e knew that they were definitely not ordinary. In his senior year of university, there was an occasion when he failed eleven out of thirteen courses and the principal wanted to talk to him. As he walk...Chapter 89: A Firm Grip (Requesting first subscription and votes)

Xiao Yu got off the car and stood outside looking at his family clinic. He said he was coming home, but instead of staying for a few days as one would expect, he had been running around all day long. This time, his trip to the ancient city lasted more than half a month.

Xiao Yu sighed as he saw Wang Zhiguo driving back to report. He then walked towards his family clinic. Upon entering, he saw that his mother was taking someone's pulse while his sister was preparing medicine at the herb cabinet. There were also two or three people waiting for their turn.

"Little brother is back!" His sister, who was busy picking herbs, exclaimed joyfully upon seeing Xiao Yu return. However, she did not stop her work because of it.

Xiao Jianying heard his daughter's shout and raised her head to see her son standing at the door. She gestured for him to wait a moment as she was occupied with treating another patient and didn't say anything to Xiao Yu.

Xiao Yu put down his backpack and went over to help his sister pick herbs. Since he had been following his maternal grandfather since childhood, learning about herbal medicine, its effects, identifying them, and distinguishing between different kinds of herbs, he naturally knew how to prepare prescriptions.

With Xiao Yu's assistance, Mi Yu's speed in preparing the medicine significantly increased. In no time, they finished and handed it over to the patient. The total cost for five doses was 35 yuan.

Xiao Yu couldn't help but smile bitterly as he watched his sister collect and give change. Although Xiao Yu didn’t know exactly how much these herbs were worth in price, he knew that they certainly weren’t cheap; at the very least costing thirty yuan each. This meant that their clinic only made less than five yuan from seeing this one patient.

No wonder fewer people wanted to study Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). Moreover, pure TCM clinics were almost extinct, and those few remaining mostly used Western medicine for treatment. A TCM prescription could earn just five yuan over five days, averaging a meager one yuan per day, whereas Western medicine could earn at least fifty yuan from an intravenous drip.

Despite the high cost of Western medicine, people still preferred to see doctors practicing it. Nowadays, except for some elderly folks, young people rarely visited TCM clinics. In their minds, Western medicine was scientific while TCM was superstition. As a result, TCM had been declining and would probably become extinct in its place of origin within decades.

Moreover, each school of thought in TCM had its own lineage that hardly spread outwardly. Some family-based lineages even passed down knowledge only to sons but not daughters; when knowledge was passed on, it was usually just the superficial aspects. This also contributed to the decline of TCM.

Additionally, one could not earn the right to prescribe medicine without ten years or more of hard work studying TCM. And how many young people today can endure such a long period with little income or none at all Even after enduring for over a decade and graduating from an apprenticeship, they still couldn't make as much money from seeing patients in one day as others could earn from intravenous drips.

The Western medical system, on the other hand, is a fully open and standardized education that anyone can learn. In just a few years, one can become proficient enough to write prescriptions and diagnose illnesses using established patterns. Moreover, the income from Western medicine can be ten times or even several dozen times higher than that of traditional Chinese medicine.

These are some of the reasons for the decline of traditional Chinese medicine. There were those who advised her mother to combine both Eastern and Western practices, but she immediately rejected it without a second thought; she didn’t want what was passed down from her grandfather to be destroyed because of her.

Xiao Jianying quickly finished seeing patients and watched Xiao Yu grab the medication with a smile. Seeing how skilled he was at grabbing the right amount of each herb, almost effortlessly, it made her feel secure that there was no need for him to double-check his work.

"Young man, aren't you causing trouble Can medicine be grabbed so casually like this What if someone gets poisoned or worse from your carelessness! You should know some herbs can be deadly when taken in excess!" An elderly man around seventy years old could no longer keep quiet as he saw Xiao Yu grab a handful of herbs and place them on paper, finishing the prescription quickly.

"Hehe, brother, you're not from this area, are you" A patient who came to see the doctor chuckled upon hearing the elderly man's words.

"So what if I’m not Do I look like I'm discriminating against newcomers just because I come here for a check-up My name is Wang Zhuang and it’s not far from here!" The elderly man bristled at being called out by another patient.

"Hehe, why are you still so full of ire even at your age Let me tell you this fellow here is known as the famous one-grab in these parts. His grasp isn’t too much or too little; it’s just right! You can check for yourself if you don't believe it!"

The patient, seeing the elderly man's fiery demeanor, remained calm and chuckled.

"Impossible. If he were fifty or sixty years old I might believe it, but he is so young, no way I’m buying that! He needs to be weighed for accuracy." Seeing Xiao Yu's youth, the elderly man didn't trust his abilities, believing that expertise in measuring herbs takes many years of practice. The idea of a youngster like him being able to do this was beyond belief.

"Hehe, if you don’t believe it then go ahead and weigh it! I’ll tell you that even five years ago when I first saw this guy, I didn't believe it either. But after weighing the herbs once, I believed every word of what he said!" The patient laughed seeing the elderly man’s doubts about Xiao Yu's age.

