Break out of the courtyard

June 11, 19:22.

The United States' capital, the Reed National Military Medical Center.

"Mr. Zhang, is your sudden announcement last night of the recipe for the Lifespan 100 potion related to your lab assistant's defection to the United States?"

On television, a female reporter in a yellow shirt, holding a long black microphone, asked questions clearly and quickly.

“There is indeed a connection!” Zhang Heping’s figure also appeared on the TV screen. “I didn’t know where this Assistant Lü had gone with his family and the stolen bacterial samples until the United States launched the NMN101 drug. That’s when I confirmed that he had fled to the United States.”

"Given that the United States does not restrict the age of users when selling NMN101, I must stand up and expose their evil deeds that harm humanity!"

"As we all know, when conducting clinical trials of the Lifespan 100 drug at Peace Hospital, the age requirement is 90 years or older..."

Old Man Lü, along with his family of three generations, a daughter-in-law, and two students, lay on their respective beds in a six-person ward, staring at the news reports on the only television in the room.

Because of this news, they finally understood why no one had brought them food or medicine this afternoon!
If Zhang Heping's announcement of the method for making the 100-year lifespan potion was the cause, then the fact that the Americans confirmed the authenticity of the method and then abandoned Lu Laotou and his group of useless traitors was the effect!
After all, the conditions for the US agents to recruit Old Man Lu included a settlement fee of 1 million US dollars!
"Dad, cough cough... Will Zhang Heping really reveal the method for making the Lifespan 100 Potion?" Old Man Lu's son realized something was wrong, but he still didn't want to believe that Zhang Heping would give up such a lucrative technology.

His misunderstanding stemmed from his lack of understanding of the difference between a 100-lifespan potion and a 120-lifespan potion.

On the contrary, it was Old Man Lü, who had participated in the space capsule experiment, who knew that Lifespan 120 was not an iteration of Lifespan 100, but rather an innovative product.

Because the Life 100 drug relies on critical carcinogenic factors to activate telomerase activity; while the Life 120 drug extracts active enzymes from specific blood.

Although the two medicines have similar effects, they are not actually the same type of medicine; they are just both labeled as longevity medicines.

Old Man Lü didn't expect Zhang Heping's retaliation to come so quickly, wanting to sever his cooperation with the United States at its root.

If the Americans don't keep their promises, the Lu family will have to start all over again in this foreign land. The hardships ahead are not so scary; what is scary is the confusion and bewilderment at this moment.

Old Man Lü was staring intently at the television news, seemingly lost in thought, and didn't hear his son's question.

On television, the question-and-answer session between the reporter and Zhang Heping continued.

“A day in space is equivalent to a year on Earth!” Zhang Heping’s voice rang out slowly. “The space environment is like an ‘accelerator of aging,’ with many factors that accelerate the aging of cells and tissues.”

"I developed the new life-extending agent in the space capsule in order to speed up the experimental process."

……

"Finally, I need to remind the United States that the traitor stole a bacterial culture when he left my lab, and it's dangerous!"

Shortly after Zhang Heping's interview ended, eight people in white coats wearing white masks, goggles, and white hats entered the ward of Old Man Lü and his group.

Then, the man in the white coat came to Old Man Lü's bedside and asked, "Where is that bacterial culture medium?"

While Old Man Lü was still pondering how to explain this situation so that they could stay in the United States instead of being deported back to the mainland, the eight people in white coats unexpectedly opened the suitcases and packages belonging to Old Man Lü and his group.

Unfortunately, after searching for a long time, including throwing clothes, jewelry, and banknotes from suitcases and packages all over the ground, the eight lab coats still couldn't find anything that looked like bacterial culture fluid.

Just as the eight people in white coats exchanged glances and shook their heads, Old Man Lü, enduring his increasingly dizzy head, quickly said to the empty corner of the wall, "I participated in the production of the Lifespan 160 potion and I also know the advantages and disadvantages of the Lifespan 120 potion."

"In addition, I also know about the experimental plan of the Shouyuan No. 3 space capsule. Ask your person in charge. Have you heard of a human brain cell biological computer made of pluripotent stem cells..." Before Old Man Lu could finish speaking, he had already fainted on the bed.

Because the ward was equipped with surveillance and listening devices, Old Man Lü's words quickly reached the ears of the person in charge of the incident.

However, these Americans are now more concerned about where that bacterial culture medium went!
After all, Zhang Heping had specifically emphasized on television that the bacterial culture medium was very dangerous!
Although Old Man Lü had fainted, his son, grandson, and others were still awake.

Old Lu's son naturally knew where the bacterial culture solution had gone, because his son had already drunk it!
Yes, it was drunk by Old Man Lu's grandson, and he was perfectly fine!
It was through this incident that Old Man Lü discovered Zhang Heping had been wary of him all along!

