Chapter 132

The object of learning need not necessarily be one's direct teacher; as long as there is something good, it can be absorbed and made one's own. This is learning: imitating, then putting it into practice, and that is mastery.

As for the subsequent fallout of this matter, Fang Ziye didn't pay it much mind, but he heard from people in the laboratory that Professor Hong still gave that student of his a fairly profound lesson, letting him know the rules within the laboratory.

Don't show off too much; do more work.

Fang Ziye's current task is to conduct experiments, accumulate workload, prepare the data and materials needed for publishing a major paper, and on the side, harvest some knowledge points.

Knowledge points are very important; this is the foundation for serving patients after he goes to the prefecture-level city hospital later, so he must store up plenty of them for future use.

After all, at the prefecture-level city hospital, there may not necessarily be a top professor within the province like Teacher Deng to steer things for him, nor an elder-level figure like Old Professor Li to cover his back.

Naturally, after Fang Ziye sacrificed all his time to experimental operations, what he most often heard his fellow trainee and Luo Tingzhu muttering about was that the old professors in the training room were almost constantly muttering about it every day.

"Eh, where did Ziye go?"

"Ziye hasn't come again?"

"When will Ziye come?"

"What research is Ziye doing..."

Of course, Fang Ziye certainly couldn't take such muttering seriously.

In the era when these old professors held sway, the domestic research atmosphere and level of emphasis were not as great as they are now, nor was it so fiercely competitive; back then, doctors only needed to learn surgery well and serve patients more to be considered good doctors.

But now it's different, especially at teaching hospitals and laboratories, where innovation, creation, and alignment with international standards are the benchmarks, so research is an indispensable link.

The benefits that immersive work brought Fang Ziye were also very obvious.

Not to mention the massive accumulation of workload, making him a mainstay in the small group and within Teacher Deng's large group.

Speaking solely of knowledge points.

After more than twenty days, on average per day, including some knowledge points from Fang Ziye's own animal experiments added together, there were as many as forty points. Equivalent to Fang Ziye accumulating over twelve hundred points in this one month's time—enough for all the knowledge points of two complete Level 4 skills!

This speed was simply incredibly fast.

However, the result of such incredibly fast knowledge point progress was that Fang Ziye could finish the animal experiment portion within at least a month and a half.

Within two and a half months, all the experimental data could be processed.

That is to say, by mid-April, all that was left for Yuan Weihong and the others was to go kill mice, then remove the subcutaneous tumors and tibial plateau tumor-bearing tumors, and perform sectioning, immunohistochemical staining, and other processing, to obtain relatively simple experimental results.

Naturally, there were other deeper experiments that could be done, but they were not within their current experimental scope, so they didn't need to go that deep.

On February 27th.

When Fang Ziye saw Senior Brother Duan Qingyun and Senior Brother Qian Qiaofeng, he was all smiles: "Senior Brother Duan, Senior Brother Qian."

However, it was obvious that Senior Brother Duan and Senior Brother Qian were also in quite good moods at the moment.

After Qian Qiaofeng smiled at Fang Ziye, he said: "Xiao Fang, do you have good news too?"

When Qian Qiaofeng asked Fang Ziye this way, Luo Tingzhu, who was sitting in the laboratory and had just finished the last small experiment domestically, tilted her head slightly and looked at Fang Ziye.

Her gaze was somewhat wandering, and the wandering carried a hint of reluctance.

Yet she also seemed a bit conflicted and absent-minded.

Although she had finished all the operations and left Fang Ziye no burden, it was precisely because of this that she felt a sense of melancholy and loss.

She had to leave tomorrow...

February is short, only twenty-eight days; she departs on the twenty-eighth, probably arriving in Los Angeles on the afternoon of the first of Eastern Han, and who knows how long it will take to get over the jet lag...

Fang Ziye smiled and said: "Seeing the two senior brothers—isn't that good news?"

Although in Professor Hong Zili's group, not many papers were obtained, and occasionally he had to help out, but these two senior brothers' operations were also exceptionally skilled; the knowledge point income they brought him every day was only a few points less than what he obtained from operating himself.

This was a super huge income indeed.

And especially these two senior brothers were the biggest bosses.

