【Please identify the following medicinal herb before you can open the Space.】
Tang Ruanruan looked at the line of text that appeared, along with the vivid, 3D rotating image of a plant below it, and she fell into a state of existential doubt.
She studied Nursing, and most of what she learned was how to administer injections, bandage wounds, and care for the Patient; at most, she assisted the Doctor with tasks or helped with minor duties as instructed by the Doctor.
But identifying medicinal herbs was not among those skills.
Her eyes widened, her pair of beautiful crescent eyes now round moons, and she poked the illusory image with such force, wishing she could poke it out of existence.
Are you kidding me?
She only wanted to be a Nurse; she didn't want to be a Doctor, nor did she want to take on such a Responsible job.
"Can we change the condition? Even if you asked me to give myself an injection, I'd agree."
She tried reasoning with this mysterious Space, but clearly, that path was blocked.
Because the floating text had grown slightly larger, and another line of text appeared beneath it:
【It never hurts to learn a trade!】
She suspected the Space was mocking her.
Because of her laziness.
She poked the illusory medicinal herb, and it actually moved along with her finger.
This was truly Outrageous.
In the end, she tried many methods, but none could change the requirement for this bizarrely appearing Space to open.
She could only dejectedly give up.
She took paper and pen, intending to draw the appearance of this medicinal herb and then find her Mother.
Mother Tang was a Doctor, and Father Tang was an expert at the Academy of Agricultural Sciences; finding a medicinal herb should be easy for them, right?
Feeling confident, she took her drawing of the medicinal herb into the kitchen where she found Mother Tang tidying up for her, and presented her drawing, looking expectantly at Mother Tang.
"Mom, do you know what medicinal herb this is?"
Although Mother Tang doted on her daughter, to the point of being somewhat blindly indulgent, when she saw the medicinal herb her daughter had drawn, she fell into a strange silence.
After a long pause, she managed a strained smile.
"Ruan Ruan, if you added a few more leaves, I might recognize it."
Tang Ruanruan didn't understand. She leaned over to look at her drawing; she had tried her best to replicate the image she saw. Was it not clear enough?
She frowned, studied it carefully for a long time, and then said, "Mom, I feel like it's very lifelike."
At this moment, Father Tang returned from work, entering the kitchen holding his coat.
He peeked at the drawing in Mother Tang's hand and laughed, "What abstract artwork is this? A stick with three leaves on top—is this trying to show the tenacious vitality of the stick?"
Mother Tang quickly moved to cover Father Tang's mouth; his mouth truly didn't know how to speak.
Tang Ruanruan, meanwhile, fell into a state of existential doubt.
Was her drawing really that bad?
She had spent half an hour carefully drawing it, yet in her father's mouth, it was just a stick with three leaves.
She became so dejected that she ran off immediately.
Father Tang was still confused. He pulled down his wife's hand covering his mouth and asked quietly, "Did Ruanruan draw this?"
Mother Tang shot him a look: "Why were you so quick to judge? You know perfectly well that Ruanruan is always very serious about drawing."
Father Tang could only offer a wry smile.
Speaking of Tang Ruanruan's drawing skills, it was something the Tang Family absolutely could not comprehend.
Mother Tang, being a Doctor, drawing flora and fauna was a basic skill. After giving birth to four Sons, it was understandable that she couldn't teach her well, but when Tang Ruanruan was born, she focused almost all her energy on the Child.
Tang Ruanruan was very Smart; she learned everything quickly, except for medicine, where she seemed to have nine out of ten openings clear, but one completely blocked.
She could draw figures and landscapes, but as soon as it involved flowers or plants, it was as if her eyes were different from ordinary people's. Even drawing a simple leaf was incredibly difficult for her, and the result was hideous; normal people couldn't distinguish it at all—it looked like it belonged to a different dimension than the reference object.
This led the Tang parents and her several Sons to firmly agree never to mention drawing flowers or plants in front of Tang Ruanruan; after all, Tang Ruanruan wasn't required to make a living off flora.
As a result, after so many years, when her Daughter finally picked up a pen to draw something that might be a grass, a flower, or perhaps some abstract Tree branch, she was completely crushed by Father Tang's critique.
Tang Ruanruan was aware of this Flaw; she had only thought of drawing it just now because she was too anxious to know what it was, leading to a Brain-farting Moment.
Reality told her that this Space was definitely incompatible with her; why choose a barrier she could barely cross?
She grabbed her hair and thrashed around on the bed.
She was so overcome with shame and frustration that she even forgot she had something else to do.
When Mother Tang entered the room carrying a copy of the 《Compendium of Materia Medica》, she was still thrashing about.
Mother Tang knew her youngest Daughter cherished her Face the most. Suppressing a smile, she patted her back and said, "Ruan Ruan, are you looking for the medicinal herb?"
Tang Ruanruan sat up, her face still slightly flushed with embarrassment.
Mother Tang didn't tease her Daughter; instead, she handed her the 《Compendium of Materia Medica》.
"Then look through this. As long as it's not an overly Special medicinal herb, you should find some clues here."
Tang Ruanruan looked at the book, which was as thick as a brick. This wasn't Li Shizhen's original work, but one that the Maternal home of Mother Tang had inherited for many generations, with extensive additions and annotations made to the original Books. Most importantly, this copy contained hand-drawn pictures of every medicinal herb made by her Maternal Grandfather and others.
That was the most precious thing.
If Tang Ruanruan didn't get drowsy and dizzy just by looking at this Book, she probably would have used it as her foundational text since childhood.
Seeing this Book again after so many years, Tang Ruanruan felt an overwhelming sense of emotion.
"But I get sleepy and start yawning the moment I open it."
Tang Ruanruan said, feeling a bit embarrassed.
Otherwise, why would she have studied Nursing instead of medicine?
This was the fundamental reason.
Mother Tang stroked her Daughter's hair and said very gently, "That's fine. Just look slowly; you'll find it eventually. Just don't look for too long."
After placing the Books down, Mother Tang left the room.
Tang Ruanruan looked at the 《Compendium of Materia Medica》 placed beside her and felt a slight Headache coming on.
"As expected, no Rebirth comes without a price."
Muttering this, she resignedly opened the brick-like Book.
After reading one page, she wanted to yawn, and her mind began to grow fuzzy.
For Tang Ruanruan, this Book was definitely a divine artifact for inducing sleep.
Fortunately, this time she wasn't trying to read it thoroughly, but rather to flip through all the pictures.
Fearing she would fall asleep again, her Fingers moved as fast as those of a money counter. Finally, when she found a picture that looked similar, her eyelids, which felt heavier than a thousand pounds, could hold on no longer.
As she was about to pass out, Tang Ruanruan had only one thought in her mind.
"Space, you better be an incredibly powerful entity, or I swear I will never speak to you again."