Chapter 355 - 241: Teacher Shen’s Serum

Chapter 355: Chapter 241: Teacher Shen’s Serum

Jiang He took Shen Yu home first.

The two of them were lovey-dovey at home for quite a while.

Finally, Jiang He said reluctantly:

"I still have some final data to run at the lab. You get some rest. I’ll be back as soon as I’m done."

Shen Yu nodded understandingly, not asking any more questions. "Don’t stay out too late, then. Make sure you rest."

"Okay."

Jiang He gently turned and closed the door.

The moment he turned around, the warmth on his face vanished.

He strode out of the residential complex in silence. ℯℯ𝘭.

He hailed a taxi by the roadside.

"Sir, first a trip to Affiliated Hospital No. 1, then to Southern Medical University. Please hurry."

Affiliated Hospital No. 1, Department of Laboratory Medicine.

The supervising technician on duty, Old Liu, looked up at the sound of footsteps. "Leader Jiang, you’re here?"

"Brother Liu, those two tubes of serum I sent over for centrifugation this morning—I need to take them."

"Sure. I’ve kept them frozen separately in the -80 degree ultra-low temperature freezer, just like you asked."

Old Liu walked to the freezer in the back room, put on a pair of cryogenic gloves, and took out a specimen box. He then pulled over a small portable cooler filled with dry ice. "I got the dry ice ready for you too."

As he spoke, Old Liu took the cryovials from the specimen box, buried them in the dry ice inside the cooler, fastened the latch, and handed it over.

"Thanks, Brother Liu. I’ll treat you to a meal another day."

Jiang He turned and left.

Inside the box was the serum of Du Xunsheng and Shen Yu.

Why was the miRNA early screening project so important to him?

Because under the ethical system of modern medicine, no hospital would allow a doctor to operate on a healthy person.

He had to obtain definitive biochemical evidence before he could subject Shen Yu to more frequent imaging surveillance, or even, if necessary, perform a direct, extremely early-stage interventional treatment.

Soon, the taxi stopped at Southern Medical University.

Jiang He walked into the laboratory, carrying the cooler.

He went straight to his workstation, put on a lab coat, gloves, and a mask.

"I have some personal samples to test. That’s all for today. Seal all the data for review. Everyone, clock out and go get a nice meal, my treat. Professor Wang, you should also head home and rest early."

Yi Xiangwan was taken aback for a moment. "Boss, we’re not tired. We can keep helping."

"No need. Everyone, off work."

"Alright, alright, let’s all listen to Old Jiang." Chen Hao sensed the seriousness in Jiang He’s tone and immediately stood up to usher people out. "Xiangwan, Yizhou, pack up your things. Professor Wang, let me get your bag for you. We’ve got half a day off today..."

The lab quickly fell silent.

The main door closed.

Jiang He pulled over a chair, sat down, and opened the cooler.

A white vapor billowed out.

Wearing gloves, he took the two cryovials out of the dry ice, placed them in a test tube rack, and waited for them to thaw to room temperature.

DXS.

SY.

Extraction begins.

Step one: Add Trizol reagent for lysis.

Add chloroform.

Vigorous shaking.

Let stand at room temperature for five minutes.

During those five minutes, Jiang He stood motionlessly before the workstation, staring at the test tubes.

Memories from his past life surged up from the depths of his mind.

The intensive care unit, the smell of disinfectant, Shen Yu as thin as paper, her eyes filled with pain, yet she was comforting him:

"Dr. Jiang... I’m not in pain anymore... Don’t cry..."

Whenever he heard that voice, Jiang He would feel sick to his stomach, wanting to retch.

"BEEP—"

The timer went off.

Jiang He placed the centrifuge tubes into the high-speed refrigerated centrifuge.

He set the parameters: 4 degrees Celsius, 12,000g, 15 minutes.

Fifteen minutes later, the centrifugation was complete.

The liquid had separated into three layers.

Aspirate the top, colorless aqueous phase containing the RNA.

Next was a double chloroform extraction.

Add glycogen co-precipitant, precipitate with isopropanol, let stand at -20 degrees, and centrifuge again.

Finally, wash with 75% ethanol, air dry, and dissolve in nuclease-free water.

The entire procedure took nearly two hours.

Jiang He didn’t drink a single sip of water.

Next was reverse transcription.

Using stem-loop primers, the trace amounts of miRNA were reverse-transcribed into amplifiable cDNA.

He added the prepared PCR reaction mix into a 96-well plate and placed it in the reaction block of the qPCR machine.

He closed the lid.

The screen lit up and began the thermal cycling.

The detection process would take two hours.

These two hours would determine the course of fate.

Jiang He remained motionless, waiting quietly.

In his past life, during his most painful moments, his mentor had once offered him a cigarette.

"Have one. It might make you feel a little better."

