Free Web NovelChapter 20: Chapter 20: The Ambition to Rewrite the Textbook
Everyone thought Jiang He had lost his mind.
Wang Bo secretly kicked Li Zijian under the table.
Li Zijian got the hint. "Hey, Old Jiang, I’ve been thinking it over, and you’re totally right. Flowers? Bags? So cliché! It has to be a roasted sweet potato. It... uh, warms the hands, warms the stomach, and warms the heart! You’re the one who really gets women!"
He continued, "I’ll go buy one at the campus gate and take it to Sweet right now. While it’s still hot! Maybe I can smooth things over with her tonight!"
"Sit down." Jiang He shot him a glance. "What’s the rush? Go after we’re done eating."
Li Zijian grinned cheekily and sat back down. "You got it. Whatever you say."
As the tension eased, Chen Hao saw that Jiang He had calmed down. He used it as an opportunity to change the subject. "Oh, right, did you guys hear? Old Jiang isn’t going home for the National Day holiday, and he isn’t staying on campus either."
Wang Bo asked, "Then where’s he going?"
Chen Hao pointed north. "He’s traveling a thousand miles to meet someone he met online!"
Wang Bo and Li Zijian: "?"
"Huh? Meeting someone online?" Li Zijian’s inner gossip flared up. "Old Jiang, you have a picture of her? Show us. Your bros will help you check her out."
"No picture," Jiang He said.
"No picture?" Li Zijian asked again. "What about her QQ profile? She must have a photo album, right?"
"It’s locked."
"Ah..." Li Zijian clicked his tongue. "Old Jiang, listen. Based on my years of experience, no open photo album means one of two things: either she’s not much to look at, or this person doesn’t even exist! You’re traveling all that way... I’m afraid you’re in for a rude awakening."
Online dating in ’08 was, indeed, just as he described.
It all depended on an internet cable and boundless imagination.
Countless young men and women, full of dreams, would board those slow, green-skinned trains, only to end up crying their way home from a station in the cold.
Wang Bo pushed up his glasses and offered a rational analysis. "Li Zijian is usually full of it, but I think he’s right this time. Old Jiang, this impulsiveness isn’t like you. Why don’t you... talk to her a bit more first?"
Jiang He shook his head. "No need."
Seeing Jiang He was dead set on it, Li Zijian could only sigh. "Fine, fine. I get it. Everyone’s young and reckless once, right? But Old Jiang, if things don’t feel right when you get there, call me immediately. Your bro will send you money for a ticket home. Just don’t let some pyramid scheme get ahold of you."
Everyone laughed for a bit, and the topic naturally shifted to the upcoming long National Day holiday.
"Speaking of which, what are your plans for the National Day holiday?" Jiang He asked.
"Me?" Li Zijian said. "If the sweet potato gambit pays off, I’m gonna shamelessly bug Sweet to go downtown with me, see a movie, that sort of thing. If I crash and burn... I’ll just be in the dorm grinding World of Warcraft. My guild is starting a new raid progression, anyway."
Jiang He looked at Wang Bo.
Wang Bo shrugged. "Couldn’t get a train ticket, and I’m too lazy to cram onto a bus. I’ll just stay here in the dorm. I just bought the *Ghost Blows Out the Light* series, so I plan to hole up and read for a few days."
Jiang He: "And you, Chen Hao?"
Chen Hao said, "I’m planning to do some more studying. I want to really dig into the Chapter on pneumothorax."
The three of them answered just as Jiang He had expected.
Back then, entertainment options for university students were actually quite limited.
Most students who couldn’t get tickets just stayed in their dorms playing cards, reading novels, or gaming all night.
Jiang He nodded, then suddenly spoke up:
"Since none of you have plans, how about we work on a project together?"
The area around the malatang stall was noisy and chaotic, but their small table suddenly fell silent for a second.
"Huh?" Chen Hao asked for clarification. "What kind of project are you talking about? A... startup?"
"No," Jiang He said. "A research project. A clinical retrospective study on the lymph node metastasis rate in pancreatic cancer."
Li Zijian scratched his head, a look of complete confusion on his face. "Old Jiang, we’re only juniors. We haven’t even started our clinical rotations. All this talk about cancer and metastasis rates... isn’t that stuff for grad students?"
Wang Bo’s brow furrowed. "Old Jiang, are you serious? To do research, you need a lab. We have no funding, and we don’t have an advisor. How could we possibly do it?"
"We don’t need any of that."
Jiang He said, "All we need to do is reorganize the few hundred case files from the last five years in the archives of the Pathology Department at Southern Medical University First Affiliated Hospital. We can get a paper out of that."
The three of them were dumbfounded again.
’Publishing a paper... is it really that simple?’
Jiang He explained, "In the current TNM staging system, the criteria for N-staging—the lymph nodes—are too crude. They only consider the presence or absence of metastasis, not the extent of it. Clinically, that’s illogical."
"It’s just like that multiple-choice question on the exam earlier. A simple positive or negative result can’t explain why some patients relapse six months after a seemingly successful surgery."
"So, if you reorganize the data according to my instructions, we could have an SCI paper published right after the holiday. It might even be a Q1 article, the kind that could rewrite textbooks."
Jiang He said all this in one breath and then watched his roommates quietly.
The three of them stared at each other, completely lost. They didn’t understand a word he was saying, but it sounded impressive as hell.
But...
’Could it really be as amazing as he says?’
"Old Jiang..." Li Zijian grimaced. "I get it, and I trust you, I really do, but... come on, it’s a break. Can’t I just relax? I still have a girl to win back."
Wang Bo, ever the rational one, threw some cold water on the idea. "I don’t think it’s that simple. The Pathology Department at Affiliated Hospital No. 1... it’s not like we can just waltz in whenever we want."
Jiang He explained, "I’ll figure that part out. You don’t need to worry about it."
Hearing this, Chen Hao, on the other hand, voiced his support. "I’ll help you, Old Jiang. I’m free anyway. I can just treat it as good practice."
Although he was supportive, the underlying tone of his words clearly showed he didn’t believe Jiang He could succeed.
"I know what you’re worried about," Jiang He said. "You think it’s a long shot and a waste of time, right? That’s fine. Let’s make a bet."
"Bet on what?" Li Zijian asked.
"Let’s bet on tomorrow’s exam results. The rankings will be posted first thing in the morning. If I get first place in this preliminary round, you give me your National Day holiday. We’ll pull off something big together. What do you say?"
"First place?"
The three of them were dumbfounded yet again. freeweɓnovel.cøm
’A third-year student who finished the exam in forty minutes... what gives him the confidence to say he’ll get first place?’
’Could he... actually be a genius?’
"I’m in," Wang Bo said first. "If you can get first place, I’ll skip my break and help you."
Li Zijian nodded too, adding casually, "Fine. I guess my date can wait."
Chen Hao nodded emphatically. "Count me in. If you get first place and crush Li Wei from Class One, I can even rally more classmates to help you out."
Jiang He shook his head. "We won’t need that many people. Once this paper is published, the three of you will almost certainly be guaranteed a spot in grad school. This is an opportunity you can’t afford to miss."
’A guaranteed spot in grad school?’
His three roommates were so stunned they were left speechless.
’This Old Jiang... he really dares to say anything, doesn’t he?’
’Let’s just see if he can get first place and show us what he’s made of.’
「Meanwhile.」
In the administration building of the School of Basic Medical Sciences, inside the third-floor grading room.
Professor Wang Xiaoqing picked up Jiang He’s exam paper and prepared to grade it.
