Break out of the courtyard

Upon hearing the head of neurology mention the regeneration and repair fluid, Zhang Heping stared at the brain-dead old man for a long time before asking where his family was.

"I'll go call the family!" a young male doctor replied, and quickly walked towards the ward door.

"Just call one of the older ones over!" the head of neurology instructed, probably annoyed by the patient's numerous family members.

Unfortunately, the neurology director's words had no effect. Not long after the young male doctor left, a commotion broke out outside the ward.

If it weren't for the bodyguards Zhang Heping brought guarding the entrance, the patients' families would probably have rushed in all at once.

Hearing the noise outside, Zhang Heping frowned and went out.

He originally intended to question the hospital security guards about what they were doing, but unexpectedly, he found a group of slovenly dressed teenagers outside.

Then, looking at the security guards who rushed over after hearing the commotion, they weren't carrying stun guns or riot shields, but rather two plastic bags of snacks and drinks.

"What's going on?" Zhang Heping frowned as he looked at the group of boys and girls, the oldest of whom was probably only twelve or thirteen years old, and the youngest was eight or nine.

The head of neurology rushed forward to explain, "These children are from the Chengbei Orphanage, and the patient inside is the orphanage's director, named Long Li."

The head of the bodyguards leaned closer to Zhang Heping and whispered, "Boss, I have a feeling there's something wrong with these kids. I don't know if it's just my imagination!"

Zhang Heping did not respond, but stared at the three older boys and one girl with a gloomy look in his eyes.

He was staring at the four children not because they had colds and runny noses, but because their facial features matched those of the Japanese.

This may be a coincidence, but Zhang Heping has a prejudice against the Japanese and does not believe any coincidences related to them!
Zhang Heping looked at the other children and asked calmly, "Among you, who can make the decision?"

"Me!" A boy who looked like a Japanese islander tried to step forward, but was stopped by the bodyguard next to him.

Zhang Heping said expressionlessly, "Your dean is brain dead, and it's very difficult to cure him!"

Upon hearing this, the boy, who appeared to be from the Japanese island, showed less worry and relaxed his clenched fists.

Another boy spoke up, "Big brother, it's difficult to treat. Is it curable or incurable?"

The boy's facial features are very similar to those of people from mainland China, and he hadn't spoken until he stood in front of the group of children.

At this moment, he addressed the young-looking Zhang Heping as "big brother," his obsequiousness all too obvious.

“It can be cured!”

As soon as Zhang Heping finished speaking, the big boy knelt down with a thud and kowtowed three times to Zhang Heping.

The other children followed suit and knelt down as well.

"Please, big brother and all the doctors and aunties, treat our Dean Dad. We will definitely pay back all the medical expenses after we find a job. I, Li Fan, swear that I will definitely pay it back!" The little guy knelt up straight, pressed his right thumb against his little finger, and raised three fingers as if making a vow.

"Then you will enter the ward as the family representative. Everyone else, please make way in the corridor." Zhang Heping said indifferently, then turned to look at the bodyguard captain behind him and gave him a look.

The bodyguard captain understood and replied in a low voice, "I'll arrange for someone to investigate right away!"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Heping entered the ward.

After the boy named Li Fan got up, he whispered something to the girl behind him before jogging into the ward.

"Big brother……"

"Don't try to get close!" Zhang Heping stared coldly at the boy named Li Fan and asked, "Who is the person who spoke first?"

"Tagawa?" the young Li Fan asked in confusion, "B-B-you mean when did he come into our house?"

Zhang Heping did not answer, but just looked at the boy expressionlessly.

The head of neurology and other medical staff nearby sensed something was amiss upon hearing this.

Li Fan glanced at his father, the hospital director, on the bed, pursed his lips and thought for a moment before saying, "My father, the hospital director, originally only raised four of us: me, A-Qiang, A-Quan, and A-Mei. Tian Chuan and the other three only came five years ago."

"After they came, our family's meals improved, and the director later adopted some younger brothers and sisters."

“Takawa and his three friends rarely play with us, and their grades are all better than ours…”

"Alright!" After getting the answer he wanted, Zhang Heping lost interest in listening any further.

Regardless of what the Japanese islanders did with those four little brats in the orphanage, Zhang Heping didn't want to concern himself with it anymore; his bodyguards would report back to him afterward.

"Now let me explain the patient's treatment plan!" Zhang Heping frowned as he looked at the teenager and tried his best to explain in plain language that the other person could understand.

Zhang Heping wasn't entirely confident in treating this brain-dead patient, but as the head of neurology suggested, they could try using a regenerative repair solution.

