Chapter 80

"Let me introduce your group. This is Xie Nan, and this is Meng Wei. You'll all have met before, I think." In the pharmacy building laboratory, Zhao Qi presented Li Lan and the other successful candidate.

Both nodded. Meng Wei had invigilated their paper and Xie Nan had been on the interview panel; they'd met, without being remotely familiar. "Hello, seniors."

Xie Nan and Meng Wei, in white coats, greeted them cheerfully. "Hello, juniors."

Zhao Qi stood between them and went on. "Xie Nan is a third-year doctoral candidate, Meng Wei a second-year masters, and they're both in my group. Professor Wang has assigned you to us. Xie Nan, Meng Wei — this is Li Lan, one of the two who got through, and a member of the group from now on. Let's welcome her." And started the applause himself.

Watching the three of them clap, Li Lan panicked inwardly, and having been through a good deal by now showed nothing whatever of it, and smiled. "I'll be relying on all of you."

Fortunately it lasted only a few claps, and Zhao Qi went on. "Right. Xie Nan, Meng Wei, tell her what the group works on. I'll take him next door to old Zhang's laboratory."

Xie Nan nodded easily. "Go on. We'll deal with the rest."

"Right. Have a look round the group, then; I'll be back shortly."

"Go ahead. I'm in no hurry."

Once he'd gone, Xie Nan spoke first to spare her any awkwardness. "Let me tell you briefly what we do. The group works mainly on the synthesis of complex natural products, which is what Zhao Qi and I are on; Xiao Wei's is slightly different, though not by much. There'll be experiments the two of us can't get to, and those will come to you — that's your job. Ask either of us or Xiao Wei if anything comes up."

By his account, not counting the postdoctoral researchers, Professor Wang had around twenty students, mostly doctoral, split into six groups. Theirs had had two more, and the people recruited after last year's graduations had gone to other groups, which would have been fine — except that at the start of this year the professor took on another project and gave it to them, and suddenly there weren't enough hands.

"Old Zhao is Professor Wang's teaching assistant, so he runs anything that happens — your selection, for instance — and you can go to him directly with anything. The laboratory also holds a group meeting once a month that everybody attends; some students are picked to present their work, usually those about to graduate presenting their theses so people can raise questions and help improve them, and some present ordinary research, taking it in turns. Old Zhao posts the times in the group. You and the new boy are undergraduates without work of your own, so you won't be asked to present — though if you have something interesting you can share it.

"Oh." He thought and added, "And the group holds a team meeting once a week. Simple enough: we tell each other what we're working on. And Xiao Wei's going into his third year, so he needs to start on his thesis and we can offer suggestions.

"And once a month the professor meets each group separately. Same content — he wants to know how the work's going, and you can ask him things then.

"Otherwise there's nothing much. Everybody gets on with their own research."

He said the whole of it in one go, thought about it and decided he'd left nothing out. "That's about it. Xiao Wei, anything to add?"

Meng Wei shook his head. "No. Oh — Brother Xie, today's our group meeting. She may as well join it."

Xie Nan nodded. "Yes, I'd nearly forgotten. We'll start as soon as old Zhao's back.

"Any questions?" And the two of them looked at her.

She had some. "Are the group meeting and the meeting with the professor on fixed days? And can I use the instruments in the laboratory?"

Xie Nan got out his phone. "Not fixed. This is the group's QQ — add it. We settle the group meeting between the four of us, whenever nobody has lectures. The professor's is usually notified a week ahead, so there's time to prepare.

"Some of the larger equipment needs an application — the NMR and so on. The ordinary instruments you can simply use when nobody's on them." He worked through it, and Meng Wei nodded along.

Both answered, she had nothing further. "No more questions. Thank you."

At which the room fell silent. None of them was a natural conversationalist; ordinarily they said hello and got on with their own experiments, and this was already a lot of talking for Xie Nan.

Meng Wei was on the point of raising something to fill the gap when the door opened and Zhao Qi came in. "Old Xie, Xiao Wei — how did the introduction go?"

All three quietly relaxed. Meng Wei smiled. "Brother Zhao, we're about done. We were just saying she should sit in on today's group meeting."

"Good. The meeting room next door is free, we'll go straight over."

Meng Wei remembered something and stood. "Brother Zhao, Brother Xie — you go ahead. I'll fetch my computer from the study room."

"Go on. We'll wait for you."

Unlike undergraduates, the School's masters and doctoral students have a desk in a study room as well as the laboratory, for written work. Li Lan, being an undergraduate, had no such desk.

Next door was a small classroom, evidently for student discussions, holding a table and a large screen. While they waited, Zhao Qi turned the screen on, connected his computer, and told her what the meeting would cover.

