Chapter Summaries

Wei Kang invited Jian Lianyun to his new home, where she spent the day with him and prepared dinner. As he watched her cooking, he remembered waiting by the kitchen while his mother made meals.

• Wei Kang and Jian Lianyun arranged for her to visit his home and cook dinner the next day.
• Jian Lianyun bought groceries and met Wei Kang at Sanqing Garden, where they toured his villa and walked around the grounds.
• Wei Kang took photos of Jian Lianyun and they ate lunch together in the garden cafeteria.
• Jian Lianyun began preparing dinner at Wei Kang's villa while he stayed by the kitchen door.
• Watching Jian Lianyun cook reminded Wei Kang of waiting for his mother's meals when he was young.

Wei Kang and Jian Lianyun shared dinner, and Wei Kang opened up about why he had become a homebody after his parents died. Jian Lianyun stayed overnight at his villa, while Wei Kang turned his attention to the delayed third batch of Gene Sequencers.

• Jian Lianyun cooked dinner, and Wei Kang praised her food as they ate together.
• Jian Lianyun asked why Wei Kang lived at his company, and he explained that his parents' deaths had made him afraid to travel.
• Wei Kang invited Jian Lianyun to stay overnight because she had been drinking, and she accepted.
• Jian Lianyun washed the dishes while Wei Kang went upstairs to prepare the guest room.
• After Jian Lianyun went upstairs, Wei Kang called Zhao Xiaojie and asked why the third batch of Gene Sequencers had not arrived.

Wei Kang learned that Illumina had repeatedly delayed Three Purities’ Gene Sequencer shipment while other manufacturers refused to offer timely alternatives. He concluded that Western companies were coordinating a supply cutoff and asked Zhao Xiaojie what other options they had.

• Zhao Xiaojie told Wei Kang that Illumina had delayed the third batch of Gene Sequencers beyond the contract deadline with a succession of excuses.
• Zhao Xiaojie said Thermo Fisher and Roche could not deliver machines for more than half a year and admitted he had failed to prepare an adequate backup plan.
• Wei Kang recognized that the manufacturers’ refusals seemed coordinated and considered whether Western companies were targeting Three Purities.
• Wei Kang reviewed Illumina’s dominance of the Gene Sequencer market and the strategic importance of the equipment.
• Wei Kang concluded that Three Purities faced a deliberate supply cutoff and asked Zhao Xiaojie whether they had any other options.

After Illumina cut off Three Purities’ supply of sequencers, Zhao Xiaojie explained the risks of buying used machines and recommended domestic alternatives. Wei Kang ordered Three Purities to begin replacing Western equipment and consumables with domestic products, starting with Daxia Intelligent Manufacturing’s sequencers, and the chapter ended with him wondering why the two-year-old company had already become a target.

• Zhao Xiaojie told Wei Kang that buying secondhand Illumina sequencers would leave Three Purities vulnerable to maintenance refusals and reagent shortages.
• Zhao Xiaojie described Daxia Intelligent Manufacturing’s rise after Illumina cut off Daxia Group, explaining how it acquired foreign technology and developed domestic clinical-grade sequencers.
• Wei Kang questioned whether acquired foreign technology could produce machines competitive with Illumina, and Zhao Xiaojie admitted he had never properly evaluated Daxia’s products.
• Wei Kang ordered Zhao Xiaojie to prepare a report on domestic production of equipment, production lines, and consumables, and to order sequencers from Daxia Intelligent Manufacturing.
• Wei Kang directed that Three Purities’ Illumina machines be moved to the National Key Laboratory and that the new domestic machines be tested in the R&D Department.
• Wei Kang wondered why Illumina had targeted Three Purities so soon, even though he only wanted to sell medicine worldwide.

Jian Lianyun spent the night at Wei Kang’s home, where drinking wine and watching a movie left their relationship more ambiguous. The next morning, Daxia Intelligent Manufacturing’s Ren Bin received an urgent order inquiry from Three Purities and suspected Illumina had given the company an opening.

