Chapter 132: Chapter 132
"Little sister... what do they mean by this! Asking me to attend lectures at their residence?" Chen Daya pointed at herself in disbelief.
Had she heard correctly? The Lin family wanted her? Even if anyone were to go, it should be her younger sister.
Long after the visitors had left, Daya remained stunned, only snapping out of it when she noticed her sister's completely unsurprised expression.
She knew nothing—what use could she possibly be to officials?
This invitation was definitely meant for her sister...
Realizing this, Daya's initial excitement vanished, replaced by urgency as she grabbed her younger sister's hand:
"A-Ning, did you promise them something? Or is the Lin family..."
"It's nothing, elder sister, just normal social interaction."
Leading her to a side room to select suitable attire for the outing, An Ning spoke casually as if discussing the most mundane matter:
Most importantly, Daya was already thirteen this year. Though she'd learned some characters and read books under An Ning's guidance, she'd never received systematic instruction.
With such high-quality lessons delivered to their doorstep, it'd be a waste not to take advantage.
As for whether she'd understand—Miss Lin was only eight years old now, and wouldn't need to take imperial examinations anyway. How advanced could the content really be?
Perhaps because Young Master Lin was still present, and Lady Jia Min personally oversaw her daughter's education, they only hired learned female tutors.
That so-called Jia Yucun had no role to play here. As for the son's education—from what she knew, Lin Ruhai had meticulously selected and thoroughly vetted all tutors for his son through multiple rounds.
This Jia fellow had likely been eliminated early on.
It just showed that scholar-officials of this era, no matter how much they claimed to dote on daughters, would never value them as much as sons...
After reassuring the anxious Daya, An Ning turned her attention to her own "enterprise."
Enterprise might be too strong a word. Having confirmed the Lin family's attitude, An Ning had become much more proactive. Not only had she prepared a full set of beauty creams as gifts for her sister, but she'd also upgraded the efficacy of the health-boosting pills at her shop multiple times.
The first to purchase at premium prices was naturally the wealthy Lin family. Even when the advanced version reached a hundred taels per pill, it couldn't deter the commissioner from showering gold coins without hesitation.
When hearing some medicinal ingredients were hard to obtain, he even sent over several batches of premium herbs unprompted.
The reason was simple—the effects were visibly remarkable.
Within just half a month, not only had Young Master Lin's complexion visibly improved, but the entire Lin household—all prone to illness—showed significant betterment in their conditions.
There were plenty of discerning people in this world. Soon Baoren Hall's pills became almost impossible to obtain at any price. Some tried to replicate them—the basic version was manageable, but no matter how they attempted, the advanced version's effects couldn't be reproduced...
The age and quality of ingredients, the preparation sequence—the slightest deviation made all the difference.
And these pills were solely produced by An Ning—who happened to be just a tad lazy...
Apart from monthly supplies for their current powerful patron, fewer than five pills ever made it to the open market.
Some merchants even traveled great distances specifically to spend fortunes on them.
Meanwhile, old physician Liang's reputation as a divine healer gradually spread. No matter how much he denied it, people just thought the old doctor was being modest.
With An Ning as his apprentice these years, he'd rarely experienced any failures.
Truly, the old doctor was just too humble.
Old Physician Liang, repeatedly instructed by his apprentice not to reveal the truth: "..."
Leaving aside the old physician's helplessness, the actual culprit An Ning was now effortlessly manipulating an incense burner, from which a soothing sandalwood fragrance soon wafted.
But this incense's effects went far beyond that—everyone in the small room immediately felt relief from their previously stifled chests.
"Is this Sister Chen's new medicinal incense? Truly remarkable!"
In the classroom, Miss Lin—already showing graceful maidenly charm despite being barely ten—was the first to praise enthusiastically. Beside her, Chen Yue (Chen Daya) nodded vigorously.
Her little sister grew more impressive by the day.
Equally amazed was Young Master Lin, who had dropped by casually. With more free time in recent years, An Ning occasionally attended classes with her sister to pass time.
After several years, they'd become quite familiar.
Now they spoke without reservation, soon chatting and laughing together.
"By the way, I remember Sister Chen only started learning incense blending half a year ago? To master it so quickly and even incorporate medicinal principles—truly amazing."
"Ah, if only I could study with such talent..."
Young Master Lin's eyes sparkled as he spoke.
Before An Ning could respond, Lin Daiyu couldn't help retorting:
"Getting praised by tutors daily still isn't enough—now he comes seeking validation from us sisters. Sister Chen, don't listen to him—who knows whom he's mocking here!"
With a sidelong glance, Lin Daiyu raised her small chin and gave a proud hum.
Used to his sister's barbs, Lin Jing remained unperturbed, still grinning: "Still nowhere near Sister Chen's photographic memory though!"
Really... there was no need to bring that up, especially coming from your family.
And her master really couldn't keep anything secret!
Though perhaps this was precisely why this family of shrewd people never suspected her over the years.
After more banter with Tutor Yang and the others, An Ning left with a specially crafted set of poetry stationery from Miss Lin.
Not only did it feature plum, orchid, bamboo, and chrysanthemum motifs with corresponding poems, but each sheet also carried a faint magnolia fragrance.
Undeniably, spending time with young girls—especially cultured, playful ones—was truly uplifting.
Carefully storing the stationery set, An Ning picked up the incense box again.
No matter how much they praised it earlier, in her view, the formula still had much room for improvement.
Watching its host leisurely adjusting incense blends, the system in her consciousness was stunned.
"Host, don't you have any ambitions?"
"What about your medical skills? Weren't you going to become a divine healer?"
Then why bother creating this genius persona? Just to find a patron, earn money comfortably, and improve living standards?
Over the years, whenever the system thought its host would make some grand effort, her medical skills remained largely unknown except to those closest to her...
In recent years, she'd hardly even practiced diagnosis or pulse reading beyond initial training periods.
"Host, are you... abandoning the divine healer path?"