Chapter 120: I See the Great Men [1] The very word reservation was extremely unfamiliar in that era.
In the Republic of Korea, it had become an age where one could make firm reservations by telephone, or even with a few taps on a mobile device.
But in Joseon, the only way to send notice in advance was by letter.
That meant anyone who wished to receive treatment from Kanghyeok had to send him a letter.
And a letter... not just anyone could write one.
To begin with, one had to be literate to write a letter.
Of course, there were commoners who knew eonmun, but their numbers were absurdly small.
Even among Kanghyeok's own group, who were relatively more educated than most, among the commoners only Dolseok and Yeoni could read and write.
Makbong and Dorikkae had neither the will to learn nor anything close to the ability.
And knowing letters alone isn't enough.
One also needed paper, a brush, and ink.
In other words, letters were the exclusive property of those who had means.
At any rate, I already sent letters around to those in Hanyang with a bit of money... If they're interested, replies will come. As for the patients who simply come in off the street...
With a crafty smile, Kanghyeok looked over his disciples.
Until only yesterday, they had been little more than gluttonous parasites devouring his food, but now they were workers who would throw themselves into the grind for him.
More precisely, they would be handling the commoner patients under a thin-profit, high-volume system.
Of course, if any among them proved too difficult or too urgent, Kanghyeok would step in.
Still, after the hellish training of the last five days, he expected that to be rather rare.
Concealing his true thoughts, Kanghyeok spoke of "reservations" in more flattering terms.
"If I'm to supervise and manage everything, how can I stay tied down in one place? I need some free time so I can see whether you lot are making mistakes or causing trouble."
"Mm... well, we are still very lacking."
"It's not that you're lacking exactly... it's just that you haven't yet learned enough from me. You'll probably learn a great deal through actual practice as well."
"Yes, understood, Young Master."
Yeoni, who was particularly well-disposed toward Kanghyeok, looked perfectly willing to accept that.
"Please continue to guide and discipline us well, Master."
"Good."
Dongpa, who had joined relatively recently and had not yet truly tasted Kanghyeok's underhanded side, was much the same.
After all, he had already resolved to serve him as his master.
As for Makbong, he had never been a man of many thoughts, so even now he simply nodded without much consideration.
"Mm."
Among them all, however, the one who had served Kanghyeok the longest, Dolseok, thought rather differently.
Even so, he did not rashly speak out.
As Kanghyeok's loyal body servant, he had no wish to openly oppose him.
Let's wait a bit first.
So he lingered in the yard until everyone else had gone into their consultation rooms.
Kanghyeok did briefly wonder why the brat was not going inside, but he did not bother dragging him in.
He was too busy being excited at the thought of working them all hard from here on.
After wrapping the back of his head in readiness, Dolseok cautiously approached Kanghyeok.
He's definitely going to hit me, but still... I really am a strange one.
Why was it that even knowing he was bound to get hit, he still could not stop himself from opening his mouth?
One of his parents must clearly have been a very peculiar person.
Blaming the parents whose faces he could no longer remember, Dolseok finally spoke.
Only after checking twice, three times, that no one else was nearby.
"So... about this reservation business."
"Hm?"
"I mean... doesn't that just mean you'll stay in there and rest, Young Master, while the rest of us see the patients?"
Since the remark cut straight through to Kanghyeok's true intentions, Kanghyeok had no choice but to get angry.
Was that not human nature?
There was a reason people said the one who farted was the one who got angry first.
"Has this idiot gone mad?"
Glancing around in case anyone else had heard, Kanghyeok said that.
And just as Dolseok had expected, he smacked him on the back of the head.
"You could've just said it instead of hitting me."
"That's what happens when you say strange things."
"But that is the truth, isn't it..."
"Ha. This brat, really."
As Kanghyeok began circling his arm threateningly, Dolseok hurriedly shrank back.
Watching that, Kanghyeok did feel just the faintest hint of guilt.
Then again, I did mouth off plenty to my professors too.
Though he had been scolded for it often enough.
