America's Greatest Villain: I Defeat Magic with Magic

Wang Xiaoying held $200 in her hand, looking hesitantly at Adrian Lin who had suddenly appeared.

Having almost been scammed just now, she was naturally hesitant when someone suddenly suggested a "more reliable channel."

Finally, she glanced at Su Nian first, then cautiously glanced at Chen Yuan, before saying somewhat shyly:

"Thank you, Mr. Lin, but I'll just buy the new books from the school myself."

Wang Xiaoying was indeed a little scared, and Adrian had just made it clear that old textbooks with the new access code were not cheap.

If you can only save a hundred dollars or so, you might as well just buy a new book.

Adrian, who was rejected to his face, showed no displeasure. Instead, he took out a business card from his pocket and handed it to Wang Xiaoying.

"No problem, if you need anything else, just give me a call!"

After saying that, he waved to the three of them and turned to leave.

Wang Xiaoying looked at the business card in her hand and couldn't help but exclaim:

"This senior student, Lin, is actually the CEO of a biotechnology company, and he already has several technology patents at such a young age!"

Su Nian shook her head dismissively:

"It's not uncommon for students to run companies in America; Brother Chen even owns a restaurant."

Chen Yuan watched Adrian's departing figure and chuckled softly:

"Adrian is quite a prominent figure in our School of Life Sciences. He's a Malaysian Chinese, and his father owns a large technology company in Southeast Asia. So, before even graduating, he started a biotech company, which I heard is valued at tens of millions. Compared to him, my restaurant is just a small business."

After hearing this, Wang Xiaoying couldn't help but stick out her tongue.

"So you're the Boss Chen that Xiao Su always talks about. I thought you were her boyfriend."

As she spoke, she smiled and leaned closer, asking:

"Are you still hiring waiters/waitresses? I'm quite a hard worker."

Su Nian blushed deeply and quickly said:

"You almost failed your courses last semester, so you should focus on your studies."

"Then can I eat at your restaurant, okay?" Wang Xiaoying waved the $200 in her hand. "The money Boss Chen helped me get back will be used to buy your grilled squid, you fried chicken beauty!"

Su Nian pinched Wang Xiaoying's waist, blushing as she said:

"The 'fried chicken beauty' thing is just netizens joking around."

Then she glanced at Chen Yuan and explained in a low voice:

"Brother Chen, Xiaoying is a year younger than me. She likes to talk nonsense all the time, so don't take what she says seriously."

-----------------

After the little incident involving Su Nian and Wang Xiaoying, Chen Yuan arrived at the lecture hall of the School of Life Sciences just as class was about to begin.

Unlike Chinese universities, which typically have small class sizes, American universities generally do not have classes. Students attend classes at different times based on their chosen courses and credit schedule.

The first class of the new semester is "Biotechnology Transformation and Society".

When Chen Yuan pushed open the door, the classroom, which could accommodate hundreds of people, was already almost full of students.

He looked around and soon spotted a familiar face.

Vivian Sinclair was sitting in the third row of the classroom, her beautiful blonde hair shining brightly under the classroom lights, making her hard to miss.

To her left was a girl with short hair, but the seat to her right was empty.

Vivian also saw Chen Yuan walk in. She turned her head slightly and waved to him with a half-smile, as if gesturing for Chen Yuan to sit in the empty seat next to her.

However, Chen Yuan decisively looked away and walked straight to an empty seat in the back corner of the classroom.

He didn't want to be the center of attention for hundreds of people, so it was best to stay away from that woman in public places at school.

I had barely sat down, and before I even had a chance to take out my textbook, my phone received a message:

"You missed the best spot to enjoy a great show up close."

A good show?

Chen Yuan frowned, but did not ask the other party any further questions.

Because he knew very well that the best way to deal with this kind of riddle-teller was to ignore whatever they said.

"Hey, Chen Yuan!"

Someone suddenly greeted me from the side. I turned around and saw that it was Kevin Smith.

