"Anything will do... Am I really that picky? The food in the hospital canteen isn't always so good either, but I eat it all the same," Guan Xin said with a smile. "Just find any place."

It was the first time Wei Zhaodian had invited Guan Xin to dinner, so he did not want to take her anywhere too shabby. After thinking it over, he settled on the Pengzhan Business Hotel. It was quieter there, and besides, it was on his own people's ground, which made things convenient as well.

"We don't need anywhere this fine, do we?" Guan Xin felt it was a little too extravagant when she saw Wei Zhaodian park the car in the business hotel's parking lot.

Though born into a well-to-do family, she had never picked up extravagant habits, and in that respect she was even better than the Young Miss. The Young Miss had none of the affectation of a pampered young lady, but when it came to spending money she still had little sense of it.

"This is Yaoyao's family hotel. I have a VIP card here, so it isn't really expensive," Wei Zhaodian explained.

"Oh..." Guan Xin knew quite well who Gu Mengyao was, the girl Wei Zhaodian had protected at the bank. To tell the truth, Guan Xin envied her a little. Even if she was not Wei Zhaodian's girlfriend, at least she could spend every day at his side.

The two of them took a small private room and ordered a few dishes at random, and then Wei Zhaodian asked, "Xinxin, you came to find me. Is there something important?"

"Yes, there is something... I can't quite make up my mind, and I wanted to ask you to help me think it over..." Guan Xin blushed a little in embarrassment. "It won't cause you any trouble, will it?"

"Not at all. It is only natural for friends to talk things over. Tell me what it is, and I will see if I can help you think it through!" Wei Zhaodian agreed readily.

"It is like this... Grandpa wants me to go study medicine with a friend of his... but that is not what I like. I don't think I am cut out to be a doctor. Ever since I was little I have liked nursing work. When Grandpa saw patients, I helped him weigh out herbs and brew them, and I was always good at judging the weights and controlling the heat. Back then Grandpa even praised me as a natural for medicine, but... so many years have passed, and now that I am grown, I still feel I only like dispensing and decocting herbs, and nursing work..." Guan Xin spoke slowly of her own troubles. "I don't want to disappoint Grandpa, but I really am not made for that..."

"Mm... so it is about that..." To be honest, this was something Wei Zhaodian found rather hard to get involved in, since Guan Xuemin's wishes were part of it, and he could hardly tell Guan Xin to go against him.

"Yes, I am in a difficult spot. Wei Zhaodian, what do you think I should do?" Guan Xin looked at Wei Zhaodian with a troubled frown.

"Mm... you like dispensing and brewing herbs... What if you only studied the pharmacology and properties of Chinese medicine? Would you like that?" Wei Zhaodian was troubled too, but after thinking it over, he came up with a compromise.

"Of course I would like that!" Guan Xin nodded. "I have loved helping Grandpa prepare prescriptions since I was little... I don't know why, but every time I handle and brew herbs, I feel a kind of closeness, maybe because I was born into a house that smelled of Chinese medicine?"

"Then I suggest you tell Grandpa Guan that you will only study the pharmacology and properties of medicines, rather than learning how to treat patients. That way you would only prescribe for illnesses that have already been diagnosed, and you would not have to examine patients yourself," Wei Zhaodian said. "I wonder if that suggestion is any help to you?"

"Hmm?" Guan Xin's eyes lit up at once when she heard Wei Zhaodian's words! What he proposed was truly no bad idea! If she did as he said, it would suit her own interests, and afterward... most importantly, she might even be able to help Wei Zhaodian's company, which was engaged in medical research, was it not? The thought excited her at once, yet if she left, she would not see Wei Zhaodian for some time, and that left her feeling a little forlorn.

"Then when I go back, I will put it to Grandpa just like that?" Guan Xin had already accepted Wei Zhaodian's proposal in her heart. Now it only remained to see whether her grandfather would agree.

"Ha, I think he will," Wei Zhaodian said with a smile. "If I had the time, you could study with me, only I don't have any regular time to teach you..."

At the first half of Wei Zhaodian's sentence, delight sprang to Guan Xin's brows and her heart thumped hard, but at the second half she was disappointed. True enough, where would Wei Zhaodian find the time to teach her anything?

"Then when there is something I don't understand, can I call you to ask?" Still, Wei Zhaodian's words kindled a spark of hope in Guan Xin's heart. Though she could not see Wei Zhaodian often, being able to call him now and then would give her a reassuring feeling.

"Of course you can. No need to stand on ceremony with me," Wei Zhaodian said with a smile. "You are going off to study, not never coming back, are you? When we meet again I will test you myself and see how well you have learned."

"Mm! Don't worry, I will work hard!" With this worry settled, it was as if a great stone had dropped from Guan Xin's heart, and she felt much lighter altogether.

After dinner, Wei Zhaodian drove Guan Xin back to Guan Xuemin's place. It was already very late, and he had meant to pay his respects another day, but when Guan Xin mentioned on the phone that Wei Zhaodian had brought her home, Guan Xuemin insisted that he come in and sit for a while.

Unable to decline, Wei Zhaodian had no choice but to go inside with Guan Xin.

"Xiao Yi, long time no see!" Guan Xuemin was delighted to see Wei Zhaodian. Every discussion of medical questions with him left Guan Xuemin with much to gain, and he had long regarded Wei Zhaodian as both a fine teacher and a good friend.

"Yes, Grandpa Guan. I have been rather busy lately and have not come to visit. I am sorry," Wei Zhaodian said apologetically.

When he had first come to Songshan City, Guan Xuemin had helped him a great deal, something Wei Zhaodian had always kept in mind. Without Guan Xuemin, his company could never have been set up so quickly.

"It is nothing. I know you have many matters on your hands," Guan Xuemin said with a nod. "How is Feng Xiaoxiao's case coming along?"

Guan Xuemin had examined Feng Xiaoxiao's illness himself and had been powerless against it, and he knew Wei Zhaodian had been busy over her case some time ago.

"I have found some clues to a cure, but I am still missing one ingredient. I plan to set out to look for it in a few days," Wei Zhaodian said. "I meant to say goodbye before I left, but since I am here today, I will say it now."

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