Chapter 29.3

Up on the mountain, Guan Yue and Gu Sui continued to live their lives as usual, peaceful and quiet. In the afternoon, Gu Sui was reviewing his own notes, while Guan Yue went up into the deep mountains.

Not long after she left, Li Dingbang arrived with his team. After handing the others over to Xiao Ma for arrangements, he immediately headed up the mountain to find Guan Yue.

Gu Sui told him, “Guan Yue went up into the mountains to gather herbs. She probably won’t be back until evening.”

Li Dingbang hurried up the mountain, sweating from the heat. “If she needs any medicinal herbs, the herb company can deliver them. Why does she have to go through the trouble of gathering them herself?”

“Some good herbs, the herb company doesn’t have.”

Li Dingbang sat down in front of Gu Sui. “Since she won’t be back until evening, you should come with me now. The doctors and nurses from the sanatorium have arrived, and since you’re the deputy director, you should go meet them.”

Li Dingbang had originally wanted Gu Sui to be the director, but Gu Sui had declined. As it turned out, Li Dingbang and the others already had a candidate for the position of director, so Gu Sui took the position of deputy director instead.

Li Dingbang said, “The new director you and Guan Yue both know is Director Zhang Nianbei from the Qingchuan Military District Hospital. He will primarily handle the day-to-day affairs of the sanatorium. As for the patients, you’ll be the deputy director in charge of Western medicine, and Deng Weimin, an old sir, will be the deputy director responsible for traditional Chinese medicine.”

Gu Sui raised an eyebrow. “I thought you would appoint Guan Yue as the head of Chinese medicine.”

Li Dingbang replied, “I’m sure they would have liked to, but considering Guan Yue’s situation, we’ve decided to have Deng Weimin, someone she’s familiar with, take on the role of deputy director.”

He continued, “Deng Weimin is in charge of Chinese medicine, but ultimately, Guan Yue will have the final say on matters related to Chinese medicine. Deng Weimin knew about this arrangement before he came and has already agreed. By the way, you know Deng Baishu, right? He’ll be Guan Yue’s assistant, and all of the patients under Guan Yue’s care will be managed by him to free up her time.”

The sanatorium was established because of Guan Yue, but they couldn’t let other trivial matters waste her time. They were also concerned that Guan Yue might find it too bothersome and decide to quit altogether.

Gu Sui nodded. “When Guan Yue comes back, I’ll talk to her about it.”

Li Dingbang stood up. “Let’s go, we’ll meet the others first.”

Gu Sui locked the door and left the mountain with Li Dingbang.

Just after Deng Baishu had put his things in the dormitory, he saw some familiar faces and immediately ran out. “Gu Sui, long time no see! Where’s Guan Yue?”

Gu Sui replied, “Guan Yue went up the mountain to gather herbs. Looks like you’ve gotten what you wanted this time.”

Gu Sui said this with an insinuation.

Deng Baishu chuckled. “Thanks to having a good father, when he knew this opportunity was available, he pushed me into it.”

Li Dingbang laughed. “You’re an honest guy. From now on, make sure to assist Guan Yue well and learn more yourself.”

“Don’t worry, Minister Li, I’ll study hard.”

Over the past half year, Deng Baishu had been memorizing medical books at home, struggling through it all. There were so many things he didn’t understand. His father, his uncle, and his senior brothers either explained things to him countless times without him grasping it, or they hadn’t figured it out themselves.

After half a year of effort, he finally realized one thing—forget about trying to save face, he should just latch onto Guan Yue. Having her explain things to him was far better than anything else.

Most of the doctors and nurses at the sanatorium were transferred from the Qingchuan Military District Hospital. Gu Sui first met Director Zhang and Deng Weimin, who introduced him to the others.

Although Gu Sui was young, no one criticized him. Everyone was quite polite.

While the others didn’t know Gu Sui’s level, when they saw his resume, they couldn’t help but respect him. He had graduated from a proper medical university, worked as a surgeon in Beijing, and his father was also a doctor with a deep family background in medicine. What could anyone say?

After meeting the people, Director Zhang, Deng Weimin, and Gu Sui went to the office for a meeting, bringing along Deng Baishu, who would be Guan Yue’s future assistant.

