godfather of surgery

Chapter 1326 Mission Successfully Completed
Next, Tang Shun and Song Ziming went into high-energy mode, reducing their sleep time to four hours a day and devoting the rest of their time to drills.

Their division of labor was quickly clarified: Tang Shun was responsible for reporting on the basic theoretical content; Song Ziming was responsible for presenting the clinical aspects. The two of them occupied the largest conference room in the research institute and simulated the procedures countless times.

"Stop!" Tang Shun called a halt during the fifth complete rehearsal. "Dr. Song, when you introduce Elena's case, you could tone down the emotion a bit. We're giving a scientific report, not telling a story. The description 'this brave violinist' would be more professional as 'volunteer number P-001'."

“But Chair Carlson is a woman, and she might be more easily moved by these humanistic details,” Song Ziming argued. “Data is the skeleton, stories are the flesh and blood. Doesn’t the professor often say that medicine is the science of people?”

“That was in the right context. Now it’s the Nobel Prize Committee, and the first impression must be scientific rigor,” Tang Shun insisted.

Unable to reach an agreement, the two finally pulled in Lu Xiaolu, who happened to be passing by, to act as the judge. Lu Xiaolu listened to both sides' arguments: "Let's compromise. Use 'Participant P-001, a 27-year-old female Lynch syndrome carrier.' It's objective, yet implicitly includes gender and age information, allowing the audience to draw their own conclusions. As for 'courage'... it can be demonstrated with data: she refused standard preventative surgery and chose to participate in cutting-edge research, which is itself within clinical decision-making data."

"That makes sense!" the two said in unison, and immediately made the changes.

When Xiao Su brought Xiao Shu to the research institute to deliver lunch to Yang Ping, she happened to see Tang Shun and Song Ziming walking and gesturing in the corridor, muttering to themselves, just like two actors immersed in their own world.

"Are they... alright?" Xiao Su asked Yang Ping in a low voice.

"Pre-exam syndrome." Yang Ping took the lunchbox, glanced at the two who were so excited they were almost walking in unison, and smiled. "It's good to make them nervous; it might only happen once in a lifetime."

The night before their departure, Yang Ping called the two men to his office and gave them no further instructions:

"A report is for others to hear, not for self-indulgence. Look more at the audience and less at the teleprompter."

"When answering questions, if you know the answer, say so; if you don't know, say 'we are currently researching this issue.' Honesty is more important than cleverness."

"It's just a report on research findings, nothing serious, relax."

The two nodded solemnly, silently repeating the three sentences in their hearts several times.

……

The sense of unreality reached its peak when Tang Shun and Song Ziming actually stood at Stockholm Arlanda Airport, breathing in the crisp Nordic air.

"Are we really here?" Song Ziming murmured, looking at the Swedish sign at the airport.

"They're here!" Tang Shun took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down. "According to the plan, we'll go to the hotel first, and then go to the Karolinska Institute this afternoon to familiarize ourselves with the facilities and equipment."

The person who picked me up at the airport was a young staff member from the Nobel Prize Committee office named Eric. He spoke fluent English and had a professional yet slightly aloof demeanor. Upon learning that the main speaker had been changed to two "representatives," a hint of surprise flashed in Eric's eyes, but he quickly regained his composure, only confirming that the content and timing of the report remained unchanged.

On the way to the hotel, Eric briefly explained the itinerary: tomorrow morning was for the presentation, followed by a small roundtable discussion with some committee members and professors from the Karolinska Institute in the afternoon. The day after tomorrow morning was free for his own arrangements, and he would return home in the afternoon.

"Professor Yang Ping... is he feeling unwell?" Eric asked tactfully.

“Our research is at a critical juncture, and Professor Yang is unavailable,” Tang Shun replied succinctly. “However, he attaches great importance to this report and assigned us to ensure that the theory can be presented in the most accurate and comprehensive way.”

Eric nodded and didn't ask any more questions.

The hotel was a typical example of Scandinavian minimalism—clean, quiet, and with a touch of austere coolness. The two dropped off their luggage and, without even having time to adjust to the time difference, immediately headed to the Karolinska Institute.

The lecture hall was older and more solemn than they had imagined. It had dark wooden walls, a high dome, and seats arranged in a fan shape around the podium. Behind the podium was a huge projection screen, and next to it was an old-fashioned sliding blackboard for writing.

