Learning to play games, a 40-year-old woman achieves a remarkable turnaround.

At exactly six o'clock in the evening, Yuan Bao stood at the main gate of Peking University, tiptoeing to search for his elder brother in the crowd.

The setting sun dyed the stone lions in front of the school gate orange-red, and among the crowd of students leaving school, she spotted Baoguo's iconic bicycle at a glance.

"Why are you so slow?" Yuan Bao jogged over, his schoolbag bouncing behind him.

Bao Guo braced himself on one foot and handed her the plastic bag hanging on the handlebars: "I bought you some roasted chestnuts on the way."

He observed his sister's expression. "How was the first day?"

Yuan Bao peeled open a warm chestnut and mumbled, "It's alright." She hesitated for a moment, then lowered her voice, "Brother, I found something strange in the herb garden."

Baoguo asked curiously, "What strange thing?"

"Let's talk about it when we get home."

The two siblings returned to the courtyard house together.

As I opened the door, the aroma of stewed meat wafted from the kitchen.

The mother's voice came from inside: "You two are back? Then wash your hands and get ready for dinner."

"Okay, Mom!" Yuan Bao threw his schoolbag into his room and ran to the kitchen to wash his hands.

During dinner, the whole family listened to Yuan Bao and Bao Guo talk about their first day at university.

Pingping and Xiaoshan started school on September 1st and have already adapted to the rhythm of their new school.

Yuan Bao ate his rice absentmindedly, his mind filled with the image of that dark red soil.

After finishing his meal, Yuan Bao immediately went into Bao Guo's room and locked the door behind him.

"What exactly happened?" Baoguo asked in a low voice as he sat on the edge of the bed.

Yuan Bao took a small paper packet out of his schoolbag and carefully opened it: "Look at this."

Inside the paper package was a small clump of dark red soil, which gleamed eerily under the desk lamp.

Bao Guo rubbed the soil between his fingers, then suddenly gasped: "This soil is alive!"

The red particles were seen wriggling slightly on his fingertips, like some kind of microorganism.

Yuan Bao quickly used tweezers to put the soil back into the paper bag: "I found it in the southeast corner of the herb garden; several medicinal herbs there had all withered and died."

"You touched this?" Bao Guo asked anxiously, grabbing his sister's hand to examine it.

“Just a little bit, it washed off.” Yuan Bao withdrew her hand. “But what’s even stranger is that graduate student in charge of the medicinal herb garden, Zhou Hongyuan.” She paused. “His eyes… they glow.”

Bao Guo's expression froze instantly: "You mean...?"

"It just feels really strange. Could it be that he has some kind of special ability?"

Bao Guo paced back and forth in the room, finally stopping at his desk: "This matter needs to be investigated thoroughly. Tomorrow I'll go to the library to check for records of this kind of red soil."

“I want to go back to the herb garden,” Yuan Bao said.

"This is too dangerous!" Bao Guo turned around abruptly. "If it really is related to special abilities..."

“That’s why we need to find out,” Yuan Bao insisted. “What if it’s some kind of dangerous experiment?”

The siblings argued back and forth, but eventually reached a compromise: Baoguo would go to the library to look up information first, while Yuanbao would remain still and wait for more clues.

The next morning, Yuan Bao deliberately took a detour past the herb garden to get to the teaching building.

In the morning mist, she saw Zhou Hongyuan already busy there, spraying some kind of liquid onto an area. She pretended to tie her shoelaces and quietly approached to observe.

"Good morning, Yuan," Zhou Hongyuan said without turning around, his voice exceptionally clear in the mist. "So interested in the herb garden?"

Yuan Bao's heart skipped a beat, but she forced herself to stand up calmly: "Good...good morning, senior. I was just passing by."

Zhou Hongyuan then turned around, his white coat covered in a little dirt.

In the morning light, his eyes took on an unnatural amber hue: "Professor Chen said you have a very good foundation. Are you interested in joining the herb garden research group?"

"I...I'll think about it." Yuan Bao took a few steps back. "I'm going to be late for class, I have to go now, senior!"

She practically ran away, only stopping to catch her breath after turning the corner of the teaching building.

Zhou Hongyuan's gaze felt tangible, sending a chill down her spine.

In the morning class on traditional Chinese medicine, Professor Chen was explaining the harvesting seasons for medicinal herbs.

Yuan Bao forced himself to concentrate on taking notes, but he couldn't help but recall Zhou Hongyuan's meaningful invitation.

"...Therefore, 'Artemisia capillaris in March and Artemisia argyi in April'—if the timing is wrong, the medicinal effects will be vastly different." Professor Chen tapped the blackboard. "Now, I'd like to ask a student to explain why ginseng should be harvested in autumn."

The classroom was completely silent.

Yuan Bao hesitated for a moment, then raised his hand.

"Okay, Yuan Bao."

"Because the ginseng roots accumulate the most active ingredients in autumn," Yuan Bao answered fluently. "And at this time, the plant begins to wither, and nutrients flow back to the roots."

Professor Chen nodded in satisfaction: "Very good. It seems Yuan Bao has prepared very thoroughly."

After the bell rang, Yuan Bao packed his bag to leave, but Professor Chen called out to him, "Yuan Bao, wait a minute."

She walked nervously to the podium, and Professor Chen took an old notebook out of his briefcase: "These are some of my early thoughts; take a look."

Yuan Bao was flattered and accepted the notebook, the cover of which was neatly inscribed with the title "Miscellaneous Notes on Materia Medica".

"Thank you, Professor!" She was about to open it when Professor Chen stopped her hand.

“Go back and look at it again.” The old man’s eyes gleamed strangely behind his glasses. “Especially the contents of page 137; they might...be helpful to you.”

Yuan Bao nodded in confusion and carefully stuffed the notebook into his backpack.

As she walked out of the classroom, she felt a gaze on her back, but when she turned around, she only saw Professor Chen with his head down, organizing his lesson plans.

At noon, Yuan Bao and Bao Guo arranged to meet at the cafeteria.

Several thick documents were spread out in front of Bao Guo, his expression solemn.

"Did you find it?" Yuan Bao asked softly, putting down his plate.

Baoguo looked around, pulled a yellowed school magazine from the pile of books, and pointed to a page: "Look at this."

It was a report from twenty years ago, titled "Breakthrough Achieved in Experiment of New Fertilizer by Our School of Pharmacy," with a picture of several researchers in white coats standing in a medicinal herb garden. The younger one among them was none other than Professor Chen, who is now the professor.

“What does this prove?” Yuan Bao frowned.

“Look at this.” Bao Guo pulled out another botany journal, pointing to a passage circled in red pen: “'Some rare earth elements can cause soil to turn red and significantly promote plant growth, but may be accompanied by unknown side effects.'”

Suddenly remembering something, Yuan Bao took out the notebook Professor Chen had given him from his bag and quickly flipped to page 137.

The title of that page was "Abnormal Soil Treatment Records," which detailed several methods for neutralizing rare earth contamination.

"Brother, look at this!" she whispered, pushing the laptop towards him.

Bao Guo quickly skimmed through the contents, his expression growing increasingly grim: "This can't be a coincidence. Professor Chen knew there was something wrong with the herb garden, and..." He pointed to a blurry passage of text, "It mentions 'persons with special abilities'!"

Yuan Bao's heart raced, and just as he was about to take a closer look, a shadow suddenly loomed over the dining table.