Chapter 323: Chapter 289: Who Came Up with This Model?

The meal lasted for more than an hour.

Among the five people, only Yuna ate the most.

She single-handedly polished off three out of the six plates of shrimp.

Even so, she still felt unsatisfied.

After the meal, Lu Jiu drove the four of them to the hotel. Once Lu Ming completed their check-in, Lu Jiu dropped Lu Ming off at his house. By the time he got back home himself, it was close to eleven o’clock.

After a simple wash-up, Lu Jiu hit the bed and fell asleep immediately.

Early the next morning, Lu Jiu headed to the hospital.

Originally, he had the day off, but Lu Ming mentioned the day before that he wanted to visit the hospital.

Naturally, Lu Jiu had to play the guide.

Around eight o’clock, Lu Ming called.

Lu Jiu immediately sent him the location, and soon they all arrived at the entrance of Lu Jiu TCM Hospital.

In fact, after returning home the previous day, Lu Ming had a detailed discussion with his father about Lu Jiu’s hospital.

Even though his project was to focus on Traditional Chinese Medicine, it also aimed to cover the environment and future of TCM.

To be honest, Lu Ming was unsure about the future of TCM.

Initially, he thought the future of TCM lay both domestically and abroad.

This was because although the roots of TCM were domestic, it had blossomed overseas over the past three years.

Many countries had begun to realize the importance of TCM, yet domestically, it seemed like there was no noticeable progress.

Of course, this was also related to him spending many years abroad.

Now that he was back in the country, Lu Ming wanted to experience the TCM atmosphere at home. Jianghan was just his first stop, but from his father’s words, Lu Ming felt that the hospital where Lu Jiu worked seemed different from any traditional hospital.

Today, he came to experience firsthand what makes Lu Jiu TCM Hospital different.

“Your brother’s hospital is quite large!” Yuna remarked.

“It’s my first time seeing it, too. I didn’t expect that at just twenty-six or twenty-seven, he would become the director.” Lu Ming was also quite surprised.

After all, no words could compare to witnessing it personally.

The hospital in front of them, although not as large in scale as other hospitals in Jianghan City, was already quite substantial. Moreover, it looked like the upper floors were undergoing renovations, which obviously indicated expansion.

And it was only nine o’clock, yet their car couldn’t enter the parking lot, implying that there were many people coming for medical treatment.

To have a hospital, established just over two months ago, reach this kind of scale, his cousin must have remarkable abilities!

“Just judging by his skill in diagnosing Dodson yesterday, I think it makes perfect sense for him to be the director. The only thing left to know is how much this hospital can earn him,” Xia Sijie said.

“As a director, a five-million annual salary shouldn’t be a problem,” Dodson commented.

“Five million? That’s too little; my professor earns four million a year,” Yuna said.

Lu Ming couldn’t help but smile wryly.

To them, a doctor earning several million a year was quite normal.

But here, for a doctor at a city-level hospital to make several million a year, it would undoubtedly come from corruption.

The same goes for the director.

“Don’t be ridiculous, this hospital’s been built for less than three months!” Lu Ming said.

They chatted as they walked and soon arrived at the hospital lobby, where Lu Jiu came up to greet them.

“Hey brother, hi everyone,” Lu Jiu smiled as he greeted the group.

Lu Ming smiled back, “Let’s go, give us a tour of your hospital.”

Lu Jiu chuckled, “It’s really just two floors, let’s go.”

With Lu Jiu leading, they passed through one department after another.

These departments didn’t have much difference; overseas acupuncture clinics also had subdivisions.

For example, Yuna was skilled in acupuncture for gynecological issues.

However, when they arrived at the culinary medicine department, they noticed something different.

This didn’t seem like a TCM hospital at all; it was more like a cafeteria.

Yuna and the others looked particularly surprised.

“Is this a cafeteria? But those people don’t seem to be medical staff.”

“There are so many people, huh? Wow, these dishes look so strange.”

“Exactly, they seem to have names of Chinese herbs.”

“Culinary medicine… is this food made from TCM herbs?”

“…”

While they exchanged comments, the patients in the culinary medicine department also noticed the striking black and white pair at the entrance.

Foreigners in a little place like Jianghan were quite a rare sight.

Especially with black and white appearing together, which was almost never seen.

Some people even began taking pictures of Yuna and the others with their phones.

But they didn’t mind these things, as they were entirely focused on the menu hanging on a wall.

“When my dad told me about the culinary medicine department, I thought it was a genuinely great idea. I didn’t expect it to be this popular. Lu Jiu, does this culinary medicine also have the effect of Chinese medicine?” Lu Ming was not unfamiliar with culinary medicine; he had just never seen a TCM hospital implement it. Typically, this would appear only in the health industry.

“There is an effect, but the medicinal effect isn’t as strong. Of course, culinary medicine and pure Chinese medicine have different focuses. Culinary medicine plays a preventive role during normal times. If there are any minor symptoms, eating culinary medicine can improve the Five Viscera and prevent disease progression. Pure Chinese medicine treats patients who are already ill and requires strong means to regulate the body. Personally, I still prefer culinary medicine because it solves a major issue that affects the efficacy of Chinese medicine, which is the taste,” Lu Jiu said with a smile.

“That’s true, Chinese medicine tastes awful. If culinary medicine’s efficacy is only marginally lower than pure Chinese medicine’s, I would definitely choose culinary medicine. After all, eating it is like having a meal, you pay as little as for a meal and it prevents disease, that’s really cost-effective. And looking at the prices, they aren’t expensive, no wonder there are so many people,” Xia Sijie said.

“Who came up with this idea? It’s fantastic! For TCM to use culinary medicine, it not only leverages TCM’s advantages but also regulates the culinary medicine industry while diverting a portion of the profits back to TCM. It’s like killing three birds with one stone. If this model is adopted by TCM hospitals nationwide, what would happen?” Lu Ming got extremely excited at the thought.

Xia Sijie understood what he meant immediately.

If all hospitals in the country set up culinary medicine departments, it would not only alleviate the lack of capital hindering the development of TCM but also regulate the culinary medicine industry, leveraging TCM’s preemptive treatment advantage to allow patients to improve minor health issues with just a few meals.

In this way, hospitals would not need patients because, by then, everyone would be their customer.

No, it’s more than killing three birds with one stone.

Xia Sijie thought that once this model spread, even doctor-patient conflicts might be alleviated.

Because solving minor illnesses means that fewer patients progress to severe conditions, such that they don’t cause chaos at home due to a single illness.

Although hospitals would not earn tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands, from one person, when they can solve more people’s minor issues, they can employ a high-volume, low-profit business model. By that time, it would mean making the pie bigger. Many people are apprehensive about visiting hospitals because finding an ailment means shedding thousands, even tens of thousands. So, people gradually resist hospitals, only going when they can’t bear it anymore. However, by then, it’s too late.

If this model develops, more people would be willing to visit hospitals, even if each person only pays a few thousand a year. It would certainly be better than squeezing one person dry.

Xia Sijie became just as excited as Lu Ming, “Who came up with this model?”

Lu Jiu shyly looked at the two, “Keep it down, keep it down, it was me.”

Being praised in person made him a bit embarrassed.

“You?”

The two of them exclaimed in unison.

…

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep