Rebirth 1977 Great Era

Chapter 1411 Bloomberg's Western Medical Capital, the Mysterious Gift-Giver (Two Chapters Combined)
The nomination of Professor Hans Müller that Huang Qiming had mentioned to himself was not yet finalized, but the information Lao Hu received indicated that it had been finalized.

"Who nominated me this time?" Fang Yan asked Lao Hu.

Lao Hu said:

"Baruch Samuel Blumberg, what should it be translated as... Baruch Samuel Blumberg?"

Upon hearing the name, Fang Yan quickly searched his memory. At this moment, Sophia, who was standing beside him, asked curiously:

"Who is this person?"

Before Fang Yan could answer, his mother-in-law said:
"He is a professor of medicine and anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and an investigator at the Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia. He was nominated because he was the Nobel Prize laureate in Physiology or Medicine two years ago."

My mother-in-law is someone who works in this industry, so she knows this very well.

The younger sister-in-law asked:
"What did he do to win the Nobel Prize?"

The mother-in-law said:
"In 1963, the hepatitis B surface antigen was isolated and purified from blood, creating the world's first hepatitis B vaccine."

Fang Yan then remembered that this person had quite a prestigious reputation, as he was the first director of NASA's Astrobiology Institute and the chief scientist of Balliol College, Oxford University.

"It was actually him who nominated him..." Fang Yan muttered.

“Yeah, I’m wondering the same thing. Wasn’t that Wang Zhenlin a guy who came back from Japan?” Old Hu said after hearing Fang Yan’s words.

Fang Yan's mind raced, and soon he came up with his own guess.

The power behind Wang Zhenlin is considerable. Fang Yan had previously suspected it was a Japanese pharmaceutical company, but now he believes it's more likely that an American pharmaceutical group is behind it, just like Heimlich and his team did before. What they actually want isn't Fang Yan's original prescription, but rather how to convert it into a Western medicine.

Moreover, Heimlich once said that if Fang Yan could come up with a secret formula for treating pulmonary interstitial fibrosis, he could have Fang Yan nominated by a former Nobel laureate.

It was January 7th when they came to visit as part of a delegation of members of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, and then met Fang Yan at the hospital.

Fang Yan remembers their meeting very clearly.

Later, after returning to China, this guy gave an interview and publicly promoted how traditional Chinese medicine had reversed idiopathic pulmonary interstitial fibrosis. A series of events followed, all because of him.

Ultimately, Heimlich should also be a member of the Western medicine group.

Bloomberg is known to be a researcher at the Fox Chase Cancer Center in the United States, an institution with close ties to the pharmaceutical industry.

Now it's becoming clearer: behind Wang Zhenlin is the American Western Medicine Group, and possibly even a Japanese pharmaceutical company controlled by American capital.

I can easily recall a whole bunch of dialects.

If that's really the case, then the power behind Wang Zhenlin is terrifyingly large.

This means that American pharmaceutical companies have already set their sights on this market.

This year also marked an unprecedented period of advancement in American pharmaceutical technology, with scientists successfully inserting the human insulin gene into bacterial DNA, enabling it to produce insulin. This achievement signified the arrival of the era of recombinant gene drugs.

In addition, in the same year, Merck's cefoxitin was approved for marketing by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

At this time, the R&D expenses of Western medicines usually only accounted for 17%-18% of sales revenue, which made pharmaceutical companies' enthusiasm for R&D unprecedented. At the same time, the high rate of return also attracted a lot of capital investment, further promoting the development and expansion of Western medicine capital in the United States.

In addition, the US government's support for the pharmaceutical industry has provided favorable conditions for the development of Western pharmaceutical capital.

For example, the government once declared that penicillin production was a core part of national security, encouraged pharmaceutical companies to conduct research, and claimed that their research and development was not subject to antitrust laws.

This policy support allowed American pharmaceutical companies to develop freely to a certain extent, enhancing the strength of American pharmaceutical capital.

"Do Director Liao and the others know about this?" Fang Yan asked Lao Hu.

Old Hu said somewhat uncertainly:
"You should know by now."

Seeing Fang Yan like this, Zhu Lin on the bed said to him:
"You should call Director Liao first."

Upon hearing this, Fang Yan said:

"Okay, then I'll go call Director Liao and Minister Li first."

After hearing this, Lao Hu said:
"I'll go with you."

