Chapter 24: Grandpa’s Mid-Stage Cancer

Bai Yalan wouldn’t give in. “Oh, Grandpa, I’m just worried about you. I know you’re strong and healthy, but doing a check-up doesn’t hurt. If there’s a problem, we can treat it early. If there’s nothing wrong, then we’ll all feel reassured. Just listen to me this once, please?”

The old man tried to refuse again. “This girl, always worrying for no reason. Grandpa’s fine—no need for this.”

Seeing that he was unmoved, Bai Yalan became anxious and teary-eyed on the spot. “Grandpa, please listen to me, just go get a check-up! I don’t care. If you don’t do it, I won’t feel at ease, and if I can’t feel at ease, I’ll get upset. If I get upset, I won’t even want to eat. I’ve decided—I’m not eating today or tomorrow. I might as well starve myself. I’m going to worry myself to death anyway!”

Hearing her childish, dramatic words, Old Bai didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Unable to outlast her persistence, he gave in. “Alright, alright, Grandpa will do it. I promise, okay?”

Seeing she got her way, Bai Yalan immediately beamed. “That’s more like it.”

The old man, feeling both pleased and helpless at her concern, tapped her little nose affectionately. “You little rascal, the moment you show up, you’ve got Grandpa wrapped around your finger.”

“I’m doing this for your own good,” Bai Yalan said playfully. “You need to live a long, long life and always stay by my side.”

“Alright, alright,” he chuckled, “I’ll try to live longer. I want to personally see if my precious granddaughter turns out to be something special.”

“Just wait and see!” Bai Yalan replied. The two of them laughed together.

At her urging, Old Bai submitted a request for a physical examination that very evening.

Military personnel could get full check-ups at the military hospital every six months, all free of charge.

With the request submitted, they could go over the weekend when off-duty. Bai Yalan finally breathed a little easier.

As long as Grandpa agreed to the check-up, everything could be managed. After all, he was a military doctor himself—if anything was found early, treatment combined with proper rest might turn things around.

The next day, Bai Yalan went to the medical department for standard training.

All intern military doctors were present. As Bai Yalan scanned the room, she noticed the group was quite large.

Her arrival drew attention. Many of the interns glanced at her—this standout candidate who had excelled in both theory and practice during assessments—with admiration in their eyes.

She had arrived early, and after waiting for a bit, she joined the other intern doctors in training with the new recruits.

Training alongside the new recruits wasn’t just about a simple 1,500-meter run in under six minutes.

In addition to male-specific exercises like push-ups, sit-ups, and pull-ups, there were also long jumps, frog jumps, single-leg squats, 100-meter sprints, and other exercises she couldn’t avoid.

Not to mention the additional strength and auxiliary training that followed.

Even though she had mentally prepared herself and had been running and stretching during her free time, she still ended up at the bottom of the class during the first training activity—standing long jump—on her first day.

Her physical strength was truly weak, and she had to admit it.

The other intern doctors who had seen her excel in professional skills looked on in mild surprise and teasing curiosity—clearly amused that someone so strong academically was so physically weak.

Bai Yalan felt a little embarrassed but wasn’t angry.

She was weak, after all. But then again, the others weren’t doing much better either.

During breaks, everyone collapsed on the ground, too exhausted to do anything other than gulp down water.

Bai Yalan found a spot to rest and took out her water bottle.

The water tasted sweet and crisp, like fresh spring water.

She had come prepared—before training, she had gone into her spatial dimension and fetched the freshest spiritual spring water. As long as she was willing to endure the hardship, with the help of the spring water, she believed she could definitely adapt to this high-intensity training.

And the spiritual spring didn’t disappoint. After drinking just half a bottle, the leaden fatigue and soreness in her limbs felt like it was instantly drained away.

Wiping the sweat off her forehead, she smiled in relief. Every pore in her body felt refreshed and relaxed.

All the exhaustion seemed to vanish.

So when the training officer shouted, “Break’s over! Everyone on your feet!”—

Bai Yalan was the first to stand up.

No—she practically jumped up from the ground in one smooth motion and ran to the front of the line, full of energy.

The officer looked at her in surprise, nodded approvingly, then looked at the others who were slowly and weakly dragging themselves upright. He shouted, “Hurry up! You bunch of men, look at this female comrade—are you telling me you can’t even keep up with a woman?!”

Bai Yalan blushed and lowered her head modestly.

The others, still aching and exhausted, looked at her with genuine envy and admiration.

They had mocked her for being weak just moments ago—who would’ve thought she was so tough, bouncing back faster than anyone else and being the first to line up? The men were left red-faced.

After a full day of intense training, Bai Yalan was so tired she didn’t even have the strength to talk.

Her water bottle was long empty, so the moment she got back, without saying a word, she entered her bracelet’s space. She drank her fill of spiritual spring water and soaked in a prepared bath inside the villa, also filled with spiritual water.

The next morning, she woke up to find that the intense soreness and fatigue from the previous day’s training had mostly vanished—almost miraculously.

She felt more grateful than ever. The spiritual water clearly had remarkable properties—not only did it quickly restore energy when drunk, it also relieved soreness when used for bathing. With this boost, she was confident she could handle the upcoming training.

Over the weekend, both grandfather and granddaughter had rare time off—but they didn’t stay idle.

Bai Yalan accompanied her grandfather to the military hospital for his check-up. Under her firm insistence, the old man went through a full-body exam, inside and out—thorough enough to nearly inspect every hair on his head.

The military doctors who knew Old Bai well teased him with a smile, “Old Bai, it’s rare to see you being so obedient. This level of detail? Definitely not your style.”

Old Bai laughed, clearly proud, though pretending to complain. “Ah, I had no choice. My granddaughter wouldn’t take no for an answer. Had to do this and that. If I didn’t agree, she’d be upset. Really now, I’m a doctor myself—don’t I know my own body? But this child just won’t listen. I can’t do anything about her.”

Everyone chimed in, “You’re lucky, Old Bai. Such a filial granddaughter!”

Hearing that, he looked even more pleased and cooperated fully with all the tests.

Because the exam was so comprehensive, the results would take three days.

Old Bai didn’t think much of it, but Bai Yalan remained uneasy. She couldn’t help but worry—maybe because of her interference in this life, things would turn out differently this time. Until the results came out, she wouldn’t be able to relax.

While worrying, she also made sure to always have spiritual spring water ready in his cup.

She didn’t know if it would help with his condition, but it couldn’t hurt. The water had no side effects and only benefits, so she figured it was worth trying.

Three days later, her grandfather received his report from the military hospital.

The results were… unexpected.

When the doctor read the report, his expression turned serious. “Old Bai, it’s liver cancer… Fortunately, it’s not at a late stage. But it’s not optimistic either—it’s already mid-stage. You can’t take this lightly. You must start treatment as soon as possible.”