Surgery Godfather
Chapter 723 - 644 Cook More Rice

Chapter 723: Chapter 644 Cook More Rice

Song Yun’s car turned off the bustling Wangfujing and onto Shuaifu Garden Road.

What came into view was the classical architecture with green tiles, flying eaves, and colorful painted beams; this was the old building of the Xiehe.

Amidst the lively urban setting, this venerable edifice stood out with its dignity and steadiness. It stood mature, detached from worldly affairs, and proud yet not complacent.

Rigorous, meticulous, diligent, dedicated, generation after generation of the Xiehe people have left a legacy as pure and profound as the old building.

"Would you like to rest in the hospital guesthouse first?" Song Yun decelerated the car and moved on slowly.

Yang Ping shook his head: "No, if it’s possible, I’d like to see Professor Liang first."

Song Yun immediately called Director Hu Guolin, telling him Yang Ping’s intentions. Director Hu agreed happily, urging Song Yun to take Yang Ping to Professor Liang’s house as soon as possible, as Yang Ping’s visit might lighten Professor Liang’s illness slightly.

"We are heading to Professor Liang’s house now." Song Yun quickly picked up speed, rushing toward the community where Professor Liang resided.

Director Hu was already waiting at the entrance to the community. These days, whenever he found time, he would go to Professor Liang’s home. He was in Professor Liang’s house when Song Yun called him.

This was an old community near Xiehe. The gatekeeper - an elder gentleman - knew Director Hu.

Upon meeting Yang Ping and Song Yun, Director Hu led them to park, and then guided them up the stairs to Professor Liang’s home.

The door was opened by Professor Liang’s wife, Teacher Luo, who was the chief physician for cardiology at Xiehe.

"Teacher Luo, this is Yang Ping from Nandu Province. He’s come to see Professor Liang," Director Hu introduced.

The hospitable Teacher Luo quickly brought out slippers: "Please come in, Xiao Yang."

Although this was her first time meeting Yang Ping, she had heard his name countless times.

"This is a small token of the southern specialties." Yang Ping hastily offered his gift.

All their luggage was in Song Yun’s car, and Yang Ping only carried a small gift of southern specialties as a token of respect for meeting them.

"You’re too kind."

Teacher Luo gladly accepted the gift with a smile, inviting everyone into the living room, making everyone comfortable, and then served tea.

Professor Liang’s house wasn’t large, about seventy to eighty square meters. Small and large bookshelves could be seen everywhere. There were several bookshelves in the living room, and many books stacked on top of the TV cabinet as well. Books were the most common sight in their house.

"He has been locking himself in the room without eating much for three days. He also had a fever yesterday," said Teacher Luo with evident concern, pointing to a bedroom door before knocking softly.

"Old Liang, Yang Ping from Sanbo Hospital is here!"

As soon as the words fell, a sound of rustling came from the room. Soon, the door was opened.

Professor Liang, struggling a little, staggered into the living room:

"Xiao Yang, I’ve been a bit under the weather these days, why did you come here?"

"I heard you were unwell, so I had to come and see you." Yang Ping quickly offered his support.

Professor Liang stretched out a hand to Yang Ping:

"Sit! The house is a bit cramped."

Yang Ping, Hu Guolin, and Song Yun all helped Professor Liang to sit on the sofa.

Director Hu knew Professor Liang was suffering emotionally. Now that Yang Ping had appeared, it lifted his spirits. If Yang Ping kept him company and had a good chat, it might make him feel much better emotionally.

This was also why Director Hu had asked Yang Ping to visit Professor Liang.

"How’s the preparation for the paper on the spinal external fixation frame?" Sitting on the sofa, looking weak, Professor Liang took a sip of the hot tea brought by Teacher Luo and inquired.

Yang Ping answered respectfully, "I’ve already submitted it to ’Science’."

"Good, very good. That’s the kind of confidence we need to compete on the world stage. We Chinese are not inferior to anyone. But of course, confidence alone isn’t enough, we also need strength."

Upon finishing, Professor Liang covered his mouth with a handkerchief and coughed lightly.

