The Imperial Kitchen at Binhai Grand Hotel is touted as a restaurant that can verify a person's identity and status.

In a private room decorated in a classic and elegant style, filled with exquisite porcelain and calligraphy, Lin Jie, An Kemeng, and Fu Xiuyuan were leisurely enjoying lunch.

In the room, there was also a beautifully sculpted crane-shaped incense burner, about as tall as a person. Though no smoke was visibly rising, a pleasant and subtle fragrance permeated the room.

The scent was definitely refreshing and revitalizing!

Fu Xiuyuan had put a lot of thought into hosting Lin Jie.

This room reservation was only possible because he borrowed the name of Old Master Fu.

He enthusiastically invited, "Expert Lin, An Kemeng, try the braised fish bones; the flavor is truly rich."

Lin Jie looked at the array of dishes on the table; stewed deer tendon in clay pot, shredded chicken with white fungus, eight treasure rabbit dice, jade bamboo shoots with fern, white braised fish lips, braised fish bones, scallion braised shark skin, and more, wishing he had two stomachs.

However, he really couldn't eat any more now.

"Uh..."

A soft hiccup sounded beside him, and as Lin Jie turned his head, he saw An Kemeng embarrassedly covering her mouth.

"Are you full?"

An Kemeng nodded, softly saying, "Yes, I'm really very full and can't eat anymore."

Lin Jie softly acknowledged and gestured to the nearby tea area, advising, "Kemeng, why don't you sit over there, listen to some music on your phone with headphones, and have some tea."

"Fu Xiuyuan and I have some matters to discuss which you shouldn't hear."

An Kemeng stood up and said, "In that case, I'll go to the lobby and listen to some opera; it seems quite fun."

Once she left the private room, Fu Xiuyuan looked at Lin Jie, winking and teasing, "I say, Expert Lin, did your sister-in-law catch you with something compromising?"

"Why do I feel like you're using her as a pretext to curry favor with An Kemeng?"

After An Kemeng's palms were playfully smacked, her teary response left Lin Jie feeling slightly helpless.

After soothing her with a few words, seeing they weren't enough, Lin Jie recalled the lunch gathering.

Given Fu Xiuyuan's standing, this lunch arrangement could not be subpar, and so he promised An Kemeng a grand meal at noon, which finally halted her tears.

Fu Xiuyuan's arrangements were indeed excellent, managing to secure a meal at the famed Imperial Kitchen.

The food here lived up to its reputation, leaving a lingering taste, incredibly flavorful.

Lin Jie picked up a wet towel, wiped his mouth, and said, "Do you still want to hear the serious matters?"

"Yes, of course, I want to; serious matters are important!"

Fu Xiuyuan reassured, "Expert Lin, rest assured, today's discussion, I will absolutely not speak out, don't worry about your family finding out."

"What foolishness are you thinking?"

Lin Jie replied with some annoyance, not bothering to further explain, took a document from the briefcase hanging on the chair, and tossed it to him.

"Before we talk about business, sign this document first."

Fu Xiuyuan looked through it and found it was a confidentiality agreement.

The content stipulated that everything discussed today should not be disclosed to any third party without Lin Jie's permission, and violators would face a penalty fee even Fu Xiuyuan found daunting.

Without much hesitation, he signed his name, handed the document back to Lin Jie, and smiled, "Signing this agreement, I'm sure, Expert Lin, you're going to talk to me about something truly significant, which is exactly what I was hoping for."

Finishing this, Fu Xiuyuan assumed a posture of attentiveness.

Lin Jie put away the document and slowly said, "With the rise of my reputation, my email, home, school, and hospital occasionally receive a lot of emails, some even from abroad."

This statement was no lie.

Indeed, many emails were received, often two to three hundred a week, with discussions of medical issues, and even more seeking medical advice and help.

Zhang Xiaoxiao spent a significant amount of time every day dealing with these emails.

Fu Xiuyuan chimed in flattering, "Expert Lin, you are a celebrity, a star-level medical expert, with admirers across the country, even the world, that's quite normal."

Lin Jie smiled and continued, "A while back, I received an email from abroad."

"At that time, I almost thought it was spam and nearly deleted it. On a whim, I opened it and found out it was not spam."

Fu Xiuyuan knew it was reaching the main topic, and cooperatively asked, "Expert Lin, what kind of email was it?"

Without answering directly, Lin Jie took a sip of water and continued, "The email stated that he saw my experiences online and was very happy for my good fortune, hoping I could heal more people."

"This person also said that there are many people in the world who are not as fortunate as I am. Many people can't afford the high price of medicine, can't afford treatment, and have no choice but to wait for death."

