Seven Hundred Million

Everyone present fell silent at those words.

Strictly speaking, the question really had nothing to do with the deal. What they wanted to buy was his patent.

No matter what, the patent was currently in Li Mu Chuan's hands, and that alone was enough.

Li Mu Chuan had no intention of explaining. No matter how curious they were, there was nothing they could do. Offending him would only hurt the negotiations to come.

Knowing better, they stopped pressing the issue.

They then began asking Li Mu Chuan what price he had in mind and whether he had any other conditions.

They were stalling for time, because the evaluation teams behind them had yet to determine whether the patent was worth acquiring.

This involved a major business deal, so they did not dare be careless.

Seeing that no one had bid for so long and that some of them even seemed distracted, Li Mu Chuan immediately understood what they were doing.

Stalling for time. They were probably waiting for some news.

Seeing this, Li Mu Chuan was in no hurry and simply let them drag things out.

More than ten minutes later, quite a few people below took out their phones. Upon closer inspection, their expressions all turned grave.

The messages on their phones were short and all conveyed nearly the same meaning.

No matter the cost, they had to secure this patent!

Seeing the messages, many of them immediately understood. The research teams had clearly approved of his invention, which was why they were so eager.

And they had even used words like "no matter the cost." It was obvious just how important this patent was.

"Mr. Li, I'm the vice president of Baita Pharmaceutical Company. Our company is willing to pay 500 million for the patent in your hands. What do you think?"

The speaker was a White man.

Li Mu Chuan frowned when he saw him. A foreign company?

He had not given it much thought before and had invited everyone who called.

The patent could be sold to anyone, but absolutely not to a foreign company.

"Our company is willing to offer 530 million!"

"Our company offers 560 million!"

The representatives of the other companies immediately grew anxious. They had all received word from their respective companies and knew that the other party's patent could be mass-produced.

Under such circumstances, their faces flushed with excitement.

As long as a drug like Gene Immunity Serum could be mass-produced, the profits involved would be enough to make anyone envious.

Even a pharmaceutical company with no foundation at all could immediately rank among Huaxia's top one hundred pharmaceutical companies with such a drug.

Generally speaking, domestic pharmaceutical companies spent an average of 300 to 400 million developing a single drug.

However, given the powerful effects of this Gene Immunity Serum, if they had to develop it themselves, setting aside whether they could even succeed, they likely could not do so without spending more than a billion.

So a bid of 500 million at this point was already very low.

"I offer 800 million!"

Apparently realizing that continued bidding would only drive the price higher and higher, Jiete Pharmaceutical Company spoke up, intending to raise the price sharply and force the others to back down.

Unlike Huaxia, they invested far more money into pharmaceutical research, so their bid was correspondingly more aggressive.

Drug development had always been high-risk, high-reward.

Now that the high-risk stage for this drug had essentially passed, leaving only a little risk and enormous returns, anyone with half a brain knew it was worth a gamble.

"I offer 900 million!"

Another Huaxia pharmaceutical company gritted its teeth at those words.

Given the strength of their company, coming up with that much money was already the absolute limit.

"I offer 1 billion!"

The people from Jiete Pharmaceutical Company had no intention of giving up. The moment the other side finished raising the bid, they immediately raised it again.

While these people were bidding, several men in plain clothes in a corner were speaking quietly among themselves.

"It has been confirmed. This drug has tremendous practical value. You need to prevent this patent from being purchased by foreigners."

The voice in their earpieces made the expressions of the plainclothes men turn solemn.

"Do we need to go over and speak with him directly?"

As he said this, the man inconspicuously glanced at Li Mu Chuan ahead of them.

"Not for now. Watch how things develop first. Going up to speak with him now could easily make him resistant."

"Understood."

The plainclothes man nodded, his expression grave. This drug was too important. Keeping it within the country was one thing, but if it was bought by a foreign company, it could cause no small amount of trouble later on.

That was why they had rushed over here.

Even so, their superiors had instructed them not to do anything that might provoke his resentment.

After all, if this went on, the other side might very well sell the patent to a foreign company because of it.

"Why aren't you bidding?"

Li Mu Chuan looked at those competing bidders. The foreign companies were bidding fiercely, and he could not help but turn to the local Hua Zhou companies.

"The bids have already exceeded our budget."

Hua Zhou Pharmaceutical Company gave a bitter smile, their expression somewhat dim.

Li Mu Chuan wanted cash, and they could afford it.

But that did not mean they could bid however they pleased. Their company had all sorts of rules and restrictions in place, which made things rather troublesome.

Li Mu Chuan fell silent for a moment. "Can you come up with 700 million?"

"700 million?"

Hua Zhou Pharmaceutical Company froze for a moment, then nodded. "We can afford that."

"Fine. Then I'll sell it to you for 700 million. And that's after tax—you'll need to cover the taxes I have to pay."

Li Mu Chuan waved a hand and settled the matter just like that.

The people beside them had already bid over a billion, and though Li Mu Chuan's heart had pounded at the sound of it, he had never truly intended to sell to them.

Everyone present was stunned by his words. The White people from the foreign companies looked even more incredulous. What was this guy doing?!

He had called for bids, only to turn around and sell it cheaply to another company?

And the way he said it was downright ridiculous. Could they come up with 700 million? If they could, he would give it to them.

Who was he looking down on?! Who here couldn't come up with that kind of money?!

He was practically giving it away to them!

Hua Zhou Pharmaceutical Company was equally incredulous. Stunned, they asked, "Why?"

"You gave me two shots for free before. Consider this repaying that favor." Li Mu Chuan waved a hand, looking utterly unconcerned.

He still had several other drugs in hand. A lower price was a lower price; this thing had to go to a State-Owned Enterprise anyway.

"This guy... why does he seem so protective of his own..."

Watching this scene, the people around them silently felt that Li Mu Chuan was acting like he was fiercely protective of his own.

"Alright, go draw up the contract. Once it's signed, transfer the money to my account as soon as possible, okay? Don't make the payment process ridiculously complicated."

Li Mu Chuan habitually grumbled. He had already given them such a huge discount; there was no reason for the transfer process to involve so many procedures.

The reason he had not sold it to them immediately was also to let them know that he was selling it to them at a bargain.

If he had not let the people beside them call out a few bids first, Li Mu Chuan feared they would not clearly see just how big a favor he was doing them.

It would also earn him some goodwill and a bit more presence among certain High-Level Executives.

Meanwhile, several plainclothes officers standing in the corner had already reported what had happened here.

All of them let out a sigh of relief, and when they looked at Li Mu Chuan, their eyes carried deep respect.