Liu Aiping hung up the call and then immediately called up her acquaintance in the nuclear medicine department to set an appointment for her mother to undergo an MRI scan two hours later.
Soon afterward, she called up her mother and had her come to the hospital at once.
When she was done managing these tasks, Liu Aiping returned to the office in an anxious mood.
Liu Aiping’s mother was sent into the MRI room at four in the afternoon.
One and a half hours later, the MRI scan report was out.
It was a malignant growth!
Liu Aiping almost fainted from the news.
Her father passed away when she was very young; so, it was her mother who raised her brother and her in hardship. She did not remarry for the rest of her life in order to do so. Now that her life was getting better and she had children and grandchildren by her side, this unexpectedly happened.
Liu Aiping held the report with shaky hands and tears streaming down her face uncontrollably.
The doctor next to her could not refrain from saying, “Please don’t be sad, Director Liu. We still can’t make the diagnosis of cancer for the time being. We need to perform a further biopsy test for your mother first.”
The biopsy test was the act of piercing a biopsy tool into the lesion area inside the human body to extract a sample of tissue in order to examine it more closely.
Liu Aiping wiped away her tears and nodded. “Thank you for going through the trouble, Director Wang.”
“You’re welcome.”
Liu Aiping called up her connections to make a biopsy appointment for her mother soon after she left the nuclear medicine department.
A malignant tumor should not be delayed even for one more day. It had to be examined, diagnosed, and treated as soon as possible.
…
The gynecology department closed at six in the evening.
Zuo Mengmeng and Shen Xue came to the changing room together. Once they were in, Zuo Mengmeng whispered, “Hey, did you hear that Director Liu took her mother for an MRI scan today and came out with reddened eyes. I wonder if her mother is sick?”
Shen Xue asked, “Where did you get the insider news? How come I haven’t heard about it?”
While Zuo Mengmeng changed, she said proudly, “My vision is spread all over the entire hospital. If there’s any sign of disturbance or trouble, how can it hide from my piercing eyes?”
Zuo Mengmeng paused for a moment before she continued to speak, “I also know that Zhou Wen didn’t come to work today… would you like to know why?”
Shen Xue was stunned for a moment. Soon afterward, she shook her head. “I don’t.”
“Hiss… I refuse to believe that you don’t want to know!”
Upon saying that, Zuo Mengmeng rolled her lively, huge eyes and said, “Come on, let me tell you. He went back to the university for his oral thesis examination. It is said that there were a few university professors that came especially to see him…”
At this point, Zuo Mengmeng paused for a moment on purpose.
Shen Xue was tricked. She asked in surprise, “Why is that so?”
Zuo Mengmeng giggled, pouted her lips, raised her head, and scoffed proudly before saying, “So you want to know now? I won’t tell you.”
Shen Xue was well aware of Zuo Mengmeng’s mischievous plot just by looking at her expression. However, she still smiled and said, “Alright, alright, alright. Consider that I’m begging you. Kind Mengmeng, please tell me quickly… Why did professors come specially to see him?”
Zuo Mengmeng pouted and spoke in an amused tone, “Your mouth is honorable, but your mind is not! According to one of his university mates, …”
By the time Zuo Mengmeng was done telling the story, Shen Xue was stunned. She said in surprise, “No wonder he was brought in to the hospital as a talent; it turns out that he really is that impressive.”
Zuo Mengmeng continued, “I have one more piece of news to tell you too. Next week, he is joining the group of talented youths in our hospital to head to a conference in Nanjing City.”
Shen Xue said in surprise once again, “Really?”
Zuo Mengmeng was done changing her clothes by now. She nodded and said, “You see that boy is always quiet and keeps to himself when he’s back to the hostel every day; yet, he is so unexpectedly impressive, huh…”
Shen Xue nodded. Her crystal clear eyes were filled with admiration.
Zuo Mengmeng giggled and said, “I approve of you dating him now. This man has tremendous potential…”
In the Maple Leaf housing estate, Zhou Wen was in a very good mood today. The thesis mission was a success.
The 1000 Course XPs and 1000 Points were credited to him, and he received a black metal loot box too.
He bought some fruits conveniently along the way as a means of celebration. The man picked up watermelon, mangoes, oranges, apples, and kiwis.
These were the fruits that he could only stare at and salivate in the past. Even though it still caused him great pain to buy these fruits now, he could still afford to have some occasionally.
He went to take a shower after he entered the house. Then, he got dressed in comfortable clothes before he went to wash the watermelon and apples in the kitchen and brought the fruits to the balcony.
Then, he steeped a pot of tea, grabbed a pack of cigarettes, and went to lie down on the lazy chair placed at the balcony.
He watched the myriad of lights in the valley far away, smoked a cigarette, and had some fruits in a pleasing and satisfactory manner.
When he was done feasting on a slice of watermelon, he wiped his hands and brought up the system.
Host: [Zhou Wen]
Occupation: [Apprentice Pharmacist, 400/1000]
Truevision: [Lvl 1; 75/10000]
Courses:
Pharmacology: [Allows you to learn the clinical application of different medications. Lvl 1; 0/5000]
Pathology: [Allows you to learn the causes of different diseases. Lvl 1; 0/5000]
Biochemistry: [Allows you to master the chemical composition and chemical change of an organism. Lvl 1; 0/5000]
Biological Immunology: [Allows you to understand the mysteries of life. Lvl 1; 0/5000]
Systematic anatomy: [Allows you to understand the physical structures of an organism. Lvl 0; 250/1000]
Linguistics: [Allows you to communicate with the world without barriers. Lvl 1; 0/5000]
Sub-discipline: [Botany]
Course Experience: [1550]
Points: [2150]
Inventory: [9]
Taskbar: [Mission (New)]
Zhou Wen noticed the mission was updated at one glance, so he immediately brought up the page to take a look.