At the time, Jiang He had decisively refused. "Thanks, but Shen Yu doesn’t like the smell of smoke, so I don’t smoke."

His mentor had stood there, stunned, before finally giving a wry smile and patting Jiang He’s shoulder, saying nothing more.

The cycles on the screen had already reached the thirtieth round.

The graph’s axes were still blank.

The thirty-second cycle.

The well for DXS (Du Xunsheng)—its baseline suddenly rose.

The thirty-third cycle, the thirty-fourth cycle.

The curve began to become clearer.

Early signs of pancreatic cancer were detected in Du Xunsheng’s blood.

By leveraging the information gap from his past life, Jiang He had already proven that this system was effective.

His gaze shifted to the data from the well representing SY (Shen Yu).

The thirty-fifth cycle.

No activity.

The thirty-eighth cycle.

Still nothing.

The final cycle ended.

The program stopped running.

The line representing Shen Yu was flat.

Negative.

In other words, no abnormal overexpression of any pancreatic cancer-related miRNA was currently detected.

Seeing this result, a normal person’s reaction would be one of immense relief.

But not only did Jiang He not feel relieved, he felt an even deeper sense of dread.

’Why am I scared?’

’Why am I scared?’

’Why am I scared?’

Jiang He shot to his feet.

’Simple early screening isn’t enough.’

’The limitations are too great.’

’I have to immediately start on the targeted drug for the KRAS gene mutation.’

’Ruijin, I have to win it.’

’Algorithm, computing power, target screening—I need to speed up every single one.’

...

「At the same time.」

In Yangcheng, at home.

Shen Yu was organizing Jiang He’s clothes.

Jiang He wasn’t particular about his clothes; a few shirts were just hung haphazardly in the closet.

Shen Yu took out the clothes one by one, laid them on the bed, and folded them neatly.

Her movements were gentle, a faint smile playing on her lips.

To have their own little nest with Jiang He in this unfamiliar city, to wait for him to come home from work every day—this feeling made Shen Yu feel incredibly secure.

’I’m so happy. I’m one happy Yuzi~’

After tidying the closet, she walked to the living room, straightened the throw pillows on the sofa, and watered the pothos on the balcony, accidentally pouring a little too much.

The Pothos: ? Stay away from me!

"Why isn’t Dr. Jiang back yet..."

Shen Yu glanced at the wall clock. it was already 10:30 p.m.

She turned and walked toward the kitchen.

On the counter were the pork ribs and winter melon she had bought at the market that afternoon.

Jiang He had been working around the clock lately, and her heart ached for him. She planned to make a pork rib soup for him to eat for lunch tomorrow.

’Hmm... can I add goji berries to the pork rib soup?’

’I’ll just add a few secretly.’

Shen Yu covered her face, feeling terribly ashamed of herself for having such a perverted thought.

Just then.

A sudden wave of panic washed over her without warning.

It was like missing a step; for a second, her heart seemed to skip half a beat.

"THUMP, THUMP, THUMP..."

An inexplicable feeling of emptiness and irritation spread from the bottom of her heart.

After about a minute, the feeling of panic gradually subsided, and her body returned to normal.

"What’s going on... Did I stay up too late last night?"

Shen Yu rubbed her temples, murmuring to herself.

She didn’t think of it as a serious illness. After all, she was only nineteen and rarely even caught a cold.

It was probably just exhaustion from the recent travel from the Capital City to Yangcheng.

But after that episode, she suddenly lost the mood to cook.

Shen Yu walked to the living room window and pulled open the curtains.

The sky outside was pitch black.

Yangcheng was fine when it wasn’t raining, but once it did, the damp cold was unbearable.

The wind was picking up, and it looked like it could rain at any moment.

Although Jiang He had worn a coat when he left, he often spent most of the day in the lab. If it rained, he would definitely get soaked on his way back.

’And he hasn’t eaten dinner, has he? He’s not replying to my messages either...’

Shen Yu glanced at the sky outside again.

"Forget it, I’ll go get him."

She quickly grabbed an umbrella and walked out the door.

...

「Southern Medical University, campus.」

Shen Yu was already very familiar with the location of the laboratory.

She walked through the tree-lined path and into the lab building.

Just about a dozen meters from the lab, Shen Yu stopped in her tracks.

Outside the lab door stood a woman.

The woman wore a professional suit, black stockings, and had wavy hair. She looked quite pretty.

The sense of panic Shen Yu had felt in the kitchen suddenly transformed into a feeling of irritation the moment she saw her.

She had always been a gentle person.

But today, for some reason, her chest just felt tight.

She walked over.

Su Zhi turned her head slightly.

The two made eye contact.

Shen Yu didn’t want to pass her negative energy onto others.

So she asked in a friendly tone:

"Um, hello. Are you... also here to pick up Jiang He?"