White armor

Chapter 723 The pen wasn't lost, in the Southwest

The person who suddenly barged in was a young doctor from the interventional radiology department. He had arrived a few years earlier than Luo Hao and was a doctoral student supervised by Shen Zizai.

Even with a doctoral degree, staying at the First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University is by no means easy.

He had to pull countless strings and go through countless twists and turns to barely manage to stay.

"Xiao Zhou, what's wrong?" Meng Liangren smiled gently, his square face full of kindness.

Although Meng Liangren, who is in his early thirties, is much younger than the professors leading the groups, his more than a year of experience at the First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University has shed his naivety and given him a gentle yet confident demeanor.

"Old Meng, my medical checkup revealed some problems." Xiao Zhou sighed, his brows furrowed with worry.

"Let me see." Meng Liangren turned around and started the hospital's internal system to retrieve the examination report.

"I tried to find an ultrasound doctor on duty myself, but I couldn't find one," Xiao Zhou said. "I mentioned that I'd been experiencing heart palpitations and a bad temper lately, so I thought I'd get checked out. It turns out I have a lot of nodules on my thyroid."

Interventional radiology doctors are exposed to radiation for long periods of time, and thyroid nodules are considered one of the most common occupational diseases, even the mildest kind.

Meng Liangren smiled gently: "Xiao Zhou, you usually take good care of your protective measures. Have you been under too much work pressure lately?"

“Not entirely.” Xiao Zhou complained with a worried look. “Old Meng, I know what you’re thinking. I’m kicking myself now; I shouldn’t have gone for graduate school and a doctorate.” He sighed deeply. “Although I’m lucky to have stayed, who would have thought the price would be so high?”

Meng Liangren was momentarily speechless.

If you don't have surgery or take any stitches, then whatever you say is just empty talk.

Even if you wanted to offer some advice, it wouldn't work.

Professor Luo led the team to perform all the surgeries, making Meng Liangren an outlier in the interventional radiology department.

He's more like the kind of doctor who specializes in writing papers, but Meng Liangren doesn't even need to write the papers; Chen Yong does.

Moreover, Chen Yong did better than almost everyone else. Publishing in a sub-journal of a top-tier journal was as easy as eating and drinking, and even publishing in the main journal was not difficult for him.

Meng Liangren sighed, wanting to say something to comfort Xiao Zhou.

But as soon as a thought flashed through my mind, I immediately rejected it.

He shook his head and glanced at "Xiao Meng".

“Old Meng, you’re really lucky,” Xiao Zhou complained. “I’m really envious. I remember you telling me about how you went back to your hometown to make your ancestral graves emit auspicious smoke when you were poor and destitute. I wanted to do that too. But my family doesn’t have any ancestral graves. My grandparents are in the funeral home.”

"If I were to set off firecrackers at a funeral home, I'm worried I'd get beaten to death."

"..." Meng Liangren's expression changed slightly.

Do you wet the ground, then light firecrackers and make them smoke?
It was like a joke, but afterwards my luck was indeed quite good, as if all the misfortunes of the first half of my life had been rewarded.

"The director had his thyroid removed a long time ago, and I reckon mine will be soon too," Xiao Zhou sighed again.

He seemed to have already seen his tragic future.

"Is there something wrong with Director Shen's thyroid?" Meng Liangren was taken aback; he had never heard anyone mention it.

"Yes, five years ago, when I was doing my doctoral studies, I developed an adenoma. It was a single adenoma in a male, and it was mainly thyroid cancer, you know. At the time, I noticed that although the head of the department didn't seem to care, he was still very anxious for a long time."

"It won't be good until the surgery is done and the pathology results show it's benign."

Old Meng was unaware of this past event; it turns out that eating thread really can easily make you sick.

"In the cardiology department, Deputy Director Bai risked his life to perform surgeries. He developed a blood disease the year before last, I didn't even ask what kind of cancer it was. Look at him now, he's all quiet now."

How many surgeries you perform, how much money you make—those are all minor details. What truly matters is having good health and living a few more years.

Xiao Zhou kept saying discouraging things.

Doctors are human too. They can talk about other people's life and death without a care in the world. But when they face life and death themselves, they feel incredibly guilty.

