Chapter 104 - 103: A Mutual Journey Across Mountains and Waters
Chapter 104: Chapter 103: A Mutual Journey Across Mountains and Waters
"The Chinese Journal of General Surgery?"
Lu Xiaolin was moderately impressed. "To get published in a core journal of this level as an undergrad is incredible. Congratulations."
Tang Pei and Cheng Xiyao also looked surprised.
For Xu Chen to have achieved this, he truly deserved praise.
"That’s amazing, Xu Chen," Tang Pei said sincerely.
Cheng Xiyao chimed in with a few words of agreement.
Jiang He smiled. He could understand how Xu Chen felt. ’Young people, when they’ve been suppressing themselves for a long time and finally get some results, they naturally need an outlet.’
It was fine for him to show off like this.
But Chen Hao, sitting in the corner, was getting antsy.
He shot to his feet.
Everyone looked at him.
Xu Chen asked, "What’s wrong?"
Chen Hao desperately wanted to say: ’Listen, kid, we wrote a paper too, and it’s way more badass than yours!’
But before the words could escape his lips, he remembered the old proverb: "Success is born of secrecy; failure, of leaks."
Chen Hao: "..."
’Thinking about it calmly, the paper hasn’t been officially published yet. Jumping out and bragging now, aside from the fleeting satisfaction of a verbal jab, would have no real benefits and might even create unnecessary complications.’
So, in the end, Chen Hao swallowed his words and said, "It’s nothing. My leg’s a little numb from sitting too long. Just stretching it out. You go on."
Xu Chen glanced at him a couple of times but thought nothing of it.
The praise from the others continued, and Yi Xiangwan also chimed in with a few polite platitudes to be sociable.
Amid the successive congratulations from everyone, Xu Chen’s mood soared, and he was practically floating on air.
Smiling and waving his hand, he chuckled and said, "Really, I don’t mean anything by it. Publishing a review article isn’t some great achievement. I just wanted to let everyone know that if there’s anything I can help with regarding papers or research ideas in the future, please don’t hesitate to ask."
At this point, his gaze deliberately turned to Jiang He and Tang Pei. "Especially Jiang He and I, and Tang Pei too. Aren’t we all going to the South China Region competition together soon? We’re all representing Southern Medical University, we’re all one big family. And family helps family, so let’s all help each other out."
Jiang He nodded and replied calmly, "Okay, thanks."
...
When the meeting ended, everyone went their separate ways.
In Cafeteria Number Two, they ordered two stir-fried dishes and found an empty table by the window.
Chen Hao had been holding his tongue the entire way. Only after making sure no one was around did he impatiently ask, "Old Jiang, when the hell is our paper coming out?"
Jiang He thought for a moment. "Soon, probably. It should be in the next day or two."
Chen Hao was surprised. "That fast? I heard from Senior Lu Xiaolin that the review process for core journals takes several months, sometimes even half a year."
"Yes, the normal process is slow, but Professor Yang Xu sent it for an expedited blind review. Plus, our paper is solid. The experts couldn’t find any faults with it, so of course it was fast."
"Badass!" Chen Hao seemed to have gotten his satisfaction, and he fiercely shoveled a mouthful of rice.
As he ate, he looked up again and asked humbly, "Old Jiang, I’ve got to ask you about this. I don’t really understand these journals. I just want to know, this LNR paper we did—the prestige is way higher than that thing Xu Chen was showing off today, right?"
Jiang He explained, "Xu Chen published in the Chinese Journal of General Surgery. We’re publishing in the Chinese Journal of Surgery. Even among top journals, there’s a difference in standing."
"Secondly, he published a review article. A review article is when you go through a ton of research that others have already done, then summarize and organize those findings into a single report."
"What we wrote, on the other hand, is an original retrospective cohort study based on a large, multi-center sample. We proposed a new staging standard. This is the real deal—something that could actually rewrite clinical guidelines. The two are completely different concepts."
After hearing this, Chen Hao was incredibly satisfied.
He began to fantasize aloud, "Holy crap... Bro, I can’t wait. Seriously, I want to rub it in his face so bad! I just want to see the look on Xu Chen’s face when he sees our paper. When it comes out, can I just tape the preprint to my face and walk around campus?"
Jiang He chuckled. "I’m not gonna stop you. Do as you please."
A wild idea suddenly struck Chen Hao, and he slapped his thigh. "Hey, Old Jiang! Remember that bet we made? You said if Teacher Shen turned out to be pretty, I’d have to streak across the athletic field? How about this: when the paper comes out, I’ll tape it to my body as clothes and then do the naked lap. What do you think?"
Jiang He commented, "You should probably not reward yourself in that fashion."
