President Wei's Sweet, Tempting Promise

Zhao Xiaojie was an honest-looking middle-aged man and an old employee who had always worked diligently.

After entering, he smiled respectfully and said, "President Wei, what can I do for you?"

Wei Kang handed him a stack of signed raw material purchase orders.

"Our company's New Anti-Cancer Drug has been very successful lately. Hurry and order another batch of raw materials. The R&D department needs them urgently."

Zhao Xiaojie nodded and accepted them. After giving them a rough glance, he found that they were all commonly purchased raw materials they had ordered before.

He could not help asking, "President Wei, are these all ingredients for the anti-cancer drug? They all look like routine purchases. There's nothing new here."

Wei Kang smiled. "That's right. This anti-cancer drug was developed by improving upon drugs we had researched before, so there's nothing unusual about the raw materials."

Zhao Xiaojie said excitedly, "President Wei, you're amazing! Our company is about to take off. Becoming a publicly listed company in the future isn't impossible either."

Wei Kang laughed. "Your vision is too small. Think bigger. In the future, Three Purities will not only become the number one pharmaceutical company in the country, but also a global pharmaceutical giant. Work hard, and once the company grows, you'll be one of its founding veterans."

Faced with the grand promise President Wei had painted for him, Zhao Xiaojie gladly swallowed it whole. He beamed with joy, and when he left with the purchase orders, he was brimming with motivation.

Next came four or five people from the R&D department. Every one of them looked at Wei Kang with admiration shining in their eyes.

Although they were still rookie researchers who could only do odd jobs in the laboratory, they knew how incredible it was to independently develop a New Anti-Cancer Drug.

They all regarded Wei Kang as their idol, practically placing him on the same level as the great chemists in textbooks.

After all, those great figures existed only in legend, while President Wei was right beside them.

What a wonderful person to learn from. By following President Wei, they would surely pick up something. Even if they learned one-tenth—no, one percent—of President Wei's abilities, they would be able to hold their heads high anywhere.

If they could develop a new drug alongside President Wei, that would be an extraordinary credential, the kind of project experience that would make them impressive at any pharmaceutical company.

And if the company continued to grow, promotions and raises would naturally follow, wouldn't they?

In short, before President Wei had even said a word, this group had already imagined an entire elite life for themselves.

Wei Kang looked at them with an approving smile.

"Although you haven't been with the company for very long, all of you have been diligent and hardworking. You work tirelessly in the laboratory every day, and I have seen all of it."

"You've worked hard! Although Three Purities is a small company, I'm sure you've all heard that our New Anti-Cancer Drug has been successfully developed. This could not have happened without your support and effort. Once the new drug reaches the market, you will all deserve credit, and your year-end bonuses will be very generous."

"Keep working hard and grow with the company. Once the company takes off, you will all become key personnel. Your futures are bright!"

The rookie researchers were so flattered that they felt dizzy. Their cheeks flushed red, and they were too excited to speak, only nodding again and again.

Wei Kang looked at a young man with a rectangular face and glasses, smiling as he said, "Li Zhong, you've performed very well over the past half year. Starting today, you'll be the R&D team leader. Let's all keep working hard. Once the company hires more people, all of you will receive promotions and raises."

Li Zhong had never expected to be promoted after only half a year at the new company. He was stunned for a moment before finally coming to his senses and thanking him with immense joy.

He knew that he was only an undergraduate. Though his university was decent and barely counted as a lower-tier Project 211 school, undergraduates were basically at the bottom of the ladder in major pharmaceutical companies and had little chance of entering R&D.

Three Purities happened to be a local pharmaceutical company. It was close to home, housing prices were not high, and the pressure of living expenses was manageable, so he was very satisfied with his current job.

As a graduate of the notoriously difficult biochemistry, environmental science, and materials science fields, he did not have many great job options. Back then, he had only obtained this assistant researcher position in the laboratory after barely passing President Wei's professional interview.

He was always conscientious at work, and after getting off work, he continued reading and studying to improve his professional knowledge.

Now, President Wei had noticed all his hard work and finally recognized his efforts, promoting him to team leader.

His heart surged with emotion, and he was deeply grateful to President Wei.

Seeing his other colleagues staring at him with envy, Li Zhong could not help straightening his back. He was full of vigor, and the exhaustion from staying up late studying materials last night vanished instantly. He was as excited as if he had taken stimulants.