[Mission 1: Pharmaceutical Preparation
Explanation: Great oaks from little acorns grow! You’re already equipped with the preliminary ability to prepare medicines. Now is the time to begin to take action, youth!
Requirement: Produce 10 types of conventional medicines.
Reward: 5000 Course XP, 5000 Points. 1x Loot box chance (Bronze)]
Zhou Wen widened his eyes so much that his eyeballs almost rolled out of his eye sockets when he saw the mission’s rewards.
He spent days in the library arduously to accumulate experience only to gain 200 XPs in two days.
The mission was going to reward him 5000 points in one go, which he could only gain by spending 50 days in the library.
It was simply inhumane!
[Mission 2: Rise Into Prominence
Explanation: The hospital’s profession rank evaluation has already officially begun.
Requirement: Become a senior pathologist
Reward: 2000 Course XP, 2000 Points. 1x Loot box chance (Bronze)]
“Damn it; how is that possible?” Zhou Wen could not refrain himself from complaining upon seeing that the mission’s requirement was for him to become a senior pathologist.
Many people were complaining because he was already employed under a formal contract. What would others think of him if he were to confer his academic title just over a month after he reported to duty?
He shook his head and shifted his attention to the third mission.
[Mission 3: Act of Chivalry
Explanation: You’ve discovered Feng Qingli’s disease; stop the disease from spreading further.
Requirement: Complete the specimen test within 12 hours.
Reward: 500 Course XP, 500 Points. 1x Loot box chance (black metal)]
Zhou Wen was in despair, too, after seeing the third mission.
How could the system pose such difficult problems for him to solve?
It was fine for him to perform a viral test, yet, the specimen test was…
Even though he observed people from the specimen test team perform their task, he had never done it before. Moreover, he was to complete it within 12 hours, so it was a rather difficult task for him.
Zhou Wen shook his head and dismissed the thought for the time being.
He brought up his inventory list and clicked the black metal loot box.
He worked so hard for the ‘Score 10’ thesis mission that he was close to the brink of death. He wondered what sort of item would he get from the loot box.
[Would you like to open the loot box now? Yes/No]
[Yes]
When the black metal treasure chest carved with intricate patterns was opened, it emitted a brown-yellow glow. Soon afterward, a brown scroll rose up slowly from the treasure chest.
Zhou Wen was delighted. It was a formula.
[Congratulations, you receive Biotype Chronic Enteritis Treatment Formula X1]
Zhou Wen was overjoyed upon acquiring the chronic enteritis treatment formula.
It was a great item!
There were too many people suffering from chronic enteritis these days, just like his father. His father had taken all sorts of western and traditional medications for more than a decade, but nothing was effective. He was still frequently having diarrhea.
If the effect of this Biotype Chronic Enteritis Treatment Formula were good, it would be good news for the widespread of people suffering from chronic enteritis.
It seems his laborious effort in performing the thesis experiment did not go wasted. He was delighted for quite a while and then spent 200 Points to learn the chronic enteritis treatment formula.
Soon afterward, he upgraded his systematic anatomy.
[Would you like to upgrade your systematic anatomy?]
[Yes]
[Spend 750 XPs to upgrade. Please confirm the selection]
[Confirm]
A ray of gold-yellow light flashed past the systematic anatomy course, and its level was elevated from 0 to 1 while the experience value behind returned to 0, just as expected.
Truthfully, Zhou Wen did not have much anticipation for systematic anatomy at all.
This was because the main task in a biology laboratory was to dissect white mice, and he was skilled at that. Moreover, it would not be an exaggeration to describe his dissection as being swift and good.
As a result, he chose to upgrade systematic anatomy last.
It was only that… he realized it was a mistake!
When the familiar feeling of enlightenment radiated through his mind, countless knowledge related to systematic anatomy was added to his mind.
For example, there was the musculoskeletal system, digestive system, respiratory system, urinary system, reproductive system, endocrine system, cardiovascular system, sensory organs, and nervous system.
Underneath every system, there was even more knowledge such as osteology, joints, and articulations, and myology under the musculoskeletal system. Then, there was also the classification, structure, blood supply of the bones, and more.
This knowledge related to the human body’s anatomy had enriched Zhou Wen’s sphere of knowledge.
However, it was useless…
Huh, no!
A few seconds later, Zhou Wen’s expression turned into astonishment.
He waved his hands and noticed that his ten fingers were moving in an extremely agile manner. He was capable of performing actions easily that was utterly impossible for him to perform in the past.
He used his left hand to stretch his right index finger and found that his index finger could be stretched easily to touch the back of his hand.
Then, he tried it with his middle finger.
Ring finger.
Little finger.
Then, it was his… thumb.
“F*ck…” Zhou Wen could not refrain himself from cursing when he saw his thumb being stretched to 90°.
This was more than just some m*th*rf*ck*ng upgrade of Course XP, but it was obviously a reformation of his hands.
He thought about it for a moment and agreed that anatomy was different from the rest of the courses. Without a pair of exceedingly flexible and agile hands, how could he wield the scalpel properly?
He immediately got up and got himself a fruit knife from the kitchen. Soon afterward, he watched as the knife swung swiftly in his hand as if he was performing an acrobatic stunt. It was a familiar feeling that felt as if the fruit knife had turned into a part of his body.
Then, he picked up a mango from the plate. “Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.” The mango’s peel scattered off in succession.
The mango was fully peeled in the blink of an eye.
Zhou Wen bit on it with a crunch, and its juice spilled everywhere.
It felt decadent…