You Were Doing All This for a Woman?

"He Lin, you're using a chemical equation to illustrate life: to obtain the target product on the right side of the equation, you must sacrifice the original reactants on the left side. On a macroscopic level, this analogy holds water."

"But at the microscopic level, we all know that the number of atoms on the left and right sides of the equation remains unchanged, the total mass before and after the reaction remains unchanged, and the same atoms combine to form new molecules under specific conditions. Equivalent exchange is the enduring principle of chemical reactions. If we do not get the desired result, it means that we have not tried hard enough in the equivalent process." Shen Qi drew a circle in a certain part of He Lin's group's experimental log.

"Just tell me I didn't do well," He Lin said, accepting her supervisor's criticism without hesitation.

Shen Qi nodded and said, "As expected."

He Lin chuckled, "That's quite direct."

Shen Qi flipped to a blank page in the lab log and scribbled on it. "New chemical drugs can't be perfected in one go. Various problems will inevitably arise during the experiment. Regarding the next step of your group's project, my suggestion is to optimize the lead compound from the high-throughput sample to obtain isoindole ketone intermediates. This will increase the cost by about 20%, and according to my calculations, its chemical and optical purity will also increase by about 20%, which is acceptable. The increased cost is within your project budget, so there's no need to add money."

He Lin stared intently at the retrosynthetic route that Shen Qi had written, which was both abstract and concrete. The target compound was a polycyclic structure, one of which was a large seven-membered ring. It had only one functional group, a vinyl group, at C5.

"This is..." He Lin's body trembled slightly involuntarily. From a professional point of view, Director Shen's imagination was truly boundless.

"This is my idea," Shen Qi continued, explaining his line of thought. "Although compound 7 is a very weak FXa inhibitor, replacing its thiophene fragment with 5-chlorothiophene could theoretically yield a lead compound with 200-fold increased inhibitory activity. This would not only solve the problems of chemical and optical purity but also significantly improve inhibitory activity. I think this is the LPJK1 receptor blocker we've been hoping for."

He Lin fell into deep thought. Director Shen's idea was to break the C2/C3 and C3/C4 bonds to further obtain an eight-membered ring compound based on the seven-membered ring.

Every organic synthesis textbook in the world explicitly states a rule: in designing synthetic routes, try to avoid generating Macrocyclic Compounds with eight or more members. This is because the chemical reactions involved are rarely developed, the synthesis of Macrocyclic Compounds is difficult, and they are unstable.

Shen Qi ignored this ironclad rule and suggested that He Lin explore eight-membered ring compounds in the next experiment.

He Lin has certainly studied Macrocyclic Compounds, but research varies in depth. Unless one is a scholar focused on theoretical development, few people would spend a lot of energy on such a laborious and thankless topic as Macrocyclic Compounds.

He Lin, of course, also had doubts. She asked, "Director Shen's idea is quite revolutionary, and I suspect Director Shen must have come prepared. What you've written on paper is rather abstract and fragmented. Based on the theoretical research of Macrocyclic Compounds, does Director Shen have any systematic guiding documents? I'd really like to learn from them."

"It's all here," Shen Qi said, pointing to his temple. "I've been studying Macrocyclic Compounds for a while now, and this LPJK1 project will be a good opportunity to verify my ideas. I must say that my ideas may not be correct, and I haven't fully constructed a self-consistent theoretical system for Macrocyclic Compounds yet; I only have a semi-finished product at present. I'll send you an email later; you can take a look at the attachment in the email."

"Waiting for your email." He Lin had originally planned to refine their group's experimental design this morning, but Shen Qi's arrival opened a new door for her. She was very interested in reading Shen Qi's masterpiece, which was only circulated internally.

"There's a scientific view that humans are reduced to data, life is an algorithm, and medicine is essentially mathematics. He Lin, how's your math?" Shen Qi asked.

He Lin retorted, "Someone who's terrible at math can't understand your chemistry articles?"

"No, it's just that people who are good at math will find it easier to understand what I write."

"When I was studying in England, I read your proof of the Riemann Hypothesis."

"Did you understand?"

"In order to understand it, I specifically studied Analytic Number Theory. But I really can't understand your recent mathematical works, especially the local models of the Mathematical Grand Unification, because there is too much mathematical knowledge to learn, covering almost all branches of mathematics."

"You've studied Analytic Number Theory? Then your math is up to par. Wait for my email, bye!"

Shen Qi took off his white coat and walked towards the laboratory door.

Watching Shen Qi's retreating figure, He Lin suddenly said, "Director Shen, I have a question I'd like to confirm."

Shen Qi turned around and said, "Speak."

He Lin blinked curiously like a little girl. "LPJK, is that really an abbreviation for 'Wife's Health'?"

Shen Qi countered, "He Lin, you've been at our center for over a year now, so what do you think LPJK means?"

He Lin answered matter-of-factly, "L stands for Logic; P for Period; J for Joule, which can be understood as energy in a chemical reaction; and K for Kinetics. I believe that LPJK represents the idea of obtaining a new type of chemical drug by fully utilizing kinetic analysis and the law of conservation of energy, based on the logic of organic synthesis strategies and the periodic table."

"You're a qualified STEM girl, case closed." Shen Qi laughed heartily, then added, "But you're mistaken. LPJK isn't an abbreviation of an English word, but rather an abbreviation of Chinese Pinyin. It really does mean 'wife is healthy.'"

He Lin was somewhat moved. "So the rumors are true, your wife is in poor health?"

Shen Qi's face immediately darkened. "My wife's health isn't good, and it's become a rumor? It's no secret. She works at Yanda University, and her health is indeed rather weak; all my friends know that."

"You've recruited so many overseas PhDs, established the LPJK1 research group, and even broken with convention to challenge Macrocyclic Compounds... So, Director Shen, is your ultimate goal to cure your wife's illness?" He Lin's emotions fluctuated noticeably.

Shen Qi composed himself, his expression shifting from dejected to confident and resolute. "There are countless patients in the world, and my wife is just one of them. Treating and saving lives isn't just about saving one person, but about saving a type of patient. If the new drug developed in our lab can cure that type of patient, including my wife, I will be extremely grateful for the efforts of all the researchers at our center."