Chapter 69: Little Divine Doctor
He used to have a day off every couple of days, which he’d use to take her to town for candied hawthorns.
But now, orders had come down, switching him to full-time active duty.
He was forbidden from leaving his unit without authorization and even had to work rotating shifts on holidays.
At the crack of dawn, a thin layer of mist still drifted outside the window.
Ling Anxun was already dressed, standing ramrod straight at the door.
He wore the deep, ink-green uniform of his special forces unit.
He slowly turned back, his gaze falling on the small figure inside the house.
"Wow, Daddy, you’re so cool! Like a big hero from TV! Shanshan loves you the most!"
It wasn’t that Shanshan had never seen him in uniform before, but this one was different.
It wasn’t his regular dress uniform, but the combat fatigues he wore for actual missions.
A special forces insignia was on his shoulder, and his chest was covered in service ribbons.
Even more striking was the deadly aura that seemed to emanate from his very bones.
She was captivated at first sight, and her heart pounded a little faster.
The corners of Ling Anxun’s mouth lifted slightly, a doting smile flickering in his eyes.
But before the smile could fully form, he quickly composed himself, cleared his throat, and struggled to maintain a serious expression.
"This is a gift I brought for you."
He fumbled somewhat awkwardly at his uniform pocket.
After a moment’s hesitation, he pulled a small object wrapped in wax paper from an inner pocket and carefully handed it to Shanshan.
"What is it, Daddy?"
Shanshan took it curiously. The moment her fingertips touched the round pendant, she felt a wave of warmth.
"It was taken out of me,"
Ling Anxun said in a low voice.
"During a mission, it grazed my ribs but missed my vitals. After the medic removed it... well, it’s an old army tradition. Something that nearly takes your life but doesn’t, you keep it as an Amulet. I want you to wear it, to keep you safe for me."
"Wow! Then it’s your medal! It’s proof that you’re the bravest, Daddy!"
Shanshan’s eyes widened, her little face flushing with excitement.
Without hesitation, she looped the chain around her neck, then tucked the pendant inside her collar, pressing it tightly against her chest, right over her heart.
It was clearly made of iron, a hard, cold metal.
But it didn’t feel cold against her skin at all.
She knew why. Her daddy had worn it close to his body.
She took Ling Anxun’s hand and walked him all the way to the door.
She watched until his figure disappeared completely from sight.
Only then did she slowly withdraw her gaze, gently patting the pendant on her chest and muttering under her breath.
"Daddy, you have to stay safe, too."
When she turned around, she saw her grandpa sitting in the old wicker chair in the living room.
"Grandpa, how are you feeling today? Are you still feeling unwell?"
Shanshan quickly ran over, tilting her little face up to ask with concern.
"Thanks for asking, Shanshan. Grandpa is much better. Your aunt said the whole family drank the medicine you brewed and that everyone’s fine."
Ling Zhenkang had truly treated it as a mandatory mission.
From that day on, he supervised his three sons every day, refusing to rest until he’d personally watched them drink every last drop of the medicinal soup.
At first, the three sons thought their father was making a mountain out of a molehill.
They would simply pick up their bowls to get it over with, grimace, and down the contents in one go.
Afterward, they’d even complain that the bitter taste was nauseating.
But after a week of this, their bodies actually began to change.
Not only were their spirits higher and they walked with a spring in their step, but even their tendency to tire easily gradually vanished.
"Dad, I heard from the second and third brothers today that they’ve had more energy lately and are sleeping soundly at night."
Jiao Qin took advantage of her visit to her father-in-law to give him an update while massaging the old gentleman’s shoulders.
"Isn’t it strange? He used to wake up all the time in the middle of the night, but now he sleeps straight through till morning and wakes up feeling refreshed. There’s really something to Shanshan’s medicine."
She said, shaking her head.
"They were actually supposed to come back for dinner tonight to ask her in person how she knows so much about these herbs, and to thank her properly,"
Jiao Qin continued.
