The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine does not allow self-nomination. Each year, confidential documents are sent to those qualified and capable of nominating, and they recommend candidates for the award.
There are usually 1,000–2,000 candidates.
In February each year, the committee screens and reviews the nominated candidates, and this process is completely confidential.
From July to August, the nomination list is announced.
In October, the winners are officially announced.
In December, the awards are presented.
The nomination list released in August is also called the “wild list.”
As mentioned earlier, the Nobel selection process is completely confidential, so this list is naturally unofficial.
Strictly speaking, it can only be regarded as a kind of prediction, putting together this year’s particularly outstanding performers and those who were outstanding in previous years but missed the Nobel Prize.
It’s not as accurate as people imagine.
In the past, there have been winners who did not come from this list.
So when the outside world began cheering and celebrating, the two people involved were not particularly excited.
Jiang Fuyue felt that Xie Dingyuan had a relatively high chance of winning. As for herself… better forget it.
It was probably just some irresponsible foreign media taking advantage of her high popularity to attract attention and traffic.
Somewhat similar to the “fan circle” practice of stringing fans along.
In response, many academic influencers and experts explained the situation to the public on social media,
Bo Yi Xuezhang V: 【The list is unofficial, its credibility is questionable. Some fans are probably celebrating too early.】
Contemporary Qian Xuesen V: 【Before discussing whether Jiang Fuyue can win, let me show everyone a set of data,
From 1901 to 2050, the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded 140 times, with 249 laureates, among whom only 22 were women.
The average age of all laureates is 58. Among them, male laureates average 57.7 years old, while female laureates average 63.5.
From this, it’s not hard to see that Jiang Fuyue has no advantage in terms of either gender or age.
Rather than hoping Jiang Fuyue wins the prize and indulging in unrealistic dreams, it’s better to look forward to Xie Dingyuan. He should be one of the top contenders for this year’s Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.】
Academic Circle Gossip V: 【Jiang Fuyue winning probability: 0.33%. Xie Dingyuan winning probability: 45%. Waiting for October reveal】
Professor M V: 【Professor Xie’s timing is right. Hopefully he won’t just be a runner-up again this year and will achieve a breakthrough. As for Sister Yue… I can only say her time will come in the future.】
At first, netizens were exhilarated like they had been injected with adrenaline, but after reading the explanations, they quickly calmed down,
【This “wild list” is misleading. Celebrated too early, bad move】
【Sister Yue is still amazing. Just having her name on the same list as Professor Xie is enough for me to brag about for life】
【At Sister Yue’s age, my name only appeared on truancy lists and failing lists. Nobel Prize? I wouldn’t even dare think about it】
【Even if Sister Yue doesn’t win, she’s already a success in another sense】
【Fans don’t need to force the hype. If you overdo it, it’ll backfire】
【Jiang Fuyue appearing on the Nobel wild list is like a peacock sneaking into a phoenix nest, instantly lowers the tone】
【The one above you is the one lowering the tone!】
【Haters sure know how to hate, try getting your own name on the list】
【OMG I don’t even understand what everyone’s arguing about. At a time like this, I just want to quietly ship the CP! Your name and my name appearing together, representing national honor, what kind of fairy romance is this?】
【So this is what it looks like when a power couple from a fantasy novel becomes reality, so envious】
…
Whether online or in academic circles, not many people were optimistic about Jiang Fuyue.
Even she herself knew it was unlikely, so she didn’t take that list seriously at all.
It wasn’t a lack of confidence, but clarity, an objective understanding of both the situation and herself.
After all, she was still young, and there would be plenty of opportunities in the future.
Let things take their course. When it was time for her to win, it would naturally be her turn, no need to force it.
Xie Dingyuan: “You’re quite open-minded.”
“This is called having a good mindset.”
“Is there a possibility that we both win together?”
Jiang Fuyue struggled out of his arms, unable to resist rolling her eyes. “You really dare to imagine.”
The man touched his nose, pulled her back, and held her tightly. “There’s no law against imagining. Just think, when our child sees both their parents standing together on the Nobel stage, how proud they’ll be?”
Jiang Fuyue: “?” Child?
What exactly goes on in this man’s head all day?
He muttered softly, “Anyway, sooner or later there will be one.”
“…”
In fact, awarding a prize to two or three people is not uncommon. On the contrary, it is quite common in the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
From 1901 until now, the prize has been awarded to a single person only 39 times; to two people, 53 times; and to three people, 48 times.
And after entering the 21st century, single winners have become rare, shared awards are the norm.
So Xie Dingyuan’s idea wasn’t entirely far-fetched.
“Dreams are still necessary, what if they come true?” That was his original line.
The two families were also paying close attention to this matter.
Xie family.
The old lady was smiling from ear to ear. “Oh my! Yueyue and Little Nine are both on the list! As expected of a couple, always appearing in pairs!”
