Chapter 218
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 218
Chapter Title: Bean Sprout Scam at the Welfare Center
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I'd left a little early since it was my first time there and I was worried about getting lost, only to arrive way too soon.
Was I going to have to wait a whole hour in an empty lot?
Fortunately, that wasn't the case. The students were already there.
'Oh, better say hi while I've got time.'
The moment I stepped out of the car to look for Seol Yuhee, a bellowing voice rang out.
I hurried over to close the distance.
From what I could make out, someone was demanding that I decoct some herbs using the ingredients they'd brought.
'Back in the day, folks like that were a dime a dozen.'
In Korea, there's at least the excuse that you can't prescribe herbal meds without MFDS approval, but over there? Nothing of the sort.
Sure, you could buy from merchants, but when needed, we'd forage straight from the mountains and brew it up ourselves.
Especially right after I'd first dropped into the murim—back alleys were full of all sorts, and I had no clue how to turn folks down.
They'd call me a clinic and bring some mystery weeds from the hills for appraisal. Back then, all I'd ever handled were the standardized herbs from school, so I was totally flustered.
Someone even brought a snake they'd caught to consult on herbs for snake wine...
'I was such a pushover back then.'
Anyway, things are different now. I'm used to stubborn grannies making outlandish demands.
Whether it's someone throwing a tantrum without listening or genuinely too dim to understand, I've got my ways for each type.
"You bought Daeduhwanggwon?"
But this granny threw me a curveball with her bizarre herb.
Sure, Daeduhwanggwon is technically an herbal ingredient, but...
"That's right. They said it was a rare herb at the village hall event last time, so I bought it!"
"Let me see."
And sure enough, when she unwrapped her cloth bundle...
'Bean sprouts' appeared.
Daeduhwanggwon (Great Bean Yellow Roll). Sounds impressive, right?
Like some mystical elixir alongside millennium ginseng or ten-thousand-year snow lotus?
But its origin is just bean sprouts.
Of course, they don't look exactly the same.
Bean sprouts for food get watered and grown in the shade to sprout long tails, but for medicine, you dry them as soon as the roots hit about 1cm.
That's probably why she hadn't recognized them at a glance.
"...How much did you pay?"
"Four hundred thousand won!"
No doubt about it—a total scam artist.
It looked like just under 300g, and even accounting for what she'd eaten, twenty thousand won tops.
Selling bean sprouts at deer antler prices.
"Listen to me carefully, ma'am."
"Yes?"
"This is bean sprouts. The kind they sell at the market. The seller scammed you. We need to report him and get him arrested."
"This is Daeduhwanggwon!"
I explained calmly, but she just couldn't grasp that she'd been duped.
"He said it'd flush out all the toxins, cure my back pain, knee pain, diarrhea—everything!"
Bean sprouts do have some detox effects.
That's why people eat bean sprout soup for hangovers the morning after.
But Daeduhwanggwon isn't a powerhouse herb to begin with. It's just an adjunct at best, and these days, we don't even use it much.
"...That damn con artist!"
I barked it out.
Maybe a hint of qi laced my voice.
She flinched and took a step back, overwhelmed.
"Scam...? What?"
After working her lips a few times, she asked me back.
"He lied. Scam artist! Quack! Trash!"
"But that young man said it was Daeduhwanggwon..."
"Daeduhwanggwon is bean sprouts. Look—search it, and that's what comes up."
These days, people trust the internet more than doctors, so I pulled it up on my screen to show her.
But she couldn't read Hangul, it seemed.
No wonder—she wouldn't have fallen for it if she could search herself.
Even if caught, the guy probably planned to claim he never lied.
"It's like 'wife' and 'missus'—same thing, right?"
"Uh..."
She still didn't seem to get it fully.
But she nodded.
Instinct told her I was more trustworthy than the scammer.
"Then why doesn't it taste like herbal medicine...?"
"That's how it's supposed to taste."
"And no effect?"
"The liar exaggerated. ...It might've helped a tiny bit."
"My body's too far gone for this to..."
"That guy isn't even a Korean medicine doctor. He doesn't know how to treat—just talks a good game."
The granny hung her head low.
"It's not about brewing it—the problem is it can't treat you..."
"How many years have you suffered? No way one dose fixes that."
"...Four hundred thousand won, though."
Not a small sum for anyone. For her, it must've felt like buying a miracle cure-all.
"What do I do..."
Tears welled up as she looked at me.
I patted her back to comfort her.
"Register first and have a seat. I'll give you some proper medicine."
"How much...?"
"Free. Won't cure you 100%, of course."
"Can I take it with this?"
"Sure thing."
She clutched the bundle like treasure.
Sigh, we need to preserve evidence, but...