Which is how she learned that today's subject was Meng Wei. Going into his third year, he'd been working on a thesis topic since term started, had changed it several times, had settled the direction only last week, and now had to narrow it further before next week's meeting with the professor, who would rule on whether it was viable.

The study room being directly above, he was back in a few minutes. He being the subject, Zhao Qi and Xie Nan each introduced their own work and their new topic first, and considerately started from the beginning for Li Lan's benefit, this being her first meeting and she an undergraduate. Both were working on their own theses, both had been at it a while and both were at the experimental stage, and starting from the beginning took about twenty minutes.

Having brought them up to date, Zhao Qi asked the three of them, "Old Xie, Xiao Wei, any questions or suggestions?"

Li Lan looked as though she'd followed it, and none of them was sure whether she had or was pretending. Zhao Qi didn't raise it; Meng Wei stayed quiet from habit, having sat through several of these — a masters student isn't yet in a position to advise two doctoral candidates, so the discussion was mostly between the other two.

Xie Nan followed, again as a conversation between the two of them, with neither Li Lan nor Meng Wei saying much.

Then Meng Wei, who opened his slides and cleared his throat. "Brother Zhao, Brother Xie, I've read the literature for a week since last time. I'll go through my topic — she's here today so I'll start from the beginning, though there isn't much of it."

His title was plain enough, and on the first slide: Functional characteristics and structural basis of glycosyltransferases in Chinese medicinal herbs.

The topic having only just been settled, he finished in ten minutes. Zhao Qi approved first. "Xiao Wei, the topic's fine, and it fits the professor's new direction. One question, though."

And then turned it, and Meng Wei sat up — here was the real business — and picked up a pen.

"There's very little work on carbon glycosyltransferases in plants, let alone extracting them from Chinese medicine, and the range of medicinal herbs is enormous. Have you any idea whether you can extract one at all?"

Meng Wei pressed his lips together. "Brother Zhao, from what I've read recently, Glycyrrhiza glabra may yield one. I've some ideas about it, and whether it's actually feasible will depend on the experiments."

"I see.

"If you're working from licorice or glabra, you may need to change the title. As a masters thesis, that one covers far too much ground."

Xie Nan agreed. "Yes, I'd say the same. It's an interesting direction and perfectly viable as a masters thesis, but finding a glycosyltransferase in licorice will take a great deal more reading. As for the title — if you establish that glabra and licorice are extractable and mean to work on them, I'd put that in the title. It makes it easier to get past the professor, and easier at the defence."

Xie Nan gave more detail than Zhao Qi, presumably in case Meng Wei hadn't followed, and Meng Wei nodded and took notes, and when he'd finished looked at them gratefully. "Thank you both. Any suggestions from you?"

Being the newest person there, she doubted he'd take much notice — and her thinking was much the same as theirs, so better not said. "No questions."

Having got what he needed, Meng Wei unplugged with satisfaction, and Zhao Qi took the cable back. "Then I'll go through the group's new task. The new topic is Biosynthesis of Active Components in Chinese Medicine: Studies on the Synthesis of Carbon Glycosyltransferases (CGT). Xiao Wei's work is strictly speaking part of it and would be counted in, so do it well, Xiao Wei, and we'll see whether it makes a paper."

He gave him an encouraging look, and Meng Wei nodded, excited and self-conscious at once. "Yes, Brother Zhao. I'll work hard." He knew that hadn't been an empty remark, and could hardly wait to get back to the literature.

The new topic having only just begun, the two of them sketched the direction and set Li Lan and the new boy a good deal of reading, and having settled next week's work, the meeting closed satisfactorily.

Afterwards, Zhao Qi tucked his computer under his arm and said cheerfully, "And stop calling us seniors, it's far too distant. Old Xie and I are older than you, so call me Brother Zhao, the way Xiao Wei does." Being the only girl in the group, she might feel awkward about it, so he'd made a point of saying so.

Xie Nan stood. "Same here. Brother Xie."

Meng Wei nodded. "Me too."

All three having said it, she wasn't going to refuse flatly. "Right — Brother Zhao, Brother Xie, Brother Meng. And you can call me by my name." Courtesy for courtesy.

They nodded, satisfied, and Zhao Qi went on. "It would be good to take a new member out to eat, though it's not time yet. We'll arrange something."

Leaving the room, he said, "Li Lan, I'll show you the equipment. You've been a research assistant before; where you can't work something I'll tell you how, and in a few days you can watch me or old Xie do it a few times, and ask about anything else. But the laboratory notices on the wall you must know completely."

She nodded to show she'd understood, and he nodded back, satisfied. He had no idea yet what the new one could actually do. Biddable, at least, so far.