Xiao Yu wasn’t bothered by the elder's challenge to his skills as this was not the first time someone had doubted him. Meanwhile, Xiao Jianying and Xiao Yu were indifferent; they merely smiled as the elderly man went ahead with weighing the herbs.

Xiao Yu knew how accurate her brother’s grasp of herb measurements was, which made her marvel at the importance of natural talent. She herself started measuring herbs when she was fifteen years old and still relied on scales to this day, whereas her brother who had little interest in medicine growing up managed to do it accurately despite his sporadic practice. This earned him a reputation as one of the best at grabbing the right amount of herbs in their area.

Miao Jianying has always known that her son was talented, which is why her husband passed down his expertise to Miao Yu. However, since a young age, Miao Yu didn’t enjoy medicine; despite his grandfather's efforts to steer him towards the field, it never worked out. Little did they know, he would eventually circle back.

The elder man carefully weighed each herb according to the prescription, taking a deep breath afterward without saying anything. He merely extended a thumbs up at Miao Yu.

"Old brother, how is it I wasn’t wrong, was I Haha, just like back then!" The patient chuckled and looked over at the elder man.

"Indeed, very impressive. Excuse me for being presumptuous!" The elder nodded and complimented Miao Yu.

"Old sir, please don't say that! Medicine isn’t something to be taken lightly. You’re right; diligence is essential!" Miao Yu scratched his head, revealing the grin from two months of hard practice.

The elder saw Miao Yu's sincere and honest smile and nodded in approval: "Very commendable for a young man—no arrogance or impatience."

Miao Yu quickly finished preparing all the medicine and handed it to the patient. Then, Miao Yu’s sister stepped forward to collect payment from the patients before sending them on their way. Since they only offered traditional Chinese medicine, the clinic wasn’t overly busy.

"Brother, did you finish with your patients" After the last of the patients left, Miao Yu's sister looked at him proudly and asked with a smile.

"Yes, I'm done!" Nodded Miao Yu in response.

"How was it Are they cured" Seeing her brother’s less than thrilled expression, she carefully asked whether the patients had been treated successfully.

"Hehe, with my little brother on the case, what illness couldn’t be healed" Noticing his sister's cautious demeanor, Miao Yu felt a pang of warmth. He clasped his hands behind his back, gazed upwards, and displayed a smug smile.

"Oh right! Do you know Jia Yaocai’s family is plagued by ghosts. One time when he was taking a bath, he suddenly shouted that there was a ghost and ran out of the house naked onto the street, causing quite a scandal. In the end, it took spending ten thousand dollars to find a Taoist priest to perform an exorcism before everything settled down." Miao Yu then broke into a satisfied grin as she whispered this news.

"Ah! Really" Xiao Yu pretended to be surprised and said. In fact, he was the one who knew best: Was it really the Taoist priest's ritual that got rid of it Hehe, it’s probably because the protective talisman lost its efficacy. Otherwise, a single Taoist priest wouldn’t have been able to get rid of it. Ten thousand yuan He got off cheap.

"Haha...... Of course it's true! It’s so satisfying!" Xiao Yu laughed loudly and said.

"You two shouldn't be talking behind people's backs!" When Xiao Jianying heard the two talking about Jia Yaocai, although she also despised his character, her good education still made her speak up to stop her son and daughter.

Hearing their mother’s words, Xiao Yu made a silly face at his sister to tease Xiao Yu. As a result, he was chased around the house by his sister.

Xiao Jianying looked at her son and daughter with satisfaction; her daughter lived a very happy life, and her son had finally entered the medical field, inheriting his father’s legacy. Though his father didn’t say anything when he died, she knew that he wanted Xiao Yu to inherit everything.

Xiao Jianying wiped away the moisture at the corner of her eyes and walked into the back room; she was going to burn some incense in front of her father’s spirit tablet and tell him that the inheritance of the Xiao family hadn’t been broken, if anything it had surpassed expectations. A coma patient actually being cured by his son!

In the middle of the day, Xiao Jianying went out and bought a big pile of vegetables and took out a bottle of her father’s cherished liquor; her son had finally grown up.

"Honey, honey.......... " While Xiao Yu's family was eating dinner, an excited voice sounded from outside.

Xiao Yu froze when she heard it; it was the sound of her husband Lu Jianhong. She felt puzzled as to what could make him so happy

Xiao Yu stood up and walked out. As soon as she got to the door, Lu Jianhong pushed open the door and picked Xiao Yu up when he saw her, a look of joy on his face.

"What are you doing Don’t you see that my mom and brother are here" Although Xiao Yu didn't know why her husband was so happy, she still felt happy for him. But being carried by her husband in front of her mother and brother made her hit Lu Jianhong twice and ask.

"Mom, Little Yu is back too!" After his wife reminded him, Lu Jianhong realized that his mother-in-law and little brother were also here in the room; he scratched the back of his head awkwardly and greeted them. man's wrist to take his pulse. After one minute, Xiao Yu let go of the injured man’s hand with a silent nod. The situation looked hopeful; the man’s heart, which had nearly stopped beating due to sev...