Chapter 513 Rejected
As luck would have it, the teacher who helped Li Tingxi and Su Youling find out Professor Richard's address happened to be one of the people who knew the inside story of how Professor Richard took over his last patient.
Li Tingxi and Su Youling immediately met with the old man, who initially remained tight-lipped about the matter.
However, after Li Tingxi and Su Youling reasoned with him and appealed to his emotions, the old man finally relented out of pity for Yangyang, who was only five years old and already suffering from a congenital immune system deficiency.
"Richard was a real shrew, and he and his ex-wife had a really bad falling out back then..."
Li Tingxi and Su Youling listened to the old man recount the whole story.
It turns out that Professor Richard developed a highly effective drug two years ago, and it was already in the final testing phase.
Then Professor Richard suddenly learned that his ex-wife had contacted another expert with whom he had worked on the research, proposing to invest in the mass production of the miracle drug.
Keep in mind that his ex-wife had already approached him before and been rejected. Moreover, this research was primarily his responsibility, and the other expert was merely an assistant he had called in to help. To the proud and arrogant Richard, his ex-wife's actions were nothing short of a blatant insult.
It was during the time that Professor Richard was arguing with his ex-wife that he took on a patient who had just come of age. While administering the medication, he accidentally took the specially developed drug due to a mental lapse.
The patient immediately experienced a severe allergic reaction, and everyone was terrified.
If the dosage given to the patient hadn't been small, and if Professor Richard hadn't provided timely intervention and demonstrated exceptional professional skills, saving the patient from the brink of death, not only would Professor Richard's career have been ruined, but their hospital would also have been held liable for medical malpractice.
The old gentleman was the vice president of that hospital at the time. Even now that he has retired, he still feels lingering fear when he thinks back on it: "Professor Richard was the face of our hospital. If something happened to him, it would affect the whole hospital, and we would all suffer as a result."
Li Tingxi and Su Youling could imagine how dangerous the situation was just from his description.
It's easy to imagine the professional trauma this incident caused Professor Richard, and if that's the case, then his decision to retire is not hard to understand.
However, this undoubtedly increased the difficulty for them to persuade people to come out of retirement.
Su Youling thought for a moment and asked the old gentleman, "Would you mind giving me Professor Richard's ex-wife's contact information?"
The old man waved his hand. "I really didn't. Richard never mentioned his ex-wife. If she hadn't contacted us, we would have forgotten that he was divorced."
Fortunately, they obtained the contact information of the expert who had worked with Professor Richard on the research back then, and then contacted Professor Richard's ex-wife, Ms. Ye, through him.
Ms. Ye sounded very impatient on the other end of the phone: "I haven't been in contact with Richard for ages, his business has nothing to do with me, my time is very precious, and I don't have time to waste on irrelevant things."
After saying that, he hung up the phone without any politeness.
Su Youling looked at Li Tingxi and analyzed, "It seems that the two of them did not have an amicable divorce, and Ms. Ye seems to be unaware of what happened back then."
This is the entry point.
Li Tingxi nodded, clearly thinking the same thing: "Professor Richard is very protective of his family."
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"It's a matter of privacy. I don't think it's necessary to investigate his daughter any further. She's probably the one who knows nothing about it, and wasting our time on her won't help at all."
Su Youling agreed with his suggestion.
On their way back, the two discussed how to persuade Professor Richard.
When asked about helping him overcome the shadow of this period in his career, Li Tingxi turned his head to look at Su Youling and asked a question that seemed to be off-topic: "What kind of person do you think Professor Richard is?"
Su Youling paused for a second, then pondered for a moment before giving a brief assessment based on her impression of the brief meeting and her research on Professor Richard's career: "Stubborn, aloof, and... resilient."
It was when she uttered the word "resilience" that she suddenly understood what Li Tingxi meant: "You want to tell me that Professor Richard is not the kind of person who would be discouraged by a little setback, so there is no possibility that he will be left with a professional shadow?"
Li Tingxi raised an eyebrow, neither confirming nor denying.
Su Youling had already reached a conclusion in her mind: "If that's the case, then the main reason for his retirement is actually due to family problems."
"In that case, it's not appropriate for us to get involved, is it?" She was at a loss, turned her head and saw Li Tingxi's calm profile, and couldn't help but poke his arm, "Don't you already have a plan?"
Her subconscious act of intimacy made Li Tingxi's gaze deepen.
Just then, the villa was right in front of him. After parking the car, he turned to face Su Youling and saw that she looked haggard from all the work she had done these past few days. He sighed, and with a pained expression, he reached out and ruffled her hair. "Don't worry about it, leave it to me. I will definitely persuade him to agree to treat Yangyang."
In the enclosed space, their breathing was clearly audible, and some inexplicable emotion was quietly spreading.
Su Youling's cheeks flushed slightly, as it had been a long time since the two of them had spent such a warm and natural time together.
However, Li Tingxi's gaze was too direct and intense, making her look away uncomfortably. She coughed twice to cover her discomfort and got out of the car in a slightly flustered manner. "Hurry up, it's lunchtime, everyone is waiting."
Li Tingxi trailed behind her, his gaze following her closely, his eyes softening without him even realizing it.
...
Li Tingxi and Su Youling visited Professor Richard again, but this time they were turned away at the door.
The two waited outside the door for almost an hour before Professor Richard finally sent someone to open it.
“No matter how many times you come, it will be the same result. There is no way I can agree to this,” Professor Richard was clearly annoyed by their relentless pestering, his face darkening. “I’m here to retire. Are you trying to force me to move out?”
Seeing this, Li Tingxi didn't beat around the bush and went straight to the point: "Professor Richard, don't you want the special drug you developed back then to be available on the market?"
Professor Richard's expression changed, and he frowned, angrily shouting, "This information is an industry secret, and that old geezer actually told you all about it!"
Seeing his anger, Su Youling took the initiative and poured him a cup of tea, handing it to him. "Mr. Richard, this isn't really a secret anymore, is it? After all, you abandoned this research two years ago and put it aside until now. We're not here today to provoke you, but because we can't bear to see your years of hard work go to waste."
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