Max Level Return—I'll Protect That Fragile One

Huo Wen’an was busy in the international conference room seeking advice from Jin Yunhai on wedding planning, while Xu Xingguang was surrounded and bombarded with questions by the old researchers at the botanical research institute.

The 65-year-old dean, wearing cloth shoes and a black Chinese-style suit, carried a pot of deep green grass with frost-covered leaves, striding energetically towards Xu Xingguang.

”Teacher Xu.” In the botanical research institute, status is not determined by age but by ability.

The old dean acknowledged Xu Xingguang’s capabilities and insisted on addressing her as Teacher Xu, refusing to call her Xiao Xu.

Holding the Ice Crystal Grass, the old dean approached Xu Xingguang, unable to resist boasting: ”Teacher Xu, look, following your method, we successfully cultivated over a hundred Ice Crystal Grass plants.”

To them, successfully cultivating an extinct medicinal herb was already a remarkable achievement.

Little did they know, to Xu Xingguang, Ice Crystal Grass had already become a ’vegetable’ she used for food coloring and soup.

The old dean’s eyes were filled with anticipation, looking forward with enthusiasm, ”By next year, when the weather warms up, we will compile the cultivation method of Ice Crystal Grass into a manual and distribute it to cities and botanical gardens so they can grow it too! By then, we must print Teacher Xu’s image on the planting manual.”

Xu Xingguang: ”That’s really not necessary...” She’s not dead yet; she still has the memorial photo Huo Wen’an took for her.

She’s not accustomed to having her portrait printed in textbooks.

But the old dean is an independent, stubborn old man who didn’t listen to Xu Xingguang’s refusal and continued talking to himself, ”This Ice Crystal Grass is a miraculous medicine for treating fire poison; with it, patients can benefit again.”

The old dean handed the pot of Ice Crystal Grass to the student beside him.

He then firmly gripped Xu Xingguang’s left hand with his rough, farm-hands, his eyes brimming with tears, staring teardrop-laden at Xu Xingguang. ”Teacher Xu, your generosity and righteousness, we remember deeply in our hearts!”

Xu Xingguang felt ashamed.

In front of such a sincere, pure-hearted old child, Xu Xingguang couldn’t remain indifferent, blushing, softly muttering, ”I didn’t do much.”

”To you, what you’ve done might be insignificant. But to us, to those waiting for Ice Crystal Grass to save their lives, your actions are something everyone should be grateful for!”

Xu Xingguang: ”...”

She pointed to Ye Mingluo and Cheng Yue, standing among the potted plants, informing the old dean, ”This time, I brought over a truckload of extinct medicinal herbs, some of which you might not have seen even in the ’Ancient Medicine Transmission.’ However, I’ve detailed the name, medicinal effects, and contraindication of each herb, along with the cultivation method, all compiled into a booklet, placed in the pots...”

Before Xu Xingguang could finish speaking, the old dean, who had just been expressing gratitude, immediately released her hand and turned like the wind, floating outside the herb field shed.

Xu Xingguang touched her nose, chuckling softly, ”So heartless.”

”That’s just how our old dean is.” The old dean’s disciple, a woman in her thirties with black-rimmed glasses and a gray corduroy coat, was called Dajuan by the old dean.

Dajuan’s real name is quite literary, Qiu Chanjuan. During her school days, she thought her job would be climbing mountains and crossing seas with colleagues in search of precious herbs.

After starting work and joining the botanical research institute, she realized her job was to carry a hoe to the fields, planting flowers and grasses, living a life even more exhausting than a cow’s.

Her great-grandfather worked hard to establish a company, and by her grandfather’s generation, the family had finally entered the ranks of aristocrats, but she had thrown it all back to the original wilderness.

Dajuan told Xu Xingguang: ”In my teacher’s eyes, all he sees are medicinal herbs; to him, saving each extinct herb is saving a batch of critically ill patients.”

”In the past, he always scoffed at capitalists. Last time, when he found out that Captain Huo donated the Ice Crystal Grass to our institute, he was so moved that he even went to Guo’an Temple to burn an incense stick to bless Captain Huo.”

Dajuan, with a smile in her eyes, watched the old man wandering around the bottles and jars, sighing, ”He’s an old child, his heart holds the herbs of the world, and all the patients.”

Xu Xingguang sincerely praised, ”It’s rare in this world nowadays to find someone like your teacher; you’re lucky.”

Dajuan smiled, ”Yes, I am also very honored to work by my teacher’s side.”