Fang Yan and Lao Hu walked quickly to the rehabilitation department nurses' station. Fang Yan picked up the phone, paused for a moment, and called Director Liao first, but after calling her home and office, she was told that she was not there.

"He's probably busy elsewhere." Fang Yan put down the phone and called Vice Minister Li again.

The call was answered by Secretary Huang, who immediately said he wanted to speak to Vice Minister Li.

After a while, Vice Minister Li's calm voice came through the receiver: "Fang Yan, is it about the Nobel Prize nomination?"

Fang Yan paused for a moment, then quickly replied:

"You already know? I just heard from Lao Hu that Professor Bloomberg nominated me, and I was thinking of reporting to you and Director Liao as soon as possible, but I called Director Liao earlier and no one answered..."

“I received the news half an hour ago. I already sent someone to call Director Liao, and he's probably on his way here right now to meet and discuss this matter.” Vice Minister Li paused, then added, “How’s the situation on your end? Did you alert anyone else?”

"No, only me, Lao Hu, and my family know about it. None of the guests who came to congratulate us mentioned it," Fang Yan quickly replied.

Then he said:
"Minister Li, this matter is not quite what we expected. It seems that this nomination involves American pharmaceutical capital..."

“Yes, I know!” Vice Minister Li interrupted him, her tone serious yet reassuring. “Let’s not panic, stay calm, and continue as usual. Don’t let outsiders notice anything unusual. This nomination is a complicated matter. Director Liao and I will meet and come up with a solution, and we’ll let you know then.”

Upon hearing what the leader had said, Fang Yan immediately agreed, "Okay, I'll listen to you. If you need my cooperation, please let me know."

"Don't worry, I won't let you fight alone," Vice Minister Li said.

Just then, Fang Yan heard Secretary Huang's voice coming from the phone:

"Director Liao has arrived!"

Upon hearing this, Vice Minister Li addressed the dialect group:

"Alright, Director Liao has arrived. That's all for now. I'll let you know as soon as I have any news."

Fang Yan agreed:

"OK, bye!"

Then he hung up the phone and turned to Lao Hu, saying:

"They said they received the news half an hour ago and are currently meeting with Director Liao to discuss it. They told us to stay calm and wait for their solution."

Old Hu breathed a sigh of relief, smiled, and patted him on the shoulder:

"That's good. It's better to have someone above us watching than to try to figure it out on our own."

After saying that, he said:
"Let's go back and tell Zhu Lin so she can rest assured."

……

Fang Yan and Lao Hu returned to the rehabilitation department and briefly reported the matter to their families.

Hearing that his superiors already knew the news, Zhu Lin breathed a sigh of relief.

At this moment, my father and father-in-law also arrived.

The two walked in one after the other, their steps a little faster than usual, their faces beaming with barely suppressed smiles. They greeted Zhu Lin as soon as they entered.

"Linlin, thank you for your hard work."

"How are you feeling? Still in pain?"

The two greeted Zhu Lin first, and Zhu Lin smiled and told them:

"It's okay, the delivery went very smoothly. I gave birth right away when I got to the hospital, and I didn't suffer at all."

The old man said:

"This child knows how to care for his mother."

The father-in-law then praised the dialect:
"It's all thanks to Fang Yan for taking such good care of me; she hasn't neglected my diet or massages every day."

Then both of them looked at the little one in the swaddling clothes, and the mother told them:

"We've chosen a name, Fang Chengze."

"Good, good, this name sounds nice," the father-in-law praised first.

The old man glanced at Fang Yan and asked:

Why did you choose this name?

After Fang Yan explained it to his father, his father nodded in sudden understanding.

Fang Yan knew that, according to his father, the name was to be chosen according to the Fang family's generational ranking.

Of course, after speaking in dialect, he felt that what dialect said made a lot of sense.

At this moment, the father-in-law had already moved closer to his grandson. Looking at the little guy's tightly closed eyes and pursed lips, he couldn't help but turn around and tease Zhu Lin: "Look at this little mouth, it's exactly the same as yours when you were little! I remember when you were first born, you also pursed your lips like this, as if you wouldn't show weakness to anyone."

Zhu Lin smiled and nodded: "Dad, you still remember so clearly."

"How could I forget?" Father-in-law Zhu Guangnan straightened up, looked at Fang Zhenhua again, and said:
"Old Fang, look at this child's eyebrows and eyes, his nose is high and straight, just like Fang Yan's. But his eyes, even with his eyes closed, you can see his spirit. He just like our Linlin!"

