bookbashuk Chapter 520, Question 501: No Answer
Chapter 520, Question 501: No Answer
Chapter 520, Question 501: No Answer
Jiang Jianxin followed the two into the conference room.
For the next hour or so, the two took turns asking questions, covering everything from basic pharmacology to cutting-edge technology.
But they soon realized that the woman in front of them had an unfathomable knowledge base.
Almost no theory could stump her.
Even for some mechanistic problems that are still controversial and ambiguous in academia, she can give clear conclusions without hesitation, with a confident tone.
As the short-haired girl continued asking questions, her eyes betrayed her surprise and disbelief.
"...Why do I feel like you know more than the chief expert of the Red Medicine Institute?"
Jiang Jianxin smiled slightly:
"Medical expert is my title, and I live up to it."
The short-haired girl was silent for a moment, as if digesting the weight of those words.
Then she turned around, clicked on the big screen, and brought up an unfinished PowerPoint presentation.
The presentation was clearly rushed; the last few pages were almost blank, and the layout of the first few pages was somewhat messy, with inconsistent font sizes.
However, the content of the first few pages was organized quite carefully, at least the text and images corresponded, and the logic was clear.
"So... in your opinion, what is your view on this issue?"
She unconsciously began to use honorifics, and even her posture became more respectful.
Jiang Jianxin looked up at the screen, but suddenly froze.
The above content... seems somewhat familiar.
The illustration shows a patient lying paralyzed on a hospital bed, his skin covered with large patches of dark, festering sores, his body emaciated, and his eyes empty and lifeless.
The disease that had ravaged another world had somehow crossed time and space and returned to haunt her once more.
Jiang Jianxin's throat went dry, and his voice involuntarily tightened:
When did this illness begin?
"It was first discovered in the park three days ago."
The short-haired girl replied:
"I consulted with several experts, and the condition is extremely complicated. Currently... there is no suitable medication."
Jiang Jianxin's brows furrowed deeply:
"Where is the patient? Has he/she been isolated?"
The buzz-cut man next to him chimed in dismissively:
"Isolation? It's just a severe skin ulcer, just supplies from the lower wards. If he dies, so be it..."
"Isolation is necessary immediately!"
Jiang Jianxin interrupted him sharply:
"This is a highly contagious and pathogenic disease! If we don't isolate them, none of the medical staff who came into contact with him today will escape infection!"
Perhaps it was because her tone was too decisive and her aura suddenly became overwhelming that both of them were stunned.
The man with the buzz cut muttered under his breath:
"It's just skin ulcers, how could it be so contagious... We've taken plenty of precautions..."
Just then—
The conference room door was flung open, and a young woman rushed in, her face pale and breathless.
"No, this is terrible! Over in the ward... more than a dozen nurses have suddenly developed black ulcers, and their symptoms are exactly the same as that patient's!"
The short-haired girl and the buzz-cut man suddenly stood up, their pupils shrinking sharply:
"what?!"
They turned to look at Jiang Jianxin almost simultaneously.
The disdain on the man's face had vanished, leaving only a deathly pallor and a dazed expression. His lips trembled a few times before he managed to squeeze out a sentence:
“You…you really are an expert…” Jiang Jianxin had already stood up, his face as cold as ice:
"Isolate everyone showing symptoms immediately, and completely seal off the contaminated area. I know the formula for the treatment—"
Her gaze swept over the two of them:
"Now, give me a pharmacy."
……
"despair."
After working non-stop for several hours, Jiang Jianxin completed the final step.
The familiar medicine packet landed in her palm, its texture and scent overlapping with images from her memory.
She pushed open the door of the pharmacy. The setting sun had just sunk to the horizon, and its afterglow, like molten gold, poured down, making the emerald green leaf-shaped logo engraved on the medicine packet very clear.
She came out carrying her medicine bag, and sure enough, the short-haired girl was waiting outside the door, pacing back and forth.
Upon seeing Jiang Jianxin appear, she quickly approached, her gaze falling on the medicine packet, her voice a mixture of anticipation and uncertainty:
"This is... the medicine that can cure that disease?"
"Yes."
Jiang Jianxin nodded slightly.
In another era, this disease once engulfed the continent like a black tide, carving out a long scar of a dark age.
Now she stands on the past timeline of another world. Although she doesn't know why this epidemic has reappeared here, her instinct as a healer makes it impossible for her to stand idly by.
The best way to end it is to nip it in the bud before it spreads and only lurks in the hands of a few people.
The short-haired girl took the medicine bag with both hands, her gaze lingering on the leaf-shaped logo for a moment, but she didn't ask any further questions.
She had noticed the rosemary that Jiang Jianxin always carried in his breast pocket, and subconsciously mistook its leaf shape for a variant of rosemary.
"If this medicine can really cure those people."
She looked up, her tone becoming much more formal:
"We will formally appoint you as our chief pharmaceutical consultant. At that time, you will be needed to oversee several of our core production lines."
She paused briefly, then added in a low voice, as if testing the waters:
"However, you should know that in addition to medicines for saving lives and treating illnesses, we also produce some... special psychotropic drugs. They require certain 'controllable side effects'."
Jiang Jianxin understood.
She recalled the description of her identity as a "medical expert" at the forum, then gave a nonchalant smile, her eyes filled with indifference:
"Of course. All I care about is the payment. Whether the medicine is white, black, or gray... that doesn't matter."
The short-haired girl seemed to breathe a sigh of relief and smiled as well.
The two walked side by side toward the isolation ward.
Perhaps feeling that she was now on the same side as this unfathomable advisor, she rarely revealed a bit of her true feelings:
“When I first left the Red Medicine Institute, I was determined to save more people with medicine. It wasn’t until I entered this field that I realized… medicine can save people, but only money can save me. I need a decent job to make a living, otherwise I won’t even be able to support my parents in their old age.”
She glanced at Jiang Jianxin, her voice softening:
"I wonder if you, sir, have ever had a similar feeling?"
Jiang Jianxin did not answer.
This is an unsolvable paradox.
Those researchers who, in their pursuit of a living or their ideals, were ultimately forced into the shadows by harsh reality, were not wrong.
Those who are struggling and being persecuted under the shadow of illicit drugs are certainly not wrong either.
So, whose fault was this tragedy?
No one knows the answer.