He's a professor, he gets brownie points right off the bat. Pete has the utmost respect for his professors (even ones that aren't technically his, or even from his universe to begin with), and Craig wins even more because of how willing he was to help Pete continue with some schooling here in Tu Shanshu. Especially considering it's unlikely the Emperor or anyone from the city is going to be compensating him for his time and effort, which makes Pete think he's doing it because he appreciates the value of education, not because it's a way to make a living.

Unfortunately, since they haven't had too much contact outside of their initial interaction with one another and Pete dropping off the occasional assignment (which I am more than willing to handwave, considering you seem pretty busy), that's about as much as he's got to go off of. But if Craig ever has need for some help with anything research-related, even if it's just running errands or keeping things in order, he'd be happy to help. Field experience!