Chapter 2062 — Word of the Colored Steel, Part One

"Brother Wei Zhao, that You Panhu really is a fool! The chant for condensing pill fire and the supporting mental method are the most ordinary things imaginable, and he still wanted to trade for them!" Han Jingyi had already learned from Wei Zhao that both the chant for condensing pill fire and its supporting mental method were bargain-bin goods; what Wei Zhao later gave him—that notebook of a pill refiner's notes—that was the real treasure.

Still, Han Jingyi had compared the two and then summarized and distilled a more scientific method for condensing pill fire. So by comparison, the mental method and chant now in Han Jingyi's possession were the truly important thing—even if Wei Zhao's version of the condensing chant were given away, hers absolutely must never leave her hands!

"Of course he's a fool. By now he's probably so full of regret his guts have turned green," Wei Zhao said mildly. "Jingjing, you're no fool either. That remark you made in front of You Panhu just now was perfectly timed!"

"Jingjing was never a fool to begin with! Sure, compared to Brother Wei Zhao, Jingjing is a bit dim, but compared to everyone else, Jingjing is very clever!" Han Jingyi said with utter seriousness.

Wei Zhao studied Han Jingyi's earnest little face but could detect nothing amiss, and shook his head instead. Perhaps Xiaoshu was overthinking it. Han Jingyi was clever, true, but she really did not seem to harbor that much scheming—at the very least, Wei Zhao sensed no ill will from her toward himself.

Wei Zhao had always been a man of keen intuition. Back when he was running missions in the primeval forest, many situations had been games of Infernal Affairs, where friend and foe could be judged almost at a glance. And in Han Jingyi there was none of that guarded air an enemy carries—only open, unguarded candor.

Everything she had researched, she had told Wei Zhao without reservation. Judged by that alone, Han Jingyi could hardly be a villain.

"All right then—the truth is, compared to me, you're quite clever too," Wei Zhao said.

"Isn't that the truth! Jingjing knows her own limits; I'm nowhere near as formidable and clever as Brother Wei Zhao!" Han Jingyi said. "Before, Jingjing never admired or looked up to anyone. But after meeting Brother Wei Zhao, Jingjing thinks Brother Wei Zhao is truly amazing!"

He entered the classroom together with Han Jingyi. Though they had grown considerably more familiar, once inside, Han Jingyi still took the initiative to sit in the seat behind Wei Zhao, without competing with Wang Xinyan for anything.

And Wang Xinyan, as always, sat in her own seat, quietly reading.

"Morning," Wei Zhao said.

"Heh, morning." Wang Xinyan looked up and gave Wei Zhao a faint smile.

"These past couple of days, Fan Ganhe hasn't been pestering you again, has he?" Wei Zhao knew that Zhang Duopan often found excuses to call He Meiyue, and Fan Ganhe would seize the chance to check in on Wang Xinyan too. But he had no real business with her; after answering two of his calls, Wang Xinyan had stopped wanting to pick up, yet Fan Ganhe kept at it with tireless persistence.

"Not these past two days, no." Wang Xinyan shook her head. "But it doesn't matter if he calls again—I just won't answer."

"By the way, you and Yaoyao—you two seemed to hit it off?" This was in fact the main thing Wei Zhao wanted to ask Wang Xinyan. Seeing the way she and Gu Mengyao had been that day, they had seemed to get along remarkably well, which made Wei Zhao curious as to what exactly the two of them had talked about.

"Yaoyao is a good person. She may have had some misunderstanding about me before, but now that it's all been cleared up, there's no problem anymore." Naturally, Wang Xinyan would not repeat to Wei Zhao what Gu Mengyao had said to her—it was far too embarrassing.

"Is that so..." Seeing that Wang Xinyan did not wish to say more, Wei Zhao did not press.

After a while, You Panhu came into the classroom with Huang Mao and Zi Mao, his face steeped in gloom. He shot Wei Zhao a venomous look and sat down in his own seat.

Watching Han Jingyi nearby fussing over those two pill cauldrons, You Panhu grew ever more certain: Wei Zhao had surely demanded those cauldrons for Han Jingyi, and that beginner's supporting mental method and pill-fire condensing chant for pill refiners had likewise been obtained from Old Bai to give to her!

Probably Wei Zhao did not want to spread his own mental method and chant, so he had gotten a generic bargain-bin copy from Old Bai—and by sheer bad luck, You Panhu had taken it for something precious and, by a strange twist of fate, had gift-wrapped two pill cauldrons for Han Jingyi for nothing!

Not long after You Panhu arrived, Old Bai showed up too, and today's lesson began...

At noon, just after class let out, Wei Zhao's phone rang. He picked it up and saw it was the number he had previously saved for Han Xiaopo.

"Hello? Han Xiaopo?" Wei Zhao answered the call.

"Senior Lin, it's me!" Han Xiaopo said. "You got my earlier text, right? I've got the colored steel ready!"

"I got it," Wei Zhao said.

Earlier, Han Xiaopo had said he would present the colored steel the very next day, but Wei Zhao had been busy with Xu Shilan's affairs and had little time to meet Han Xiaopo. Han Xiaopo, for his part—who knew how he had found out that Wei Zhao had invited Xu Shilan to perform—had sent a text saying Wei Zhao should first concentrate on the freshman gala, and to come find him after it was over.

"Yes, Senior Lin—congratulations on taking first place at the freshman gala!" Han Xiaopo said with a laugh.

"You knew about that?" Wei Zhao had been puzzled before; this Han Xiaopo seemed remarkably well informed about his affairs.

"Heh, it's like this: our Hidden Han family happens to have a few distant-branch juniors studying at Donghai Engineering University, and I can pick up a bit of news from them," Han Xiaopo said, making no attempt to hide it.

"I see." Wei Zhao was unsurprised. You Panhu came here to study, so it was only natural for members of the Hidden Han family to study here as well. Put plainly, the hidden great families were made of people too; though some of their top experts shut themselves away in seclusion, devoting themselves single-mindedly to cultivation, many of their descendants still trained and studied out in the mundane world.

"Senior Lin, are you free at noon? I'm right at the gate of Donghai Engineering University—I've brought the colored steel with me!" Han Xiaopo said.

"I've got nothing on at noon. Where are you?" Wei Zhao asked.

"I'm at the school gate. I didn't dare text or call ahead, for fear of disturbing Senior Lin in class," Han Xiaopo said.

"All right, then. Wait for me at the school gate," Wei Zhao said.

Wei Zhao hung up, said a word to Bai Weituo, and left on his own first.

Otherwise, they would basically all head to the cafeteria together at noon every day.

At the school gate, Wei Zhao spotted Han Xiaopo from afar. Today Han Xiaopo was keeping a low profile—he had brought no attendants, and he was driving a Mercedes S600 himself rather than a sports car.

"Senior Lin!" Seeing Wei Zhao walk over, Han Xiaopo hurried up to greet him with a smile.

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