People from the other departments were also called into Wei Kang's office one after another, where he offered them warm encouragement. They emerged from the office full of energy.

By now, they all knew that the company had developed a New Anti-Cancer Drug. Their turnaround was imminent, and all that remained was to launch it and make a fortune.

Every one of them was confident and energized. They worked with even greater enthusiasm, all hoping to board the company's great ship and achieve their dream of financial freedom as soon as possible.

By the time everyone in the company had been reassured, the city lights had begun to shine.

Wei Kang stretched and yawned, suddenly feeling a wave of exhaustion wash over him.

He reached for his cup, preparing to take a drink and moisten his throat.

His gaze swept across the back of his hand, and he suddenly froze.

Huh? Why is the back of my hand so fair and smooth?

He hurriedly compared it with his right hand.

The contrast was stark, as though they did not belong to the same person.

The back of his left hand was fair as jade, as tender and pale as the skin on his legs. The skin on the back of his right hand was not too bad, but after being exposed to wind and sun every day, it carried a dark reddish tint.

He was instantly baffled. After thinking for a moment, he remembered that he had applied the newly developed Whitening Cream to his left hand earlier.

He was immediately overjoyed. The effect is way too good! It's only been half a day, and it's already gone from dark to fair.

After considering it carefully, he realized that would not do. This was not a medicine, but something intended to become a whitening cosmetic product. The effect could not be this powerful. Otherwise, if customers became fair-skinned the same day they applied it, they would be scared to death and assume it contained hormones harmful to the human body.

Generally speaking, the skin's metabolic cycle was twenty-eight days. This whitening and freckle-removal product needed to work quickly enough to crush similar products, but not so quickly that it frightened customers. Limiting the effect to one or two weeks seemed more reasonable.

He quickly adjusted the formula, lowering the concentration of the active ingredient to around one-tenth of the previous ointment's effect. That should be about right.

After all, this formula was meant for collaboration with cosmetics companies. It needed to be astonishing, but not so unbelievable that they would think it was pure fantasy.

Of course, when the products were specifically formulated later, different concentrations would be used depending on the product type.

For instance, expensive products like serums would naturally have the highest concentration, followed by face creams. Facial masks, toners, and cleansers would have progressively lower concentrations.

Don't ask why cleansers would contain whitening ingredients. The answer was simple: making money!

For a moment, Wei Kang became engrossed in the bright financial prospects of his new Whitening Drug. Before his eyes, it seemed as though a dazzling golden river stretched across the entire ceiling, its golden waters flowing endlessly.

Heh heh. He wiped a drop of drool from the corner of his mouth and could not resist calling Zhang Bo.

"General Manager Zhang, I have a whitening medicine here, and I need to trouble you with conducting a Phase II clinical trial."

Zhang Bo was astonished. "What? President Wei, you've developed another new drug? Isn't that way too fast?"

"Heh heh, it's alright. Just a little faster than other pharmaceutical companies." Wei Kang naturally had to be modest. He had always kept a low profile.

"Cough, cough." Coughing came from the other end of the line. Zhang Bo seemed to have choked and said helplessly, "President Wei, you can't play like this. You develop new drugs like a hen lays eggs. How are other pharmaceutical companies supposed to survive? Hahaha."

He immediately became excited again. "Alright, I'll come over right away. Clinical trials for topical drugs are very simple."

"Mm." Wei Kang nodded. "That's right. I mainly want to sell this formula to cosmetics companies. The report only needs to show that it works and has no toxic side effects. Once it becomes a whitening product, it will still need to be filed with the Drug Administration Bureau and tested as a special cosmetic product."

"However, we won't need many people this time, but the process needs to be sped up. It would be best if you could give it to me by the end of the month. I'll need it for next month's anti-cancer drug press conference."

Sea City, Oulaiya headquarters building.

Sheng Changya held a cup of Starbucks coffee in her left hand while rapidly browsing the web with her right.

"Huh?"

Her mouse paused over a certain page on Langbo.

It was the notice Wei Kang had posted for the anti-cancer drug press conference.

However, unlike most netizens, who had only noticed the new drug press conference—

As a product manager for an international cosmetics group,

She had keenly noticed the latter half of the announcement.

"A new whitening and freckle-removal drug formula?"

Sheng Changya murmured to herself, unable to stop her interest from stirring.