Break out of the courtyard

"Consultant Zhang is back!"

Upon hearing this, the dozen or so elderly men and women sitting outside the Hua family villa all turned to look at Villa No. 1.

Seeing two old men get up, preparing to go to the Zhang family to continue their efforts to build ties, one of them, holding a palm-leaf fan, frowned and said, "Going there won't do any good! Haven't you noticed that this kid is deliberately avoiding us!"

“Don’t bother hiding!” Another elderly man in a white vest looked at the Zhang family villa and frowned. “They’re probably annoyed by us!”

"Isn't it all the same?" an old man smoking welding fumes said impatiently. "They just don't want to see us!"

"Why should we let him see us?" The old man in the white vest spoke calmly, but the worry between his brows deepened. "If it weren't for Elder Hua bringing us in this time, we wouldn't have even made it past the school gate!"

The old man with the palm-leaf fan said in a deep voice, "When people leave, the tea grows cold. It's normal that he ignores us powerless retired old men!"

“If he really ignores us, it will be easier to handle!” An old lady in a white shirt frowned and said, “I called Director Wang this morning, and she gave the same reply: all we have now is the Lifespan 100 potion. If you’re not afraid of side effects, go to the Cosmetic Surgery Department of Heping Hospital outside and fill out an application form.”

The old man in the white vest frowned and remained silent, suddenly realizing that the chances of obtaining the new longevity potion by gathering with these people were slim.

After all, even Elder Hua and Elder Li haven't used the longevity potion yet!

……

At the Zhang family villa, Tang Xin saw Zhang Heping finish washing his hands and sit down at the dining table before taking a moment to ask, "Honey, how's the test for the Lifespan 160 potion going?"

Zhang Heping glanced at his father-in-law Tang Ming out of the corner of his eye and casually said, "They are still conducting cell testing. It will probably take another two or three months before clinical trials."

Upon hearing that the real-life drug trials would take so long, Tang Xin's expression softened considerably, and she was no longer as impatient as before.

Mother-in-law Xu Jiefeng chimed in, "Heping, could you perhaps let those people at Villa No. 4 know about this time? That way they won't come over every day asking about it."

“Okay!” Zhang Heping nodded slightly.

Tang Ming opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but then remembered the unresolved issue of wrongly accusing Zhang Heping of causing the death of the second brother, and closed his mouth again.

Because of what happened with Tang Lao Er, Zhang Heping now rarely communicates with Tang Ming.

If Tang Ren and Tang Xin hadn't both asked Tang Ming to come and stay with them, he probably would have already returned to Hong Kong Island!

Everyone knows the reason he came to stay with his third son-in-law is for the new longevity potion.

But Tang Ming knew that it didn't matter whether he lived here or not; his third daughter, Tang Xin, would definitely fight for what was rightfully his.

Unlike those elderly people in Villa No. 4 who are not related to us, even if they come over shamelessly, they may not be able to get anything.

The main reason he stayed here was because of the descendants left behind by his elder brother, Tang Zhi.

In the short time that Tang Ming was distracted, Zhang Heping had already quickly finished his lunch and gone out to the laboratory.

What Zhang Heping didn't tell them was that there was a problem during the testing of the Shouyuan 160 drug, which caused the clinical trial to be delayed.

Even if I explained, they wouldn't understand.

Furthermore, Zhang Heping had not previously stated when the clinical trials would begin, so he did not provide further explanation.

When Zhang Heping arrived at the biological and genetic laboratory building, the biology and genetic experts were still discussing the failure of the cell experiment.

"Grandma Zheng's cells are still dividing, which shows that the Lifespan 160 drug is indeed effective."

"Then how do you explain the cell breakdown in the tests of other elderly people?"

"I think what Elder Lü said earlier is more likely. Should we collect some flesh and blood tissue from the test subjects of the Lifespan 100 drug?"

"If we use the Lifespan 160 potion, we also need to use the Lifespan 100 potion beforehand, which will greatly increase the cost of the medication!"

~
Governor's House, Central, Hong Kong Island.

"Whoever controls oil controls all nations; whoever controls food controls humanity; whoever controls currency controls the global economy."

After reading the sentence, the Governor put down the book in his hand, looked at the representatives of the O.M. family present, and said with a faint smile: "I'm sure everyone has heard what Henry said."

"The question is, if Zhang Heping controls the technology to extend human lifespan, what can he control?"

“Wealth! Power!” Shen Bi, standing on the other side, chimed in, “As long as he can firmly control this technology, all the powerful and wealthy people in the world will have to curry favor with him!”

"I've received intelligence!" The DuPont family representative frowned. "He has already shared the longevity potion technology with the mainland. We don't necessarily have to curry favor with him; we can also cultivate good relations with the mainland's capital!"

