Chapter 41: Dog Skin Plaster

Over the next two days, the herbal medicine merchants gradually delivered the ordered herbs, and Zeng Yi began to tidy up the clinic.

On this day, just after lunch, the Health Bureau Director Guo Penghui rushed over. He pushed open the clinic door and smiled, saying, "Consultant Zeng, this clinic is really great, very unique."

Zeng Yi didn't expect Guo Penghui to come, feeling a bit surprised, and quickly said, "Director Guo, please sit down! You are a distinguished guest!"

"Please don't treat me as a guest. We are all members of the preparatory group now, colleagues! Colleagues visiting each other don't need so many formalities," Guo Penghui laughed heartily. "When will the clinic open? I will definitely come to congratulate you on behalf of the bureau when it does."

Zeng Yi poured a cup of water for Guo Penghui, "Soon, just these next few days."

"Dr. Zeng, if you set up an expert clinic at the Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital or the Provincial People's Hospital, there would be no problem. There's a large flow of people there, which would better serve patients," Guo Penghui carefully examined the clinic layout and nodded. "But opening a clinic is also good, it's more relaxed and free, allowing you to devote more time to the work of the expert group."

Zeng Yi smiled, "That's what I considered initially."

"Considering it this way is correct. Any work has its priorities," Guo Penghui said a few official words, then took out a file from his bag. "This is the recent progress of the preparatory group's work. I've compiled it into a report for Consultant Zeng to review. This work is also very important, please give more guidance and oversight."

Zeng Yi didn't understand what Guo Penghui meant. He felt that his position as a consultant was just a nominal one and hurriedly said, "Director Guo, you're joking. I know a bit about traditional Chinese medicine, but I don't understand the preparation of the health base. You and the other leaders in the bureau are the experts. You can discuss and decide. I won't get involved."

"Nobody is born knowing everything. We haven't done a health base before, so we are feeling our way forward. That's why we need everyone's input and oversight. Consultant Zeng, pushing everything aside isn't the right attitude," Guo Penghui said with a hint of reproach, but his face was smiling. He flipped open the file and said, "Let me report to Consultant Zeng. The top priority for our preparatory group is to determine the location of the health base. After preliminary screening, we have ten options, all listed here."

Guo Penghui pushed the file in front of Zeng Yi, "Please review it, Consultant Zeng. If you have any supplements or better location suggestions, I'll add them. Then we can start the on-site inspections."

Zeng Yi glanced at it and found that he hadn't heard of any of the ten places, but from their locations, they were all near famous scenic spots, meeting the first condition of a beautiful environment. He guessed that the upcoming inspections would be like a tour.

"These all seem fine. They are all beautiful places with good transportation, meeting the location requirements," Zeng Yi didn't plan to get involved and just said a few polite words. "I'm not familiar with Nanjiang, so I can't find better options."

"No rush, no rush!" Guo Penghui smiled. "If Consultant Zeng has better options, you can add them at any time."

In the entire preparatory process, the location was the most important, and the benefits it could bring were the greatest. This referred not only to economic benefits but also political ones.

In the political arena, the easiest to be promoted are those close to the leaders. The reason isn't entirely nepotism but is closely related to the existing patronage system. In reality, no matter how capable a leader is, it's impossible to fully understand every cadre below them. When it comes to appointing people, those who are often in the leader's line of sight and have some ability have more opportunities and are easily promoted.

It's easy to imagine that the political benefits of the health base's location would far outweigh the economic benefits. Normally, it's extremely difficult for people below to see a leader, but if the health base is secured, when the leader is sick, the local hosts will naturally visit and comfort them, with a legitimate reason. Over time, a relationship with the leader can be established.

Therefore, the location of the health base is a scarce resource that many parties will compete for. If the Health Bureau just hints a little, the threshold will be trampled. To secure the base, the conditions offered by various places will be increasingly favorable. As the head of the preparatory group, the benefits that can be gained are considerable.

Zeng Yi's complete non-involvement made Guo Penghui uncertain, unsure if Zeng Yi didn't understand the key points or was just being polite.

Guo Penghui carefully introduced the pros and cons of the ten options, observing Zeng Yi's reactions. To his disappointment, Zeng Yi's attitude towards all ten options seemed the same, neither firmly agreeing nor strongly opposing.

After the introduction, Guo Penghui couldn't stay any longer, even though he hadn't learned Zeng Yi's stance on the location. However, his purpose was achieved. He had come to show respect for Consultant Zeng's opinions in the preparatory group.

