Chapter 379: Black Mirror

Ling Tian spoke a sentence unconsciously, then fell silent.

He had been shocked, and that was why he had made a mistake.

Hearing the beep-beep-beep sound coming from the phone, he hung up in confusion and began to search for The Lancet.

Ling Tian's typing speed was extremely fast, and his English proficiency was also high; a few seconds later, he was stunned to see that The Lancet had indeed released a supplement half an hour ago.

The content of the supplement was about the treatment of Renal Cancer patients using a combination of Interventional Surgery and partial Kidney Resection.

How could this be!

This was absolutely impossible!

Ling Tian stared blankly at his phone, a stormy sea rising in his heart.

For the Jilin Province selection of the provincial National Natural Science Foundation, both he and his boss had put in effort, and with a little bit of coincidence, the selection criteria had become stricter, which had just happened to "block" Ji Xiang's provincial National Natural Science Foundation application.

He had originally thought that fate was on his side, but he never expected that just when Ji Xiang was about to be blocked, a top-tier journal like The Lancet would actually come to stir up trouble.

Just as Ling Tian was stunned, the door was pushed open.

Qin Chu walked in, his face glowing with health.

How long had it been since he had seen his boss look so radiant? Ling Tian recalled that it seemed like he hadn't seen a similar scene since they encountered Ji Xiang.

"Ling Tian, is there any news from that side?" Qin Chu had an expression of certain victory; ever since he was slapped in the face by Ji Xiang at the academic conference, Qin Chu had been listless and unable to summon any Spirit for anything.

But having pulled one back this time, although Qin Chu said it was a trivial matter, one could tell from his energy that he cared very much and was very proud.

Ling Tian stood up; his boss had arrived suddenly, and for a moment, he didn't know how to speak.

"Prepare for the worst when anticipating the enemy; I just asked several national-level journals, and there are no changes." Qin Chu's confidence stemmed from caution; he laughed heartily and sat in Ling Tian's chair, saying in a deep voice.

"Sun Shizi wants to jump out of the Buddha's palm? He is still too green!" Qin Chu said triumphantly.

Because he was certain of victory and had finally hit that little brat's sore spot, Qin Chu was too excited, so much so that he did not notice Ling Tian's expression.

Qin Chu taking action personally already counted as a dimensionality reduction strike, and he would be mocked for it later, but Qin Chu didn't care; he just wanted to completely crush that young man.

Now that things were going as he wished, how could Qin Chu not be happy and proud?

"Ji Xiang has an expert guiding him from behind, and he still wants the provincial National Natural Science Foundation." Qin Chu said to himself, "Provincial National Natural Science Foundation, National Natural Science Foundation, and then various awards for middle-aged and young people; the thirty-five and forty-year-old age limits are absolutely no problem for him."

"Heh, he thinks quite beautifully, is he even worthy!"

"Block him starting from the provincial National Natural Science Foundation; in the future, he can at most struggle in the Second Affiliated Hospital in Jilin Province. Want to step onto the national stage? Just based on him?"

Qin Chu said in a muffled voice, treating Ling Tian entirely as a listener.

In his view, Ji Xiang was just a little chick in his hand; as long as he squeezed gently, Ji Xiang would be dead.

"Boss." Ling Tian said hoarsely.

"You did this well." Qin Chu had already begun his closing statement, "The journal's reviewers are a generation younger than me; it wouldn't be good for me to say anything, but you stepping forward was just right."

"Boss... there seems to have been some change on that side." Ling Tian said with a bitter voice.

"Change? Hahaha." Qin Chu laughed loudly, "Is the person behind that little brat Ji Xiang preparing to defy the world and grant him the provincial National Natural Science Foundation by breaking the rules! If they are so ignorant of life and death, that would be for the best!"

"..."

"This is exactly what I've been waiting for!" Blue veins popped up on the back of Qin Chu's hand, as if he were holding a Dragon Slaying Saber in his palm, ready to strike down and split Ji Xiang and the people behind him in two.

"The rules have already been set; even if there is an exception for the provincial National Natural Science Foundation, it depends on whether anyone is watching. If they want to break the rules in front of me, everyone, including the people behind Ji Xiang, will have to pay a heavy price!"

"Boss, that's not it!" Ling Tian regained his composure; he didn't care if the news would irritate his boss—the later he said it, the greater the irritation might be.

"What is not it?"

"30 minutes ago, The Lancet suddenly released a sub-journal regarding the surgical field that Ji Xiang is researching."

"The Lancet?" Qin Chu was startled.

He could still have a say regarding domestic journals and magazines, but he was very unfamiliar with top international journals and papers.

What was Ling Tian saying? Was Ji Xiang's article published in The Lancet?

Qin Chu's hand curled into a fist.

"The second article is Ji Xiang's... he now has a paper in a national-level or higher journal..." Ling Tian said intermittently.

"Let me see." Qin Chu reached out.

Ling Tian immediately opened his phone, handed it to his boss, and began to find the official website of The Lancet step by step, then found the supplement, and then found Ji Xiang's article.

The pinyin was easy to identify; Qin Chu took one look and understood that this matter was true!

Ji Xiang had really published an article in The Lancet.

"How could this be." Qin Chu's voice dropped much lower; he looked at the article on the phone in confusion and asked.

"I don't know either... Boss, don't get angry; a little guy, even if he has an SCI paper, even if he has the provincial National Natural Science Foundation, he still has to compete for the National Natural Science Foundation in the future."

Ling Tian hurriedly consoled him, fearing that his boss might have some sort of medical emergency if he got too anxious.

Qin Chu was silent.

A creaking sound came; he was gripping the phone so hard that Ling Tian suspected the phone would be crushed by his boss.

He wanted to persuade him a few more times, but his own mouth tasted bitter, full of bitterness, and he didn't know how to speak.

The phone screen went dark; Qin Chu didn't seem to notice and kept staring at the phone screen.

The black screen was like a mirror; his own reflection was in the abyss, with endless darkness as the background.

Why?

Was the power behind Ji Xiang so strong that he couldn't contend with it?

Impossible; even someone with a higher academic status couldn't do this. It was extremely difficult even for Academician Teng to have a supplement in The Lancet; it would be better to just publish articles step by step.

They were all articles in The Lancet; whether it was a supplement or not didn't matter.

Then it must be luck; Ji Xiang was truly as his name suggested—his name was auspicious, and this person was also very auspicious.

The more he thought about it, the angrier he became; all the previous excitement turned into the opposite emotion in an instant, slamming heavily onto Qin Chu's heart.

After at least ten minutes, Qin Chu stood up, bracing himself against the table.

"Boss."

Ling Tian was a bit worried.

Qin Chu did not speak, merely raising a hand to signal that he was fine.

He walked slowly out of the office; it was impossible, he had already prepared for the worst, treating a Standardized Training Doctor as his greatest rival, and even today, while the Jilin Province Provincial Natural Science Foundation selections were underway, he had been keeping a constant watch on whether any domestic journal papers would cause any trouble.

Yet he never expected that Ji Xiang would directly publish a paper in The Lancet, and it was a supplement issue at that.

After walking a few steps, stars danced before Qin Chu's eyes, his legs went weak, and he collapsed to the ground.

(End of chapter)