The Medicine Elder knew from his own experience that his skills had once been top-tier in Huaxia, yet he still failed to meet the admission standards for the Sage Academy. This showed just how strict the academy was with recruitment.
Zhu Yanyi had become a student there. The Medicine Elder also knew that her entrance exam was that international medical PK match where she faced twenty opponents alone. Without that match, she might have taken other exams, but the Elder doubted she could have won against twenty people by herself.
"The Sage Academy having ties with our school could be a good way to promote us," Wu Ling said.
Zhu Yanyi smiled faintly. "That’s not necessary." She spoke calmly. "Our school already attracts many students because of my reputation. But I don’t want to accept international students in the first batch."
If international students enrolled, they would take up spots meant for local students. Zhu Yanyi did not want that.
Huaxia had plenty of people. Finding students was easy.
"But the higher-ups might pressure us," Gu Jingtian said, frowning slightly.
"It’s fine. I’m not refusing them forever. Just for five years. After that, I will accept them, but the number will be limited. It makes no sense to give up spots to others when we have so many people in Huaxia," Zhu Yanyi said with a smile. "As for the higher-ups, leave it to Aohan. She is better at handling those matters."
Gu Jingtian gave Zhu Yanyi a thumbs-up. "You are amazing."
Zhu Yanyi shrugged. It wasn’t that she was amazing; it was that she had a backer. And this backer was always there for her to rely on.
Back home, Zhu Yanyi told Yan Aohan about it with a smile. Yan Aohan chuckled softly. "I naturally follow my wife’s orders. Leave it to me."
"Senior Brother said I was amazing. But the truly amazing one is you," Zhu Yanyi said, smiling. "Doesn’t she know I have a backer?" Her tone was clearly a bit proud.
Yan Aohan laughed heartily. "Yes, yes. We love that you have a backer. Gu Jingshan shouldn’t have missed that. It’s too bad."
Zhu Yanyi laughed again, then sighed. "Before opening the school, I thought it was just about students and teachers. Now that we are opening it, I realize there are so many trivial things."
Yan Aohan looked at her with care. "Do you regret it?"
Zhu Yanyi shook her head slightly. "Before I knew I was cultivating, I wanted to pass on medical skills. Now that I know I am a cultivator, I hope even more that my skills won’t be lost. I want Traditional Chinese Medicine to be passed down, so everyone respects and fears it. Then I won’t have been reborn in vain."
Yan Aohan nodded slightly. He knew she would say this. Although Zhu Yanyi often said she didn’t like managing things or claimed to be cold-hearted, Yan Aohan knew her heart was the softest. She couldn’t bear to see ordinary people die because they lacked suitable doctors.
In her past life, she didn’t have the ability, so she tried to build bridges and roads, or fund hope projects. In this life, she had the ability, so she wouldn’t waste this second chance.
"Since you don’t regret it, the tiredness is worth it," Yan Aohan said with a smile.
Zhu Yanyi nodded. "I mean the same thing. Since I don’t regret it, any tiredness is worth it." She smiled again. "But thinking I have a backer behind me, I won’t be too tired."
Yan Aohan laughed too. He liked this feeling of sharing joys and sorrows.
Zhu Yanyi and Yan Aohan both knew their mission. So they never complained about hardship. Instead, if one suffered, the other suffered too. They wanted to show each other that true partners share joys and sorrows, and life and death. Words like "when disaster strikes, everyone flies away" would never apply to them.
"It might be tiring at first, but it will get better once stable," Yan Aohan said. He knew the early stages of running a school involved many琐碎 (trivial) tasks, which were naturally tiring. Fortunately, Yan Aohan had hired experienced managers to help with finances, so they didn’t need to worry about that.
Moreover, the school’s purpose was not profit, but to train real TCM talents. So they didn’t care much about money.
"Have you decided on the school’s name?" Yan Aohan asked.
Zhu Yanyi nodded with a smile. "Yes. Aoyan TCM Academy, also known as Zhu Yanyi TCM School." She looked at Yan Aohan. "Remember to make the certificates for me tomorrow."
Yan Aohan tapped Zhu Yanyi’s forehead. "I knew you told me so directly for a reason. Alright, leave it to me. I’ll get the business license for the school tomorrow."
Actually, Zhu Yanyi could have solved this with a phone call. Since it was her school, it would definitely be supported. But Zhu Yanyi was sometimes lazy, and now with Yan Aohan around, she could be lazy.
Yan Aohan liked Zhu Yanyi’s way of relying on him. So these two were like Zhou Yu and Huang Gai—one willing to hit, the other willing to be hit. Even if others thought Zhu Yanyi was wrong, no one would mention it. After all, Yan Aohan was there to clean up the mess.
"Are you going to the school tomorrow?" Their courtyard house was not far from the TCM school, only a few minutes’ walk.
"Tomorrow we need to write the recruitment plan. Everyone goes home to write it. We’ll meet again in a week to discuss it," Zhu Yanyi said with a grin.
"Is the recruitment plan hard to write?" Seeing Zhu Yanyi’s expression, Yan Aohan knew where the difficulty lay.
"It’s my first time. I don’t know where to start," Zhu Yanyi said, looking a bit weak.
Yan Aohan felt心疼 (heartache). "It’s fine. I’ll have someone collect other schools’ recruitment plans for you tomorrow. You can use them for reference."
Zhu Yanyi sat up straight, hugging a pillow, and smiled at Yan Aohan. "That’s a good idea. Let’s make it clear, this is your idea. If there are any problems, I’ll blame you."
"Fine, blame me." His wife’s troubles were never troubles for Yan Aohan.
As the couple chatted and laughed, Zhu Yanyi’s phone rang. She looked at it and saw Luo Kun’s number. She answered it with a light smile. "Luo Kun, are you feeling better?"