21st Century Necromancer

"Your office is so much better than mine! Are the perks for professors at Japanese hospitals this good?" Sitting in Chen Yu’s office, Professor Zhang, looking around at the surroundings that were far more luxurious than his own office, couldn’t help but express his admiration while also joking, "Maybe I should switch jobs and come here too? Does your hospital still need people?"

"Hahaha, if you want to switch, I could go talk to the dean, but..." Chen Yu, hearing Professor Zhang say this, also felt like making a joke. He seemed to agree at first but then feigned doubt as he asked, "Vice Principal Zhao... no, it’s Principal Zhao now. Would Principal Zhao let you go?"

Although Chen Yu wasn’t very fond of Principal Zhao as a person, it had to be said that Principal Zhao’s skill in guarding his turf was unmatched. Only he could fleece others, and no one could get the better of him.

Just like in the poem "Drunk Peace - Satire of the Petty Greedy," Principal Zhao indeed had the ability to snatch clay from a swallow’s beak, shave the tip of an iron needle, and meticulously search Buddha’s gilded face for gold, trying to find something from nothing. Searching for peas in a quail’s crop, aiming for the choice bits on a stork’s legs, and cutting oil from a mosquito’s belly. The old master was indeed good at initiating!

As the only academic leader who could carry the university’s scholarship, Principal Zhao would never let Professor Zhang leave. If he did, the undergraduate medical school, which was considered second or third-tier, would instantly falter without proper faculty, no better than a community college. Explore stories at Freewebnovel

This was also the reason why, although this collaborative project should have belonged to the domain of internal medicine, two surgeons had come instead—there were simply no other suitable candidates in the school, and only Professor Zhang could handle the situation.

At the medical school Chen Yu had attended, surgery had a decent level of professionalism, thanks to the old principal and several teachers, including Professor Zhang, who were trained by him. At least within the province, it was acknowledged.

But when it came to internal medicine, they could only say they had the department but not the level of expertise it should have.

Hearing Chen Yu bring up Principal Zhao, Professor Zhang could only smile and say no more. He knew he couldn’t really resign and come to Japan, so his previous remarks were just a joke.

However, after the jesting, Professor Zhang steered the conversation back to serious matters, "Chen Yu, how do you think we should proceed with this collaborative project? Although I’ve been sent by the school, I’m just a surgeon and I don’t understand much about topics in the field of internal medicine, so you should set the agenda for what exactly we need to do!"

"Yes, Ah-Yu! Even though we could get by doing nothing, since the school has sent us, we still need to do something," Teacher Zhao, sitting beside him, expressed the same sentiment. Clearly, neither of them planned to just get by without a genuine attempt, despite not being familiar with internal medicine.

Seeing that both his teachers felt this way, Chen Yu naturally had no objections and nodded, "Since both teachers are saying so, let’s follow the normal academic collaboration procedures. Fortunately, tomorrow will be the hospital’s weekly case conference, which you two can attend to get an idea of how hospitals operate in Japan. For today, I’ll arrange a tour of my lab this afternoon to introduce you to the development process of this broad-spectrum anti-cancer drug."

"We can visit the lab?" Teacher Zhao became immediately curious upon hearing that Chen Yu would take them to visit the lab. In her view, labs that developed broad-spectrum anti-cancer drugs would usually be high-security areas, not places that could easily be visited.

"It’s no problem at all; this lab is not responsible for development. Their main work now is various animal experiments and sample analysis. The clinical trials in humans are being handled by three pharmaceutical companies I’ve commissioned. Lastly, the development work was already completed while I was doing my doctorate at the University of Tokyo, so even if we open up the lab for visitors, it would not cause any issues," Chen Yu explained about the lab, assuring them that there were no issues with visiting.

The explanation clarified for Professor Zhang and Teacher Zhao that the lab Chen Yu was inviting them to tour was only conducting animal experiments and drug analysis, so such a visit wouldn’t be detrimental. Thus, they set their concerns aside.

However, Professor Zhang was quite surprised to hear that the drug development had been completed during Chen Yu’s time at the University of Tokyo, and he couldn’t resist asking, "Chen Yu, you just mentioned that you developed this drug while at the University of Tokyo, which is quite incredible. Is the University of Tokyo Medical Department really filled with prodigies as the legends say, enabling you to come up with such high-level research achievements while studying?"

"HAHA, that’s hardly possible! While it’s true that the University of Tokyo Medical School is known to be teeming with intellectual giants—the brightest students in Japan—luck often plays a big role in scientific research. I was fortunate enough to be inspired by notes on a voodoo cult in Africa’s revenant-making techniques, and from that, I used ingredients like pufferfish toxin to research a potion that can suppress cancer cell activity," Chen Yu responded, giving an excuse he had already prepared for questions like this.

This excuse had become widely accepted as the truth as his research gained credibility in the academic world, so there was no issue with Chen Yu’s explanation.

"Scientific research is indeed a game of chance sometimes, almost like buying lottery tickets; you’ve hit the jackpot with a successful outcome." Hearing Chen Yu’s explanation, Teacher Zhao was somewhat moved. However, she was more concerned about whether the drug would be available in China, "Chen Yu, will this drug enter China in the future? If it can be used clinically, this drug could mean a breakthrough in cancer treatment!"

"It’s too early to say as clinical trials are not yet completed. We’ll have to wait until it’s on the market here in Japan before considering its entry into China," Chen Yu shook his head, unsure about this matter, "But I purposely arranged this China-Japan medical cooperation project in preparation for the drug’s entry into China. If there are records of its use in China, it should be easier to manage. However, regarding licensing the production to Chinese pharmaceutical manufacturers, that’s still uncertain. Although the patent is mine, the Japanese Government controls such matters."

What Chen Yu said was a fact, and neither Professor Zhang nor Teacher Zhao could fault him for not bringing his research back to China. Thus, they didn’t delve into it any further and instead switched to chatting about more mundane topics.