The neurosurgeon had many ideas he didn't mention. For example, if conventional injection of regenerative repair fluid fails to restore the patient's condition, he suggested removing part of the patient's brain tissue and then relying on the regenerative repair fluid to restore the missing brain tissue.

If the patient still cannot be awakened, other parts of the brain tissue are removed until new brain tissue completely replaces the previous brain tissue.

It's not just Zhang Heping's speculation; the main point is that experiments in this area have already been conducted on laboratory monkeys.

Although brain-dead experimental monkeys were revived with regenerative repair fluid, many people have a question: Do monkeys that are revived after having their brain tissue replaced with new brain tissue retain their previous memories? Are they still the same monkeys they were before?
Since monkeys cannot speak, they naturally cannot answer the researchers' questions.

Therefore, all the medical staff involved in or aware of this study are waiting for a clinical trial.

This is why Zhang Heping pondered for a long time when the head of neurology mentioned the regenerative repair fluid.

Because once this clinical trial begins, it will take up a lot of Zhang Heping's time and energy.

"Simply put, we are 70% confident that we can wake the patient up, but we cannot guarantee that the patient will not lose their memory!" After Zhang Heping finished speaking, he calmly looked at the big boy opposite him.

Li Fan thought for a moment and asked, "You mean, our Dean might have amnesia after he wakes up?"

"It might be permanent amnesia!" Zhang Heping added. "You'll need to re-teach him to speak, eat, use the toilet, and so on!"

Boom!
Li Fan knelt down again with a thud, but before he could kowtow, Zhang Heping's impatient voice rang out, "If you agree, go and persuade your people, then sign the clinical trial agreement."

Zhang Heping waved his hand, and a young doctor immediately stepped forward to take the little guy away.

As soon as the outsiders left, the head of neurology approached him with a smile, "Professor Zhang, we admitted the patient. How about we conduct this clinical trial here?"

Zhang Heping walked to the bedside, felt the patient's left wrist pulse again, and said slowly, "First, organize some people to go to Heping Hospital in Shenzhen and practice on the experimental monkeys there. If you can do it, then you can do it!" "Thank you, Professor Zhang. We will definitely be able to complete the experimental monkey surgery!" The head of the neurology department happily agreed, then looked at the excited doctors and nurses in the department, already considering which people to bring to the clinical trial.

Just as the head of neurology was distracted, Zhang Heping had his bodyguard bring over the black box he was carrying.

Then, he took a black helmet out of the box and put it on the patient's head.

Zhang Heping releases his mental energy through his gold-rimmed glasses, connecting to the brain-computer interface on the patient's helmet and converting it into brainwaves that enter the patient's brain.

"He moved!" a nurse exclaimed, pointing at the patient on the bed. She then quickly covered her mouth as if she had done something wrong.

Other medical staff also saw the patient's eyelids, hands, and feet moving, but they didn't want to disturb Zhang Heping as he was doing something to the patient.

Only after Zhang Heping put away his black helmet did a doctor speak up, asking, "Dr. Zhang, what was the patient's reaction just now...?"

“Neurotic convulsions!” Zhang Heping explained simply, then said to the head of neurology, “After the brain-computer interface was connected, the patient’s brain did not respond at all.”

"Fortunately, the patient's nervous system has not degenerated much. Try to complete the first stage of surgery within a week."

“Okay, Professor Zhang! We’ll send someone to Shenzhen today and invite the experts there to come and lend a hand, hehe!” The head of neurology smiled slyly, as if he had gotten a great deal.

Zhang Heping handed the black box to his bodyguard and casually asked, "Which ward is the vegetative patient participating in the clinical trial in?"

"If you're not prepared, I'll be leaving now!"

"Ready! Ready!" The head of neurology stretched out his right hand, gesturing outside. "It's right next door. The patient's family has already signed the papers. Dr. Zhang, this way please!"

In Zhang Heping's view, treating vegetative patients is much simpler than treating brain-dead patients.

When Zhang Heping and his group arrived at the next ward, a middle-aged woman and a girl of about twelve or thirteen years old who were sitting on the left bed hurriedly stood up.

Because of the brain-computer interface clinical trial, this three-person ward, like the one next door for brain-dead patients, only has a patient in the middle bed, while the two beds on the left and right are empty.

Ignoring the patient's family, Zhang Heping went straight to examine the emaciated vegetative patient, then took out the black helmet from the black box and put it on the patient's head.

About five minutes later, Zhang Heping took off his gold-rimmed glasses, rubbed the bridge of his nose, and instructed, "Give the patient an IV drip of 500 ml of glucose and add 50 ml of No. 3 brain-boosting solution!"

