Physician's Odyssey

With his matters in Beijing coming to an end, Su Tao was tasked with a new mission. So he needed to return to Hanzhou to make preparations for it.

Su Tao walked out of Hanzhou City’s airport when the sky turned dark. Xiao Jingjing walked at the front pointing to a champagne BMW in the parking lot and smiled, “Master, here’s our car!”

Xiao Jingjing looked quite happy. After a year of experience, her nature had calmed down a lot. In addition to her family background, she became more steady.

Xia Yu used to be responsible for Su Tao’s transport, but he was the CEO of Three Flavour Medicine now. Aside from his job in the Three Flavour Medicine, he also had to be involved with intelligence occasionally. So he was no longer responsible for Su Tao’s transportation.

Furthermore, Xia Yu had been planning his wedding recently. Otherwise, he would definitely come personally if he knew that Su Tao returned to Hanzhou City.

Su Tao wasn’t too particular about his transport. He originally wanted to take the airport bus back to the city, but he never expected that Xiao Jingjing would come upon hearing his return. So after Su Tao got off the plane, he immediately received a message from her.

After getting on the BMW, Su Tao saw an unfamiliar driver. When Xiao Jingjing noticed that, she immediately explained, “That’s Mr. Ma. It hasn’t been long since he joined the team. Ms. Yan assigned him and two other drivers to be responsible for Three Flavour Hall’s vehicles.”

The Three Flavour International, Three Flavour Hall, Qihuang Charity Funds, and Three Flavour Medicine. Although the four didn’t seem to have any connection, they were connected together. So they needed to set up a transportation system to lower the cost.

Although Mr. Ma’s task was to serve the Three Flavour Hall, he would also be transferred around if there wasn’t sufficient staff.

With a smile, Mr. Ma introduced himself, “Hellp, Mr. Su. My internal number is 6208. So do call me if you’re in need of transportation.”

Seeing that Mr. Ma was pretty good to talk with, Su Tao smiled, “I got it. There will be many things that I will have to trouble you in the future.”

Mr. Ma knew about Su Tao’s identity. So he was surprised to see Su Tao talking to him so politely.

Su Tao looked out the window during the ride. The airport was located at the outskirts of the city, so it was a long journey. He would occasionally sigh at the changes in the Three Flavour Hall. Who would’ve thought that he would turn into a boss of hundreds of employees?

Furthermore, the number of employees would continue to increase judging from this trend. As long as more branches continue to expand, it wouldn’t be long before his employees reached tens of thousands.

“How’s the business while I’m gone?” Su Tao smiled.

“There’s nothing to say about the popularity. But there are too many patients and too little physicians. Also, the recently recruited physicians aren’t particularly great either.” Xiao Jingjing reported the Three Flavour Hall’s situation to Su Tao one after another.

Su Tao was impressed by Xiao Jingjing’s attentiveness. At the same time, he was relieved to have her in the Three Flavour Hall. After a while, he spoke out in a deep voice, “You must prepare well for this year’s Physician King Tournament. I have already asked Master Song to sign up for you.”

Song Sichen was Su Tao’s master, so he was naturally Xiao Jingjing’s grandmaster.

“Can I not participate?” Xiao Jingjing lowered her eyes.

“Why?” Su Tao was surprised by Xiao Jingjing’s words.

“Because I think it’s meaningless to participate in the Physician King Tournament now. I have lots of work in the Three Flavour Hall, and I’m afraid that the operation will be affected if I’m gone. Lastly, I don’t think that there’s a need for a tournament if my skills are genuine.” Xiao Jingjing explained her thoughts out of fear that Su Tao would be angry.

Shaking his head, Su Tao explained, “Although the Physician King Tournament is organized by the TCM Association, it’s still an event that has been going on for years. It’s a tradition. Furthermore, I don’t want you to devote too much energy into the Three Flavour Hall. You need to calm down and let your medical skills go further. The Physician King Tournament can be considered a form of practice for you. You mustn’t underestimate anyone in this world. Otherwise, you’ll just be a frog in the well.”

Xiao Jingjing did not dare to disobey Su Tao, not to mention that she respected Su Tao from the bottom of her heart. So when she saw Su Tao’s solemn expression, she immediately bowed, “I’ll prepare well to achieve good results in the Physician King Tournament. I will definitely not bring shame to the Three Flavour Hall.”

Nodding his head, Su Tao smiled, “I will be in Hanzhou City for the time being. You can look for me if you have any questions.”

Su Tao had high hopes for Xiao Jingjing. She might be a female, but there had been many female divine physicians throughout history. Among his three disciples, Xiao Jingjing had a solid foundation not to mention that she was hardworking. She had great potential. Su Tao even taught her all his medical skills.

The reason why Su Tao slowed down his education on Xiao Jingjing was because of the high need for manpower in the Three Flavour Hall previously. But now that the Three Flavour Hall had enough manpower, he decided to let Xiao Jingjing focus on improving herself.

According to the rating of TCM, Xiao Jingjing could only be regarded as intermediate out of the four ratings. She was still young and she needed to settle down to focus on improving herself.

It was already 9 p.m. by the time they returned. Jin Ya prepared a sumptuous dinner, who deserved to be a chef from a five-star hotel. The food was so much better than Su Tao’s cooking. The dishes on the table were all uniquely prepared. Among the dishes, there were several special dishes such as Longxu Mandarin Fish, Pepper and Ginseng Chicken Soup, and Wild Mushrooms.

