Free Web NovelChapter 28: Chapter 28: Bound to Be Hurt by Love
Jiang He thought about it. He hadn’t planned on keeping this a secret anyway.
So he said, "Yeah, I’m planning to go to the medical records room at Affiliated Hospital No. 1 to look up the case files of pancreatic cancer patients from the past five years."
"Look up case files?" Cheng Xiyao was a little surprised. "You’re third-years who haven’t even started your clinical rotations. What are you looking up case files for?"
"To organize data. I want to conduct a large-sample retrospective analysis on the lymph node metastasis rate in pancreatic cancer and see how it correlates with postoperative prognosis. If the data looks good, I think I can write a paper."
Even though Cheng Xiyao was only a third-year, as one of the top students in their department, she read her fair share of academic literature.
"Are you trying to... revise the current TNM staging system?"
Jiang He glanced at her, a little surprised.
’This girl is so smart? No wonder she managed to get a Ph.D. in my past life.’
"Correct," he said. "The current positive-versus-negative classification is too crude. We need to look at the ratio."
Cheng Xiyao fell silent for a few seconds, clearly assessing the project’s feasibility and value.
After a few moments, she looked up, her tone serious. "Jiang He, I’m not going home for the National Day holiday either."
Jiang He: "?"
"Five years of case files is a massive undertaking. The workload is too much for just a few of you," Cheng Xiyao said, hugging the books in her arms a bit tighter. "Can I join? I’m a fast typist and proficient with Excel. I can help you with the data entry."
Jiang He frowned slightly.
’His first instinct was to refuse. He didn’t want any unnecessary complications.’
’I’m doing this project to get published in a top-tier journal and gain certain privileges. I brought my roommates along to use them as free labor and, in the process, help them get recommended for grad school.’
’Adding the department belle to the mix might cause some unnecessary misunderstandings.’
However, Jiang He quickly ran through the workload in his mind.
There had to be at least several hundred, if not a thousand, pancreatic cancer surgery cases from Affiliated Hospital No. 1 over the past five years.
For each paper file, they’d have to dig through pathology reports and surgical records, extract the total number of dissected lymph nodes and the number of positive ones, and then enter it all into a spreadsheet.
Three guys doing such tedious, mechanical work might be able to power through the first couple of days on sheer enthusiasm.
But by the third or fourth day...
...knowing Wang Bo’s and Li Zijian’s personalities, they would definitely start complaining nonstop, and their efficiency would plummet.
’Having guys and girls work together makes the work feel less tiring.’
’That’s a universal truth of teamwork, no matter the era.’
’If Cheng Xiyao were there, knowing those three, they’d get all pumped up and start showing off like crazy.’
’You couldn’t even get a workhorse to be that effective.’
Besides, many hands make light work, and she was high-quality labor.
Objectively speaking, it was all pros and no cons.
With that in mind, Jiang He nodded.
"Alright. But I’ll warn you now, the work will be in the basement archives. It’s dusty, and reviewing case files is incredibly tedious. It’s not as glamorous as you might think. This is pure grunt work."
"I’m not afraid of hard work." Seeing him agree, a smile touched Cheng Xiyao’s lips. "As long as I can learn something, I’m willing to do the grunt work."
"Then it’s settled," Jiang He said. "Meet at the entrance of the Affiliated Hospital No. 1 outpatient building at eight in the morning on the first. Bring a water bottle and a mask."
"Okay, see you on the first," Cheng Xiyao nodded.
Jiang He said no more and turned toward the stairwell.
Cheng Xiyao, meanwhile, took out her phone and sent a text message to her family:
[Mom, I’m not coming home for the holiday. There’s a great research project at school, and I need to stay and help.]
...
By the time Jiang He got to Cafeteria No. 2, Chen Hao had already gotten their food and saved a spot.
"Old Jiang, over here!" Chen Hao waved.
Jiang He went over and sat down.
His tray held shredded potatoes and braised pork belly.
"All done talking?" Chen Hao asked, gossiping as he shoveled rice into his mouth. "What did the department belle want? Don’t tell me she came to confess her feelings, did she?"
"She asked a question about neuroanatomy," Jiang He said, picking up his chopsticks.
"That’s it?" Chen Hao’s face fell in disappointment. "I thought she was so impressed by your first-place glory that she was going to offer herself in marriage."
"Don’t be ridiculous," Jiang He said as he ate. "By the way, Cheng Xiyao asked about our project just now. I agreed to let her join us over the holiday to go through the data in the archives."
"?"
Chen Hao was stunned. He quickly asked, "Old Jiang, are you serious? The department belle is coming with us to do grunt work in the basement?"
"Yeah. An extra pair of hands is always good."
Chen Hao silently put down his chopsticks, pulled his phone from his pocket, and sent a text to Li Zijian and Wang Bo.
[URGENT MEGA-GOOD NEWS! The National Day overtime work package has been upgraded! The department belle, Cheng Xiyao, is joining the archives’ brick-hauling squad! Everyone better be on their A-game! No one is allowed to ask for time off!]
Wang Bo/Li Zijian: [!!!]