• Jian Lianyun joined Wei Kang for a movie, drank too much, and woke in bed the next morning embarrassed that he had carried her there.
• Jian Lianyun and Wei Kang avoided discussing the previous night and left for breakfast with a newly ambiguous atmosphere between them.
• Zhao Xiaojie of Three Purities called Ren Bin to discuss buying four Gene Sequencers and requested a quotation and technical specifications.
• Ren Bin agreed to discuss an initial order, promising to meet Three Purities’ urgent delivery schedule after the contract was signed.
• Ren Bin suspected Illumina’s actions had prompted Three Purities to seek a new supplier and decided Daxia Intelligent Manufacturing should seize the opportunity.

Wei Kang reviewed the risks and performance of domestic gene-sequencing companies, then ordered sequencers from Daxia Intelligent Manufacturing and Carbon Base for testing. As the equipment arrived at Three Purities, Huang Qin and Williams prepared to compare the new Chinese sequencers with Illumina’s platform.

• Anmei briefed Wei Kang on Daxia Intelligent Manufacturing’s listing troubles, patent litigation, ownership, reputation, and product performance, and Wei Kang decided to test its sequencers.
• Wei Kang considered fourth-generation nanopore sequencing and approved trial purchases from Carbon Base, the only domestic company with a nanopore sequencer nearing mass production.
• Zhao Xiaojie arranged orders for sequencers from both companies and prepared to visit their factories and sign contracts.
• Carbon Base president Qi Jun told Zhao Xiaojie about the company’s production plans, research collaborations, and forensic applications, and the two sides settled on an initial order.
• Huang Qin arrived at the Gene Laboratory, where Williams invited him to test the newly installed Chinese gene sequencers against Illumina’s platform.

Daxia Intelligent Manufacturing’s sequencers impressed the laboratory with fast, useful Nanopore results, while tests showed its second-generation machines still lagged behind Illumina in accuracy and analysis software. Williams privately warned an overseas contact that Three Purities’ domestic production posed a threat, but the reply dismissed his concerns.

• Jiang Kai introduced Daxia Intelligent Manufacturing’s Nanopore sequencers, and the staff began testing samples, including drug-resistant E. coli.
• Huang Qin and Williams watched the new machine produce real-time results with a 98% match rate, and Jiang Kai noted that it revealed structural variations missed by second-generation sequencing.
• Three days later, Jiang Kai reported that Daxia Intelligent Manufacturing’s second-generation results were usable but less accurate than Illumina’s and needed better algorithms and analysis software.
• Williams secretly emailed an overseas contact that Three Purities’ full domestic production would cause losses, but the contact insisted that the overall advantage remained theirs.
• Williams concluded that the overseas executives did not understand Three Purities’ strength and decided to focus on his job.

Daxia Intelligent Manufacturing improved its gene sequencers with Three Purities' help, expanded sales, and successfully went public, while Illumina's share price fell. Illumina executives planned a counterattack based on patent lawsuits, lower costs, and expansion into genetic testing.

• Ren Bin sent Daxia Intelligent Manufacturing's technical staff to Three Purities, where they raised sequencing accuracy to 99.9%.
• Ren Bin ordered a shipment to Camel Country unpacked and upgraded before delivery, and Camel Country's successful tests led to new contracts.
• Daxia Intelligent Manufacturing gained customers across the Desert Countries, increased sales, and passed its STAR Market listing application.
• Daxia Intelligent Manufacturing's share price climbed close to 100 yuan as Illumina's stock price plunged.
• Dr. Anthony and Illumina's executives discussed their losses in China and decided to fight Daxia through patent lawsuits, lower costs, and expansion into genetic testing.

Li Chengmin livestreamed a demonstration of his handheld gene sequencer, using DNA from a woman’s phone to identify Helicobacter pylori and warn her to seek medical care. A viewer called No Regrets then announced he was bringing DNA samples from himself and his son for a paternity test, leaving Li Chengmin waiting nervously at the café.

• Li Chengmin introduced his portable nanopore Gene Sequencer to his livestream viewers and collected DNA from a young woman’s phone case.
• Li Chengmin sequenced the samples and told the woman that the results indicated a Helicobacter pylori infection, prompting her to leave for medical care.
• Li Chengmin discussed the sequencer’s uses, and viewer No Regrets asked whether he could perform a paternity test.
• No Regrets said he was in the same city and would bring samples from himself and his son to the café.
• The livestream surged in popularity as viewers anticipated the test, while Li Chengmin nervously watched the entrance.

