diymy Chapter 20 A Crazy World
Chapter 20 A Crazy World
"Boom—"
A clap of thunder boomed in the sky, and a torrential downpour began.
In a bar near the port, sailors, dockworkers, and shipwrights were laughing and talking loudly around the bar.
"My syphilis is cured! Merciful Louis, God bless him!"
"Haha, I heard there's a long line in front of the Baron's clinic every day, even in the rain!"
"Mr. Louis is sure to make a fortune, God help him, he deserves it!"
Marinho, sitting in the corner, slammed his glass on the table, spilling wine. The mere mention of Liu Yide's name ignited a fire of rage within him!
He lost his job!
He even faced resistance from the industry. For the past two weeks, he had been looking for a job. Marinho originally thought that with his reputation and connections in the industry, he would be able to find a job easily, but to his surprise, everyone rejected him.
How could this happen?
At first, he didn't understand, but he found out later through a friend.
"Mariño, you need to understand, no newspaper would want to hire a madman whose brain has been damaged by syphilis!"
madman!
This is what they call "Merciful Louis" did—just because that guy slandered him as a madman!
He—the former renowned Genoa journalist, Marinho—could only drown his sorrows in the low-class bars at the docks, like these poor fellows, and didn't even have the spare money to save those poor girls.
Upon realizing this, Marinho immediately flew into a rage and said:
"You pathetic wretches, you've all been fooled!"
The bar fell silent instantly. Someone turned to look and recognized the familiar face—Marino!
"Oh, it's that madman."
"Forget it, who would argue with a madman?"
"Mr. Louis is right, he's a poor bastard whose brain has been damaged by syphilis."
People's gazes shifted from anger to pity, then returned to their drinking and chatting as if nothing had happened.
Marinho stood frozen in place, trembling with rage, and shouted curses:
"Damn it, you guys are all crazy! You're all insane!"
Cursing under his breath, Marinho stumbled out of the bar, his clothes instantly soaked by the torrential rain. He didn't care, continuing to curse as he walked.
"Madmen, you're all madmen, all of you..."
Yes, they are the lunatics. Only I—Mariño—am clear-headed. Only I, Marinho, know the true face of that liar.
"I will expose him! The deadly butcher... Yes, he's not a fraud, he's a butcher! I'll put him in jail!"
The rain is getting heavier.
He walked through several streets and arrived near Federico Clinic. In the distance, he saw a long line still forming in front of the clinic—people holding umbrellas and wearing coats, patiently waiting in the rain for someone to be discharged.
In any way—whether in life or death.
Just then, a black carriage stopped in front of the clinic; it was the church's hearse.
People saw men in black robes carry a body covered with a white sheet out of the clinic and put it into a carriage.
Those at the front of the line didn't feel sad at all; instead, they showed joy.
There are available beds!
"They're insane...they've all gone mad!"
Marinho, standing in the rain, stared wide-eyed, hardly believing what he was seeing.
I felt like the whole world was crazy.
"Madmen, yes, they're all madmen..."
Everything was caused by that liar.
Damn it, he must be feeling really smug right now!
Looking at the pitiful line of people waiting outside the clinic, Marinho wiped the rain off his face and his expression suddenly became fanatical.
"Damn it, I have to expose him! He's not a liar, he's a butcher, a deadly butcher—God help me! I'll definitely send him to Genoa prison!"
He turned and disappeared into the rain, but unlike his previous dejected state, he now resembled an angry lion.
Meanwhile, in the laboratory on the third floor of Federico Clinic, raindrops pattered against a plate of aloe vera on the windowsill, leaving glistening water droplets on the leaves.
At this time, Liu Yide was focused on his research. After that flash of inspiration that day, he began to conduct research in this area.
Memory is like having a cheat code. When recalling the synthesis route, the information related to it in the mind is automatically classified, merged, and finally directly gives the answer, and even the experimental steps.
The synthesis scheme has now been written; the next step is to verify it through experiments.
However, the experiment still requires the purchase of some raw materials.
"It's done. Now everything is ready except for the final push."
Stretching, Liu Yide stood up and looked out the window.
Outside the window, the rain gradually subsided.
Looking out the window, you can see that there are still people queuing outside.
They came here to queue up because there was a "miracle doctor" here.
"There are no miracle doctors in this world... Me? I'm the great scientist Liu Yide!"
Liu Yide's lips curled up slightly, his expression smug.
"But there will be more in the future—"
As long as there is medicine, there will be miracle doctors!
The "miracle drug" could naturally fetch a high price; and of course, it could bring him a continuous stream of wealth.
There is no miracle cure?
But he will let them see the "miracle drug".
……
A few days later, the sun shone brightly outside the window.
The lab bench by the window was filled with various glasswares. Liu Yide, standing by the bench, used a graduated cylinder to weigh reagents, carefully poured them into an Erlenmeyer flask, and gently shook it.
This is the 35th test.
Although dozens of synthesis experiments have been conducted, the yield has always hovered around 60%, with too many impurities and impure crystals.
But today, he changed the solvent for recrystallization.
"Hopefully it will look better this time."
Liu Yide muttered to himself, his eyes fixed on the changes in the liquid level inside the bottle. The ethanol was being drawn away little by little in the rotary evaporator, leaving an oily substance that flowed slowly along the bottle wall.
