“Then come to Qingcheng Temple every other day to study with me. Are you willing?”
“An’an is willing!” After saying this, An’an earnestly kowtowed to Nianci and performed the formal apprenticeship ceremony.
Master Nianci smiled with satisfaction.
Thus, word spread throughout the capital that the Gu family’s little granddaughter, still so small she couldn’t even speak clearly, had become Master Nianci’s disciple. Every other day, rain or shine, she would go study medicine with Master Nianci.
It was also said that this little milk dumpling could diagnose illnesses at a single glance—wasn’t she practically a little miracle doctor?
One day, Xihua looked at little An’an, whose face was nearly buried in a medical book, and said to Gu Yi with a smile, “Our little miss is truly diligent! Still so young, yet she can already read medical texts!”
Gu Yi watched An’an studying intently and also smiled. “Indeed, it’s strange. Usually, she refuses to read or learn characters, but she’s completely engrossed in these obscure and difficult medical books.”
“Ah, Mother, I know!” An’an lifted her little head from the medical book, quickly drew a few strokes on paper, then excitedly ran to Gu Yi and held it up for her to see.
“Mother, Mother! Brother is still missing one ingredient—Biluosheng! And I have a prescription for Sister-in-law’s throat too!” An’an proudly showed her prescription to Gu Yi.
However, the medical book recorded that the herb Biluosheng was extremely rare, growing only in the far north of the Dayan Dynasty.
Thinking of this, the little girl’s face scrunched up like a steamed bun: Hmph, it’s all Jade Emperor Grandpa’s fault! He insisted that my spiritual power could only be absorbed through medicinal herbs, which is why I’m working so hard to study prescriptions and see what herbs can cure Brother’s leg.
Otherwise, as a little Celestial Herb, what ailment couldn’t I heal? Hmph, bad Jade Emperor Grandpa!
“Achoo!” Far away in the heavens, the Jade Emperor sneezed and rubbed his nose: I don’t even get sick, so why did I suddenly sneeze?
Gu Yi took the prescription from An’an’s hand and praised without even looking at it, “Wow, our An’an is so amazing!”
Then, looking at the smudged black ink blobs on the paper, she fell silent: Is… is this a prescription?
Uncertain, she took another look, still unable to believe that these crooked, squiggly things were a prescription.
“Mother, Mother, this is what An’an thought of herself. Is An’an amazing?” An’an blinked her bright, sparkling eyes at Gu Yi.
Seeing her little daughter’s eager expression begging for praise, Gu Yi coaxed, “Of course you’re amazing! How about we show this prescription to Master Nianci tomorrow?”
She absolutely mustn’t let the little one see that she was laughing at her handwriting, or the little girl would get upset.
“Okay!” Successfully fooled, the little dumpling happily agreed.
Watching the little dumpling, satisfied and grinning foolishly after being praised, Gu Yi suddenly felt that practicing handwriting really needed to be put on the agenda.
The next day, Qingcheng Temple.
“Shifu~ Shifu~”
Early in the morning, the energetic voice of her little disciple could be heard.
Nianci shook her head helplessly with a smile, catching the little cannonball that suddenly rushed into her arms. “An’an, why are you coming to see Shifu so early in the morning?”
Little An’an looked up at Nianci, beaming. “Shifu, An’an thought of prescriptions to cure Brother and Sister-in-law!”
Gu Yi, following behind, greeted Nianci with a bow. “She dragged me out early this morning, saying she wanted to show you the prescription as soon as possible!”
After hearing this, Nian Ci smiled and patted the little immortal herb’s head, then took the prescription that An’an was holding high in her hands and examined it carefully.
“Mmm~ An’an is really amazing!” Nian Ci praised after studying it carefully.
“Hehehe, I’m not that amazing!” An’an giggled, scratching her head.
Gu Yi watched Nian Ci studying intently and couldn’t help but sigh: Truly Master Nian Ci, even a bunch of ink blots couldn’t stump her.
“However,” Nian Ci’s tone shifted as she crouched down, pointing at an ink blot on the prescription, “An’an, what kind of herb is this? Your master has never heard of it before.”
Little Tuanzi rested her round face on Nian Ci’s arm and leaned in to take a look, her eyes showing a hint of confusion.
Seeing the little one’s bewildered expression, Nian Ci sighed inwardly. This little immortal herb had probably written down a celestial herb: “An’an, this herb doesn’t exist in the mortal realm!”
“Ah!” Little An’an slapped her forehead, then lowered her head and rummaged through her small cloth pouch, pulling out a small packet of seeds.
“Maybe you can grow the herbs to cure your brother and sister-in-law’s illness yourself, right?”
Remembering what the Jade Emperor had said earlier, An’an held the packet of seeds and whimpered tearfully: Wuwuwu, after waking up from the dream, she had just put them aside and forgotten to plant them, wuwuwu!
Suddenly struck by an idea, Little Tuanzi’s eyes sparkled: “Then, Master, if we have this herb, can we cure sister-in-law’s throat?”
Nian Ci looked at the packet of seeds in the little one’s hands and understood that they were likely celestial herbs the little one had brought from the heavens. However, using celestial herbs directly in the mortal realm to treat illnesses was probably…
Seeing the hopeful look on the little one’s face, Nian Ci nodded: “That’s right.”
An’an’s eyes lit up for a moment but quickly dimmed again as she stared at the packet of seeds, on the verge of tears: Wuwuwu, but An’an forgot to plant them! If she plants them now, she won’t be able to cure sister-in-law right away!
Seeing the little bun’s crestfallen face, Gu Yi patted An’an’s head: “It’s okay, An’an, we’ll take it slow.”
She had also understood by now—this little one had probably gotten some seeds that didn’t exist in the mortal realm but had forgotten to plant them. She was still such a scatterbrained little child!
Gu Yi straightened An’an’s clothes, and the koi jade pendant hanging around her neck slipped out.
Just as she was about to adjust the pendant properly, An’an grabbed hold of it.
“What’s wrong, An’an?” Gu Yi asked softly, thinking the pendant might be uncomfortable.
An’an stared at the pendant intently… Suddenly, she thought of a brilliant idea.
“Mother, Master! An’an has thought of a way!”
The little one, who had been whimpering just moments ago, suddenly perked up again. Gu Yi and Nian Ci smiled: A child’s mood really changes in the blink of an eye!
As soon as they returned from Qingcheng Temple, An’an shut herself in her bedroom. When Gu Yi asked about it, she mysteriously said, “Mother, this is An’an’s secret~”
Gu Yi had no choice but to let it be, only instructing Ruhua to guard the door carefully.
Inside the room, An’an held the pendant and kept muttering: “Little Koi, Little Koi, are you there?”
The pendant showed no reaction.
“Little Koi, can you hear An’an talking? My sister-in-law needs medicine, but An’an forgot to plant the seeds, wuwuwu.” An’an chattered incessantly to the pendant like a little chatterbox.
“Could you bring the herbs over, Little Koi? You’re the best!” An’an pleaded while acting coquettishly.
This jade pendant was given to her by Little Koi, who had told her to wait for him, so she was sure she could reach him this way!