Chapter 581: Cutting Off the Tail to Survive

Han City, near Tongji Hospital, inside a private room.

Wu Xuanqi opened a bottle of red wine while enlivening the atmosphere, saying in a gentle tone: "Zhong Ge, you arrange it; today I'm responsible for the odd jobs."

"New year, I hope our team can continue to thrive, strive for several papers above twenty-five points, then see if we can open up a new clinical project situation."

Zhong Wenyuan was thirty-nine this year, an associate professor in Professor Duan Hong's group, soon to be promoted to professor, though he and Duan Hong were not in conflict.

Wu Xuanqi was thirty-four this year, only five years younger than Zhong Wenyuan; back when Wu Xuanqi was doing his master's, Zhong Wenyuan was just a small doctor, and Master Duan Hong was merely a tag-along associate professor.

Therefore Wu Xuanqi had always called Zhong Wenyuan Zhong Ge.

Zhong Wenyuan smiled and nodded toward Wu Xuanqi: "That mouth of yours, I don't know how many girls you've deceived; don't let the cat out of the bag, otherwise I'll immediately go tell your wife."

"Let me tell you, Wu Xuanqi, Tang Yue is our recognized sister-in-law; if you wrong her, from now on whoever you bring over will only be a girlfriend, and you won't be allowed to say the word 'wife' anymore."

Beside Zhong Wenyuan, Long Yuan sat calmly and at ease, holding a mobile phone, glancing lightly at Wu Xuanqi: "Zhong Ge's words make sense."

"Tang Yue and you can be considered childhood sweethearts; you broke up for so long, yet you can still get back together—such a girl, you cannot easily let her down."

Hearing this, Wu Xuanqi was stunned, pulled the cork from the red wine, and said: "Brothers, even if you don't trust my character, you should trust that I'm devoted to love!"

"Brothers, do you say I've ever toyed with your feelings?"

Beside Wu Xuanqi, Chen Tai Lin and Guo Haichao both nodded.

Chen Tai Lin immediately said: "Zhong Ge, Qi Ge has always said he'd introduce me to his cousin, but it hasn't happened yet; I've treated him to at least a dozen meals."

Doctor Chen Tai Lin had already graduated and was currently retained at the hospital, about to become chief resident.

Guo Haichao laughed after hearing this, scratching his head with his right hand, and asked: "Does your sister-in-law agree?"

Chen Tai Lin said: "Whether my wife agrees or not is another matter, but promised things must be done first, right?"

"Qi Ge doesn't keep promises! ~"

Zhong Wenyuan looked at this group of lively treasures, his face instantly darkened: "Xuanqi, since you came back, the atmosphere in the department has been spoiled by you; look at this, what kind of people are these?"

"You yourself will surely fall into it sooner or later!"

"Xiao Yi, Gonghua, you two must absolutely not follow their example; you must learn more good things." Zhong Wenyuan looked at Song Yi and Zhou Gonghua.

Song Yi was the most talented doctoral student in Professor Duan Hong's group's second-year batch, in the same cohort as Fang Ziye, and currently displayed excellent talent.

Zhou Gonghua had just entered the department this year and was also a capable hand.

Relying on his identity as Trauma Orthopedics Discipline Leader, Professor Duan Hong had attracted many big and small geniuses to him; the fellow trainees in his group could be said to be the top resources in Hubei Province.

"Alright, Zhong Ge! It's just that Qi Ge's cousin is too old; last time I saw our department's Fellow Trainee Dou Peng's cousin, she was quite pretty..." Song Yi gritted his teeth, speaking without a sound.

As the saying goes, if the beam is not straight, the rafter will be crooked.

After Wu Xuanqi's joke here broke the ice, basically no one failed to learn Wu Xuanqi's personality.

Long Yuan tapped the table: "Enough, enough, none of you act like lively treasures anymore; listen to Zhong Ge arrange this year's plan."

"After the New Year, everyone will have plenty to be busy with! ~"

Long Yuan was the attending physician in the group, and could also be called the housekeeper who contacted subordinates most frequently.

One sentence instantly suppressed everyone's playful smiles.

Zhong Wenyuan then said: "Our tasks for next year have three distribution routes, roughly covering clinical research, basic cell experiments, and animal experiments."

"The current division of labor at the start is relatively clear; I'll continue leading people into animal experiments, Wu Xuanqi will lead the clinical projects, and Long Yuan will be responsible for the progress of basic research."