Director Zhang said, “The conditions here are better than I expected. The operating room and the stockpiled medicines are all well prepared. The first batch of patients will be transferred here on the third day of the Lunar New Year. By then, everyone will be busy.”

“Once the patients arrive, we will classify them into three levels: Level 1 to Level 3. The most severe patients, Level 1, will be handled by Guan Yue, and Deng Baishu will need to pay close attention to them.”

Deng Baishu nodded.

“For Level 2 patients, we will make judgments based on the situation. We will hold regular consultations, and Guan Yue will participate as well. If she has better treatment methods, she will take the lead; if we can handle it ourselves, we will do so. For Level 3 patients, there’s no need to discuss—they will be handled by us.”

Director Zhang looked at the three of them. “The higher-ups have instructed that we should avoid delaying Guan Yue’s time as much as possible. As for the reason, you probably know it already.”

Most of the medicines made by Guan Yue were sent to the front lines, and a portion was sent to their military district hospital. Deng Weimin and his son both knew this.

As for Gu Sui, that was even more obvious.

“Guan Yue will definitely be late when she returns in the evening. Gu Sui, make sure to pass on the message and ask her to come down tomorrow.”

Gu Sui nodded.

After discussing the main matters, Director Zhang stood up. “We’ll spend a good New Year here in Qingxi Village. You can still rest for a few more days, but after the New Year, we’ll get busy.”

After the meeting, Deng Weimin and Deng Baishu followed Gu Sui out first.

The newly arrived doctors and nurses were curious about the place and were discussing, “Daqing Mountain is so big; there must be a lot of wild pheasants and rabbits up there. When can we go hunting?”

“Definitely, we should go tomorrow. Tomorrow will be the twenty-ninth day of the twelfth lunar month. We can catch more wild pheasants and rabbits and have a big feast for the New Year.”

Little Ma smiled and ran over. “That won’t do. Our activity range is only within the valley and the nearby Xiaoqing Mountain. We can’t go up Daqing Mountain.”

“Why can’t we go up there?”

Director Zhang came out and said seriously, “It’s the rule. Don’t ask why. Just follow it.”

Little Ma tried to ease the tension. “We are looking out for everyone’s safety. There are many snakes, insects, rats, and ants on Daqing Mountain, especially in summer. Going up the mountain is very dangerous. If you get bitten by a poisonous snake, you could die before you even make it back down. Winter is a little better, but there are wolf packs on the mountain. There’s a lack of food in the winter, so they might even attack people.”

Someone was scared and asked, “If it’s so dangerous here, why did they choose to build the sanatorium here?”

“Don’t worry,” said Little Ma. “There are guards at the foot of Daqing Mountain. It’s very safe.”

The presence of guards meant they had no chance to sneak up the mountain.

Those who wanted to go up the mountain abandoned the idea.

Gu Sui slightly curled the corners of his mouth. Little Ma and the others did indeed have a strong sense of contract. Since they had arrived here, they hadn’t gone up the mountain again, as it was Guan Yue’s area.

It was also during this time that Guan Yue’s opinion of Little Ma and the others had improved quite a bit. If they wanted any medicine, as long as it wasn’t too troublesome, she would consider making it for them.

In the evening, when Guan Yue returned after gathering herbs, she saw Deng Weimin and Deng Baishu. “Teacher? When did you arrive?”

The way she addressed him as “teacher” really touched Deng Baishu’s heart. He proudly stroked his beard and replied, “We arrived this afternoon. Just settled in. Gu Sui invited us to your place for dinner.”

Guan Yue smiled and said, “Welcome! How’s the accommodation at the foot of the mountain?”

Deng Weimin wasn’t particularly concerned about the accommodation. “It’s fine. They gave me a room, a newly built house. It’s spacious and bright, and it even has electric lights. The conditions are pretty good.”

Deng Baishu looked at Guan Yue with a somewhat aggrieved expression. “Why didn’t you ask me? I’m going to be your little assistant from now on.”

“What? Little assistant? I didn’t know about this.” Guan Yue set down her basket and went to wash her hands at the water tank outside the kitchen.

Inside the kitchen, Gu Sui overheard and said, “The hospital didn’t want to delay your time, so they assigned Deng Baishu to be your little assistant. If you need anything, just ask him to do it.”

Guan Yue chuckled. “Well, that’s thoughtful of them.”

