Chapter 166: She Felt She Needed to Study This Course

Gu Jianing brought Amber home with her.

On the way, she ran into a few acquaintances. Everyone was surprised to see Gu Jianing walking a military dog. After asking, they learned that this dog, named Amber, had already retired from service, and Gu Jianing had adopted her.

Zhang Shuwan lived next door. The moment she heard the commotion, she immediately came out to take a look.

Seeing Amber, Zhang Shuwan’s eyes lit up—it was obvious she was a dog lover too. “I didn’t expect you to adopt a retired military dog! But that’s good. When Deputy Commander Sheng is away on missions, you’ll have company. And if you need to go out, having Amber with you makes things a bit safer.”

Although she could often come over to keep Gu Jianing company, it just wasn’t the same.

Besides, she was a woman too. Even if she could accompany Gu Jianing out, if something happened, she wouldn’t be as capable as Jianing. Just like last time when they ran into human traffickers—it was Jianing who took them down.

But a military dog was different. Even though Amber was retired, she was still capable—and she was an honored, decorated retired military dog.

“Yes, that’s what Xi-ge thought too,” Gu Jianing replied.

Actually, Zhang Shuwan loved dogs as well and was tempted to adopt one herself, but she quickly dismissed the idea.

She simply couldn’t afford it. Even raising a dog meant another mouth to feed.

And soon, there would be two more children in her family. They relied solely on Lin Xing’s salary, and she already worried there wouldn’t be enough to go around.

Zhang Shuwan had thought about working, since it was tough for Lin Xing to be the only breadwinner.

But she felt it wasn’t realistic anymore.

Her pregnancy was getting further along, and she still had Guoguo to take care of at home. Going out to work now just wasn’t practical.

And after the babies were born, there would be two little ones to look after—she’d be even less able to leave.

As for her mother-in-law coming to help? She’d rather not count on that.

At that moment, Zhang Shuwan couldn’t help but think of her own parents. If only they were still around...

A trace of sadness flickered in Zhang Shuwan’s eyes, but she quickly hid it.

After Zhang Shuwan left, Gu Jianing used the scanner in her eyes to check Amber.

But the results made Gu Jianing frown slightly.

The scan only showed that Amber was pregnant—nothing else.

Normally, if the scanner didn’t show anything, it meant there were no other problems.

But based on what Xiao Duo had said, Gu Jianing suspected Amber had PTSD.

Gu Jianing immediately used her mind to access the bond she had with Amber, and soon saw that it did indeed show Amber had PTSD.

Gu Jianing was stunned. She had always thought the results from her eye scanner and the results from the Divine Doctor’s Space were the same.

But now it seemed they were different.

The scanner in her eyes wasn’t comprehensive—it could only detect physical ailments, not psychological ones.

But the Divine Doctor’s Space could.

Gu Jianing stroked Amber’s fur and looked at the course on how to treat PTSD in the space. Having lived a second life, she knew exactly what it was.

She felt she needed to study this course.

Not just to treat Amber’s psychological issues—doctors in this era who even recognized PTSD were extremely rare, almost nonexistent.

But in her military district, the soldiers were the most likely to develop PTSD.

Even if someone did show symptoms, people just thought they’d gone crazy for some other reason. They didn’t know it was a psychological illness that could be treated.

Just like earlier—Xiao Duo hadn’t known why Amber was acting so strangely.

And this illness, if mild, was manageable, but if severe, people could go mad, suffer mental breakdowns, or even self-harm or commit suicide.

Gu Jianing felt she needed to study this course—not just to help Amber, but also to help any soldiers suffering from PTSD.

They defended their country—they were heroes. They didn’t deserve such an ending.

At noon, when Sheng Zexi came home, he saw Amber in the house.

Gu Jianing told him about adopting Amber, and also mentioned Amber’s PTSD.

Sheng Zexi was stunned for a moment, then anxiously confirmed with Gu Jianing, “Are you serious? This is a psychological illness called post-traumatic stress, and it can be treated?”

“Of course it can!”

“Then, Ningning, can you treat it?”

Gu Jianing hesitated. “I think I can.”

As long as she studied in the Divine Doctor’s Space, she’d definitely be able to treat it.

Given how the space worked, once she started studying, she’d have to master the entire PTSD treatment course and pass the assessment before she could leave.

“What’s wrong? Do you have a comrade with this illness?” Gu Jianing asked.

Sheng Zexi nodded, his gaze growing distant as he began to tell her the story.

Back then, when Sheng Zexi was in his teens, his father had married a scheming stepmother, and he’d fallen out with his father.

He planned to leave Beijing and join the army somewhere far away.

But because his father had put out the word, no one was willing to help him.

“...In the end, it was Zhenrong who helped me.”

Zhenrong—Hua Zhenrong—was Sheng Zexi’s childhood friend. Even after things went bad at home and his stepmother spread all sorts of rumors about him, making everyone avoid him, Hua Zhenrong still believed in him.

So, when Hua Zhenrong learned he wanted to join the army, he went to ask his father for help.

“Hua Zhenrong’s family had three brothers. The eldest became a doctor, the second a journalist.”

“As for Zhenrong, Uncle Hua wanted him to be a soldier, hoping at least one of his sons would follow in his footsteps. But Zhenrong wasn’t interested. He said he had no big ambitions, the family wasn’t lacking for anything, and he just wanted a leisurely life—writing occasionally, reading the paper, tending flowers. That was his ideal.”

Gu Jianing thought: Wow, wanting to be a salted fish and live a retired life at such a young age.

Honestly, she envied that too.

If she could live a relaxed life, who would want to be a workhorse?

But if that was Hua Zhenrong’s dream, how did he end up with PTSD?

Gu Jianing had a vague guess.

Soon, Sheng Zexi continued, “Because of me, Zhenrong went to ask Uncle Hua...”

“In the end, Uncle Hua set a condition: either he wouldn’t agree, or Zhenrong would have to go with me.”

So that was how it happened.

The rest was easy to guess.

For the sake of his good friend Sheng Zexi, even though he wasn’t interested in being a soldier, Hua Zhenrong agreed.

So the two of them went to the Northwest Military District to serve."