"All right then, I'll go ahead and order."

Seeing how determined Gu Ya was, Du Xuejing didn't waste any more time. She ordered three dishes right away and then handed the menu back to Du Heng.

Knowing the variety of dishes offered, Du Heng added two more to supplement.

While waiting for the food, Du Heng asked Du Xuejing, "How have your grades been this semester?"

The question had barely left his lips when Du Xuejing, who had been all smiles just moments before, lowered her head. "It's too tough. We're studying traditional Chinese medicine; I haven't even grasped the basics of traditional Chinese medicine or Diagnostic Studies yet, and on top of that, we even need to learn Biology and Anatomy. It's killing me.

"If I had known it was going to be this tough, I would never have chosen this class. I would have changed it long ago. And I have to do this for seven years. The thought alone is killing me."

Du Heng chuckled lightly and shook his head. "Those are normal courses. At the beginning, the curriculum is split evenly, fifty-fifty, between Chinese and Western medicine courses. As you progress, the proportion of traditional Chinese medicine courses increases."

He then added a word of caution for Du Xuejing, "You absolutely mustn't underestimate these two subjects. They're very helpful for diagnosis in traditional Chinese medicine, so you have to study them well."

Du Xuejing pouted and unwillingly nodded. "Those two are fine; my grades aren't bad. Don't worry, Little Uncle."

"What about the basics of traditional Chinese medicine and Diagnostic Studies?"

Du Xuejing's expression fell even further. "There's just so much material; I can't remember a lot of it. And with the extra assignments you gave me, I feel like I don't even have time to sleep."

Du Heng, feeling a bit helpless, asked directly, "Just tell me your scores."

"Just passable," Du Xuejing replied, her voice barely louder than a mosquito's buzz. If Du Heng's hearing hadn't been so sharp, he might have missed it entirely.

Du Heng's eyebrows twitched slightly. "And those books I told you to read, have you memorized them?"

Du Xuejing's head thudded onto the table. She felt she wasn't living up to the monthly allowance Du Heng gave her.

Du Heng sighed and decided not to press her about her studies for now, thinking he'd talk to her more about it that evening.

Now, Du Heng was quite curious about Gu Ya. The girl clearly looked malnourished, though cosmetics concealed her true skin tone.

But since this was their first meeting, asking about such personal matters would be impolite. So, Du Heng merely glanced at her before steering the conversation to other topics.

"Tingting, don't just focus on your own food; look after your classmate too," Du Heng watched his niece, who was solely focused on devouring her food, with an exasperated look and couldn't help reminding her. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Then he turned to Gu Ya and said with a smile, "Gu Ya, you're Tingting's classmate, so don't be so polite. Help yourself to whatever you like."

Gu Ya smiled modestly, her hand holding the chopsticks paused awkwardly. She said sheepishly, "Uncle, I've already eaten."

Uncle? This was the first time Du Heng had been called "uncle" by a girl this age, and the feeling was rather strange.

Just then, Du Xuejing tried to explain, "Little Uncle, Gu Ya doesn't eat much. She eats less than a cat at each meal."

Upon hearing Du Xuejing's explanation, Du Heng couldn't help but take a couple of extra looks at Gu Ya.

Is that what you call a small appetite? To put it bluntly, what she'd eaten so far was, at most, equivalent to three or four of Du Xuejing's mouthfuls. Heck, a mouse probably eats more than that.

"Do you have anorexia?" Du Heng finally couldn't help but ask.

Gu Ya looked at Du Heng, then lowered her head and nodded.

Du Xuejing immediately chimed in, "Little Uncle, Xiaoya came with me this time partly because she wants you to see if you can help her..."

Du Heng waved his hand, stopping Du Xuejing. "Let's eat first. We can talk about this after we get back."

Du Xuejing made a face at Du Heng and then dived back into her food. Watching her, Du Heng's eye began to twitch. "Slow down; we can order more if it's not enough.

"Last time in the Capital, you ate like you were starving. What about the living allowance I give you? Haven't you been eating well?"

Du Xuejing's chopsticks flew across the dishes. She mumbled around a mouthful of food, "I don't have time to eat out. I just grab something quick at the school canteen and then hurry back to study."

"Then where did your money go?"

"I didn't spend it; it's all saved up."

"Are you already saving up your dowry?" Du Heng was exasperated by his niece. Seeing Du Xuejing about to speak again, he quickly interjected, "Don't talk with your mouth full. If you really want to speak, swallow your food first."

"Oh." Hearing this, Du Xuejing clamped her mouth shut and focused on devouring her food.

After dinner, Du Heng took them to a hotel. After they put their luggage down, he said, "You two can rest here for tonight. Tomorrow, you two can look around the city and have some fun. After I finish work in the evening, I will take you both home, okay?"

Gu Ya softly nodded, whispering, "I'm okay with that."

Du Xuejing, ever the free spirit, readily agreed, "No problem! Tomorrow, I can show Xiaoya the beauty of our Northwest.

"But Little Uncle, you have to check on Xiaoya first. She can barely eat anything. Look how skinny she's become!"

Du Heng looked at Gu Ya again, his expression turning serious. "Tell me how this happened."

Gu Ya looked a little embarrassed and glanced at Du Xuejing.

Knowing Gu Ya's shy nature, Du Xuejing began to explain, "This semester just started, and Xiaoya said she wanted to lose weight. So she bought some diet pills from someone on Ins."