Chapter 3: Little Qianyu is So Adorable

"Pfft!" Tao Qianning truly could not help but laugh.

Every time she saw the scene of her eldest brother being bullied by their youngest sister, her little heart would leap with joy; if it were her, she wouldn't dare treat her eldest brother this way. In this family, the youngest sister had been raised with indulgence. Her and her eldest brother's responsibility was to protect the youngest sister from harm. Since childhood, they had been tested to have excellent bone structure, making them excellent materials for martial arts, and their current achievements were well-known in the martial arts world, but none of that mattered. Nothing was more important than the youngest sister's safety and happiness.

Back then, their mother, Wei Xin, was diagnosed with a strange poison, and coincidentally, she was pregnant at the time. When a divine physician told Tao Lingfei that the child could not be kept, Tao Lingfei was utterly despondent. On one side was his true love, and on the other was his own flesh and blood; no matter which he chose, it was like carving flesh from his own heart. Upon learning this, Wei Xin was determined to give birth to the child even if it cost her her life, and Tao Lingfei, who loved his wife deeply, compromised.

After experiencing life-and-death struggles, Wei Xin gave birth to Tao Qianyu. When they saw the beautiful Tao Qianyu, the whole family wept with joy; everything had been worth it. However, after the divine physician examined Wei Xin's body, he discovered that the strange poison had actually transferred to Tao Qianyu, and the blow at that time was even more violent.

At that time, Tao Qianyu was very quiet; she rarely laughed, and she neither cried nor made a fuss. Her beautiful eyes would always watch the people surrounding her, and occasionally, she would grin at everyone—a silent kind of smile. Heartbroken, Wei Xin washed her face with tears every day, so Tao Lingfei named her Qianyu. As if the little infant were very satisfied with her name, from then on, she would laugh out loud instead of crying or making a fuss. Her quiet demeanor made everyone's hearts melt; they held her in their palms for fear of dropping her, and kept her in their mouths for fear of her melting away. If the Tao Family Village had a weakness, it was only Tao Qianyu.

Ever since Wei Xin was poisoned, Tao Lingfei had been obsessed with researching medicines. Half a year after Tao Qianyu turned three, the toxins still erupted, torturing her so severely that she fell unconscious for several days and nights; even after waking, she required a long time to recover. Despite her small size, she was not only extraordinarily resilient to pain but also knew how not to worry those around her, even comforting her family instead. Although Tao Xuanyun and Tao Qianning were young, they had already decided to protect their youngest sister for a lifetime, so they began to train hard in martial arts. Tao Qianyu followed behind her father, Tao Lingfei, watching him study medicine and herbs all day, and she began to learn in her own way. Every time Tao Lingfei failed, seeing his little treasure Tao Qianyu made him forget all his exhaustion.

"Daddy, Daddy, you don't need to worry about Yu'er. Yu'er will get better, and I can even help Daddy," the three-year-old Tao Qianyu said with a childish voice, clutching Tao Lingfei's leg and looking up at him.

Tao Lingfei chuckled, leaned down to pick up little Qianyu, and pressed his stubbled face against her small face, but little Qianyu laughed and dodged. Daddy's stubble was too prickly. Little Qianyu knew that Tao Lingfei wouldn't believe her words and would only think she was comforting him, so she recited a passage from a medical book she had just looked at and even pointed out the names of the herbs on the ground one by one. Tao Lingfei practically regarded Tao Qianyu as a little prodigy; considering that doing so would also be beneficial to her health, he discussed it with his wife, Wei Xin, and decided to nurture her.

From that time on, little Qianyu followed her father to learn medicine. He even collected various ancient and lost medical books for her, but coincidentally, little Qianyu chose to study Gu and toxicology. Tao Lingfei had struggled with this, but seeing how much initiative little Qianyu had, he decided to let go and let her choose her own hobbies, though he still watched over her carefully, fearing that those poisons or medicinal injuries might harm her.