Comrade Lao Fang looked at his grandson with a smile, his face full of emotion.

He turned to Fang Yan and instructed, "Keep a close eye on the baby at night, make sure he doesn't kick off the blankets. Newborns don't regulate their body temperature well, and it would be troublesome if he caught a cold."

Hearing him say that, his mother scoffed:
"Your son is the director of the Traditional Chinese Medicine department, do you need to tell me this?"

"Okay, Dad, I'll come over and keep watch tonight," Fang Yan replied.

Old Fang said with satisfaction after hearing this:

"I'm afraid that these young people might forget things because they're so impulsive."

Just then, there was another knock on the door. Anton went to open it and found that it was the food delivery person. It turned out that when Huang Huijie had someone order food earlier, she had also ordered a postpartum meal for Zhu Lin.

Upon opening the food box, I found three layers inside: the top layer contained a small bowl of clear black chicken soup, with a thin layer of oil floating on the surface, which had been skimmed off cleanly, and a peeled pigeon egg nestled inside; the middle layer was millet and red date porridge, the millet grains cooked until they burst open, and the red dates cut into small pieces, looking soft and glutinous; the bottom layer contained two small dishes, one of stir-fried spinach and the other of diced braised beef, the beef finely chopped for easy chewing.

"This combination is really thoughtful. It has soup to nourish your blood and qi, porridge to nourish your spleen and stomach, and the side dishes are light and not greasy." The mother-in-law picked up a spoon, scooped up a spoonful of chicken soup, blew on it, and handed it to Zhu Lin's mouth. "Linlin, drink some soup to warm yourself up first. This black chicken soup is very nourishing and not greasy at all."

Zhu Lin quickly reached out and took it:

"I'll do it myself."

Then she said to Fang Yan:

"Fang Yan, why don't you take everyone to lunch? Stop crowding around me."

At this moment, the mother-in-law said:

"Yes, yes, Fangyan, you guys go eat, I'll stay here and keep watch!"

Fang Yan nodded in agreement upon hearing this.

He addressed the crowd:

"Okay, let's all eat at the cafeteria for lunch today."

Everyone present had no objections, except for Lao Hu, who didn't plan to go. Huang Huijie had already ordered lunch for him next door, so he could just go and eat there.

Now, no matter how busy he is, he has to come back to have dinner with his wife and daughter.

Fang Yan then led the rest of the group toward the cafeteria.

In the afternoon, Fang Yan also planned to go to the Yanjing Hotel to give some money and book the postpartum meals for the next period.

Since he definitely wouldn't have time to cook in the coming days, and the other people's skills were also limited, it would be better to simply order food from the Yanjing Hotel, where the chefs of state banquets are trustworthy.

Besides, he's not short of foreign exchange for restaurant orders. He just received 50,000.

Fang Yan knew that according to Director Liao's arrangement, this money would definitely still belong to him.

They might even encourage him to act extravagantly.

After all, it's necessary to show the people behind Wang Zhenlin what's what.

After getting their food from the cafeteria, everyone found a corner to sit down and began to eat.

It's been a long time since I've eaten here, at least several months.

Many people greeted Fang Yan when they saw him come here.

Some people, knowing that his child had been born, didn't forget to congratulate him. Luckily, Fang Yan had some wedding candy with him, and he took it out and gave it to them.

After handing out the wedding candies, Fang Yan started talking to his father and father-in-law about the Nobel Prize and the 50,000 yuan.

Fang Yan had no intention of hiding it from them, nor from anyone in his family. Perhaps Wang Zhenlin's accomplices would contact them, especially his father and father-in-law, who were professors at the National Defense University. Perhaps they considered them to be of considerable value.

My father and father-in-law were quite shocked to hear that a dialect had been nominated for the Nobel Prize in Medicine.

The old man said:

"I only heard last month that Yang Zhenning nominated Niu Jingyi as a candidate for the Nobel Prize in Chemistry."

"This was supposed to be one of our own nominating our own people, but I never expected you to be nominated by a foreigner..."

At this moment, the father-in-law said:
Has anyone from Traditional Chinese Medicine been nominated for the Nobel Prize before?

