I Am Diagnosed as a Medical Titan

Chapter 17: Chapter 17: Jiang He, Where Were You Last Night?

Jiang He skipped his afternoon classes and went to the library.

After dinner, he headed to Lecture Hall 2, where a banner hung over the entrance:

[BROADENING KNOWLEDGE THROUGH DILIGENT PRACTICE, UPHOLDING MORALITY TO SERVE HUMANITY—PRELIMINARY ROUND OF THE THIRD ANNUAL CLINICAL PATHOLOGY DIAGNOSTIC THINKING COMPETITION]

The place was packed.

Chen Hao scanned the crowd. ”Old Jiang,” he said, ”look over there. Aren’t those the fourth and fifth-year upperclassmen?”

Jiang He followed his gaze.

Compared to the third-years, the fourth and fifth-year students had a distinctly different presence.

Some were even wearing white lab coats, gathered in small groups.

Their topics of discussion weren’t World of Warcraft or the cafeteria food, but yesterday’s medical cases, the department director’s rounds...

At the Medical School, upperclassmen held a natural authority over the lowerclassmen.

Chen Hao tutted, then added, ”Li Wei seems to be doing pretty well for himself.”

And there was Li Wei, right in the middle of a small clique of upperclassmen.

He was wearing a Nike polo shirt and a Casio sports watch, his hair styled to look mature. He was laughing and chatting animatedly with several upperclassmen in lab coats beside him.

Li Wei, the top student of Clinical Class 1, was the collective rival of everyone in Class 2.

Just then, he said something that made two fifth-year upperclassmen beside him roar with laughter.

One of them even gave Li Wei a familiar pat on the shoulder and offered him a cigarette.

Li Wei waved his hand, declining, but his casual confidence drew envious glances from many of the third-year students nearby.

At their age, being on such good terms with fifth-year upperclassmen doing their rotations in major hospitals was, in itself, a testament to one’s clout.

It meant you had resources, connections, and even someone to look out for you when it was your turn to start your internship.

”Hmph, that guy...”

Chen Hao curled his lip and said resentfully, ”He’s nothing special when it comes to studying, but he’s number one at networking.”

Jiang He looked away and smiled faintly. ”His grades aren’t bad, though, right?”

”That’s just because he’s lucky! And the professors grade him generously!”

Chen Hao said urgently, ”Hey, Old Jiang, why are you talking him up and putting us down? We’re carrying the hopes of our entire class here!”

”This won’t do. I need to call for backup. I’m calling Zijian and Old Wang right now to see if they know any upperclassmen. We need to form our own clique too. We can lose the match, but we can’t lose face!”

Jiang He stopped him from pulling out his phone. ”There’s no need.”

”Why not? Just look at how smug he is!”

”It doesn’t matter.”

Just then, Li Wei seemed to sense their gazes from across the room.

He murmured something to the upperclassman beside him and started walking over.

”Oh crap, he’s coming over,” Chen Hao said, bracing himself as if for a battle. ”Old Jiang, don’t back down. I’ve got your back.”

Jiang He found it a little amusing.

This sort of childish, playground-style confrontation seemed utterly immature to him.

”Jiang He.”

Li Wei approached, his tone surprisingly polite. ”This is unexpected. I heard from your class president that you signed up too? I thought you weren’t interested in this sort of competition.”

Jiang He nodded. ”Just here to see what it’s about, maybe learn a thing or two.”

”Good attitude,” Li Wei nodded, speaking with the condescending tone of a veteran. ”You’re right to come and learn. This kind of competition isn’t like your usual exams. They test your practical application skills. Just memorizing textbooks is useless; you need to have clinical thinking.”

As he spoke, he angled his body slightly.

”See that upperclassman over there with the glasses? That’s Brother Zhang. He’s interning in the general surgery department at Affiliated Hospital No. 1 right now. He just gave me a little inside info. Said there’s a huge number of questions this year, and a lot of case analyses that go beyond our curriculum.”

Li Wei said sincerely, ”Jiang He, we may be in different classes, but we’re in the same year. How about I take you over to meet him? Brother Zhang is a great guy. If you sweet-talk him a little, he might give you a few pointers. It’ll help you on the test later.”

Chen Hao tilted his head, pressing his tongue against the inside of his cheek.

He could, of course, read between the lines.

