top student at medical school

Chapter 109 Time Management Master (Please Subscribe)

On January 7th, Fang Ziye, taking a break from work, shamelessly brought fruit and his laptop and papers from the day before, to Yuan Weihong's house.

The teacher's wife was cooking after get off work, while Yuan Weihong was still in surgery and hadn't gotten home yet.

Xiaoqi had no one to play with right now, so she sat cross-legged on the sofa watching TV.

Upon seeing Fang Ziye, the usually restless girl finally took off with her short legs and pulled Fang Ziye along to build blocks with her.

Fang Ziye could only act as a companion and couldn't help his teacher's wife prepare dinner.

At 5:59 PM, the sound of fingerprint unlocking came from the door. Fang Ziye, upon hearing this, promptly lost the "building block height contest".

Little Qi jumped up happily, then hobbled her short legs and hooked onto Yuan Weihong's feet: "Dad, I won! I beat my brother!"

Xiaoqi is Yuan Weihong's daughter, and Fang Ziye is Yuan Weihong's student. Although he can call Fang Ziye "uncle" according to age, he only addresses him as "brother".

"Xiao Fang, when did you arrive? How come you got here before me?" Yuan Weihong asked as he picked up Xiao Qi with one arm after changing his shoes.

"Dad, I won!" Xiao Qi, seeing that she had been ignored, grabbed Yuan Weihong's ear and raised her voice deliberately.

“If you speak any louder, your father will go deaf.”

"Our Xiaoqi won, huh?" Yuan Weihong knew that he wouldn't have a chance to discuss professional issues with Fang Ziye until his wife had some free time.

However, Yuan Weihong looked up and asked, "Xiaolan, where's Mom?"

"Ziye wants to see me about something quite important today."

"Mom said she went out to buy something, she should be back soon," the teacher's wife replied from the kitchen.

Then she pushed open the kitchen door and said, "Why don't you call Mom? Your matter is quite important."

He Xiaolan knew that Fang Ziye and Yuan Weihong were going to discuss Fang Ziye's graduation thesis and the submission of provincial-level bid proposals today.

No one ever thinks they have too much funding for research projects.

Fang Ziye's graduation thesis was crucial to his future, and there was absolutely no way to skip it.

Because if your master's thesis is not prepared properly and contains flaws or errors, no one might care when you're a junior student, but once you reach a certain level...

You'll become your most obvious flaw, allowing others to pierce through you deeply, into your heart, and leave you with lifelong regret.

The child was being looked after by Yuan Weihong's mother. Yuan Weihong made a phone call first, and then, after the old lady, whom Fang Ziye didn't know whether to call "Auntie" or "Grandma," returned, Yuan Weihong led Fang Ziye into the study.

"Ziye, I've heard some people in the department calling you a time management master lately."

"What are you doing?" Yuan Weihong asked Fang Ziye as he turned on the computer and entered the password. He then started boiling water to make tea, closed the study door, skillfully turned on the ventilation fan, and lit a cigarette.

This study was the first room Yuan Weihong saw that he liked. It was a small, protruding area, so Yuan Weihong decided to use it and convert it into a semi-enclosed small room as a study and a smoking area in the house.

Many of the tender documents, lecture slides, and other materials for people of his age today were created by him through this project.

"Who said that?" After Fang Ziye turned on his computer, three large folders on the right side were particularly eye-catching.

1. Provincial-level research proposal and preliminary research images.

2. Revised version of graduation thesis 1.07 16:45.

This means that this version of the manuscript was revised at 4:45 PM on January 7th. Every version is recorded so that it can be reviewed later to compare why it was revised and what parts were revised.

3. Meta-analysis final draft and submission materials.

Fang Ziye first opened his own graduation thesis. After opening the folder, Fang Ziye did not rush to open the Word document inside. Instead, he helped Yuan Weihong find disposable paper cups.

It was finally found in a small compartment in the study, crushed.

Looking at the shabby appearance of the cup, Yuan Weihong said, "Why don't you go out and get a glass from the sterilizer?"

“Yes, Master.” Fang Ziye knew that even if he felt it was shabby, Yuan Weihong felt it was embarrassing to use such shabby clothes in his master’s house.

