System Came When the Doctor was Thirty

Of course Zhao Gangkang remembered Lu Cheng very clearly.

”Director Zhao, here’s the thing. I contacted you today after thinking it over very carefully, because I have a request that puts you on the spot.” Lu Cheng laid the groundwork politely.

”Go ahead, just say it.” Zhao Gangkang said in a generous, imposing way.

Lu Cheng then went through his idea once.

Zhao Gangkang immediately fell silent.

The silence lasted a full two minutes before Zhao Gangkang finally said, ”Xiao Lu, you really have given me a tough problem here, haven’t you?”

”You’re basically asking me to round people up to come work for you, aren’t you?”

”If the people I assign you aren’t a good fit, it means I don’t value you. But if the people I assign you are too good…”

”I’m afraid it’ll be hard to do the ideological work with them.”

”I don’t know if you’re aware, Xiao Lu, but the clinical direction our trauma center is currently working on is…”

Unlike the usual kind of leader who says one thing to your face and another behind your back, Zhao Gangkang didn’t do that.

He said directly that what Lu Cheng had developed was too wide-ranging, too many people taking a bite, too little meat to go around.

Even though the project was extremely important and highly meaningful.

But in this world, not everyone has to chase after the hot directions.

The trauma center at Union Hospital has its own great path it’s pursuing.

And only by sticking to it can you eventually welcome the final victory…

Emotionally and logically, Zhao Gangkang wasn’t wrong.

This world needs a group of pure people who don’t ”go with the flow,” quietly persisting in research directions that others think are not popular.

Perhaps that kind of silent perseverance is what will eventually lead to a major breakthrough.

Scientific research isn’t fandom, and it certainly isn’t about traffic; it’s about quietly and continuously learning and investigating.

The more famous a person is, the more often, after they become famous, their output slows down or even stops altogether because of all kinds of burdens.

Because it’s hard to truly calm down and focus.

”Director Zhao, thank you for speaking so frankly. I understand now.” Lu Cheng wasn’t particularly dejected; instead, he smiled rather calmly.

With Zhao Gangkang being this blunt, even if he were a petty man, he’d be an honest petty man.

”Xiao Lu, don’t get me wrong,” Zhao Gangkang said. ”Our trauma center really has already chosen its direction.”

”And it’s not the same as the direction you’ve chosen.”

”So all this time, I haven’t come to bother you.”

”Because I know you’re a relatively pure fellow traveller. You have your own path.”

”Your ending up here at our trauma center was just a stroke of luck and coincidence.”

”I all the more mustn’t interfere with you.”

”Otherwise, with all you’ve accumulated so far, I should long ago have been stressing that you come back to help.”

”Let’s be straightforward: clinically, liver preservation is very important. But the standard emergency treatment for severe pancreatitis and acute pancreatitis is equally important.”

”You should be able to understand what I mean.”

Lu Cheng replied without hesitation, ”Director Zhao, thank you for pointing out the way for me.”

Pancreatitis?

Does that count as a hot topic?

No.

In the textbooks, the treatment principles are practically non-surgical now.

But in reality, is there pancreatitis that needs surgery?

Yes.

There are still many people who die from pancreatitis, and many who end up living their whole lives with tubes inserted because of pancreatitis.

This really is a very niche direction, a topic other people have trampled down.

There’s basically no profit left to be made from it.

No one is willing to work on this direction.

Compared with pancreatitis, Liver Preservation Surgery is the big hot topic, the main road…

Zhao Gangkang’s voice was still gentle: ”No, no, no, Xiao Lu, don’t misunderstand. I’m not pointing out a way for you. It’s just that we’re keenly aware of our ordinariness; in this lifetime we can only choose one path and commit to it till the end.”

”Director Zhao, I’m very much looking forward to meeting you,” Lu Cheng replied sincerely.