godfather of surgery

Chapter 1321 You guys should divide it up.

At 2 p.m., the vaccination room of the community health station near Sanbo Hospital.

Yang Ping held Xiao Shu in his arms, while Xiao Su organized the vaccination records. Xiao Shu, wearing a bear onesie, curiously looked around at the uncles and aunts in white coats, completely unafraid of what was about to happen.

"Professor Yang? It really is you!" a familiar voice rang out.

Yang Ping looked up and saw Nurse Wang from the community health station.

"Sister Wang! Long time no see." Yang Ping greeted her with a smile, and Xiao Su also turned around to greet her.

Head Nurse Wang used to be a nurse in the operating room of Sanbo Hospital. Later, as she got older, she applied to transfer to work at the health station.

"Of course! You're a professor now, and you still have time to take your son to get his vaccinations?" Sister Wang walked over and affectionately touched Xiaoshu's face. "The little guy is so cute. Xiaosu, taking care of a child must be hard work."

"It's alright, I'm used to it," Xiao Su smiled.

Sister Wang glanced at the vaccination record: "Today I got MMR and chickenpox shots, it hurt a bit. Your son has never cried when he gets shots since he was little, I wonder how he'll do this time."

Yang Ping hugged the sapling tightly, and Xiao Su rolled up his sleeves to reveal her upper arm.

When the nurse took out the syringe, Xiaoshu stared at it curiously, jumping excitedly and reaching out to grab it, but Yang Ping grabbed his arm in time.

The nurse was very efficient. After the first injection, Xiaoshu was stunned for two seconds, but then she looked very excited again. She held Yang Ping's clothes tightly with her little hands, trying to break free and stand up to grab the syringe.

What's wrong with this kid? He acts like he's seen a syringe as a toy, practically wanting to pounce on it. It's the same at home; when he saw the human skeleton in Yang Ping's study, he got so excited he almost jumped up. Is it possible that an interest in one's profession is hereditary?

While pondering this question, Yang Ping held his son firmly in his arms and gently comforted him, "It's alright, it's a syringe, not a toy..."

After the second injection, Xiao Su was afraid he would cry, so the nurse quickly put on a cartoon band-aid after the needle was removed. The little guy still didn't seem to feel any pain. He squinted his eyes and became restless again, looking at his dad and then at his mom. Then he pointed at the syringe and started chattering as if he wanted the toy.

"You can't play with this," Head Nurse Wang joked from the side.

After the injection, the couple spent more than ten minutes comforting Xiaoshu in the observation area before he calmed down and stared intently at a painting on the wall.

Just then, Yang Ping's phone vibrated. He saw that it was an international call from Mainstein. He hesitated for a moment, then asked Xiao Su to hold the child while he went to the corner of the corridor to answer the call.

"Professor! Where are you? Is it convenient for us to talk for a few minutes?" Mainstein's voice was unusually excited, but he tried to keep his voice down.

"I'm at the community hospital with my son getting his vaccinations. What's wrong?"

"Vaccination? Well, the next piece of news might require you to sit down and listen." Mannstein took a deep breath. "The Nobel Prize Committee has contacted me, and they are seriously considering your nomination."

Yang Ping was stunned. The sounds of children crying and parents comforting each other in the corridor seemed to suddenly disappear.

"what?"

“Systems regulation theory, I nominated you. The committee takes it very seriously and has formed a special group to visit.” Mannstein spoke quickly. “Professor, this is your second nomination, which is of great significance. Moreover, this is not an ordinary nomination. Professor Carlson, the chairman of the committee, told me privately that they believe your work may represent the third revolution in medicine. The first was bacterial theory, the second was molecular biology, and the third is your systems regulation medicine.”

Yang Ping leaned against the wall, speechless for a moment. These visiting teams were his biggest headache.

"Professor? Are you listening?"

"I'm listening," Yang Ping finally found his voice. "But Professor Mainstein, the theory is still young, and clinical trials have only just begun. There's no need to rush..."

"Please do not address me as Professor. Calling me by my surname or first name is very inappropriate in front of you," Mainstein corrected him very seriously.

“Okay, Mainstein,” Yang Ping replied helplessly. He really didn’t want to waste time with Mainstein over the issue of address.

“It is precisely because it is young yet has already shown the potential for change that it deserves recognition!” Mainstein interrupted him. “The committee is not looking for a perfect finish line, but a groundbreaking start. What they want to recognize is the birth of a new way of thinking.”