……

After the tea was served, the two stopped discussing the topic. Instead, Fang Ziye, in front of Yuan Weihong, reiterated his graduation thesis from beginning to end.

Yuan Weihong then reviewed each item in the PowerPoint presentation.

Yuan Weihong's requirements for Fang Ziye's defense were that he must speak entirely from memory, and that he must know the contents of his article by heart, such as reciting the entire text and being able to recall any detail on the spot.

The reason is self-evident and needs no further explanation. Those who understand will know.

Fang Ziye had to do a lot of data duplication with his graduation thesis and published SCI articles. Therefore, he had to memorize even the punctuation marks in the data.

Half an hour later, Yuan Weihong nodded in satisfaction.

"It's alright. There were six places where I paused when switching between the script and the presentation, so I'm still not very proficient. During the defense, I had a script and references, so there shouldn't be any problems."

"But you must remember, your master's thesis will definitely not be used for your graduation thesis," Yuan Weihong warned.

"Tap tap tap!" At this moment, Xiao Qi came over and knocked on the door.

A childish voice came from outside: "Daddy, dinner's ready!"

"Okay, I'll be right there." Yuan Weihong went out without any hesitation.

It wasn't just Fang Ziye and Yuan Weihong who were eating; everyone was eating, including his own mother. If he were alone at home, he could say he'd eat later, but with Fang Ziye there, he was practically a guest.

Neither his wife nor his mother would eat beforehand, but little Qi could eat first.

But there's no need for that. The time is too tight; we haven't reached the point where we don't have time to eat.

During the dinner, Yuan Weihong introduced Fang Ziye to his mother many times.

The aunt said, "It's just that my hometown is far away, otherwise I would definitely introduce this young man to a few pretty girls."

The teacher's wife, He Xiaolan, then asked, "What happened to that thing I told you about last time?"

"The other party hasn't agreed yet! So naturally I haven't told Ziye about it yet."

Then she explained to the somewhat bewildered Fang Ziye: "Your teacher's wife once took a liking to someone at a large meeting. She thought he was a very good match. After inquiring, she found out that he was a relative of one of our hospital's teachers. She thought he was a good match in all aspects, so she wanted to play matchmaker for you two."

"However, I mentioned this matter to the internal medicine teacher, but there's been no follow-up yet," Yuan Weihong said to Fang Ziye in a serious tone.

Upon seeing this, Fang Ziye immediately understood.

Yuan Weihong either forgot about it or didn't mention it at all.

“Master, maybe it’s just not meant to be. The other person isn’t interested, so let it go. I’m quite busy lately. I’ll be going abroad for my doctoral studies, so even if we did reach an agreement, it would be difficult to schedule time.” Fang Ziye was exceptionally intelligent.

After hearing this, He Xiaolan said, "That's true. I didn't consider that you were going abroad, Ziye."

Upon hearing this, the old lady said with a hint of pride, "These days, to work in a hospital, you have to go abroad."

"Weihong, when are you going to take Xiaolan and Xiaoqi on a trip abroad?" The wise old lady mentioned this halfway through her sentence.

Fang Ziye then discovered that while his teacher's wife, He Xiaolan, was verbally declining, she actually had such thoughts.

Fang Ziye found it interesting, but didn't speculate much.

However, Yuan Weihong's mother was very wise.

Immediately afterwards, Fang Ziye didn't waste any more time with Yuan Weihong. What followed was a four-hour discussion about issues such as revisions, submission, and formatting corrections.

10:54 PM.

After filling in all the submission data for this meta-analysis, Yuan Weihong said, "Remember to perform well during tomorrow's pre-defense and don't get too distracted."

"Your main task before the defense is the thesis and the defense, not the proposal and this little meta-analysis."

"Of course it would be better if you had it, and I'd be happy to have it too. But it's okay if you don't. I'm just worried that you won't have that much time!"

Yuan Weihong paused for a moment here.

Fang Ziye continued, "Master, who exactly in the department put this label on me?"

"Yan Zhiming, Gu Yi, and Wang Yuanqi." "Just those three? You're going to cause trouble for them?" Yuan Weihong asked, neither confirming nor denying.

Fang Ziye quickly shook his head.

