Chapter 209: So-Called Good Intentions (Seeking Subscription)

In a dog meat restaurant, when Fang Ziye found Shen Tao, his first impression was that Shen Tao had gone even balder.

The Mediterranean hairline seemed to have receded a bit further upward; he didn't know if it was a psychological effect.

But he had definitely lost weight, and his face was written full of fatigue, haggardness, helplessness, struggle, and bitterness.

"Teacher Shen! ~Want some milk first?" Fang Ziye knew he would be drinking alcohol, so he brought some milk along.

"Sure!"

"You haven't had dinner yet, right?" Shen Tao asked right away; clearly this was going to be a protracted tug-of-war.

While speaking, Shen Tao said he really couldn't find a drinking buddy in Enshi; perhaps Shen Tao knew that Huang Kai, who was about his age, also couldn't spare the time now, so he could only look for Fang Ziye.

"Teacher Shen, why don't you stay in Han City and rest properly for a few days, drink until you're recovered, then come back?" Fang Ziye asked.

Enshi has no drinking buddies; Han City has plenty.

Hubei Provincial People's Hospital Ben Yuan doctors, and my Master too. Didn't he come back?

"In Han City? Rest properly?"

"Ziye, I really envy you guys, being able to be so carefree."

"Do you think, me staying in Han City right now, am I an eyesore in the department, or a standout?"

"When I was taking the blame, the whole department including the hospital took the blame with me. Now that I'm not taking the blame anymore, they didn't get any benefits, not even a moment of false joy!"

"Stirred up a hornet's nest for nothing; who do I go drink with?"

"Go find your Master?"

"Damn it, Yuan Weihong that inhuman bastard, last night he puked acid until I nearly puked out my depression; how could I possibly feel good?" Shen Tao lamented, shaking his head slightly.

"Come, let's drink some beer first, then we'll slowly move on to the hard stuff later." Shen Tao poured Fang Ziye a glass of beer.

Fang Ziye could only follow suit.

After Shen Tao and Fang Ziye downed their drinks in one go, Fang Ziye realized he might have thought things too simply.

After Shen Tao went back, since he was verbally educated and also required to write a signed guarantee letter, naturally he was treated as an instability factor.

Shen Tao was pinned with the hat of fabricating rumors; the police must have contacted the hospital to criticize, and the hospital in turn contacted the Trauma Surgery chief to criticize.

The Trauma Surgery chief hadn't even had a chance to vent his anger, so he could only instruct others in the department to speak and act cautiously.

As a result, look at Shen Tao here — one turn and he became a little hero, even credited for whistleblowing; everyone else just got scolded.

Not fearing scarcity but fearing inequality — not saying Shen Tao drew universal anger, but the benefits you alone got while making everyone else feel bad, don't flaunt it; swallow it down and pretend nothing happened.

Then Shen Tao could only go find his own Master.

Fang Ziye asked thoughtfully, pouring Shen Tao more wine: "Teacher Shen, can my Master still out-roast you in complaining?"

The grievance Shen Tao now holds can be said to have reached the relative ceiling of the complaining world; with this matter, he's practically invincible.

"He really can out-roast me."

"I at least turned danger into safety in the end, even turned danger into victory; more or less, I got stained with a bit of bloody meat."

"Your Master, sigh, don't know how to put it."

"That Teacher of yours is really something. Since he got the advantage, don't act obedient about it, right? Clearly this year the bone sarcoma and hk2 related surface bid was won by him; he should just secretly rejoice."

"Yet he had to abuse public power for private gain and call your Master over to lecture him, saying yeah, if you want to go deeper in research, it's best to change direction."

"Currently……"

"Okay okay okay." Shen Tao suddenly realized, saying these things was just adding to Fang Ziye's worries; he just waved his hand.

"Come come come, let's do another one; seems like recently us two brothers have both been having a rough time." Shen Tao invited Fang Ziye to continue with another cup.

Fang Ziye's heart stirred: "Teacher Shen, what else did my Master say?"

Shen Tao said: "Of course, part of the reason your Master didn't roast me is because I used you; I said you're progressing much faster than him now that I'm guiding you, and I also told him you think the Provincial People's Hospital is pretty good."

"That's how I put myself in the lower position. Otherwise, your Master might not have been able to out-roast me."

Shen Tao explained.

As if winning a roasting match was still something glorious.

But his face was bitter; clearly it was suffering joy.

Fang Ziye thus realized that Teacher Shen Tao had also sensed his subtle emotional shift and didn't want to discuss Yuan Weihong's matter further.

Fang Ziye didn't press; he roughly got a direction, and would go ask the two fellow trainees himself later.

Just didn't know if they could know more details.

Shen Tao had his guard up, so Fang Ziye couldn't worm anything out.

They truly just acted as drinking buddies, accompanying each other drinking from after four in the afternoon until eight in the evening, then each went home.

Then Fang Ziye learned that Shen Tao's alcohol capacity was simply off the charts.

A case of beer — he drank twelve bottles, Fang Ziye drank four; one bottle of Wuliangye, 555 ml, Fang Ziye drank two taels.

Yet Shen Tao showed no drunkenness at all; although he spoke less and less, with the venting his mood ultimately improved a lot.

