Xu Chen was stunned again.

He had a whole arsenal of retorts ready, prepared to channel Zhou Yang.

But the one thing he hadn’t anticipated was Jiang He’s reaction.

Watching Jiang He start to walk away, Xu Chen couldn’t help but blurt out:

"Aren’t... aren’t you afraid? If our team gets results before you, publishes the paper first, and files the patent first, all your current efforts will be for nothing. Aren’t you worried at all?"

Hearing this, Jiang He stopped and said:

"To me, as long as this early screening technology is developed, it doesn’t matter at all whether my team does it or yours does."

"If you really can develop this technology before I do... I will thank you, from the bottom of my heart."

With that, Jiang He continued on his way.

He left Xu Chen standing frozen in place, completely dumbfounded.

There wasn’t a trace of hypocrisy in Jiang He’s tone, only pure sincerity.

In that instant, Xu Chen felt an unprecedented sense of suffocation.

The gap in their mindsets... was clearly even greater than the gap in their medical skills.

Xu Chen was starting to understand.

Why the unattainable girl of his dreams had shown interest in Jiang He.

’Wasn’t it just because I’m too childish?’

The thing about Xu Chen was, he was quick to self-reflect, but also quick to have an epiphany.

For example, right now, his thought was—

’I’m totally going to be that cool next time!’

Xu Chen had it all planned out.

The next time the opportunity arose, like when the two teams were about to face off and trade barbs, he would drop this line:

"To me, as long as this early screening technology is developed, it doesn’t matter at all whether my team does it or yours does. If you really can develop this technology before I do, I will thank you, from the bottom of my heart."

’BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!’

’I’m already getting chills just thinking about it!’

Xu Chen snickered to himself as he caught up to Jiang He.

He felt like he should definitely spend more time with Jiang He. The guy was a master at being cool!

If he could pick up a trick or two, it would be enough to last him a lifetime!

The two of them arrived at Yang Xu’s office.

Boss Yang was on the phone. He gestured for them to find a seat and continued his conversation:

"Right, Xiaoqing... We had an emergency case come in late last night. The situation was critical..."

"It was severe necrotizing pancreatitis. The patient was already in septic shock when they arrived. Mmm, I brought Jiang He along."

On the other end of the line, Wang Xiaoqing seemed to say something.

Yang Xu said nonchalantly, "Eh, I just had him step in as the third assistant to let him see how things are done."

"But then again, even though the kid is calm, professional, cooperative, efficient, and his technique is textbook perfect... he still has room for improvement. Can’t compare to your students, Xiaoqing..."

The director was humblebragging again.

Before he could finish, he was cut off. Wang Xiaoqing had clearly started letting the curses fly.

Even though he was being cussed out, Yang Xu just chuckled happily.

After she had vented enough, Wang Xiaoqing said in frustration, "Did you know, after Jiang He left my department yesterday, I made all my students do a deep blind suture simulation test."

"Oh? And how did it go?"

"A total wipeout. Not a single one was decent. Especially that Xu Chen, a top student from the eight-year program. He usually seems pretty sharp, but when it came to the actual procedure, it was a complete disaster."

As Yang Xu listened, the smile on his face grew wider, and he glanced at Xu Chen.

Xu Chen, thinking he was being praised, puffed out his chest and said earnestly, "Director Yang, I’ll get back to work now!"

The kid strutted away confidently.

On the other end, Wang Xiaoqing continued, "Old Yang, honestly, when you were first showing off about Jiang He’s LNR paper, I kind of thought it was just a lucky break. But after he passed the blind suture test in my department with a perfect score in under four minutes yesterday, I’m completely convinced. That kid, Jiang He, is no simple matter."

Yang Xu picked up his tea mug, took a sip, and said, "Right? I also think the kid has limitless potential."

Wang Xiaoqing: "Tch, that’s just you talking. You’ve never seen him do a deep blind suture with your own eyes. For that kind of work, seeing is believing."

Yang Xu chuckled to himself.

’Never seen it? I saw it with my own two eyes just last night! I just can’t tell you about it!’

Out loud, Yang Xu just laughed it off. "Yeah, when I get the chance, I’ll definitely have to make him do one for me so I can see for myself."

Over the phone, Wang Xiaoqing’s tone suddenly changed. "By the way, Old Yang, are you online much? Do you ever browse Dingxiang Garden?"

Yang Xu thought for a moment. "I check it out occasionally. Why?"

"Then have you noticed a new account that’s popped up? Called [Zhiyu]."

"Zhiyu? How is that written?"

"The ’Zhi’ from the word for ’persistence,’ and the ’Yu’ that’s written with the metal radical. Do you know any colleagues with that name? Or could it be an alt account for one of the big shots in our circle?"

"Zhi... Yu..."

Yang Xu tilted his head back slightly, quickly running through the names of all the well-known experts and professors in the fields of general surgery and hepatobiliary surgery in the country.

Not a single name matched those two characters.

Yang Xu shook his head. "No one comes to mind. Why? Is this person a big deal?"

Wang Xiaoqing nodded. "This person is getting a bit famous on the forums. Just yesterday, a student from Southern Medical University sent them a private message asking for help with a case of severe pancreatitis complicated by infection and necrosis."

"And then?" Yang Xu asked.

"Then Zhiyu replied, proposing a ’staged’ minimally invasive treatment strategy."

"I’ve heard about that. The theory does sound very advanced. It’s still a very gray area in our country right now."

"It’s not just advanced, it’s incredibly well-developed! I spent half the night studying their proposed plan. I feel that based on this staged strategy alone, as long as there’s enough clinical data to back it up, they could easily publish several papers in top-tier journals!"

Hearing such high praise from Wang Xiaoqing, Yang Xu couldn’t help but be moved.

He knew very well how high her standards were.

For her to say all this meant that whatever this Zhiyu had come up with was the real deal, through and through.

"It seems the forums are full of hidden masters," Yang Xu sighed sincerely. "There’s always someone better out there. We spend all our time on the clinical front lines and think we’ve seen every difficult case imaginable, but it seems our thinking is still too narrow."

"Tell me about it. I’m dying to know who this Zhiyu really is. I have a lot of questions about the specific operational details of that staged treatment strategy, like the method for expanding the retroperitoneal space, that I’d love to discuss with them in person. I sent a private message, but they haven’t replied."

Yang Xu nodded. "Alright, I’ll ask around for you in our circle over the next few days. If I hear anything, I’ll let you know right away."

"I’ll leave it to you then, Old Yang. I have to go prep for surgery."

"Go on. Hope the surgery goes smoothly and you get off the table safely."