Lu Yuan was stunned when these words were spoken. Had Du Jinglong been called by Li Se? Was it true or not? This was just a country boy from the outside; how could he have known Du Jinglong? Could they be relatives?
“Well, Old Du, I’ll explain this to you later. Young Master Ye is still here.” Lu Yuan lowered his voice, implying that this was Young Master Ye’s request, wanting Du Jinglong to be more restrained.
Du Jinglong, however, ignored this and said, “I’m not here for any Young Master Ye or Young Master Chen. I personally recommended this young friend Li. As president, I want to have him join the Chinese Medicine Association. Do you have any objections?”
Lu Yuan’s expression changed slightly. He lowered his voice and said, “Old Du, are you truly unaware or pretending to be? This matter is at Young Master Ye’s request. This Young Master Ye…”
“Stop feeding me that nonsense!” Du Jinglong interrupted him directly. “Lu Yuan, Lu Yuan, don’t think I don’t know what you’ve been doing all these years. You’ve used your position as vice president to force many clinics to buy your medicinal herbs. I’ve been too lazy to interfere usually, but the Chinese Medicine Association is not serving a specific family. The Chinese Medicine Association is a gathering of Chinese medicine practitioners, fundamentally for the mutual improvement of their medical skills, to achieve something, and more importantly, to cultivate young Chinese medicine practitioners, not a place to pursue profit and power!”
Lu Yuan didn’t expect Du Jinglong to fall out with him over a nobody. His face was very grim. Most importantly, this undoubtedly meant offending Young Master Ye. Was this guy crazy? He wouldn’t believe he wasn’t an illegitimate son if he heard it.
Ye Bowen’s expression was extremely unpleasant. He had personally come to preside over the matter, but Du Jinglong was clearly not giving him any face. Who was he? He was a direct descendant of the Ye family!
“Young friend Li, whether you can join or not, his word doesn’t count. Let’s go to my place.” Du Jinglong couldn’t be bothered to associate with Lu Yuan and the others.
“Mm!” Li Se nodded, glancing at Lu Yuan. He now understood that the Chinese Medicine Association in the capital was indeed worse than he had imagined, and it was far from the Chinese Medicine Association in Qingyun City.
The Chinese Medicine Association in Qingyun City was organized by him and a group of old Chinese medicine practitioners, so such a situation would never occur. This Lu Yuan was a tumor within the Chinese Medicine Association!
After Li Se and Du Jinglong left, Lu Yuan said helplessly to Ye Bowen, “Young Master Ye, there’s nothing we can do. This fellow actually brought the president to back him up.”
Ye Bowen did not speak. His expression was grim to the extreme. He had been embarrassed again. He had thought he could make Li Se be kicked out of the Chinese Medicine Association this time, but he didn’t expect Du Jinglong to be his backing. However, he knew that Du Jinglong’s good relationship with Li Se was likely due to them both being Chinese medicine practitioners, after all, Li Se’s medical skills were acceptable.
Noticing Ye Bowen’s expression, Lu Yuan couldn’t help but shudder. Young Master Ye was truly enraged.
In the President’s Office.
“President Du, this Lu Yuan is a tumor. Why not get rid of him?” Li Se asked, somewhat confused. He remembered when he first opened his clinic, there were instances of forced purchases and sales, and the vice president of Western medicine also forced the sale of medical equipment. These people used their power to engage in forced purchases and sales, and ordinary doctors who wanted to continue practicing had to comply, otherwise, where would they find room to survive?
Just like today, if he were just an ordinary Chinese medicine practitioner and was blacklisted by the Chinese Medicine Association, he would essentially be unable to practice medicine in the capital in the future.
Du Jinglong sighed, “Some things are beyond my control. Lu Yuan could reach the position of vice president also means he has some capability, and his background is also not simple, so even if I wanted to kick him out, it’s unlikely. The waters in the capital are very deep; even just the Chinese Medicine Association is like this.”
Li Se couldn’t help but agree upon hearing this. The waters in the capital were indeed deeper than he had imagined.
“Forget it, let’s not talk about these things.” Du Jinglong shook his head and changed the subject. “However, you are the president of the Qingyun City Chinese Medicine Association and a royal physician. Would it be demeaning for you to join as just an ordinary member?”
“It doesn’t matter. I didn’t plan to join in the first place. Imperial Physician Sun asked me to join, and I thought that joining might help improve my medical skills, so I applied.” Li Se did not attach much importance to these matters. He valued the improvement of his medical skills more.
Du Jinglong sighed, “Alas, if only more people thought like you, genuinely wanting to improve their medical skills. Now, more people join the association actually for honor, to add a good stroke to their resume.”
Interest! Even a mere association could not escape the constraints of interest.
With Du Jinglong’s help, Li Se’s joining the association went much smoother. However, he was only an ordinary member. After submitting his application, he took his leave. Just as he stepped out, he ran into Ye Bowen and Lu Yuan.
“Don’t think that with President Du’s backing, you can gain any benefits in the Chinese Medicine Association. I’m telling you, with me, the vice president, here, I will definitely prevent such things from happening!” Lu Yuan said righteously.
Li Se couldn’t be bothered to pay attention to such a person. Who was the one gaining benefits in the end?
“Not even respectfully greeting the vice president?” Seeing that Li Se was ignoring him, Lu Yuan was very displeased. But Li Se still ignored him and left.
“Vice President, isn’t this kid too arrogant?” the secretary said indignantly.
Lu Yuan snorted and said, “Go and investigate where this guy’s clinic is and force him to buy our medicinal herbs!”
“Okay!” the secretary nodded.
“Young Master Ye, since this kid has joined the Chinese Medicine Association, then I am his superior. Won’t he have to obediently listen to me then?” Lu Yuan said proudly.
Ye Bowen, however, did not listen to these words and left with a dark expression.
As soon as he returned to the clinic, he saw a little girl in the clinic, about ten years old, talking with Huang Shanshan.
“Shanshan, what’s wrong?” Li Se asked curiously.
“Big brother, can you save my mom?” the little girl said pitifully. “My mom is in the hospital now, but the hospital is helpless. And I… I’m out of money too. The hospital has already given up on my mom…”
Hearing this, Li Se’s heart tightened for some reason, as he could empathize. His mother had gone through a similar experience back then. Without hesitation, he immediately nodded, “Okay, I’ll go with you.”
“Mm-hmm, thank you, big brother!” The little girl was quite naive. She wouldn’t think like other people who believed Li Se was unskilled just because he was young. She only knew that Li Se was a doctor and might be able to treat her mother.
“Do you want me to go with you?” Huang Shanshan asked.
“You stay here to see patients. I’ll go with her,” Li Se shook his head. Someone still needed to be at the clinic.