The flowing Chang Jiang carries countless stories of people with pasts.
Sending the past away with the river, the city of Wuhan is indeed a fitting place to start a new life.
For those who have served in the military for their family, yet lost their family too.
[Are you having trouble finding a room to rent?]
Kang June has some money he brought from his hometown, so food isn’t an immediate problem, but there was a much more important issue.
[It’s not just a simple room you can stay in.]
[I heard that you’re looking for a room suitable for a clinic.]
[Yes, ideally, it should have a clinic area for patients and a storage room for medicine, and also a place to sleep.]
The son of a poor physician. Even on the battlefield, he treated patients with acupuncture and boiled medicine; what he would do in Wuhan was apparent.
[Here, I’ll give you a coin. After a meal and a snack, go to sleep.]
[Huh? How can I do that with this money?]
Kang June looked at the dark coin spinning on the table, with a baffled expression.
[Your words and mine convey the same meaning! It’s hard to find a decent room to rent in Wuhan with that money! This is why rural folks!]
[No way!]
“Hehehe. The house prices in Wuhan are indeed high.”
It’s common for people coming to find a job in Wuhan to be shocked by the cost of living. Elder Oh chuckled, suddenly reminiscing about the past.
[I’m not saying I’ll pay with this money for life. If the clinic does well, I can raise the rent.]
[Who would trust a rookie without qualifications with their body! And! Especially someone with black eyes!]
At the unexpected remark, Elder Oh’s brows twitched.
“Black eyes? No way; is he mixed with a Joseon person?”
Rarely, those with black hair can sometimes be born without it. As it was mentioned he had red hair, he couldn’t possibly be a Joseon person. Elder Oh suddenly thought of Kang Yoon-ho.
“Could it be they included not the protagonist of the Je-gal household but rather the son-in-law of the Je-gal family…”
Elder Oh had no desire to feature the protagonist of the Je-gal family. He’d rather take in their son-in-law. No way was Kang Yoon-ho staging a protest to the Elders’ Council.
With an uneasy feeling, Elder Oh continued reading.
「Days passed being rejected by brokers. Wondering whether I should give up on my dream of opening a clinic in Wuhan, a broker about my age approached me.」
[I heard you’re looking for a place to open a clinic.]
[I don’t know where you heard that, but I don’t have much money.]
Kang June faced the awkward broker and couldn’t help but fall deeper into the reality of Wuhan.
In the end, would he need to get a job at any clinic? They probably wouldn’t accept someone with black eyes. As various thoughts raced through his mind, the broker suddenly spoke as if he had thought of something.
[Would it be okay if the landlord is a weird person?]
[Huh?]
[A strange or eccentric person. Someone who can be called a madman depending on who says it.]
[Are they someone who has madness that prevents communication?]
[Not really. It’s ambiguous to explain. You seem perceptive; let’s have you meet them first.]
[Lead the way.]
「The place they arrived at was an unexpectedly large mansion. It wasn’t huge enough to drop jaws, but in Wuhan, a mansion of this size raised questions about why someone living in a place that could accommodate retainers was looking for tenants.」
[Over there. The landlord is coming out.]
「They looked to be in their mid-20s, with thick eyebrows and deeply set eyes. Their nose rises as much as their eyes are sunken. They seemed to possess a strong sense of pride. But the most surprising thing about their appearance was different.」
“No way?!”
「It was their silver hair and blue eyes.」
[Je-gal household…?]
“Indeed! Perhaps there was a separate protagonist! But a weird person? What on earth does that mean?”
Could it be that the speaker introduced at the start isn’t actually the protagonist?
While Elder Oh laughed at the unexpected twist, he couldn’t help but feel dubious about the story of a madman being the protagonist.
[What a coincidence; I was wondering when you’d finally come with a tenant.]
[If a Joseon person is okay, that is.]
[I’m from the Central Plains. My father is Joseon, and my mother is from the Central Plains.]
[Ah…]
“The fact that his father is Joseon and his mother is from the Central Plains…”
A Joseon man and a woman from the Central Plains.
Only then did Elder Oh realize why Kang June’s father, a capable physician, had to work in a remote village and why he had so many children.
There had to be circumstances that couldn’t be easily spoken.
Like a forbidden marriage or a lover of another man. Maybe a woman from someone else’s house.
The kind of reasons that swirl in famous rumors.
[I was married for love.]
“Gah…!”
Elder Oh was caught off-guard by Kang June’s response as if it were an everyday occurrence.
[So you’ve found someone well who doesn’t have to worry about rent. Welcome. Shall we shake hands?]
[…….]
[I had a lot on this right hand. I’ll clean it up before shaking hands with my right hand.]
[That’s not it. Don’t you have any questions to ask?]