Still, unlike Dolseok, he had not gone around getting hit.
Nor had he spent that many years in a position where mouthing off could get him punished.
He had become a professor at an unusually early age thanks to his overwhelming research record and surgical skill.
The chairman had also pulled me up in particular.
He still did not know why.
If he ever returned with the house-call bag, he meant to ask what exactly had happened.
Thinking about it, our Dolseok really is a good kid.
At the same time, he was irritating too.
And had no sense of his place.
As Kanghyeok felt those contradictory emotions of fondness and annoyance together, he slowly approached Dolseok.
The closer he came, the more his irritation seemed to grow, and he had no idea why.
Dolseok hurriedly covered the spots Kanghyeok most liked to hit.
"What did that brat say this time to get himself beaten?"
Inside the consultation room, Makbong clicked his tongue.
Because of the distance, he could not hear what was being said, but the situation was obvious enough.
Dolseok mouthed off, and Kanghyeok beat him.
This time, however, things turned out a little differently.
Quite unlike expectation, Kanghyeok merely patted Dolseok on the head.
"What?"
Makbong felt curiosity surge up in him, but there was nothing he could do about it.
Patients were just beginning to crowd in, and he had no choice but to focus.
"So our Dolseok is unhappy about that?"
"Pardon?"
"You're unhappy because I rest while you work, is that it?"
"No, no."
Dolseok answered with difficulty, wearing a face that plainly asked what on earth was wrong with this gentleman.
Honestly, one punch would have been cleaner.
This strange petting was far more frightening.
"Up till now, I've always seen the patients while you only assisted, right?"
"Yes, yes."
"But you've eaten better and lived better than other people, haven't you?"
"Well... that's true."
"Then shouldn't you repay that kindness?"
"I should."
"Then go see patients. Stop chattering pointlessly."
"Yes."
Startled by the unexpectedly warm atmosphere, Dolseok hurried toward the consultation room assigned to him.
Or rather, he tried to.
"Ah, Dolseok."
"Yes, yes."
"There's one thing I forgot."
"What— urk!"
Kanghyeok's kick flew like lightning straight at Dolseok's waist.
Was this not the very kick that had once sent even Prince Gwanghae himself flying in a single strike?
Hit in a completely defenseless state, Dolseok had no choice but to collapse on the spot.
Only then, from a distance, could Makbong finally nod.
"That's right. That's our Young Master."
Looking down at the sprawled Dolseok, Kanghyeok said, "Yeoju said so."
"Said... what..."
"She said it's teacher and disciple as one body or something. So serve me devotedly, and don't get cheeky."
"Ugh..."
Leaving Dolseok groaning on the dirt, Kanghyeok went into the rear room.
Once he shut the door that opened into the front courtyard and opened the one leading to the back courtyard, it was almost like stepping into an entirely different world.
Compared with the noisy, crowded side full of patients, this place was utterly quiet.
Dorikkae really does good work.
He had asked for the largest house possible, but with the additional condition that the back courtyard be somewhat separated.
For all how vague and cloud-like Kanghyeok's request had been, Dorikkae had somehow understood it perfectly and found exactly such a house.
If the man had been standing right there in front of him, Kanghyeok might have felt like giving him a hug.
Though of course, Dorikkae himself was probably being worked half to death somewhere.
Mm. I can see it.
Kanghyeok had specifically instructed that all goods received as consultation fees be piled up in the back courtyard.
So from where he sat idly, he could see the goods gradually stacking up.
He could even see Dorikkae and his men carrying the loads with beads of sweat dripping from them.
He himself was doing absolutely nothing, and yet the money kept coming in.
Meanwhile, his disciples and Dorikkae, who were the ones working with sweat and blood, would likely receive no more than a few goods Kanghyeok doled out to them.
Could this be how those landlord gods felt?
"Ha!"
Kanghyeok stretched out fully in the room and began reviewing the books Yeoju had drawn up.
This part looks a little awkward. She probably couldn't see it well.
