Chapter 105 - 104: Jiang He: It’s Better to Be Low-Key
Chapter 105: Chapter 104: Jiang He: It’s Better to Be Low-Key
After eating, Jiang He went to class with Chen Hao, something he hadn’t done in a long time.
In mid-October, the weather at Southern Medical University was at its best.
The temperature was pleasant with a slight chill, and the wind rustling through the plane tree leaves brought a sense of peace.
A popular hit from those years played in his ears.
♫: "When the next day breaks, shall we go for a walk where we last held hands and admired the flowers..."
♫: "Some snow melts on its own; your shoulder is my vast sanctuary..."
Perhaps that’s what made a good song—you never got tired of it, and the lyrics were well-written.
’I’d love to hold hands, admire flowers, and walk with Teacher Shen.’
Jiang He stuffed his hands in his pockets, his gaze softening unconsciously.
As he thought of her, he silently calculated the upcoming timeline in his mind.
’Truthfully, there are only a few things I can push forward right now.’
’The miRNA early screening project, the most important one since my rebirth, is currently stuck in the theoretical lecture phase.’
’Experiments... well, as the name implies, they require a laboratory.’
’The South China Region competition on October 30th is a key milestone. After winning the championship, I can get the university’s approval, a budget, and a venue.’
’By then, I’ll also be done bottom-fishing in the stock market, and the lab equipment and consumables can be secured.’
’In the dozen or so days of this window, I don’t need to do too much.’
’Just need to teach the current few team members, get everyone on the same page, and make sure we’re all in sync.’
’And then, I should visit Affiliated Hospital No. 1 as much as possible to solidify my unofficial status there.’
He walked into the classroom.
Jiang He found a random seat and sat down.
As soon as Old Xie walked in, his eyes swept across the lecture hall. When he saw Jiang He, he immediately broke into a grin.
"Well now! It’s been a while since I’ve seen you in pathology class. I’ve heard a thing or two about your recent exploits, you know. I’ve been singing your praises in class."
Jiang He had done so many awesome things lately that word had long since spread throughout the ’06 class.
The students of Clinical Class 2 shared in his glory. They felt a great sense of pride telling others, "I’m in the same class as Jiang He!"
Jiang He responded politely.
Old Xie nodded, then opened his lesson plan and began to lecture on the day’s main topic: hepatic encephalopathy.
"Last class, we discussed hepatic insufficiency. Today, we’ll delve deeper into the pathogenesis of hepatic encephalopathy."
"One of the core mechanisms currently recognized in academia is the ammonia intoxication theory. Ammonia production in the intestines increases, but due to cirrhosis, the liver’s urea synthesis is impaired, preventing it from detoxifying the ammonia. Eventually, the ammonia crosses the blood-brain barrier, causing central nervous system dysfunction..."
「Forty minutes later.」
Old Xie paused and said suddenly,
"Jiang He, since you’re here, why don’t you come up and explain to everyone how this ammonia intoxication theory manifests in a clinical setting? Or, to put it another way, what guiding significance does it have for our future clinical treatments?"
The students in the front rows all turned to look at Jiang He.
Jiang He: "..."
’I just wanted to come here and relax a bit,’ he thought. ’Didn’t expect to have to work overtime.’
Of course, Jiang He ended up going up to speak, and he lectured all the way until class was over.
When class ended, Old Xie clapped him on the shoulder and said, "Come to class more often."
Jiang He was silent for a moment, then said, "Duly noted."
Before the students left for lunch, Zhou Yang suddenly stopped everyone. "Hold on, guys, don’t leave yet. Just stay for a few minutes. I need to give out some refunds."
The class had previously organized a celebration for Jiang He, right downstairs from Feiyu Internet Cafe.
Everyone had chipped in.
But that night, the patient with Tension Pneumothorax whom Jiang He had saved at the internet cafe ended up paying the bill.
The money had been with the class committee ever since.
Zhou Yang said, "Everyone knows what happened at the last gathering. Someone else paid the bill, so I’m returning the money to all of you today."
At this point, Zhou Yang posed a rhetorical question. "I bet some of you are probably grumbling to yourselves, ’Since the money’s already been collected, why not just put it in the class fund for the next get-together? It’d be so much easier.’"
