Gu Rong looked down at the little girl's stubborn look. He had no way of refusing her and could only hold her hand and go up the stairs together.

Each step of the stairs was very high. Pei Tiantian, held by Gu Rong's hand, had to climb up to the second floor with great effort using her short legs and panting.

There is an extended bamboo corridor on the second floor, where various Chinese herbal medicines are dried in the sun.

Zeng Hong was squatting beside him, rummaging through the herbs, while Gu Rong opened the door and went in.

Pei Tiantian followed behind and looked inside. What caught her eye was a whole wall of medicine buckets. In front of the medicine buckets was a long square table. On the table were medicine cutting knives, copper vats, scales, scissors, a small hacksaw, a mortar and other tools. There were also some Chinese herbal medicines on the scattered wrapping paper.

Gu Rong didn't stop, he walked into a small room at the back of the house.

Pei Tiantian followed with her short legs and saw that there was a stove in the small room. On the stove was an iron medicine pot with an iron shovel in the pot and some cassia seeds next to the pot.

Gu Rong sat in front of the earthen stove and lit the firewood. After the pot was heated, he stood up, put all the cassia seeds in the pot, picked up the iron shovel and started frying them with skillful movements.

Gu Rong’s height is not much taller than the earthen stove now, so he stood on a small stool when frying the Chinese medicine.

The more Pei Tiantian looked at it, the more uncomfortable she felt.

Gu Rong is only an eight-year-old boy, and it must be very tiring for him to stir-fry herbs with such a heavy shovel.

That old man Zeng is like employing child laborers, it's too much!

Isn't this bullying children?

Gu Rong paused with the shovel in his hand and glanced at Pei Tiantian who was standing at the door.

At this time, Pei Tiantian opened her grape eyes, with an innocent look on her fair little face, and the two little tufts on her head swayed along, making her so cute that no one could feel disgusted.

If Gu Rong hadn't been able to hear her inner thoughts, he would never have thought that Pei Tiantian was cursing in her heart.

However, hearing Pei Tiantian's words, Gu Rong couldn't help but curl the corners of his mouth.

Pei Tiantian yawned, and when she raised her eyes, she saw an inexplicable smile appearing on Gu Rong's face, which had always been expressionless.

A question mark slowly appeared in her mind.

Why is the villain grinning foolishly by himself? Is it so happy to work for someone for free?

The smile on Gu Rong's lips disappeared in an instant.

The process of frying herbs was very mechanical. Pei Tiantian lost interest after watching for a while. She turned and left the house, walked to the corridor, stared at the herbs drying there, and was in a daze.

Pei Tiantian also planted a lot of medicinal herbs in her space. She could naturally recognize the herbs drying here, including Coptis chinensis, Phellodendron chinense, Qinpi, Sophora flavescens, Herba Pteris corylifoliae, etc.

Pei Tiantian squatted down, picked up a blade of grass at random with her little fleshy hands, put it in front of her nose, smelled it, and put it down.

Zeng Hong saw that she was looking at the medicinal materials seriously and was immediately amused: "Little girl, you are looking at it so seriously, do you know what this is?"

Pei Tiantian nodded, "Of course I know, this is Coix lacryma-jobi, which has the effect of dispersing wind-heat, improving eyesight and removing cataracts."

Zeng Hong's originally joking expression froze for a moment. He didn't expect that this little girl actually knew it and even knew what its effects were.

He pointed to a long cylindrical, reddish-brown medicinal herb and asked, "Do you know what this is?"

Pei Tiantian leaned over, glanced at it, and said lightly: "This is called Gou Cibos, it can clear away heat and detoxify, and maggots can stop bleeding."

Zeng Hong was stunned again. Not giving up, he pointed to another medicinal herb, which was a group of flat, round, gray-brown seeds with a concave mesh pattern on the surface.

"This is Momordica cochinchinensis, which can dissipate lumps and reduce swelling, attack poison and treat sores."

Zeng Hong continued to ask: "What about this?"

Pei Tiantian: "Bone-setting golden millet orchid can dispel wind, activate blood circulation, reduce swelling and relieve pain."

Zeng Hong: “This?”

Pei Tiantian: "Tiankui seeds, clear away heat and dissipate toxins."

Zeng Hong: "What about this?"

Pei Tiantian: "Sophora japonica seeds help with bowel movements."

…

Pei Tiantian asked about more than a dozen kinds of medicinal herbs in one breath, and not only did she answer them all correctly, she also told the corresponding effects, which made Zeng Hong's eyes light up more and more.

He stared at Pei Tiantian with his old eyes and asked in a deep voice: "How do you know so much about these medicinal herbs? Is there anyone in your family who studies medicine?"

"No, I read it in a book myself!"

Pei Tiantian said while shaking the two little kids.

"So you learned it on your own?"

Zeng Hong was extremely surprised.

No matter how old and confused he was, he could tell that the girl was no more than five years old.

How did such a little girl know so many obscure words in medical books?

Pei Tiantian nodded.

She wasn't lying, she was self-taught, and although she wasn't an expert, she could still make some common ointments for treating external injuries.

In the apocalypse, she only has spatial abilities, but no healing light abilities.

The medicines and supplies in the space were limited and precious. In order to save supplies, she could only learn to grow Chinese herbs and make some ointments and medicines to use when she was injured.

Pei Tiantian also discovered that some Chinese medicines are more effective than Western medicines, so the types of Chinese herbal medicines planted in her space increased. Finally, she opened up a medicine garden specifically for growing medicinal materials.

"You little girl, I didn't realize you're so smart!"

Zeng Hong smiled, and looked at Pei Tiantian with an increasingly passionate gaze, "Little girl, let me ask you, do you want to study medicine with me? How about I accept you as my disciple?"

Zeng Hong could see that Gu Rong was not very sensitive to medicinal materials and had no interest in studying medicine, so Zeng Hong just asked him to help with some odd jobs and did not teach him medical skills.

However, this girl in front of him, who was younger than Gu Rong, was able to accurately recognize every kind of medicinal herb. Her sensitivity was even not inferior to that of his eldest disciple Lin Chao.

Thinking of his eldest disciple Lin Chao, a trace of nostalgia flashed in Zeng Hong's eyes.

He hadn't seen him for years and didn't know how he was doing.

When Pei Tiantian first heard it, she was extremely happy.

She had always wanted to learn medicine from a professional doctor, but she didn't expect to come across this opportunity.

Pei Tiantian was about to agree, but suddenly she thought of something and swallowed the words that were about to come out of her mouth. After a long while, she shook her head and said, "Forget it."

No one knew what kind of medical skills this old man who appeared out of nowhere had. Pei Tiantian only knew that there was only one medical genius, Lin Chao, in the novel.

She had never seen the name of old man Zeng Hong.

Therefore, she had some doubts about the old man's medical skills.

She didn't dare to learn from him, what if the old man's medical skills were not reliable.

She wanted to learn medicine in order to prevent diseases before they occur.

If she fails to successfully avoid the plot, Wang Ruizhen will suffer a stroke and be paralyzed in bed in the future just like in the plot, and Pei Zhiqiang will also have a broken leg.

－－－－－－－Off topic－－－－－－－

I am in the process of revising the text these days. Sorry, it will probably take another two days to revise it.