Taking Samples
Shen Qi's daily routine now is:
From Monday to Friday, I drive with Ou Ye to Yenching University to study drugs and feed monkeys.
On his days off, he would stay home with his wife or take her to prenatal checkups, while delegating the task of feeding the monkeys to Yang Ding Tian.
The Spring Festival is approaching. Humans celebrate the New Year, and so do monkeys.
Shen Qi brought bananas, apples, and peaches to Room 402 of the center to comfort the four monkeys.
Room 401 is Chemistry Laboratory, and Room 402 was designated by Shen Qi as a breeding room.
Compared to the vibrant Room 402, the adjacent Room 403 appeared gloomy; Room 403 was a specimen room.
Now that the whole school knows that Shen Qi is conducting chemistry and animal experiments, Shen Qi decides to recruit some chemistry assistants and animal experiment helpers.
Yang Ding Tian is a talented physicist and a key candidate for development by the Center Physics Department. It's inappropriate to have him work part-time as Yang Ding Tian Shen Qi's animal caretaker simply because he likes cats; this is completely unrelated to Yang Ding Tian PhD in physics. Furthermore, Yang Ding Tian lacks animal experimentation certification, meaning he's working without a license.
The center is qualified to conduct animal experiments, and the number of swallows has been increased and reported to the relevant departments.
Shen Qi has an animal experimentation qualification certificate, and he passed the written examination and practical test.
The care and management of laboratory animals is an extremely complicated and time-consuming task; it is not as simple as raising pets, feeding them, and then letting them do as they please.
"Brother Monkey, Sister Monkey, it's almost Chinese New Year, I'm here to wish you a Happy New Year." Shen Qi distributed fruit to the four monkeys in the cage.
The smaller one is the Rhesus Monkey, also known as the common macaque, which is native to India, Southeast Asian countries, and southern China. It is one of the most famous monkey species, very intelligent and empathetic. Street monkey performers often keep these macaques company. Rhesus Monkey are the most widely used primate laboratory animals in the world and have even been to space.
The larger species is the Crab-eating Macaque, also known as the Javan macaque, which is native to Southeast Asia. It often lives near the sea and loves to eat seafood such as crabs, shrimp, and shellfish.
Rhesus Monkey and Crab-eating Macaque are both Class II protected animals in China. Only research institutions and breeding bases that have been reviewed and approved by the state are qualified to legally and legitimately conduct captive breeding and animal experiments.
Squeak!
Wow!
The monkeys were so happy; they absolutely loved the New Year's gifts Shen Qi brought.
"Eat up, Xiao Ming, eat more. And Xiao Hong, Xiao Gang, Xiao Mei, you guys are great." Shen Qi chatted with the monkey, peeled a banana and ate with it, celebrating the Spring Festival.
The laboratory animals are all numbered. The research numbers for the two Rhesus Monkey, one male and one female, are MMM01 and MMF02. The two Crab-eating Macaque are also a male-female pair, and their numbers are MKM01 and MKF02.
To facilitate daily communication, Shen Qi gave the four monkeys the nicknames Xiao Ming, Xiao Hong, Xiao Gang, and Xiao Mei.
Xiao Ming and Xiao Hong are Rhesus Monkey, Xiao Gang and Xiao Mei are Crab-eating Macaque.
After the four monkeys had eaten their fill, they all gave Shen Qi approving looks.
The most human-like creature was Xiao Hong, which bowed to Shen Qi as if offering New Year's greetings.
Shen Qi then extracted blood samples from the two female monkeys, Xiao Hong and Xiao Mei, and collected their feces.
Shen Qi wrote in his lab log:
"MMF02, second sample taken before injection, weight 5.5 kg. MKF02, second sample taken before injection, weight 10.2 kg."
Shen Qi then analyzed the blood samples MMF02 and MKF02, as well as their metabolites, which were monkey feces.
Shen Qi's self-made Le Luo Xian Fen will be injected into two female monkeys, MMF02 and MKF02. Before the injection, Shen Qi needs to collect relevant data from the two female monkeys for future comparison.
