Chapter 46: Unauthorized Use

Xiao Yang could no longer bear to listen. He fixed a cold gaze on Shi Xuetong and said, “Get out!”

But Shi Xuetong misunderstood, thinking Xiao Yang had finally taken her advice and wanted Gu Ci to leave. Immediately, she looked at Gu Ci with triumph and arrogance. “Why are you still standing here? Didn’t you hear Xiao Yang telling you to get out?”

A vein throbbed on Xiao Yang’s forehead. Mindful that so many doctors were present, he resisted the urge to curse at Shi Xuetong directly. “Shi Xuetong, I meant you—get out!”

Shi Xuetong was struck as if by lightning. She pointed at herself in disbelief. “Me? Xiao Yang, you’re telling me to leave? I’m only thinking of your best interests!”

When she finished, seeing Xiao Yang’s expressionless face, tears instantly welled in her eyes.

Seeing Shi Xuetong’s tears, the hospital director grew even more displeased with what he saw as Xiao Yang’s inability to distinguish right from wrong. He stepped in to smooth things over, preventing Shi Xuetong from leaving.

In his view, the entire incident had been provoked by Gu Ci. If she hadn’t treated Xiao Yang with acupuncture on her own initiative, or insisted on making herself known at this particular moment, none of this would have happened.

Turning again to Dr. Gu, the director put on a wide smile. “Dr. Gu, would you say our clinical trial this time can be considered a success?”

He was well aware of what the success of this clinical trial would mean—especially if it was personally acknowledged by Dr. Gu.

Dr. Gu, however, frowned slightly. “Director, are you certain that Xiao Yang’s rapid bone healing is due to the new drug your hospital developed?”

The director straightened up proudly. “Of course, Dr. Gu. We didn’t make an earlier announcement because we were still confirming its real-world effects and clinical responses. Now, after thorough testing, everything is not only stable but has far exceeded our original expectations.”

Dr. Gu pondered a moment before speaking. “To be frank, we previously conducted bone healing experiments with RTC-1 extract, but without exception, every trial failed.”

Though Dr. Gu’s words were tactful, it was plain to all what he implied.

The director’s face darkened instantly as he realized Dr. Gu was suggesting that Xiao Yang’s recovery had nothing to do with their newly developed drug.

But Dr. Gu went on, “In fact, I believe Xiao Yang’s rapid bone healing may be connected to Gu Ci.”

The director’s face grew uglier by the second. He could hardly believe that Dr. Gu would rather put his faith in a high school student with no credentials than in the capabilities of their hospital.

The director even began to suspect that Dr. Gu was simply being small-minded, unwilling to admit that they had accomplished what he, in his time, could not—hence, he was deliberately dismissing all their efforts.

His tone soured, though the fact he was addressing Dr. Gu kept him from sounding outright hostile. “Dr. Gu, we’re aware of the experiments you conducted and have studied the data. Our trials were based on improvements to your groundwork. In fact, we’ve already gathered clinical data from a number of subjects, and the results have been very promising.”

Despite these words, Dr. Gu’s frown did not ease.

What he didn’t say was that the reason they had abandoned that line of experimentation entirely, rather than attempting to improve it, was because they determined the possibility of the drug’s success to be zero.

With current biotechnology, there was no way to maintain the stability and bioactivity of RTC-1 extract.

Moreover, not long after they halted their own experiments…

Yet the director claimed they had succeeded?

For a moment, even Dr. Gu didn’t know what to say.

The director, however, assumed Dr. Gu had been convinced and grew visibly more cheerful.

He even harbored a secret thought: the drug that Dr. Gu had failed to develop all those years ago had now been successfully created by them, and with Dr. Gu’s own recognition no less. He knew exactly how much this would enhance his reputation in the medical field.

Already, the director was lost in dreams of global acclaim following the publication of this medical breakthrough, while Gu Ci, leaning lazily against the wall, let out a quiet, mocking laugh.

Everyone was waiting for Dr. Gu to speak, so the ward fell silent, making Gu Ci’s sneer immediately audible to the director and all present.

The director’s temper flared. “Young lady, what do you mean by that? Do you have any idea what this achievement means for medicine?”

Gu Ci pointed at Xiao Yang. “Other than him, do you have any other clinical patients?”

The director snorted. “I believe I made that very clear! Let me clarify further: there are seven in total, and more participants will be joining the clinical trials soon!”

Their drug had only just been developed, which was why there were only seven patients so far.

Still, even with just seven, the effects were already evident.

Gu Ci asked, “Of the patients who have completed observation, when did they begin taking the drug you developed?”

“Why are you asking that?” the director snapped impatiently. “None of our patients have completed observation yet. Our clinical trials began at the earliest a week ago. The first few patients started two days before Young Master Xiao, and except for him, all others are observed every three days.”

Thus, the clinical phase for those patients began a day or two before Xiao Yang’s.

What the director didn’t mention was that while the drug did show some effect on the initial patients, it was nowhere near as dramatic as with Xiao Yang. He simply chalked that up to individual differences and thought little of it.

Even so, the majority of patients had reached the expected benchmarks in their stage observations.

Gu Ci nodded knowingly and said with pointed meaning, “Perhaps you should run a check on your clinical patients right now.”

“What exactly are you trying to say?”

“Oh, nothing,” Gu Ci shrugged, her expression turning cold. “Maybe what you really ought to be concerned about is the authorization for RTC-1 extract and the matter of its unauthorized use.”

The director’s heart gave a violent thud, and his face changed drastically. “What do you mean by that?”