Chapter 289: You Don't Want It? (Bonus Chapter for the Alliance Leader Seeing My Master)

"You," Bai Chuzhang laughed, "let me ask you, is Ji Xiang useful?"

"Good, very useful, extremely useful."

"Don't you want to keep him?"

"I do," Liu Zhuren said without hesitation, "but Doctor Ji Xiang is only a Standardized Training Student, and applying for the Provincial Natural Science Foundation has nothing to do with him. If he were a 30-year-old Attending Physician, you wouldn't need to remind me, Lao Bai."

"Ji Xiang and Zhao Zhe went to Shanghai for a conference, you remember that, right?"

"I remember," Liu Zhuren paused, then said with a hint of heartache, "Such a great opportunity, why didn't Xiao Ji know how to seize it?"

"That's because you don't know the full story."

Bai Chuzhang told Liu Zhuren everything he knew about the matter, leaving Liu Zhuren dumbfounded.

It was supposed to be a grand feast; a big-shot figure in a certain sub-discipline of the domestic medical field wanted to take Ji Xiang as a closed-door disciple, and had even grandly invited the peak existence of this sub-discipline—Academician Teng.

This scale,

This level of importance,

It already belonged to top-tier treatment; Liu Zhuren never expected that Qin would value Ji Xiang so much.

These are things any doctor would dream of.

And what made him feel even more incredible was that Ji Xiang actually refused, and even had a falling out!

Ji Xiang even threw the thesis in Ling Tian's face right in front of Academician Teng, and scolded Qin Chu until he was bedridden.

Is he that awesome?

Is he that arrogant?

Is he that overbearing?

"I have a few points to make. First, it seems Ji Xiang has some background at home, but that's not important."

"I think so too," Liu Zhuren said in a daze.

"Second," Bai Chuzhang continued, "Ji Xiang is still a young man, he still has his original intentions, and although he is a bit reckless—charging straight in at the slightest disagreement—he has the ability to back it up. That is capability."

"Third, the first author of the thesis at the academic conference was Zhao Zhe."

"..." Liu Zhuren was speechless.

He was not from the Interventional Department, and he had never heard Zhao Xiangming mention these details.

"Lao Bai, you are still as meticulous as ever."

"For such an impressive little guy, I have to know what he's doing. Even if I can't befriend him, I shouldn't offend him." Bai Chuzhang smiled, "Take the academic conference, for instance; I assume you've already nagged Ji Xiang about it."

"Yes, I've said it many times, telling him to join a master with his skills isn't shameful. In the domestic academic world, besides one's own ability, one also talks about human connections. In short, I've said everything that needed to be said, without holding anything back," Liu Zhuren said.

"But Ji Xiang still put Zhao Zhe's name first; he doesn't care about those things," Bai Chuzhang said. "He is kind when he should be, and he stands up when he should. This young man, Ji Xiang, is truly not bad. He may be a bit reckless, but he is full of vitality."

"Lao Bai, do you think that with Zhao Zhe as a tether, Ji Xiang can be kept? Impossible!" Liu Zhuren just shook his head.

"I heard from a friend in the South these past few days that he was reviewing a provincial natural science youth project for a certain coastal province, and he was greatly shocked by their proposals."

"The school only became a university over ten years ago, and a newly hired lecturer at a school ranked 500th has several papers in NC, JACS, and Angew. The school is unstable, the requirements are high, and the benefits are poor, yet the lecturers below are stronger than the next."

"We also know that there is rarely anything practical, and even if there is, it won't last 10 years. Without long-term... let's not talk about that. I ask you, will Ji Xiang need the Provincial Natural Science Foundation, the National Natural Science Foundation, or projects like Excellent Youth, Youth Changjiang, and Youth Top-notch in the future?"

"That goes without saying!" Liu Zhuren slapped the table, full of ambition.

"Let him practice first and get him familiar with the process. As for Zhao Zhe, I appreciate him very much."

"Ji Xiang might not stay, but Zhao Zhe can. In the future, you look for a project and take the initiative to ask Ji Xiang to apply for the Provincial and National Natural Science Foundations; the earliest and most basic work will be you guiding him onto the right path."

Bai Chuzhang spoke very vaguely, partly because the two were good friends who could communicate with just a look, let alone having talked so much today.

"Then I understand," Liu Zhuren nodded solemnly, "but the problem is that Xiao Ji is about to rotate, and he'll be going to the Orthopedics Department very soon."

"Isn't it better to have a project tethering him? Otherwise, once he rotates out, he'll have nothing to do with you. Don't tell me you, a great Department Head at the Second Affiliated Hospital, are going to grovel to a Standardized Training Student," Bai Chuzhang looked at Liu Zhuren teasingly.

"That's true."

Liu Zhuren laughed.

Things he hadn't figured out suddenly became clear, and coupled with today's ping-pong surgery, Liu Zhuren felt relieved.

"You handle the work, I'll handle the rest," Liu Zhuren said. "A provincial natural science project with a detailed proposal—I don't believe that bunch of old fogies won't pass it."

After finishing all this, Bai Chuzhang felt a bit tired.

"Lao Bai, aren't you worrying about too many things?" Liu Zhuren asked with a smile.

"Ji Xiang helped me solve a big problem," Bai Chuzhang said softly. "Dazhi, you know that the Medical Affairs Department is sitting on a volcano, and you bunch of damn department heads and professors are adding fuel to the volcano every day."

"Hang in there a bit longer; it'll be much better once you become Vice President," Liu Zhuren comforted him.

"This incident was very dangerous. Although it won't be impossible to get through, I'll definitely be skinned alive," Bai Chuzhang said. "I must return Ji Xiang's favor. Once the surgery was done, I knew where I stood with the Patient's Family Member."

"That impressive?"

"Who do you think I am? With the powerful Medical Affairs Department as a backing, you in the Clinical departments can develop."

"So later, you thought of Ji Xiang?"

"Yes, it's only been two months since he arrived, and he's already caused so many things. If he can really nip medical malpractice in the bud in the future, that would be the best of all."

The boss of Peiyang personally delivered the skewers, and Bai Chuzhang gnawed on a chicken head, just like twenty years ago when the two of them celebrated after finishing a dungeon in an internet cafe and buying Epic Equipment with DKP.

Liu Zhuren was in a great mood; although he wasn't drinking alcohol, he was chatting with great interest, and after a few bottles of purified water, he looked like he had drunk too much.

Ji Xiang didn't know about Bai Chuzhang and Liu Zhuren's plans. He and Zhao Zhe cooperated quite well, and with Liu Zhuren's full cooperation, the partial Kidney Resection project was moving forward.

Every surgery, besides being a cold number, had turned into a warm, living Patient.

The work of post-operative follow-up was complicated, but Ji Xiang realized the essentials of doing scientific research from it.

Days passed by, and there was only 1 week left before rotating out of the Urology Department.

After finishing the surgery, Ji Xiang was changing his clothes when Liu Zhuren's phone rang.

"Xiao Ji, notify Doctor Zhao Zhe and have him come to my office."

Liu Zhuren did not hide his emotions in the slightest over the phone.

"Understood, Zhuren."

Ji Xiang glanced at Zhao Zhe beside him; Zhao Zhe blinked his eyes, feeling somewhat nervous.

"Zhuren, what is the matter?"

Zhao Zhe was experienced and knew that if the director was looking for him, something big must be happening, but he racked his brains and could not figure out what it was, so he felt apprehensive.

(End of chapter)