"I'll do it!" The head nurse raised her hand to accept the task and hurried out, still muttering the medication dosages as she went, "One 500 ml bottle of glucose, and 50 ml of No. 3 brain-boosting solution!"

The brain-boosting liquid was only recently distributed to this hospital; it's mainly an emergency medication prepared for the virtual dream classroom and the library's virtual learning dream environment.

As for the models 1, 2, 3, 4, etc., they are just numbers to correspond to patients with varying degrees of severity. Patients with mild symptoms of overworking their brains can take No. 1 brain-boosting liquid orally.

Brain-boosting liquid like No. 3 is only used for patients with more serious conditions.

Therefore, the medical staff present were somewhat puzzled as to why Zhang Heping would use Brain No. 3 Supplement on this vegetative patient.

Just as the head of neurology raised this question, Zhang Heping took out two black helmets and two sets of flat black rubber wires containing gold threads from the box.

“This patient keeps having recurring nightmares about a car accident!” Zhang Heping asked as he plugged two sets of black electrical wires into the patient’s helmet. “Was his condition caused by the car accident?”

"Yes!" the middle-aged woman next to him hurriedly replied, "My husband had dinner with friends that night, drank some alcohol, and was in a car accident on his way home. He hit his head and bled a lot!"

"Put this on and see if it's from this car accident!" Zhang Heping handed the middle-aged woman a black helmet that had just been wired.

Then, under the expectant gaze of the neurology director, Zhang Heping handed the second black helmet, already wired, to him.

The middle-aged woman trembled uncontrollably less than five seconds after putting on the helmet, and her lips turned pale with fright.

If Zhang Heping hadn't gone over and taken the helmet, who knows how terrified this woman would have been.

The neurosurgeon's expression was slightly better, but after Zhang Heping removed the black helmet, it was still clear that the neurosurgeon's expression was very unpleasant.

Afterwards, Zhang Heping had other curious medical staff put on the helmets to experience the nightmare of this vegetative patient.

When the head nurse returned with a bottle of glucose solution and an IV tubing, she was met with a group of colleagues looking worried and distressed.

Just as the head nurse was wondering about what to do after hanging up the IV and preparing to insert the needle, a middle-aged male doctor spoke up.

"Dr. Zhang, we only have a few seconds to enter the patient's dream, right?" the middle-aged male doctor said, his brow furrowed.
"But we experienced dozens of car accidents in the patient's dreams. Is this a difference in perceived time?"

"Hmm!" Zhang Heping said as he put his helmet back in, "There are two treatment options for this patient."

When the medical staff heard that Zhang Heping was about to explain the treatment plan, they hurriedly took out notebooks, voice recorders, mobile phones, and so on from their pockets.

The head nurse also used unprecedented efficiency to administer the IV drip to the patient and quickly joined the ranks of the good students taking notes.

After Zhang Heping and everyone else were ready, he slowly said, "The first treatment plan is to continuously supply the patient's brain with nutrients, so that his brain activity can expand from the deep dream to the superficial layer, thereby causing a physical reaction."

"Then, once the patient gets used to the nightmare and is no longer afraid of death, they will most likely wake up naturally!"

"This is a conservative treatment plan. You can discuss it with the patient's family and try it later."

“The second treatment option is more radical because no one has used it before!” Zhang Heping said, patting the black helmet he had retrieved from the patient’s head. “We can use brain-computer interfaces to artificially intervene in the patient’s dreams, to reverse his fear of death or even the outcome of the car accident.”

“I could try to forcefully reverse the outcome of the car accident, but this method requires great mental strength and willpower, which you cannot learn.”

"Therefore, you can consider entering the patient's dream together with the family members to reverse the patient's fear of death."

"Mr. Zhang!" A middle-aged woman, pulling her daughter along, blocked Zhang Heping's way as he was about to leave with his suitcase. "We all know you're a great man, a miracle doctor, and a world-renowned scientist!"

"Could you please use the method you just described to revive my husband?" the middle-aged woman said, bowing deeply with her daughter. "We'll sell the house to raise the money for his treatment. Please, please help us!"

Zhang Heping raised his left hand, patted the little girl's head, and walked past her with a smile.

Without Zhang Heping needing to explain, a doctor stepped forward to dissuade the middle-aged woman who still wanted to go forward, saying, "You have already signed a treatment agreement with our hospital, so please relax!"

"Besides, Teacher Zhang personally came to see the patient and provided a treatment plan, so what are you still worried about?"

"Don't worry about the treatment costs. We made it very clear when we signed the agreement that you voluntarily participate in the clinical trial and we will provide treatment for free. It's a win-win situation."

"Besides, Teacher Zhang doesn't need your money."

...(End of chapter)