Jin Ya drank a few glasses of wine with Su Tao and gave a mysterious smile, “Lihua finally agreed.”

“Really?” Su Tao looked at Jin Ya in shock. “That’s great, Old Jin. Big Sister Lhua is a good woman.”

Jin Ya took a piece of beef in his mouth and smiled, “I have to thank you for that. I took your suggestion and treated Doudou well. In the end, Fan Lihua was touched and decided to give it a try with me.”

Su Tao clinked glasses with Jin Ya and smiled, “Congratulations! Getting such a good woman. You must invite us for your wedding.”

“That’s for sure!” Jin Ya was in a good mood.

Although Jin Ya wasn’t blessed in his appearance, he was still a good person. Back then, he only joined the Three Flavour Hall together with Chu Huilin because he was forced by Su Tao. But after getting together for so long, he had already let down his resentment. Even if Su Tao wanted Jin Ya to leave now, it was uncertain if he would agree to it.

Jin Ya was a great chef. If Fan Lihua got together with him, she wouldn’t have to worry about her future.

Su Tao could understand Fan Lihua’s thoughts. When a woman reaches her age, bread was more important than love. Although she had feelings for Liu Jianwei, she still had to think for her child.  Furthermore, Liu Jianwei was hardly seen nowadays. So she eventually chose to be together with Jin Ya.

From the bottom of his heart, Su Tao also felt that Fan Lihua should get together with Jin Ya. She and Liu Jianwei were from two completely different worlds. Moreover, Liu Jianwei seemed to be more interested in Yuan Lan judging from Su Tao’s observation. Thinking about it, Su Tao couldn’t help to wipe his cold sweat for Liu Jianwei. After all, Yuan Lan was a dominatrix.

After dinner, Su Tao took a shower. Just when he came out from the bathroom, he saw Mo Sui’er standing by the corridor waiting for him. Walking over, he gently patted on her shoulder that gave her a fright. Mo Sui’er jumped and turned to look at Su Tao, “Senior Brother Su!”

Thinking back to their first encounter in the Three Flavour Hall, it was also outside the bathroom. But the bathroom had already been repaired, so privacy was no longer an issue.

“You’re looking for me?” Su Tao smiled.

“Yeah. Can I talk to you in my dormitory?” Mo Sui’er spoke with her face blushed.

“Let’s go then.” Su Tao nodded.

It had been some time since Mo Sui’er joined the Three Flavour Hall. Her current salary already surpassed what Su Tao previously requested. But even so, he could tell that she wasn’t too particularly happy about it.

The Three Flavour Hall had been renovated and expanded several times. The dormitory had also been adjusted. The staff have their own separate rooms. Due to the fact that Mo Sui’er was an veteran of the Three Flavour Hall, her accommodation was better than other employees.

When he entered Mo Sui’er’s room, Mo Sui’er turned around and closed the door. She took a bottle of juice from the refrigerator and handed it over to Su Tao. Opening the bottle cap, Su Tao took a sip and asked, “What’s the matter?”

“I want to go abroad.” said Mo Sui’er with her head lowered. She didn’t even open the cap of her drink.

Su Tao was taken aback by Mo Sui’er’s sudden request and sighed, “Is it because of Wang Guofeng?”

Mo Sui’er felt her nose sour and couldn’t stop herself from crying, “I know that he’s not a good person, but I can’t help the heartache whenever I think about him.”

“That’s why you want to run away? Will that resolve the pain in your heart?” said Su Tao, helplessly. He had no idea what to do about this silly lass.

“There’s a branch opening in Japan. I want to try out in a different environment.” Mo Sui’er replied. “But I’m worried that my Senior Sister won’t agree to it. She’s worried that I won’t be able to take good care of myself.”

“So, you want me to persuade Ruochen?” Su Tao immediately understood Mo Sui’er’s intentions.

Mo Sui’er raised her head and nodded, “I believe that she will listen to you.”

“I can try my best, but you have to mentally prepared. Life abroad is totally different. There will also be a language barrier.” said Su Tao, solemnly.

Biting her lips, Mo Sui’er replied, “I’m starting to learn Japanese.”

Su Tao could see many books teaching Japanese on the desk when he came in. Seeing that Mo Sui’er had already made up his mind, Su Tao nodded, “I’ve give Ruochen a call later.” He got up and left.

“Thank you, Senior Brother.” whispered Mo Sui’er.

Su Tao shook his head helplessly. When he came out, he gave a call to Liu Ruochen. When Liu Ruochen heard his words, she firmly disagreed, “Sui’er is still too young. She will definitely suffer if she goes abroad.”

“The first branch in Japan is located at Chinatown. There are many overseas Chinese there. We will also send physicians to go with her as well. So I don’t think that it will be as difficult as we imagined.”

“That’s not okay. My Master will definitely not agree to it.” Liu Ruochen shook her head.

Su Tao pondered for a while and replied, “Her heart already died once. She needs time to get herself together. You might seem to be protecting her, but it’s not doing anything at all. I think that she needs some space.”

Liu Ruochen naturally understood Su Tao’s words. Shaking her head, she replied helplessly, “I’ll try and persuade my master.”