Chapter 177: Cuckoo Occupying a Magpie's Nest?

"Xiao Ji, is the surgical technique you mentioned really that good?" Mo Chenggui was more concerned about the technique.

"Looking at the post-operative follow-ups of Zhao Yisheng's patients, there haven't been any cases of bleeding after partial resection. I think it's alright," Ji Xiang said.

"The patient you and Liu Zhuren operated on last week, were they also fine afterwards?"

"Mo Laoshi, it's been too short a time; the results aren't visible yet," Ji Xiang said. "However, I have already created a file to conduct regular follow-ups and tracking."

"You're meticulous enough, not bad," Mo Chenggui smiled.

This kind of dedication is not something an ordinary person can manage; the more gifted one is, the less they tend to care about such trivial matters.

As for Ji Xiang, Mo Chenggui felt he was not cut out for it.

A dozen or several decades of research, once the direction is wrong, all previous efforts are wasted, and a whole life is ruined just like that.

Such matters belong to the major events of life; Ji Xiang is still too young. Just let him go at it with hot-blooded enthusiasm; in a few years, he will know how difficult it is.

"Xiao Ji." Mo Chenggui looked at Ji Xiang, hesitated several times, but still said, "You need to be a bit thicker-skinned."

Ji Xiang was a bit bewildered.

Why do both Liu Zhuren and Mo Jiaoshou repeatedly emphasize the importance of being thick-skinned?

Could it be that this is part of the rules of the adult world?

According to them, the thickness of one's skin seems to determine a person's success or failure, rather than relying on genuine ability.

"At the time, Gu Lao vaguely hinted at something, but you refused. I didn't tell you about it because I thought you were still young," Mo Chenggui said with a hint of self-reproach. "Mainly, I didn't react in time either. I've never seen such a 'pie falling from the sky' kind of good fortune, so my reaction was slow."

"You're as thin-skinned as a young girl, and you're still trying to teach Xiao Ji? Let me do it." Wang Daxiao's short, stout body shook, and Ji Xiang felt grease fly onto his face.

"Xiao Ji, let me ask you, do you have Gu Lao's phone number?" Wang Daxiao asked.

After the surgery was finished, Wang Daxiao pulled Ji Xiang aside, let Mo Chenggui go send off the patient, and the two sat to one side, Wang Daxiao waiting for an answer.

"No," Ji Xiang answered honestly.

He knew very well that no matter how good the paper was written or how great its clinical significance, in the eyes of Mo Chenggui and Wang Daxiao, it was not as good as Ling Tian coming to the Second Affiliated Hospital in person to recruit him.

It was also for his own good, and Ji Xiang appreciated the sentiment.

"Exactly!" Wang Daxiao slapped Ji Xiang on the leg with a 'slap' sound. "Gu Lao's intention at the time was quite vague. I understand his thinking; after all, it was just a cavernous body puncture, and he only saw you perform a few of the most basic minor surgeries.

But since there was a good impression, you should have asked for his number no matter what, so that when you go to the Imperial Capital for meetings or study in the future, you could pay him a visit."

"You can't go empty-handed, but bringing something too expensive isn't good either; even two buckets of freshly pressed soybean oil from the countryside would do."

"Is Gu Lao the kind of person who cares about what you bring? What he cares about is your attitude, attitude!"

"Little Mountain Chicken?" Ji Xiang thought of Zhao Zhe and laughed.

"Still laughing." Wang Daxiao was particularly serious and meticulous today. His right index and middle fingers were pressed together as if holding a cigarette, though he didn't notice it himself.

"A person doesn't get many opportunities in life; grasping just one can make you soar. That time with Gu Lao, you were just too young. I heard from the director that Qin Lao in Shanghai seems particularly interested in you and even sent Ling Tian to evaluate you."

"It can't be called an evaluation," Ji Xiang said. "Maybe it's just for a meeting, and he's doing it while he's there."

"Doctor Xiao Ji, be serious," Wang Daxiao said with disdain. "I know your family background is good, and you can just toss a carbon fiber bicycle worth thousands of yuan without fear of losing it. But if you want to be a doctor, you must not be willful this time when you go to Shanghai."

"I know, Teacher Wang." Ji Xiang knew these teachers were all doing it for his own good. "Liu Zhuren told me the meaning of mentorship, just like how Guo struggled to death to apprentice himself back then, insisting on finding a protector."

"Right, that's what someone who has been through it wants to tell you," Wang Daxiao said. "When you go to Shanghai, if there's anything you can't stand, keep it to yourself; that's because you don't understand. Don't be like Mo; back then, Mo could have stayed in the South, but his teacher met with an accident and passed away, and then..."

As he spoke, Wang Daxiao shook his head, and seeing Mo Chenggui's unpleasant expression, he immediately brought the topic back.

"It was Ling Tian who called you just now, right?"

"It was Teacher Ling."

"Hosting an academic conference, this is equivalent to the apprenticeship ceremonies of street performers in the past; it's actually this grand!" Wang Daxiao exclaimed. "And you're lucky too, being able to bring a research project along. I'll only urge you one thing!"

"Teacher Wang, please speak."

"The research is Zhao Yisheng's, but the protagonist is you. Do you understand what I mean?" Wang Daxiao said.

Ji Xiang was stunned.

"You need to be thicker-skinned. If you feel embarrassed, you can compensate Zhao Yisheng later, but this research must be yours! Even when presenting on stage, if two names are mentioned, your name must be before Zhao Yisheng's."

"Teacher Wang, that wouldn't be right," Ji Xiang frowned.

"Look at you, everything I just told you went in one ear and out the other." Wang Daxiao raised his hand and patted Ji Xiang's sterile cap. "Skin, skin, what's the use of having skin!"

"But the research really is something Zhao Yisheng accumulated over a dozen years."

"Sigh," Wang Daxiao sighed. "Let's put it this way: if it weren't for you and this conference, in a dozen years, no matter what Zhao Yisheng had done, it would all be forgotten. From another perspective, this is also you giving him a chance."

"Right!" Wang Daxiao straightened out his train of thought, speaking faster and faster. "You don't understand the significance of Zhao Yisheng collecting data, especially since Qin Lao is hosting the conference; the closing speech was supposed to be yours. If he wants to build a ladder for you, the person who speaks last on stage must be you."

"A newly accepted Standardized Training Student, and in the blink of an eye, you bring out such a good piece of research data. What would others think? They would definitely think that Qin Lao had been studying it for over a decade and finally entrusted it to you to let you get ahead."

"Qin Lao gets the benefits, and you are looked at with admiration by everyone. If you feel Zhao Yisheng is at a disadvantage, later when you become a director, you can transfer him to Shanghai to lead a team. One paper, and you can go to the Hepatobiliary Hospital, tsk tsk."

Ji Xiang still didn't think Wang Daxiao was right.

The act of a cuckoo occupying a magpie's nest is never a good thing, and Ji Xiang had listened to his grandfather tell him all sorts of things since he was a child. He knew that talk of him becoming a director later and transferring Zhao Yisheng to Shanghai was just an empty promise.

Saying it now just makes one feel a little better.

As for a dozen years from now, who can say for sure?

Perhaps by then, after telling so many lies, even he himself would forget his original intentions.

But Ji Xiang did not refute Wang Daxiao.

Wang Daxiao saw Ji Xiang's expression and knew that this child, while appearing easy-going, was actually quite stubborn.

"Last weekend, Professor Bao had an incident. Did you know?"

"The one about the belt having a locator?" Ji Xiang asked.

(End of chapter)