Jiang Ning felt a bit jealous—Huo Yishen had basically stolen her dog.

Luckily, Kele recognized her as his owner again. After training, he would snuggle into her arms and always carried his dog bowl whenever they went out.

There was no other choice—Huo Yishen’s cooking was so bad even the dog refused to eat it, so Jiang Ning had to prepare dog food in advance.

Looking at Kele, who was like a new dog after the training, Zheng Weili sneered at Lu Yu and Zhang Chao, “Look at you two, even the dog is better than you.”

Though it rained all day, no one was idle. Zheng Weili was also training these two weaklings every day.

Whether their physical fitness improved or not was unclear, but Jiang Ning saw their bruised faces and figured they could still take a beating.

Out of curiosity, she tested them once, and their dodging moves were slick. “Huh, you want to hit us? No way!”

She laughed slyly.

Unlike the despair and wails from other floors, everyone on the 18th floor was improving. Even Doudou was making progress—he’d learned pinyin and reading, now memorizing the text of “The Crow Drinks Water.”

The hydroponic vegetables were a success. Seeing the row of lush green lettuce on the balcony, Jiang Ning smiled knowingly.

Hybrid vegetables were hardy, grew fast with nutrient solutions, and were much bigger than ordinary greens.

She observed carefully every day and hadn’t found any pests yet.

After finishing outside chores, Jiang Ning went into the space to cut Timothy grass to feed the rabbits.

The grass was brought back by Feng Shan, who also collected wild plants and seedlings that could be used—those were planted, and the rest were stored.

The garden was piled with countless furniture and building materials but still had a lot of black soil left. Jiang Ning didn’t use it for vegetables or grains—those two were currently sufficient, and planting was too time-consuming; two hours a day was simply not enough.

What she lacked wasn’t food but free time to live in the space. So she planted fruit trees on the freed-up land, which required almost no care.

Just after leaving the space, she noticed Kele scratching at the door nonstop.

Opening it, someone was calling her from downstairs.

Jiang Ning went down and saw a young man supporting an old lady. “Hello, may I ask if you can treat illnesses?”

Through the iron bars, she saw the old lady’s pained expression. Jiang Ning’s face was expressionless as she asked, “What happened?”

“My grandma hurt her waist, but the hospital has no medicine. They suggested we look for traditional Chinese medicine acupuncture.”

The young man’s name was Zhong Ping. Wearing glasses, he looked refined and polite. “I heard you study Chinese medicine—would you be able to help my grandma?”

“I know some acupuncture but I’m not very skilled. Are you sure you want me to treat her?”

Of course, they weren’t sure, but the pain was unbearable; she couldn’t sit or lie comfortably and hadn’t slept all night.

Jiang Ning wanted to refuse, but then thought better of it and said, “I can treat her, but my skills are limited and I don’t guarantee a cure. Also, I charge a fee.”

“Can we pay later?” Zhong Ping hesitated, “My money is stuck in the bank card and can’t be withdrawn. Once the flood subsides, I promise to pay immediately.”

Fearing refusal, he added, “I can pay interest.”

Jiang Ning refused, “You can pay with food.”

Zhong Ping was in trouble—he barely had any food left.

When she mentioned food, Grandma Zhong quickly stopped her grandson, “I’m already old, I’ve lived enough. No need to treat me.”

Actually, she wasn’t that old—maybe just a little over sixty.

Survival is human instinct; no one wants to die, but she just didn’t want to be a burden to her child.

Zhong Ping comforted his grandma and discussed with Jiang Ning, “Can we pay with other things?”

“Possible, but it depends on the value.”

“I have a mountain bike, bought for 18,000 yuan, only ridden a few times.”

Jiang Ning nodded, “That works.”

So Zhong Ping went downstairs and carried the bike up. “Look, it’s 90% new.”

The deal was done—ten treatments in exchange.

Jiang Ning took the bike but didn’t let Zhong Ping inside. “Come back in an hour and a half.”

Carrying the bike, she helped Grandma Zhong upstairs.

The old lady was in pain but still quite kind, “Young lady, thank you.”

“No need to thank me; I charge a fee.”

Jiang Ning didn’t let them in but examined Grandma Zhong in the hallway.

Her waist had strain and a sprain—not a serious illness, but a muscle or bone injury can be very painful and take a hundred days to heal.

She found a soft bench in the space and moved it to the corridor for Grandma Zhong to lie on.

Seeing her in so much pain, Jiang Ning poured some herbal medicated wine for activating blood and removing bruises and massaged gently. Though not very skilled, it helped Grandma Zhong feel better.

After loosening the tendons and meridians, Jiang Ning took out silver acupuncture needles and began treatment.

She had practiced before in school and reviewed during this time, so she wasn’t afraid and was steady with the needle technique.

Surprisingly, the grandma who had suffered for days fell asleep without realizing it.

Only when Jiang Ning removed the needles did she wake, feeling much less pain. “Young lady, I didn’t expect your skills to be so good.”

Waist injuries are slow to heal, especially in damp conditions. Jiang Ning reminded her to rest well.

The space had painkillers and medicated plasters that would speed recovery, but Jiang Ning didn’t use them. It wasn’t about being stingy with medicine, but if some got treated and others didn’t, word would spread that she had medicine—and that would be a problem.

“Young lady, can I discuss something with you?”

Grandma Zhong took off a jade bracelet from her wrist. “This bike is my grandson’s favorite—can I trade this instead?”

The bracelet was of good quality and probably worth a lot.

Jiang Ning wasn’t greedy. “If your injury isn’t healed after ten treatments, when the flood subsides, you can pay money to redeem the bike.”

Hearing she could redeem it, Grandma Zhong was relieved.

Actually, their family was well-off, just the young people didn’t use cash, so they were short on liquid funds.

After finishing up, Zhong Ping came to pick them up.

Seeing Grandma Zhong was much better, he politely thanked Jiang Ning.

Once they left, Zhang Chao opened the door. “An Ning, you’re impressive—you’re actually making money practicing medicine now.”

“It’s not a serious illness, just practice,” Jiang Ning replied.

In the apocalypse, practical skills are still needed to make a living. This was why Jiang Ning hadn’t given up learning—if she had to live in a base later, this would be survival capital.

Lu Yu envied her. “You really chose a useful major, unlike me learning software programming—useless now.”

“That’s not certain. Who knows when it might come in handy.”

Seeing Jiang Ning excelling, Lu Yu felt insecure and went to find Zheng Weili for boxing practice.

Even if they couldn’t apply what they learned, at least improving fitness was necessary.

The humid weather made bodies feel especially uncomfortable.

Jiang Ning was doing physical training in the living room, sweating profusely after two hours.

A knock sounded. Hearing it, Kele ran to scratch the door open.

Huo Yishen came to get Kele and saw Jiang Ning practicing military-style boxing, paused briefly, then stepped in. “Your moves aren’t precise enough. When you punch, your fist should lift a bit higher.”

He was a professional—much more serious than the instructional videos.

Jiang Ning didn’t refuse; she raised her fist. “Like this?”

Just a bit short—Huo Yishen came closer and helped lift her punch higher.

After the set, he pointed out several flaws.

Besides the military, it was rare to see a girl punch with such force and spirit. Huo Yishen felt a bit eager, “How about we spar a bit?”