Seeing that the leading doctors weren't speaking, the few who had voiced their doubts also fell silent. It was only then that they realized that apart from them, none of the true senior figures—not Wang Jian, not even Peng Qing—had said a word. Once they had completely calmed down, the room finally grew quiet, and the atmosphere became somewhat awkward.
Fortunately, after they settled down, the senior doctors finally began to speak.
The first to break the silence was an older doctor. His hair was white, but his beard and eyebrows were still black. In truth, he wasn't that old; the mental strain of practicing medicine had simply taken its toll, turning his hair white prematurely. This was a respected authority who had made significant contributions to infectious disease immunology. A couple of years ago, during a major national epidemic, he had been the one leading the charge.