A laugh came from the other end of the phone from Mainstein: “Think about it, Professor. If your theory wins the prize, it means the global medical community will officially recognize that the future of medicine is systems, regulation, and dialogue, not just confrontation. This is more important than any specific technological breakthrough.”

Yang Ping fell silent. He looked down the corridor and saw Xiao Su gently rocking a small tree, humming a lullaby. Her son was resting on her shoulder, his eyes slowly closing.

This scene suddenly struck him—aren't all medical theories ultimately meant to protect such ordinary moments? To ensure a child can receive a vaccination in good health and fall asleep peacefully in their mother's arms; to prevent a family from being torn apart by illness; to allow ordinary people to enjoy health and the dignity of life.

"When will the committee visit?" he asked.

"Next month, they will conduct a comprehensive review of the institute, interview the team, and examine the data. Professor, this is a historic opportunity. But it is also a tremendous pressure—if the committee ultimately approves it, your theory will become a new chapter in medical textbooks. If it is rejected, it could delay the development of systems medicine for many years because it will affect the reputation of your theory."

“I understand, thank you.” Yang Ping understood the benefits. “We will be prepared, but we will not put on a show. We will present science as it is.”

"Thank you," Mainstein said with relief. "Alright, go back and take care of the children. Give my regards to Xiao Su and Xiao Shu."

Mannstein breathed a sigh of relief. He was really afraid that Professor Yang would lose interest in the Nobel Prize and refuse his invitation, but now it seemed that Professor Yang had not refused.

After hanging up the phone, Yang Ping stood in the corridor for a while. The sounds of children crying and parents talking filled his ears again.

He walked back to the observation area; Xiao Shu was already asleep. Xiao Su asked softly, "Whose call was that? Is something wrong?"

Yang Ping took his son, looked at the innocent and peaceful sleeping face, and said softly, "Professor Mainstein told me that the theory of system regulation has been nominated for the Nobel Prize."

Xiao Su's eyes widened, she covered her mouth, and after a long while she finally said, "Oh my god... this... this is real? Another award?"

“It’s just a nomination, and it’s a very preliminary stage,” Yang Ping repeated, as if reminding himself. “But the committee will be coming to inspect next month, and I’m a bit busy, so I really don’t want to be disturbed.”

Xiao Su looked at him and suddenly smiled: "You don't seem particularly excited?" Yang Ping thought for a moment and smiled as well: "I really don't want to be disturbed, but I don't want to dampen the enthusiasm of my colleagues, so I've decided to let Tang Shun and Song Ziming handle the inspection."

He bent down and kissed his son's forehead: "Now I'm more concerned about whether his temperature will rise at night, and whether he has a strong reaction to the vaccine. These are the realities of life."

Xiao Su held his hand, her eyes full of understanding: "Regardless of whether there's an award or not, you and your team have already changed so many people's lives, and that's what matters most, right?"

"Correct."

……

At nine o'clock in the evening, Xiaoshu had a slight fever due to a reaction to the vaccine, but slept relatively soundly. After putting his son to sleep, Yang Ping went to his study and began to think about his research topic again.

The next day, he gathered his core team members—Tang Shun, Song Ziming, Xu Zhiliang, Lu Xiaolu, Jiang Jitong, Chu Xiaoxiao, and others—and the small conference room was packed with them.

"Everyone, there's something I need to tell you," Yang Ping said, getting straight to the point. "Professor Mannstein has nominated his theory of system regulation for the Nobel Prize, and the committee will be visiting next month to investigate."

The room fell silent for a full five seconds, and then—

"Nobel Prize?!" Chu Xiaoxiao was the first to jump up, her hoodie hood flipped up over her head. "Professor... I, I didn't hear wrong, did I? This is your second time winning the prize."

Even Tang Shun, who had seen the world, dropped his pen on the table. He picked it up and said, "Professor, don't worry, leave it to me."

He was afraid that Yang Ping would find it too troublesome to refuse such a good opportunity. Winning the award twice meant that someone else might be able to win it as well. Even if they couldn't, it would be wonderful if the professor could win it a second time.

Lu Xiaolu had already started flipping through his notebook: "What materials do we need to prepare? Backups of the original data, a list of independently validated papers, access permissions to the patient follow-up database..."

Yang Ping raised his hand to signal for quiet: "Let me finish. We don't need any special preparation. We'll just show what science is like. No embellishment, no exaggeration, no performance."

