Chapter 45: Still One Point Short (Part 2)

  After hanging up the phone, Qiao Xier looked gloomy. Her beautiful eyes fixed on Zhang Yang as she said slowly, "Dr. Hill has already arrived, and this time the lineup is far beyond our imagination. Almost all the world’s top tumor experts are here."

  "Also!" Qiao Xier glanced at Zhang Yang and said with an unpleasant expression, "A large number of domestic and foreign media reporters have also arrived."

  "Why are there media?" Zhang Yang frowned and asked, "And weren’t they supposed to arrive tomorrow?"

  Qiao Xier pursed her lips and nodded, saying, "That’s why I said they didn’t come with good intentions. The meeting was already scheduled, but before Academician Hao even arrived in Meining, they insisted on holding a seminar with us first. First, it’s disrespectful to us. Second, they deliberately invited a bunch of media, especially foreign media. It really looks like they’re here to expose academic fraud."

  "However, your theory is enough to make them speechless." Qiao Xier looked at Zhang Yang, then changed her tone, "But because of the gene suppressor, overall, it will be slightly imperfect. After all, we’ve already made statements to the media before. There’s still some gap between the two."

  "Tumor experts plus a large amount of media—that means if they find any issue with this ‘Dragonborn,’ not only will Meining University lose face, but even our Huaxia Anti-Cancer Alliance’s reputation will suffer, right?"

  Qiao Xier hesitated for a moment and nodded, "That’s right. Foreigners, especially those from developed Western countries, have always doubted our research level in natural sciences. For such a groundbreaking theory, something they’ve been working on for decades without success, of course, they wouldn’t believe that we Huaxia people could pull it off."

  "It’s perfectly normal for them to discover such a problem with their professional knowledge. When that happens, how should we evaluate this—"

  "Got it." Zhang Yang nodded. What Qiao Xier said was undoubtedly true. At present, the country’s research level wasn’t ranked low globally; the number of academic papers published each year was among the highest. But in cutting-edge science, it still lagged behind developed Western countries. You could see that from the Nobel Prize distribution—America was far ahead, and even in Asia, the Chrysanthemum Country was much stronger than Huaxia.

  Especially in tumor research, the Chrysanthemum Country was a world leader.

  "When will the meeting start?"

  Qiao Xier checked her watch and replied, "At seven in the evening. Two hours left. But we need to head back first to help prepare the materials."

  "Let’s go back first." Zhang Yang noticed that it was already getting dark and thought, rather than staying here looking for opportunities, it’d be better to find one around the school. At night, there were always some people fighting around for personal reasons.

  Seeing Zhang Yang’s calm expression, Qiao Xier nodded and comforted him, "If it doesn’t work today, we’ll come again tomorrow. If not, the day after. Sis will go with you."

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  "Really?" Zhang Yang glanced at her. Honestly, being with Qiao Xier was quite pleasant. If he could go farming points with her every day, that’d be one hell of a life.

  "When Sis says something, it counts." Qiao Xier looked at Zhang Yang’s confident face and said firmly—she almost patted her chest.

  "Heh, I’ll remember that." Zhang Yang felt his mood lift instantly. "Get in the car, let’s head back to school."

  Qiao Xier rolled her eyes and said, "Look how happy you are. But let me warn you—you better make sure your Lulu doesn’t get jealous. I don’t want people thinking I’m trying to be a homewrecker."

  Zhang Yang laughed and replied, "Come on, don’t worry. With our difference in status, if people talk, they’d say I’m trying to be a kept man."

  "Pfft, shameless!"

  As always, Qiao Xier drove insanely fast. The half-hour trip to campus took her barely ten minutes. What’s worse, she didn’t even break any traffic laws—she knew every road’s speed limit, every traffic light’s timing, and which route was the fastest. She was as precise as a computer.

  But just as they were approaching the school, she slowed the car and pulled over to the side of the road.

  She looked at a roughly thirty-story building beside the road, glanced at Zhang Yang, and suddenly asked, "Do you know whose building that is?"