The technicians came over to help them test the equipment, and Tang Shun meticulously checked every aspect: the PPT page turner, the laser pointer, the microphone volume, the smoothness of video playback... He even tested the number of steps it took to walk from different positions on the podium to the screen to ensure that the movements were natural during the presentation.

Song Ziming, however, was more concerned with the atmosphere. He walked to the middle of the audience, felt the different angles of view, and adjusted his position and gestures. "Tang Shun, don't you think the lighting here is a bit too serious? When we speak, we can make our expressions a little more lively to balance it out."

"Make sure the content is absolutely correct first." Tang Shun didn't even look up as he continued checking the backup USB drive.

After familiarizing themselves with the venue, the two sat down in the Karolinska Institute's café to finalize their notes. Several scholars sat around them, conversing quietly, the air thick with the aroma of coffee and an academic atmosphere.

“I suddenly understand why the professor didn’t come,” Song Ziming said suddenly, stirring his coffee.

"Ok?"

“This kind of place… is too formal. Every step feels like walking in a prescribed grid. A professor with that kind of personality would probably feel stifled.” Song Ziming laughed. “He prefers the slightly chaotic but vibrant atmosphere of our research institute.”

Tang Shun nodded: "That's why he sent us. We're better suited to this grid system than he is."

Unbeknownst to them, at that very moment, in an office somewhere at the Karolinska Institute, Professor Carlsen, the chairman of the committee, was on the phone with Mainstein.

“It’s quite unexpected that Professor Yang Ping didn’t come,” Carlson said. Mainstein laughed on the other end of the phone: “That’s very Yang Ping; he doesn’t like things unrelated to his research.”

Do you know anything about the two young men he sent?

“Tang Shun and Song Ziming? Very outstanding young scientists, they are core members of Yang Ping’s team. It’s perfectly fine for them to speak on this.” Mainstein paused. “This in itself conveys a message: his theory is not a flash of inspiration from an individual genius, but a solid and transferable result of teamwork.”

Carlson paused for a moment: “Interesting. We’ll listen carefully tomorrow to see how this team understands their work.”

The lecture began promptly at 10:00 AM, and the auditorium, which could accommodate two hundred people, was packed. The front row was occupied by members of the Nobel Prize Committee, while the back row consisted of professors, researchers, and doctoral students from the Karolinska Institute. The air was so quiet that the faint hum of the radiators could be heard.

Tang Shun and Song Ziming, dressed in custom-made suits, insisted on a style that was "academic but not old-fashioned," as they walked onto the stage. The lights shone on them, casting a blurry but focused gaze across the audience.

Following the rehearsed division of labor, Tang Shun began the opening remarks. He adjusted the microphone and started in clear, slightly British-accented English:
"Respected Chairman, members, and colleagues! It is an honor to represent Professor Yang Ping and his team to report on our research on the 'Human System Regulation Theory'. Professor Yang Ping should be standing here today, but he is busy with his continued research on the theory and was unable to attend. He asked us to convey his apologies and how much he values ​​this opportunity to exchange ideas."

The opening was composed and appropriate, explaining the situation without appearing humble, and Professor Carlson in the audience nodded slightly.

"The theory of system regulation stems from a simple observation: living systems possess a powerful capacity for self-maintenance and repair. Many chronic diseases are essentially an imbalance or failure of this self-regulatory capacity. Traditional medicine excels at combating—fighting pathogens, fighting tumor cells, and dealing with abnormal indicators. But our question is: can we change our approach, not by fighting, but by regulating? Can we help the imbalanced system restore its inherent balance?"

Tang Shun's narration was fluent and engaging. He briefly outlined the philosophical foundation and core hypotheses of the theory, showcasing the basic research from TIM protein structure, signaling pathways, cell identity networks to animal models, and then naturally handed the microphone to Song Ziming.

Song Ziming took over the conversation and switched to clinical research. He used the PowerPoint presentation to show the complete evidence chain of clinical data. His speech was steady and his logic was clear. Every conclusion was supported by solid data, and every uncertainty was explained frankly.

When the two-year follow-up data of preventive intervention for Lynch syndrome was presented, subtle murmurs arose from the audience. The curve representing a significant decrease in the cancer rate was highly persuasive.