Since understanding Feng Yuqin's intention to put Zeng Yi in the preparatory group, Guo Penghui had decided to visit Zeng Yi more often and understand his intentions, which would help him gauge Director Feng's thoughts. Only by always aligning with the leader's opinions could he gain the leader's favor.

Guo Penghui, a standing deputy director of the Health Bureau at the department level, had held this position for many years. He dreamed of advancing, but there were over a dozen others in the bureau in the same situation. Without the favor of a powerful leader, promotion was as difficult as climbing to the sky.

"I won't disturb Consultant Zeng anymore!" Guo Penghui stood up with a smile. "I'll come back to report when there's new progress."

"Director Guo, you're criticizing me for not being diligent. How can a big director come to report to me, a leisurely person? I'll definitely improve and visit the bureau more often," Zeng Yi felt a bit embarrassed. Guo Penghui's humility was so low that it made him uncomfortable.

"This is a special situation. Your clinic is about to open, and you're busy!" Guo Penghui stood there, holding his beer belly. "Let me send two people from the bureau to help you tidy up."

"No need, there's not much to tidy up!" Zeng Yi quickly declined.

"It's our duty. If Consultant Zeng needs anything, just let the bureau know. We'll solve it if we can," Guo Penghui kept saying he was leaving but kept talking, not actually leaving.

At this moment, four or five people who looked like officials pushed the door open. The leader wore a white short-sleeved shirt and black trousers, with a huge beer belly. The thin crocodile belt barely held his pants up.

"Who's in charge here?" the man stood with his hands behind his back, looking like a leader.

"I am," Zeng Yi replied.

The man glanced at Zeng Yi, "We're from the Health Bureau, here to inspect the clinic."

Seeing the man's attitude, Guo Penghui gave Zeng Yi a look and stood aside. He wanted to see who had the nerve to inspect Zeng Yi's clinic. These people should have found out that the clinic belonged to the health care doctor of Secretary Fang. It wasn't something to be inspected casually.

The man with the beer belly nodded, and a tall, thin man stepped forward, taking out a work ID, "We're from the Medical Administration Department of the District Health Bureau. Show us your documents and procedures."

Zeng Yi walked to a drawer, pulled it open, and took out all the documents that Director Wang had given him, "Here they are!"

The tall, thin man looked at them and found that the practice license, physician's certificate, pharmacist's certificate, and permit were all complete. He frowned, put down the documents, and walked to the medicine cabinet, "Are all the herbs here genuine?"

"Absolutely genuine, I've personally inspected them!" Zeng Yi replied.

"You inspected them?" The tall, thin man immediately raised his voice, "Who knows how you inspected them? Just because you say they're genuine, are they really?"

"You can inspect them too!" Zeng Yi gestured for the man to check.

The tall, thin man opened the medicine cabinet, grabbed a handful of yellowish-white herbs, "This... this herb doesn't look genuine! It's yellow and almost white. It looks like it's been soaked, and it might have lost its medicinal effect!"

Zeng Yi frowned. The tall, thin man couldn't even name the herb but immediately called it fake. It seemed these people were deliberately looking for trouble. He thought of the woman who had tried to sell him herbs a few days ago and wondered if they were a group.

The tall, thin man threw the herbs and saw the plasters next to the medicine cabinet. He pinched his nose and held one up, "This is dog skin plaster, right? Who allowed you to make it privately? What are the ingredients? Are there any side effects? And where did you get the dog skin? Is it contaminated with rabies? This is sheer recklessness! If there's a problem, who will be responsible?"

Zeng Yi snatched the plaster. It was for Fang Nanguo, and he hadn't had time to deliver it yet. He looked at the tall, thin man, thinking that if he knew who the plaster was for, he wouldn't dare say such things.

The man with the beer belly stood leisurely to the side, satisfied with his subordinate's performance. With these commoners, you can't be polite; you have to scare them.

"The authenticity of the herbs isn't up to you to decide!" Guo Penghui looked coldly at the tall, thin man. "That's the responsibility of the drug administration, isn't it?"

The man with the beer belly glared at Guo Penghui, disliking people who knew a little bit of everything and were hard to fool. He raised his hand, signaling the tall, thin man to step aside. This time, he took over, flipping through Zeng Yi's documents and said, "The documents are irregular, confiscate them!"

He glared at Guo Penghui, thinking, "Now what do you have to say? Documents are under the jurisdiction of the Health Bureau, right?"

"The documents were issued by you, and you say they're irregular. The flexibility in your rules is too great!" Zeng Yi glanced at the man with the beer belly, "Where are they irregular? Please explain clearly."