But you can't tell Americans this kind of thing, or they'll look down on you.

Therefore, Old Man Lü had already prepared a story with his son, saying that the bacterial culture solution had been hidden and that he knew nothing else.

~
Because Zhang Heping announced the method for making the Longevity 100 potion last night, many foreign experts at the Heping Big Health Medical Research Institute wanted to use Zhang Heping's rooftop laboratory to try to make the Longevity 100 potion, but Zhang Heping refused.

Not long after, the HR manager of the Heping Big Health Medical Research Institute called Zhang Heping, saying that many foreign experts had to ask for leave to return to their home countries due to family matters.

Zhang Heping speculated that those foreign experts either returned to their home countries voluntarily or were recalled, and their only purpose was to try to create the Lifespan 100 potion.

Despite Zhang Heping's disclosure of numerous problems with the Longevity 100 Potion, its ability to make people look 20 or 30 years younger is simply irresistible, especially for women who love beauty.

In their view, the only bad thing is hair loss and tooth loss, but these can be solved with wigs and dentures.

On the contrary, the issue of genetic inheritance, which Zhang Heping particularly emphasized, has not received much attention or concern.

However, this problem is the biggest problem that Zhang Heping left behind for the Lifespan 100 potion!
He required that the participants in the Lifespan 100 drug trial be over 90 years old. Even if the participants became 20 or 30 years younger after taking the drug, they would not have much energy to procreate in terms of sexual happiness.

Therefore, the chances of these trial participants passing on the genes rewritten by the Lifespan 100 drug to their next generation are very small.

To be precise, people from Hong Kong Island and mainland China whose genes were locked by the Lifespan 100 drug rarely have offspring.

However, it's different for those foreigners.

As more and more pharmaceutical companies around the world announced that they had successfully copied the NMN101 drug, the price of NMN100, which originally sold for 3000 million US dollars per vial in the United States, dropped again and again, and in less than a month it dropped to 3 US dollars per vial!
This shows just how much damage Zhang Heping caused to the US by revealing the recipe for the Lifespan 100 potion!

Of course, money isn't the point.

The key point is that many foreigners are posting on global internet forums, sharing their experiences and changes after using the generic version of the Life 100 drug.

The responses from elderly people who used the Longevity 100 potion were largely the same, basically saying, "It's so good to be young!"

Those middle-aged and elderly users aged 30 to 50 found that, setting aside the problems mentioned by Zhang Heping, the effects of the Longevity Potion on them seemed surprisingly good, gradually restoring their appearance to that of someone in their 20s. As numerous feedback posts from middle-aged users about the Longevity Potion appeared, young users in their 20s also emerged, showing off their smooth and delicate skin.

These people who wouldn't listen to Zhang Heping's advice were like springs; the more you tried to stop them, the more they would do the opposite, refusing to turn back until they hit a wall!

Since his last public Q&A session with reporters, Zhang Heping has stopped paying attention to the Lifespan 100 drug and has instead been lobbying Northern Soviet experts to immigrate to Hong Kong Island, preparing for the impending collapse of the Northern Soviet Union.

Knowing they had angered their mother Tang Xin, Zhang Bei and Zhang Nan had no choice but to compromise and go to the capital for a blind date.

Although it was supposed to be a blind date, I only went there briefly, exchanged a few words, and left my contact information before flying back to Hong Kong Island.

In fact, Zhang Heping thought that the blind date arranged by Tang Xin and Director Wang was really not very good.

On the contrary, the recent blind date organized by Director Wang for female nurses from Shenzhen Peace Hospital, as well as unmarried female workers and managers from factories such as Tingmei Daily Chemicals, Tingmei Luggage, and Peace Health Products, to meet unmarried young men from Shenzhen Peace College at the Peace Hotel seems more reliable.

Because these people are familiar with confidentiality regulations and currently reside in Shenzhen, they can often meet during holidays.

Unlike the people from the capital that Director Wang introduced to Zhang Bei and Zhang Long, long-distance relationships between people separated by distance are unlikely to last, because telephone and internet communication are becoming increasingly advanced.

The days when carriages, horses, and mail were slow, and one could only love one person in a lifetime, are gone forever!

Speaking of fast communication, just after Tang Lie, the eldest nephew, finished making a transoceanic call to Zhang Heping and relayed the news that the traitor Lao Lü had joined a US biochemical laboratory, news that shocked the world came from the Northern Soviet Union.

The disintegration of the Soviet Union and the collapse of the bipolar world order that had existed for more than 40 years after the war!

The collapse of the Northern Soviet Union seemed to have been foreshadowed since last year. As more and more allied countries gained independence, all nations realized the inevitable end for the Northern Soviet Union.