"It's really not easy," Meng Liangren sighed. He could only go along with it and try his best to soothe Xiao Zhou's emotions.

"Xiao Meng, how much do you think interventional surgery is related to thyroid tumors?" Meng Liangren asked.

"The thyroid gland is sensitive to radiation, and long-term exposure to low doses of radiation may increase the risk of developing diseases such as thyroid nodules, thyroid dysfunction such as hyperthyroidism or hypothyroidism, and thyroid cancer."

"..." Meng Liangren's hand went numb; she shouldn't have asked.

"Xiao Meng" is too honest and lacks emotional intelligence. Saying so much will only make Xiao Zhou feel more depressed.

That's incredibly detailed!

Boss Lou had seen through all of this long ago. "Xiao Meng" was more fluid than the first beautiful robot and seemed more like a real person, but she was really blunt and had no idea what Meng Liangren was up to.

"Furthermore, prolonged exposure to scattered radiation can easily cause lens opacity, leading to decreased vision. Interventional cataract doctors have a high probability of developing cataracts around the age of 45, and their condition is usually more severe than that of ordinary patients."

“You…” Meng Liangren wanted to interrupt “Little Meng”.

"But we can't just look at the bad side of things," Xiao Meng suddenly changed the subject.

Meng Liangren was speechless for a moment, swallowing back the words that were about to come out.

Could it be that there was an oversight in how I asked the questions? Or were the questions too numerous, causing "Xiao Meng" to have to deal with two issues at the same time?
Or perhaps—is it trying to comfort Xiao Zhou? Old Meng didn't speak, looking intently at "Xiao Meng".

“Brother Zhou,” “Xiao Meng” said sincerely, “It’s not easy to stay here. I remember there was a PhD student at Peking Union Medical College who studied anesthesiology. He had good grades and high emotional intelligence. His supervisor was very fond of him.”

"real or fake."

"Really, Brother Du has the air of a gangster boss, and he takes care of his fellow students. Back when Professor Luo was still studying at Peking Union Medical College, he often hung out with Brother Du," "Xiao Meng" said.

Huh?
Meng Liangren's eyes were full of doubt. "Little Meng's" words were quite interesting. Could it be that Professor Luo had upgraded the AI robot again?
It's telling a story, clearly intended to comfort people.

AI robots can comfort people now? Isn't this the prototype of a companion robot? Boss Lou's eyes gleamed with a sly light.

He finally saw what interested him most.

"But after graduating, Brother Du couldn't stay. Peking Union Medical College wouldn't even hire a PhD. The main reason is that Brother Du was the type who worked for a while before taking the postgraduate entrance exam and pursuing a PhD. He didn't graduate from Peking Union Medical College for his undergraduate degree, so he was at the bottom of the hospital's hierarchy of contempt."

"And his family can't offer any help either."

“Xiao Meng, how can you be so greasy? Helping others? That’s not common in the South,” Xiao Zhou retorted.

"That's just talk. The wealthy people and families in the South are real, and they definitely want to present themselves well. For example, regarding a fire safety issue, we have to keep investigating and do our job."

"Xiao Meng" began to give examples.

Boss Lou listened quietly, his eyes growing brighter and brighter.

Some unspoken rules are just that—unspoken rules—and young people can't even figure them out. But this AI robot in front of me just so clearly and vividly explains these unspoken rules.

That's quite interesting.

“In the South, they first conduct a thorough inspection, a proper one, and they definitely find many problems, so they order the business to suspend operations for rectification. Then, relevant companies come and ask if you want the most professional guidance.”

"Huh? Are they in cahoots?"

"Pretty much. Anyway, in the end, the money was paid and the corresponding rectification was carried out. Their procedures were fine, and the fire hazards were eliminated. Overall, it's a fairly high-level one."

"It's just not the same in the North." Xiao Zhou's thinking had already been led astray.

"In the past, there weren't many thousand-year-old families in the North; everyone operated independently, so this wasn't an option," "Xiao Meng" said. "Have you read Professor Xiong Yi's commentary on 'The Book of Lord Shang'?"

"No." Xiao Zhou shook his head blankly.

"The concept of collective punishment is mentioned in the Book of Lord Shang. In my view, collective punishment means that when families want to solve problems with violence, they find someone to take the blame."