"Master is responsible for project funding and project application procedures..."

"Within this, I need to further subdivide the labor."

"Chen Tai Lin, you previously studied bioinformatics and know some software knowledge, so further cultivate in this aspect."

"The reason Professor Deng Yong's team at Zhongnan Hospital can rise so quickly is fundamentally because they have a good hand at data statistical analysis."

"Same project, same results, different presentation methods can better move the magazine's editorial department; you can refine in this aspect, and the year after next you'll also have to lead your own students..."

"Master's meaning is to let you become the data analysis architecture foundation of the entire project framework, horizontally supporting the project group's rapid operation."

"Guo Haichao, your current main task is graduation, hospital retention, and work; our hospital's competition is great, so for now put down the project group work in your hands, honestly specialize in clinical operations, and be single-minded."

"Song Yi, Xuanqi values you the most; your clinical ability and research ability are also relatively higher when combined in our group, so continue following Wu Xuanqi and strive to later take up the position of clinical research group leader."

"As for Zhou Gonghua, you temporarily follow me first; animal experiments are good basic research projects, complementing each other; you must quickly learn to get started!"

"There are too many fellow trainees in the group, but today I only called you over; all were selected through biased selection."

"The team is large, the number of people is many, so it's good for doing things, and can better twist into one rope."

"By the way, Song Yi, that professor you previously contacted—can he still make time now?" Zhong Wenyuan asked this.

The project group being able to successfully establish relations with a professor from Kyoto University's College of Computer Science was inseparable from Song Yi's contribution!

"Zhong Ge, I estimate it can't be done; the abduction failed! ~"

"It's broken! ~" Song Yi scratched his head, feeling some regret.

Not all girls are willing to follow him, running from Jingdu to Han City to 'eat bitterness'!

Zhong Wenyuan: "..."

Wu Xuanqi's phone made a sound; he pushed several bottles of red wine to Song Yi beside him: "Song Yi, pour drinks for everyone."

Wu Xuanqi slid open the phone screen with one hand, then looked at the unread messages inside.

After looking for only a few moments, Wu Xuanqi's face changed greatly!

Then he very quickly replied with a voice message: "Is the news reliable?"

Everyone was chatting with each other, mainly listening to Zhong Wenyuan's lecture, and naturally didn't notice Wu Xuanqi's expression and tone changes.

"Absolutely reliable. Wei Ge's personality is open and unrestrained, dissolute and unbridled, actually also another kind of doing things cleverly, just not wanting to accidentally hurt! ~"

"Wei Ge should know you have someone passing messages to him at Zhongnan Hospital." On the other side of the phone, a message was sent.

Wu Xuanqi quickly typed back: "It doesn't matter; neither you nor I know, nor have we seen Yuan Weihong's project proposal and project progress; I'm just guessing wildly."

"Even if these chat contents are exposed, it doesn't matter; discussing others' research directions is a very normal thing!"

"Thank you, Song Ge! ~" After typing, Wu Xuanqi put away his phone, and his gaze quickly converged.

After roughly half a minute, Zhong Wenyuan paused the allocation, and Wu Xuanqi quickly interjected: "Brother Zhong, I need to report something to you."

"Fang Ziye has started closing the net and counterattacking, coming on fierce; we have to hurry and withdraw from the osteosarcoma energy metabolism basic research!" Wu Xuanqi's voice was decisive and cautious.

"Withdraw now?" Zhong Wenyuan paused at those words.

"Why? Fang Ziye isn't the synonym for taboo." Zhong Wenyuan did not know the content of the information Wu Xuanqi had seen.

Wu Xuanqi tapped the tabletop rapidly, clearly weighing the pros and cons very seriously.

"Fang Ziye isn't taboo, but he has a bit of the primeval giant beast about him; his personality is even more ferocious than his teacher's."

"I've met with him a few times before, and didn't take his words seriously."

"Now, I believe the best choice is to withdraw."

"Our funding input has already been converted into research paper output, so it's not a loss; but if we continue entangling deeply, we'll be mired in a quagmire!"

Funding was invested, but papers were obtained, so it doesn't count as a loss.

Not all research funding can be solidly converted into substantive achievements that are clinically useful and make you a god in the research world in one stroke!

"Elaborate! See if there's room to maneuver." Long Yuan also grew curious.

Everyone has spent time and effort advancing along this pathway; if we retreat just like that, the time investment cost isn't very cost-effective.