During this period, Fu Wanxiu had become a die-hard fan of the Yuan-Yue CP and even served as a moderator for the fan group, logging onto Weibo every day to check in, leave comments, and post updates.
She had originally wanted to apply to join a QQ group, but upon hearing that she needed to pass a test, she immediately gave up. The fan forum suited her better.
Ever since she started shipping the CP, her steps felt lighter, and she smiled more, truly refreshed and energized.
She was becoming more and more satisfied with Jiang Fuyue, even wishing she could order Xie Dingyuan to marry her immediately.
Xie Zhendong nodded in satisfaction. “Both are good children.”
Xie Yunzhao: “Maybe this is what it means to be well-matched.” Equal status, strong pairing.
Xie Yunshu couldn’t help rolling her eyes and ruthlessly shattered their delusion: “Online explanations already said it, this is a wild nomination, it doesn’t count.”
The old lady: “So what if it’s wild? Who cares if it counts? Little Nine and Yueyue are on the same list!”
Everyone else: “Exactly!”
Xie Yunshu: “?” Everyone ganging up to refute her, and she actually had no way to respond? The key point was she didn’t even feel angry?
Even she herself was shocked by this reaction.
Wasn’t she supposed to dislike Jiang Fuyue? What was going on? Get a grip, okay?!
The old lady and Xie Yunzhao exchanged a knowing glance.
“Ahem! Old Four, come here, I’ll teach you how to ship a CP and collect sweet moments.”
“?”
“Come on, come on, it’s really fun!”
“…Fine, I’ll try?”
Han family.
Han Qishan: “My goodness, this is the Nobel Prize!”
Han Shen: “Stay calm!” Yet he himself stared at the list again and again.
Han Ke: “The Han family genes are just that strong. Even if Yueyue wins the Republic Medal in the future, I wouldn’t be surprised.”
Han Heng: “Online they say just this nomination is better than my Best Actor trophies? What kind of eyes do they have? It’s obviously better than a grand slam, okay?”
Three major film awards: Am I unworthy?
Best Actor: Should I just leave?
“But I heard this list isn’t very reliable? Might just be exaggerated publicity by foreign media.”
Han Qishan: “What do you know! The fact that our girl’s name appears on it is already outstanding. Otherwise, why would it be ‘Jiang Fuyue’ and not ‘Wang Fuyue’ or ‘Ma Fuyue’?”
“That’s true. At least it proves Yueyue has the ability to compete for it.”
“Xie Dingyuan is there too. The two of them really are…”
Two words appeared in Han Shen’s mind—
A perfect match!
Han Qishan exited the popular influencer’s video explaining the unofficial shortlist. “I’ll give Yueyue a call. Even if we don’t win an award, she shouldn’t lose heart…”
Han Ke said, “Forget it. With Yueyue’s mentality, she’s steady as a rock. She doesn’t need comforting.”
Han Qishan shot him a glare: “What do you know?”
“……”
Facts proved Han Ke was right. Jiang Fuyue was completely normal and didn’t need anyone to comfort her. She had already thought everything through herself.
So Han Qishan only asked about her health, told her to come home for a meal when she had time, play a few rounds of Chinese chess with him, and preferably stay a few days.
Recently Han Ting had gone off to competitions to earn prize money, leaving nobody to keep him company.
……
Once the nomination matter passed, it passed. Jiang Fuyue didn’t care about it, and Xie Dingyuan wouldn’t bring it up on his own.
Their lives continued as usual.
Every day they studied, worked, ate, and slept; when free, they met up, dated, went shopping, watched movies, occasionally cooked together, and slept together.
During this period, Jiang Fuyue also registered for four exams: First-Class Cost Engineer, Fire Protection Engineer, Second-Class Structural Engineer, and Second-Class Architect.
Among them, the First-Class Cost Engineer exam focused heavily on measurement and pricing, so there were many calculation problems and an enormous amount of computation.
Fortunately, calculations were never difficult for her.
The Fire Protection Engineer exam leaned more toward liberal arts subjects, with many regulations to memorize.
Second-Class Structural Engineer was a design-related certification involving eighteen code manuals and extremely demanding professional knowledge requirements.
Second-Class Architect required hand-drawn drafting, so Jiang Fuyue spent most of her time on that. The pass rate for the exam was only 1%.
By the time all four exams were finished, it was already late autumn.
On the day the results came out, Xie Dingyuan invited Jiang Fuyue out for hotpot, calling it—
“A celebration.”
“You haven’t even asked about my results yet. You don’t even know whether they’re good or bad, and you’re already celebrating?”
Xie Dingyuan replied, “Do I even need to ask? Is there any exam in this world that Goddess Yue can’t pass or can’t get full marks on?”
Jiang Fuyue’s lips curled upward. “That’s not necessarily true!”
“There’s no ‘what if.’”
“You trust me that much?”
Xie Dingyuan said, “I trust myself.”
“What do you trust about yourself?”