Fang Ziye was just a junior fellow disciple, a very good punching bag; Fang Ziye never talked back.

After scanning the QR code to settle the bill, Shen Tao's mood was obviously much better; he said: "Ziye, thanks, sorry for taking up so much of your time."

"No no, thank you Uncle-Master for treating me to drinks. Just Uncle-Master, your alcohol tolerance?"

"I count as not even touching the fringe." Fang Ziye said.

Eight liang of fifty-three-degree baijiu, twelve bottles of beer — in Fang Ziye's cognition that already counted as extremely fierce.

But Shen Tao rarely drank.

"Actually my alcohol tolerance isn't bad, but a long time ago I had mild fatty liver, just don't like alcohol, so normally I basically don't drink."

"Today counts as drinking to my heart's content."

"Ziye, if there's nothing else, shall we call it a night?" Shen Tao suggested.

"Teacher Shen, then let's take a taxi back together." Fang Ziye nodded.

"Alright! I'm going to rest a bit too." Shen Tao said, letting out a yawn.

Although there was a smell of alcohol, he couldn't see any drunkenness in him, and his walking showed no sign of staggering; it should be just the right amount of drinking, he could still take more inside, perhaps just slightly dizzy.

After returning to the community, Fang Ziye directly parted ways with Shen Tao.

He freeloaded a meal of wine with no special meaning, wasted some time, and Fang Ziye also had no time to complain and review; instead, after entering the community, Fang Ziye messaged Lan Tianluo and Jie Han to ask.

"Yuan's Trio" is the name of the three-person discussion group.

"Jie Han, Tian Luo, are you busy?"

"Did Master ever tell you two what he went out to do recently?" Fang Ziye asked.

Lan Tianluo didn't reply; Jie Han replied: "Seems he went to the neighboring province for a trip, but as for specifically where he went and what he did, Teacher didn't say."

"But both I and Tian Luo guess it might be related to the recently announced General Program Fund funding list."

"This year Master's General Project still didn't get funded, and the previous Youth Fund is about to reach project completion; if next year there's still no General Program sequential funding, next year Master might lose the qualification to bring students." Jie Han seemed to have seriously researched this matter.

"Master didn't say anything at all, right?" Fang Ziye asked further.

He himself wasn't in Han City; if Yuan Weihong had said something privately, Fang Ziye didn't have clairvoyance, so he definitely couldn't hear it.

"Mm, Master and Teacher Deng are the same, basically both only report good news and not worries. Emotional Management Masters." Jie Han replied with pursed lips.

"But actually it's fine; anyway, next year even if Teacher can have the qualification to bring students, there's no quota to bring students; this year wasn't Tian Luo forcibly swapped in? For the next two years he can't bring any." Jie Han then soothed Fang Ziye.

"Then that's settled!"

"Jie Han, you rest early too; if we can't get General Program funding, we just get more Provincial Level One and Municipal Level One, it's the same, just different funding forms, all giving money to the research group."

"If you need funds, just use mine directly." Fang Ziye, as Senior Brother, also said generously.

Inside the small research group, there's no need to split things too meticulously.

"Thanks Senior Brother, Tian Luo and I two used a bit, but not much; right now we've only used twelve thousand four hundred thirty yuan plus, exactly how much I forgot, but Tian Luo kept the accounts there." Jie Han said in a bit of a joker way.

"Five mao four, Senior Brother!" Lan Tianluo saw the message at this moment and added this sentence at the end.

Fang Ziye: "..."

"You guys use it; as long as you don't waste it too much, use it where it counts."

"No need to keep accounts this detailed; just collect the invoices and such." Fang Ziye said.

Research project funds, where would there be precision down to one mao!

Still five mao four.

However, after Fang Ziye spoke like this, he raised his head to look inside the elevator, at the light overhead, his gaze dimly flickering a few times.

If Yuan Weihong had spoken about this kind of thing, it would actually be fine; after all, his own Master is just this kind of personality; if he said it out, those are all things he doesn't care about.

The more something isn't mentioned, the more it's not a small matter; there's probably another hidden reason, unwilling to explain to himself and the others.

But this Teacher really did something inhuman; clearly the same research project, you got project approval, you just got approved, your foundation is good, accumulation is plenty, funding your project is reasonable.

But was it necessary to drag his own teacher over there, in the name of guidance, to make him switch fields? Could it be his own Master doesn't know he should switch directions?

Fang Ziye thought like this, and walked out of the elevator door.

Then he used the key to open the rented house door, walked straight in, and immediately ran to the computer, looking at the introductions Luo Tingzhu had previously shared with him about the frontier research ceiling research projects in basic research and animal experiments at the research group she's currently in.

"Really going to do it like this?"

"If I do it, the fifty thousand yuan prize money from the skill competition might be gone." Fang Ziye muttered to himself.

But immediately, Fang Ziye propped himself up again.

"At worst I still have five thousand yuan; Zhongnan and standardized training subsidies will come down soon, plus Masters will also feed me a bit; to hell with your fifty thousand prize money!" Fang Ziye immediately threw himself into it.

A person lives for a breath of spirit.

(Chapter End)