’The most beautiful goddess of a teaching assistant?’ Hearing such an impressive Jianghu title, Chen Jue knew better than to say anything else and immediately shut his mouth.
He was surrounded on all sides by hot-blooded young men who were here for Xia Xue. If he asked any more questions, he’d probably attract a barrage of murderous glares.
...
As the class bell rang, the once-raucous classroom instantly fell silent.
Xia Xue, however, calmly glanced at the sea of students below. She had probably experienced this many times and was long used to it.
"Alright everyone, this open lecture on internal clinical medicine will have two parts."
"In the first half, I’ll be discussing the function of the gallbladder in gastroenterology, as well as some common gallbladder-related diseases."
"The last 20 minutes will be for a live Q&A and debate. Please remember to silence your phones and take plenty of notes so you don’t miss any key points."
Xia Xue skillfully opened her presentation, and a detailed anatomical diagram of the gallbladder appeared on the projector screen.
’This lecture is actually about the gallbladder!’
Chen Jue’s eyes widened. He quickly flipped through his textbook to find the corresponding page and picked up his pen, ready to take notes.
After all, Chen Jue had a gallstone in his own body. He’d been worried about how to find more specific information on the topic, and he hadn’t expected to stumble upon a relevant course so soon.
"The gallbladder is a pear-shaped sac located beneath the right ribs, behind the liver."
"It is a special digestive organ composed of three layers: the mucosa, the muscularis, and the outer membrane."
"As for its specific functions, the medical community has currently only identified two: concentrating and storing bile," Xia Xue explained as she advanced the slides.
The anatomical diagram of the pear-shaped gallbladder began to animate like a GIF. The previously empty gallbladder filled halfway with a yellowish-green liquid.
"I’m sure you’ve all heard of the liquid in our bodies called ’bile.’ For instance, when we eat something bad and vomit until there’s nothing left, we often feel a bitter liquid coming up from our throats."
"That is the bile stored in our gallbladders!"
"Depending on the person, bile can be golden-yellow, green, or brown, and its pH is alkaline. As for its specific components, it’s made up of bile salts, bile pigments, cholesterol, lecithin, sodium, potassium, calcium, and so on."
"The role of bile is absolutely crucial in our digestive system! Its purpose is to break down the fats we ingest from food!"
"The walls of our intestines and stomach can’t actually absorb fats directly. Only through the emulsifying action of bile can ingested fats be broken down into amino acids and glycerol, which can then be absorbed by the body."
"But what’s very interesting is that, although its name contains the ’gall’ from gallbladder, bile is actually secreted by liver cells! The reason it’s not called ’liver-juice’ is simply because it’s normally stored in the gallbladder..." Xia Xue explained the functions of the gallbladder and bile in detail.
Chen Jue listened from his seat, completely engrossed, gaining a deeper understanding of the gallbladder.
As for the subsequent key points about gallstones, gallbladder polyps, cholecystitis, and the complications of gallbladder removal, Chen Jue wasn’t paying as much attention. He had already experienced it firsthand and had heard a detailed explanation from that expert, Xu Ping’an.
’Personal experience really is the best teacher!’ Chen Jue muttered to himself.
...
The slides advanced one by one. When she reached the final summary, Xia Xue stared at the students with a deadpan expression and said, "The above covers the functions and pathological characteristics of the gallbladder as known to modern clinical medicine."
"As for everyday terms like being ’bold’ or ’timid,’ or the concept of ’courage’—these actually have no connection to the real function of the gallbladder."
"It’s merely a linguistic coincidence in Chinese that words for courage are associated with the character for ’gall.’ As for the English word, ’gallbladder,’ I expect you all to memorize its spelling and pronunciation, as it will be on future exams."
With that, Xia Xue closed the presentation and began the Q&A session.
Unexpectedly, the moment she started, a loud, questioning voice shattered the relative quiet of the classroom. "Teacher Xia! Your point about courage having no relation to the gallbladder is, in my opinion, far too one-sided! It’s even a misleading fallacy!"
"Because as you yourself said, the medical community has currently only discovered some of the gallbladder’s functions."
The moment he said this, the entire classroom was in an uproar.
"Who is that?"
"Who dares to question Teacher Xia’s point?"
"What an attention-seeker. Is he trying to grab our medical school goddess’s attention by making outrageous claims?" All eyes in the classroom focused on the male student who had spoken.
Even Chen Jue turned his head, curiously sizing the person up.
He saw a sturdily built young man with a square face, thick eyebrows, and large eyes. He had a neat crew cut and stood there with an air of righteous conviction.
’Holy shit! It’s our medical school’s ’Academic Madman,’ the great Zhou Chuan!’
’What’s he doing at Goddess Xia’s open lecture?’
Many students who recognized the young man began to whisper among themselves, causing a stir in the classroom.
Chen Jue also heard the person next to him call the guy an "Academic Madman" and grew curious. ’I’ve heard of academic gods, academic aces, and academic slackers, but when did this ’Academic Madman’ pop up?’
As for Xia Xue on the stage, she didn’t get angry after being challenged by this bold student. Instead, she just gave him a slight smile. "You there! This is the Q&A and debate portion of the class. If you feel there was a problem with my lecture, you are more than welcome to share your thoughts."