The two worked together seamlessly, maintaining the perfect pace and creating a compelling atmosphere during the presentation.

The report concluded with a discussion of the theory's boundaries and future directions. Song Ziming presented a detailed analysis of the adverse reactions to P-009 and how they learned from it to improve their predictive model. He also acknowledged the few cases that remain unexplained and the new questions currently being explored.

"...Therefore, the system regulation theory is not a perfect, closed system. It is an open, growing research framework. It does not offer a panacea, but rather a new way of thinking about understanding complex diseases and designing personalized interventions. Its value may not lie in providing all the answers, but in raising a better set of questions and offering a completely new approach to understanding diseases, an approach that has been validated by a large amount of data in our experiments and clinical practice."

The last slide lit up, displaying Yang Pingding's quote: "The Future of Medicine: From War to Dialogue."

The report concluded with enthusiastic, sustained, and earnest applause.

The Q&A session was the real test. Questions came one after another, some focusing on technical details, some questioning the falsifiability of theories, and others inquiring about the cost and feasibility of clinical applications. Tang Shun and Song Ziming took turns answering, complementing each other, one emphasizing basic theory and the other focusing on clinical research. When faced with particularly technical or tricky questions, Tang Shun would pause to think before providing a rigorous answer based on existing data; Song Ziming, on the other hand, excelled at demystifying complex issues, using analogies or case studies to help the questioner understand.

A committee member with a background in molecular biology asked: "You emphasize 'systems,' but all the mechanistic explanations still boil down to specific molecules and pathways. Does this mean that so-called system regulation ultimately has to be reduced to molecular biology? Then what is the significance of its 'new model'?"

This question gets to the heart of the matter. Tang Shun and Song Ziming exchanged a glance, and Tang Shun stepped forward:
"Excellent question! We believe that reductionism and systems theory are not replacements, but complements. Just as we need maps to understand the operation of a city (reductionism) as well as traffic flow, community functions, and economic activities (systems theory), systems regulation theory attempts to create the latter kind of 'functional map.' It tells us that intervening in molecule A may produce chain reactions at multiple levels such as B, C, and D, and these reactions collectively determine the final effect. It allows us to have a 'city map' (system) in mind when operating on specific 'streets' (molecules), avoiding the unexpected consequence of 'unblocking one road but clogging another area.' Therefore, the new model is not about discarding molecular details, but about understanding these details within a larger, dynamic context of interrelationships."

After the answer was given, the committee member who asked the question nodded thoughtfully, and Professor Carlson made a note in his notebook.

The Q&A session lasted forty minutes, longer than scheduled. At the end, many audience members came forward to continue the discussion. Tang Shun and Song Ziming were surrounded, patiently answering each question. The initial tension had long since faded, replaced by a fulfilling exhaustion and a faint sense of accomplishment.

On the Nobel Prize Committee's podium, Song Ziming and Tang Shun clearly, solidly, and humbly expounded their theory. They successfully completed their task and then excitedly reported back to Yang Ping.

Knowing that Tang Shun and Song Ziming's report went smoothly, Yang Ping replied with a "good".

Late at night, Xiaoshu was fast asleep. Yang Ping turned on his computer and saw the full transcript of the report and on-site photos sent by Tang Shun. He read it carefully, especially the Q&A section. Tang Shun and Song Ziming's answers were rigorous and pertinent, and in some places even more thorough than he had expected.

He made an overseas video call. It was afternoon in Sweden. Tang Shun and Song Ziming had just finished their roundtable discussion and returned to their hotel, their faces still showing signs of fatigue after their initial excitement.

"Professor!" The two men immediately sat up straight when they saw Yang Ping.

"I've read the report, it's very good," Yang Ping said directly. "The answers to the questions about the relationship between the system and restoration were particularly insightful, thank you for your hard work."

Upon receiving Yang Ping's affirmation, the two men's faces lit up, even more so than when they received applause in the lecture hall.

"Professor, Chairman Carlson later spoke with us privately for a few minutes, asking many questions about team building and technical details," Song Ziming reported.

"You're coming back tomorrow?"

"Yes, the flight is in the afternoon."

"Yes, come back and get some rest. Everything is normal at the research institute."

The brief call ended.