Could You Afford It?

Li Jianguo had his people prepare some light, easy-to-digest food for Fang Hao soon after that. As someone who had just recovered from a grave illness, Fang Hao's stomach had atrophied severely and would need a lot of time to recuperate.

Fang Hao hadn't been eating for a long time since being diagnosed with stomach cancer, sustaining his bodily functions entirely through drips, making it difficult for him to even walk. Yet, someone who was so sickly and frail just hours ago actually said he was hungry, and that was just more than astonishing.

He was subjected to a variety of tests—X-ray, CT scan, ultrasonography, MRI, blood tests, and other standard tests with whatever equipment there was to be found. A researcher was quickly astonished and said, "All the tumors in the patient's stomach are gone! There're only pieces of disintegrated scraps of the tumors left in his insides!"

"All cancer markers are gone!" The eyes of yet another researcher were thrown wide open, like they'd just seen a ghost. "Carcinoembryonic antigen numbers are dropping. It's negative now!"

Damn!

A ruckus exploded among the crowd after hearing what had happened.

"Tell me I'm dreaming," a researcher mumbled, finding it all unbelievable.

"My gosh, his cancer's actually cured?" Yet another researcher held the bottle of the drug up and began to observe it under the microscope, treating it like some kind of treasure.

"Honey, God is right in front of us here," yet another classmate of Zhang Heng said.

"Impossible!" Liang Chao went up to Fang Hao furiously at that moment and grabbed Fang Hao's collar. "How could cancer be so easily treated? Spill it right now! Did Zhang Heng pay you to pull this off?"

"Are you saying I'm a paid actor?" Fang Hao rolled his eyes at Liang Chao and said. "Paid actor my a**, sucker!"

"F**k you!" Liang Chao couldn't contain himself and he lifted his fist at Fang Hao, getting ready to punch him.

However, before the punch landed on Fang Hao's face, he felt his arm being grabbed by a powerful hand. He struggled as best he could, yet that hand remained on his arm like some clamp. The harder he struggled, the harder the force of the clamp on his arm. Eventually, he simply whimpered in pain.

"Boy, a good show of authority there, Mr. Liang," Zhang Heng said casually as he held Liang Chao's arm.

"Get off me!" Liang Chao's face twisted under all that pain. "You dare to do this to me? I'd have you pay dearly for it!"

Zhang Heng wore a grin and said nothing, turning his head to look at Li Jianguo, who was still reeling from the shock.

Li Jianguo wore a very glum expression right there and then, but he nonetheless reminded Liang Chao, somewhat exasperated, "Kid, our company is the one that sourced the patients."

Liang Chao only came to his senses at that moment. He was so enraged just moments ago that he had completely forgotten that it wasn't Zhang Heng who found Fang Hao in the first place. His accusations of Fang Hao being a paid actor were, in truth, a slight at the Li Group, and there was no surprise why Li Jianguo looked so glum.

"Unc-uncle Li, th-that's not what I meant…" Liang Chao felt his face burning up and went about apologizing to Li Jianguo feverishly.

Li Jianguo shook his head and paid no further attention to Liang Chao, turning his attention to Zhang Heng instead. "Well, Little Zhang, do you have a name for this drug of yours?"

Everyone gradually quieted as Li Jianguo began to talk. All of them turned to look at Zhang Heng seriously, no longer taking him for a fool like they had before.

While Zhang Heng himself no longer minded how the others look at him at all, the fact remained that no one liked being belittled. He finally got to shine at that moment, after his drug was proven to work.

He simply grinned at the crowd and continued, "Uncle Li, I call this drug… Tyrant-1."

Those with poor English proficiency began to murmur among themselves right away, puzzled about what the word meant.

"The word 'tyrant' is yet another term for 'ruler', an oppressive one that rules with an iron fist, that is," Fang Hao explained to the crowd in an exasperated manner.

"Hold on…" Fang Hao seemed to have realized something and turned to look at Zhang Heng. "Tyrant? T-Virus?"

"Well, I did say that my drug was a virus." Zhang Heng spread his hands innocently.

"Why does the name 'T-Virus' sounds so familiar, eh…" Some in the crowd began to murmur among themselves.

"Alright, whatever it's called, it'd suffice so long as everyone knows that the drug can cure cancer." Li Jianguo suppressed the murmurs and gestured politely. "Little Zhang, a word in private, if you don't mind?"