  Zhang Yang was puzzled about why the car had stopped. Hearing that, he turned his head to look. Of course, he knew—Qiao Xier must have had a reason for asking. It was a beautifully decorated and imposing office building. In such a prime location, only a super-rich family could own it. The golden characters on top read ‘Dengyuan Building.’ It looked like a person’s name—probably a family-owned property.

  A name flashed through his mind.

  "Dengyuan? Bai Dengyuan—could it be Bai Liangfeng’s family?" Zhang Yang frowned. It seemed Bai Liangfeng’s grandfather was indeed named Bai Dengyuan, one of Meining University’s early alumni.

  Qiao Xier smiled slightly and nodded, "Smart. Yes, it’s named after Bai Liangfeng’s grandfather, Dr. Bai Dengyuan. Dr. Bai was one of Meining University’s early alumni. Later, he went to Nanyang and made a fortune, then came back and founded Bai Pharmaceuticals. He had two sons—his eldest was adopted—and two daughters. Bai Liangfeng’s father was the second son and inherited everything. Bai Pharmaceuticals was already in serious deficit when he took over, but three years ago, he made a comeback by representing the Chrysanthemum Country’s Mitsui Group’s subsidiary, Shiteng Corporation, which produced a new line of cutting-edge biopharmaceuticals."

  "Imported medicine is expensive. Drugs that are cheap in the Chrysanthemum Country cost several times more in Huaxia. Most of that profit probably goes to Bai Pharmaceuticals. No wonder they got rich." Zhang Yang looked at Qiao Xier and smiled, "Senior, you’re telling me all this because of my grudge with Bai Liangfeng, right?"

  Qiao Xier also smiled and replied, "Not just that. Actually, my family has a bit of a connection with theirs."

  "Oh!" Zhang Yang responded absentmindedly, then suddenly remembered—the Bai family seemed to have ties with the research group. If this anti-cancer drug were successfully developed, wouldn’t Bai Pharmaceuticals make a massive fortune?

  You’ve got to be kidding!

  "Let’s go." Qiao Xier sighed and prepared to start the car.

  "Wait a sec!"

  "What?" Qiao Xier’s hands left the steering wheel.

  Zhang Yang pointed to the plaza in front of Dengyuan Building and said, "Look there—something’s happening."

  At the entrance of Dengyuan Building, four security guards in black uniforms were kicking and punching an old man in his late fifties, cursing as they did. A large crowd had gathered, but no one stepped in to help.

  "Probably caught a thief or something." Qiao Xier glanced a few times and frowned. "But those guys are going too far. That’s excessive."

  Before she could finish, Zhang Yang had already jumped out of the car and dashed straight toward the scene.

  By the time Qiao Xier opened the door and ran after him, the four uniformed guards were already down, writhing on the ground, while the bloodied old man was repeatedly thanking Zhang Yang with deep gratitude.

  Zhang Yang had been worried he might’ve hit the wrong people, but the moment he finished them off, the system’s voice rang out, and his points increased. That meant the guards were clearly in the wrong. But after seeing the points go up, Zhang Yang felt a little annoyed.

  【Act of bravery rewarded with 4 system points. Your current total is 53 points. Please keep up the good work, Promising Youth. Since your system points have exceeded 50, you can spend 30 points to accept an M-level mission, or 50 points to request an emergency assistance. Please note, if the issue exceeds the system’s capability, no answer will be given and points will not be refunded.】

  Damn! Zhang Yang broke out in a cold sweat. So even with 50 points, he might end up with nothing? He had thought it was some kind of wish-granting deal!

  What a pain in the ass. This meant he had only two options—either take on a system mission, which might be tough but guaranteed rewards, or risk an emergency help request that might yield nothing. The system didn’t even tell him what wouldn’t work—he’d just have to guess.

  While Zhang Yang was still stunned by that damn system message, Miss Qiao rushed over. Seeing the four guards rolling on the ground, she shot Zhang Yang a look and whispered, "Let’s go! Professor Shangguan is still waiting."

  Zhang Yang nodded and was about to help the injured old man leave when suddenly seven or eight more guards in black uniforms burst out of Dengyuan Building, armed with electric batons and even standard-issue blades, charging straight at him without a word.