He looked around at his team members, whose faces were filled with shock, excitement, and a hint of bewilderment: "More importantly, I want to take this opportunity to ask you all: if... I mean if... the theory really wins the prize, what do you hope it will bring?"

After a moment of silence, Chu Xiaoxiao spoke first, her voice still trembling with excitement: "I hope... I hope that winning this award will convince more young people that doing this kind of research, which requires patience and perseverance, is worthwhile! My parents always think I should go work in a pharmaceutical company and make a lot of money..."

Tang Shun continued, "I hope there will be more research funding. Although we already have a lot, who would complain about having too much money, right?"

Lu Xiaolu pushed up his glasses: "I hope that winning the award will promote academic exchange. There are still some experts in traditional fields who do not understand us and think that systems medicine is not rigorous, too advanced, and impractical. The authority of the Nobel Prize can break these prejudices."

When it was Dr. Zhang Wei's turn, he rubbed his hands together, his eyes somewhat unfocused: "I... I hope that after winning the award, those companies selling health bracelets will stop trying to ride the wave of popularity. However..." He paused, his voice lowering, "...if they are willing to pay me to be their scientific advisor and help them improve their algorithms, I think... it's not something I can't consider."

Song Ziming laughed out loud: "Zhang Bo, are you addicted to being an undercover agent?"

"I'm taking a roundabout approach to achieve my goal!" Zhang Bo straightened his back. "I'll use their money to do real research, and then open-source the results for everyone to use!"

Yang Ping smiled and shook his head, then looked at Song Ziming and asked, "And you?"

Song Ziming thought for a moment and said, "Professor, I think the most important thing is to stay true to your original aspirations. Winning an award may bring glory, but it may also bring pressure, jealousy, and excessively high expectations. We must remember why we started. It wasn't for the award, but to find better ways to treat and save lives. As you often say, the end goal of medicine is not to publish papers, but to give patients a better life."

Yang Ping nodded: "You're right, so the purpose of today's meeting is to let everyone think about this in advance. Whether the committee comes or not, whether there is an award or not, our work will remain the same, our pace will remain the same, and our direction will remain the same. Winning an award is just a byproduct."

He stood up, walked to the whiteboard, and wrote several large characters:
The core values ​​of the systemic regulation theory are: respecting the body's wisdom; understanding the context of disease; designing personalized regulation; pursuing sustainable health; and establishing equal doctor-patient dialogue.

"These are the values ​​we set out with, and the principles we will uphold no matter how far we go." Yang Ping turned around. "During the committee's visit, we will showcase these values, not to show glory, but to show real work, real challenges, and real progress."

After the meeting, team members left one by one, each seemingly lost in thought.

Chu Xiaoxiao walked at the back, hesitated for a moment, and turned back to ask, "Professor... if, I mean if, you really win the award, will you go to Stockholm to receive it?"

Yang Ping laughed: "To be honest, I really don't want to go."

Tang Shun immediately chimed in, "Professor, you don't need to worry, not at all. I can accept the award on your behalf."

Chu Xiaoxiao's eyes lit up: "Remember to take me with you."

Dr. Zhang lingered until the very end before leaning over and whispering, "Professor, um... my bracelet analysis report is actually 80% complete. When the committee arrives, can I give a presentation? Just as... a case study of systems thinking being used to expose a business scam?"

Looking at Zhang Bo's "I'm doing research very seriously" expression, Song Ziming suppressed a laugh: "You think they're interested in researching your bracelet?"

"Understood!" Zhang Bo scratched his head.

"This kid has no sense of proportion," Song Ziming thought to himself.

After Dr. Zhang left, Song Ziming and Tang Shun stayed behind. They noticed that Professor Yang didn't seem very happy, and they understood that Professor Yang was most afraid of things unrelated to his research, as he wasn't good at dealing with them.

Song Ziming said, "Professor, don't worry, with me and Tang Shun, we'll handle everything perfectly."

Yang Ping patted him on the shoulder: "Thank you for your trouble. If possible, if you really win an award, you two should share it with everyone else."

"No, no... Professor, if it's really possible to get a share, I'd like to get one too, but I can't. If it's really possible to win an award, just let us accept it on your behalf." Tang Shun looked on with anticipation.

After Song Ziming and Tang Shun left, Yang Ping stayed alone in the conference room to rest for a while. His phone vibrated; it was a message from Xiao Su: "Xiao Shu didn't have a fever today and is having a good time. Is your meeting over? Come back for dinner soon."

He replied, "I'll be right back."

(End of this chapter)