sun Youwei couldn’t help but chuckle, last year Lin Miao had bought coal from an elderly charcoal seller to solve his medicine expenses, filling their storeroom with charcoal, not knowing when they would finish it.

Charcoal was primarily for heating, using it for cooking would be too extravagant, wood and black coal were much cheaper.

Even if they were grilling meat daily, they wouldn’t use much.

Fortunately, now their family had money, in the past, burning charcoal for one winter could bankrupt Sun Family’s Herbal Hall.

"Why are you laughing? Look, now it’s crooked..."

Seeing the eyebrow in the copper mirror resembling a tadpole, Sun Youwei burst out with laughter, leaning forward and backward; how was she supposed to face anyone with these eyebrows?

"The Master and Mistress have such a good relationship!"

Hearing the laughter from inside.

"Of course, our Mistress is so gentle and kind, and Mr. Lin is talented and young, they’re a perfect match made in heaven." Yuzhu and Xiaolian waited outside, not hearing the conversation inside but catching Sun Youwei’s laughter.

"It’s a pity that Mistress’s father recently passed, observing mourning for three years; otherwise, we could have already held the wedding in our residence."

"Isn’t this just a matter of time?"

"Mistress is already nineteen, waiting another three years would make her twenty-two, an old lady." Yuzhu sighed softly.

"Yuzhu, how old are you? Are you betrothed?"

"Me, I’m seventeen after the New Year, and I’ll likely return home next year for matchmaking." Yuzhu said.

"Yuzhu, bring another basin of hot water in!"

"Alright, coming." Yuzhu responded and entered, keeping her head down to avoid seeing anything inappropriate.

"I’ll go check if Mrs. Luu has prepared breakfast in the kitchen." Xiaolian followed Yuzhu with quick, small steps.

With the two of them gone, Lin Miao naturally turned Sun Youwei’s body boldly, bending down to seize her sweet red lips.

"Junior..."

Having come this far, the rituals to observe would continue to be observed, but necessary intimacy should still be had, not always remaining just polite and respectful.

...

"Sweet, sweet, you smile so sweetly, like a flower blooming in the spring breeze..."

"Master, Happy New Year." Mr. Xie, dressed in new clothes, greeted Lin Miao with clasped hands and a cheerful smile.

"I didn’t bring red envelopes with me, I’ll make it up to you later." Lin Miao, in a good mood, nodded to Mr. Xie and walked toward the study with a happy step.

On the first day of the New Year, taking a day off, no training today.

Maintain a balance between action and stillness, moderation is key.

"Master, Deputy Manager Xia Yuan from Benefit People Pharmacy is here to see you."

"Deputy Manager Xia is here? Why didn’t you say so earlier?" Lin Miao quickly retracted his steps towards the study, hurriedly turned around, and swiftly headed towards the main door.

Xia Yuan came along with Xia Zhu. It was different when Xia Zhu visited; she didn’t need to be announced and could enter directly. But things were different when she brought Xia Yuan along.

According to tradition, it was necessary to announce their arrival and receive the host’s permission before entering, especially as it was the first day of the New Year, a time to be polite and adhere to customs.

"Mr. Lin, Happy New Year."

"Deputy Manager Xia, please come in." Lin Miao treated Xia Yuan with respect, as he was someone who could face his own mistakes and wasn’t afraid to correct them, a quality that earned the respect of others.

"Xia Zhu wanted to come to offer New Year greetings to Mr. Lin, and since I had nothing to do, I decided to come along," Xia Yuan said with a laugh, offering an explanation for his unannounced and impromptu visit.

"Someone, serve tea!"

"Mr. Lin, let me do it," Xia Zhu said. The Lin Family had few servants, and since the servants were on holiday for the New Year, Yu Zhu was busy tending to Fourth Lady, while Xiaolian was likely helping in the kitchen. Shi Yin and Liuli were not household servants...

So, as a disciple, she took it upon herself to handle these things.

Moreover, he was her father, so she did it wholeheartedly.

"Deputy Manager Xia, forgive my slight, it’s the New Year, and I indulged in a bit more sleep and just got up," Lin Miao explained.

"No problem, Mr. Lin, don’t address me as ’Deputy Manager Xia’ anymore. Call me Old Xia instead; it’s more intimate," Xia Yuan laughed heartily, reminiscing about his younger days of indulging in play and sleep.

"Mr. Lin, today being New Year’s Day, I shouldn’t bring up these dispiriting matters, but there are issues that, if kept inside, become uncomfortable," Xia Yuan said.

"Go ahead, I’m listening."

