I Am Diagnosed as a Medical Titan

Chapter 134: Chapter 119: My Life Has Been Like Walking on Thin Ice

The next day, the advanced class was called for an emergency meeting. It was particularly emphasized that Jiang He had to be there.

The morning air on campus was growing cooler.

After that torrential downpour, it felt like the seasons were about to change.

’I wonder if Teacher Shen’s cold has gotten any better.’

’I should transfer some money to Juanzi later so she can buy some nourishing soup for my girl.’

Leaning on his crutch, Jiang He arrived at the academic building.

In the hallway, a few students saw him and immediately stopped what they were doing, silently parting to make a path for him.

Their eyes were filled with respect.

As time went on, the story fermented, and the reputations of Jiang He and Chen Hao grew. They were even given a nickname: the Southern Medical Double Killers.

The students had come up with the name because the two had been covered in blood at the time, which was a frightening sight.

Rumor had it that someone had even written wuxia fanfiction about them on the Southern Medical University BBS.

Jiang He was ”Chief Surgeon Asura,” while Chen Hao was ”Pneumothorax Rakshasa”...

Inside the advanced classroom.

The moment Jiang He walked in, everyone stopped their discussions and rose to their feet.

Pan Wen, who was on good terms with him, immediately hurried over. He pulled out a chair for Jiang He and even thoughtfully turned it at an angle so Jiang He could stretch out his casted leg.

”Thanks, senior,” Jiang He said with a nod.

How could Pan Wen dare accept being called ”senior”?

He said in shame, ”Jiang He, I used to think you were just strong on theory with steady hands. After last night... I’m truly humbled. If there’s anything you need me for in the future, just say the word.”

Jiang He nodded, not saying much.

Meanwhile, Xu Chen also came over on his own initiative and greeted him politely. ”Morning, bro.”

”Morning,” Jiang He replied simply.

Change was always subtle.

Now, no one in the advanced class looked at Jiang He as just a ”gifted third-year junior” anymore.

Instead, they saw an outstanding doctor who could be called upon to be the chief surgeon at a moment’s notice.

It wasn’t even... all that different from how they looked at the professors in their own departments.

Respect was always found in the details.

A male student in the front row, holding a notebook, asked nervously, ”River God, I have a question, if you don’t mind. I was looking at an atlas of abdominal anatomy last night. Regarding the blind suture for a ruptured splenic artery with massive hemorrhage, when you have no visual field, how exactly do you judge the depth and angle of the needle by feel? I tried simulating it with gauze, but I’m always afraid of puncturing the venous plexus.”

Jiang He replied, ”The wall of the splenic artery is thicker than the vein, and its elastic resistance is different. When you’re working blind, you first need to probe the vessel wall with your finger. Once you feel that tough rebound, use it as your guide. Hold the needle driver in your right hand against the pad of your finger and insert the needle at a 45-degree angle. Don’t hesitate. The more you hesitate, the larger the tear. Next time you’re in the lab, you can try it with a discarded pig spleen and its attached vessels. Practice finding that feeling of resistance.”

The student nodded repeatedly as he listened, quickly jotting down the key points in his notebook. ”I get it. Thanks, River God.”

Tang Pei, who was sitting toward the back and to the side, also came over with a research paper and asked:

”Boss, about our miRNA project, I was looking at the materials you gave me last night. When extracting RNA, if a tissue sample is left at room temperature for over two hours after excision before the Trizol reagent is added, won’t the RNA degradation rate have already risen exponentially?”

Jiang He replied, ”There’s definitely a time lag between clinical sampling and lab processing. Our standard procedure must specify that within 15 minutes of excision, the sample must either be flash-frozen in liquid nitrogen or immediately submerged in an RNAlater preservation solution. Leaving it at room temperature is out of the question.”

Tang Pei nodded thoughtfully and returned to his seat.

Jiang He’s answers were crisp and decisive, but inwardly, he was a little worried.

As the miRNA early screening project progressed, he was beginning to realize it was far more complex than he’d first imagined.

This was especially true this morning, after he’d received a quote from the equipment supplier’s agent, Xiaoli.

’An imported ABI 7500 Real-Time PCR System for three hundred eighty thousand.’

’A Thermo ultra-low temperature freezer for seventy thousand.’