It also doesn't look good to just admit cowardice directly.

"According to reliable information, Fang Ziye has gone through every single pathway related to hk2 inside osteosarcoma sugar metabolism." Wu Xuanqi said, running his tongue around his lips.

It wasn't that he wanted to be flirty; this action was his involuntary subconscious reaction when startled.

"Eh—!" Long Yuan and Zhong Wenyuan both caught their breath at those words!

Both pairs of eyeballs bulged slightly outward.

Song Yi narrowed his left eye: "Fang Ziye isn't the type to take big strides and talk nonsense, is he?"

"How come he's walking that way now?"

Song Yi has interacted with Fang Ziye, and knows Fang Ziye is extremely cautious.

"He made a move, which means he must have something to rely on; when Fang Ziye interacted with me before, he acted too confident."

"We must treat this with caution!"

"Withdrawing now involves almost no sunk cost; but if we don't retreat, we'll truly have to clash head-on with real swords and spears."

"Fang Ziye has the animal experiment model as a natural barrier on the hk2 pathway; it's very hard for us to land before him."

"Everyone who has relevant data, hurry up and deal with it; this is my suggestion!" Wu Xuanqi replied.

Precisely because Fang Ziye is defined as cautious in everyone's labels, every step he takes should be carefully considered.

"One Fang Ziye made us change direction; it feels a bit uncomfortable." Long Yuan pinched his nose, then touched his throat.

Wu Xuanqi nodded: "Brother Yuan, uncomfortable it certainly is, but we mustn't forget, Fang Ziye last year started in April and didn't finish until October!"

"He dragged it out three times over!"

"And it was a major three, not some trivial minor three."

Mangled extremity limb salvage surgery, functional reconstruction surgery, improvement of the microcirculation instrument.

No matter how many people are cooperating behind Fang Ziye, the progress and speed of such projects are staggering.

Key point: Fang Ziye's team takes every step very solidly, with no loopholes or exploitable openings.

At the time, Professor Duan Hong led a team wanting to find a gap and get ahead of Fang Ziye's team; they had just begun laying the groundwork when Fang Ziye's side had already produced results!

Wu Xuanqi continued: "If we consider that Fang Ziye's osteosarcoma hk2 knockout animal experiment model was created by him single-handedly, his depth of understanding of this pathway — we probably can't match it!"

"Competing with him on speed, even winning is a miserable defeat; losing means total annihilation!"

So-called winning or losing actually means two teams each occupy half or a 60-40 split of achievements on the hk2 pathway.

Wu Xuanqi estimated that if it's a 60-40 split, their team would definitely be the one getting the 40.

This isn't boosting others' morale and destroying our own prestige!

Zhong Wenyuan followed up: "Xuan Qi, didn't you say Fang Ziye concentrated a large amount of time in Enshi on teaching and clinical surgery?"

"And didn't crazily enter the lab?"

Wu Xuanqi nodded: "This information is reliable, but thinking about it this way makes it even more terrifying; perhaps just as we previously guessed the worst possibility, Fang Ziye simply never took what our group did before seriously at all!"

"What kind of pervert have we run into?" Wu Xuanqi's tone was conflicted.

He really couldn't imagine that with his learning speed so fast, even mangled extremity limb salvage surgery and functional reconstruction surgery, he entered the field less than half a year ago and can already integrate and master them thoroughly.

At such speed, he surprisingly doesn't even have the strength to parry against Fang Ziye.

This is something Wu Xuanqi completely cannot imagine!

"Then you report to Master later; actually Master sees further, and predicted our entry and exit patterns in advance." Zhong Wenyuan's tone was relatively cautious.

Before everyone planned this matter, they naturally consulted Duan Hong.

Duan Hong analyzed the possible outcomes at the time.

One, the team wins big, Fang Ziye is forced into passive defense, and for the next several years he'll be entangled in remedial measures for Yuan Weihong, unable to advance further. This is impossible.

If Yuan Weihong and Deng Yong at Zhongnan Hospital only have this much ability, and everything needs Fang Ziye to save the situation, then Deng Yong could have gone home to raise pigs long ago.

Two, mutual struggle, each with their own merits!

In the end the two project groups each take half the territory, secure the fruits, shake hands and make peace, then compete in other directions.

Three, grab the benefits and leave.

The final result was that Duan Hong did not advise Wu Xuanqi to waste time in this way.

