Republic of China: Ace Pilot

Chapter 226, page 225: Medical Suture Device, Mysterious Notification Letter, Penicillin = Miraculous Sterilizer

Seven days after the assassination attempt.

Five bodies floated to the surface in the East Lake of the Old Summer Palace.

Judging from their clothing and build, they were the five Japanese assassins who fled halfway and jumped into the river.

The military police from the garrison arrived immediately and collected the body.

The whole thing started to get strange.

The faculty and students of both Huaqing University and Beiping University were discussing this matter. Many people had witnessed those five people escaping into the Yuanmingyuan Garden and drowning themselves. At first, everyone thought that the garrison had deliberately allowed them to escape.

But now it seems that this is not the case; these five people actually drowned themselves in the lake!

Even the police were baffled, but the bodies proved that they had indeed drowned themselves in the lake.

Even a specially invited medical autopsy confirmed that it was a drowning.

Apart from the two presidents of the Huaqing and Beiping student associations, as well as Fang Wen and the members of the action group, no one else knew the truth about this matter.

But everyone can accept this outcome; it's better that he's dead.

The subsequent recruitment activities went smoothly.

Twenty engineering students are willing to join the Taishan Aircraft Manufacturing Plant.

On average, there were only 10 students per school, which was not unexpected for Fang Wen. After all, it was a nationally renowned university, and not all students were willing to start as workers in an aircraft manufacturing plant.

Fang Wen was already very satisfied with these 20 people.

In the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Huaqing University, Fang Wen borrowed a fully equipped teaching workshop and was researching a device he had come up with on a whim.

What he wanted to make was a surgical suture device.

That day, when I sutured Wu Yingzong's blood vessels, he understood the dangers of surgery.

In cases of continuous blood loss, the faster the surgery is completed, the safer it is for the injured person. However, the suturing process requires the doctor to have a steady hand and avoid making mistakes. Only a few gifted doctors and surgeons with many years of experience can complete the suturing quickly.

If a device could solve the problem of quick suturing, it could save many lives, especially those wounded by bullets and bleeding on the battlefield.

What kind of equipment can do that?

Fang Wen, who possesses memories of the future, has heard of surgical suturing devices. These devices range from complex to handheld mechanical suturing devices that mimic the functions of staplers and sewing machines.

Fang Wen conceived of this for a long time and designed it.

It should be very simple: a grip, controlled by a trigger-like device, to operate the front end of the stitcher.

The final stitching effect is similar to the stitching made by a sewing machine on fabric.

However, the front-end device that produces the stitching effect uses the structure of a stapler.

After this idea came to him, he worked tirelessly in his workshop, and through continuous production and improvement, it gradually took shape.

In the end, he made the one that he felt was the most suitable.

"Let's go to the medical clinic at Peking University to see Wu Yingzong, and while we're at it, let Professor Bing keep an eye on this thing," Fang Wen said excitedly.

The group left the Huaqing campus and went to the nearby Peking University Clinic.

There, everyone came together to visit Wu Yingzong.

After a few days of recuperation, Wu Yingzong looked much better, and everyone gathered around him, smiling broadly.

Fang Wenze left the ward and found the old doctor: "Professor Bing, can you take a look at what's wrong with me?"

The old professor looked at the tools in Fang Wen's hand, puzzled: "I don't know."

"A suture tool used in surgery."

"What? This can be used for suturing?" The old doctor couldn't believe it.

"You can't suture blood vessels, but you can suture wounds. Let me show you how."

Fang Wen demonstrated the equipment, and the old doctor, recognizing its capabilities, was even more astonished. This was a magical tool for surgeons!

He immediately called his colleagues and students.

The clinic was packed with doctors and students, all listening to Fang Wen explain the functions of the equipment.

Just listening isn't enough; they really want to see it done in practice.

Then some students brought out the rubber props they usually used for sewing practice.

Two doctors conducted a suturing simulation, one using tools to close the wound and the other using a suture device to begin suturing.

They quickly mastered this simple and practical equipment and continued their wound suturing operations.

This equipment is indeed very useful. With it, surgical procedures can be completed smoothly and quickly even when there are a large number of wounded.

Immediately, the Department of Medicine at Peking University ordered 200 sets for teaching purposes.

Fang Wen did not refuse, but told them that production and sales could only begin after the aircraft manufacturing plant officially started operations.

(The first generation of medical manual mechanical suturing devices in the 90s)
Orders were received even though the aircraft manufacturing plant had not yet started construction and not a single aircraft had been built.

It's still a medical device order, which could become an interesting anecdote in the history of Taishan Aircraft Manufacturing Plant.

