Surgery Godfather

Chapter 2272: Chapter 1472: New World

All night long, Yang Ping was dreaming and contemplating his unified theory, perhaps suddenly gaining some inspiration in the dream, which caused him to wake up.

He groped for his phone, opened his email, and the red number at the upper right corner of the email icon showed "287," which was just from one day. He clicked on his inbox, glanced from top to bottom at the senders and titles.

The first one was from the editorial department of Nature, with the title "RE: Your Unified Human Theory Construct in Cells—Invitation to Write a Perspective Article." The second one was from the editorial department of Cell, with the title "Commentary Invitation Regarding Your Recent Framework on Unified Human Theory Construct in Cells." The third one was from the New England Journal of Medicine, with the title "Perspective Invitation—Insights of Unified Human Theory Construct in Cells for Clinical Medicine."

He scrolled down further to find invitations from The Lancet, Science, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Annual Review of Neuroscience, Journal of Cell Biology... almost every mainstream journal he knew of had sent invitations. Some invited him to write reviews, some asked for commentaries, some wanted to do interviews, and some simply asked if he could write an introduction to the unified theory for their journal.

Yang Ping placed the phone on his chest and lay there for a while longer.

After the unified theory hypothesis was proposed, it began fermenting online. Initially, it was on niche academic forums where a few developmental biology doctoral students were passionately discussing: if this hypothesis holds true, then one of the experiments their laboratory conducted over the past three years would require reinterpretation. Then it was on Twitter, where several science influencers started forwarding, commenting, and quoting. Following that, mainstream media picked it up, with both Nature and Science each publishing a report in their news sections. The headlines were very reserved—"A Unified Theory Framework Attempts to Explain Human Embryonic Development and Self-Repair Mechanisms," with cautious wording, each judgment prefixed with "if" and "maybe."

But readers’ reactions were anything but reserved. The comments section under the reports exploded. Some said this was the most important medical breakthrough of the 21st century, others said Yang Ping should win the Nobel Prize again, and some said if this hypothesis were verified, entire medical textbooks would need rewriting. Of course, there were voices claiming it was hype, manipulation, mere self-indulgence by a Chinese doctor. Others speculated that after winning two Nobel Prizes, Yang Ping began to spiral into confusion and delusion, deviating from the pursuit of earnest and truthful science. Different voices clashed in the comments section, escalating from scientific debate to personal attacks, eventually forcing the editors to close the comment function.

Once media attention arrived, things spiraled out of control. Television stations, newspapers, online media, and social media all showed up. First, a reporter from China Central Television blocked him at the entrance of the Institute, asking for an exclusive interview. Yang Ping declined. Then came journalists from major portals calling every day, sending emails, direct messaging on social media. Following that were overseas media, with the New York Times sending a formal email titled "Interview Request: A Chinese Theory that Could Transform Medicine."

Yang Ping declined them all.

It’s not false humility, he genuinely had no time. The laboratory produced new data daily, Lin Xiaoyu’s treatment reached a critical stage, the new institute’s renovation was nearing completion, he had four papers under review, and two fund applications with deadlines looming. He was already compressing his sleep time, where would he find time for interviews? Besides, Yang Ping had always been averse to such interview matters.

However, the consequences of refusal proved more troublesome than acceptance. Reporters started concocting stories. Some claimed he "isolated himself for focused research," others suggested he "politely declines all interviews, maintaining an air of mystery." With no access to him personally, others interviewed his colleagues, students, and even patients’ families. Weber was stopped while jogging, being handed a business card by someone claiming to be a reporter from some media, wanting to ask a few questions about Professor Yang. Weber, speaking in Chinese with a German accent, said "I do not do interviews," and then continued his run. Manstein had it worse, being blocked at his office entrance for half an hour, eventually having to call security to escort the person away.

Tang Shun was slightly more proactive in handling these matters than Yang Ping. He forwarded all interview requests to the hospital’s publicity department, letting professionals do a professional job. The colleagues in the publicity department were quite experienced, replying uniformly to all media: Professor Yang is currently busy with work and will not be accepting interviews, thank you for your attention. And then nothing more.

Yang Ping lifted the phone from his chest and looked at the emails again.

He did not respond to any of them. It’s not arrogance; he genuinely didn’t know how to reply. The unified theory is still a hypothesis, not a conclusion. Although breakthroughs have been continuously achieved in this research area, the theory is overly grand, and the achievements, while seemingly significant, are still at the early stages.

It requires extensive long-term experimental verification, clinical data, peer review. Until all of this is completed, it’s just a bunch of diagrams and words drawn and written by someone in an office. No matter how beautifully drawn or written, it’s still a hypothesis. A hypothesis is not truth; it requires proof, and the process of complete verification is exceedingly lengthy, potentially taking generations.

He sat up, got out of bed, and walked into the bathroom. He washed his face with cold water and glanced at himself in the mirror. The person in the mirror had stubble on his chin but looked spirited. He shaved, changed clothes, and walked out of the bathroom.

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