’The ’mixed company’ plan seems to be working wonders.’
Jiang He looked at Chen Hao across from him. "How’s it going with the tickets?"
Chen Hao put down his phone. "Oh, I got an update. The thing is, only plane tickets are left. And Old Jiang, the airlines are total sharks these days. Not a single cent off for the holiday—it’s all full price! The tickets are crazy expensive, a round trip is nearly two thousand. For the sake of you finally meeting your online girlfriend, I’ve really gone all out this time. It’s costing me a fortune!"
Jiang He nodded. "Thanks."
"We’re brothers. Don’t mention it."
Jiang He then asked, "That card you slipped me yesterday, how much money is left on it?"
Chen Hao tilted his head back, thinking. "You spent three hundred and eighty on that down jacket you bought online. The card originally had fifty-five hundred, so there should be a little over five thousand left now."
Jiang He did a quick calculation in his head.
’Round-trip plane tickets will be around two thousand.’
’Once I get up north, I’ll need money for a hotel, to take Shen Yu out for a few nice meals, and to buy her some warm clothes and supplements for the winter...’
"Hmm..." He nodded hesitantly. "That should be just about enough."
Chen Hao: "?"
He was utterly speechless, completely exasperated.
’I mean, come on, that’s five thousand yuan!’ frёewebηovel.cѳm
’What in the world does he mean by "just about enough"? Since when is five thousand yuan "just about enough"?’
Chen Hao said, "Old Jiang, that money on the card was for you in the first place. Spend it however you want, I won’t say a word. But the thing is... it’s five thousand yuan! You’re not really going to spend it all on some girl from the internet, are you?"
Jiang He didn’t respond.
Chen Hao grew anxious. "I don’t want to see you walk into a trap, man! Scammers online are so sophisticated these days! They’ll just use a pretty girl’s picture, call you ’darling’ a few times, drain you of your money, and then block you. You’ll never even know who or where they are!"
Jiang He still said nothing.
Seeing that Jiang He was completely unfazed, Chen Hao could only let out a long, helpless sigh. freewёbnoνel.com
"You... you’re still too naive. Online dating is a minefield; you’re in over your head. Whatever. You have to get your heart broken sooner or later. Just think of it as paying for a life lesson. It’s fine, I guess."
Jiang He deliberately teased him, "What if she’s a good person and we actually hit it off?"
Chen Hao shot back instantly, "If you actually manage to meet your online girlfriend and it’s a success, the day you get back, I, Chen Hao, will personally go to the airport and greet you with a giant banner! Then I’ll go run three laps around the north field, shouting ’Long live online dating!’ the whole time."
Jiang He chuckled. "Alright, you said it."
Chen Hao: "I said it!"
The two of them cleared their trays and walked back to their dorm room.
Back in the dorm, Jiang He assigned tasks to the group.
Wang Bo would be in charge of pulling the pathology reports and surgical records.
Chen Hao and Li Zijian would handle summarizing and data entry.
Cheng Xiyao would be responsible for double-checking the work.
While he was explaining, Li Zijian, knowing the department belle would be there, kept fussing with his hair, trying to look good.
Jiang He said, "Keep that up and you’re not coming."
Li Zijian instantly straightened up.
After assigning the tasks, he went to his bed for a nap. He glanced at his phone and saw the class monitor was going all out in the group chat.
Zhou Yang: [Guys, I just went to the utility room to get some water, and guess who I ran into? Li Wei! Brother Wei!]
Zhou Yang: [I swear I went over with the best of intentions, just to comfort his wounded heart!]
Zhou Yang: [I said, "Old Li, I heard you got a 76 on the test? That’s not bad! Really, that’s pretty good!"]
Zhou Yang: [And then I said, "Wait, no, compared to our classmate Jiang He’s perfect score, it is a little lackluster. But don’t feel too bad, it’s the taking part that counts!"]
Lin Yue: [True.]
Zhou Yang: [And you know what? His face turned beet red, and he just turned and ran back to his dorm. So, fam, did I do the right thing?]
The group chat instantly exploded with rows of "HAHAHAHA" and laughing penguin emojis.
Chen Hao sat on his bed, cracking up.
Wang Bo added, "The class monitor really knows how to rub salt in the wound. That was brutal."
Jiang He casually hit the back button to exit the group chat and clicked the shortcut to his QQ Zone.
The simple WAP page loaded slowly.
At the very top, Little Mihu had posted a new status.
[SOB SOB SOB... To keep my brain from turning to mush, I forced myself to refuse the bubble tea my roommate offered me at lunch! They’re so mean! They know I’m controlling my sugar intake, but they keep buying yummy things to tempt me! It’s too much! WAHHH... Rubbing my hands together, can’t wait for my ’warm autumn gift package’ to arrive! [Pouting][Pouting]]
Jiang He could already picture Teacher Shen’s pouting face.
His expression instantly softened, a gentle warmth spreading in his eyes.
’She’s so cute.’
He pressed the lock button, clutching the phone in his palm. He couldn’t help but start looking forward to his upcoming trip up north.
