1038 Terminal Illness Cryogenics Rights Protection Fund
The dormant freeze procedure was successful.
With the help from the Mars bacteria, Vera successfully survived through the dangerous temperature zone, reaching the optimal zone for dormancy.
Even though this was a risky-procedure that wasn’t clinically approved, it was a success.
However, it was too early to celebrate. There was a ton of work for Professor Liu Zuobing and his team to do.
Actually, this was also Lu Zhou’s responsibility. He was the real leader of the project, as well as the dean of the Jinling Inst.i.tute for Advanced Study.
It was difficult for the public to digest all of this information at one time. After all, even in the academic community, frozen dormancy technology was a cutting-edge and controversial topic.
Regardless of whether the patient could wake up in the future, calling a person alive when their heart had stopped beating was still a matter up for debate.
Not to mention the other moral and ethical issues involved.
Academician Zhao Zhongji, as well as academicians from the 301 Hospital had recommended Lu Zhou to disclose the human cryonics technology in stages.
Even though the public’s opinion wouldn’t impact the 301 Hospital or Lu Zhou, it was better to take a more gentle approach.
…
Beijing University of Science and Technology of China.
Professor Liu Zuobing was about to give a lecture on cryobiology, using a carefully crafted script.
Even though cryobiology was a relatively unpopular field, many people still attended the lecture.
Plenty of foreign people from Europe and America flew here specifically for this lecture.
There were two leading research inst.i.tutes in this area. One was the “low-temperature dormant chamber”, jointly developed by NASA, Johnson u0026 Johnson, and s.p.a.ce-X. The other was the cryobiology laboratory at the Jinling Inst.i.tute for Advanced Study.
Since both of these two projects were linked to the aeros.p.a.ce field, China, who had the upper hand in the aeros.p.a.ce compet.i.tion, was regarded as the master of this technology.
The cryobiology laboratory of the Jinling Inst.i.tute for Advanced Study hadn’t published anything over the past year, which was the reason why this lecture attracted so many people’s attention.
After all, the Jinling Inst.i.tute for Advanced Study, led by Academician Lu, wouldn’t announce anything to the public unless there was a major research development.
People could sense that something huge was about to be revealed…
The cafe near the University Health Science Center.
Lu Zhou ordered a cup of cappuccino and sat down in a secluded corner.
Because he dressed like every other student around campus, no one recognized him.
But when Chen Yushan walked in dressed to the nines, she attracted the attention of many boys and even girls.
“You have a lecture to attend soon, right?” Chen Yushan said, “Am I bothering you?”
Lu Zhou shook his head and said, “It’s fine, I don’t really understand cryobiology anyway. I know a bit of chemistry, but I’m far from being an expert… What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” she said as she took a sip of coffee. She continued, “I just think… you know more than just a bit of chemistry… You’re too humble.”
What she really wanted to say was that Lu Zhou’s humbleness p.i.s.sed her off.
However, Lu Zhou didn’t know she felt that way.
Lu Zhou thought she was giving him a compliment, so he smiled.
This was one of the few times he had smiled over the past few days.
“Thank you… Oh yeah, did you do the thing?”
“Yeah, I wouldn’t waste your precious time.” Chen Yushan took out a stack of doc.u.ments and placed it on the table as she said, “According to Your Majesty’s request, I have registered a cryogenic rights protection fund of 100 million yuan.
“The fund will be controlled by professional managers, and the main investment areas will be concentrated in food production, mining, retail, and other sectors with lower risks, suitable for long-term investment… On the other hand, 20% of the annual income will be used to pay employees’ salaries, facility maintenance, and other necessary expenses, and the rest will continue to be deposited in a fund pool to ensure healthy cash flow.
“When the agreed unfreezing day arrives, the foundation will pay the awakened person a one-time payment in order to cover for treatment costs and basic living expenses.
“The minimum purchase amount to one million yuan. The appraiser will determine if the purchaser’s motivation meets the criteria based on a.s.sets, occupation, social relation, and health status… This is to ensure that the technology is used in the right place… That’s the gist of it.”
Basically, this was equivalent to a pension insurance that only paid one time 50 years or more into the future, and only “terminally-ill” patients had access to buy into this fund.