Naturally, Fang Ziye also helped the two senior brothers with several high-difficulty operations, and succeeded on the first try, which also let the two see the significance of Hong Zili appointing Fang Ziye as the 'Principal Investigator' of their small team's experimental operations.

Duan Qingyun, slightly chubby, his whole face looked quite festive, and without hiding it, he said: "Xiao Fang, Professor Hong has currently established a Postdoctoral Mobile Station; I can definitely announce that I'm entering the station while also doing standardized training with hospital retention."

"Congratulations then, Senior Brother." Fang Ziye hurriedly offered congratulations.

Being able to truly enter the Postdoctoral Mobile Station and possibly entering were completely different concepts.

"Free to have dinner together tonight?" Duan Qingyun paced back and forth in place like a penguin; this figure looked just like he had just returned from Antarctica and hadn't shaken off his nature.

Fang Ziye shook his head: "Not today, Senior Brother Duan; I have other arrangements tonight."

Fang Ziye wasn't being impulsive; tonight Luo Tingzhu had invited him back to eat. Luo Tingzhu personally cooked, and this was the first time since the New Year that she had invited him to her rented house.

He didn't know if she had invited others, but Fang Ziye definitely couldn't miss it.

It was rare for a Junior Sister to take the initiative to invite him.

"That's a pity; if you're not there, Xiao Fang, it'll be a bit less fun." Duan Qingyun was very disappointed.

Duan Qingyun and Fang Ziye had eaten together this month, with Duan Qingyun treating, but he still wanted to treat again.

Because Qian Qiaofeng, this pretentious one, couldn't drink alcohol; the other fellow trainees, when meeting him, couldn't speak very fluently, not knowing where the pressure came from—did he look very stern?

Only Fang Ziye got along well with him normally. And they were compatible.

Could it be that he really was the Smiling Tiger that the fellow trainees spoke of?

But Duan Qingyun was also acting out of responsibility toward the fellow trainees.

"I'll send it to you at night then, Xiao Fang." Duan Qingyun was already used to it.

Fang Ziye's character was reliable; last time the research group published a paper, although the impact factor wasn't high, they originally wanted to give Fang Ziye a shared first-authorship, but Fang Ziye directly refused.

Not taking it even when given directly, then they could only slip it in.

Slipping it in wasn't enough; last time Fang Ziye helped him complete a set of operations in one go, which also saved money for the research group and saved trouble for himself, so this way, before he graduated, he could start preparing to write another major journal paper, expected to be at least starting from 20 points.

"Thank you for your trouble, Senior Brother." Fang Ziye slightly cupped his hands.

With the favor given, everything was explained clearly, so Fang Ziye wasn't being holier-than-thou.

Who the fuck loves being holier-than-thou, let them be holier-than-thou; who cares about misunderstandings; as long as it doesn't involve fundamental damage to reputation, adding a 'quirk' label can let oneself progress rapidly—why don't you add one too?

Then he parted ways with Duan Qingyun and Qian Qiaofeng for the time being and returned to where Luo Tingzhu was.

"Junior Sister, want to go buy vegetables together? I'll buy the vegetables today, you just need to show off your cooking skills, okay?"

"Last time it was you who treated me to a meal!" Fang Ziye asked.

"Okay!" Luo Tingzhu nodded, answering a bit distractedly.

Then the two left early, and no one saw them anyway.

Even if someone saw them, no one would say anything, since the direction of the house Fang Ziye and Luo Tingzhu rented was the same anyway.

Vegetable Market...

At home, Fang Ziye helped wash the vegetables, then went into the living room and started opening his computer to work.

Fang Ziye himself wasn't very good at cooking; although he had done housework before junior high school, that was after all before junior high school.

Luo Tingzhu was in the kitchen, holding a knife, going "tap tap tap"...

"Tap tap tap"...

An hour later, Fang Ziye had processed less than one set of images, mainly because prism wasn't particularly easy to use, but he could only grind away bit by bit.

Although publishing a major paper feels comfortable, writing it is exceptionally painful, even including sentence structure and wording, all needing careful revision and constant revision before it can be submitted.

Luo Tingzhu served the dishes, took off her apron, and said: "Senior Brother, help me move the dining table."

"Okay, I'll serve the dishes..." Fang Ziye hurriedly put away his computer and started moving the dining table.