However considering that Wu Xuanqi is after all the disciple Duan Hong values and trusts most, he also couldn't just let Wu Xuanqi become Fang Ziye's permanent foil!

Doing research, if you don't even have the courage to compete, then you're destined not to become a great vessel.

Hearing this, Wu Xuanqi picked up his mobile phone: "I think it's more than that!"

"Brother Zhong, I'm not eating this meal; I have to go report to Master right away!"

"After Fang Ziye opened up the situation, he naturally wouldn't enter the fray himself; instead, he set up a beginning and then threw the matter to others to handle."

"Him?"

"If he's coming for me! ~ I might be in no small trouble." Wu Xuanqi said this very cautiously, then stood up and left.

Leaving the private room, Wu Xuanqi settled the bill first, then drove straight to Professor Duan Hong's home.

Today is a workday, the first workday after Spring Festival; although it's not the group's surgery day, Duan Hong has already taken on a consultation surgery, at a tertiary private hospital in Han City.

So, Wu Xuanqi chatted with his master's wife while waiting for Duan Hong to return.

Duan Hong's mood was quite good; the quality of today's consultation surgery must have been very high.

Seeing Wu Xuanqi, Duan Hong said cheerfully, "What? Come to freeload a meal again?"

"Bought vegetables yet?" Duan Hong joked.

"Master, my master's wife and I agreed to eat out; have you eaten yet?" Wu Xuanqi stood up with a cheeky grin to greet him.

Not too polite, nor overly restrained, but in a family tone, he reported the result he and his master's wife had agreed upon.

"Fine then, so you're just going to not let me in the door the moment I get back?"

"Let's go? Where did you book?" Duan Hong tossed his keys toward Wu Xuanqi.

……

After hearing what Wu Xuanqi told him, Duan Hong was also surprised to the point of being unable to close his mouth.

This Fang Ziye's appetite is really too big, to actually do something this 'atrocious'.

"A major project like this, if not handled well, the final sunk cost will be very high! ~" Duan Hong was still relatively calm.

If Fang Ziye were to counter point-by-point, Duan Hong would actually feel a bit guilty; his greatest strength, clinical research, has been blocked by Fang Ziye several times, forcing him to swallow back the words he was about to say.

Research is like speaking; after gathering sufficient evidence, you announce your discovery to the whole world, using data to support your research results.

Medical research is especially so.

Many fields of research have 'blockade lines'; take our country's Qian Lao — after returning, he published very few papers, but not a single person dares deny his academic status.

But medicine doesn't.

This also causes some countries with insufficiently rigorous medical development, like India, to unilaterally scrap and alter international patents, putting all developed drugs directly into production and use.

The benefit of doing this is that the country's common people can directly enjoy the convenience and efficacy of existing developed drugs.

The drawbacks are of course many; first, the country basically gives up competition in the medical track, it can be said they'll spend a lifetime trailing behind others eating dirt; the country's so-called patents, don't even think about them ever having a day to stand out; the country's medical devices and drugs also cannot enter the international market……

No country will welcome you pirating their stuff, then selling it back to them.

Moreover, domestic research is almost in a state of chaotic disorder; when others publish research results, for some key technical points, they substitute nouns instead of elaborating in detail on a drug's development process, only giving the specific structure.

There are even more other drawbacks.

"Master, you once told me Fang Ziye is a very steady person." Wu Xuanqi said.

Duan Hong smiled: "If he weren't steady, he'd have entered the Academician Workstation long ago, and even now his starting point would be higher; if you compete with him again, the pressure you'll face will be even greater!"

"Even, even with the current situation, if those few big shots speak up, even I would have to weigh things carefully! ~" Duan Hong said.

"You should know, Master supporting you guys in doing this kind of thing is actually walking a tightrope!"

If Duan Hong's rank were even a little lower, it would be insufficient to support Wu Xuanqi and the others in a head-on clash with Fang Ziye.

"Master, cutting losses in time is a good thing; Ziye gave me the 3D printing data before, I was already at a disadvantage; now continue stubbornly butting heads with him?"

"If it were me, I don't have the guts to lay out such a big situation like Fang Ziye! ~" Wu Xuanqi shook his head.

What on earth are the things Fang Ziye did? Wu Xuanqi previously didn't even dare imagine them.

Now Fang Ziye has actually done them all; he's already fallen half a beat behind.

Even if he continues to follow up, in the end he'll only be reduced to 'foil'!

