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Qiao Xinxin obediently walked over, sat down in the chair opposite the desk, and hugged the cloth bag to her chest: "Good morning, Teacher Lin."

"well."

Lin Zhengping looked at the well-behaved and sensible girl in front of him, his eyes filled with affection. He opened the drawer on his right, took out several thick, neatly bound booklets, and handed them to Qiao Xinxin:

"Xin Xin, although you have a talent for drug formulation, your foundation is weak, and you haven't systematically studied modern medical theory. We drug developers can't rely on folk methods and luck; we have to be scientific. These books are basic medicinal herb identification materials that I specially compiled for you last night."

Qiao Xinxin quickly took it with both hands and turned to the first page.

The label features neat, simple drawings of various herbs in pen, accompanied by detailed annotations in elegant handwriting indicating the herb's name, origin, harvesting season, medicinal part, and chemical composition as analyzed by modern medicine.

"There are more than 300 kinds of commonly used Chinese herbal medicines in here. Take them back and look at them first. You don't need to memorize them all, but you should have a general idea of ​​what each herb looks like and what its effects are," Lin Zhengping gently instructed.

"Okay, Teacher Lin, I will definitely read it carefully page by page when I get back and memorize it," Qiao Xinxin promised earnestly.

Lin Zhengping smiled with satisfaction, then took out a slightly thinner notebook with a yellowed cover from the drawer and pushed it over:

"This book contains some of my personal insights from decades of clinical practice and drug development. It focuses on the incompatibilities between medicinal materials, that is, which drugs, when combined, will produce toxic side effects, and which drugs, when combined, can double the efficacy. This part is quite profound, so you can keep it for now. Once you've mastered the basic books, we can start discussing this one."

Looking at this notebook, which embodies most of the old man's life's work, Qiao Xinxin felt a heavy weight in her hands and was deeply moved. In this day and age, such handwritten notes are treasures that are not shared with outsiders.

"Teacher Lin, thank you for trusting me. I will definitely live up to your expectations." Qiao Xinxin's eyes were a little hot, and her voice was clear and firm.

"Silly child, why are you being so polite with me?"

Lin Zhengping stood up with a smile, patted the wrinkles on his clothes, and his eyes gleamed with eager anticipation:

"Alright, go back and study the books slowly. This morning, don't rush to read. Come with me to our military medical department's medicine warehouse. Theory without practice is never enough. You can't really identify medicinal herbs just by looking at pictures. You have to see them with your own eyes, touch them with your own hands, and smell them with your own nose. That's what real skill is!"

"Okay!" Qiao Xinxin immediately became interested upon hearing this, and quickly and carefully stuffed the booklets into her cloth bag, slung her bag over her shoulder, and followed.

The two went downstairs one after the other, walked through a quiet corridor at the back of the first floor, and arrived at a bungalow in the backyard.

The doors and windows were tightly shut, with a heavy iron padlock hanging on the door and a wooden sign that read "Medicinal Herbs Warehouse" next to it.

Lin Zhengping took a bunch of keys off his belt, found one of them, and unlocked the door with a "click." He then pushed open the heavy wooden door.

In an instant, a rich, dry aroma, carrying the complex scents of various herbs with a slightly bitter and sweet taste, wafted over, invigorating the spirit as it was inhaled.

Qiao Xinxin looked up and saw five or six rows of tall red pine shelves neatly arranged in the warehouse. Each shelf held a labeled wooden box and bundles of dried herbs tied with hemp rope. Several large vats were also neatly stacked on the floor. Although there were a lot of medicinal herbs, they were kept spotless and dry.

"Let's start from the first row."

Lin Zhengping, with his hands behind his back, led Qiao Xinxin to the first shelf, reached into a wooden compartment, grabbed a small handful of thinly sliced ​​medicinal herbs, and handed them to Qiao Xinxin:

"Come on, Xinxin, look at this. This is angelica root. Look at its cross-section; the bark is yellowish-brown and sticky, and there's a white woody part in the middle. Now smell it; doesn't it have a very strong and unique aroma? Take a bite; the taste is sweet at first, then bitter."

Qiao Xinxin leaned closer, first sniffing it with her nose, then extending her slender, fair fingers to pick up a piece, carefully examining its texture, and nodding:

"Okay, I'll remember that. Angelica sinensis is sweet and pungent in taste, and warm in nature. It can nourish blood, promote blood circulation, regulate menstruation, and relieve pain."

Lin Zhengping glanced at her in surprise, then burst into laughter:

"Good girl, you do have some talent! Now let's look at this one—"

Lin Zhengping then opened the drawer next to him and took out a piece of yellowish-brown, shriveled root that looked like a chicken claw:

"This is Coptis chinensis. Feel it; doesn't its surface have many rough nodules? The most obvious characteristic of this herb is its bitterness. As the saying goes, 'Eating Coptis chinensis is like a mute eating a mute; he can't express the bitterness.' It can clear heat and dry dampness, purge fire and detoxify. Remember, Coptis chinensis and Angelica sinensis from earlier have conflicting medicinal properties, so you need to be extra careful when preparing the medicine..."

Lin Zhengping spoke with utmost seriousness. At each stop, he would take out the medicinal herbs and let Qiao Xinxin touch and smell them herself. He would even tear off a small piece for her to taste. Then he would explain the pharmacology and the extraction of components by modern medicine to her in detail.

Qiao Xinxin listened with great eagerness. Although she had her personal space and the mysterious book "Ancient Prescriptions with New Methods," the knowledge was mostly fragmented. Now, with Lin Zhengping, an experienced expert, systematically sorting out and guiding her, many pharmacological hurdles that she couldn't understand or grasp before were easily solved at this moment, giving her a refreshing feeling of enlightenment.

She stood beside Lin Zhengping, her almond-shaped eyes sparkling. After Lin Zhengping finished explaining each herb, she could not only immediately remember its name and properties, but also ask several professional questions about the efficacy and proportions of the herbs.

Lin Zhengping became more and more excited as he spoke, looking at Qiao Xinxin as if she were a peerless gem, nodding repeatedly:

"Good! That's a good question! You're such a genius, your brain is practically made for a medical school! Others need half a month to memorize pharmacology, but you can grasp the essentials after just one listen. You're a true genius!"

The morning flew by in the harmonious atmosphere of teaching and learning.

By the time the two had walked around most of the warehouse, the sun outside was already high in the sky.

Lin Zhengping glanced at his watch, then smacked his lips, seemingly still wanting more. "Oh dear, it's already midnight. Let's stop here for today. We can't bite off more than we can chew; we need to take it one step at a time."

As he spoke, he casually grabbed a few of the medicinal herbs he had just mentioned from the shelf beside him: angelica, astragalus, saposhnikovia, and sanguisorba officinalis. He skillfully wrapped them into small packets in clean kraft paper, tied them with thin hemp rope, and handed them to Qiao Xinxin.

"Take these samples of medicinal herbs back with you. When you have some free time tonight, refer to the booklet I gave you and carefully touch and smell them to reinforce your memory. When you come back next week, I'll test you in person. If you can't answer them, I, as your teacher, will punish you."