Shen Bi sneered, "If what you say is true, why is Mr. DuPont still sitting here? You should be in the capital of the mainland!"

The Governor of Hong Kong did not want to embarrass these people, so he directly explained the reason for gathering them: "As you have probably noticed, the Peace Group does not have much investment overseas."

"The reasons are clear to everyone; they are closely related to the sanctions and restrictions imposed by the United States on other countries."

"If any of the major families want to obtain any technology from the Peace Group in the future, I suggest you go back and ask if it's possible to get the United States and other countries to withdraw those two joint statements!"

The Morgan family representative asked doubtfully, "Didn't your country, the United States, not join the joint statement just to curry favor with Zhang Heping alone?"

……

"You think the Americans will gain the favor of the Peace Group just because they don't join the joint statement?" Aso Taro stood by the window, binoculars in hand, looking at the distant China World Trade Center, and said with utter disdain:
"If they had sided with the Peace Group from the very beginning, there might still be a chance!"

"Unfortunately, they were on the American side back then, and they fought against the Peace Corps together!"

"So, their decision not to join the joint statement this time is simply to avoid further deterioration of their relationship with the peace group."

A middle-aged man in a dark gray kimono bowed and said, "Hey! Thank you for your guidance!"

"The main reason I sent you to Shenzhen is to get close to the factories under the Peace Group. I hope you can get some outsourcing jobs and indirectly gather information about their advanced technology!" Aso Taro put away his binoculars, glanced at the Japanese people beside him, and continued:

"Don't waste your energy asking about things you shouldn't ask about or things you shouldn't consider."

“But, Your Excellency!” The head of the Sakura Trading Company, standing towards the back, said with a serious expression:
"According to our investigation, the factories invested in by the Peace Group in mainland China all have shares held by the mainland military, and all outsourced tasks are handled by the factories in mainland China, making it difficult for us to intervene!"

Aso Taro frowned and said, "If it were that easy, they wouldn't have sent you infiltrating. Wouldn't the six major merchant groups have sent people directly?"

Seeing that Vice Minister Aso was angry, the head of the Sakura Trading Company hurriedly tried to salvage the situation, saying, "Your Excellency, that's not what I meant."

"What I mean is, the Peace Group has acquired those small factories along the eastern coast of the mainland. If we can expand our business to the eastern part of the mainland, we might be able to better accomplish the task you assigned!"

Upon hearing this, Aso Taro also recalled this intelligence and frowned, asking, "How much budget do you need?"

...Under the watchful eyes of various forces, Zhang Heping arrived at the China World Trade Center with his family, preparing to attend the 4th Nobel Peace Prize Award Ceremony.

In the previous three Nobel Peace Prizes, Zhang Heping showed some bias towards the recipients' professional backgrounds.

To outsiders, it might seem related to the quality and impact of the paper, but only Zhang Heping knows that he mixed in a lot of his personal subjective thoughts.

This year, although Zhang Heping also had his own ideas, only 14 of the 1098 award winners he selected were foreigners.

However, this time he did not specialize in any particular subject, but treated aerospace, physics and chemistry, biomedicine and mechanical intelligence equally.

Therefore, the discussions at the pre-awards meeting this year covered a wide range of topics.

Even though Zhang Heping had already discussed the matter with them a day in advance, the award winners still had many questions, as if they wouldn't be satisfied until they stumped Zhang Heping.

However, Zhang Heping and most of the participants knew that those problems were technical issues that urgently needed to be solved.

Therefore, after the meeting, Hua Lao also requested that Rediffusion Television cut the recording of the technical discussion session to avoid exposing certain confidential domestic research.

As for the two award-winning physics experts from the United States, well, that's beyond our control.

As the Nobel Peace Prize award ceremony came to a close, the rain in mainland China subsided considerably, and the weather cleared up across the country, awaiting the receding floodwaters.

Once the dark clouds dispersed, the disaster images captured by navigation satellites were clearly revealed to the world, showing a vast expanse of water!
While overseas Chinese organizations were donating money and supplies, many regions in China were also spontaneously organizing donations to help rebuild the disaster-stricken areas as quickly as possible.

Following Zhang Heping's instructions, Chen Shuting dispatched personnel from the investment and public relations departments of Heping Group to East China to invest in local factories and help them resume production as soon as possible.

It's not about taking advantage of their misfortune; if the Peace Group doesn't help them, they can only apply for funds to repair their factory buildings, equipment, and so on.

However, given the vast area affected by this flood disaster and the numerous applications from factories across the country, it's uncertain who will receive funding first and who will receive it later.

As always, Zhang Heping left business matters to his concubine Chen Shuting to manage, while he only controlled the direction.