He didn't ask why there were no such tactless words from others.

After all, Luo Tingzhu was leaving tomorrow.

Luo Tingzhu served a plate of Stir-fried Pork with Chili, and Fang Ziye immediately brought out two meat dishes: one was Cured Meat with Green Pepper, and the other was Fried Blood Cake.

"So fragrant, Tingzhu, your cooking is great." Fang Ziye praised her.

Luo Tingzhu was clearing the bowls and chopsticks: "When I was in junior high school, I studied in the town. Back then Grandma often had to go out to work, so I cooked at home."

"Actually it's not that my cooking is good, it's that the ingredients are good enough..." Luo Tingzhu's face turned slightly red.

Fang Ziye turned back into the kitchen and brought out the other two side dishes.

One portion of Potato Shreds, plus one portion of Chinese Cabbage with Cured Meat for meat and vegetable pairing, could barely count as three meat and two vegetable dishes.

Luo Tingzhu washed her hands, dried them, then walked to the table and said: "Senior Brother, thank you for your teaching during this time, which allowed me to master the basic methods of cell experiments relatively maturely."

"Otherwise, going abroad so suddenly, I wouldn't know what I could do when I got there."

Luo Tingzhu was going to a laboratory abroad; the laboratory was for immersive learning of scientific research and experiments, so she couldn't go empty-handed, otherwise learning slowly later would waste a lot of time.

"And, speaking of treating you to a meal, but many of these ingredients were given to me by you." Luo Tingzhu sat upright, speaking with a bit of gentleness.

"Tingzhu, you yourself work very hard, and you learn quickly too."

"Let's eat first. After eating, you should still tidy up a bit. We'll eat and chat." Fang Ziye picked up his chopsticks first.

"Okay!"

After Fang Ziye started eating, he instantly felt a bit amazed.

He could cook some dishes himself, but compared to Luo Tingzhu's skill, he was still far behind; after all, Fang Ziye hadn't cooked for many years, but Luo Tingzhu's cooking skill belonged to the very tasty stage.

Luo Tingzhu didn't maintain a lady's grace, but she didn't wolf down her food either.

"Senior Brother, do you really agree to have a meal with Doctor Li and them? You actually already knew their intentions; there's no need to give them hope." Luo Tingzhu asked this way.

After asking, she chewed in small bites, patiently savoring the taste familiar from her hometown's cured meat.

If nothing unexpected happened, she wouldn't be able to eat such a taste for a year from now on.

"Go take a look, they've invited so many times; always refusing isn't good either."

"Anyway, as long as I can keep my own bottom line, it's fine." Fang Ziye said indifferently.

It's just having a meal with the senior brothers who are furthering their studies; it's not like going into the dragon's pool and tiger's den, no need to be eaten until not even bones are left.

Luo Tingzhu heard this, nodded, and smiled at Fang Ziye with narrowed eyes.

Wanting to say something, but in the end, still didn't say it out loud.

Fang Ziye ate three big bowls in a row.

Then he voluntarily went to the kitchen to wash the dishes, only then seeing Luo Tingzhu had gone into the room to tidy up.

Fang Ziye also helped out a bit, and only then at nine o'clock did he take his leave from her doorway.

Luo Tingzhu didn't go out very far to see him off; Fang Ziye just called out to her to rest early.

After going down two floors, Fang Ziye's steps paused slightly.

Looking at the chat page, he found Luo Tingzhu was editing a message to her editor.

Looking at the chat interface where the other party was typing...

Fang Ziye voluntarily replied: "Be more careful after going abroad, but you've already contacted a familiar Senior Sister to pick you up, so there shouldn't be any problem."

"Mm, I will, Senior Brother." Luo Tingzhu finally replied like this.

"Rest early. Only after resting well will you have the motivation to go abroad and fight monsters..." Fang Ziye said a slightly playful sentence, then continued walking downstairs with big strides.

The walk-up building had six floors; Luo Tingzhu lived on the fifth floor.

How could Fang Ziye not realize that once Luo Tingzhu left, it would be a year, at least half a year.

In half a year, he wouldn't see her following him or cooperating with him on experiments anymore, nor see the snack pack she carried on her back, nor enjoy her occasional snack feeding, and even less have a Junior Sister voluntarily do experiments for him, help him book laboratory or Training Room operation tables.