During the Spring Festival holiday, Shen Qi and Ou Ye went to Ou Ye's home to celebrate the New Year, and all the center's employees also went home for the holiday.
Shen Qi entrusted the care of four monkeys, Xiao Ming, Xiao Hong, Xiao Gang, Xiao Mei, to the staff on duty at the School of Life Sciences.
After the Spring Festival, the chemical assistant and laboratory animal handlers that Shen Qi needed were in place.
Old Tu, a middle-aged man in his forties, graduated with a degree in biology, specializing in virus research.
Studying viruses also requires frequent interaction with animals. Although Old Tu did not achieve significant academic results in virology, he became the top student at Yenching University in raising animals.
From now on, all the animals at the Shen Qi Mathematical and Physical Research Center will be under Old Tu's management, Old Tu is happy to do this job.
Old Yan, whose real name is Yan Jun, is known to everyone as Old Yan.
Old Yan isn't very old; he's the same age as Shen Qi, 28 this year.
After graduating with a master's degree from the School of Chemistry at Yenching Chemistry Department, Old Yan stayed at the Chemistry Department as a chemistry lab technician. He has now been assigned to the Shen Qi Mathematical and Physical Research Center as Shen Qi's chemistry assistant.
Smoking is prohibited throughout the entire building. Old Yan is a heavy smoker, and Shen Qi noticed that Old Yan goes downstairs every half hour to puff out a cigarette, sometimes several times without turning it off.
After finishing his lunch, Shen Qi returned to the center and saw Old Yan leaning against the outer wall of the center, taking out a cigarette and putting it in his mouth.
Old Yan didn't need a lighter; he simply rubbed his right thumb, index finger, and middle finger together, and a blue flame ignited on his fingers.
He lit the cigarette with the flame on his finger, then rubbed Old Yan again to extinguish the flame. He then took a few satisfying drags, feeling quite content.
Shen Qi approached Old Yan and asked, "Is it burning butane?"
"Yeah, there has to be something to burn." Old Yan lit a cigarette and handed it to Shen Qi.
Shen Qi took the cigarette; it was a hard-pack Yuxi.
Shen Qi, who doesn't smoke, put a Yuxi cigarette in his mouth, opened his palm, and hummed, "Give me something to burn too."
Old Yan took out a small black bottle, twisted off the cap, and found that the bottle contained some kind of crystalline particles.
Old Yan picked out a small amount of crystalline particles and smeared them on the tip of Shen Qi's finger.
Shen Qi imitated the Old Yan's lighting motion, rubbing his fingers together, and the crystalline particles instantly turned into foam, then a flame appeared.
Shen Qi focused intently on observing his burning index finger, trying to feel it.
The burning substance was likely butane. The fingertips and nail crevices are very sensitive areas, but there was no burning sensation.
Shen Qi lit a cigarette, extinguished the flame on his finger, took a puff, and then handed the cigarette to Old Yan.
Old Yan took the cigarette and continued smoking.
The liquid in the lighter is butane liquid. The solid ignition material that Old Yan carries contains butane. Shen Qi became interested. "Besides butane, your solid ignition material should also contain at least one other chemical substance that is gentle on the hands."
Old Yan nodded. "Yes, I added sodium linear alkylbenzene sulfonate."
"So it was dish soap, that's interesting." Even with the truth revealed, Shen Qi still had one question, "Considering combustion efficiency and convenience, a one-yuan lighter is actually better."
Old Yan had his reasons. "But the problem is, I have to throw away the lighter when I go through security."
"Old Yan, it seems you've thought things through very thoroughly, but I must remind you, smoking is absolutely prohibited in the lab." Shen Qi patted Old Yan on the shoulder, gesturing for him to come upstairs with him.
Old Yan smoked his cigarette down to the very end, as short as it could possibly be, before following Shen Qi into the building. As they walked, he said, "Boss Shen, isn't there a coffee shop on the third floor? Could you set up a smoking area in a corner of the coffee shop?"
"Old Yan, you've been here for days and haven't done a single task, yet you still have a lot of demands. How about this, I'll assign you a chemistry experiment task. If you complete it on time, I'll grant you your smoking request."