Chen Hao gave a couple of sheepish chuckles, knowing his suggestion was a bit absurd, and changed the subject.
After they chatted for a bit, Jiang He followed up on something Chen Hao had said. "How are Zijian and Wang Bo doing?"
"They’re actually doing pretty well," Chen Hao said. "Wang Bo mentioned that the web novel he wrote got accepted. A website wants to sign him. Now his head is filled with dreams of becoming a top-tier web novel author. Says he’s going to buy a house by writing."
Jiang He nodded.
was the golden age when web novels were just beginning to boom.
Back then, Qidian even did something sensational: they put all 21 nominated works for the Mao Dun Literature Prize online for serialization.
At the same time, they also signed the rights for the debut of new works from many bestselling authors like Hai Yan, Du Liang, Guo Jingming, Dang Nian Ming Yue, and Tian Xia Ba Chang.
So, if Wang Bo could really stick with it, it was a pretty good path for him.
After all, Battle Through the Heavens didn’t even come out until 2009.
’Maybe Wang Bo could just steal the luck of Heavenly Silkworm Potato and drop a "Thirty years the river flows east, thirty years the river flows west; never bully a young man for being poor!"’
’Or maybe he could steal Jiang Nan’s luck and write *Dragon Race* himself... uh, but if he did that, would he still be able to woo his senior?’
Jiang He entertained these thoughts for his own amusement, not taking them seriously, of course. He then asked, "What about Zijian?"
"Zijian... that kid’s out on another date. He’s definitely happier when he’s getting ready for a date than when he’s studying."
"That’s good, then." Jiang He nodded.
He made a mental note to himself: ’Don’t forget to find a chance to remind Zijian to be safe.’
The two of them continued to eat with their heads down.
After a moment, Jiang He suddenly felt something was off.
He stopped eating and slowly raised his head.
He saw Chen Hao holding up his Nokia phone.
"What are you doing?" Jiang He asked, puzzled.
Chen Hao quickly put the phone down. "Huh? Nothing, nothing. Just replying to a message."
Jiang He gave him a suspicious look but couldn’t be bothered to press the issue and went back to eating.
In reality, Chen Hao’s text message had already been sent.
Recipient: Xu Juan.
Content: A candid photo of Jiang He eating.
Xu Juan had said that a candid photo of Jiang He’s daily life was worth ten minutes of chat time with her, limited to once a day.
Chen Hao figured that taking a picture of his bro, as long as it was a good one, didn’t count as betrayal.
And so, he had become a spy and started taking clandestine photos...
The photo he had just taken was the best one he’d managed to capture all day.
Jiang He was wearing a white short-sleeved shirt, his head lowered as he ate. Sunlight struck the side of his face, accentuating his well-defined, handsome features.
...
「Meanwhile, in the Capital City.」
The phone on Shen Yu’s desk vibrated twice.
She picked it up and saw it was a picture message from Xu Juan.
In 2008, on a 2G network, the loading speed for a picture message was painfully slow.
After about ten seconds, the photo finally loaded, bit by bit, from top to bottom.
When the image finally became clear, Shen Yu’s eyes instantly lit up.
In the photo was the person she was always thinking about.
Below it was a text from Xu Juan: [Chen Hao just sent this. Your Dr. Jiang is having lunch. Mood: stable. Not flirting with anyone. Report complete.]
Shen Yu couldn’t help but chuckle softly as she read the message.
She brought the phone a little closer, her finger gently caressing the face on the screen.
The hardest part of a long-distance relationship often isn’t the major storms, but the small, mundane moments of each other’s lives that you can’t be a part of.
But at this moment, looking at the slightly blurry phone picture, Shen Yu felt that the two-thousand-kilometer distance didn’t seem so vast after all.
She quickly typed on the keypad and sent a reply to Xu Juan: [Oh, come on, I’m not that concerned about this stuff. You don’t have to send me any more.]
After sending the message, Shen Yu smiled at the photo again before locking her phone and placing it carefully beside her book.
She turned her head and looked out the window.
In the Capital City, October brought crisp autumn air and a high, clear sky. Under the vast blue expanse, a few wisps of white cloud drifted south with the wind.
October 30th was getting closer and closer.
She had already started counting down in her heart, counting down the days until she could go to Southern China to see him.
She knew Jiang He was usually very busy—he had classes, projects, and had to shadow surgeries at the hospital.
But that was okay. If he couldn’t come to her, she would go to him.
True love was never a one-way wait at the starting point, but a two-way journey toward each other across mountains and seas.
It was just like that saying:
The greatest regret in life isn’t missing out on the best person, but missing out on the person who wanted to be good to you.
—I will seek my sole soulmate in the vast sea of humanity. If I find them, I am fortunate; if not, then I will simply try again.