"Have you started any new projects lately? Start a new project as quickly as possible. People tend to become indolent if they procrastinate."

"I’ve started one, it’s about cultivating muscle from stem cells," Yang Ping answered.

"Oh---"

It seemed that Professor Liang was very interested in this project, but at the same time, it also made him feel a pang of worry.

When this topic came up, Director Hu wanted to steer the conversation elsewhere, but Professor Liang insisted on discussing it, and Yang Ping discreetly hinted that it didn’t matter.

"Indeed, our country has initiated a considerable number of stem cell projects, but the quality of the results is not high. Many technologies are advanced by others. The United States and Japan are currently leading. Xiehe Hospital’s stem cell project has been stalled for a while. We originally wanted to learn the American technology, but they wouldn’t let us learn. Afterwards, we changed our strategy to attract talent, but unfortunately, we couldn’t find suitable talent. It seems we must abandon our illusions and take it step by step ourselves." Professor Liang took several sips of hot tea, sweating profusely, while Teacher Luo passed him a towel.

"Today, let’s have dinner at home. Let Teacher Luo prepare a few dishes," Professor Liang instructed his wife.

Knowing that the old professor was deeply troubled by this matter, Yang Ping didn’t hold back: "Old Liang, actually, I have some ideas on stem cell research. The first step is to capture inducible factors. I’ve read publicly published papers and can reverse engineer their methods from the results reported in these papers. Those methods are not something special, efficiency is too low. I have a better set of methods."

If it were someone else saying this, Professor Liang would definitely dismiss it as a comforting tale intended for children. But when said by Yang Ping, it carries a different weight.

Professor Liang had a vivid memory of Yang Ping’s research capabilities; he had completed the spinal external fixation project from initiation to clinical application in just a few months.

"I have an analysis report on current stem cell research here. Old Liang, if you’re interested you can take a look at it." Yang Ping took out a report from the bag he carried with him.

This was his analysis of the leading-edge results, and the articles were selected from top-tier journals, so the analysis report was representative.

A critical part of the analysis report was a reverse-engineering of experimental methods.

Reverse engineering requires excellent logical reasoning abilities, to deduce methods based on conclusions and publicly available information.

As Professor Liang flipped through the report page by page, he found that the analysis techniques inside were a perfect combination of logical reasoning and stem cell knowledge. After reading each page, he glanced at Yang Ping.

As he read, his complexion improved, and he quickly read through more than a dozen pages before temporarily putting the report down.

"Yang, what can I say about you? If you had spoken up about this report earlier, I wouldn’t have embarrassed myself so much. Worse, the embarrassment was all for naught," Professor Liang said, laughing.

Yang Ping then took out an experimental report from his bag and handed it to Professor Liang: "This is my experimental method. Take a look."

Professor Liang quickly read through more than a dozen pages, then stared at Yang Ping in silence for a few seconds before lowering his head to continue reading the report.

There were two reports: one was an analysis of existing methods, the other proposed new methods.

One of them involved cultivating cartilage from stem cells, a technology with which Professor Liang was very familiar. Yang Ping’s proposed method felt to him like a new window had been opened in his mind, revealing everything clearly.

"Did you come up with all of this on your own?" Professor Liang asked in disbelief.

Yang Ping nodded: "Yes, I’ve already kick-started my project. If everything goes smoothly, I should be able to capture a few inducible factors soon."

Yang Ping merely said ’a few’ very conservatively.

"Very good, very good! Go prepare some food for lunch, cook some extra rice and a few more dishes." Looking as if he’d had a shot of adrenaline, Professor Liang stopped sweating, and his voice regained its vigour.

Teacher Luo was smiling and content.

Having gone three days without eating much, his stomach must have been growling. If only this Yang had come a little earlier, he wouldn’t have had to lay in bed for three days.

"Yang, come here. Explain this method to me in detail---Hu Guolin, Song Yun, don’t just stand around, go to the kitchen and help with the vegetables."

Grabbing the experimental plan, Professor Liang started reading again and asked Yang Ping to sit beside him.