Chapter 449 Not Letting Gu Yin Do Experiments
When Gu Yin entered the laboratory, she clearly sensed that something was wrong, but she didn't ask any questions and went straight to the teacher's office.
Cheng Dong's office door was open, and only he and Yue Zemin were inside.
Gu Yin knocked on the door: "Teacher, Third Senior Brother."
The two looked towards the door, and Cheng Dong nodded with a smile: "You're here."
Yue Zemin sighed and said, "You came up with this research topic so quietly, and then you even got results! Junior Sister, your talent is a bit frightening! By the way, how did you come up with the idea of shingles?"
Gu Yin explained, “In previous summers, some elderly people in the village would get this disease. It doesn’t seem like a big deal, but it’s really painful! The old ladies in the village say it’s more painful than childbirth! The old men say they’re writhing in pain! Last time, another old lady in the village suffered because of this. I looked it up online, and in many places, people treat this thing as something very mysterious. Some people even attribute it to feudal superstitions. Many elderly people simply can’t bear the pain, and some even die from the pain without knowing it’s a disease! There’s no popular science at all. I was thinking that if there were a vaccine that would prevent it from recurring after vaccination, solving the problem from the root, the elderly would have a better life in their later years. Moreover, this disease is now trending towards affecting younger people, so we have to take it seriously.”
Cheng Dong nodded: "This vaccine is available abroad, but it's only for prevention. After a few years, the effect wears off, and it's very expensive! Our country is negotiating with foreign countries about this, but it's really too expensive. The elderly can't afford it, and the government can't provide it for free. If your experiment is successful, the national treasury will save a lot of money! And we can also make money from foreign countries!"
Just then, Zhang Qiao walked in, his face grave: "Old Cheng, people from above have arrived."
Cheng Dong nodded and stood up: "Let's go to the conference room."
Gu Yin and Yue Zemin followed behind. Yue Zemin whispered, "Don't worry, if the teacher says you can go, then you can go. Just watch."
Gu Yin blinked. Was someone trying to steal her thunder?
Upon entering the conference room, Gu Yin saw two middle-aged men, clearly not from their lab, who looked to be in their fifties, talking to other people.
Rather than talking to other people, it was more like those people were reporting to the two of them. Judging from their restrained yet ingratiating expressions, Gu Yin guessed that the visitors had ill intentions.
Except for Zhang Qiao, who was standing, everyone else sat down.
Cheng Dong looked at the two men and said calmly, "Gentlemen, have you come here because you have some mission from above?"
One of the men chuckled, “Hello, Professor Cheng. I’m Zhang Ze from the Ministry of Health, and this is my colleague, Xiang Mingliang. We’re here because someone reported to us that your lab wants to put someone with no experimental experience in an important experiment, and even make them the leader! The leadership takes this very seriously. Meritocracy shouldn’t be used as an excuse for backdoor deals! Isn’t this your lab’s bottom line? How come you’ve ruined it yourself today? Professor Cheng, don’t you have to give us an explanation?”
After speaking, the other person gave Gu Yin a meaningful look.
It's obvious that the other party knows this experiment is related to Gu Yin!
Cheng Dong remained silent, while Yue Zemin laughed and said, "This is a matter for our lab. I remember this lab was opened by my teacher, right? Since when did your Ministry of Health get involved in private lab matters? Your people all signed contracts before coming in. Are you trying to break the contract?"
Xiang Mingliang chuckled: "Mr. Yue, there's no need to be so upset with us. We haven't broken any rules. It's just that someone raised the issue, and we have to investigate. What if rumors spread that Elder Cheng opened a back door to promote his closed-door disciple? If Elder Cheng's reputation is ruined in his later years, that's not something that any of you here or the country would want to see. Don't you agree?"
The two lackeys immediately nodded in agreement: "That's right, that's right. Old Master Cheng has worked diligently all his life. It would be such a pity if his reputation were ruined because of this!"
"If this were to be taken too seriously, students from universities across the country would be utterly disappointed with our country's laboratories and academic circles!"
Cheng Dong sneered: "You haven't done a single experiment, but you're all too good at flattering me! This experiment, from topic selection to research to writing the questions, was all done by my student alone! You don't even know what the edge of the shingles vaccine is, how dare you say she doesn't understand? How dare you exclude the author herself? I'll just ask you one question! Did you guys even do this experiment?!"
This is indeed the untenable truth, since the question was indeed created by Gu Yin.
After a moment of silence, Zhang Ze smiled and said, "We're not going to get rid of the author himself. You are the manager and quality manager, and we can have someone else from the lab take over as the technical manager. As for Gu Yin herself, she can be an assistant, or we can note in the report that she is the archivist. That way, she won't have to do anything, and we'll still have her name on the record. For someone with her qualifications, that's already very impressive!"
At this point, he pointed to Zhang Qiao: "The guy standing behind her is older and more experienced than Gu Yin. He did some hands-on work when he was an undergraduate, but so far he is not qualified to complete experiments independently in this lab. If you really let Gu Yin do it herself, who will believe it if word gets out? We are all doing this for your own good!"
Zhang Qiao: "...I'm not worthy to be compared to Gu Yin; she's smarter than me!"
Zhang Ze stared at him speechlessly.
Zhang Qiao stood tall and proud; he was simply telling the truth!
Cheng Dong waved his hand: "This is none of your business. We can handle it ourselves. You can leave now."
Zhang Ze and Xiang Mingliang's expressions both changed.
Xiang Mingliang leaned back in his chair and chuckled, "Old Cheng, I heard you haven't been feeling well lately. Apparently, the higher-ups are planning to send you to a sanatorium to recuperate. After all, the country values the sacrifices of the older generation. To put it bluntly, you can protect them now, but in a year or two, when you're in a nursing home, do you think you can still protect them? We're not enemies; we're all working for the people and the country. Our goals are aligned!"
At this point, he looked at Gu Yin again: "Young man, you still need to practice and learn more. Being down-to-earth is better than anything else. Our lab is not short of people."
Zhang Qiao rolled his eyes. What nice words! For the people and for the country, that's true, but while they're acting in the name of the people, they're using this excuse to seek personal gain!
Yue Zemin's expression darkened. He had been worried about his teacher's health, and sure enough, these people were using that as an excuse.
The state allows teachers to take time off for their own good, but some people are taking advantage of this opportunity to seize power. When the teachers go to the sanatorium, the laboratory will still be nominally theirs, but the person in charge will definitely be replaced by their own people!
The lab receives a lot of funding every year, and the professors produce a lot of experimental results. If the professor is absent, no one in their faction can fill the professor's position, given their bureaucratic style! Whether this funding is actually used for experiments or ends up in someone's pocket is anyone's guess!
Seeing this, Gu Yin couldn't help but laugh: "Everyone, there's no need to make such a fuss! And no need for all the threats! It's such a simple matter, why are you making things so complicated?"
Everyone looked at her.
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