As for the reason for establis.h.i.+ng this fund…
Because Lu Zhou was well aware of what would happen if he didn’t do this.
The consequences of misusing this technology were terrible. However, trying to prevent the invention of this technology or only making it available to a handful of power people was even more terrifying.
Of course, there were always two sides to the story. Like Academician Zhao Zhongji said, this technology could give those who were unable to live because of an illness a choice at a new life. At the end of the day, this was a good thing.
“Thank you.”
After gently brus.h.i.+ng her hair, Chen Yushan continued, “You’re welcome, what’s the situation with Vera? Did you guys…”
Lu Zhou nodded.
“She’s already dormant.”
The atmosphere went quiet for about ten seconds.
Chen Yushan looked at the cars moving outside the window and sighed softly.
“This is going to be a long journey, but… this is the best choice for her.”
Lu Zhou nodded silently and didn’t respond.
Chen Yushan didn’t know how to comfort him. After staying silent for a while, she suddenly changed the topic and spoke in an uplifting tone.
“Speaking of which, what’s next? Are you going back to Jinling?”
Lu Zhou thought about it and said, “I want to spend the summer vacation in my hometown, then go back to Jinling when the school semester begins.”
His work in Beijing was almost done. After the lecture here was over, he wanted to go back to his hometown. He would spend the entirety of August there, then go back to Jin University when the semester began again.
One reason was that he needed to rest for a while and see his family, finally taking a break.
The other reason was to avoid the spotlight.
It was likely that after the frozen dormant technology news was released to the public, he would definitely become the topic of public discussion. If he was in Beijing or Jinling during this time, he wouldn’t be able to mind his own business peacefully.
Seemingly amused by this, Chen Yushan jokingly said, “You still have summer vacations?”
Lu Zhou: “Why wouldn’t I? Professors… are also teachers, why wouldn’t we have summer vacations?”
Chen Yushan smirked and said, “Okay, I guess. But since you solved Riemann’s hypothesis, you really deserve a break.”
Lu Zhou looked at her in surprise and said, “You know about this?”
Chen Yushan couldn’t help but roll her eyes and speak.
“How could I not know! I watch the news okay! Don’t think I’m some kind of soulless business person. I saw you on the cover of Everyone Daily. Actually, I really want to ask you, how does it feel to be on the cover of Everyone Daily?”
I’m on the cover of Everyone Daily?
When Lu Zhou heard this, he suddenly showed a surprised look on his face.
However, he wasn’t too surprised.
After all, he had been on almost every single major media outlet in the world.
Chen Yushan used the straw to stir her drink as she spoke.
“Sigh, I know you’re good at maths, but I didn’t expect you to be this good…”
Lu Zhou said, “… Did you just realize?”
Chen Yushan suddenly wondered, “Do you think there will be a director who wants to turn your story into a movie? Just like ‘A Beautiful Mind’. Speaking of which, when I went on Amazon a while ago, I saw someone selling your personal biography…”
Lu Zhou’s heart dropped to his stomach.
“… Personal biography?”
“It’s not exactly your personal biography. It’s kind of like a memoir. I remember the t.i.tle was ‘The Professor Lu I Know’. The author is a Brazilian mathematics professor, and apparently, he’s a teacher at the University of São Paulo.”
Upon hearing that this guy was from Brazil, Lu Zhou almost spat out the coffee in his mouth.
“Is his name Hardy?!”
Lu Zhou looked somewhat mentally unstable. Chen Yushan hesitated slightly before nodding. “Huh? Have you read it? When did you buy it?”
Lu Zhou: “…”
F*ck sake!
I knew it was that idiot!
Lu Zhou almost wanted to travel back to six years ago and throw that idiot’s resume in the trash.
Letting this idiot become one of his students was a disgrace.
“But he claims to be one of your students from Princeton… Is that true?” Chen Yushan asked with an uncertain tone as she looked curiously at Lu Zhou.
Lu Zhou said, “Don’t believe a single thing that guy says.”
Chen Yushan sighed. “Okay then. Actually, I think some of the stories he wrote are quite interesting.”
Lu Zhou: “…”
Although he was very curious about what was so interesting, for the sake of his own mentality, he would rather stay oblivious