Chapter 199: Turquoise and Instruments

Holding the Holy Scripture, Kraft found Kup and Yin Feng waiting beneath the rose trellis.

The young woman seen earlier was also there, explaining the beauty and cultivation points of this red-core pink-petal variety to the two—mainly to Yin Feng—and trying to pluck a flower to hand to the little girl.

Noticing someone approaching, she reluctantly withdrew her hand; her waist-cinched, layered goose-yellow long skirt swirled like a large bell-shaped flower as she turned lightly.

"Welcome to Dunling, professors from Rivers University; the Higo family greets you all. It is truly rude not to have greeted you immediately, but this child is so adorable, is she..." Turquoise eyes darted among the three people before her, visibly showing a confusion like light condensed on a gemstone surface.

"Whose daughter is she?"

If one were to score this family's greeting style, Kraft could give nine points, deducting the remaining ninety-one points for this single sentence.

"She is my student. Guessing others' relationships without permission is not polite behavior, Miss Higo. Having one student who seems quiet and sensible but actually has a peculiar thought pattern is already headache-inducing enough; if she were my junior or even a direct blood relative, just imagining that scene would be enough to reduce the expected lifespan of the heart and blood vessels. May I ask who you are?"

"Oh, sorry, I forgot to introduce myself; I am Frances Galat Higo." This was already the second "sorry" in the brief time since meeting, but Frances showed no sign of being sorry at all; she even reached out to grab a handful of the girl's quite textured chestnut hair, only to be skillfully dodged.

"I have seen some professors' students, but this is the first time I've seen one so young; this little bachelor must possess extraordinary ability."

"So may I know your name, exceptionally intelligent young lady? In exchange, I can give you this." Frances removed a turquoise brooch that suited her image perfectly, placed it in her palm, and expected it to work better than the rose.

Yin Feng completely rejected this approach, looking at Kraft to seek his opinion; if possible, she wanted to immediately shake off this overly familiar person who had appeared out of nowhere.

However, this brooch triggered Professor Feiernan's limited knowledge of noble social circles, making him recall what kind of people this Higo family actually were. "Turquoise Higo? The family that made its fortune in the turquoise business?"

"Exactly. It is truly an honor to be remembered by the head of Rivers Medical School. However, our business scope has expanded to various types of jewelry; if your Lady or daughter has any needs, please feel free to contact us anytime." She replied with a smile, making no secret of the family business.

"You know me?"

"Of course, Professor Feiernan; as long as I haven't misremembered, there is only one professor at Rivers University from the same generation as Professor Mo Lisen." She wisely avoided topics like having read signed theses, which were easy to use for getting close but even easier to get stuck on, stating the facts while not forgetting to promote her family's industry.

"Besides custom jewelry, the Higo family also undertakes custom precision instruments and cooperates with Dunling University. If you have any needs, entrust them to us, and we will only charge the cost."

"The academy has not yet reached the point of needing to purchase equipment from outside." Feiernan flatly rejected the other party's sales pitch; if he agreed here, next time the other party was selling to others, it would probably become "simultaneously cooperating with the two most authoritative institutions."

With the exchange yielding no results, Frances turned unwearyingly to the next person. "Then this must be Professor Kraft, the youngest professor in the history of Rivers University? By the way, your student looks truly sharp."

She intentionally or unintentionally closed the distance to Yin Feng; it was clear she really liked children, possessing a fatal attraction like a perfectly fluffy feline to a plush-toy lover, making it hard to accept being so close yet unable to pet them.

"My student is not very fond of contact with strangers." Out of kindness, Kraft felt it necessary to remind her to prevent her from being lightly brushed away, in the sense Yin Feng understood.

Causing a misunderstanding was a minor issue; performing surgery on the spot right then and there was a major one.

"Regarding custom instruments, I am quite interested. Could you tell me which instruments you have customized, Ms. Frances?"

"Ah, that is such a pity." Reluctantly withdrawing her hand, Miss Frances smoothly poured out everything Kraft wanted to know. "Our customization scope includes various types of quantitative containers, especially glass ones, as well as pipettes, knives, tweezers, and clamps."

"Have the professors at Dunling University also customized instruments with you?"

Frances realized she had successfully connected with the inside of Rivers, even though she hadn't figured out exactly what generated the competitiveness. "Yes, I came this time specifically for the delivery issue of the last batch of orders."

"I am very interested; leave me a workshop address, and I will come to see the existing finished products as soon as I have time." Kraft had never been so grateful for this era's lack of awareness regarding the confidentiality of individual customer information.

"That is wonderful."

【That is wonderful】

On the carriage ride back, Kraft impatiently opened that Holy Scripture.

"Professor Kraft, do you really want to read this compilation of the most absurd stories in hundreds of years? I thought you were just saying so." Professor Lin Deng offered a bit of his own personal opinion on borrowing the book.

"Just curiosity. Aren't you curious about how Professor Mo Lisen became interested in the Holy Scripture?"

"When most people discover their bodies cannot support their spirits, they inevitably place hope in certain things claimed to be above all else, praying to extend their thoughts or expecting to meet the deceased, even if many of them previously scoffed at such notions. But in reality, the moment they devote themselves to this, their thoughts have already died in advance."

Feiernan opened his eyelids while resting with closed eyes to glance at that thick book; today's itinerary had already left him feeling slightly drained of energy. "I hope I will never reach such a day."

"After all, one cannot demand everyone's will be as unyielding as the Duke's, can they? Just treating it as a beautifully bound story collection is not bad either." The pages fluttered between his fingers and palms like brushing over a lawn of broad leaves; he felt the differences between the pages. Its owner had left no annotations, but the act of reading itself would leave traces.

Parts frequently opened and pressed down for reading would be noticeably looser than the rest. After flipping back and forth three times, he quickly locked onto the few pages with unusual tactile performance.

Pinching the target page and spreading the book on his lap, Kraft anticipated reading words like "circle" or "angel"; things connected to the deep layer would somewhat connect to religion as well. The heresy worshipping the living body tunneling machine and the "orthodoxy" believing in celestial bodies were inexhaustible sources of inspiration for explaining the unknown.

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Discovering a liquid beyond imagination would make it no surprise that an old professor troubled throughout his life fell into creationism.

With this thought in mind, he opened the book pages, mentally prepared to be surprised by no matter what demons or monsters he read.

【It was seen that the seven sons in this family were all tall and handsome, with extraordinary bearing; whenever each walked before Saint Yage, Saint Yage would suspect whether this was the king chosen by the Lord. However, the Lord's answer was always: 'No'.】

【Their hearts were insufficient, thus not enough to complete the trial of pulling out that sword...】

Kraft suspected his judgment was wrong; he flipped through from the beginning and stopped at the same passage again.

It was content familiar to him and most people, one of the parts in the Holy Scripture closest to the present era and likely containing the highest proportion of historical facts: the chosen one pulled out the stone sword that has become a symbol of the royal family today, and this land named North was united from then on.