Chapter 54: Yayayaya, I’m About to Lose My Temper

  "Miss Joyce, you’re joking. As for the price, even if it’s doubled, we wouldn’t mind, and of course, we wouldn’t mind the name of the new drug either… Oh, you mean it hasn’t been named yet? Then you must give it some serious thought. Such a fine drug deserves a proper name to reflect its prestige," Fujita Jiro said ingratiatingly.

  "That’s right. For us, this name is indeed priceless," Joyce smiled slightly. "So we’ve named this drug brand ‘Nanxing Island.’"

  "Nanxing Island? Ugh!" Among the UICC directors present, at least four from Chrysanthemum Country nearly fainted. Damn, this was a trap. This thing was essential—if it truly cured cancer as announced, any cancer patient wanting to live, no matter their nationality, would definitely use it without hesitation.

  But with this name, if it were imported into Chrysanthemum Country, would customs or parliament let it through?

  Would the angry patriots flooding the streets let them go?

  Those three characters ‘Nanxing Island’ were absolutely forbidden to appear in Chrysanthemum Country.

  "Mr. Chairman, we protest. This is a UICC meeting, not a place for declaring national political issues." They turned their eyes helplessly to Dr. Hill at the chairman’s seat, hoping for his help.

  His expression looked extremely awkward. After pondering for a while, he gently tapped the table and spoke as tactfully as he could. "Joyce, may I interrupt for a moment?"

  "Hehe, go ahead, Dr. Hill." Joyce shrugged and sat back down. From the corner of her eye, she saw Shangguan Hong and the others secretly giving her a thumbs-up. Joyce pursed her lips. Could she tell them this whole thing was Zhang Yang’s damn idea?

  Hill put his pen down, clasped his hands on the table as if making an important decision, and looked at Joyce. "The UICC is a civilian organization, so we don’t recommend bringing political matters into our meetings. I hope you can understand that."

  "Alright, Mr. Chairman, this wasn’t my intention. However, I reserve the right to name the new drug. Its name is Nanxing Island. The first-generation product will be called Nanxing One. We consider it purely a brand. But if someone takes it personally and misunderstands it, that’s not my problem."

  Joyce paused, then added, "Also, we have an old saying in Huaxia—it goes like this: if you don’t like it, you can take another road."

  Her words were blunt, and they completely stunned everyone present. The message was clear: I’m calling it Nanxing Island. If you want to use it, accept it. If not, screw off!

  The conference hall fell into an awkward silence. Fine—if you opposed her statement, who knew whether they’d hold a grudge and actually refuse to sell it to you later? But if you stayed silent, it still felt uncomfortable. She was outright threatening them.

  Only a few Huaxia nationals and scholars close to Huaxia were quietly snickering below. Especially Ding Pengshan, who was struggling to suppress his laughter. He secretly nudged Zheng Yuntai under the table and muttered, "Old Zheng, does Huaxia really have that saying?"

  "How should I know? But now it does."

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  After Joyce finished speaking, even Hill didn’t know what to say. His rational mind told him it was best not to offend the sweet-looking girl before him. Otherwise, if this reagent truly succeeded, it could bring catastrophic consequences to his country.

  Just imagine—while every other nation used this thing to cure cancer, his country would have to watch its patients die painfully because of sanctions. What a sin that would be.

  The meeting ended under a slightly awkward atmosphere, but during his closing speech, Hill still did his best to praise Meining University’s “Dragonborn” research team’s achievements. Regardless of the final results of the reagent, their current progress alone was enough to win next year’s or the year after’s Nobel Prize in Medicine. Without a doubt, Joyce might become the youngest Nobel laureate in history.

  As chairman of the UICC, he was more than pleased to see that.

  When the meeting ended, the next event was the press conference. But right then, Joyce—the one who should’ve been the star—did something that left everyone dumbfounded: she slipped away.

  Even so, her name was already destined to appear in the most prominent headlines of tomorrow’s news.

  But she wasn’t thinking about that at all. She had something more important to do. At that moment, she was rummaging through the lounge next to the conference room, frowning and muttering, "Damn Zhang Yang, where the hell are you hiding? Get out here! You’ve really screwed me over this time."

  After searching for a while and finding no one, she quickly realized that bastard must have gone back to Qingyuan Hotel.

  "That jerk, dumping everything on me and trying to run away? No way." She pulled out her phone, hovered her hand over the screen, then hesitated, tossed it back into her bag, and muttered, "Forget it, I’ll go to the hotel and block him myself."

