"New drug development has failed again. That makes five times this year already. I suggest suspending all R&D investment..."
"The company's financial situation is terrible too. We've suffered heavy losses this year, and there's no working capital left in the accounts..."
"President Zhang from the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China called last week, asking whether there would be any issues with next month's loan repayment. He may have heard some rumors..."
"Several minor shareholders asked me to pass along a message. They want to withdraw their shares immediately and demand their funds be returned as soon as possible..."
"President Wei, this is the company's situation for the year. The outlook is extremely grim. What do you think about the plans I drafted last time?"
"If we don't take action soon, all we can do is watch the company go bankrupt!"
"Bankruptcy?" The word was like a shot of adrenaline driven into his veins, instantly pulling Wei Kang's scattered thoughts back to reality.
His gaze finally focused on the worried middle-aged man standing before him.
This was the company's vice president and sales director, Sun Chengren. In his forties, with black-rimmed glasses, he looked refined and mild-mannered, still in the prime of his life. Yet his temples had already gone gray, and the lines on his face were as deeply carved as if by knife and axe. At that moment, he was frowning heavily as he gave Wei Kang an endless report on the company's affairs.
Old Sun was one of the company's veterans. He had worked there ever since Wei Kang could remember. For more than twenty years, he had been his parents' right-hand man, and especially over the past six months, he had held up the entire company by himself.
At the thought of his parents, Wei Kang's heart twisted in pain. Half a year ago, both of them had died in a car accident. Fresh out of graduation, he had hurried back to inherit the family business—a small private pharmaceutical company. At the time, he had sworn that he would preserve the fruits of his parents' lifelong efforts and continue to develop them.
Who could have imagined that only half a year later, the company would already be on the verge of bankruptcy?
"Bankruptcy..." Wei Kang forced a bitter smile and murmured, "Has it really come to this? In the end, I'm simply too incompetent."
He looked at Old Sun's grave expression. "Uncle Sun, it's thanks to you that I've gradually gotten a handle on the company's business these past six months. I've already done everything I could, but it seems I'll still end up disappointing Mom and Dad." At that point, his nose stung, and his eyes began to moisten.
There was pity in Sun Chengren's eyes. After a long pause, he finally comforted him. "Xiao Kang, I watched you grow up. I know how important this company is to you, but many things in this world are beyond human control. If the outcome isn't what you wanted, you still need to let it go."
He seemed somewhat hesitant, and there was guilt on his face as well. He reached out and handed over a stack of documents, then sighed. "Xiao Kang, listen to Uncle's advice. If there's really no other way, sell the company. That way, you'll be able to live comfortably for the rest of your life. Some time ago, General Manager Wu from Xinmei Group came to see me and said he wanted to acquire the company. This is their acquisition proposal. Why don't you take a look and think it over carefully?"
"Anyway, that's the company's situation. If there's nothing else, I'll head out first."
Wei Kang stared blankly at Old Sun's departing figure as he left the office. His emotions were in turmoil, and a dull ache lingered in his chest.
After a while, he could not help but laugh bitterly. Had things really deteriorated to this point?
It seemed his life had already hit rock bottom. It couldn't possibly get any worse from here, could it?
He had fallen off a cliff in the morning, reached the bottom, and discovered the ground bristling with blades. Now all that was left was one final stab to take his last breath.
He opened the acquisition proposal on the desk, gave it a glance, and sneered. Heh heh. General Manager Wu had fought his parents for more than a decade and could finally see victory in sight. He could not even bear to watch quietly from the sidelines; he had to come personally and throw on the final shovelful of dirt.
In truth, the acquisition proposal was fairly decent. They had not taken advantage of his misfortune to squeeze him dry. The terms were quite generous. He could take a huge sum of money, swallow his pride before his parents' lifelong enemy, preserve the jobs of the old employees, admit total defeat, and leave with dignity.
But what meaning did money have for him now?
He took another document from the drawer. His hands were actually trembling as he spread it across the enormous desk and stared at it in a daze.
This was the medical report he had just received.
That morning, he had suddenly coughed up blood at home and immediately rushed to the hospital. After scans, blood tests, and a series of examinations, the preliminary diagnosis was a primary malignant liver tumor that had already spread.
