I Can Talk to the Internal Organs

Chapter 357 - 323: Worth a Try

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In the practice of acupuncture, Mountain Burning Fire and Piercing Cold are top-tier techniques for tonifying and draining.

Even within the entire Traditional Chinese Medicine community of Jinling, there are only a dozen people who know these techniques, all of whom are renowned physicians.

If Lu Jiu was only just recognized by them before, now Lu Jiu is far superior to them in terms of acupuncture.

When Lu Jiu performed acupuncture on the patient earlier, he cleared the lung heat with just a single dose of Piercing Cold, showing his extremely high proficiency in this technique, far beyond beginner level.

With such advanced acupuncture skills, it’s more than enough not just to practice at Wei Medical Hall, but also to serve as a director here.

It seems that Master Wei brought him here not just for a simple visit.

There might be some intention of testing him.

But for what purpose are they testing him?

Is it to keep him at Wei Medical Hall?

Aside from this reason, no one could think of anything else.

For the rest of the time, as long as patients came to register, Lu Jiu handled each case with ease.

Both the speed of diagnosis and the effectiveness of treatment amazed the patients.

Even some patients who came for follow-up with Shang Yehua showed significant improvements under Lu Jiu’s acupuncture treatment.

Of course, there were also some patients who did not have any urgent conditions, requiring gradual regulation with herbal medicine.

At such times, Lu Jiu could not use needles and had to prescribe medication for regulation.

Throughout half a day, Lu Jiu saw over twenty patients; this number is not a lot and doesn’t match up to when he was practicing at his own medical hall.

Of course, the main reason is that Lu Jiu’s workstation is not the director’s workstation.

Right there in the same consultation room, the director’s workstation still had more than twenty people in line.

The other workstations had only three or four people in line, yet because Lu Jiu worked so quickly, he ended up in a situation where there were no people coming over, creating a quiet state.

Fortunately, Shang Yehua, whose capabilities were quite notable and had some influence at Wei Medical Hall, attracted enough patients daily to give Lu Jiu the opportunity to treat so many patients.

Otherwise, relying solely on Lu Jiu, he might not have treated a single patient in two or three days.

During lunch, Shang Yehua took Lu Jiu to eat at the medical hall cafeteria.

Their cafeteria was quite ordinary, similar to those in public hospitals but open to the public.

"Lu Jiu, I heard from Master Wei that your hospital is quite special, and you’ve set up a dietary therapy department, just like our cafeteria," Shang Yehua said while eating and chatting.

Lu Jiu nodded, "Don’t you think Traditional Chinese Medicine has an inherent advantage in the health industry?"

Shang Yehua agreed, "Definitely, in terms of wellness, no one has more authority than Traditional Chinese Medicine."

Lu Jiu laughed, "In fact, with the level of medical expertise at Wei Medical Hall, once you guys enter the health industry, you will practically have no competitors in Jinling; even Jinling Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine might not be your match."

Lu Jiu wasn’t speaking without reason.

The brand effect of Wei Medical Hall alone far surpasses that of Lu Jiu TCM Hospital.

After all, they are a century-old institution, and in Jinling, they are a well-respected entity.

Once they start doing dietary therapy, the entire health industry in Jinling might be impacted by them.

It can be said that Wei Medical Hall has reputation, people, and resources; he really couldn’t understand why they don’t take advantage of such a big advantage and instead hand over a huge market like the health industry to a bunch of opportunists who just exploit old people.

Back then, the once-popular Lao Bai Jin was found to mainly consist of melatonin, wasn’t it?

This substance had no health benefits but it swept more than fifty billion yuan within the country.

Behind such a commercial myth is a bloody history of harm.

Many people praise the entrepreneurial journeys of these businessmen without realizing that their success is all built on the labor of others.

Shang Yehua was taken aback by these words, "We’ve never considered dietary therapy before, but is this industry really that profitable?"

Lu Jiu was amused, "Do you know the market value of the health industry three years ago?"

Shang Yehua shook his head.

Lu Jiu said, "Over 300 billion."

"Meanwhile, the market value of Traditional Chinese Medicine is expected to only reach close to 100 billion by 2027, according to relevant departments; now tell me, isn’t the health industry profitable?"

Ah!?

Shang Yehua was stunned again.

He had no idea that the profits of the health industry were more than three times those of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

One reason was his lack of understanding of the industry, and another was the perception that the health industry served mainly old people and shouldn’t be that profitable.

This is surprisingly exaggerated!

