Chapter 401 - 260: Doctor, It’s a Medical Miracle
Everyone nodded in agreement.
There’s an old saying: "A couple is like two birds in the same forest; when disaster strikes, they fly their separate ways."
And the two of them were only dating.
Even if Gu Yizhou were to walk away and break up with her now, no one could really blame him.
After all, who would be willing to spend the rest of their life with someone who, even if they woke up, would be riddled with health problems?
But Gu Yizhou was clearly planning to see it through to the end.
He wasn’t just emotionally supporting his girlfriend’s family; he would probably find a way to bear the financial burden as well.
That was just too difficult.
Jiang He suddenly thought of himself in his past life.
’When faced with true love, who could possibly let go?’
’Impossible.’
Jiang He shook his head and said, "Since everyone’s here, let’s have a meeting now."
Lu Xiaolin: "Now? Back at the lab?"
"No, there’s a small demonstration classroom nearby. Let’s go there."
「Ten minutes later.」
In the small demonstration classroom next to the Cardiothoracic Surgery Department of Affiliated Hospital No. 1.
Chen Hao came in carrying a pile of oranges.
Everyone ate oranges while they held the meeting.
Jiang He made a point of calling Feng Ye and had him come over too.
When he arrived, they first chatted about his mother’s condition.
He said she was still recovering very well and would be discharged soon, which was great news.
Jiang He said as he peeled an orange:
"The pancreatic cancer early screening project is finished. Let’s talk about our next project: KRAS, an undruggable target. I’m sure you all already know how difficult it is."
Everyone nodded.
After Jiang He’s announcement in Baltimore,
they had all used their own channels to find out just how difficult this task was.
To sum it up in one sentence:
It felt as difficult as building the Great Wall from scratch with their bare hands...
Jiang He continued, "Before dinner tonight, I met with a senior, Professor Kang An. He’s researched this target for fifteen years and performed 320,000 high-throughput compound screenings with zero results. And it’s not just him. Overseas, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson have sunk hundreds of millions of US dollars into it with nothing to show for it. This is a truly world-class problem."
A few months ago, when Jiang He had just assembled the team and said they were going to tackle early screening for pancreatic cancer, everyone had their doubts.
Now, the project was even harder, but no one hesitated for even a second.
To hesitate for even a second would be disrespectful to Jiang He...
Lu Xiaolin said, "Boss, just tell us what you need us to do. Assign the tasks directly."
Cheng Xiyao nodded. "That’s right. Didn’t we get support from the national 863 Program? We have the funding and equipment now. If worst comes to worst, we’ll just try another three hundred thousand times!"
For once, Yi Xiangwan wasn’t joking.
Gu Yizhou’s situation had clearly affected him deeply.
He said with great seriousness, "Boss, we’ll follow your lead. Let’s just do it."
Tang Pei and Cai Zhuoqun nodded along.
If Jiang He said they were doing it, then they were doing it.
Believe in the power of belief.
"Good." Jiang He turned to Feng Ye. "Feng Ye, tell us about your progress."
Feng Ye’s expression brightened. "Boss, I’ve gone through a large number of papers these past few days and have indeed made some progress. To put it simply, I’ve come up with a plan for algorithm optimization. If all goes well, the results should be quite good."
"Can you have it ready by the time we go to Hushang?"
"Should be able to."
"Alright. Keep digging into it for the next few days. In a little while, we’ll go to Hushang together."
"No problem, leave it to me."
Jiang He looked at the others and began assigning tasks. "While Feng Ye and I are in Hushang, things here at home can’t stand still. We need to do some basic prep work."
He looked at Cai Zhuoqun and Lu Xiaolin. "My two seniors, you’ll need to oversee the handover and inspection of the related equipment for the P3 key laboratory. After Teacher Yang took on the concurrent role of Executive Vice-Dean, his administrative duties will increase, so you two will have to do more of the legwork."
Cai Zhuoqun and Lu Xiaolin nodded and took note.
"Xiyao, keep pushing the cervical erosion project forward. Remember to contact Qiao Guanlin. I need you to handle this well; I might need you in the future."
"Understood, Boss."
"Chen Hao, Xiangwan, Tang Pei, the three of you are to sort through all the international basic research literature on the KRAS pathway from the last ten years. Focus on the reports from failed clinical trials. I want a detailed review report."
Chen Hao said, "Got it. Organizing literature is our bread and butter!"
Jiang He thought for a moment, then said, "Alright, if there’s nothing else, that’s all for today. Everyone go home and get some rest. Get yourselves back in top condition. We have a long battle ahead of us."
Everyone got up and left.
After the door closed.
Jiang He stared at the oranges, silent for a long time.
Actually, what was on his mind right now was something else entirely.
It was about Du Xunsheng.
Before going to Baltimore, he had tested the serum from Du Xunsheng and Shen Yu.
Du Xunsheng’s test result was positive.
This was a huge technical success, but emotionally, Jiang He felt a heavy weight.
’How do I break the news?’
’How am I supposed to tell someone who thinks he just has a bit of a stomachache, and is about to be discharged to go back to bartending, that he has cancer?’
Jiang He rubbed his temples.
’If only Teacher Shen were here right now.’
’She would definitely know how to break the news to Du Xunsheng.’
’Wait, isn’t Teacher Shen in Yangcheng right now?’
’Maybe I should just call her and ask her to come over?’
Just as he had that thought.
The door was suddenly knocked upon and then pushed open.
It was like a wish come true.
Jiang He actually saw Shen Yu, the very person he had just been thinking about.
Speak of an angel...
Behind Shen Yu was Chen Hao, who said to her, "Sister-in-law, I’ll be taking off now."
With that, Chen Hao closed the door behind him.
Jiang He stood up, walked over, and his voice softened at once. "What are you doing here?"
Shen Yu lifted the insulated food container in her hand, walked to the table and set it down. "I was worried you’d drink too much at the awards ceremony dinner tonight, so I made you some stomach-soothing congee at home. But I waited for a long time and you didn’t come back. I called Chen Hao and found out you had an emergency and rushed back to the hospital."
She said as she opened the container, "I figured you’d be hungry after the emergency, so I brought you something to eat."
Jiang He gave a soft laugh, his voice gentle. "Thank you. You went to a lot of trouble."
Shen Yu tutted. "Don’t be silly. What’s the need for such words between us? Hurry up and eat."
She opened the insulated food container.
Preserved egg and lean pork congee, steaming hot...
Jiang He took a sniff and praised, "It smells amazing. How did Teacher Shen’s cooking skills get so good?"
"Stop with the sweet talk and eat while it’s hot."
Jiang He picked up the spoon.
Suddenly, his grip faltered, and his hand trembled slightly.
Shen Yu froze.
She looked at Jiang He.
Jiang He gave a bitter smile.
He was just about to explain.
But then he saw Shen Yu take the spoon from his hand, scoop up a spoonful of the steaming congee, and gently blow on it.
Then, she brought the spoon to Jiang He’s lips.
Jiang He blinked.
He smiled and ultimately chose to quietly and obediently eat the congee.
Shen Yu scooped up a second spoonful, blew on it to cool it down, and fed it to him.
Under the table, Jiang He found Shen Yu’s other hand resting on her lap and gently took it in his.
Shen Yu’s eyes were filled with heartache as she carefully fed him, one spoonful at a time.
With every spoonful, she made sure it wasn’t too hot before feeding it to Jiang He.
As Jiang He ate,
he discovered that his slightly trembling right hand had miraculously stopped shaking as his wife fed him bite by bite.
’Doctor, it’s a medical miracle.’