"He happened to get a detailed formula of a prescription drug and a simple manufacturing process. He is an outsider and cannot judge the authenticity, nor does he have any resources, so he sent it to me."

"This person said that if the formula of this prescription drug is real, with my connections and reputation, I could definitely find a pharmaceutical company to produce it, benefiting more people."

This was all made up by Lin Jie, the details he fabricated to explain how he came to know about this matter.

He also understood that this story sounded fake and concocted, but no one dared to completely deny it, and that left the slightest possibility open.

In modern society, you could say all kinds of people exist.

There is a very real possibility that some high-minded individuals would sacrifice themselves for the sake of humanity.

Fu Xiuyuan didn't even consider the possibility that this matter was fake. Instead, he widened his eyes in excitement and eagerly asked, "Expert Lin, what is the raw material formula for this drug?"

"Mabthera!"

"Ah, it's actually Mabthera!"

As the head of a pharmaceutical company, Fu Xiuyuan had been putting in a lot of effort recently, acquiring considerable knowledge related to medicine.

Mabthera was one of the dozen or so drugs that he had focused on extensively.

This is a special drug for the treatment of lymphoma, and most importantly, the domestic patent protection period for this drug would expire in March next year.

Fu Xiuyuan restrained the impulse to jump up, picked up his bowl of soup that had become somewhat cold, gulped it down to moisten his dry throat, and asked in a slightly altered voice, "Expert Lin, how authentic is this drug formula?"

Lin Jie nodded and said, "Based on my professional knowledge, there is more than a ninety percent chance that this formula and processing method are authentic."

"Of course, whether it is truly flawless still requires trials and rigorous testing."

"Yes..."

Fu Xiuyuan clenched his fist and waved it vigorously, exclaiming with excitement, "If Expert Lin judges that there is more than a ninety percent chance of authenticity, then there is definitely no problem."

After saying that, he stood up and paced back and forth a few times in the private room.

After calming down a bit, Fu Xiuyuan considered a question and said, "Expert Lin, have you thought about the possibility that this might be a trap set by someone?"

Lin Jie secretly rolled his eyes but maintained a serious face in agreement, "I've also thought about that possibility, but how would the other party harm me? If the formula and process have issues, to deceive me it would have to be at least nine parts true to one part false."

"Even if it's nine parts true and one part false, it can still be tested through rigorous trials, which might result in a few million losses in investment for the pharmaceutical company."

"But this nine parts true and one part false formula and process are worth those millions to a pharmaceutical company."

Fu Xiuyuan sat back down, nodded, and said, "Indeed, a nine parts true, one part false formula and process have great reference value for us and are entirely worth millions, even tens of millions."

Lin Jie said softly, "Let's assume the worst intentions and suspect that the other party has some unknown scheme."

"That's why I want to sign this confidentiality agreement with you, to collaborate with your pharmaceutical company to produce the generic version of Mabthera in an invisible, transparent partnership."

"This way, the other party won't know that I have taken the bait."

Fu Xiuyuan pondered for a while and agreed, "This indeed is a good plan."

Subsequently, the two sides simply agreed on some benefits distribution based on market conditions, and Fu Xiuyuan took a few sheets of printed paper from Lin Jie.

He carefully looked through them, cherished them, and said gratefully, "Expert Lin, thank you for your trust."

"After I return, I will have our lawyer prepare a precise agreement, ensuring that no outsiders will discover any connection between the generic drug production and Expert Lin."

"Soon, Zhengmao Pharmaceuticals will publicly announce that we have made breakthrough progress on the generic research of Mabthera, which we have been conducting for many years."

Lin Jie nodded in satisfaction and reminded, "If everything is fine, remember to make some changes or replacements in the minor ingredients so that it is not completely identical."

Fu Xiuyuan chuckled and said, "Expert Lin, we are most skilled in this area."

"Sometimes, to cope with the enforced price cuts by relevant departments, we modify some ingredients in the already mature formula. The old drug suddenly transforms into a newly developed drug."

"The efficacy remains the same, but the price goes back up."

Saying this, he sighed and said, "Actually, we have no choice but to do this."

"The profits from drugs may seem significant, but most of the middle profits go into marketing, paying second salaries to hospitals, doctors, and all sorts of people."

"Our pharmaceutical company's earnings can't even match the profits of a tertiary or even a secondary hospital. With the administrative price limits from the authorities, we would suffer losses, so we can only act on the policy while adopting corresponding strategies privately..."

Listening to Fu Xiuyuan's grievances, Lin Jie could only let out a sigh. This is an issue with the larger environment, not something that an individual's power can resolve.

At this moment, the door of the private room was suddenly slammed open with a bang.

An Kemeng rushed in, shouting, "Brother Jie, someone has died..."

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