Since she was not actually trained in medicine, there were mistakes here and there in the drawings.
Truth be told, even an anatomy professor would probably have found it impossible to accurately draw everything from the lessons of the last five days.
The material had simply been too vast for the short time.
Yeoju must be busy too. Well... the first day after opening is always rather hectic.
Originally, he had meant to keep her beside him and revise the work together.
But peeking through the slightly open door, he could see that Yeoju was frantic, busy in her role as spare.
She ran to this room, then that room.
In a way, among all those currently involved in treatment, she actually seemed to be the busiest of all.
Maybe I should just mark the places for correction.
Kanghyeok briefly considered fixing them himself, then immediately gave up.
Writing, maybe. Drawing, absolutely not.
If he carelessly scribbled over things, he would likely ruin all the precious material.
So he decided to leave only brief notes instead.
Later, looking back, he would realize he had had more than enough time to draw corrections if he had wished.
Maybe I should practice martial arts today.
Revising books was work for a day or two.
By now he had spent more than ten days with nothing else to do, and the organization of the once seemingly endless books had long since been finished.
So he had been passing the time with this and that.
By the sound of it, it might have seemed terribly dull, but it was not.
"Dorikkae, did you rent the storage next door?"
"Yes, Young Master."
"Then why are you bringing more rice in here again?"
"Well... because it's already full..."
The warehouse had only been rented a few days ago.
And it had not been a small one either.
It was proof that enormous wealth was accumulating in no time at all.
A pleased smile spread across his face.
"Really? We're making money that well?"
"Yes, well... word has already spread all over Hanyang. Even yangban families have been coming fairly often to see Brother Dolseok."
"Good, good."
"Then I'll set this down and go."
"Fine. You've worked hard."
"Yes, Young Master."
Sending Dorikkae off, Kanghyeok sat back down on the bedding again.
To an outsider, he would have looked every bit the idle loafer.
And in truth, that was not far off.
Still, there was one slight difference.
"Young Master."
One of Dorikkae's men, who had been guarding the door leading to the front courtyard, called softly.
Kanghyeok showed no particular surprise and simply opened the door.
"You've come?"
"Yes. Two men here for via."
"Good. The ones wearing satgat, right?"
"Yes, yes. Shall I bring them in?"
"Of course. No point making them stand out there."
"Yes, Young Master."
Soon, two men wearing satgat entered Kanghyeok's room.
They looked nothing like ordinary satgat.
Kanghyeok had commissioned them specially.
Once someone wore one of these, it was almost impossible to identify who it was unless someone deliberately took it off.
Let's see... today they're all anonymous again.
Since this was consultation for matters below the waist, they were extremely reluctant to reveal their names.
Even people who came by introduction from acquaintances were like that.
Under the medical law of the Republic of Korea, it would have been completely illegal, but Kanghyeok simply let it pass.
This was Joseon, after all.
"Well then, you've come a difficult way."
"Ahem. They said you were highly skilled."
"I would've been fine, but this friend here kept insisting we come..."
Since the medicine they had come for was the kind of medicine it was, they seemed terribly embarrassed.
Even after removing his satgat, one of the men still could not raise his head for a long while.
I suppose his little fellow is bowing his head just like that too.
Without meaning to, Kanghyeok cracked the joke inwardly, then began the consultation while suppressing his laughter.
Since it was an examination for which he was charging a great deal of money, it felt a bit lacking to simply hand over the medicine and be done with it.
"First of all... please fill this out."
"What is this?"
"It asks how much alcohol you've drunk over the last five days, and whether you've been moving your body. You absolutely must write it down. That's how the treatment works."
"Hah... really."
Men were always like this.
They grumbled and grumbled, yet filled in every blank all the same.
While the two of them diligently wrote, Kanghyeok casually took out the pills one by one and placed them in silk pouches.
No matter what they wrote, the treatment was going to be Viagra regardless.
Compared with the next patient, these two were nothing at all.
Cheomji of the Jungchubu, Hwang Yungil, was it?
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