"Oh, oh, oh, oh, I remember a while ago I kept seeing videos on short video platforms of some family in the south drawing lots for life and death, and the person who drew the lot would go and kill someone, and then their family would have a separate page in their family tree, and their whole family would be taken care of." Xiao Zhou completely forgot what he was talking about.

Meng Liangren was helpless; it turned out that "Little Meng" had learned so thoroughly from Professor Luo.

"That's roughly it. The original meaning of 'joint punishment' wasn't about punishing neighbors in the conventional sense, but rather about punishing family members in the surrounding area. We can't understand the events of that time with our current understanding; it was a means to counter local powerful families."

"..."

"Speaking of which," "Xiao Meng" hadn't forgotten what he said at the beginning, "Brother Du couldn't stay, so he had to go out and find a job. In a Class II Grade A hospital in Suzhou, the old head of the ICU had one year left before retirement, so Brother Du went there to work and wait to take over."

"But he was unlucky; he was hit by a car while riding his electric scooter home from get off work."

"what?!"

"He suffered a brain hemorrhage and was given a death sentence in Suzhou, who said he was beyond saving. His mentor at Peking Union Medical College Hospital couldn't bear it, so he applied to send a team to Suzhou to take care of him for 12 days and brought him back from the brink of death."

"Holy crap, awesome!" Xiao Zhou exclaimed.

Meng Liangren recalled that when Professor Luo was at Donglian Mine, he was reported by name. In order to support Professor Luo, Director Gu of 912 brought a group of people to the operation, including even a critical care doctor.

It turns out this is an unspoken rule in the industry; I couldn't understand it until I reached that level.

“Even people highly regarded by their mentors can’t stay. Brother Zhou, you were able to stay because the director thinks highly of you.” “Xiao Meng” brought the topic back completely. “Although our First Affiliated Hospital of Medical University can’t compare with Peking Union Medical College Hospital, it is still the number one hospital in the province. In recent years, the number of surgeries performed has been among the top ten in the country.”

Xiao Zhou nodded.

Xiao Meng's words had moved him.

“I’ve seen how you usually are. The director looks at you like you’re his own son.”

"!!!"

Both Meng Liangren and Boss Lou looked at "Little Meng" in surprise.

This guy has no emotional intelligence? Impossible, absolutely impossible! Professor Luo must have recently given "Xiao Meng" another promotion.

"You're guaranteed to be a professor leading a research group in the future. Although the medical field is under pressure right now and everyone feels stressed, judging from the trend, things will definitely get better after you become a professor leading a research group, Brother Zhou."

"You... Xiao Meng, why did I tell you so much?" Xiao Zhou was just getting excited when he suddenly remembered that "Xiao Meng" was just an AI robot.

"Brother Zhou, I see things more objectively than you guys. You might be limited by a certain interest, but I see things relatively objectively, since that interest has nothing to do with me," "Xiao Meng" said calmly, not at all angry that Xiao Zhou said he wasn't human.

"Oh? For example?" Xiao Zhou became interested.

"I can't think of any examples. You can think carefully about what I'm saying. These words are not random, but the final result derived from searching the entire internet with AI and undergoing 128 layers of logical analysis."

"..." Dr. Zhou was speechless.

"I lost my pen. If you can find it for me, that'll be amazing." Xiao Zhou laughed, taking the initiative to change the subject and making a joke.

But no one expected that "Xiao Meng" would actually take it seriously, and its right hand began to calculate.

"!!!" Xiao Zhou was stunned, completely forgetting what had been making him uneasy earlier. Could it be that "Xiao Meng" could tell fortunes?

Boss Lou moved closer to Meng Liangren and asked, "Old Meng, what's this?"

“Boss Lou, I don’t know either.” Meng Liangren smiled wryly, “But Dr. Chen set up a fortune-telling robot in Funiu Mountain. I guess the backend data is all connected, so Xiao Meng can also tell fortunes.”

"Fuck me!"

Boss Lou, who was usually unfazed by the collapse of Mount Tai before him, nearly had his eyes pop out of his head.

I haven't been abroad managing my business for very long, how come AI robots have progressed to this level!