Now, he is working hard for a "miracle drug".
What is this miracle drug?
It's definitely not penicillin.
When deciding to manufacture a certain drug, Liu Yide immediately ruled out penicillin. Although penicillin is a panacea for syphilis and a "cure-all" for many diseases, it is extremely difficult to manufacture.
It's important to know that Fleming discovered penicillin in 1928, and it wasn't until more than a decade later, through the joint efforts of several American companies and thousands of researchers, that the various technical challenges of mass-producing penicillin were overcome.
Even in the 21st century, many countries still have not achieved industrial production of penicillin.
Is it that you don't want to?
No, it's impossible!
Therefore, for a time traveler to directly administer penicillin would be absolutely asking for trouble.
As a professional chemist, Liu Yide's first thought was to use his chemical knowledge to synthesize a drug.
And ideally it should be a widely available drug like penicillin.
Magic medicine!
With this miracle drug, getting rich couldn't be easier!
That flash of inspiration gave Liu Yide an idea.
However, having an idea is one thing, but actually developing it is another.
But now, looking at that pile of pale yellow powder, his brows furrowed.
Things weren't as easy as he had imagined.
Low purity and low yield.
These problems remain unresolved to this day.
Although Liu Yide was admitted to the chemical engineering department of a second-rate university through supplementary enrollment, he still received four years of complete undergraduate education in chemistry.
Living in this era is like standing on the shoulders of giants. Liu Yide believes that with his knowledge of chemistry alone, he could surely win a few Nobel Prizes.
Well, the Nobel Prize doesn't exist yet—after all, Nobel himself is still alive and well, and is busy researching dynamite.
But those were all theories—when it came to the synthesis, trouble arose, and repeated failures even drove Liu Yide to the brink of collapse!
"Could it be that you've been learning nothing but boredom in college? Wait a minute, you clearly have superhuman memories..."
After yet another failure.
Liu Yide recalled the synthesis path in his mind. What flashed through his mind was less like memories and more like files retrieved by the system, and even more like automatically integrated files.
"There's nothing wrong with it, so where did things go wrong?"
Smoking a cigarette, his brows furrowed, he stared at the failed product and muttered to himself.
"Or, how about we try another approach? Let's think of some other methods?"
The idea was nipped in the bud by Liu Yide.
The only problem is that this "miracle drug" seems to be quite difficult to make!
"Where exactly did things go wrong?"
Are these steps?
No, I'm reviewing the synthesis process in my mind. The process itself is fine, so what went wrong?
Staring at the reagents in the vial, Liu Yide frowned and muttered to himself:
"Could there be a problem with the raw materials?"
Just then, a series of urgent knocks on the door interrupted his thoughts.
Upon opening the door, Alessandro stood outside, accompanied by Federico, who still looked displeased.
Before Liu Yide could speak, Federico said apologetically:
"Mr. Louis, I wanted to stop him from disturbing you, but he insisted on coming up. It's really nothing serious, just a patient."
"But he is a special patient!"
Alessandro immediately interrupted Federico, turning his gaze to Liu Yide, his tone becoming serious:
"Sir, I don't want to bother you, but this patient is no ordinary person; he is the mayor..."
"He's just the mayor's secretary."
Federico interrupted him dismissively.
The word "that's all" was uttered so casually that Alessandro didn't bother arguing with him. He simply continued to look at Liu Yide seriously, his tone becoming more forceful:
"Sir, he came all this way specifically to seek your treatment. I believe this is absolutely necessary, especially for you!"
"For the doctor, research is the most important thing! No matter what, he's just a patient. Treating him would only disrupt his research!"
Federico immediately retorted.
Listening to the two arguing back and forth, Liu Yide finally understood the ins and outs of the matter: Alessandro brought a patient with a special identity who hoped that he could treat him personally; while Federico strongly objected because he knew that Liu Yide was engrossed in his research and did not want anyone to disturb him.
The reason Liu Yide had specifically instructed Federmiero not to allow outsiders to interfere was that he didn't want to get involved in the treatment anymore—after all, treating syphilis with fever therapy could be fatal. Research was merely an excuse for him to avoid such trouble.
But what was bound to happen eventually did. The reason Alessandro insisted on coming to him must be because someone had asked him to, and that person must be a very important figure.
"Sir, he is the mayor's most trusted man!"
Alessandro reiterated the other party's identity.
Federico scoffed, his face full of disdain:
"In the end, she's just a secretary!"
This was the arrogance of the nobility; even in their decline, their inherent sense of superiority remained undiminished—you might disregard the mayor's secretary, but that didn't mean others could. Alessandro ignored him, instead turning his gaze to Liu Yi'an, confident that the latter would make the right choice.
After understanding the situation, Liu Yide looked at Alessandro and said calmly:
"Fever therapy is not effective for everyone, and it carries certain risks, even significant ones."
He knew the other party's intentions, of course, but he still had to give the necessary reminders.
After saying that, he turned to Federico and asked:
What is the current mortality rate?
When asked about the mortality rate, Federico replied with a hint of guilt on his face.
"To date, the clinic has treated a total of 57 patients, of whom 11 have unfortunately passed away, resulting in a mortality rate of nearly 20%!"