And no one would help him prepare some practice materials when he went to the Training Room to practice operations.

It's just that Fang Ziye felt he couldn't be too emotional; otherwise, if Luo Tingzhu really didn't go abroad, what would she do later?

Fang Ziye couldn't guarantee that if Luo Tingzhu couldn't find a better job later and couldn't stay at the Hospital, he could still give her what kind of good future.

Without a diamond drill, don't take on porcelain work.

Rich people can rely on their foundation; people without money can only rely on mutation or effort.

As for selling the future, Fang Ziye absolutely couldn't do such a thing.

Everything in life is actually walk-and-see. Sometimes adding more relationships means adding more fetters. Even if the final result isn't good.

But whose life hasn't left behind regrets?

Compared to finding a pretty girlfriend, Fang Ziye would rather establish his career first, then consider such things.

"Senior Brother, you really want to go to UCLA Medical Center? You could choose somewhere better," Luo Tingzhu asked.

University of California Los Angeles Medical Center is the full name of UCLA Medical Center, located in Los Angeles, where Chinese people are most concentrated.

This is because Luo Tingzhu's own reserves are insufficient, but when Fang Ziye goes overseas, he can choose somewhere better.

"Mm, this place is pretty good too. Mainly to go learn things, not to go treat disease," Fang Ziye replied in the message.

Not actively creating fetters doesn't mean having no thoughts at all, just that there's no need to be too straightforward.

If there really is fate, then appropriate hints are enough.

Fang Ziye doesn't have much of a future to sell.

As Master Yuan Weihong once said, as a supervisor, Yuan Weihong now is at his most fragile, but likewise, as a man, Fang Ziye knows that now he himself is at his most fragile.

Looking to the future, Fang Ziye does feel his future is promising, but this future, Fang Ziye himself can't precisely estimate it, so how to sell it?

"Peh peh peh." Luo Tingzhu sent three characters.

"I should arrive in Los Angeles at the end of August," Fang Ziye said.

"Mm, I know." Luo Tingzhu's words were short.

Fang Ziye didn't reply again, but as he walked toward his rental house, he slightly raised his head to look at the sky.

Approaching March is actually when spring is just right, but Fang Ziye felt the air was still somewhat dry, and his nasal cavity inexplicably felt a bit sour and astringent...

But what if?

But reality has no such thing as "but what if."

Regardless, time still passes in a flash.

The next day, the people seeing Luo Tingzhu off at the airport weren't many—only Fang Ziye, Jie Han, and Yan Zhiming; no need for too many people.

And even Lan Tianluo was excluded by Luo Tingzhu from the send-off, but after Fang Ziye and the others got in the car, only Fang Ziye knew that Lan Tianluo had already arrived at the airport last night to wait.

Lan Tianluo at this moment, who knows in what corner he's hiding.

He won't show himself, just silently see his sister off.

With three people accompanying her, Luo Tingzhu's luggage was no problem at all.

After arriving at the airport, Fang Ziye and Jie Han pushed her along quickly to the check-in counter.

Han City has no direct flight to Los Angeles, so Luo Tingzhu still needs to transfer once, but for Luo Tingzhu, this isn't something she can't accomplish or that's challenging.

Everyone thought Luo Tingzhu would say a few more words to them before turning to walk inside.

Yan Zhiming was still telling Luo Tingzhu something on the side: "Tingzhu, after you get to the airport, Master gave you a contact information; this is someone you can contact, a student of a professor that Internal Medicine Master knows, currently also going overseas to that medical center..."

But Luo Tingzhu suddenly turned around very boldly and hugged Fang Ziye.

This process lasted only three seconds!

During these three seconds, Yan Zhiming's voice continued, but the last few syllables were somewhat chaotic.

Jie Han beside him made a stand-at-attention pose, but hadn't yet had time to stand at ease.

Fang Ziye hadn't yet had time to properly savor the soft fragrance in his arms and the lingering faint scent of her body...

Then Luo Tingzhu ran off with her backpack and snack pack, because her luggage had already been checked, she had no burden at all, she ran incredibly fast...

And today she deliberately wore a big hat, covering her head, completely unable to see her red earlobes and neck.

(Chapter End)