The end of the month came in the blink of an eye.

Lin Miao resumed his routine of going out early and returning late for consultations, occasionally making house calls. Everything seemed to have calmed down.

Of course, the issue of patients buying medicine wasn’t resolved, especially for certain special herbs. If they couldn’t be purchased, substitutions had to be made.

If it didn’t work, one could run to a pharmacy farther away to buy, as long as it wasn’t an urgent illness, this bit of time delay is bearable.

Even when substituting, it might reduce the efficacy of the medicine, but sometimes, it led to good discoveries, some herbs were not available in his original world.

The efficacy of medicinal herbs could be analyzed and estimated based on their environmental characteristics besides testing the medicine. In what environment, what kind of herb with what characteristics could appear...

Testing medicine is a very dangerous thing. Mr. Jia loved doing this, so those various toxic insects he raised were all subjects for his experiments.

Musk, deer antler, tiger bone, pangolin...

He also tried to collect certain herbs that hadn’t been incorporated into medicine in this world but actually could be, compiling them into records, including bezoar, bear bile, and chicken gizzard skin processed into medicine, among others.

Especially chicken gizzard skin, used the most. After the festival, many people indulged too much in food, leading to frequent gastrointestinal diseases. Indigestion required a lot of chicken gizzard skin, and Lin Miao even specifically asked Lin Mao and the others to collect it daily at the market where chickens were slaughtered.

Later, some vendors got wind of this, saw it as a profitable business, specifically hired people to peel and collect them, then sold them to the people Lin Miao sent.

However, a significant event occurred in the pharmaceutical industry of Dongshan City during these days.

Qin Yanran, the owner of Huaye Tower next door to Lin Miao, astonishingly extended her hand into the pharmaceutical field. After a fierce battle of both covert and overt conflicts, she defeated Lin Miao and spent a significant amount to buy the old medical hall Yong’an Hall of Qingyuan Square.

Qin Yanran continued employing all the personnel of Yong’an Hall, including the original owner, Physician Cheng Liujia.

This indeed stirred up a storm.

A brothel owner suddenly meddling in the pharmaceutical industry, was she out of her mind, or had she consumed too much of "Xiaoyaosan"?

But after knowing the inside story and exploring the reasons, it made sense.

Because Huaye Tower and the neighbor were like water and fire recently; under Lin Miao’s support, Huaye Tower’s original staff, Liu Li and Shi Yin, started their own business.

However, these two women unethically dug into the corner of their old employer, damaging Huaye Tower’s business.

Seeing Liu Li’s pastry shop, Furong Garden, was about to open, Qin Yanran, as the previous boss, couldn’t swallow this.

She straightforwardly snatched Yong’an Hall, which Lin Miao was secretly negotiating to acquire.

Although it was a matter of loyalty, it indeed had a reason. Your people dug into my corner, so I cut off your path.

Moreover, whatever Lin Miao sought in the market, she followed suit, and even had Yong’an Hall purchase those herbs.

In the face of Lin Miao and Qin Yanran’s glaring rivalry, which nearly drove them mad, everyone was watching the drama, including Ye Shengyuan.

As for how Yong’an Hall would process those herbs, naturally, there was a traitor!

The traitor was Shen Haidong.

Shen Haidong betrayed Lin Miao because of Xia Zhu’s unusual "mentor-student" relationship with Lin Miao. Xia Zhu had clearly promised to be with him but maintained a close relationship with Lin Miao, and Lin Miao accepting Xia Zhu as a disciple was also with ill intentions...

Shen Haidong tried several times to persuade Xia Zhu to leave but was always refused by Xia Zhu, even having a big argument at the Diagnosis Point.

This matter became known to everyone.

Thus, Shen Haidong, with nothing to lose, broke up with Xia Zhu and even had a conflict with his master Xia Yuan; the master-student relationship was utterly severed!

Just like that, Shen Haidong joined Yong’an Hall as a resident physician.

