Break out of the courtyard

Chapter 992 Lifespan 120 Potion Ready for Market Launch
When Zhang Zhaodi and Zhang Pandi arrived at Renheyi Community for dinner, the group of wealthy wives from Heping Real Estate were leaving one after another.

Zhang Bei, Zhang Nan, and Zhang Feng, who had been dragged up by Tang Xin to see the guests off, were now standing on the edge of the plain with fake smiles on their faces, wishing these people would leave quickly so that they could return to the basement as soon as possible to inspect the 70 virtual dream game pods.

"Xiao Bei, where is your dad?" After getting out of the car, Zhang Zhaodi walked straight towards Zhang Bei.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Bei instantly thought of an excuse to leave, "Mom, my aunt asked me to take her to find my dad!"

Before Tang Xin, who was busy seeing guests off, could reply, Zhang Bei pulled his slightly bewildered aunt Zhang Zhaodi toward the villa.

Zhang Nan and Zhang Feng, who were a step behind, wanted to follow, but Tang Xin stopped them again.

Zhang Pandi and Zhang Yong followed behind at a leisurely pace until they entered the villa's living room. Only then did the couple separate, with one going to the basement and the other sitting on the living room sofa to talk to his father-in-law.

Zhang Heping had been busy for most of the day on the third basement level and was now finishing up the last bit of work.

The two sisters, Zhang Zhaodi and Zhang Pandi, couldn't help and could only stand by and wait.

“The equipment and wiring are all fine!” Zhang Heping took off his gold-rimmed glasses, rubbed his nose, and said to the people around him, “Let’s go eat first, and then call three more teams over later to make a total of 70 people for the virtual dream test.”

After speaking, Zhang Heping raised his left hand, which was holding his glasses, and waved to the others. He then walked towards the laboratory and called his children and two sisters away.

“Brother!” Zhang Zhaodi walked to Zhang Heping’s side and said softly, “Old Zheng talked to me a lot today and finally gave me three choices: the Investment Promotion Bureau, the Education Bureau, and the Health Bureau in Shenzhen.”

"She said that no matter which school I choose, I have to study at D school for a period of time first."

Zhang Heping glanced at his older sister's expression and asked, "Can't we go to the tax department?"

“I can go!” Zhang Zhaodi frowned and said, “But if I go, it will give outsiders the impression that I was transferred there by threatening to resign.”

Zhang Heping nodded without offering any further comment.

“If I go to the China Merchants Group, I can rely on your connections in Hong Kong to achieve some results quickly,” Zhang Zhaodi continued.

"Old Zheng suggested that I go to the Health Bureau, probably because of the longevity medicine you developed. It's highly likely that I will lead a team to communicate with you and Shuting about matters related to the longevity medicine."

"I didn't understand the choice to go to the Education Bureau for a while. Mr. Zheng said it was to connect with the Peace Academy, but I don't think that's the reason."

Zhang Heping smiled and asked, "Where do you want to go?"

“I want to go to the Health Bureau!” Zhang Zhaodi said with a serious face. “Going to the Investment Promotion Bureau is just about building up my political achievements, and no matter how many achievements I have, it won’t get me promoted quickly.”

"On the contrary, regardless of whether the Health Bureau will let me get involved in matters related to Shouyuan Pharmaceuticals, I can still find out some inside information for you through internal channels of the Health Bureau."

Zhang Heping smiled and said, "The health system is also going to be reformed. If you decide to go to the Shenzhen Municipal Health Bureau, you should do more research in the hospitals below to prepare for the reform."

Seeing that her third brother didn't object to her choice, Zhang Zhaodi felt relieved and then asked, "Brother, why do you think Old Zheng suggested the Education Bureau? Is it because Xiao Yi refused to be transferred to the Education Bureau last time?"

“It might be related to the recent talent training camp,” Zhang Heping casually explained. “Since you don’t want to go to the education department, there’s no need to delve into this matter.”

"A genius training camp?" Zhang Zhaodi pondered, then followed Zhang Heping back to the villa.

After dinner, Zhang Zhaodi followed Zhang Pandi and Zhang Yong down the mountain to tell Grandma Zheng and Director Wang her choice to go to the Shenzhen Health Bureau.

Once the matter was settled, Zhang Zhaodi took her parents and her grand-nephew Zhang Bofei to the capital early the next morning.

At the same time, Secretary Chen came over again to inquire about the production of Lifespan 120 medicine this month, as well as the method of medicine distribution.

If Zhang Heping insists on charging a fee, then a negotiation team will need to be sent over for formal communication.

Although Zhang Heping was busy testing the virtual dream game pod, he didn't treat Secretary Chen perfunctorily as before, but instead asked him to stay for lunch before continuing the discussion.

Having lunch was just an excuse; the real purpose was to wait for Chen Shuting to return so they could talk to the other party.

Sure enough, Zhang Heping went to the underground laboratory right after finishing lunch.