’A high-speed refrigerated centrifuge, a biosafety cabinet, a NanoDrop micro-volume spectrophotometer...’

’Total price: nine hundred fifty thousand RMB.’

The string of numbers made him feel the stark reality of how difficult it was to start a research project in 2008.

And that didn’t even include the cost of converting the three-hundred-square-meter factory space in the High-Tech Zone into a cleanroom.

Nor did it cover the subsequent costs of imported TaqMan probes, primers, and extraction kits, which would be consumed like water.

The two million from Wang Kuan, even if he managed to double it in the stock market, wouldn’t last until the day their large-scale, multi-center clinical trial for pancreatic cancer yielded results.

The funding gap was even larger than he had imagined.

Besides, the biggest fear in scientific research wasn’t burning through cash; it was the long stretches without any positive feedback.

The ultimate goal—early screening for pancreatic cancer.

That could take six months to a year to produce results.

A timeline that long wouldn’t just shake investor confidence; it would also seriously erode the motivation of the younger team members.

’I need to find a breakthrough.’

Jiang He had spent last night poring over research. Considering the state of medicine in 2008, he realized he could break down the massive miRNA project into smaller parts.

He could start by tackling a smaller category, a sub-project that could yield results quickly.

He set his sights on the early prediction of Severe Acute Pancreatitis (SAP).

In 2008, while the clinical diagnosis of acute pancreatitis was well-established, one major pain point remained unsolved:

It was extremely difficult for doctors to accurately predict within the first 24 hours of admission whether a patient with mild pancreatitis would suddenly deteriorate into the highly lethal severe form of the disease.

The Ranson or APACHE II scoring systems either required waiting 48 hours for biochemical markers or were too cumbersome to use effectively.

If he could extract specific miRNAs from the blood (like miRNA-21 or miRNA-155) and prove that their abnormally high expression levels were strongly correlated with the degree of pancreatic necrosis, he could use them as early warning markers for the transition to severe pancreatitis...

...That would solve the problem.

The advantage was that this clinical study would have a shorter cycle. He estimated he could get results within a month and immediately write a high-quality SCI paper.

By first tackling this smaller problem and producing tangible results, he could not only significantly boost his team’s confidence, but the academic prestige from a published paper could also help the main project attract national-level research grants.

It was the best ”war-feeds-war” strategy he had.

As he was lost in thought, the classroom door was pushed open.

The first thing Wang Xiaoqing did upon entering was check on Jiang He. ”Jiang He, is your leg feeling any better?”

”Thank you for asking, Professor Wang. It should be fine after two weeks in a cast.”

Wang Xiaoqing nodded, her voice tinged with emotion. ”I heard all about what happened in the emergency department last night. Yang Xu was on the phone with me for almost an hour, going on and on about how outstanding you were. He said you single-handedly carried the entire emergency surgery department.”

Jiang He smiled at her words.

’An hour?’

’Obviously, Teacher Shen wasn’t just calling to praise me. He was just looking for an excuse to call Professor Wang and get closer to her!’

’I won’t even call you out on it!’

Wang Xiaoqing didn’t dwell on the topic for long.

She clapped her hands. ”Alright, let’s get down to business. I’ve called you all here for an emergency meeting because I have a very important announcement to make.”

”Regarding the South China Region Clinical Skills Finals, which will be held here at our university on October 30th—yesterday, the organizing committee received a last-minute notice from the provincial government. High-level leaders from the Provincial Department of Health, as well as academician-level experts from the Capital City, will be attending in person to observe the competition.”

Her words sent a wave of shock through the classroom.

Wang Xiaoqing continued,

”The university leadership is taking this matter very seriously now.”

”The evaluation standards and difficulty of the competition may be raised at the last minute. The university requires our contestants from the advanced class to be at two hundred percent.”

The atmosphere grew tense.

Everyone was well aware that on Southern Medical University’s home turf, any amateur mistake would not only be their own personal humiliation but a disgrace to the entire university.

Just as the pressure began to settle on everyone,

Xu Chen suddenly looked up and said, ”We shouldn’t worry. With Jiang He here, I don’t believe anyone from the other universities can be better than him.”

As soon as he said it,

everyone in the room turned to look at Xu Chen in astonishment.