If it's a nickname given by the senior brother, then let's just ignore it. But if it's a junior brother, Fang Zi will definitely teach them what it means to respect their teacher!

Even if it were a student of Professor Han Yuanxiao, the current acting director of trauma surgery, Fang Ziye would not like to give himself such an unflattering nickname.

"Speaking of which, it's not untrue that they gave you that nickname. Tell me, what kind of things have you been doing?"

"Do you think I'll be happy if you give me a provincial-level research project, worth seventy or eighty thousand yuan, or even a hundred thousand yuan? Do you think I'll be happy if you add a meta-analysis of my communications?" Yuan Weihong solemnly warned and questioned.

“Master, well, I started preparing my thesis relatively early. It’s been almost five months now, and that’s after I finished the draft.”

"My main concern is that I don't want to be a senior student in the future. I don't even have the writing skills to write a proper SCI article. Besides, if I want to go abroad in the future, I will definitely need to contact my professor and get recommendation letters and the like," Fang Ziye explained.

At the same time, I started organizing my computer and wireless mouse.

"What about the provincial-level research projects? Isn't the funding in the group enough for you?" Yuan Weihong smiled, not to blame him, but simply hoping that Fang Ziye wouldn't have to work so hard.

“Master, the money is certainly enough for now, but we need to use it more carefully. When the funds are not absolutely abundant, we still need to be more frugal.”

"I will be away for a while, and I may miss your critical period, Master."

"So I should take advantage of the time I have recently to do more work to show my appreciation." Fang Ziye clipped the printed project proposal and SCI paper to two clips and put them away.

Fang Ziye also needs to return the proposed revisions to Jie Han so that Jie Han and Lan Tianlu can make some changes before sending it to Yuan Weihong for submission.

Fang Ziye will no longer be involved in the submission of these applications. He will continue to focus on reviewing meta-analyses and writing research proposals until the end of the defense.

The writing process for a master's thesis can never be too careful.

On January 8, thanks to Yuan Weihong's connections, Fang Ziye finally witnessed the exceptional abilities of a young attending physician like Yuan Weihong in writing papers, gathering experimental data, and identifying loopholes.

Qin Geluo alone came up with four or five questions that were relatively realistic but difficult for Fang Ziye to answer.

Qin Geluo and Li Nuo, these two young attending physicians, are even younger than Yuan Weihong. They had both spent time in the lab before, and they were very familiar with the procedures and methods of Fang Ziye's experiments.

The flaws couldn't be found, but the angle of the question was extremely tricky.

Fang Ziye then realized that during the defense, if the defense committee really wanted to make things difficult for you, it would be hard for you to answer questions on the spot. But the current defense requirement is to answer questions immediately.

We went back to check the literature, build up our knowledge base, and discussed the writing structure and presentation of the results in the article. After that, we changed the format.

With this shift, in the following days, Fang Ziye conducted experiments while simultaneously holding several pre-defenses using his personal connections. Then, Yuan Weihong invited Professor Deng Yong and Associate Professor Hong Zili to conduct the most formal pre-defense before the official defense.

They all passed relatively easily.

However, after confirming that there weren't too many flaws in terms of professionalism, workload, or paper format, Associate Professor Hong Zili asked, "Why haven't you printed out the acknowledgments section yet? Are you not planning to write it?"

Generally, acknowledgments are included in the defense of a master's thesis.

At the very least, you should thank the defense committee.

Fang Ziye has not yet written a formal document, only a rather formulaic oral draft.

"I haven't really thought it through yet. I originally had a rather standard draft, but after reading it a few times, I found that the expression was slightly lacking, so I thought I'd rewrite it," Fang Ziye answered honestly.

The acknowledgments section is not an absolute requirement in the professional defense; having this section is sufficient.

Unless you directly write insults directed at someone's mother, absolutely no one will fail your graduation defense just because your acknowledgments section is poorly written, unless everyone on the defense committee has lost their minds.

Similarly, writing well won't earn you extra points; at most, it will just improve your overall impression.

……

Fang Ziye personally accompanied Yuan Weihong to see Professor Deng Yong and Associate Professor Hong Zili off from the laboratory. When they reached the elevator, Yuan Weihong urged Fang Ziye to go in quickly and make some minor modifications.

