Chapter 563 - 462: Mr. Lin, Can You Cut Mine Too? (Part 3)

Although Lin Miao knew the girl’s feelings for him, he never intended to provoke her, even though he truly liked this smart, eager-to-learn, and talented young girl.

At one point, Lin Miao thought that Xu Qixi would become like Xia Zhu and try to become his apprentice, his second disciple.

Unexpectedly, she fell in love with him but dared not to show it too much in front of others, although everyone around could see it.

Even the Xu Family initially opposed, then gradually acquiesced, and eventually even suggested that she marry him as a concubine.

Being quietly loved by such a wonderful girl, Lin Miao’s heart wasn’t made of iron, so naturally, he was delighted, and since she was willing and he quite liked her, he decided to marry her.

Although he couldn’t give her his only love, what he could give her was definitely not less.

"Well, junior brother, I want to hand over the management of our herbal business to Xiaoqi, what do you think?" Sun Youwei said, "I am limited in my capacity; managing the medical clinic is enough for me."

"Is Xiaoqi willing?"

"I haven’t talked to her yet. Xiaoqi has a very high talent for distinguishing herbs," Sun Youwei said, "With Xiaoqi managing the herbal business, aren’t you planning to set up a pharmaceutical processing workshop? I think Yurou is suitable for this work."

Lin Miao was slightly taken aback; this was the complete package of "production, supply, and sales."

"Alright, let’s go with elder sister’s idea." Lin Miao nodded, "However, Xiaoqi and Yurou must take the Physician Exam, as it’s part of their aspiration."

"That’s natural. Junior brother might not know if a Pharmacist wants to be promoted to a Pill Master, they must pass the Physician Exam; otherwise, they could only remain as a Pharmacist for life."

"Is there such a requirement?"

"Of course, Pharmacists are easy, but Pill Masters have much higher requirements. Pharmacists can only follow prescriptions, while Pill Masters can modify prescriptions and dosages based on prescriptions and actual situations, of course with the patient’s consent, although generally, Pill Masters don’t do such things. In our Dongshan City, you can count the number of Pill Masters on one hand, and they are all junior Pill Masters!"

"Tsk tsk, I actually didn’t know this." Lin Miao smiled and said.

"Guan Shi is a Pill Master, she told me."

"Guan Shi is both an Intermediate Physician and a Pill Master; aren’t there few people with such double qualifications?" Lin Miao asked.

"Generally, people have limited energy and rarely put effort into both medicine and herbalism, but excellent physicians mostly excel in herbalism. Therefore, as long as they are renowned physicians, they are basically pharmacists, at least of the intermediate level!"

"Elder sister, I really don’t know much about how Pharmacists get promoted, tell me about it." Lin Miao, although qualified as a Pharmacist, wasn’t deeply familiar with this aspect.

"Pharmacist promotion is through exams, after qualifying as a Pharmacist, they take exams every two years. If they pass, they promote; if they don’t, they retake it. It’s simple."

So that’s how it is, no wonder nobody mentions Pharmacist promotion; it follows a completely different route from Physician promotion.

This is to exam whenever you’re up for promotion.

"Xiaoqi is already an intermediate Pharmacist, passing the next exam will make her a high-level Pharmacist, but from high-level Pharmacist to junior Pill Master, it’s a huge barrier for many Pharmacists, many cannot surpass it, and moreover, the Pill Master exam is not in the state capital but in the capital city!"

Physician promotion can be done in local state capitals, but Pharmacists have to take a national exam, making the title of Pill Master more prestigious than that of Physician in some ways.

Actually, promoting from Pharmacist to Pill Master, besides better prestige, doesn’t come with much substantial benefit.

One must go to the capital city for the exam, pass it, and return for a raise, but might also lose their job since nobody waits for them.

If they fail, it’s an embarrassing failure.

So the number of Pill Masters is not many for practical reasons; there is a special branch among Pill Masters, the Alchemist.

Most members of the Elixir Alliance were Pill Masters; Pill Masters had always ranked below Physicians and wanted to use "Alchemy" to enhance the status and autonomy of Pill Masters.

This is complex.

The downfall of the Elixir Alliance, besides their self-destructive tendencies, had the Physician Association fanning the flames behind the scenes.

It’s still a matter of discourse power.

Having a Physician allows opening up a medical clinic, but a Pharmacist can’t open a pharmacy without a consultative Physician present.

This makes Pharmacists subordinate to Physicians, placing them in a lower position.

This kind of contention has always existed, akin to selling prepared medicines requiring a Physician to provide the prescription and a Pharmacist to process it, while the Pharmacist’s contribution is largely obliterated.

Of course, Physicians who invent prepared medicines are generally Pharmacists as well, but if they are pure Pharmacists, no matter how they invent a cure, applying for exclusive selling rights is impossible.

Obviously, it’s unreasonable, but without the qualification to treat patients, how can you prove your medicine is effective and consumable?

Lin Miao had no intention of changing the status quo; such matters will naturally resolve themselves when medicine develops to a certain level and dedicated pharmaceutical factories emerge.

"Another issue, Xiaoqi is conflicted about how to address you now. Previously, following Xia Zhu, calling you ’Mr. Lin’ was fine, but now with changed status, she truly doesn’t know how to address you."

"I’m a year older than her, let her call me brother, and after marriage, she can change the address later." Lin Miao thought for a moment and said.

"Wouldn’t that cause misunderstandings about your relationship?"

"Let them misunderstand; after all, we are not blood-related, it’s a well-known fact." Lin Miao laughed, "It’s either you overthinking or Xiaoqi overthinking."

"Alright, then I’ll tell her so." Sun Youwei glanced at the cooling sober soup and said, "Drink the sober soup, don’t waste Xiaoqi’s kind intention."

"Okay, I’ll drink it." Lin Miao replied helplessly; he hadn’t drunk much, and such a low-alcohol drink couldn’t even count as alcohol, at most a beverage with alcohol content.