’This isn’t helping, it’s blatant showing off!!’

”Who gives a damn about meeting some upperclassman!”

Chen Hao stepped in front of Jiang He and said stiffly, ”You should rely on your own abilities for an exam. What’s the point of using all these underhanded tricks?”

Li Wei didn’t get angry, just shrugged helplessly. ”Hey, I’m just trying to be nice. We third-years are lacking in experience as it is. It’s always good to have more connections.”

Jiang He reached out and patted Chen Hao’s shoulder, signaling him to calm down.

Then he said simply, ”Thanks, but there’s no need. Maybe next time.”

Chen Hao felt incredibly frustrated and looked away resentfully.

As he did, his eyes landed on a girl in a long white dress holding a few books, coming up the stairs.

Cheng Xiyao.

She wasn’t wearing her usual ponytail; her long hair draped over her shoulders, giving her the complete ethereal, ’unattainable goddess’ look.

The department belle’s popularity was undeniable; a hush fell over the area as she appeared.

Li Wei noticed this too and visibly tensed up.

’The guy is chasing Cheng Xiyao.’

’A big reason he’s even in this competition is that he heard she likes guys with good grades.’

”Xiyao.”

Seeing Cheng Xiyao approach, Li Wei casually stuck one hand in his pocket. ”You’re here too? How’s the studying going? I was just chatting with a few of the upperclassmen about the likely topics for the test. Want me to...”

Cheng Xiyao gave Li Wei a polite nod. ”Thank you, but there’s no need.”

With that, she walked straight up to Jiang He. ”Jiang He.”

”Hm?” Jiang He looked at her.

”Where were you last night?”

Cheng Xiyao bit her lip, as if realizing her question could be misinterpreted, and quickly added, ”I looked all over the third floor of the library for you but couldn’t find you.”

Li Wei: ”?? ”

The surrounding onlookers: (⊙ˍ⊙)!

’What in the world is going on?’

’The department belle is initiating a conversation? She specifically went looking for him in the library? And now she’s come over just to ask where he’s been?’

’This is way too much information to process!’

Jiang He, on the other hand, was completely unfazed.

He knew Cheng Xiyao was an academic fanatic. She was probably looking for him about those unsolved pathology problems, nothing more.

”I switched study spots,” Jiang He answered simply.

”Where to?” Cheng Xiyao pressed. ”The library is already the quietest place on campus.”

”The anatomy building.”

”...”

Cheng Xiyao froze for a second, clearly not expecting that answer.

She looked at Jiang He and said earnestly, ”In that case, could I come with you next time? I’ve been studying neuroanatomy lately, and just looking at the atlas is too abstract.”

Upon hearing this, Chen Hao felt a wave of absolute vindication wash over him.

’Suck on that, Li Wei! You idiot! The goddess you’re chasing just asked to hang out with us! How do you like that? Huh? You want to see my hand? Get over here and shine my shoes!’

’It was like that scene in *Dragon Race* where the loser protagonist gets saved by the girl in the red Ferrari.’

’Honestly, if he had to choose right now, Chen Hao would willingly become Cheng Xiyao’s loyal puppy, ready to obey her every command from this day forward.’

But Jiang He was completely unmoved. ”Forget it,” he said. ”It wouldn’t be convenient.”

”Why?” Cheng Xiyao asked, confused.

”Chen Hao and I are conducting research.”

Cheng Xiyao let out a disappointed ”Oh.” ”Alright, then. Good luck on the test. By the way, after it’s over, I have a few questions I’d like to ask you.”

”We’ll see,” Jiang He said noncommittally.

Cheng Xiyao didn’t press the issue. She nodded to Chen Hao and turned to enter the lecture hall.

From start to finish, she and Jiang He had spoken for maybe a minute.

But Li Wei was already seeing red.

Especially seeing Jiang He’s nonchalant attitude—even turning down the goddess—made the anger inside him surge.

’Who does he think he’s fooling?!’

Li Wei took a deep breath, doing his best to maintain a dignified front. ”Good luck. I hope you pass the preliminary round. I’m looking forward to seeing you in the semi-finals.”

Jiang He shook his head. ”No, you don’t want to see me in the semi-finals.”

Beside him, Chen Hao added, ”He’s right.”

The two of them were perfectly in sync, channeling Zhou Yang and Lin Yue.

Li Wei: ”?”