Chapter 14: Me, You Punk, and the Suwon Busa [2] "Young master, he's coming again."
"Really? That gentleman truly has no sense."
The man Dolseok and Kanghyeok were pointing at was none other than Kim Yungil, the Suwon Busa.
Once he had gotten a taste for Viagra, he had been coming in and out of the clinic every single day ever since.
He truly was a relentless man.
"Out of the way! Make way! The Suwon Busa is arriving!"
At first, he had come secretly and alone, but he did not even bother with that anymore.
He arrived attended not only by the servants from his household, but also by gujong and even seori.
Naturally, the Busa was riding on horseback.
As a result, the already crowded area in front of the clinic became even more packed.
"No, he came yesterday, and now again today. It's going to wear out at this rate."
Kanghyeok looked at Busa Kim Yungil as he pushed through the crowd toward him.
Of course, his face was full of smiles.
The man held the greatest power in Suwon, so there was no helping it.
And I've got favors to ask of him too.
The Busa was smiling as well.
To him, Kanghyeok was no different from a savior.
"Well then, Kanghyeok, were you well through the night?"
"Yes, sir. Did you sleep well too?"
"It is all thanks to you. Ahem."
The Busa cleared his throat and held out a silk pouch.
It was the very same pouch Kanghyeok had seen yesterday and the day before.
Apparently he had started using it exclusively for Viagra.
"Here it is."
"Thank you every time."
The Busa tucked the pouch into his robes and immediately turned to leave.
Kanghyeok called out to stop him.
"Sir."
"Mm? What is it?"
This was not just anyone calling him, but Kanghyeok.
The Busa stopped at once and turned back.
"I have a favor to ask."
"Oh, say whatever it is."
The Busa looked ready to grant absolutely anything.
He even jumped down from his horse.
"Ohh."
Someone waiting their turn let out a sound of admiration.
There were only a handful of people in Suwon who could so much as meet the Busa's eye.
Most of them were retired high-ranking officials above dangsanggwan rank, like Seungmun, or famous scholars.
For Kanghyeok to be treated at that level meant everyone could only look up at him.
"The thing is… I heard you have a spare house in the market."
The Busa was a textbook corrupt official, and Suwon, along with Gaeseong, Ganghwa, and Gwangju, was considered a rather wealthy district.
So of course he had a great deal of property.
Not only in the market, but throughout Suwon, Gyeonggi, and Hanyang, he owned houses and fields.
"I do. Why? Are you thinking of moving in there? Thinking of getting married?"
"No, not that. I am thinking of setting up a separate clinic there."
"In the market?"
"Yes. Just look at this place. Can a scholar's household really go on like this?"
Kanghyeok gestured toward the fewer than twenty people there.
No matter how large Seungmun's house was, it could not help being in constant commotion every day like this.
Kanghyeok could only feel sorry toward Seungmun, a born scholar.
He could not write in peace, and even the number of visitors was dropping.
The Busa nodded as if he understood what he meant.
"That is true. So this is why your honored father has been going out so much these days."
"Yes. Could you do it?"
Kanghyeok lowered his head slightly and watched the Busa's reaction.
In truth, the reasons he had given were not even half of it.
People of low status, like the Aeogae troupe, had a hard time entering Seungmun's house at all.
In fact, the patients waiting now were all commoners with fairly decent means.
If I want to gather information, I'll need to use people like them… but staying here makes that difficult.
And on top of that, every time Seungmun saw him, he brought up studying, and it was driving him to death.
Things would be much easier in the market.
"Very well. Consider the price covered in place of my consultation fees. Will that suit you?"
"Yes, that is good."
"Understood. I'll send people over today, so arrange it as you like. There should be no need for repairs. It has not been long since the roof was redone."
"Thank you, sir."
The Busa was corrupt and lecherous, but separate from that, he was a man with loyalty.
He gave Kanghyeok the best house he owned in the market.
Not only that, he even had it cleaned so it could be used right away.
The yard was fairly wide as well, so it seemed it would be fine no matter how many patients came.
Dolseok came into the room, flaring his nostrils.
"As expected, I like the smell of the market best."
"I was suffocating from staying only at home, but this place is nice."
"Yes, young master. But what do you intend to do with all the fees people are bringing?"
"I spoke to Father, and we're having an ox cart brought every day. Though I'm not sure one will be enough."
Kanghyeok pointed toward the line already stretching across the yard.
Since Dolseok alone had trouble handling all the assistance, part of the Aeogae troupe had come to help with the work.
Since there happened to be no performance today, Yeoni and Makbong were there as well.
Makbong was handing out numbered wooden tokens he had carved himself.
"Yeoni, come here."
At Kanghyeok's call, Yeoni ran over as if her tail were on fire.
"Yes, did you call me?"
"What became of the matter I asked about before?"
"Ah, that… I went all around Suwon, and even as far as Anseong, but… there was no one who knew."
Since he had not expected things to be resolved easily, Kanghyeok was not that disappointed.
It would be enough if I could just remember what I did right before I came here.
He could recall that he had touched something.
But since he did not know what it was, it was of no use.