“Right. If I’m the landlord, wouldn’t it be standard to inquire about the tenant?”
Even if he’s the protagonist, he can’t be this careless. Just as Elder Oh’s brows began to furrow.
[You were a military doctor who fought against the enemy on behalf of the country; surely that’s someone reliable.]
“What?!”
Elder Oh wasn’t the only one surprised.
[…Did you mention it beforehand?]
[I just met the landlord after a long time.]
[Huh? Then how?]
[Ah, what’s this? You look like someone who’s seen a ghost.]
[If I weren’t possessed by a ghost, how could I know the history of a person I’m meeting for the first time?]
As the landlord hinted at the broker, the broker stated, as if there was no more chance left.
[If you give up on this tenant, I’ll also give up on finding one.]
[Tsk. It wasn’t knowledge but observation. I might call it deduction, but for the criminals, it might be easier to understand as observation.]
[Huh? What do you mean by that?]
Elder Oh felt the same confusion as Kang June as he asked back.
“You mean you could tell someone’s profession just by looking at them? This, this is utter nonsense!”
It would be hard to guess if the person is a doctor or a soldier. How could one even begin to realize he was a military doctor?
[An explanation is in order. I watched everything from the moment you entered the door until you stood in front of me. Your stride is very consistent. It seems like footwork, but you haven’t practiced martial arts. That means you must have worked in a place where you had to pay attention to your stride for years. That leads me to believe that you worked in an environment where your life was on the line, for example, on the battlefield.]
“Wow… indeed. The most crucial parts in battle are the head and neck.”
Even when soldiers find themselves in an urgent situation and can’t wear armor, they never forget to put on their helmets. If they protected their neck with a helmet and armor, it makes sense for the skin tone to be different.
A gasp slipped out from Elder Oh’s mouth, but that was just the start.
[Your eyes are black. Northern soldiers don’t trust those with black. If you served for years, it surely means you faced southern invaders rather than northern ones. Is that understandable?]
[…I served for more than three years. But how did you know I was a military doctor?]
[I figured it out when you reached out for a handshake.]
[Handshake?]
[Your left hand had a distinct callus on the palm. In fact, it was whiter than your right hand.]
[Ah, this…!]
[The callus formed from long-term holding of a shield. If you’ve been holding a shield for long, that callus would definitely arise.]
“Shield! Right! Grabbing the handle of the shield would create calluses on the palm! And if I always carried the shield, then my right hand would obviously look whiter!”
The surprises kept coming.
[Y-yes, but that doesn’t necessarily mean I’m a military doctor.]
[So I looked at your right hand. There had to be evidence of you wielding a weapon, but amusingly, there were calluses formed in a specific spot instead.]
“Calluses from something other than a weapon. No way!”
At that moment, Elder Oh could finally guess where the calluses on the right hand might be.
[The calluses from acupuncture formed during my time in the army.]
[Starting from that callus, so you became a military doctor. That means you must have been acknowledged for your skills one day and became a military doctor. Considering the amount of callus on your right hand is greater than that of the hand holding the shield, it must mean you were a recognized military doctor within the army as well. Now do you understand?]
[…]
“Ugh…”
Elder Oh’s words gave rise to emotions that could not be expressed in words.
It’s an ability he had never encountered in his life. No, he hadn’t even heard of it. Who on earth could even imagine such a skill?
[But there’s something that bothers me, though: the reason for your discharge.]
[My parents passed away.]
[That’s good.]
[What did you say?!]
[Don’t misunderstand. It means my guess wasn’t wrong.]
[What do you mean?]
Kang June glared at him with a mix of rage, but the landlord continued speaking with a casual expression.
[It means you have no lack in capability. A young doctor who has diagnosed countless critical patients, a feat that would take most physicians years of experience. If word spreads, worries about your rent will surely vanish.]
[…]
[See, I told you. A weird person.]
The broker sighed deeply at the sight of Kang June, who was left speechless.
“Wow. Truly a weirdo. A weirdo and an odd individual. But…”
Such an ability like none he had seen thus far. Along with their unpredictable personality. Now he understood why they were called weird. Even as he marveled at the protagonist, Elder Oh couldn’t help but smile.
[Hahaha! What are you going to do? Will you come in?]
[Kang June. I wish to open a clinic in this mansion.]
[I’ll arrange a spot for you in the outer room. Make sure to diligently earn that rent of mine.]
[May I ask for your name?]
The silver-haired weirdo.
The odd individual with blue eyes.
With a laugh that somewhat resembled madness. Yet he possessed an ability that nobody else had.
None in the Elders’ Council could have predicted such a protagonist. But all would surely agree.
[Seolrok. I am Je-gal Seolrok.]
This fellow is part of the Je-gal household, indeed.
