Chapter 52: Struggling Hard (Asking for Collections, Asking for Follows)

"Do you prefer clinical work more?" As the outpatient clinic was about to end, Yuan Weihong looked at Fang Ziye, whose smile was blooming more happily than at any other time, and asked just that.

Over the past three years, Yuan Weihong had rarely seen his own student this happy.

Fang Ziye looked at his own Knowledge Points balance climbing back up to 22.1 after he had just improved his Trauma Surgery Basic Theory!

Turning his head, he said: "Master, I like both clinical work and research; I actually enjoy the process of exploring the unknown."

In his heart he silently said: Originally, the Knowledge Points brought by this exploration process were what made me happiest. But over time, I discovered this process itself is actually a kind of enjoyment.

"You still have to go to the laboratory tonight, right? I won't ask you to go out for a meal." Yuan Weihong glanced at the time on his watch; it pointed exactly to seventeen hundred hours, still half an hour before getting off work.

"Mm, Master, Junior Sister Luo has a transwell chamber experiment; today we still need to go check the incubation status." Fang Ziye nodded, and at the same time turned sideways to look out the door again, confirming no follow-up patients were waiting outside for the moment, only then pushing the door open a crack.

This made talking more convenient.

The leisure time on an outpatient day before getting off work is actually also worth enjoying.

Fang Ziye poured another cup of hot water into Yuan Weihong's disposable tea cup.

"Can you still get that kind of Songshu Mushroom from last time? I can buy some." Yuan Weihong suddenly asked this offhandedly.

"Ah? That season has already passed; early October was the last batch; it's very hard to find now, but I can help you ask around, Master." Fang Ziye's eyelids fluttered rapidly a few times.

Reasonably speaking, if the teacher wants something to eat, such a good teacher, one should think of every way to help.

It's just that off-season mountain delicacies really cannot be obtained just by trying; if they're the frozen kind, the flavor probably won't be that good either.

"If it's past season then forget it, don't trouble yourself; I was just asking casually. Don't take it to heart."

"What you need to pay more attention to is helping Tingzhu do the preliminary research for the grant application well; she is a Non-Quota Doctoral Student. Teacher Deng originally disagreed to her enrollment because the project funds were truly limited."

"The students Teacher Deng already had, plus the newly arrived Doctoral Students, he definitely has to guarantee they graduate first. If Luo Tingzhu wants to get more funding for projects, she has to put in a bit of effort herself."

"This is something that can't be helped. Actually, if she stayed in Internal Medicine, it would be pretty good." Yuan Weihong changed the subject.

Fang Ziye then said with a smile: "Junior Sister Luo probably took a liking to our Orthopedics teachers' robust muscles, so she came to our Trauma Surgery."

Yuan Weihong was startled upon hearing this.

Then he absently touched his watch and sighed: "For a child from an ordinary original family, sometimes beauty isn't luck, but a kind of original sin."

"This is life, a mess of trivial troubles."

This topic was too melancholy; Fang Ziye found it hard to empathize. His own family was relatively happy. Even now his parents were still willing to support him with about two thousand yuan a month for living expenses.

"Oh, right, Ziye, if your cell experiment technique operations are pretty good, all the experimental processes can be resolved in one to two times. On our funding account, we can save and free up a little bit to give you and Jie Han some labor fees." Yuan Weihong winked at Fang Ziye.

Fang Ziye looked thoughtful, his eyeballs rolling around once.

No matter which project funding, giving a master's student a little bit, say three to five thousand in labor fees, is normal — a legal, reasonable, and compliant expenditure.

It's just that a general funding account won't have this extra spare money. After all, not every person's every experimental process can be done in one step.

It takes several times to succeed, unless the proficiency is very high.

But Fang Ziye felt he had that little bit of a chance to save a bit more on experimental consumable costs; if so, there really might be a possibility of getting two or three thousand in labor fees a year.

Just, making such a horizontal comparison, it really is the dry dying of drought and the drowned dying of flood.

"Thank you, Master." Fang Ziye wasn't well-off either, so he didn't dare have any extra thoughts.

Yuan Weihong then shook his head: "Mm!"

"Funding must be used well, calculated carefully; where savings should be made can be saved, but where they must not be saved, absolutely cannot be saved. Strictly guarantee the sterile principle; pipettes are expensive, but use them when they should be used, guarantee the rigor of the experimental process."

"Saving money isn't done this way; the most important thing is to produce the results of this project, to push the door crack of science open a little bit. This is what we should do with the money the country gives us."

"Also, Jie Han's medical foundation is now extremely deep. His ability to apply for city-level and school-level projects is about the same as your foundation, so later on he might also bring in a bit more money for our team."

"One is project funding, one is project quantity; these are all good things."

"With money we can do things well." Yuan Weihong and Fang Ziye spoke words that couldn't be said outside.

……

The outpatient clinic ended; Fang Ziye didn't linger long. After helping Yuan Weihong put away his white coat, he went straight to the laboratory.

Teacher Deng's team was large, but Luo Tingzhu wasn't special, so she had no funding for experiments and needed to strive on her own. Since the preliminary research was sought from Yuan Weihong and he had agreed.

Then Fang Ziye, as a member of Yuan Weihong's team, naturally had to help as much as he could; otherwise Yuan Weihong would have to come to the laboratory himself.

And when Fang Ziye arrived at the laboratory, he discovered Luo Tingzhu had been guarding the laboratory the whole time, from two in the afternoon until six in the afternoon.

More worried about the experiment's progress than anyone else.

She didn't have much funding for the preliminary experiments for the grant application, so she couldn't afford the slightest waste or carelessness.

"Senior Brother Fang, I feel this culture dish is about ready for counting. Would you come take a look?" Luo Tingzhu hurriedly stood up upon seeing Fang Ziye arrive, and at the same time had already prepared sterile examination gloves, disposable mask sets, etc., for Fang Ziye.

"Mm, good. Have you eaten?"

"How about we order a takeout first?" Fang Ziye asked as he walked in.

"Already ordered, Senior Brother." Luo Tingzhu nodded, indicating her logistics work was done very thoroughly. She only had the cell babies and the experiment on her mind.

After the transwell experiment, cell counting must be conducted to objectively represent tumor cell invasion ability with data.

Since it is a preliminary experiment, only the direct counting method is needed.

Then, even with the direct counting method, certain experimental steps are still required to relatively objectively reflect —

First fix the cells well, no longer letting them move.

Use forceps to carefully remove the chamber, aspirate dry the upper chamber culture medium, use a cotton swab to gently wipe the matrigel and cells inside the upper chamber. Take a new 24-well plate, add 600ml of 4% polyformaldehyde, place the chamber in and fix for 20-30 min.

Then proceed with cell staining!

Remove the chamber, aspirate dry the upper chamber fixative, transfer to a well pre-filled with about 800ml of 0.1%-0.2% crystal violet staining solution, stain for 15-30 min. Remove unbound crystal violet, use a cotton swab to gently wipe the upper side of the chamber, wipe off the dye non-specifically bound to the chamber's upper surface, to facilitate subsequent microscopic examination counting…

This step, Fang Ziye anticipated very much, because whether it's someone else's cell experiment or his own, as long as he discovers it and participates in the experiment, there will definitely be Knowledge Points gains!

The two switched to the microscope…

*Note: Some experimental steps involved in this text are partly simplified versions, mainly dumped all at once; those who understand will understand, most people won't. Considering most readers' feelings, just get the general idea.

Summary: The transwell experiment tests tumor cell invasion ability; through technique it represents invasion strength. Operation isn't simple, but it's a tool to prove capability.

(Chapter End)