Deng Weimin added, “From now on, make sure Baishu cooperates well with you. If he misbehaves, hmph, just let me know, and I’ll educate him properly.”

Guan Yue couldn’t help but feel a bit of sympathy for this poor soul who had been under his father’s strict control all his life.

Her own parents had always treated her kindly and never said a harsh word.

After drying her hands, Guan Yue accepted a cup of hot water from Deng Baishu, who handed it to her with a fawning look. “It’s warm, just right to drink.”

Guan Yue smiled and took a sip. “Alright, speak up. What do you need from me?”

“There is something. Over the past half year, I’ve read several medical books, but there are many parts I don’t understand. Please, Doctor Guan, teach me.”

“Oh, you’re lowering your posture so much?”

“Ah, I’m just seeking knowledge, that’s all.”

Guan Yue only took advantage of him with her words, much gentler than his father, who was quick to verbally attack him and occasionally mixed in a bit of physical punishment.

So, don’t envy him just because his father was a famous doctor, because his life wasn’t much better than that of a poor apprentice.

“Which parts don’t you understand? Show me, and I’ll take a look.”

When Deng Baishu first started studying medicine, he inherited the Deng family’s style of practicing medicine, which emphasized caution and thoroughness in diagnosing and prescribing. This meant that the prescriptions they wrote typically contained dozens of herbs, sometimes more.

Under the influence of Guan Yue, Deng Baishu wanted to follow a more minimalist approach, focusing on fewer, but more effective, ingredients. However, this approach was far more challenging than writing large prescriptions.

Writing single-herb prescriptions, or those with just a few ingredients, not only tested the doctor’s understanding of the patient’s condition but also their knowledge of the properties of the herbs involved.

Deng Weimin and the other veteran doctors, with decades of experience, had found it difficult to break new ground in this area and could not offer Deng Baishu much guidance. However, Guan Yue excelled in this aspect. Deng Baishu wanted to learn, and Deng Weimin fully supported him.

Deng Baishu flipped through his notes. “I’ve compared many similar prescriptions, but I don’t understand why, for the same condition, the adjustments made to the herbs are different. For example, in Essentials of Formulas and Zhang’s Formula Notes, there are two similar cases, and they prescribed…”

Guan Yue glanced at the notes and immediately understood his confusion. “This is simple. Let me explain. Look here…”

Guan Yue easily answered Deng Baishu’s question, and Deng Weimin leaned in to listen. With his decades of experience as an old practitioner, Deng Weimin’s questions about the differences between the two prescriptions were more profound than Deng Baishu’s.

Guan Yue’s greatest advantage, compared to both Deng Weimin and Deng Baishu, was her extraordinary abilities. This allowed her to understand the true causes of patients’ conditions and the properties of medicinal herbs far better than they did.

With her comprehensive understanding of traditional Chinese medicine, demonstrated through specific case studies, she left even experienced doctors like Deng Weimin in awe.

If it weren’t for his reluctance to relinquish the honorary title of “Teacher” to Guan Yue, Deng Weimin would have eagerly asked to become her disciple.

Deng Baishu, doing what his father had never dared to do, directly knelt down and forced her to take him on as a disciple.

The poor Deng Baishu: “Teacher, please accept me! I can cook, wash dishes, and even bring you foot water. I can do anything!”

Gu Sui came out holding dishes with a stern expression. “I’ll handle those tasks. No need for you to do them.”

Guan Yue straightforwardly rejected him. “I don’t take disciples. You should just stick to being a good assistant.”

This, coupled with what happened in Qingchuan City, marked the second time Deng Baishu was turned down.

Poor Deng Baishu: he wanted to cry!

Deng Weimin gave his son a sidelong glance. “It’s time to eat. Why aren’t you bringing the dishes yet?”

Deng Baishu jumped up, “Oh, I’m on my way!”

After dinner, Guan Yue helped Deng Baishu clear up some more doubts. Then, Deng Weimin tugged his son’s ear and dragged him down the mountain, scolding him for trying to take on more than he could handle.

Before leaving, Deng Baishu didn’t forget to remind Guan Yue that she needed to go down the mountain tomorrow. Director Zhang and Minister Li were looking for her.

Deng Baishu whimpered, “Dad, my ears are going to fall off! Please, be gentler!”