Fang Yan shook his head and said:
"No, there are differences between traditional Chinese medicine, the Yin-Yang and Five Elements theory and the meridian theory of traditional Chinese medicine and the empirical logic of modern Western medicine. Therefore, Western scholars with the right to nominate have always paid relatively little attention to the achievements of traditional Chinese medicine. This nomination is the first time in history."

After finishing speaking in dialect, he added:
"Although they didn't have any good intentions either."

The father-in-law said:
"However, this is the first time that traditional Chinese medicine has entered the Western field of vision."

The younger sister-in-law standing to the side said:
"Brother-in-law, are they trying to win you over?"

Fang Yan nodded and said:
"This is just the beginning. They're just giving me a taste of what's to come. I don't even want to think about what they'll ask me to do next."

Fang Zhenhua took a bite of rice, but his brow remained furrowed.

"Indeed, how easy is it to get benefits from foreigners? Over the years, how many people have tried to extract information by offering bribes during our research?"

He put down his chopsticks, looked at Fang Yan, and his eyes were full of solemnity:

"You must remember, no matter how much they offer, we cannot lose our Fang family roots, nor can we lose the essence of traditional Chinese medicine."

Zhu Guangnan nodded in agreement:

"Old Fang is right. The West only uses a few tricks: first, they give you honors, then they make you hand over core technologies, and finally they either tie you to their industrial chain or they change the technology and claim it as their own achievement."

After saying that, he spoke in the dialect:

"If they patent your formula for treating pulmonary interstitial fibrosis, we'll have to pay them to use it ourselves in the future!"

Fang Yan said to them:

"Don't worry, I understand."

This time, they gave him a nomination and a $50,000 grant, which is basically a test of the waters. Now we just need to see how Fang Yan reacts.

"Minister Li and Director Liao are already discussing countermeasures. They probably want to go along with their approach first to see what they really want. While they are testing us, we are also investigating their background and finding out what they want to do."

Of course, what Fang Yan didn't say was, "Find out who they've bribed in their own country."

Hearing Fang Yan say this, the two old men were relieved.

……

After lunch, my older sister and younger brother also returned.

Neither of them had lunch. After finishing their morning classes, they asked for leave and came back.

The younger brother also gave a big gift; he had promised to give the copyright of one of his books to his nephew, and now that promise has been fulfilled.

Originally, Fang Yan and Zhu Lin didn't want it, since they were both well-off, but the younger brother said it was his way of showing his appreciation as an elder.

The eldest sister took out another bezoar and gave it to Fang Yan, saying it was a gift for the child. Fang Yan and Zhu Lin discussed it and decided to accept the eldest sister's gift since they had already accepted the younger brother's gift.

Anyway, there will be a chance to return the favor later.

My little brother isn't married yet, and the pearl of justice hasn't grown up yet.

There are plenty of opportunities.

In the afternoon, Fang Yan also took the time to go to the Yanjing Hotel and directly booked postpartum meals for the next sixty days.

Generally speaking, according to traditional Chinese medicine, the postpartum period lasts for six weeks, or forty-two days.

This is called the base cycle.

This can be further divided into three stages:

Days 1-7 are for expelling lochia and consolidating vital energy.

Days 8-21 are for replenishing qi and blood and regulating the internal organs.

Days 22-42 are for strengthening muscles and bones and consolidating the foundation.

However, in clinical practice, traditional Chinese medicine recommends extending the treatment period to sixty days.

This is to ensure that the body can fully recover and avoid postpartum weakness.

So, for his wife's health, Fang Yan booked a 60-day stay.

When they heard the dialect, they wanted to order food, specifically for his wife at home. The Yanjing Hotel had initially accepted payment.

But after Fang Yan left, they held a meeting and discussed it, and in the end, they returned the money.

They said the leader said it would be given away for free.

These overseas Chinese businessmen who came for National Day were all customers brought by Fang Yan. The performance that Fang Yan has brought to Yanjing Hotel these days is obvious to all. This time when Fang Yan came to place an order, their leadership discussed it and unanimously decided not to charge him.

That's good. The foreign exchange that was sent out in dialect returned half an hour later, along with several boxes of state banquet snacks.

This can be considered the first time that Yanjing Hotel has reciprocated Fangyan's kindness.

When evening came, the old man told Fang Yan that according to the Fang family's custom, the birth of the eldest grandson should be celebrated with ancestral rites.

Despite the fact that everyone in the family is highly educated, they still enjoy all these traditional Chinese programs.

Neither the Fang family nor the Zhu family gave up on these things.