Shen Haidong began to blatantly plagiarize the techniques of processing herbs and making ointments he learned from Xia Zhu and smoothly obtained a "trial sale" permit.

For a while, Shen Haidong became a representative of an "ungrateful scoundrel."

However, there was no other way. Even if Lin Miao could process those herbs, he couldn’t sell them publicly. If patients got a prescription with those herbs, they could only go to Yong’an Hall...

Yong’an Hall suddenly became a popular medical hall, with the number of people coming for consultations gradually recovering. Although not comparable to when Fan Shouping was there, it was much better than the previous half-dead state.

After Lin Miao’s acquisition of Yong’an Hall failed, he turned his eyes to a few poorly managed medical halls; whether it was acquisition or joint venture, they all failed under Ye Shengyuan’s sniping.

After consecutive "miserable defeats," Lin Miao became honest and stopped acquiring medical halls, earnestly seeing patients at the Convenient Medical Diagnosis Point.

Through Lin Miao’s hands, nearly three thousand prescriptions had already been issued.

At this time, a slowing trend appeared, with the previous sixty slots a day being insufficient, and now there was still a slight surplus every day.

Anyway, there were still ten months left, no rush.

He didn’t intend to race against time to be first.

The so-called ranking is nothing but an empty title. Blindly pursuing it can lead one astray; once a gain-getting-for-fast-results mentality forms, it will inevitably affect saving lives and curing diseases.

For Lin Miao, as long as he completed the trial of the "Path to Sainthood" within the designated time, that was enough. Completing it ahead of schedule or desperately pursuing achievement was a kind of putting the cart before the horse.

Moreover, in the process of consultation, he could slow down, scrutinize his encountered cases, think, learn, and then improve.

During this time, more women came for consultations. For some reason, but many young women worked in the brothels and entertainment venues in Xiuyue Square. For those engaged in this industry, few didn’t have minor ailments.

As long as one woman got healed at Lin Miao’s place, word would naturally spread, leading to more and more people coming to him.

Even at Huaye Tower, those ladies, despite knowing the tower master has a hostile relationship with the neighbors, still secretly come to find Lin Miao.

No one is at odds with their health, especially now at Xiuyue Square, besides Mr. Jia, only Mr. Lin is left.

If Mr. Jia was capable, he would have become famous at Xiuyue Square over the years. Although he also treats those "dirty diseases," only those who have seen know his effectiveness.

Mr. Lin, though young, knows quite a lot. Especially when it comes to some embarrassing issues, they can directly talk with Xia Zhu or Sun Youwei, which avoids much awkwardness. The examination is like this too, while going to Mr. Jia is very inconvenient, especially since Mr. Jia is somewhat lecherous.

If there were choices, no one would actually want to visit Mr. Jia for treatment.

As more patients of this kind came, Lin Miao’s experience in women’s medicine rapidly increased. He also discovered that the cause of these women’s illnesses was mostly due to unhygienic habits in daily life. Therefore, he specially summarized a large number of cases he encountered and compiled a hygiene and healthy living pamphlet, posting it in the form of a pictorial on the wall at the medical diagnosis point’s entrance, to remind all passersby that diseases are not just contracted through the mouth, and how to avoid falling ill frequently, or not at all!

Whether it works or not, who knows. Anyway, he just does his best, leaving no regrets.

"Let me see your tongue coating. When did your Tiankui come this month?"

"Hmm, lie down. Senior sister, you go check it out."

"Alright, I know what illness this is. Don’t worry, I can treat this." After listening to Sun Youwei’s description, Lin Miao thought briefly and then prescribed the treatment.

"Senior sister, the symptoms of this patient just now were quite uncommon. Remind me during tonight’s small class, I’ll give you all a lecture on diagnosing this particular condition." After prescribing for the patient, Lin Miao instructed Sun Youwei.

"Okay."

