Chapter 222 - 192: Wu Ting’s Extraordinary Graduate Research Proposal

Chapter 222: Chapter 192: Wu Ting’s Extraordinary Graduate Research Proposal

Wu Ting hadn’t expected Deng Feifei to think so highly of him.

It was an offer that most people would find impossible to refuse.

Even Shen Siyuan felt the same way.

After all, the first phase of Wu Ting’s project—the P3 predictive diagnostic and therapeutic method for chronic hepatitis B—couldn’t bring any substantial profits to the Jin Pharmaceutical Group at its current stage.

The second phase was just a negative immunomodulation mechanism. The paper hadn’t been published yet, and Li Ai’s surgery couldn’t be disclosed for certain reasons. Therefore, to the outside world, it was merely an unproven hypothesis for now.

As for the third and fourth phases of Wu Ting’s project, they sounded impressive but were little more than castles in the air. Their feasibility was nowhere in sight.

Therefore, Deng Feifei had already made what she considered her most sincere offer.

If it weren’t for his system, Wu Ting would have accepted without a moment’s hesitation.

But Wu Ting was very clear about the potential of his research, and he had complete confidence in his own abilities.

’The more time passes, the more my abilities will be revealed. Once my paper is published in *Cell*, the P3 predictive method for chronic hepatitis B is included in the medical guidelines, and I eventually develop the new antiviral drug, Fengmu Tiada... what will this paltry sum matter then?’

For now, all Wu Ting needed was the startup capital for his project.

As for the house and car... as the saying goes, one shouldn’t accept rewards for unearned merits.

Shen Siyuan was the one who was familiar with the Jin Pharmaceutical Group and had a good relationship with them. That was his professor’s connection, not his own.

Wu Ting had his own grand, clear plan for the future.

"President Deng, regarding your offer, I don’t know whether to say you have excellent foresight or that the Jin Pharmaceutical Group just has money to burn."

"In any case, I’m very grateful for your and Professor Jin’s appreciation and recognition."

"Just like you, I am also full of confidence in my own project. I’m certain of its future value."

"I’m willing to accept the Jin Pharmaceutical Group’s goodwill. I can also guarantee that once my research yields results, I will give your group the first opportunity to collaborate."

"As for the other benefits this time, I don’t think they’re necessary."

"As I said, no reward without merit. At this stage, I would feel embarrassed to accept a consultant’s fee for nothing, and I don’t need the house and car your group is offering."

"My team and I only require the startup funding for this project."

"After that, once my project has made progress, we can discuss the next steps of our collaboration."

Neither obsequious nor arrogant, Wu Ting calmly and confidently rejected Deng Feifei’s generous terms, while accepting the initial startup funding for his project.

Seeing Wu Ting’s reaction and decision, Shen Siyuan, who was watching from the side, was also somewhat surprised. She hadn’t expected someone as young as Wu Ting to be able to resist such a tempting financial offer.

More importantly, however, Shen Siyuan could hear the ambition in his voice and his unwavering confidence in his project.

A ridiculous thought suddenly occurred to Shen Siyuan.

’Could it be that the third and fourth phases of Wu Ting’s project weren’t just impressive-sounding additions I suggested to make the proposal seem more complete and systematic? Does he actually believe in them and intend to research them?’

’That would be a brand-new antiviral drug for primary liver cancer caused by hepatitis B.’

’And the cutting-edge theories of tumor necrosis and apoptosis... especially his final point on the IKK complex theory...’

’The IKK complex (IκB kinase complex) is a critical regulator of immune response, inflammation, cell survival, and tumorigenesis... The leading researcher on the IKK complex is someone even I have to look up to.’

’The IKK complex is the research focus of Lin Ning, one of only six Jin Country nationals on the editorial board of *Cell*.’

’Lin Ning is a researcher at Southern Country University, the Institute of Basic Medical Sciences at the Jin Country Medical Science Academy, and the Science Academy... an outstanding scientist in the fields of cancer research and cell signal transduction.’

’On top of that, Lin Ning is also a researcher at the HHMI Research Institute...’

Shen Siyuan thought about it, but still felt it was completely impossible.

Lin Ning was a top-tier expert on a global scale. How could Wu Ting possibly have any insight into his research?

’He must have come across Professor Lin Ning’s relevant papers while preparing his submission to *Cell*, cherry-picked some concepts, and integrated the impressive-sounding IKK complex theory into his literature review without fully grasping it.’

Shen Siyuan initially wanted to persuade Wu Ting to reconsider, but the talent and maturity he had shown recently made her choose to respect and support his decision instead.

"Feifei, please don’t take it personally. We researchers tend to be very direct. We say what’s on our minds. Let’s go with Wu Ting’s proposal: our collaboration will simply be to provide the startup funding for this project. In return, once Wu Ting has results, he will give the Jin Pharmaceutical Group priority for future partnerships."

By speaking up and stating her position, Shen Siyuan was essentially vouching for Wu Ting.

Deng Feifei looked at Wu Ting, also somewhat surprised that this young man had so easily refused such a generous offer.

If she had been negotiating with a more seasoned veteran, Deng Feifei would have assumed he was just playing hard to get, trying to angle for more money.

But looking into Wu Ting’s confident and clear eyes, Deng Feifei knew this young man wasn’t playing games.

Deng Feifei recalled the first time she had seen Wu Ting. It was in a classroom at the School of Life Sciences, where, in front of a crowd of doctoral candidates, master’s students, and young professors, he had stepped forward with that same pure confidence to ask a question.