If Dr. Wu hadn't died and Cheung Mo Gei had continued to study medicine with him...

[Ken Cheng]

Imagine if, in an alternate version of HSDS, Dr. Wu Ching Ngau didn't die and Cheung Mo Gei spent another five to ten years learning medicine from him (with Dr. Wu actively and willingly teaching him instead of just allowing him to read the texts in his medical library and observe him), how good a doctor might Cheung Mo Gei have become?

[Doc Kwok]

Imagine if, in an alternate version of HSDS, Dr. Wu Ching Ngau didn't die and Cheung Mo Gei spent another five to ten years learning medicine from him (with Dr. Wu actively and willingly teaching him instead of just allowing him to read the texts in his medical library and observe him), how good a doctor might Cheung Mo Gei have become?

Hu Qingniu did more than just allow him to read his books - he actively answered all his questions in depth, and after they became closer, actively taught him the finer points of medical theory and acupuncture. Hu Qingniu was lonely, and was particularly proud of his medical research but did not have anyone to share his discoveries with, so when ZWJ expressed interest in medicine, he was more than willing to share.

After two years, ZWJ was said to be far behind HQN in terms of diagnosis and use of medicine due to inexperience, but had 70-80% of his skill in acupuncture. Hu Qingniu's own evaluation of ZWJ was that by the time he reached the age of twenty under his tutelage, he would be able to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with legends like Hua Tuo and Bian Que (but the Xuanming palms poison should have killed him long before then).