He accompanied Professor Deng Yong downstairs.

This was Fang Ziye's last pre-defense; he never prepared for it again.

However, after five preliminary defenses, and given that Fang Ziye had written his thesis relatively early, he felt there were no problems.

The workload is not a problem. The research depth exceeds that of the master's level, but it's still okay. It's not a major paper. There are academic achievements. I am familiar with the content of the paper. I can do the cell experiment methods myself.

When Fang Ziye returned, Jie Han and Lan Tianlu were removing tea remnants, snack platters, and other miscellaneous items from the conference room table in the laboratory.

This is the first time Lan Tianluo has been brought into the laboratory by Jie Han; he's only here to help out for now.

Although Lan Tianluo is very likely to become Yuan Weihong's student, he is not a master's student after all. Therefore, allowing him to enter the laboratory and be exposed to basic experiments within the large research group is actually against the rules.

It's only because there was an emergency today that we needed extra manpower, so this is an exception.

After tidying up, Fang Ziye said, "Jiehan, take Tianluo to get something to eat. Give me the expense report later. Don't go too far today; the budget can't exceed five hundred."

"I'll increase your budget after I finish my defense."

My two junior brothers have been working quite hard lately, making numerous trips for their own purposes.

Not to mention the production of posters and the public announcement of the defense, even during the defense period, it was necessary to buy some fruit platters and mineral water, all of which were paid for by Fang Ziye himself. Although the cost was not much, it still required someone to run around.

How can Fang Ziye manage all by himself?

"Thank you, senior brother," Jie Han said with a smile.

"Tianluo and I are both easy to please. A grilled fish in Han Street costs 128 yuan, and it won't cost more than 200 yuan."

At Jie Han's age, he is relatively free and easy. Just one meal invitation can make him happy for a whole day or even several days.

Fang Ziye had mentioned inviting him to dinner several times beforehand, which made Jie Han happy for several days.

Neither of them invited Fang Ziye, knowing that Fang Ziye had things to do, after all, he was facing a defense the day after tomorrow, and there were still revisions to be made tonight.

……

Ten thirty-seven.

Fang Ziye has finalized his thesis at version 1.18, 10:36 AM! (This is the absolute final draft. I will never revise it again.)

In just one day, Fang Ziye's version has already been revised several times, mainly because the writing style is constantly being refined, and he always feels that this way is good and that way is good.

However, the final version that was revised and finalized at 5:35 PM on January 16th was the one that was presented to Professor Deng Yong and Associate Professor Hong Zili.

"Senior brother, are you done with your work? I'll send you the pictures of the experimental results when I'm done." Luo Tingzhu walked closer from the sink, wiping her hands as she did so. She saw Fang Ziye stretching and raising his fingers above his head!
"Ok!"

"What experiment are you doing today?" Fang Ziye nodded, twisted his waist, straightened up, and began to shut down the computer and tidy up the desktop.

One last look at the notebook shows that all to-do items have been completed.

"collect."

"No, it's for flow cytometry counting." Luo Tingzhu almost let it slip, so she quickly corrected herself, then slung her backpack and snack bunny chest bag over her shoulder.

This is a bag she bought just three days ago.

"Oh, so there shouldn't be any visual images of the experimental results, only data processing graphs?" Fang Ziye said with a hint of regret.

If the cell counting data from flow cytometry is processed, you can't gain much knowledge from it. If it's not processed, you can't see many results either. You have to participate in it yourself. It is one of the most troublesome ways to collect knowledge in basic cell experiments.

While waiting for the elevator, Luo Tingzhu held up the straps of her backpack with both hands and quickly turned towards Fang Ziye several times before asking with great hesitation, "Senior brother, why do people call you a time management master?"

I don't see you have any either.

Fang Ziye felt that he might have just experienced an acute attack of patellofemoral arthritis in his knee joint—his knee joint went weak and trembled slightly.

"This is all a frame-up!"

"They're just jealous that I can accomplish so much in the same amount of time. It's a joke from my senior classmates, they're not real time management masters," Fang Ziye explained patiently.

"Oh." Luo Tingzhu seemed to breathe a slight sigh of relief.

(End of this chapter)