The patients were all waiting outside the door. He couldn’t stop everything and start teaching Sun Youwei and Xia Zhu, so generally, when encountering unusual conditions, he would ask Sun Youwei or Xia Zhu to note them down, and explain thoroughly during the evening’s small class.

For such small classes, even Guan Biyun and her disciple often came to listen, having become regular attendees.

She seemingly didn’t consider herself a supervisor anymore.

Meanwhile, Mr. Jia was most enthusiastic about finding patients with strange illnesses seen by Lin Miao, using his prescriptions to test their effectiveness for any general success.

As for Cui Wanquan, he only did his own duties, neither interfering with Lin Miao’s work nor wanting to get too close to him.

"Come in, I’ve told you many times: Mr. Lin’s medical skills are excellent. After taking the medicine he prescribed, I felt much better. Why don’t you believe it..."

"Husband, I am somewhat scared?"

"What are you afraid of? Mr. Lin diagnoses with the help of a female assistant. You can talk to her about anything."

"There’s a female assistant?"

"Of course, otherwise, how would so many women come to see Mr. Lin for treatment..."

"Please wait a moment, take a number token, there’s still one person ahead." Sun Youwei handed a number token to the young couple.

Lately, more couples have been coming together for consultations, sometimes encountering two or three pairs a day.

Next.

The couple stood up and went in together.

"Mr. Lin, do you remember me?" The man enthusiastically greeted Lin Miao as he entered.

"You are the prison official Guo Huaili?" Although Lin Miao had a remarkable memory, it had been quite some time, and he saw so many patients every day, many of whom only once, how could he recall them all so clearly.

But he remembered this one vividly, as he was a prison guard in the Arresting Department where he had once sat for consultations, leaving quite an impression.

"You look well. Did my method work?" Lin Miao asked with a smile.

"Yes, it worked. The prescription and method you gave me were particularly effective. I feel much better now." Guo Huaili said, eyes full of gratitude, "I came today to accompany my wife. We’ve been married for four to five years and haven’t had a child yet. We want a child."

"From my observation, the problem might not lie with you but more likely with your wife..."

As soon as he said this, Guo Huaili’s wife turned pale. Being childless is a devastating blow for a woman, severely enough to risk divorce.

She and Guo Huaili had a harmonious relationship and she didn’t want to end up with such a fate because of this.

"Don’t worry. If there’s a problem, we’ll solve it. You are both still young. Once the issue is resolved, not just one, but two or three kids are possible," Lin Miao hurried to comfort.

Lin Miao first observed her complexion, then checked her tongue coating, followed by taking her pulse, gaining some understanding in his heart.

Then, he wrote down his questions on paper and handed it to Xia Zhu, then left with Guo Huaili, letting Xia Zhu handle the questioning and examination of his wife.

A moment later, Lin Miao and Guo Huaili returned.

Seeing Xia Zhu’s notes, Lin Miao understood the situation; it matched his initial judgment.

It wasn’t a particularly severe condition but had been prolonged for some time.

"You’ve been married for four to five years without conceiving. The main issue lies with your wife, but it’s manageable and can be solved," Lin Miao said.

Hearing this, both of them looked delighted.

"I’ll prescribe some medicine for your wife. She needs to take it for a period of time, and then revisit. If everything goes well, within six months, she can conceive," Lin Miao quickly wrote a prescription.

Guo Huaili’s wife’s pulse was large and tense, an indication of excessive yang, and her tongue tip was red, typical symptoms of infertility due to blood heat and intense internal fire, as Xia Zhu’s further diagnosis confirmed.

Fire energy is excessive in early arrivals, and water energy in deficiency. Hence, more in early arrivals indicates excessive fire and ample water, less suggests excessive fire and insufficient water. It’s a classic case of kidney fire exuberance with yin deficiency.

The prescription included Liang Di Tang: large prepared Rehmannia (wine processed), Scrophulariaceae, white peony root (wine processed), Ophiopogon root, Lycium root bark, and donkey-hide gelatin.