When the whole wolf pack are wolves, a few huskies mix in; even if there's no life danger, the scene appears exceptionally out of place.

"Anyway we have lots of things to do; if we delay then delay."

"Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river!"

"Year after year, withering and flourishing — this is nature's unchanging law." Duan Hong viewed it openly, just a little heartache for Wu Xuanqi.

Wu Xuanqi's era is much harder to survive in than back in his day.

Duan Hong continued: "But perhaps Fang Ziye's final landing point may not be at the position you and I are focused on, so it doesn't affect what you want to do."

Hearing this, Wu Xuanqi fell silent!

He lost.

……

Wu Xuanqi is also a rather orthodox research worker, so he has the habit of cleaning his email every day.

However, today when he cleaned his email, he discovered there was an unread message in his inbox.

"Respected Doctor Wu (doctor Wu), first of all, thank you very much for choosing our journal for submission, and for publishing a high-quality article in our journal."

"……"

After some polite pleasantries, the final outcome's contrast made Wu Xuanqi find it hard to believe!

"However, based on our editorial team's re-examination and consultation with some peer review experts' opinions, it is unanimously believed that the conclusions and argumentation process of your published article have certain flaws."

"This letter is to invite Doctor Wu to revise and supplement the conclusions and argumentation evidence of the published article."

"Our editorial department expects your timely revised manuscript, thank you! ~"

"Cancer Discovery editorial department."

If not for seeing the editorial department's full name at the end, Wu Xuanqi would have thought someone was joking with him.

Of course, after seeing it, Wu Xuanqi found it even more laughable.

How could it be?

His own research group's conclusions — how could they not be rigorous enough? How could they be questioned by someone else's letter?

A letter (a letter to the editor) is a form of article; its content can be an academic report, or something else, for example raising doubts about the verification of someone else's published paper!

Internationally, many teams use this paper format to churn out publications, while simultaneously plugging gaps in already published articles.

Wu Xuanqi did not take it seriously at first.

So he carefully read through the conclusion, experimental methods, and evidentiary chain of the finalized manuscript once more.

He quickly replied to the editorial information: "Respected Editorial Department, after reading the information you sent, I immediately re-examined our published article, and concluded after relatively cautious deduction."

"The argumentation process and argumentation methods of this paper have no problems whatsoever, including the argumentation conclusions which also have no problems……"

"Don't disturb Daddy, Daddy has work temporarily, I'll come play with you right away, okay?" At the study doorway, Wu Xuanqi's wife Tang Yue's gentle voice followed a young girl into view.

After Wu Xuanqi clicked send with the mouse, he immediately stood up, spreading both arms: "Su Su, come here, Daddy will hold you."

Tang Yue smiled and said: "You go ahead and be busy if you have something."

Su Su is Wu Xuanqi's daughter Wu Tong's nickname; it has no particularly special meaning.

"I'm just organizing my email, did Su Su poop today? She seems a bit constipated……" Wu Xuanqi asked.

"She pooped once already, rest assured……" Tang Yue is also a doctor, but as a mother, she also cannot escape the eating, drinking, defecating, urinating problems of children.

……

Enshi, at the entrance of a barbecue restaurant.

Li Yuanpei looked at Fang Ziye in surprise: "Ziye, you're so ruthless? We thought you'd be frantic with worry?"

"No wonder you look so leisurely! ~"

Fang Ziye replied unpleasantly: "How is this ruthless? This is called friendly communication, okay?"

"Where's the leisure? I'm just preparing my follow-up moves."

No choice, Fang Ziye's theoretical foundation in bone tumors is mainly not deep enough, but his skills in basic experiments are already maxed out.

It can be said, Fang Ziye now wants to find fault with a research project, there are very, very many loopholes.

Wanting to muddle through with non-rigorous argumentation methods is impossible!

Level 6 skills are no joke; without equally formidable characters to back you up, as long as you appear on the scene, it's a dimensionality reduction strike.

Level 6 seems born for improvement and finding loopholes.

Actually, according to the general understanding of current basic research, Wu Xuanqi's published paper has no problems in logic or argumentation methods.

However, this argumentation method itself is not rigorous enough, including Wu Xuanqi's demonstration of the connection between hk2 and mirna, which is a generalizing bridge, not a data-driven deduction!

In research papers, there are quite a few such generalizing bridges, and nobody usually scrutinizes them, but if someone has pointed out your error and you still don't correct it, that's impossible!