Three days later, the recruitment fair in Beiping officially ended. The students who were hired would take their acceptance forms by train to Jinan within a month, and then use the acceptance forms to take a free flight on Taishan Airlines to Shanghai to meet up.

Subsequently, recruitment in Tianjin also began.

Because of the events in Beiping, Fang Wen did not participate in the recruitment activities in Tianjin; the activities were mainly hosted by the school and the action team members who went to Tianjin.

Perhaps because Fang Wen didn't go, there weren't any major problems with the recruitment there. It was just that the Japanese in Tianjin made some small moves to try to obstruct it.

Despite that, eight students from Nankai University still joined.

With that, the recruitment in the north came to an end. Wu Yingzong was carried out of the medical center on a stretcher by his companions, boarded a seaplane moored in the East Lake of Yuanmingyuan, and flew back to Shanghai.

The plane is parked at a seaport outside Shanghai.

Wu Yingzong was sent to a hospital in SH city for follow-up treatment that same day, and the other team members were also given three days of leave.

The team members drove away with Wu Yingzong, while Fang Wen also drove his own car back to the streets outside Shanghai Airport.

He parked his car outside and went inside.

The house was quiet. His wife and Chuncao and Qiuju should be at the company, and the cook, Wu Ma, had probably gone to the market to buy groceries.

Fang Wen put down his luggage, leaned back in the rocking chair in the courtyard, closed his eyes, and enjoyed the sunshine.

Until his wife returned, she stood gently behind him, massaging his shoulders with both hands.

"I know about what happened in Beiping, honey. The Japanese are starting to take notice of you."

“They’ve been watching me for a while now,” Fang Wen replied with his eyes closed.

“This time it’s different; you’re building airplanes. A pilot and someone who can build a large number of airplanes are both less likely to see the latter continue. Sir, you can’t take any more risks,” Kuang Mingzhu said anxiously.

This is not the most dangerous time yet. Fang Wen thought to himself, the real war is yet to come.

But danger is indeed approaching, and preparations must be made.

Fang Wen made a judgment in his mind.

The subsequent recruitment will be handled by the special operations team.

We can't stay in Shanghai for long. Once the recruitment is over, we'll take people to Yangon to start aircraft manufacturing.

But before leaving Shanghai, there was one very important thing I hadn't done: promote penicillin.

Realizing his precarious situation, Fang Wen decided to abandon any public sales channels and switch to selling secretly.

Only by hiding in the darkness can one render all variables against oneself powerless.

But how can penicillin be promoted discreetly?

Fang Wen was thinking about how to make it mysterious and impossible to detect.

Although the last flying club was completed and new members joined, it did not meet his requirements.

This time, Fang Wen felt that the plan needed to be more meticulous.

He recruited the most skilled swindler among the five master thieves to be his accomplice.

Qian Yinxing's master.

A nameless figure in the martial arts world.

He was the third in the gang of thieves, so everyone called him Third Brother.

The third brother was summoned by his apprentice and had a private talk with Fang Wen.

Fang Wen smiled and poured tea for the third brother, then asked his question: "Third Master, I'm planning to set up a scheme to let everyone know about a miraculous product, but I require that no one involved can trace the organizer's identity before or after the event. Do you have any suggestions?"

The third brother took a sip of tea and replied, "These days, swindlers are everywhere. Has the general manager ever heard of Liang Zuoyou?"

"Never heard of him." Fang Wen, who had been busy with things these past two years, really didn't know anything about Liang Zuoyou.

The third brother explained, “In December of the year before last, the Shenbao newspaper published an article saying that a wealthy Shandong businessman named Liang Zuoyou was willing to donate 30 million silver dollars to save the country. This matter even alarmed the Minister of Finance, Song, and the President, who summoned him for a special meeting. It turned out that he did not have this money at all, and the matter was eventually dropped. What I mean by this is that to do a good job of deception, you need two things: one is to be bold, and the other is to be well prepared beforehand.”

Fang Wen nodded; he could hear the confidence in the third brother's words.

"Third Master, please feel free to share your insights."

The third brother smiled. There was another key to the scam: all participants had to have a high degree of execution. He thought Fang Wen from Taishan Airlines and his special operations team were good examples.

He said, "If the general manager wants to operate in secrecy, the first step must be to make a big splash."

A massive undertaking?!
Fang Wen did not understand.

In the Republic of China era, there was no internet, no cameras, no rigorous household registration system, and certainly no blood tests or fingerprint identification.

This is an era of criminals' paradise, with lawbreakers permeating every aspect of society.

Theft, robbery, kidnapping, and fraud are forms of crime that appear in different ways at all levels of society.

