This miracle doctor just wants to be fired!

"I'll go find the medical office," Lin Feng said.

Zhou Cheng immediately stopped him, saying, "No need for now."

Raymond Lam frowned: "Not yet?"

"The dean called this morning."

Lin Feng paused for a moment: "What did he say?"

"Please refrain from media interviews for the time being, and all relevant information will be compiled by the hospital's legal and research departments."

"Does the hospital staff also feel something's not right?"

Zhou Cheng did not answer.

In fact, the hospital's response has already said it all.

Normal academic disputes do not require legal intervention, nor do they require hospitals to keep a unified record of emails, peer review records, and raw data.

The dean didn't speak too bluntly on the phone, only reminding him to participate in fewer public events recently, and especially not to respond to online criticism in an emotional state.

There were two knocks on the office door. Zou Ligan then pushed the door open and walked in.

He wasn't wearing a white lab coat today; he was only wearing a dark tracksuit.

After entering, he glanced at Lin Feng, then looked at the notices on the table. "You saw them all?"

Lin Feng stood up: "Director Zou."

Zou Ligan waved his hand, gesturing for him to sit down, then pulled out a chair and sat down opposite Zhou Cheng.

"Please go out for a moment."

Lin Feng was taken aback. "Me?"

"Um."

Lin Feng looked at Zhou Cheng, and Zhou Cheng nodded.

After the door closed, Zou Ligan picked up the top document on the table, glanced at it, and asked, "Who do you think this is aimed at?"

Zhou Cheng asked doubtfully, "Isn't it related to the project?"

Zou Ligan put down the paper: "If it were just about the project, we wouldn't be looking at your past academic positions, grants, and papers."

"That's aimed at me."

"Not entirely."

Zou Ligan leaned back in his chair and said after a moment, "Some of them are coming for me."

Zhou Cheng frowned slightly; these words came suddenly.

The office quieted down. Outside the window, it was afternoon, and the sun peeked out from behind the clouds, its light falling on the glass of the opposite hospital building and reflecting in, making it somewhat dazzling.

Zou Ligan raised his hand to block the view, then got up and pulled the curtains closed.

"I have been included in the list of eligible candidates for this year's academician election."

Zhou Cheng knew about this.

Zou Ligan has been preparing for the election of academicians for more than a year or two. In the past few times, he has not been able to officially enter the final stage due to reasons such as age, quota, and discipline layout.

After the materials were submitted this year, both the institute and the higher authorities believed that the chances were high, but the selection process was not yet over, and many things were not convenient to discuss publicly.

"We've recently reached the peer review and comprehensive assessment stage." Zou Liqian sat down again. "At this point, the candidate's academic team, representative achievements, student training, and industry influence will all be reviewed again."

Zhou Cheng quickly understood what he meant, "I am your student."

"And you're the student I pay the most attention to," Zou Ligan said. "Many people will attribute your achievements over the past few years to my talent cultivation and academic legacy. Conversely, if you have any problems, they will also be attributed to me."

"This is my team's responsibility, and it has nothing to do with you."

Zou Ligan shook his head: "There's no such simple distinction in the election of academicians."

He picked up another notice and pointed to one of the sentences: "Relying on personal influence to drive technology diffusion."

"Look here, it says 'you' on the surface, but it actually refers to the intervention system I've built over the years. They want the review experts to have the impression that the team I, Zou Ligan, led excessively pursued new technologies, relied on academic influence for rapid promotion, and lacked risk control."

"Is someone pushing this?"

"There must be someone there."

"Who is it?"

"It's not certain yet."

Zou Ligan spoke calmly, but Zhou Cheng could still tell from the way he tapped his fingers lightly on the table that he was suppressing his emotions.

Zou Ligan has worked in the field of cardiovascular medicine in the country for decades and has seen far more academic competition than younger doctors.

He wouldn't suspect manipulation based on a few forum posts, nor would he easily link the controversy to the election of academicians.

Unless, he has seen more.

"What else do you know?"

Instead of answering immediately, Zou Liqian took out his phone, opened a screenshot, and placed it in front of Zhou Cheng.

The screenshot is from a peer exchange group related to the election of academicians.

Someone forwarded the controversy surrounding Zhou Cheng's project, adding a sentence:

"Given the recent serious incident involving the promotion of medical technology by the candidate's team, is it necessary to reassess their academic leadership and talent development capabilities?"

The group chat name and most of the members' information were obscured, leaving only the content of the messages and the time, which was last night.

"Who sent this to you?"

"An old friend."

"Is it possible to find out who first proposed it?"

"It's difficult. It's common to exchange opinions privately during the review phase, and it's also in accordance with procedure for someone to raise questions. The problem is that these materials come out too neatly."

Zou Ligan put the phone back.

"The questions raised on the forum, the initiative proposed by the academic society, and then the suggestion in the review group to re-examine my team—these events unfolded too smoothly. Normal academic disputes are chaotic, with supporters and opponents. But right now, the trend is almost entirely in one direction."

Zhou Cheng paused for a moment before slowly saying, "Competitors?"

"It could be someone with a vested interest in a candidate."

"The number of academicians is limited."

"Each department has a limited number of students."

As Zou Ligan finished speaking, he suddenly smiled, but the smile was very faint.

"At this stage, everyone is very polite in public. No one will stand up and say they hope someone will be eliminated; it's enough to just make the judging panel have one more doubt."

"What are you going to do?"

"First, we need to confirm whether someone is deliberately pushing this."

"What if it's confirmed?"

"Let's deal with academic issues first."

Zhou Cheng looked up at him.

Zou Ligan stated, "They can exploit this because the issue itself does exist. The four cases of complications are real, and the training content was flawed. We cannot turn what should be rectified into a political struggle simply because someone is using this as an excuse."

These words made Zhou Cheng silent for a few seconds.

He was initially worried that Zou Ligan would be affected by the election of academicians, so he asked his team to lower their voices or delay the release of subsequent data.

But the teacher's first reaction was still to separate clinical issues from external turmoil.

"The project rectification will continue, and the data will remain open as usual," Zou Ligan said. "This cannot change."

"What about what's happening outside?"

"Keep the evidence safe."

What does it include?

"We have saved all the information, including the timing of the notifications, the media reposting paths, the earliest posting account on the forum, and all official documents requesting retractions and suspensions of funding. The hospital's legal department has already started the process, and the research department will also check whether anyone has filed a collective complaint with the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the journals."

Zhou Cheng nodded.

Zou Ligan looked at him and suddenly asked, "Are you worried about my chances of being re-elected this year?"