Shang Yehua quickly asked, "So you’re saying, Traditional Chinese Medicine can fully enter this huge market to expand our market value?"

Lu Jiu nodded, "By entering the health industry, Traditional Chinese Medicine can regulate the market, preventing scammers from easily swindling money. Many people in the health industry sell medicine under the banner of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and their profits are quite substantial. By entering, we not only aim to earn money but also to curb these scammers and restore some reputation for Traditional Chinese Medicine."

"Of course, Traditional Chinese Medicine cannot completely absorb the market value of the health industry, but it can leverage the health industry to continuously expand our influence. In today’s economic society, everything is about efficiency; for traditional and modern medicine to develop in harmony, merely curing patients isn’t enough, expanding market value is also essential."

"The current market value of Traditional Chinese Medicine is under 100 billion, whereas modern medicine’s market value exceeds 8 trillion. This gap is hard to close through natural growth alone. Once the market value isn’t enough, Traditional Chinese Medicine won’t have the funds to act, much like now, where almost all fields of healthcare are dominated by modern medicine. Even top talents like Elder Wei in Traditional Chinese Medicine haven’t made it to the national healthcare decision-making circles. Do you think that’s reasonable?"

Just like twenty years ago, when plague was rampant, Traditional Chinese Medicine was barred from intervening in treatment.

The reason given was that Traditional Chinese Medicine didn’t understand molecules or viruses, so how could it handle plagues?

If it weren’t for Mr. Deng Sr.’s repeated petitions to the authorities, risking his life to demand participation in treatment when the plague seemed uncontrollable, more lives would have been lost in that plague twenty years ago.

But even though Traditional Chinese Medicine contributed, during the awarding of merits at the time, there was no mention of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Many people don’t even know that Traditional Chinese Medicine participated in treatment back then, twenty years ago.

This is the sorrow of having no voice; no matter how much you do, it’s meaningless.

And seizing the voice and increasing market value is essential.

The model of Lu Jiu TCM Hospital is bound to change the entire Jianghan medical system, but to go out into the world, apart from national help, benefits are the first element.

Traditional Chinese Medicine should not refuse benefits, but rather embrace capital.

Capital is an attribute-less thing, neither good nor bad, it just depends on how you use it.

Most domestic capital wants to invest in industries that make quick money in the short-term, but there are always some that wish to conduct long-term business.

Lu Jiu believes Traditional Chinese Medicine needs such capital.

As long as Traditional Chinese Medicine improves its profitability, enhancing its output without harming patients, then in collaboration with long-term capital, the speed of market value increase will be several times that of before.

And if there is state support, this speed will be even faster.

Lu Jiu hopes to see such a situation because only when the big environment improves, can his hospital rise steadily.

So, encouraging major halls like Wei Medical Hall to dive into the health industry is a strategic move.

Lu Jiu doesn’t hope that the model of his own hospital is just a one-man show because that’s not good for the entire Traditional Chinese Medicine community.

"But we have no experience at all, blindly entering the health industry might disrupt our hospital’s business direction, don’t you think?"

Actually, Shang Yehua was somewhat convinced by Lu Jiu.

Having been in Jinling for many years, he is acutely aware of the difficulties faced by Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Without influential connections, the allocation of medical resources by the state between traditional and modern medicine is severely unjust.

Now, with more practitioners in Traditional Chinese Medicine, the situation has improved somewhat; but if it were twenty years ago, Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioners could only work diligently, asking for money? Dream on!

Lu Jiu laughed, "It’s not blind. I can share all our hospital’s experiences with you, even authorize all our researched dietary therapy and beauty-preserving formulas to Wei Medical Hall—for free."

What!?

Shang Yehua looked at Lu Jiu in astonishment.

"Aren’t you afraid we’ll take your stuff and rebrand it as our own?"

Lu Jiu smiled, "How much money could Wei Medical Hall make from that?"

"If Elder Wei were just a Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioner who cared about small gains, I probably wouldn’t have come here. Since Elder Wei wants to do something for Traditional Chinese Medicine, then why would I hesitate over a few formulas?"

"Besides, not all of our hospital’s model is correct, having another place as a trial site can reveal more problems, enabling us to make timely corrections. Moreover, by granting formula rights to Wei Medical Hall, we can also leverage their brand to gradually expand our influence."

"This way, everyone benefits, don’t you think!"

Seeing Lu Jiu’s sincere smile, Shang Yehua couldn’t help but think it’s worth a try.

At least, for the future of Traditional Chinese Medicine, one should give it a try!!

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