I ran into them a couple of days ago at the new semester party.

He pulled out a thick textbook, and said with a pained expression:

"Damn it. I never expected that Dr. Berger's class would start my junior year. I really don't understand those theoretical models about business transformation that he talks about."

Chen Yuan nodded in strong agreement.

Dr. Berg's course "Biotechnology Translation and Society" is not a highly specialized academic course, but rather an in-depth analysis of the operating rules of the vast biomedical industry from the perspectives of social capital and business ethics.

To put it simply, it's about discussing how to make money using biotechnology.

However, there is no clear answer to this problem in real-world business, so even some top students find it very difficult.

Sure enough, when Dr. Berg walked onto the stage, only one sentence was displayed on the large projection screen behind him:

"Even the most ingenious biotechnology is worthless if no one can sell it."

Dr. Berg stood at the back of the podium, surveying the group of America's future medical elites below, and began:

"You are now in the second semester of your junior year, and you only have a little over a year left before you graduate with your bachelor's degree."

"In fact, by this time next year, most of you will be buried in the lab, racking your brains about how to turn your research results into real money."

"So from today onwards, I don't care whether you remember the definitions in the textbook or whether you can recite the experimental procedure word for word."

"I only care about one thing—"

As he spoke, he pointed to the large screen behind him:

"Only when a technology truly leaves the laboratory, becomes a drug on the shelf, a company's patent, and a source of hope in the media, can it bring real value."

Suddenly, the professor pointed to an Asian student sitting in the front row and asked:

Tell me, what is the most worthless failure in biotechnology research?

Chen Yuan had a vague impression of that Asian student because he often ran into him in the library; the student was also a well-known model worker in the lab.

Faced with the doctor's question, the boy thought carefully for a moment before answering:

"I believe the problem lies in sample contamination and insufficient data repeatability, as these can cause the entire experimental chain to fail..."

"wrong!"

Before the boy could finish speaking, Dr. Berg rudely interrupted him.

"A truly worthless failure is when a technology that could have changed the market dies in the hands of a researcher who only knows how to work hard but can't even tell a complete story."

One sentence silenced the entire classroom.

After all, this blatant capitalist rhetoric is tantamount to publicly shattering the pure belief that many students have always held in diligently pursuing academic studies.

Kevin, standing next to Chen Yuan, couldn't help but complain:

"This is absurd! Is storytelling more important than the technology to overcome the disease itself?"

"Adrian!"

Suddenly, the professor called out a familiar name.

Immediately afterwards, a boy with black hair and black eyes, wearing black-rimmed glasses, stood up.

"As the most successful young entrepreneur in our college, share your practical insights."

Adrian also pondered for a few seconds before speaking:

"I believe that biotechnology itself has never been a product. What can really be sold is the narrative built around it."

"For example, a lipase that I'm currently researching might not be of any interest to anyone if it's simply described as an inhibitory node in a metabolic pathway."

Adrian adjusted his glasses and continued speaking eloquently:

"But if you tell the market that it relates to obesity, chronic diseases, cardiovascular risks, and the lifestyle anxieties of hundreds of millions of people over the next decade, then it will no longer be just a result from a laboratory, but will immediately become a hot trend worth betting on."

"A truly brilliant and insightful analysis!"

Dr. Berger looked satisfied.

"That's the answer I wanted to hear."

"Those people in the lab who only wash test tubes and stay up all night repeating experiments are certainly very hardworking."

"Effort does not equal value."

"Those who can truly make technology survive must know how to present it as a future that people are willing to pay for."

He pointed at Adrian.

"Anyone can do research, but the real skill lies in packaging research findings into a compelling story and converting them into real venture capital funding!"

While most of the students were stunned into silence by this brutal business logic,

Chen Yuan received another message on his phone:

"Isn't that a brilliant conclusion?"

He turned off the screen with a blank expression.

Riddlers are really troublesome!