So when the day finally arrived, the media reports from various countries seemed quite lively, as if they had encountered a grand feast, but the officials of various countries all acted in tacit agreement and quietly passed the day.

But the next day, the foreign ministries of various countries sprang into action, beginning to contact those countries that had gained independence, attempting to establish diplomatic relations and trade.

In particular, those former Allied countries that possess heavy industrial production equipment, facilities, and even aircraft carriers.

For this matter, Mr. Hua and Mr. Li even made a special trip to Hong Kong Island to invite Zhang Heping back to the capital.

Zhang Heping had already spoken with the experts from the Northern Soviet Union in advance, and now that the Northern Soviet Union was just collapsing, it was not appropriate for him to bring up immigration with them again.

The only way to better incorporate them is to wait until those former allied countries experience shortages of supplies and their economies deteriorate further, so that those Northern Soviet experts will voluntarily propose immigrating to Hong Kong.

So, as soon as Elder Hua and Elder Li arrived, Zhang Heping took his family and bodyguards, along with lots of bags and packages, and flew to the capital.

The reason why the higher-ups wanted Zhang Heping to come back was actually related to the Northern Soviet Union.

Do not!
The correct statement should be that it is related to the former Northern Soviet Union!

First, there are the weapons and equipment that were divided up in the former Northern Soviet Union, which are now scattered among the various Allied countries.

Although Zhang Heping gave a lot of weapon and equipment blueprints to the country, when the time came, many people still wanted to buy some Soviet-made equipment back, even if it was just to display it.

Secondly, there's the issue of heavy industrial production equipment. Those who only care about their own position and haven't carefully studied the production capacity of existing factories in the mainland all think that foreign equipment is superior and that buying it will definitely be a good deal.

These are all minor matters; we can simply refute them one by one.

For example, the day after Zhang Heping returned to the capital, he went to a meeting where some people, knowing full well that Wucheng Shipbuilding Company was preparing to build an aircraft carrier, still jumped out and clamored to buy a North Soviet aircraft carrier to enhance naval strength, which made Zhang Heping frown.

Zhang Heping had just returned to attend the meeting and didn't know what they had discussed beforehand. He originally planned to listen and then speak.

Unexpectedly, just as the elderly man in the green military uniform made his suggestion to buy an aircraft carrier, Mr. Yang, who was chairing the meeting, called out Zhang Heping's name.

Zhang Heping glanced at the excited old man in the green military uniform, then said slowly, "Let's not talk about whether Europe and the United States will allow us to buy weapons and equipment from the former Soviet Union."

"It's not even worth mentioning that after losing the Soviet Union as an adversary, OMA might find another one, such as using us as a hypothetical enemy, in order to maintain the OMA alliance under the leadership of the United States and prevent it from falling apart."

"Let's first talk about the annual operating costs, maintenance costs, and so on of an aircraft carrier, especially a foreign-made one."

"Considering that its parts are all made in foreign countries, maintenance costs will account for the majority of the cost. With an annual budget of 5 million US dollars, it should be able to keep a foreign-made aircraft carrier moving around in coastal waters."

"Buying only aircraft carriers won't work; if they're sent out alone, they'll just be sitting ducks!"

"So, should we continue to buy submarines, cruisers, destroyers, frigates, and aircraft from the Soviet Union?"

"Now that an aircraft carrier battle group is fully prepared, should we equip it with weapons and ammunition? Should we also buy Soviet-made ammunition?"

The old man in the green military uniform remained silent with a dark expression, clearly having already done a rough calculation in his mind based on Zhang Heping's words.

Spending billions of dollars annually to maintain a foreign-made aircraft carrier battle group is simply not cost-effective.

The key point is that this doesn't even include the cost of buying the entire aircraft carrier battle group!

Another elderly man in a green military uniform spoke up: "Advisor Zhang, I know that Wucheng Shipbuilding Company is planning to build an aircraft carrier. May I ask how much the annual cost of building the aircraft carrier will be?"

The man's question was crude and direct, but Zhang Heping had to explain it in detail to him, otherwise how could he get these military bigwigs to willingly pay the bill!
"Our aircraft carrier was built jointly by Wucheng Shipyard, Wucheng Steel Plant and other military factories, and it is 100% domestically produced."

"From this point alone, you can imagine how much money our aircraft carriers can save in future maintenance costs."

"Secondly, our planned aircraft carrier fleet will be equipped with miniature thorium-based molten salt reactor nuclear power plants, which will save more than 60% in operating costs compared to the nuclear-powered fleets of Euro-Magnesium!"

"Then there's weaponry, equipment, and personnel..." (End of Chapter)