Zhang Heping would only offer advice if Chen Shuting encountered a problem she couldn't handle.

Over the years, the two have developed a tacit understanding, and Zhang Heping is at ease letting her continue to manage the Heping Group.

Tuesday, October 7nd.

Mr. Zhuang, who had also used the Lifespan 120 drug, was invited by Director Wang to stay temporarily at Shenzhen Peace College.

Grandma Yang and her granddaughter Zhuang Lin also came with her.

"Heping, you're going to be an uncle soon, do you know that?" As soon as Grandma Yang got out of the car, she saw Zhang Heping and others standing by the villa, and she was very happy.

She had heard in the capital that some of her old colleagues had shamelessly come here to try and get the chance to use the new longevity potion, but they were not well received by Zhang Heping.

After greeting the people getting off the bus with a smile, Zhang Heping replied, "My mom called me this morning, asking me to go back and keep an eye on things!"

"I'd like to go back, but I've run into a tricky problem at the lab. That's why I even had to ask Uncle Zhuang and you to come over!"

"Peace!" Grandpa Zhuang reached out to Zhang Heping and smiled, "There are many things from before that I can't remember. It was your Grandma Yang and the others who told me."

"Let's get to know Zhuang Guangping again, a retired old man!"

Zhang Heping had already learned from Grandma Yang's previous phone call that as Grandpa Zhuang's body became younger, his Alzheimer's symptoms lessened. Although he had forgotten many things from the past, his memory had recently returned to normal.

"Zhang Heping, a capitalist, are you afraid of getting to know me?" Zhang Heping joked.

Grandpa Zhuang grasped Zhang Heping's right hand and laughed, "I've been reading the newspapers lately, you can't fool me. If all capitalists in the world were like you, the world would truly be at peace!"

After exchanging pleasantries, Zhang Heping prepared to lead the group to Villa No. 1.

"Peace!" Grandma Yang, who looked much older than Grandpa Zhuang, glanced at the men, women, and children standing around her, some near and some far, and spoke again:

"Let's get down to business first. You called your Uncle Zhuang over in such a hurry, it must be something urgent."

Zhang Heping put away his smile, beckoned over two female students in white coats, and said, "Grandma Yang, Grandpa Zhuang, we're all on the same side, so I won't stand on ceremony with you."

"The new longevity potion here encountered a technical problem during testing, and we need some of Grandpa Zhuang's flesh and blood tissue to participate in the experiment."

"Don't worry, the wound is very small!"

"Hey! What's the big deal! You saved my life, what's a little blood and flesh to me!" Grandpa Zhuang laughed as he saw the two girls in white coats take out iodine, cotton swabs, syringes, and other supplies.

"Back when we were fighting, a large chunk of flesh was torn off my thigh by shrapnel..."

Grandpa Zhuang removed the cotton swab the young girl had pressed against his finger, looked at the tiny bloodstain on his right index finger, and asked in confusion, "Is that all?"

Zhang Heping laughed and said, "If all goes well, this little bit of flesh and blood will suffice."

Upon seeing the small amount of skin and flesh tissue in the petri dish, Assistant Lao Lü excitedly said to Zhang Heping, "Professor Zhang, let's go back to the lab first!"

"You all go ahead with your work, I'll be right there!" Zhang Heping waved to Old Lü, then gestured to Grandpa Zhuang, Grandma Yang, and the others, "This way, please!"

When Grandma Yang saw that most of the men, women, and children around her had left, she realized that they were all laboratory staff who were waiting for Lao Zhuang's little bit of flesh.

It seems this matter is indeed very urgent.

Just now, Grandma Yang was worried about how much blood Lao Zhuang would have drawn for the experiment.

As a result, when she saw that the two girls had only suffered minor injuries, she suddenly felt like she had been tricked from a great distance.

Grandma Yang looked away and smiled at Zhang Heping, saying, "Heping, why don't you go ahead with your work? I know your father-in-law, mother-in-law, and Ah Xin!"

“Okay!” Zhang Heping glanced casually at the remaining elderly men and women, then leaned close to Grandma Yang’s ear and whispered:
"Do you know any of these people? Could you help me persuade them?"

"I'm not trying to drive them away, just stop bothering me all the time."

Grandma Yang smiled and agreed, "Your father-in-law and mother-in-law haven't used the new longevity potion yet, I'll let them know."

Zhang Heping laughed and said, "Aunt Wang should have told you that the Lifespan 100 potion is easy to produce, and I didn't restrict them from trying it out."

"If the new longevity potion can also be mass-produced, then naturally there will be no restrictions on their drug trials, don't you think?"

"Understood!" Grandma Yang smiled. "I guarantee I'll convince them!"

...(End of chapter)