"Consultant Zhang, about the medicine..." Secretary Chen got up to follow, but was stopped by Chen Shuting.

"Secretary Chen, our Peace Group held a meeting this morning and approved the pricing strategy for Lifespan 120 potion." Chen Shuting picked up a cup of tea, rinsed her mouth, and continued after seeing Secretary Chen sit back down at the table:

"The initial price of Lifespan 120 in mainland China is set at 120 billion RMB per dose!"

Chen Shuting noticed that Secretary Chen's right eye twitched, and knew that his inner self was not as calm as he appeared.

"Secretary Chen, don't you think this price is too high?" Chen Shuting asked jokingly.

Secretary Chen sat up straight and looked at Chen Shuting, trying to soften his tone as he said, "A sky-high price of 120 billion is something no one in the mainland can afford. I guess Chairman Chen must have other conditions he hasn't mentioned."

"Since Secretary Chen is so astute, I won't keep you in suspense any longer." Chen Shuting said, getting up to go to the nearby liquor cabinet, taking a roll of printer paper, and handing it directly to Secretary Chen. "This is the new cooperation contract, please take a look!"

Secretary Chen stood up, took the contract documents with both hands, and stood there studying them.

The contract contained a lot of information, but the key items were highlighted in bold, so Secretary Chen didn't have much trouble reading it.

The Zhang family members gradually left the table, and Secretary Chen, who was still looking at the contract, was invited to the living room for tea.

After a while, Secretary Chen noticed out of the corner of his eye that Chen Shuting had looked at her watch five times before she stopped trying to study the contract further.

“Chairman Chen!” Secretary Chen spread out the contract, pointed to the part that puzzled him, and said, “Have the drug users sign a loan contract for 120 billion yuan, and then offset this huge drug cost by donating blood 6 times over 3 years.”

"I have a question: what will you do if the patient doesn't come back to donate blood, or if they die unexpectedly during the process?"

"Will they pursue debt collection from the children of those who used the medication?"

Chen Shuting replied with a smile, "The answer you're looking for is on page 17, the liability clause, and page 23, the force majeure clause."

Secretary Chen quickly flipped to page 17, which he hadn't had time to read yet, and breathed a sigh of relief when he discovered that only the drug user or their heirs would be held accountable.

When he turned to page 23 and saw that accidental death was considered an unavoidable event, and combined this with the liability clause on page 17, Secretary Chen quickly arrived at the answer:
If a patient dies unexpectedly and donates blood at the designated time without delay or avoidance, the remaining loan for medication will be waived.

Conversely, if a patient dies unexpectedly without having donated blood as required, the Peace Group will pursue the patient's assets to settle the debt. Secretary Chen flattened the contract in his hand again and asked, "Chairman Chen, may I take this contract back and have a lawyer friend review it?"

“Okay!” Chen Shuting stood up, glanced at her watch again, and said succinctly, “If you think the contract is fine and the users can accept it, then the Lifespan 120 drug can resume production.”

These words undoubtedly represent Zhang Heping's stance.

Secretary Chen stood up and said, "Alright, I'm sorry to have disturbed Chairman Chen's rest. I'll take the contract back and study it right away."

After seeing Secretary Chen off, Chen Shuting went to find her man to inquire about the implementation time and method of the talent training camp's recruitment plan.

In the previous few days, as Zhang Heping had requested, she had intentionally or unintentionally revealed to the public that the recruitment assessment for gifted youths would begin in the second and third rounds this month.

As a result, people from various countries who wanted to participate in the assessment either came to Hong Kong Island in groups or with their parents and teachers, and the number of people continued to increase. Even the Governor of Hong Kong called to confirm the time for the second round of assessments for gifted teenagers.

……

Secretary Chen took the contract and first went to the Peace Hotel on Hong Kong Island to pick up Grandma Zheng and Director Wang before returning to Shenzhen together.

After Mr. Hua received the message and gathered legal experts, hospital management, and biochemical experts in the conference room of Shenzhen Peace College, Secretary Chen entered the conference room carrying a stack of photocopied contracts.

"This contract is a loan agreement proposed by the Peace Group regarding the charging for the Lifespan 120 drug. We've invited everyone to this meeting today for two reasons..."

While Secretary Chen was distributing the contract materials, Mr. Hua began speaking from his seat, outlining the theme of the meeting.

Elder Yang, Elder Li, and others had not previously been involved in matters related to the Lifespan 120 potion. At this moment, they sat aside, listening silently like everyone else.

After Secretary Chen finished distributing the materials, Elder Hua beckoned him to the front and asked him to share his views on the contract.

Secretary Chen organized his thoughts and then said, "The Lifespan 120 drug has been undergoing clinical trials, so no drug fees have been charged to the trial patients."

"However, during the clinical trials of the Life 120 drug, the Peace Group successfully sold seven doses of the Life 120 drug to foreigners at a sky-high price of 12 billion RMB per dose, and the response was very good."