"But a last-minute, important meeting came up at the company, so the whole plan fell through. They couldn’t make it back."
The old gentleman’s eyes flew wide open. He leaned forward and asked urgently, several times over,
"Is that true? His stomach problems are a chronic issue he’s had for years! Even the hospital couldn’t find the cause, and he got better after just a few doses of medicine?"
Jiao Qin patiently explained in detail, once again, the changes everyone in the family had experienced over the past few days.
The atmosphere in the room gradually grew quiet.
At some point, Ding Qin had quietly appeared at the doorway, leaning against the frame and listening to the last half of the conversation.
She was stunned at first. Then, as realization dawned, her eyes lit up, and she couldn’t help but clap her hands and laugh out loud.
"Oh my! We have a miracle doctor in the family!"
With that, she turned and walked out, her steps light as she headed straight for the backyard.
A moment later, she dragged back Shanshan, who had been drying herbs.
"My dear granddaughter, tell Grandma, who taught you all this about medicinal herbs?"
Ding Qin took Shanshan’s hand, crouched down, and looked at her, full of expectation.
"Nobody taught me."
Shanshan blinked, her expression matter-of-fact, her voice crisp and clear.
"Every herb smells different. I just have to smell it to know what illness it treats."
As soon as the words left her mouth, everyone in the room froze.
"You... can tell a medicine’s properties just by its smell?"
Jiao Qin’s voice trembled slightly as if she had heard something impossible. She even forgot to put down the teacup in her hand.
"Just by using your nose? You haven’t read any books? You haven’t studied it?"
If Yaling were here, she would have probably fainted on the spot.
Her cousin, an expert in pharmacology, had memorized medical texts and identified hundreds of herbs since childhood, studying painstakingly for over twenty years before she dared to write a prescription.
And yet this little girl, who was no more than four years old, was claiming she could determine a herb’s properties just by "smelling" it?
Forget about families with generations of traditional Chinese doctors; even someone like her, who had read medical books ancient and modern and could recite the *Compendium of Materia Medica* backward and forward, had never heard of such a thing.
But Ding Qin didn’t care about abstruse medical theory.
She couldn’t care less about the theoretical basis; she only cared about the results.
Seeing Shanshan speak so frankly, with such clear and innocent eyes, she immediately pulled her granddaughter into a hug, kissing and patting her.
"Oh, my sweet granddaughter, that nose of yours is more amazing than a god’s! It’s a god-given talent!"
"Shanshan is incredible!"
The more she spoke, the more excited she became, her voice rising in pitch.
"Traditional Chinese medicine is so profound—the books are thick enough to use as stools—and she figured it out all by herself! If that’s not a genius, what is?"
"When you’re a little older, Grandma will definitely send you to study properly with a top-tier traditional Chinese medicine master. You’ll find a good teacher and pass on this skill!"
"Exactly!"
As soon as Ling Zhenkang heard this, he nodded in agreement, his mustache twitching, his face filled with pride.
"From now on, we’ll have Shanshan spend more time with that person from the Yin family. That way, she’ll have a guide. Mr. Hu is a National Master of Traditional Chinese Medicine. If he could take her as his disciple, it would be an incredible stroke of fortune!"
After that, the entire family was truly convinced of Shanshan’s abilities.
Even the third son’s wife, who was known for being the most frugal, brought a small, engraved silver bracelet from her parents’ home and secretly put it on Shanshan’s wrist.
Every time Ling Shanshan went to the mountains with her grandparents to gather herbs, she would also help the neighbors by diagnosing their minor ailments and writing prescriptions.
People would always try to press some money on her.
They’d call it a token of gratitude or payment, but frankly, they were just worried the child would be taken advantage of.
But as soon as the money was in her hands, it was immediately classified as consultation and medicine fees, and every single cent was recorded in an account book.
And Shanshan?
She accepted it all without refusal.