He looked smug. “I’ve got good taste! I picked you to be my wife at first glance.”
“Tch, who’s your wife? Don’t shout nonsense.”
“It’s only a matter of time. You should get used to the title first.”
The corner of Jiang Fuyue’s mouth twitched. “Hurry up and book the table already!”
Xie Dingyuan chuckled softly. “Come out.”
“…What?”
“The table was booked ages ago. I’m outside your house.”
Jiang Fuyue immediately ended the call and rushed outside. Sure enough, beyond the villa’s iron gate, a black Mercedes sat parked quietly.
The driver’s-side window rolled down, revealing the man’s smiling face, his beautiful eyes curved into a pleasing arc.
Jiang Fuyue ran over. “When did you get here?”
“A little while ago.”
“Why didn’t you come in?”
“Ahem… inconvenient.” Actually, he was afraid Jiang Da would insist he stay for dinner. Then how would he take Jiang Fuyue out to have fun?
Jiang Fuyue raised an eyebrow. “Weren’t you the one bragging that you’d already passed inspection and become our whole family’s officially approved future son-in-law? Why is it inconvenient now?”
“Yueyue…” The man looked helpless. “Do you really want me to spell it out?”
“Then say it!”
“If I say it, I’m really saying it?”
“Go ahead!”
“Ahem… I want to take you out for hotpot, and after the hotpot, eat you too.”
“…Pervert!”
“You’re the one who made me say it.”
Jiang Fuyue replied, “Shut up and wait!” Then she sprinted back into the house.
Twenty minutes later, she had changed clothes and even changed her hairstyle. Pulling open the car door, she sat in the passenger seat. “Let’s go—”
Xie Dingyuan stepped on the gas, and the car shot forward like an arrow released from a bow, speeding toward the hotpot restaurant.
Ordering dishes, serving dishes, cooking dishes, Xie Dingyuan was now thoroughly practiced at it, completely at ease and quick with his movements.
Jiang Fuyue especially liked eating hotpot with him because once she sat down, all she had to do was eat. Someone else took care of everything.
It was just… blissful!
……
After hotpot, Jiang Fuyue pulled him along for a walk to digest the food.
Bathed in moonlight, with the cool autumn breeze blowing toward them, not too cold, not too warm, the atmosphere was perfect.
“Time really flies. It feels like New Year just passed, and now it’s September again in the blink of an eye.”
Xie Dingyuan held her hand tightly, their fingers interlocked. “Yeah. Next year you’ll graduate from your undergraduate program.”
“Why suddenly talk about graduation? Learning never ends. Graduation is still far away.”
Jiang Fuyue was already planning to continue studying further.
She had mentioned it to Xie Dingyuan before, and he had expressed support.
“It’s nothing… it just suddenly came to mind.”
After walking through the tree-lined path, crossing one more street would bring them to the shopping center.
Jiang Fuyue said, “Come on, let’s go look around. The new autumn collections are out.”
In the end, Jiang Fuyue only bought herself two sweaters and a coat, but bought Xie Dingyuan a huge pile of things instead.
Clothes, pants, leather shoes, belts…
Xie Dingyuan said, “There’s already a lot at home.”
“Can what I buy be the same?”
He obediently shut his mouth.
Jiang Fuyue smiled.
That night, she stayed over at the apartment and didn’t go home.
Still, she called home. As for the excuse… she casually picked one.
Han Yunru and Jiang Da weren’t clueless, they just chose to turn a blind eye.
Thinking about how Jiang Da had reacted when he first found out, sitting bolt upright on the sofa, angry the entire night, made Han Yunru find it funny.
That kind of sorrow, frustration, and fury a tough man feels when someone steals away his precious little daughter was perfectly embodied by Jiang Da.
“That d*mned b*stard Xie Dingyuan!” Han Yunru had heard him curse the “thief” like that.
“I’m going to break his d*mn legs!”
Han Yunru retorted, “If you really break them, the one who’ll feel heartbroken is still your daughter.”
Jiang Da was left speechless, so choked up he nearly had a heart attack.
Afraid to act because of concern for the consequences! Afraid to act because of concern for the consequences!
Xie Dingyuan was that shameless rat.
In the middle of the night, Han Yunru went downstairs to get some water and discovered Jiang Da still sitting there motionless. Occasionally he lifted a hand, seeming to… wipe away tears?
Han Yunru silently returned to the bedroom and pretended she hadn’t seen anything.
By the next day, Jiang Da had accepted it. He even reminded Han Yunru to tell their daughter to stay safe, protect herself, and not end up with a baby. She was still so young; there was no rush to become a mother!
The old father truly worried himself sick.
……
In the blink of an eye, it was golden October, the season of harvest.
On the second day of the National Day holiday, October 2nd, the Nobel Prize Committee for Physiology or Medicine announced the final winner…
Want to show your support? Go donate at Paypal or Ko-fi to show your appreciation! :)