He had no objection to the dialect, of course. If it was for ancestor worship, then so be it. He would listen to his father and do whatever his father said in dialect.

Then the ancestral worship ceremony was held in a courtyard house.

The ancestral tablets of the Fang family were brought out and placed on an offering table at the entrance, with a plate of apples, a plate of pastries, and two cups of warm white wine on it.

Fang Zhenhua lit three incense sticks. The flames flickered twice. He bowed three times to the memorial tablet before inserting the incense sticks into a makeshift enamel cup filled with fine sand, which served as an incense burner.

"To our ancestors, today the Fang family welcomes a new member, our eldest grandson Chengze. We have come to inform you. The child is healthy and weighs six pounds eight ounces. His cry is loud and clear, a sign of good health."

“The name Chengze was given to him by his father. ‘Cheng’ means to inherit the family business and benevolence, and ‘ze’ means to receive grace and spread warmth. We, his wife and I, hope that he can safeguard the roots of the Fang family and become a useful person in the future, so as not to let down the blessings of our ancestors.”

"Our ancestors should remember this name and protect him from harm and hardship, so that he can grow up safely and peacefully."

Then Fang Zhenhua lit the burning yellow paper and placed it in a basin on the ground. The flames reflected on his face, making him look solemn.

"Ancestors, please accept these sentiments and look after Chengze in the future," he said softly.

The ashes of the paper drifted gently in the night breeze, then suddenly began to swirl and burn.

Fang Yan and the others were stunned.

Then Fang Zhenhua picked up three incense sticks, lit them, and handed them to Fang Yan: "Come on, it's your turn. You're a father today too. Say a few words to your ancestors."

Fang Yan took the incense and, following the method his master had taught him, inserted it into the incense burner in the order of Heaven, Earth, and Man (first inserting it into the middle, then into the right and left in sequence).

Then, addressing the memorial tablet, he said:

"Fang family ancestors, I am Fang Yan. I now practice traditional Chinese medicine, adhering to the principle of healing and saving lives. In the future, I will teach this skill to Chengze. If he is willing to learn, I will pass on our Fang family's prescriptions and treatment experience to him, so that he can also become a person who can help others. If he has other intentions, I will teach him to be an upright person, not to be greedy for small gains, and not to go against his conscience. I will teach Chengze well, so that he can become a responsible person and continue the good family tradition of the Fang family."

After saying this, they bowed and then began burning paper money.

The flames burned brightly, and the incense smoke slowly spread through the courtyard, mixed with a faint smell of paper ash. Instead of feeling solemn and oppressive, it created a warm atmosphere of family reunion.

After the ceremony here is over, Fang Yan will go to the hospital to be with his wife and son.

The hospital arranged a bed for him in the ward. Although there were nurses taking care of him, Fang Yan still planned to go and look after him himself.

By the time Fang Yan arrived at the hospital, it was already completely dark.

Zhu Lin had just finished feeding the baby.

She was about to get out of bed to go to the toilet. She had recovered better than Huang Huijie and was already able to get out of bed and go to the toilet normally.

The younger sister accompanied Zhu Lin and went with her.

After they left, only Fang Yan and her son Fang Chengze were left in the room. Fang Yan went up to check on her son, who had drunk his milk and was already asleep, and smiled but refrained from teasing him.

Just as he was about to flip through the magazines here, he heard someone calling him from outside:
"Director Fang!?"

Is Director Fang here?

Fang Yan frowned and walked out, only to find it was a young nurse.

"What is it?" Fang Yan asked in a low voice.

He was really afraid that his son would be woken up.

The nurse said to Fang Yan:

"Someone just delivered a gift and asked me to help you with it."

As he spoke, he took out a beautifully packaged gift box, which bore the Friendship Store logo. This was something that could only be purchased with foreign exchange certificates.

Fang Yan was taken aback and asked:

"Who gave it to me?"

The nurse shook her head and said:
"They only said he was your friend, but didn't say his name."

Fang Yan didn't open the gift box, but instead asked the nurse warily:
"What does the other person look like? Male or female?"

The nurse said:

"A man, in his forties, wearing glasses and looking very refined, somewhat like a university professor or something."

Upon hearing this, Fang Yan suddenly recalled the Western medicine professors that Wang Zhenlin had visited before.

Was it sent by one of these people?

What is this gift?
PS: The basic chapter of 6000 words has been updated.

(End of this chapter)