"Therefore, I think that although the price of RMB 120 billion per item in this contract is ridiculously expensive, it is not that it cannot be sold."

Some attendees were quick to read the contract and had already discovered the subsequent blood donation deduction plan, so they didn't react much and continued to carefully read the contract.

Those who were slow to read or didn't look carefully started making a fuss, saying that the country couldn't accept such an exorbitantly priced drug.

Secretary Chen didn't argue, because other attendees were reminding those people to look at the contract details at the back.

As the meeting room gradually quieted down, Secretary Chen said, "Although this contract involves an exorbitant loan, as long as the patient donates blood every six months, the huge medical expenses can be offset by donating blood six times."

"Therefore, although it may seem like a huge loan is needed before medication can be administered, in practice it's still a free trial, just eliminating those who don't donate blood..."

"Wait!" Old Hua suddenly interrupted Secretary Chen and asked, "If each person only donates blood six times, can our pyramid-style incremental blood donation plan still be implemented smoothly?"

"No!" Secretary Chen gave the answer first, and then patiently explained, "Without expanding the production of Lifespan 120, our production line will encounter a bottleneck in two years, with monthly output stopping at 10 doses!"

"If we expand the production line, the monthly output can be increased to 140 million units in three years. This monthly output is enough to meet the needs of our country's elderly people over 80 years old."

Old Yang frowned and asked, "Secretary Chen means that if each person only donates blood 6 times, theoretically the medication needs of the elderly in our country can be met?"

"That's pretty much the idea!" Secretary Chen nodded and said, "If we offer more medicine, we will not only have to expand the production line, but the surplus medicine produced will also flood the market and drive down the high price of Lifespan 120 medicine, which will in turn affect foreign exchange business."

"Then six times!" Old Hua's brow relaxed. "This number must have been carefully calculated by Consultant Zhang."

……

The decision to have each person donate blood six times was naturally made by Zhang Heping after calculating the numbers, before he had his concubine Chen Shuting take it to communicate with people in China.

However, his calculations were based not only on the number of Chinese people, but also on the pyramid-shaped incremental plan developed by Hua Lao and his colleagues, in order to make it easier for them to accept.

It was precisely because of these various calculations that Secretary Chen was able to come to Hong Kong Island again the next day, successfully reach a cooperation agreement with the Peace Group, and obtain the production line authorization USB drive for this month from Chen Shuting.

However, when he handed the list of medications for this month to Chen Shuting, hoping she would pass it on to Zhang Heping for review, Chen Shuting refused.

“My husband said that now that the Lifespan 120 drug is officially sold in China, we no longer need to submit lists to him for review!” Chen Shuting smiled at the middle-aged man from her family. “Also, I want to remind Secretary Chen of something.”

"According to the usual practice of our Peace Group, there will be relevant advertising expenses to support the launch of new products."

"Given the efficacy of the Lifespan 120 potion, the advertising response will undoubtedly be very strong. Consequently, your side will certainly be very busy, so you'd better prepare in advance."

"This..." Secretary Chen really wanted to say, "Your medicine is basically given away for free, why spend money on advertising!"
But then I thought, once this advertisement comes out, it will definitely attract many ordinary elderly people to apply, and then squeeze out some people's application slots. Is Consultant Zhang deliberately trying to disgust those people?
With many questions in mind, Secretary Chen returned to Shenzhen with the signed contract and relayed the advertising matters that Chen Shuting had mentioned to Elder Hua and Elder Li.

Mr. Hua didn't pay much attention to these trivial matters.

Zhang Heping no longer requested the right to conduct a second review, which significantly increased the room for maneuver left for them.

Now, Hua Lao is wondering why Zhang Heping didn't want the right to review the list of drugs to be used, but only retained the authorization for the production line.

Is he going to threaten to stop production again next time something happens?
In contrast, Elder Yang and Elder Li attached great importance to the official launch and sale of the Shouyuan 120 medicine.

"There's something I don't quite understand!" Old Nie suddenly interjected, "For something as important as the launch of the Lifespan 120 drug, why didn't Consultant Zhang wait until his elder sister joined the Health Bureau before putting on a show and giving the credit to her?"

"Hmph!" Old Hua sneered, "Judging from what Old Nie is saying, Consultant Zhang doesn't understand political maneuvering and is just pretending to be aloof?"

"No! Don't misunderstand!" Old Nie hurriedly waved his hand and said, "I just have some doubts. I don't know much about Consultant Zhang's character, which is why I asked this question."

"As you all know, I don't like to hide things, nor do I like to be two-faced."

“You politicians always think of people in an overly complicated way,” Vice Dean Deng said from the side. “With Dean Zhang’s intelligence, if he really wanted to play power games, he wouldn’t have gone to Hong Kong Island to do research.”

……

(End of this chapter)