Chapter 1879 — So It Really Is an Acquaintance

"So it really is you—haha!" the young man said excitedly. "Wahahaha, welcome, Junior Wei Zhao! Let me introduce myself. My name is Bai Weikai, and I'm a student council officer in our pharmaceutical program, in charge of liaison work between the program and the department's student council! Really, I'm just the head steward—if you ever need anything, just come find me!"

"Ha, then I'll be counting on you, Senior!" When Wei Zhao heard the name Bai Weikai, it struck him as somewhat familiar, as though he had heard it somewhere before, yet he had no recollection of it.

"No need for thanks—just call me Brother Xiaokai from now on!" Bai Weikai said.

"Pff..." Wei Zhao burst out laughing. The term "Xiaokai" was usually used to describe rich second-generation heirs; he had not expected it to be applied here.

"Haha, my family doesn't have much money!" Hearing Wei Zhao laugh, Bai Weikai knew exactly what he was thinking.

"Heh... so what should I do now? Where do I go to pay?" Wei Zhao asked.

Back in the economics department, he had accompanied Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu to register, and other student council members had led their group off to pay fees, collect dormitory keys and dorm supplies, and pick up textbooks and the like—but here, it seemed there was none of that?

"Mm... just wait a bit longer. In other programs they go in groups of twenty, led by the student council officers of that program to pay fees and collect their things, but this year our program has fewer than twenty people registered in total. As for student council officers, I'm the only one in the whole program, so you'll just have to wait. I can't leave—if I go, there'll be no one to receive the next registrants." Bai Weikai spread his hands and spoke with some regret.

"I see. Then doesn't that mean I have to wait until everyone in the program has arrived before I can go?" Wei Zhao asked.

"Not exactly. Once my little brother gets here, I'll have him cover for me for a while. He's a new student here too, but he knows all the rules!" Bai Weikai said. "That kid comes to help out every year. By the way, my grandfather is the only professor in our program—the rest are professors from other biology-related fields filling in."

"..." Wei Zhao was even more astonished to hear this. So the whole family was in this field? Still, he nodded and said, "All right, then I'll wait a while."

"Hehe, by the way, brother, why did you choose this department? Could it be your grades weren't good enough... No, that can't be—with grades like yours, you'd qualify for popular majors like computer science!" Bai Weikai glanced at Wei Zhao's transcript and spoke with some surprise.

"I enjoy studying medicinal herbs," Wei Zhao said.

"Well, you win. That's a solid enough reason!" Bai Weikai nodded and said, "But you'd better be careful. The old man in my family is different from other professors—there's a bit of the old master-and-apprentice tradition about him. If you're hoping to muddle through, hehe..."

"What, is he going to hit people too?" Wei Zhao asked, puzzled.

"Hit people? Hehe, that would be nothing—I guarantee there are things more terrifying than that!" Bai Weikai shook his head with a bitter smile. "He'll mix a pile of herbs together and have you sort them out one by one into their proper categories. If you can't, you fail the entire final exam, and I guarantee by then you'll be ****!"

"..." Wei Zhao was speechless. Was that supposed to be hard? Hadn't the old man in his own family had him doing exactly that since he was a child? And that had only been the beginning—later on, the old man would grind all the herbs into powder and make him tell them apart, and after that, brew them straight into medicinal soups and have him taste what was in them...

"What do you think? Scared now?" Seeing Wei Zhao's expression, Bai Weikai assumed he was frightened and said with some smugness, "My little brother and I grew up in that environment. When we were small we resented it endlessly, but now that we've grown up, we've actually come to love the smell of those herbs..."

"Not scared. What's there to be scared of?" Wei Zhao shook his head.

"Hey, don't talk tough. Plenty of new students are like that, and in the end... hehe..." Bai Weikai said. "Still, if you don't skip class and follow the rules, he won't make things hard for you."

"Oh, so as long as you can identify herbs, you can skip class," Wei Zhao said, following his own logic.

"...You're hopeless. In theory, yes, but even I wouldn't dare claim I can sort out and identify every single one of those herbs without missing any," Bai Weikai shook his head and smiled bitterly.

But no sooner had he said this than Bai Weikai, not waiting for Wei Zhao to reply, waved toward someone behind him. "Xiaotuo, you little rascal, why are you so late? Your brother's bored to death here!"

Wei Zhao was slightly taken aback, and knew that Bai Weikai's younger brother had arrived. He turned around—and was stunned! No wonder he had found the name Bai Weikai so familiar at first. It turned out he hadn't heard the name Bai Weikai before, but rather his younger brother's name—Bai Weituo!

"Don't even mention it. After you left, Grandfather drafted me into helping him dry herbs—kept me at it all morning..." Bai Weituo said gloomily. But no sooner had he finished speaking than his gaze fell on Wei Zhao, and he let out a startled cry: "Eh—"

"Hehe..." Wei Zhao smiled slightly and nodded to Bai Weituo.

"Big Brother, why are you here too?" Bai Weituo was both surprised and delighted to see Wei Zhao. Grandfather had been going on about Wei Zhao all this time, but there had been no chance to see him again—and now Bai Weituo had run into Wei Zhao here. Since Wei Zhao was Grandfather's savior, he naturally addressed Wei Zhao as Big Brother.

"I'm in charge of new student registration. Why wouldn't I be here?" Bai Weikai was taken aback, looking at his brother with some bewilderment.

"I'm not talking about you—I mean this Big Brother..." Bai Weituo shook his head and pointed at Wei Zhao.

"? You two know each other?" Bai Weikai was even more puzzled. He hadn't expected to have misunderstood—his little brother was calling Wei Zhao Big Brother.

"He's Grandfather's savior! He saved Grandfather while I was taking the college entrance exams!" Bai Weituo said.

"Ah! So you're Grandfather's savior!" Bai Weikai sprang up with a whoosh, came around the desk to stand before Wei Zhao, and seized his hand in both of his. "Young man, I truly was remiss earlier—so it was you who saved my grandfather! Thank you, truly thank you! Haha, no wonder you were so unconcerned a moment ago. On the strength of that debt alone, my grandfather won't make things hard for you—even if you don't attend class, you won't fail!"

"..." Wei Zhao was somewhat at a loss for words. "What I meant was... I can distinguish those herbs... it's easy..."

"Uh... you're right!" Only then did Bai Weikai remember that before seeing Bai Weituo, Wei Zhao had had no idea who he was—and if Wei Zhao could heal his grandfather, he must be a man of superb medical skill. Then separating herbs really might be, just as he said, effortless!

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