Chapter 195: Face It Head-On (League Leader Deng Chaohong's Bonus Chapter ×2)

"What I'm worried about is that Qin... Chu will be detrimental to you," Zhao Zhe said helplessly.

"Detrimental? Isn't it just an academic conference? Besides, I didn't do anything wrong. Although there were differences, that was for the sake of the Patient," Ji Xiang said calmly.

"Sigh, that's how it is in theory, but... I don't know either. I'm just an ordinary little Doctor. I haven't seen big shots often, and I don't know how they do things. But I have eyes, and I can see."

Zhao Zhe extended his right index and middle fingers, pointed at his own eyes, and then pointed back at Ji Xiang's eyes.

"For example, you know about that research institute and an institution in Shanghai that sounds high-end taking advantage of the chaos to sell Banlangen, right?"

"I've heard of it, that was many years ago," Ji Xiang said.

"The academia we imagine is an ivory tower, but in reality, it's just buying and selling," Zhao Zhe said earnestly.

"Uh, ha." Ji Xiang paused for a moment, then laughed, "Zhao Ge, let me tell you a story."

"What story?"

Ji Xiang's reaction was different from what Zhao Zhe had imagined, and he became even more curious about this young man.

"I had a childhood friend whose family was... quite wealthy, I suppose," Ji Xiang said. "He attended an Ivy League school in the United States for high school and had a girlfriend; they were childhood sweethearts. But back then, his family gave him little pocket money, and his girlfriend thought his family was poor. Later, when they got to college, she ran off with a small second-generation rich kid from back home."

"How rich?" Zhao Zhe asked gossiping.

"Seems like the boss of a small listed company," Ji Xiang said flatly.

Zhao Zhe clicked his tongue.

Did Ji Xiang get it backward? The boss of a listed company—in Zhao Zhe's world, such a person is a top-tier tycoon.

"Later, this guy dated another girlfriend. He was truly devoted, even posting photos together on Weibo. But some netizens said she was an escort. He wouldn't accept it and argued with the netizens for over a thousand comment threads."

"..."

"Then someone brought out video evidence, and my childhood friend gave up. Now his Weibo status is 'widowed'."

"..."

Zhao Zhe was speechless; he completely failed to understand why Ji Xiang was telling him this.

"I talked to my dad about this, and my dad said this is just what happens when a young boy's longing for love leads him astray."

"Many beautiful things only exist in fantasy."

Ji Xiang recounted his perception of the world very flatly.

"What does your dad do?" Zhao Zhe asked curiously.

"He plays the stock market."

"Hahahaha, doesn't your family have negative assets?" Zhao Zhe laughed. "We had a few colleagues who used to play the stock market. Our Director of Anesthesiology was fooled badly. A long time ago, one day when I was going into surgery, the Director of Anesthesiology excitedly said that PetroChina was going public that day and he was going to make a long-term investment, to be the Buffett of China."

"Bought it at forty-something?" Ji Xiang asked.

"Around forty-six. It's said that before buying PetroChina, he sold one of his houses. Later, until he retired, it seems he never made any money."

"My dad is okay," Ji Xiang said. "But I'm not interested in these things, and my dad doesn't let me get involved either. He says as long as I'm happy, anything is fine, but he also wants me to achieve something. In short, parents are very contradictory."

Zhao Zhe, a chatterbox, chatted for a long time after being led astray by Ji Xiang before remembering what they were talking about at the beginning. He had long been accustomed to this way of chatting and didn't find it strange.

"Xiao Ji, to tell you the truth, you'd better not attend the academic conference tomorrow. You know about people reporting academic fraud and such, and there's also the case of the youngest biology Expert who couldn't get elected as an Academician and went to the US to become an Academician there—these are all warnings."

"Heaven knows what these academic lords are capable of. I used to think it was far away from me and didn't care. Today, while you were performing surgery inside, I was watching the surgery and observing Qin Lao... Qin Chu's face getting uglier and uglier."

"You successfully performed Super-selection Angiography and discovered that a branch of the right subclavian artery was supplying the Tumor. This is something to be happy about, but Qin Chu didn't hide it at all after seeing the supply vessel; he turned around and left with a dark face."

"I feel this matter isn't that simple. The two of us—no, you are alone and helpless. And we're still in Shanghai; you can't fight them."

Ji Xiang laughed, "Zhao Ge, why are you abandoning me so quickly?"

"I can't be used as a person. Look at me, I'm a chatterbox, seems like I have social anxiety, but in front of leaders, I can't say a single word; my courage is tiny. Today in the operating room, I wanted to speak up for you, but my legs were cramping, as if it were my legs doing the talking."

"You definitely can't do it alone. If you are really labeled as having committed academic fraud, you won't be able to hold your head up for the rest of your life."

Ji Xiang smiled slightly. This kind of thing still had to be discussed with the System NPC. Just as Zhao Zhe said, he couldn't help.

But the System NPC looked like a veteran of a hundred battles, and when they first went abroad, they dared to directly Challenge the international Cardiothoracic Surgery circle, single-handedly, and were very fierce.

"Let me think. If I'm scared, I'll go see my mom tomorrow, and we'll both go back. If..."

"Don't think that you can just 'A' your way through; this isn't an online game. And Qin Chu is stronger than us in terms of connections and everything else. To him, we are just ants. What do you do when an ant doesn't know its place? Of course, you step on it and crush the ant to pieces," Zhao Zhe said naggingly.

"Don't worry, Zhao Ge."

Ji Xiang comforted Zhao Zhe for a long time, and later turned the topic to various strange things he had seen, and Zhao Zhe seemed to have forgotten about it.

Back at the hotel, Ji Xiang washed up and lay down.

"Teacher."

Arriving at the System Operating Room, Ji Xiang greeted the System NPC.

"You were very patient during your Super-selection today, not bad," the System NPC gave an evaluation.

"Heh." Ji Xiang smiled, "The 'Insight' skill is very useful. When I finally found that blood vessel, I back-calculated and found that there seemed to be a hint in one frame of the Angiography. I didn't see it this time, but with the experience, if there's a next time, I'll be aware of it."

"How should I put it? It's just a momentary feeling."

"Not bad. This fleeting feeling sounds quite mysterious, but top-tier surgery has no set rules; it can only rely on a momentary feeling. Of course, this feeling is rooted in a solid theoretical foundation..."

The System NPC began to ramble on.

Ji Xiang smiled and listened carefully. Although the System NPC had a tendency to preach, there was indeed a lot of solid substance inside.

It's just that they were too serious and didn't make any jokes, which made people feel it was quite boring.

After a while, Ji Xiang thought of Professor Zhou whom he met during Empathy. If they were talking about this with him, it would probably be very interesting.

After a long time, the System NPC stopped, and Ji Xiang asked his concerns.

"Of course you have to face it head-on," the System NPC said very normally. "This is a Challenge. It's fine to dodge it, but every time you dodge, your confidence will be damaged. For a top-tier surgeon, self-confidence is the most critical thing."

(End of chapter)