Chapter 1203 - 1203: 775 provides water goods with a name_3

Only then did Du Heng speak plainly, which just made Wang Pan blush profusely. However, hearing Du Heng speak so frankly—especially since Du Heng had clearly stated his position and showed no aversion—made Wang Pan feel greatly relieved.

Wang Pan took a deep breath and, although blushing, said seriously, "Mr. Du, don't misunderstand. I'm not speaking up for my own family."

"Principal, please just tell me," Du Heng said, his smiling appearance continuing to put Wang Pan at ease. "For you to approach me like this, it must be about someone who's put you in a difficult position. Otherwise, an upright leader like yourself would never make such a request, would you? If it's something troubling you, Principal, then as one of your own, I can't let you remain troubled."

These words struck a chord with Wang Pan, and a sense of helplessness washed over him. "The academician I mentioned earlier, Academician Sun Jiaxiang—his grandson is Sun Renqi."

Du Heng scratched his head. "Is he our Acupuncture teacher?"

"Yes, it's him," Wang Pan said with a rather helpless expression. "He's almost fifty years old, with an average level of scholarship. He has quantity in his papers but not quality; they're so insubstantial that he couldn't even be promoted to Professor.

"Now, Academician Sun isn't in good health and has started to worry. He happened to hear that your research involves acupuncture, so he had me, rather brazenly, come and find you."

An academician's grandson can't be promoted to Professor? Du Heng was somewhat doubtful.

Wang Pan seemed to sense Du Heng's thoughts and explained, "Sir Sun himself is in pharmaceutical research, his son works in Western medicine development, and only Mr. Sun Renqi—he's the one who studied acupuncture.

"Neither the father nor the son are experts in acupuncture, so they can't produce papers in that field. And they don't want Mr. Sun's name to be merely appended to papers in other specializations, as they'd find it shameful.

"Moreover, Sir Sun's reputation wouldn't permit him to engage in anything too untoward. That's how it's dragged on until now."

Du Heng understood now.

But before he could say anything, Wang Pan continued, "Here's my thought: since we need Sir Sun to lend us a hand, perhaps you could make a small concession? What do you think?"

Du Heng chuckled. "Principal, you make it sound so serious. It's not a big deal. Out of respect for Sir Sun and for you, of course I'll agree.

"Alright, how about this: I'll add Mr. Sun to the project team first. I'll have the Jinzhou side coordinate with the School on the specifics.

"As it happens, I have a paper that primarily discusses acupuncture treatment. I'll list Mr. Sun as the first author."

Seeing Du Heng's straightforward attitude, Wang Pan was overjoyed.

His greatest fear was encountering inflexible people; that would not only infuriate him but also cause him to lose face.

An attitude like Du Heng's made things easy for everyone.

"Oh, that's not necessary! Co-first author would be perfectly fine," Wang Pan said hastily, not wanting to take too much advantage. "If Mr. Sun has one core journal paper, along with those less substantial ones he's published, it should be enough for his professorship."

Du Heng shook his head immediately. "If we're going to do a favor, let's do it thoroughly. No need to bother with co-authorship.

"After the formalities are completed, have Mr. Sun stay in Jinzhou for two months. Then, publish this paper solely under his name. I'll also figure out a way to add him as a second author on other articles.

"This way, we boost both the quality and quantity of his publications, helping him shed that 'substandard scholar' label. Wouldn't that be much better?"