I snapped a photo first and vowed to resolve this quickly.
"Can I get your kids' contact? Anyone else you know who bought this?"
"My kids are busy—hardly pick up. But yeah, friends bought some too."
"Numbers, please. Those folks..."
She pointed to the welfare hall.
Lots of people milling about—seemed like every senior in the neighborhood was there.
"Senior, should we check?"
It was a tall male student who'd been handling the granny before I stepped in.
"Lee Dongwon, club president."
"Yeah, please. Ask around the waiting area, and if possible, make a sign at registration."
"Got it."
I asked the president and staff to scout for more victims.
"Thank you so much. Ah, are you... Director Han Yeowon?"
"Yes, came at Seol Yuhee's request."
"Whoa! Wanted to meet you forever—now you help out first thing. Was at a loss how to convince her, but you're as amazing as they say! Thanks for coming!"
"Haha, no biggie. Let's get started strong."
Lee Dongwon, eyes full of admiration and endless thanks, went off with welfare staff to find victims and directed other students to set up the volunteer activities.
I took their contacts for now.
Tomorrow, when staff arrived, we'd track down whoever ran the event.
As clinic time neared, professors and other doctors arrived.
"What the... Get proof for reporting this."
The club advisor professor scowled deeply, and the other doctors fumed at scammers still preying like this.
"One of my patients fell for this too!"
One was especially furious, stomping his feet.
"Same scammer hitting multiple spots? One haul here, another there."
"Looks like. Mine got bean sprouts too. Tried convincing her to report, but her daughter said it was hassle and let it go... How much did that jerk make!"
That doctor said he'd try persuading again.
I promised to follow up and keep them posted.
"And you're not the professor...?"
"No, class of '43 alum. Baek Suji, running a clinic in Gimhae."
I introduced myself and swapped contacts.
"Professor! Director! Time to start!"
Right—event's the event.
But we came to volunteer, so time to work.
I headed inside the welfare hall to find my spot.
Two accompanying professors, four doctors including me, and six senior-year students for intake—total modest crew.
My alma mater had classes of a hundred, so med volunteer clubs had 20-30 per year.
This school must be smaller, hence the lean team.
'One prof probably wanders to check if students are doing it right?'
Eleven simple stations with just desks and chairs, plus one bed nearby.
Extra blankets laid out for lying patients.
'Wow, needling on the floor—been ages.'
Even short 10-minute sessions mean you can't make patients wait to get up. Gotta needle on the floor too.
Fine for me, but the other docs' backs and knees...?
Kneeling for treatments won't be a joke.
Baek Suji was next to me, coincidentally.
She'd come a few times as a student but first as an alum, at her juniors' begging.
"Floor treatment... rough setup."
"Hang in there."
Volunteering means making do.
Odd if a welfare hall had hundreds of proper acupuncture beds.
Lucky to borrow this space.
"Starting clinic!"
One side for registration, other for second- and third-years on preliminary exams before docs.
Confirming sites and histories upfront to speed treatments.
Sitting at the end let me watch the other doctors work.
"Shoulder bothering you?"
"Yes, hurts from here to here."
"Lie down right away."
The experienced alum handled it smoothly—just spot-check position.
One minute consult, one minute treatment.
"Uh, worst spot is the head, and..."
"Everything from head to toe hurts."
"Can't do all. Head and neck first."
"Knees ache, ankles hurt walking, wrist bugs me lifting my phone..."
"So since postpartum?"
"Yep. Had eight kids. Did recovery right with the first, but second pregnancy, moved in with in-laws, no rest, farm work ever since..."
The fourth-year newbie, probably first time, floundered a bit.
Baek Suji wasn't much better—first volunteer gig, so she examined each patient meticulously.
"So back pain since falling at the site 30 years ago? Still numb?"
Man, over a hundred waiting outside.
At this pace, no way to finish on time.
Need intake, prelims matching treatment speed to avoid backlog.
"Director, Kim Gilyeong."
Finally my turn.
A student brought the prelim chart and patient.
84 years old, Kim Gilyeong.
Knees hurting 40 years, back 25.
Surgery history noted.
"Checked the chart. Point out the spots?"
"All around here, straight through."
Kim Gilyeong indicated the entire front of the patella, plus popliteal fossa behind.
Back? Of course, thoracolumbar junction to pelvis, all of it.
"You've been through a lot."
"Sure have..."
I quickly checked ROM and palpated key spots to confirm lesions.
"For front and back needling, side-lying. Knees and back together means lots of needles—okay?"
"More the better, right?"
No more words needed—I laid Kim Gilyeong down, bent the lower leg to access both knees.
Then gathered five packs of twenty needles each.
And tore them open at once.