Merchant and doctor

Chapter 2286 Walking on Two Legs is the Only Way to Stay Steady
In the quiet of the night, Bian Mu would occasionally reflect on his various experiences since entering the city. Gradually, he realized that it was basically a pipe dream for his older brother to make his way in the world in Lijin City on his own.

If it weren't for Qian Xiaotong's introduction, it would have been almost impossible for Bian Mu to find a foothold when he first arrived in Lijin.

The Bian family had little savings. Bian Mu needed to pay for at least two things: rent for the clinic and temporary accommodation. Where would the money come from? He could only borrow! These days, bank loans and loans from relatives and friends all incur interest. He had just stepped into Lijin and was already burdened with debt. How could he ever recover?!
Nurses and front desk staff are simply unaffordable, so Bian Mu has to struggle on her own. She's bound to be physically and mentally exhausted, and it's impossible for her to avoid some damage to her health over the next three to five years.

……

Without the help of his friends, Bian Mu might have already packed his bags and returned to his hometown in disgrace.

……

Gradually, Bian Mu realized that anyone's success is actually built on the support of too many relatives and friends, and it would be very foolish to have any pride in one's heart.

In addition, Bian Mu naturally gained a deeper understanding of success in the secular sense, and his awareness of resource sharing, creating momentum, mutual benefit and so on gradually took shape.

In his view, venturing into academia was also a form of self-promotion. Looking at the history of traditional Chinese medicine, those who have left their mark on medical history are often great medical masters who have achieved success in both academic theory and clinical practice. The ambition to make a name for himself in history never crossed Bian Mu's mind; his biggest concern was still the issue of establishing himself.

Walking on two legs is definitely more stable than hopping on one leg, allowing you to go further in the future and ultimately achieve a much better outcome.

Nie Yixiong is incredibly strong in every aspect, and has always been known in the industry as an "all-around evergreen tree"! However, in terms of academic theory, Nie Yixiong has made few remarkable achievements in his medical practice for most of his life. In fact, it can be said that Nie Yixiong's academic attainments in a real sense are close to zero.

Cen Songxue is not as good as Nie Yixiong!

On the surface, Professor Meng Shulan seems to have already reached the level of having published a great many works. However, upon closer examination, the value of her work in terms of academic originality, theoretical depth, and theoretical guidance is not very high.

In addition, after carefully studying Professor Meng's major works, Bian Mu found that she was very much a woman in thinking, but her overall thinking was narrow, she relied heavily on emotional cognition, and her core framework was somewhat superficial. Perhaps, Professor Meng's academic achievements today are more or less due to her good interpersonal relationships.

Privately, Bian Mu always felt that Professor Meng's academic achievements were rather "soft," at least not reaching the level of "hard power" in his mind.

Medical experts like Zhao Xicheng and Lan Bingru don't seem to have much interest in theoretical contributions, and they usually give the impression that they don't interact much with academic circles.

He discards, I take! Bian Mu often reminded himself that he must continuously improve his academic achievements, at least to gain a foothold in the local academic circle of Lijin! For him, that was a hard target in his medical career, and no matter the cost, he had to achieve it!
Thus, despite guessing that Dr. Zhang had ulterior motives, Bian Mu still went to the meeting alone to find out the truth. For him, this was the first time he had witnessed the depths of the serious academic circle.

May the ancestral master protect us! The first battle actually ended in a draw. While secretly feeling fortunate, Bian Mu immediately chose to stop while he was ahead, lest he make a fool of himself by talking too much and revealing his weakness. It would be too much of a loss to let all the small achievements he had worked so hard to accumulate go to waste!
Originally, Bian Mu planned to quietly hide in a blind spot and wait for the group of people who followed him to disperse in disappointment before making a silent escape.

Unexpectedly, that descendant of the Xi family had arranged for "spies" to secretly watch his movements. Well! Bian Mu was now being "watched" by the waiter in the lobby on the first floor.

"Judging by this... so you're determined to meet that so-called descendant of the Xi family?!" Bian Mu said in a slightly cold tone. "You're joking. If you don't wish to receive guests, please feel free to do so! However... the Xi family has prepared a small gift for you beforehand. If you have any urgent business... could you please sign for it here?" The waiter was quite eloquent and had a rather humble attitude.

"Well... to be honest, I do have a bit of a connection with their family. How about this, I won't accept a gift without having done anything for them! Forget about the gift. I'm not much older than you, and I'm sure you're not feeling very comfortable in this kind of place, right? I'm definitely not quite used to it. See that fruit tea shop across the street? I'll go grab a seat first, no more than half an hour, or I'll be late!" With that, Bian Mu got up and prepared to go to the fruit tea shop to wait.

"Thank you for your understanding! I'll contact them right away, but... it's not easy to explain the gift being left at the front desk later... our boss will definitely scold me for not handling things properly... besides, it doesn't seem very lucky to have something that's been given away rejected..." Well! That waiter even tried to appeal to emotions.

With a slight smile, Bian Mu replied, "Then bring it here!"

The waiter immediately bowed to Bian Mushen, then turned around and dashed off to the front desk to get the gift.

……

The first floor of the "Mingyue" teahouse was filled with elderly men and women chatting, eating melon seeds, watching TV, and admiring the street scene. The Xi family were, after all, people of some standing, so it was not appropriate to invite them to discuss business in this atmosphere. Hearing from the waiter that the second floor was quieter, Bian Mu took out his phone, scanned 100 yuan, and reserved a seat.

The window seat overlooking the street offered a panoramic view of the area near the main entrance of the teaching and research center building. The peanuts smelled quite fragrant, so I casually picked up a few, peeled them, and tasted a few. They were salty and savory, and the new peanuts from this year tasted pretty good.

After staring downstairs for a short while, drowsiness washed over Bian Mu. She leaned back in her chair, closed her eyes slightly, and dozed off...

……

"Master! Excuse me, Elder Xi is here!" A soft female voice came from beside him.

"Oh...excuse me, Assistant Long, this is...Mr. Xi, nice to meet you!" As he spoke, Bian Mu quickly stood up and very politely invited the two people in front of him to sit down.

There were five people in Mr. Xi’s entourage. In addition to the female assistant surnamed Long, there were two men and a woman in her early thirties who seemed to be Mr. Xi’s students or disciples.

Old Mr. Xi looked to be nearly eighty years old. His hair was half gray and half white, but he had a good amount of hair. There were no wrinkles on his face. He had big, double-lidded eyes, which were different from other elderly people of the same age. There were not many bags under his eyes. He had a mustache on his upper lip, which was neatly combed. He looked like the kind of person who was very particular about his daily life.

He wore casual Chinese-style clothing, a jade thumb ring on his finger, and no wristwatch or other jewelry. His back was ramrod straight, suggesting years of consistent exercise and excellent spirits; he certainly had the air of a scion of a prominent family.

Assistant Long very politely moved her chair back slightly, seemingly to emphasize the seats for Elder Xi and Bian Mu, and she took the guest seat herself. Hmm! She has the manners of a traditional doctor.

The other three sat at another tea table nearby, with their briefcases and other belongings placed on the table. They sat there quietly, occasionally fiddling with their phones.