  Just as she was about to step out of the lounge, her phone rang. The familiar yet unfamiliar ringtone made her pause mid-step. She glanced around, quietly returned, closed the door, carefully took out her phone, and answered it, showing a mischievous smile rarely seen on her face.

  "Dad, didn’t I tell you not to call me at school? If someone finds out, your daughter’s in trouble."

  On the other end, a middle-aged man coughed several times. "Cough… cough… What are you talking about? A father can’t call his own daughter now? What kind of rule is that? And if your Uncle Li hadn’t called me, I wouldn’t even know you’d been kidnapped! Tell me, what happened? Which bastard had the nerve to touch my daughter, the daughter of Qiao Yunfeng?"

  "Ah, how did you find out? Which Uncle Li?"

  "Who else? The one who used to hold you all the time when you were little. He’s now the commander of Meining’s Garrison District. For you, he even dispatched the assault team. Daughter, that was quite the scene. If your grandpa finds out, your dad’s gonna get another scolding."

  "Hehe, Dad, that’s not my fault. But don’t worry, it was just a false alarm. Oh, and don’t tell Mom. If she finds out, I… I won’t be able to study in peace."

  "Don’t worry about that. Your mom’s too busy to bother with you. As long as you’re safe, she won’t have time for your nonsense."

  Hearing that, Joyce’s smile faded slightly. She asked suspiciously, "I haven’t heard any bad news about Lancheng lately. The stock’s been rising too. Oh… I get it. Grandpa must be pressuring Mom to drop Lancheng again, right?"

  "Nonsense. Your grandpa no longer opposes your mom doing business. Lately, she’s been stressing over an acquisition. Let me tell you secretly—don’t rat me out. Your mom’s trying to please your grandpa for your dad’s sake. She’s planning to acquire Xingyun Pharmaceuticals, which has been running at a loss."

  "Xingyun Pharmaceuticals? Why would Mom buy that? Didn’t it shut down already? No one sees potential in it. What does that have to do with pleasing Grandpa?"

  "Exactly. Your mom knows that. But back in the day, your grandma was Xingyun’s factory director. The Xingyun Group was her life’s work. Now that it’s on the verge of bankruptcy, with over fifty or sixty thousand employees facing an uncertain future, she’s been depressed all day. Even your grandpa’s been getting the cold shoulder. To ease your grandma’s heart, your mom decided to buy Xingyun and restructure it."

  Joyce frowned even deeper. "Dad, the Xingyun Group is big enough to be among the country’s top 500 companies. Lancheng only needs its acquisition department to handle the deal. Why is Mom so stressed over it?"

  "It’s simple—someone else wants to get in on it. They’ve also set their sights on Xingyun Pharmaceuticals."

  "I see." Joyce instantly grasped it and said calmly, "If I’m not mistaken, it must be Henggu Fund."

  "Hehe, that’s my clever daughter. Yeah, who else but your uncle’s Henggu Fund dares to go against Lancheng? Your cousin recently invested in Meining’s Bai Pharmaceuticals. He’s trying to use Bai’s controlling stake to initiate a tender offer for Xingyun. Bai’s advantage lies in its exclusive agency of many imported drugs and its strong position in chemotherapy and specialty drugs. Xingyun, on the other hand, holds a vast market in traditional medicine. They complement each other perfectly. That means Lancheng’s edge would vanish."

  "Your mom has been secretly preparing this acquisition for six months. But now your cousin suddenly interfered. Of course she’s upset—especially since this was a great opportunity to help your dad mend ties with your grandpa."

  Joyce sighed. "Uncle has always feared Dad, Second Uncle, and Fourth Uncle competing for control of the Qiao family. It’s not surprising he’d pull something like this. But Dad, you mentioned Henggu Fund is acquiring Xingyun through Bai Pharmaceuticals, right?"

  "Yeah, Bai Pharmaceuticals’ headquarters is right in Meining."

  "Well, that’s quite a coincidence," Joyce said coolly. "A certain bastard is about to deal with Bai Pharmaceuticals."

  "What?"

  "Nothing. I… I’ve got something to do. Hanging up now…"

  "Alright… wait, no—hey, daughter, why are you on TV…"

  Hearing that, Joyce immediately hung up and furiously shouted toward the direction of Qingyuan Hotel, "Damn you, Zhang Yang! Just you wait! Can’t you at least speak proper English, you bastard? You’ve really screwed me over this time!"