Everyone present knew that Xu Chen had been the one most at odds with Jiang He.

But now, as he spoke, his gaze was frank and his tone was certain. It was clear he wasn’t being sarcastic or passive-aggressive.

’—Has this kid had a change of heart?’

In truth, Xu Chen had matured a lot.

He had also put in a great deal of effort during that rainy night.

With his old personality, he would have already started bragging about it, making sure the whole world knew of his contributions.

But this time, Xu Chen hadn’t said a word to anyone.

As a result, many people didn’t even know he had been there...

Having witnessed the weight of life and death, Xu Chen was now quietly studying and improving, trying to catch up to Jiang He with genuine skill.

Professor Wang Xiaoqing looked at Xu Chen and nodded, evidently thinking the same thing.

”Xu Chen is right. We have Jiang He.”

Wang Xiaoqing said,

”In any case, the main reason for this meeting was to inform you of the situation. I hope everyone will take this more seriously in the coming days. Jiang He, I know you’re very capable, and getting a good placement won’t be an issue for you. However, I still hope you’ll put your current project on hold for a while and review the basic skills. Don’t get careless and lose a winning game.”

Jiang He thought she had a point and replied, ”Alright, Professor.”

’Originally, his plan for the competition was just to secure a high rank and improve his standing within the university.’

’It would make it easier to apply for an independent lab, project funding, and even an early internship at Affiliated Hospital No. 1.’

’But now, the plan had changed!’

’If important figures from the provincial level were coming, this was no longer just a simple university-level stepping stone.’

’If he could perform well in front of these bigwigs and demonstrate his abilities, he might be able to secure support and resources from a much higher level.’

’Key provincial medical grants, or an official green light from the government...’

’This was far more reliable than struggling to find venture capital on his own.’

’And it just so happened that his miRNA project desperately needed a cash infusion.’

’It was an opportunity that had fallen right into his lap.’

”Alright, that’s the situation,” Wang Xiaoqing said, glancing at her watch. ”You can all study on your own for now. Jiang He, come with me. I’m taking you to see the President.”

With that, Wang Xiaoqing came forward, offering to help Jiang He up.

Jiang He quickly refused, grabbing his crutch. ”It’s alright, it’s alright, Professor. I can manage on my own.”

Wang Xiaoqing nodded. ”Alright. Let me know if you feel any discomfort.”

Jiang He: ”Okay.”

Only after the sound of their footsteps faded away did the atmosphere in the classroom finally relax.

Pan Wen was the first to break the silence. He coughed, then turned to tease Xu Chen.

”Xu Chen, don’t you love imitating Jiang He? Maybe next time you can get Professor Wang to help you up, too.”

Xu Chen’s expression was placid. ”I have no interest in imitating that sort of thing. It’s pointless. The only thing I want to imitate now is his performance in the ER.”

His words left everyone stunned.

Even Pan Wen blinked in surprise.

’—Looks like this kid really has changed.’

Xu Chen had no intention of posturing, but he had accidentally come off as incredibly cool.

A few of the guys who were usually close to him exchanged a look.

They could see the change in him, of course, and were inwardly relieved that he had let go of his jealousy and was finally getting serious.

But as his good buddies, seeing him make the classroom atmosphere so profound and serious, they just couldn’t resist—

Relieved or not, there was no way they were going to let the guy get away with sounding that cool.

And so, one of them in the back row called out teasingly:

”Whoa, Brother Chen, it’s only been one night and you’ve already reached enlightenment? What happened? Don’t you feel like ’my entire life has been like walking on thin ice’ anymore?”

Hearing that, Xu Chen’s back went ramrod straight.

”My entire life has been like walking on thin ice.”

It was from a pinned post he’d made on his QZone page back when he’d first gotten into the eight-year clinical medicine program as a freshman.

And the second half of the post was even more epic: ”My scalpel was born to sever all mediocrity!”

At the time, Xu Chen had thought that line was the coolest thing ever.

But now... every word was a dagger to the heart!

”Argh—”

Xu Chen slapped a hand over his face and collapsed onto his desk.

”Please, I’m begging you, shut up! My QQ account was hacked back then! Dammit...”

At the sight, a wave of gleeful laughter filled the classroom.