Study Monster Cultivation System

Chapter 177 - 176 just tough it out

The final day of the winter camp’s finale arrived in the morning, and the closing ceremony commenced as scheduled.

Compared to the opening ceremony, the closing ceremony was at least 20 times more grandiose.

The ceremony was held in the grandest art gallery in Jinan City.

Because of his high ranking, Li Zheng was seated in the second row.

In front of him were numerous special guests from the Chemical Society.

Li Zheng initially wanted to sleep through it, but after glancing at the closing ceremony program booklet, he perked up.

It was mainly the guest list that caught his attention, featuring a shining name—

Ms. Xu Youyou.

China’s first Nobel laureate in Medicine.

Although it was a prize in Medicine, her life’s research on artemisinin was essentially a colorless crystalline substance with the molecular formula C15H22O5.

A chemistry problem.

For this reason, the Chemical Society went to great lengths to invite the over 80-year-old Ms. Xu, who could guide aspiring juniors as well as raise the profile of the event.

Because of her arrival, Li Zheng did not doze off and after a long wait, finally got to hear Ms. Xu’s speech.

Even in her advanced years, her speech was neither rigid nor boring, and she chose a timely and interesting topic—

"The Chemistry in Chinese Medicine."

The contents of the speech were not complicated.

Essentially, it posited Chinese medicine as a great treasure trove, one that should be earnestly explored.

This was not just a matter of medicine, but also of chemistry.

The artemisinin she discovered was just a starting point.

She hoped that among the students present, those aspiring to be chemists would uncover even more results that benefit humanity from this treasure trove.

After the speech, the applause was unprecedentedly enthusiastic.

No doubt some students were ignited with the determination to pursue this path.

At such times, why not crack a Chemical Institute cold joke to ease the shock?

[When competing in Chem Competitions: My dream is to join the Evolution Institute and win a Nobel prize.]

[After successfully joining the Chemical Institute: Life in the Institute is easy, I just think about how to transfer departments every day.]

After all, to achieve accomplishments like Ms. Xu’s, you need not only high skill and good luck, but also a formidable resolve to persist to the very end.

Following some more uneventful proceedings, the award-recognition segment finally arrived.

As one of the top five, Li Zheng and Shi Yang were among the first to go on stage to receive their awards.

In previous years, this highest honor would be presented by a leader from the Chemical Society.

But today, since Ms. Xu was present, they wouldn’t let her leave without presenting an award.

She herself, a kind-hearted elderly scientist, then ascended the stage to the music, with ushers guiding her, all the way to Li Zheng who was standing in the center.

Li Zheng had already straightened up.

Not angry nor intimidating.

Utterly humble.

Ms. Xu, with a smile, picked up the medal strap.

Li Zheng also bowed slightly, accepting the award.

Then, Ms. Xu and Li Zheng shook hands lightly, and she patted his shoulder, "Keep it up."

"Hmm!" Before Li Zheng could nod, his eyes suddenly widened.

[Academic Fortune detected.]

[Xu Youyou: 39]

[Learning cap: 13.]

[Learning in progress…]

[+0.1…]

This…

This…

Li Zheng gripped Ms. Xu’s hand tightly.

How could he bear to let go?

He must pass on the torch.

Ms. Xu tried to pull her hand away twice without success, and at this point, she became somewhat puzzled, "Young man?"

"Sorry…" Li Zheng guiltily released her hand, but still couldn’t bear to just leave it there, and insistently asked, "After you finish presenting the awards… will you be leaving immediately? I wish… to consult with you a little more…"

"I have to go, there are other arrangements for later." Ms. Xu didn’t get angry, her other hand also patting the back of Li Zheng’s hand, "It’s okay, you can ask now."

"Uh..." Li Zheng was extremely panicked.

Ask a question to a Nobel laureate?!

Damn, that’s too sudden.

What should I ask?

In the midst of extreme panic.

Li Zheng had no choice but to kick his thought process into overdrive.

He thought through every chemistry question related to pharmacology that he could think of.

For a solid 6 seconds.

Of course, he also took the opportunity to take a few breaths for those 6 seconds.

In the end, he still couldn’t think of anything.

But he couldn’t just keep stalling.

No choice but to forge ahead with a conversation.

"I’ve noticed that when you describe traditional Chinese medicine, you consistently use the word ’treasury’," Li Zheng said, feigning confidence, "which suggests that this body of knowledge is static and difficult to develop further. What we can do is to use tools, including chemistry, to discover what we can piece by piece. Can I understand it that way?"

"..." Ms. Xu obviously hadn’t considered this question. She paused to ponder after being taken aback for a moment, then replied, "I wouldn’t be certain about that. What I can affirm is that in the realm of traditional Chinese medicine, there’s still a great deal of work to be done chemically."

"Then... could you enlighten me on the branch known as ’phytochemistry’?"

Ms. Xu thought for a moment: "Back then, in order to combat malaria, we conducted experimental research on more than 200 Chinese medicines. After over 380 failures, we finally succeeded in extracting artemisinin. To use a somewhat imprecise analogy, each disease is like a lock, and if we try hard enough, we will eventually find the key to unlock it. Many of these keys are hidden in the treasury of traditional Chinese medicine. Whether we can find them depends largely on determination and perseverance."

Li Zheng listened with fervent admiration.

Although traditional Chinese medicine has many controversies, the path Ms. Xu took is undoubtedly the most righteous and uncontentious one.

"One last small question about..."

"..."

Another minute went by.

"The very last tiny question, regarding..."

"..."

And another minute passed.

This time, Li Zheng truly struggled to keep up.

After 3 minutes, he couldn’t bear it any longer and swallowed back his endless questions.

Despite receiving many odd looks.

It was still worth it.

[Academic Fortune: 49?58]

It wasn’t easy, but some knowledge was finally passed on.

Gaining 9 out of 13 possible points was no small feat.

After learning from Shi Yang, Wu Shu, and Ms. Xu, Li Zheng’s Academic Fortune finally broke through 50.

Come to think of it, even though Ms. Xu is a prominent figure with 39 points in Academic Fortune, the upper limit of what she could learn was no more than 13 points after all.

Even such a mystical presence finds it increasingly difficult to learn as they progress.

On the other side.

Even as Ms. Xu went on to present awards to others, she kept glancing back at Li Zheng from time to time.

There was a mix of puzzlement and recognition in her look.

As a national champion.

In this way, he had not let anyone down.

...

Having completed the award presentation for the top five, Ms. Xu had to leave early and discreetly due to another meeting.

With that, Li Zheng’s last hopes for this Chem Competition were gone.

What awaited him was a half-month-long hell of chemistry problems.

Afterward, groups of ten went up to receive their awards in turn.

After watching two groups, Li Zheng completely lost his energy and fell asleep with his gold medal around his neck.

He didn’t know how much time had passed when he was awakened and pulled to the front, surrounded by reporters and cameras.

At this point, Li Zheng appeared even more melancholic than the day before, resembling somewhat the Louis Koo version of Yang Guo from ’The Return of the Condor Heroes’ in his later years.

In short, he looked deeply dispirited.