AI robot girlfriends only came out during the Ice and Snow Festival. When Mr. Lou first saw the lifelike robot girlfriend, he was amazed.

That prototype could even brew tea, and now even Boss Lou finds it absolutely amazing.

Although Mr. Lou knew that AI seemed to be improving all the time, he never expected that in just about half a year, the AI robot would be able to tell fortunes!
Just as Boss Lou was pondering this with great surprise, "Xiao Meng" stopped pointing.

"Brother Zhou, we need to look for the lost item in the southwest, in the area we usually go to. It's not lost there."

"You're talking nonsense." Xiao Zhou laughed, his previous complaints completely gone. He definitely wouldn't resign; he was just venting. With "Xiao Meng" so patiently coaxing him, he certainly wouldn't continue.

Dr. Zhou started looking for directions, searching around the southwest corner of the office.

"Look, we couldn't find it." Xiao Zhou chuckled. "Xiao Meng, you need to keep practicing. Why do you seem to be talking nonsense like DeepSeek? Is this how all AIs are, crashing?"

"No way!" Xiao Meng calculated with her fingers, then said confidently, "It must be in a corner in the southwest. It's not lost!"

Meng Liangren was taken aback. "Could it be the duty room? The duty room is located in the southwest corner of the office."

"I'll go take a look," Xiao Zhou thought, and rushed out like a mad dog.

A few minutes later, Dr. Zhou returned with a tube of ballpoint pens, looking completely bewildered. (Note)
Boss Lou was extremely surprised. He had just thought that "Xiao Meng" was just putting on a show, but he didn't expect that it actually had the real thing!

A fire suddenly ignited in my heart.

The flames roared fiercely, scorching hot, threatening to burn Boss Lou to ashes.

Ma Zhuang was also dumbfounded, staring blankly at the pen, seemingly lost in thought.

"Xiao Meng, it's true."

"Yes, what I said were the best conclusions selected through large-scale model screening," "Xiao Meng" said calmly. "Speaking of you, Brother Zhou, your college entrance exam score was 570, not high, not low. You came to our medical university, and you failed three courses during your university years..."

"Uh, don't go into such detail. What's there to talk about about failing a course?" Dr. Zhou said somewhat awkwardly.

"Xiao Meng" even knew that he had failed a course in college.

This isn't considered privacy; it's more like old acquaintances talking about the past.

"Oh, Zhou, you worked very hard later, went on to graduate school and a doctorate, and stayed on. If nothing unexpected happens, you'll be a key member of the talent pool. Director Shen also..."

"Xiao Meng" paused as she spoke.

"What else?"

"The retirement time will be delayed, and it is estimated that there will be one or two more rounds of delayed retirement, so Director Shen's retirement time calculation is inaccurate."

"..."

“You could become the head of the department in the future, so don’t let this difficulty defeat you. Even though it’s just a possibility, it’s still a good thing. Most people don’t even have that possibility.” “Xiao Meng” finally got to the point.

"!!!"

The hospital's general manager's expression changed slightly.

There will always be competition among them; there can only be one department head.

"I suggest you take proper precautions. Professor Luo always wears full protective gear when he goes on stage, so he gets less radiation exposure than you do," "Xiao Meng" suggested. "Although X-rays are direct rays, it's always better to take proper precautions than to be careless."

"!!!" Xiao Zhou was speechless.

Boss Lou looked at "Xiao Meng" with great interest. Who said that AI robots lack emotional intelligence? "Xiao Meng" can even tell fortunes now, and can even predict that the young doctor will have the opportunity to become a director in a few years.

It's not that it's bad, it's that it's amazing.

From this perspective, I'm determined to win! Boss Lou remained silent and stood up.

"Old Meng, it's getting late, I'm heading back now."

"Mr. Lou, let me see you off." Zhuang Yan put down the long pliers in her hand and smiled as she went to see Mr. Lou off.

Boss Lou was taken aback.

“I’m in charge of hospitality in the group. Boss Lou, you’re one of us, but it’s only right that I see you off. Otherwise, my senior brother will say that I’m neglecting our distinguished guest.”

Mr. Lou nodded, went out, and took the elevator.

"Dr. Zhuang, I didn't expect you to progress so quickly. When I first received the prototype from Professor Li last year, I thought it was amazing."