"Regarding the application for ’Musk Wind-chasing Ointment’ and ’Frostbite and Crack Prevention Oil (Halaha Oil)’ as well as ’Lin’s Ejiao Gelatin’ as trial sales of proprietary medicines, the Medical Bureau has no objections, but the resistance from the Physician Association is significant, mainly from people like Ye Shengyuan and Chen Handian, who staunchly oppose granting trial sales permission."

"What’s the reason?"

"The reason sounds quite grand — concerns about the safety of these three proprietary medicines, as they use medicinal ingredients never seen before, with unproven efficacy. If they are rashly put on the market and cause poisoning or casualty issues, who would be responsible?"

"With any medication, some people will naturally have adverse reactions due to their constitution. Wouldn’t it be resolved if the prescription rights were given to the physician?" Lin Miao pondered and said.

"Prescription rights, what do you mean?"

"Prescription rights mean that these proprietary medicines can only be purchased from the pharmacy after being prescribed by a physician, and the general public cannot buy them on their own," Lin Miao explained.

"Isn’t that the pharmacy decocts the medicine or processes it as per the patient’s needs?" Xia Yuan exclaimed in surprise.

"Indeed, that’s the principle." Lin Miao asked, "What was the previous process for applying for proprietary medicine sales? Wasn’t it also necessary for a physician to prescribe it first, then the pharmacy handmade it, sold it to patients, and after receiving feedback from them to confirm its efficacy, finally applying for market sales?"

"After the invention of proprietary medicine, it is naturally necessary to test its effects. For market sales, applications must undergo evaluation by the medical and pharmaceutical guilds, then submitted to the Medical Bureau for approval, allowing trial sales. Post extensive case collection and efficacy confirmation, a formal proprietary medicine status can be applied for from the Imperial Pharmacy a year later," Xia Yuan explained, "From trial sales to becoming a formal proprietary medicine, the process takes at least about three years."

"Can you apply for trial sales of proprietary medicine if its efficacy isn’t determined upon invention?"

"Yes, but during the invention, the inventor should have some awareness of the efficacy of their invention. If it’s not universal, there’s no need to apply for proprietary medicine sales, as individuals cannot bear the consequences of any accidents," Xia Yuan stated.

"Understood, actually, as long as our pharmacy qualifies for approval, we completely don’t need to apply for trial sales of proprietary medicine. Anyway, I haven’t planned for large-scale production and city-wide distribution yet," Lin Miao said.

What business generates the most profit? Monopoly does. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

Moreover, constrained by the availability of medicinal ingredients, ’Musk Wind-chasing Ointment’ can only meet the needs of a small group and cannot enter the proprietary medicine sales sector, which has no impact on him.

The same goes for Halaha Oil, and as for Lin’s Ejiao Gelatin — you could say it’s a proprietary medicine, or it could be a type of medicinal ingredient added to prescriptions, either way works.

Entering the medicinal ingredient directory might be relatively easier.

Currently, he has several medicaments prepared, including musk, borneol, ground beetle, and ejiao, none of which are listed in the current pharmacy sales directory.

The rules are rigid, people are flexible.

"The storefront issue of the pharmacy is easy to solve, Xiuyue Square is so large, having just one Anning Hall pharmacy is clearly insufficient, and it’s highly necessary to establish another. However, to open a pharmacy, apart from needing a pharmacist, you must have a resident physician-in-charge, and the pharmacy facilities have certain requirements," Xia Yuan said.

"The pharmacist and the storefront for opening a pharmacy are easy to solve, but having a resident physician-in-charge..."

"Xia Zhu’s fiancé, Shen Haidong, is already a physician. He can moonlight as the resident physician-in-charge. Actually, just bearing the title, doesn’t really matter if he comes!" Xia Yuan said.

Xia Zhu’s eyes widened instantly.

What’s going on, how did she get dragged into this?

Lin Miao smiled, realizing Xia Yuan’s well-intentioned efforts. Xia Zhu was learning by his side, rarely going home, while Shen Haidong found it challenging to visit often. But if the two had the opportunity to work together, seeing each other every day would naturally cultivate their relationship.

Moreover, Xia Yuan was also concerned that Xia Zhu spending so much time with Lin Miao might develop inappropriate feelings, jeopardizing her relationship with Shen Haidong.

Some things are understood but unspoken.

Xia Yuan’s visit today had two purposes: he had come up with a solution for himself, and he also came for Xia Zhu and Shen Haidong’s future.

If anyone opposes Xia Yuan regarding his daughter and future son-in-law establishing their own place, they’d become his mortal foe!

Lin Miao was also tempted.

Once the pharmacy was opened, he would have greater autonomy.

And since he’s the largest investor behind it, this pharmacy would be under his control.