He shook his head, refuting his own question. "We can’t do that. Lin Yue said that when it comes to finances, the worst thing is unclear accounts. We have to keep things separate."
"Alright, Class President, you think we’d be unhappy about getting a refund? Hurry up and hand it out!" a few guys heckled from the back.
Zhou Yang nodded. "Line up and come get it from Lin Yue one by one."
Beside the lecturer’s desk, Lin Yue had already spread the cash out on the table.
Zhang Wei: "League Secretary, I think I paid more. I gave another thirty after Jiang He won the semifinals, so I paid fifty in total."
Lin Yue glanced at her little ledger, then reluctantly handed over the money. "That’s right."
The line for refunds was a bit long, so the students at the back who hadn’t gotten their turn yet gathered to chat.
"Hey, have you guys heard? That guy Xu Chen from the eight-year clinical program published a core journal paper."
"For real? What tier?"
"The Chinese Journal of General Surgery. It’s a legit core journal, super impressive. Publishing an article like that as an undergrad basically gives you a green light for your whole future."
A guy lowered his voice and said, "I heard his uncle is an attending in the anesthesiology department at Affiliated Hospital No. 1. With that kind of connection, isn’t publishing a paper a piece of cake?"
"Sigh..." another guy let out a heavy sigh. "If only my uncle was an attending at Affiliated Hospital No. 1, too. Comparisons are killer."
"Alright, stop being so sour. Xu Chen is one of the top students in the eight-year program to begin with, so he’s definitely skilled. All the professors from the different schools probably know him by now."
Voices filled with praise and envy were endless.
Chen Hao: "Tsk."
He folded his arms across his chest, let out a long breath, then shifted his position and sighed heavily again.
Jiang He glanced at the sighing Chen Hao next to him, smiled, and shouldered his bag to walk out the door.
Chen Hao quickly followed.
It wasn’t until they were out of the academic building that Chen Hao finally couldn’t hold it in anymore.
"Old Jiang, when the hell is our paper coming out?"
"Didn’t I just tell you at lunch in the cafeteria? It’ll be in the next day or two."
"Okay, I’m just getting really impatient..."
After saying that, Chen Hao took the initiative to ask Jiang He, "So, where are we going to study next? The library? Or the anatomy building?"
"You dare go to the anatomy building now? Not afraid of the ’silent mentors’ anymore?"
"Pfft, I was never afraid, okay! I was just startled before and hadn’t recovered from the shock. I’m totally fine now."
Jiang He: "Impressive. In that case, let’s go to the library."
Chen Hao: "?"
Jiang He explained, "We can look up materials at the library. It’s more convenient."
Chen Hao: "Oh, oh, okay."
The two of them walked along the campus’s main road toward the library.
As they walked, Chen Hao couldn’t help but start complaining again.
"Old Jiang, this Xu Chen guy is such a loudmouth. It’s just a review article, right? The journal hasn’t even been officially printed yet, and who knows how many people he’s privately bragged to. Even our classmates all know about it. How much does he love to show off?"
Listening to Chen Hao’s complaints, Jiang He recalled Chen Hao’s own bold declaration at lunch in Cafeteria No. 2—how he couldn’t wait to plaster their LNR paper on his face and go streaking across the athletic field.
’You two... talk about the pot calling the kettle black.’
Jiang He said, "And that’s why you should be a little more low-key, you know?"
Chen Hao paused for a second, then immediately realized Jiang He was calling him out for being unable to resist showing off in the cafeteria earlier.
He wasn’t embarrassed at all. Instead, he broke into a wide grin.
Then, he formed his hand into a check mark shape, propped it under his chin in a perfect imitation of Lin Yue’s signature move, and said with a serious face,
"Right. Another lesson learned from Old Jiang. *Highlight this:* a person has to be low-key."
After saying that, Chen Hao tilted his head and thought for a moment.
’That’s easy for you to say, but... are *you* low-key, Old Jiang? Huh? Where’s the low-key part?’
Chen Hao decided not to dwell on things he couldn’t figure out. For now, it was best to just study. Learning from excellent people was never wrong.