Even the president couldn't escape a scam.

Therefore, the level of mutual trust among people is very low.

Now, a mysterious organization without a public identity needs to find a different way to attract the attention of many powerful forces in Shanghai.

1934 October.

The team members, disguised using their skills, located the intelligence brokers in Shanghai.

Intelligence brokers were the terminals of the Shanghai Far East intelligence network; they possessed the most channels for information dissemination and had the most clients.

Through Shanghai's intricate intelligence network, exquisitely hand-drawn notices were delivered to celebrities, wealthy merchants, and even political figures both inside and outside the concessions.

Each notification letter featured a mysterious symbol of the organization, the 'Azure Dragon,' along with the following text: 'There is now a medicine with unprecedented efficacy, capable of breaking through the barriers of bacteria like a sharp sword drawn from its sheath, invincible in its path. For all those infected, whether with severe typhoid fever, lingering tuberculosis, or even malignant boils and carbuncles, once this medicine is administered, the disease will immediately subside, and life will be restored. It is truly a blessing for all living beings and a great achievement in medicine.'

Without an identity, a mere text is insufficient to persuade the shrewd people of Shanghai.

There was also a piece of text attached to the invitation.

"Two days later, medicine will be delivered to Guangci. If you wish to know its efficacy, you may send someone to inquire."

The two paragraphs, when put together, successfully piqued the interest of many people.

Good medicine is essential; who wouldn't want a life-saving drug when seriously ill?

Therefore, everyone sent people to Guangci Hospital to inquire.

Guangci Hospital, located in the French Concession, is now the largest hospital in Shanghai.

The hospital has multiple departments, hundreds of beds, more than a dozen French doctors, and three Chinese doctors.

It was the first choice for wealthy and powerful people in Shanghai when they fell ill.

On this day, a package mysteriously appeared at the hospital entrance.

The package was written in French and was to be given to the director of Guangci Hospital.

The French dean also received the mysterious notification. He didn't open the package alone, but instead called some colleagues and friends to witness it.

The package was opened, and inside were several bottles of powder.

The bottle was small, and there wasn't much powder inside.

People don't understand, can such a small amount really cure the disease?

Luckily, there was an instruction manual in the package.

The dean read the instruction manual aloud to the public.

Drug Name: Miraculous Sterilizer
Characteristics: This medicine is white in color, with a fine powder, and is soluble in water.

Efficacy: Specifically targets bacterial diseases, whether internal or external. It is remarkably effective for ailments caused by bacteria, such as typhoid fever, tuberculosis, boils, and sores. Once the medicine enters the body, the bacteria disintegrate, the pain gradually subsides, and recovery is possible.

Usage: This medication must be administered by a skilled physician, according to the severity of the condition, and in appropriate dosage. It must be administered intravenously via injection. Remember, a skin test must be performed before use to rule out allergic reactions.

Note: While this medicine is effective, it is not a panacea. Pregnant women, young children, and those with weak constitutions should use it with extreme caution. Furthermore, during medication, a light diet is recommended, avoiding spicy and greasy foods to prevent adverse reactions.

Storage: Store in a cool, dry place, away from light and sealed to prevent deterioration and loss of efficacy.

Next comes the process of preparing the injection solution, the preparation of the skin test solution, and the precautions and instructions for the skin test and injection.

After the dean finished reading it, as a doctor, he really wanted to see the effects of this drug.

But the patients at Guangci Hospital were all wealthy and powerful, and he dared not use it on them.

So they put up a poster outside the hospital, saying they were recruiting patients with symptoms of typhoid fever, tuberculosis, boils, or other bacterial infections for free treatment.

The announcement spread rapidly, and a group of trial participants were recruited in no time.

They were placed in different wards within the same area and underwent skin tests. After the skin tests showed no allergic reactions, they were injected with the miraculous sterilization solution.

After several days of continuous treatment and observation.

Doctors at Guangci Hospital were surprised to find that these drugs actually had remarkable effects.

The cure rate for typhoid fever patients is extremely high.

The symptoms of tuberculosis also lessened after the injection.

A large proportion of patients with boils and external bacterial infections are recovering.

It's exactly the same as what was said in the mysterious notification letter.

Such a miraculous medicine is truly astonishing.

The president of Guangci Hospital immediately issued a public statement: "The hospital is willing to purchase the miraculous sterilizing agent at a high price. Please contact the hospital with the prescription."

But after that, the mysterious person who donated the medicine, as well as the organization that sent out the notification letter, disappeared without a trace.

Nobody knows where they are or where they came from.
(End of this chapter)