"Oh? That girlfriend robot? Made based on the Onsa people's model?" Zhuang Yan asked.

"Yes, it can even brew tea, and it does it very skillfully. Moreover, its birthday is auspicious for husbands." Boss Lou laughed. "To be honest, I was tempted at the time. Later, I sold it to the United States, and I tracked the data. It seems that about 86% of the people who bought robot girlfriends have very successful careers."

“It was Yong-ge who helped with the calculations.” Zhuang Yan wasn’t surprised. “I think my senior brother is too serious. I really like it when Yong-ge comes up with some novel ideas.”

"Fortune-telling?"

“Someone used AI to tell fortunes early this morning. Yong Ge is the most professional in this area, and he said that metaphysics and medicine are particularly suitable for AI.”

"!!!"

Boss Lou and Ma Zhuang couldn't understand why two completely unrelated things could have similarities.

"I don't know, I just heard it." Zhuang Yan issued a disclaimer like a doctor, which she had gotten used to. After a year of experience, Zhuang Yan was becoming more and more like an old doctor.

“Medical image interpretation is the simplest, and now AI image interpretation has a success rate of over 99%, which is better than most doctors. Image interpretation is all about data, and as long as there is enough data to support it, AI will definitely be very powerful.”

"Fortune telling is the same. For example, analyzing the eight characters of a birth chart involves a limited amount of data. You just throw it all in and calculate it. It's actually simpler than some clinical procedures."

Boss Lou remained silent.

Zhuang Yan didn't understand, but what she said made Boss Lou think of some other things.

"See you tomorrow, Mr. Lou." Zhuang Yan escorted Mr. Lou to his car, smiling and extending her hand with a graceful demeanor.

Mr. Lou was somewhat moved, remarking that under Professor Luo's tutelage, a mere graduate student had transformed into such a remarkable individual in just one year.

Although they didn't have much contact, Boss Lou had an extremely keen sense of smell, and before leaving, he even added Zhuang Yan on WeChat to stay in touch.

"Boss."

"Old my ass!"

The driver was driving when Ma Zhuang wanted to talk to Boss Lou, but he was scolded by Boss Lou for only calling him "boss".

Ma Zhuang was puzzled.

"Look at Zhuang Yan, she's the daughter of the dean of the First Affiliated Hospital of the Medical University. She's never suffered since she was a child, and she's grown up so fast!"

"..."

"If you had half the quality of others, I wouldn't have needed to travel thousands of miles abroad. The difference between scoring 2-300 points on the college entrance exam and around 700 points is indeed huge."

Ma Zhuang looked bitter.

"What do you want to say?" Boss Lou asked.

"AI is so powerful now? I want to find that AI robot to tell my fortune."

"Don't bother calculating, it's useless. There are fifty Great Daos, and one of them is the Heavenly Evolution. Just focus on doing your best with the Heavenly Evolution. Do you understand, Ma Zhuang?"

Ma Zhuang looked bewildered, but still nodded.

Boss Lou sighed. It seemed he needed to find some highly educated subordinates. Ma Zhuang was loyal, but not very capable.

Although he seemed to have matured after going abroad and experiencing life-or-death situations, if Zhuang Yan had been given that kind of opportunity involving blood and fire, she could have become a big sister in Mexico by now.

"Boss, you should go home and get some rest."

“There’s no time to rest. I’m at the company, in a meeting,” Boss Lou said. “The plans have changed, so we need to prepare in advance.”

"what?"

"Professor Luo... never mind, let's talk about it during the meeting. You need to be more careful." Boss Lou raised his hand and slapped Ma Zhuang on the back of the head.

Ma Zhuang covered his head and chuckled.

Upon arriving at the company, all of Mr. Lou's relevant personnel had already arrived.

"I saw an AI robot today, and it was even more shocking than my robot girlfriend six months ago," Mr. Lou said bluntly.

In front of some rough men, Boss Lou didn't need to hide anything.

"Now let's see..."

"Dong Dong Dong~"

There was a knock on the door.

Boss Lou frowned and glanced at the people in the meeting.

"Boss, I ordered coffee." One of them raised his hand and said timidly.

"Go and get it."

The man got up and went to the door.

Suddenly, a robotic panda walked in.