After learning that both his parents had died, the doctor had told him the truth: late-stage liver cancer. He had less than a year left to live.
He let out a long sigh, his heart filled with bitterness.
It was all because he had never taken care of his body. Back in school, he often stayed up late studying until he damaged his liver just to earn his master's degree in pharmaceutical science. Then he had immediately taken over the family business, spending his days either working through the night in the laboratory or drinking at business dinners.
And lately, he had been growing thinner by the day, with a faint pain in his abdomen. Those had all been symptoms, but he had not cared in the slightest. He had only wanted to numb himself with work and forget the grief of losing his parents. Who would have thought it would end like this?
At that thought, Wei Kang shut his eyes tightly. His nose stung, and tears finally streamed uncontrollably from the corners of his eyes.
Ding! Detected that the host meets the requirements. System binding in progress.
Binding successful... The Primary Pharmaceutical System has been activated.
May the host rise from the brink of death and escape this desperate situation as soon as possible.
A mechanical voice rang out in Wei Kang's mind, leaving him stunned.
Huh?
Had he encountered a system?
Wei Kang occasionally read webnovels in his spare time, so of course he knew that being an orphan, transmigrating, and having a system were the three standard traits of a webnovel protagonist.
He could not decide whether to laugh or cry. Could it be that because he was an orphan and had fallen into desperate circumstances, he was able to activate a system?
But I haven't transmigrated.
Still, when he thought about how it was actually a pharmaceutical system bound to him, his eyes lit up, and a glimmer of hope rose in his heart.
He hurriedly checked the system panel.
Unfortunately, most of its functions were grayed out and unavailable. He could only make out a few blurry words.
At the bottom of the panel was a lit-up heading.
"Drug Side Effect Extraction System?"
It sounded incredibly powerful and advanced.
Wei Kang was instantly impressed despite not fully understanding it, and excitement surged through him.
He continued reading.
Level: lv1 Host: Wei Kang Points: 0
The system panel was extremely simple, containing only a few data fields and not much information.
Perhaps it was because only the Primary Pharmaceutical System had been activated. Once he kept leveling up and activated intermediate and advanced systems in the future, there should be more information and data fields.
The level and host information above were self-explanatory, but what were these points based on? Why were they at zero? Was there not even a Newbie Gift Pack? Wei Kang could not help complaining to himself.
He looked at the explanation beside the points field. It turned out that whenever someone used a new drug he had created, he would earn points. The more people who used it, the more points he would receive.
He immediately fell into thought. This system seemed to embody the idea that doctors have benevolent hearts. It was a perfect match for him.
Suddenly, the mechanical voice rang out again.
Ding! Detected that the host is near death. Please claim the Newbie Gift Pack.
People have always argued that it is impossible for drugs to enter the market only a few months after clinical trials. All I can say is that such readers should respect the facts. In reality, many innovative lifesaving drugs have passed FDA review and entered the market within just a few months.
If you really cannot understand, could you at least look up the history of how Gilead rose to prominence? As one of the world's top ten pharmaceutical companies, there is plenty of news about it.
The following two examples are enough to prove that groundbreaking lifesaving drugs really can pass review and enter the market in three months, and can generate sales worth tens of billions in their first year.
"In 2006, Gilead's three-in-one treatment drug Atripla was approved for launch, becoming the first single-pill Cocktail Therapy. In clinical trials, HIV levels decreased significantly after treatment in 80% of HIV patients. With its milestone status and excellent efficacy, the FDA used only three months to approve its application through the accelerated review process."
"In December 2013, Gilead's Hepatitis C drug Sovaldi, commonly known as 'Gilead First Generation,' was approved for launch. It completely outclassed all competitors in cure rate, adherence, and adverse reactions. The cure rate for Hepatitis C could reach around 90%. More importantly, no serious adverse reactions were found during clinical trials. After its launch, Sovaldi rapidly captured the market and became the new standard for Hepatitis C treatment. In 2014 alone, its first year on the market, Sovaldi's sales exceeded 10 billion US dollars."
You don't think you're smarter or more professional than the FDA and the Drug Administration Bureau, do you?
Before you continue