"I see. Alright."
"I am sorry to disappoint you."
"No. It's alright. Keep looking into it."
"Yes, young master. I'll ask the patients indirectly as well."
"Good. Thank you."
After sending Yeoni away, Kanghyeok looked out over the yard.
It had not even been that long since breakfast, but there were already a great many people.
The sun is getting hotter and hotter…
It was now early summer.
When Kanghyeok had first been thrown into Joseon, it had still been spring, so quite a bit of time had passed.
And yet he had found no clue at all that might let him return.
It increasingly felt as though he might have to settle down here for good.
Whatever. Let's just work. Make money, money.
There was no world in which having wealth was a bad thing.
Joseon could hardly be an exception.
"Dolseok, let's see patients."
"Yes, young master. Alright then, the consultations are beginning! Come in one at a time, in order!"
At Dolseok's call, the patients surged forward.
"Ahem, ahem! One at a time!"
Dolseok did not hesitate to point and bark even at people who were clearly commoners.
Part of it came from his pride in being born a commoner himself, but most of it came from confidence in Kanghyeok's authority.
If even the Suwon Busa was a regular customer here, then anyone who failed to get treated only hurt themselves.
Even most yangban merely waited according to the numbered tokens.
Kanghyeok, too, casually used plain speech with most people.
He had only been here a short time, yet he had already adapted to life in a status society.
If he had arrived here as a commoner, it probably would still have been difficult, but as a yangban, things were different.
He asked the middle-aged man lying on the bedding,
"So, how is it?"
"The medicine you prescribed has made me much better."
"Yes, yes. Let's see…"
When he listened to the lower abdomen with the stethoscope, the rumbling had eased considerably.
When the man had first come, he had nearly soiled himself in the middle of the consultation, so at this point he was practically cured.
"It's not an infectious disease, so there is nothing to worry about. You can stop taking the medicine now."
"Oh, thank you, sir."
The patient loaded the few hops of rice he had brought as payment onto the ox cart in the back yard and then left.
That alone would make one meal for Dolseok.
Since the consultation fees were mostly left to the patients' discretion, there was some variation.
The yangban, for the sake of dignity, brought things like leather, pyeonyuk, or dried fish, while the farmers could offer no more than rice.
One fellow had even tried to get treated and then take the rice back with him, but in cases like that, Yeoni or Makbong handled it.
Just like now.
"You rat-like bastard, how dare you steal in front of us!"
Yeoni shouted at a man a full head taller than she was.
Her manner was so fierce, and the man knew he had done wrong, so he could not move at all.
"Oh dear, I was wrong."
"A man like you can't be let off."
Yeoni sprang up and brought her heel down on the thief's shoulder.
"Argh!"
With a cracking sound, the thief's knees buckled automatically.
Apparently the pain was intense, because he clutched his shoulder and started shouting at the top of his voice.
"Oh, I'm dying."
Kanghyeok watched the scene for a while, then stepped out of the room.
"Does it hurt a lot?"
"Sir, please save me."
"Hah. Why would I kill you?"
Kanghyeok felt around the man's shoulder and went on.
"You fell and dislocated your shoulder. I'll fix it. The fee is one mal of rice. Understood?"
"One mal? That's too…"
"Otherwise you can go to the magistrate's office for theft. Makbong."
"Yes, young master."
Yeoni was frightening, but Makbong had a face on an entirely different level of menace.
The man's face went pale.
"Oh dear, I'll pay."
"Good. It'll hurt a little, so endure it."
With astonishing skill, Kanghyeok popped the shoulder back into place.
The man rolled his newly restored shoulder around this way and that, then bowed repeatedly.
"Thank you, thank you."
"Yes."
"Then later, I'll…"
"Have you lost your mind? Makbong, go with him and collect it."
"Yes, young master."
It was a somewhat vicious way of doing things, but his skill was unquestionable.
Had not the dangling shoulder gone right back into place?
The patients waited for Kanghyeok's treatment with even greater eagerness.
He was in the middle of seeing patients when the yard grew noisy again.
Kanghyeok looked outside, thinking perhaps another thief had shown up.
"What? Who are those people?"
It seemed some official had arrived.
A yangban wearing an official belt sat on horseback, looking down arrogantly.
Instead of a saddle, there was a thick-looking cushion laid over the horse's back, which made him look rather ridiculous.
"You lot, get out of the way at once! The Anseong Hyeongam is arriving!"
The patrol men were even waving clubs about.
By now Kanghyeok roughly understood how Joseon official ranks worked.
The Suwon Busa, being Senior Third Rank, was certainly an impressive man.
But a hyeongam? He was only Sixth Rank.
Of course, Kanghyeok held no official post himself, but even so, this was not a man important enough to behave with such overbearing arrogance.
Especially not in this house.
I don't recognize his face. Looks like he doesn't know this house belongs to the Busa.
Kanghyeok simply continued doing his work.
While he was in the middle of a consultation, a low-ranking official who looked like an ajeon or a seori stepped forward.
"Is the physician here? The Anseong Hyeongam wishes to be examined, so come out at once."
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