Correcting this kind of argumentation method is quite difficult!

Xiong Jinhuan lowered her voice and asked: "Ziye, what if after you point it out, the paper becomes even more rounded and smooth, wouldn't that solidify their research project even more?"

Fang Ziye said calmly: "That's even better; this result can be used directly from now on, it's just a matter of citing it once."

"Research must be rigorous, constantly correcting."

Fang Ziye then picked up a barbecue wing, took a bite, mouth full of meat, voice slightly muffled: "But to perfect this argumentation method will consume quite a bit of time."

"Even if Professor Duan Hong's team can't find suitable helpers, the editorial department will keep pestering them, blocking them! ~"

"The editorial department people don't do anything else anyway."

Xiong Jinhuan is relatively familiar with and sensitive to the letter paper format, and asked: "Ziye, did you persuade the editorial department?"

"Of course! ~" Fang Ziye nodded.

"Our research group is among the first batch of people to cross the threshold in osteosarcoma energy metabolism, our preliminary research accumulation is the deepest."

"So I went to tell that editorial department, and gave a fairly clear correction plan, how could they not believe it?"

Li Yuanpei: "……"

"Ziye, this move of yours cutting off the firewood under the cauldron is ruthless enough! ~" Li Yuanpei gasped.

He could imagine how much it would affect one's mindset after a paper is published and the editorial department comes back asking for revisions.

If things go wrong and the manuscript gets retracted, it might end up on academic gossip news.

Fang Ziye continued: "What's ruthless about this? He rushed straight to my Master's face, coming directly."

"I don't believe they really just happened to coincidentally go deep into this research direction."

"If I don't fight back, wouldn't that show I have no temper?"

"But then, the even more ruthless part might be in the back."

"I'll help them complete it later! ~" Fang Ziye finished speaking, and took another bite of meat.

As the saying goes, killing a person, not killing their heart.

Killing and destroying the heart counts as the highest thickness of insult to a person.

Just hearing Fang Ziye say this, Li Yuanpei could imagine others' reactions.

You want to hit me?

Didn't hit? I'll help you!

"Will this create a feud?" Xiong Jinhuan asked with some worry.

Fang Ziye said: "Before they took this step, they should have asked this question; we are the late movers, so we don't need to ask."

"Actually I've done this kind of thing before." Fang Ziye spoke halfway, then swallowed it back down.

Wu Xuanqi's matter, has he Fang Ziye done it before?

Of course, when facing his Teacher before, Fang Ziye also moved forward first, directly cutting off that Martin Yong Teacher's 'retreat'!

It's just that what Fang Ziye produced was the hk2 knockout animal trial model, and Martin Yong couldn't find any flaws.

He also didn't have Fang Ziye's current depth of theoretical accumulation; if he did, he wouldn't bother contending with Fang Ziye and Yuan Weihong over anything, he'd have long since returned to kill, using Deng Yong and Professor Dong to raise the banner.

It can be said that, objectively speaking, Deng Yong and Professor Dong the two of them might truly have hurt the two Teachers.

However, from Fang Ziye's angle, the two Teachers' actions hurt his Master Yuan Weihong; as for you suffering grievance, what the hell does that have to do with me?

"Can you elaborate?" Li Yuanpei asked further when he saw Fang Ziye hesitate.

"Obviously not, otherwise I would've finished speaking." Fang Ziye said.

"Eat first, then have some drinks. Tomorrow you and Sister Huan both have to enter the lab! ~"

"Let me thank you on behalf of my Master again!" Fang Ziye raised his cup first.

Li Yuanpei said: "Wei Ge treats us very well. Him thanking us is his business; the friendship between us three belongs to us few."

Li Yuanpei turned his head to look at Xiong Jinhuan: "Sister Huan, we also won't have any exclusionary attitude toward you because of Professor Han."

"Our generation, we agreed long ago: no entanglement with past grievances, no discussion of past romance!"

"We're all post-90s now, why remember the previous generation's grudges so clearly?" Li Yuanpei was very smart, seemingly talking about the three-person team's relationship, but actually comforting Fang Ziye.

"..."

【Author's Note: Approaching the mid-term, some specific thoughts and submission details won't be padded for word count. There was foreshadowing earlier, and everyone roughly understands the submission procedure. Please forgive me, readers. Adding more details would just be padding word count.】

(Chapter End)