Zhang Heng had no doubt known what Li Jianguo meant by that. He simply smiled and replied, "Sure. After you, Uncle Li."

When Zhang Heng came in front of Liang Chao after making his way through the crowd, he jabbed sarcastically at the other man. "I assume that you still remember that you've just lost a bet."

Liang Chao's pupils contracted and said with a dejected look, "What're you up to…"

"We'll proceed as agreed. I take it that you have no problem with that?" Zhang Heng smirked coldly and said before walking away, "I'll be waiting."

The crowd was in a commotion again seeing Zhang Heng slowly walk away.

"So, cancer is no longer a terminal disease from here on out then?" another person who just realized something asked.

"Didn't you hear what Little Zhang said before? His bio drug fixes the human immune system. Cancer won't be the only one. If we were to go further and develop this thing completely, we might have just found a cure for all other terminal diseases."

"Pfftt, getting chummy already, I see. Who was it who said that Zhang Heng was just trying to put up a show and nothing else eh?"

No one paid any heed to Liang Chao, who looked like he was dead inside, anymore. They all knew that being a vice mayor was hardly worth mentioning compared to what they just saw. If the drug were to be released to the public, Zhang Heng would make a vast fortune.

"Zhang Heng…" Li Yiru looked at Zhang Heng's silhouette, which was as average as they came, with a shocked expression and was puzzled as to how she felt about it all.

But, then again, all the chatter in the crowd was no longer within Zhang Heng's earshot.

Li Jianguo rubbed his hands for a bit in the meeting room, at a loss from what to say. Despite being a giant in the world of commerce, he nonetheless panicked before that drug that could change the history of humanity forever.

Zhang Heng remained relaxed and unfazed. He just sipped at the cup of Jin Jun Mei tea in his hand, waiting for the older man to start talking.

Li Jianguo finally laid out what he wanted to say about 10 minutes later, beginning with a smile on his face. "Well, I have to give it to you, Little Zhang. You actually have such in-depth knowledge and ability despite your age, you truly… are the pride of the field of medicine."

Zhang Heng waved dismissively and continued, "Uncle Li, I'm the type who shoots straight, and I don't like beating around the bush and pleasantries. Please, just speak frankly."

"Well then." Li Jianguo nodded and began to look serious. "Have you had any thoughts about joining the Li Group? Our company develops all sorts of pharmaceuticals and if you're willing to join us, I'd be willing to give you 30 percent of the company's shares."

Zhang Heng grinned, noting the absurdness that the older man had actually just said all of that. "I'm sorry, Uncle Li. I think I need to remind you that I have my own team. The thing about joining your company, thanks but I'll pass."

"Perfectly understandable. Young people should indeed forge their own path after all." Li Jianguo quickly made yet another proposal, seemingly having predicted that there was no way Zhang Heng would just lower himself and work for someone else. "What about the patent to the Tyrant-1 Biopharmaceutical then? Our company would like to purchase it, and you'd free to name your price." Li Jianguo paused for a bit and added, "Of course, you'd still be noted as the developer of the drug."

"Uncle Li, forgive me for being rude, but…" Zhang Heng shook his head and continued, "Given the inherent value of such a drug. Do you actually think that your company could afford it?"

Li Jianguo was stunned and wore a bitter grin right there and then. Despite being a renowned international enterprise, the total value of the company's real estate property was only about little more than a billion US Dollars. Once the drug was announced, the possible profit would easily reach tens of billions of dollars.

But, then again, Li Jianguo wasn't about to just give up. "We could be responsible for the costs, manufacture, promotion, and sales! We'd split the profit 50-50. How about that? I'd assume that what your team lacks the most at the moment is starting capital, no? If you were to do it the good old-fashioned way, it would really take a long time to get your drug out there. But, our company has mature manufacturing processes and sales channels, and we'd be able to sell your meds all over the world in the shortest time possible."

Zhang Heng chuckled coldly deep down. While the terms sounded tempting, but he knew nonetheless that he would still be doing it at a considerable loss. As such, he went on to say, "Uncle Li, I have a few conditions that you might want to consider."

"Please speak." Li Jianguo straightened. He was more afraid ofZhang Heng not being open to negotiations at all, instead of wanting to talk terms. Regardless of the requirements that Zhang Heng would make of him, he was determined to get his hands on the dealership of the drug.