Li Chengmin performed a paternity test for No Regrets and learned that the man had no biological parent-child relationship with the child, leaving him devastated. The viral livestream popularized the Nano-hole Sequencer and Carbon-based Company, while Wei Kang returned to the laboratory to extract side effects from new prescriptions.

• No Regrets brought Li Chengmin two hair samples and explained that he had long suspected the child was not his, but had feared testing would destroy his family.
• Li Chengmin explained DNA paternity testing to his viewers while No Regrets waited anxiously for the results.
• Li Chengmin confirmed that the test could not establish a parent-child relationship, and No Regrets left in distress.
• Fans and marketing accounts spread clips of the livestream, making it trend online and boosting sales of the Nano-hole Sequencer and Carbon-based Company.
• Wei Kang entered the laboratory and found a new batch of prescriptions ready for side-effect extraction.

Wei Kang reviewed the new abandoned prescriptions contributed by Three Purities’ R&D staff and selected seven valuable side effects for extraction. He left the chapter ready to develop drugs for cardiovascular disease and several other markets.

• Wei Kang found that the database had gained more than seven hundred abandoned prescriptions after the employee incentive program motivated researchers to submit their work.
• Wei Kang sorted the prescriptions by the value of their side effects and focused on drug categories where Three Purities lacked major products.
• Wei Kang selected an acute nephritis prescription whose side effect prevented platelet aggregation and dissolved fibrin, potentially treating thrombosis.
• Wei Kang selected a lupus prescription whose side effect regulated sodium and potassium levels, potentially lowering blood pressure and protecting blood vessels.
• Wei Kang identified other useful side effects that could support depilatory cream, scar-removal cream, anti-allergy medicine, insecticide, and medicine for feline infectious peritonitis.
• Wei Kang marked seven prescriptions and decided to extract their side effects first.

Wei Kang selected seven promising drug formulas and extracted them into new medicines, planning to advance their clinical trials and market launches steadily. He left the chapter with Sanqing Group preparing to expand into pesticide and veterinary medicine while developing several other major product lines.

• Wei Kang chose seven formulas from more than a hundred, mindful that clinical trials and commercialization required substantial resources.
• Wei Kang checked the inventors and found that Chen Yiqing had developed a drug for feline infectious peritonitis, Gu Xian had improved an insecticide, and newcomer Zhang Li had produced an allergy-blocking formula by accident.
• Wei Kang noticed that Xiang Gaofei had contributed nothing this time and realized that managing the Dragon Map branch had taken him away from research.
• Wei Kang used the system to extract seven side effects into new drug formulas and copied down the prescriptions.
• Wei Kang planned to push the new medicines toward market, expanding Sanqing Group into pesticide and veterinary medicine and strengthening its other businesses.

Wei Kang reviewed a fast-acting antihypertensive and an anti-thrombotic drug with the potential to compete in enormous markets, then assigned their prescriptions for development. He recognized that their lengthy clinical trials would delay approval, while several other products from Three Purities could reach the market sooner.

• Wei Kang examined a new antihypertensive drug that could lower blood pressure quickly, keep it stable, and cause fewer side effects than existing medications.
• He reviewed a highly effective anti-thrombotic drug that both prevented platelet aggregation and dissolved fibrin.
• Wei Kang assigned the seven prescriptions to his laboratory employees and began development of the two cardiovascular drugs.
• He noted that the antihypertensive and anti-thrombotic drugs required lengthy clinical trials and could not use the fast-track approval process.
• Wei Kang assessed the simpler testing and approval paths for Three Purities' hair removal cream, scar removal cream, anti-allergy medicine, insecticide, and Veterinary Medicine.

Wenren Long guided Wang Yong and his team through fixing their flawed experiments, allowing them to develop a promising new anticoagulant. When Wenren Long proudly presented it to Wei Kang, Wei Kang revealed he had already developed two other cardiovascular drugs and assigned all three to Wenren Long for clinical trials.

• Wenren Long finished his fast-paced training class, leaving a new postdoc struggling to keep up while Wang Yong lamented how difficult the lectures were.
• Wang Yong brought Wenren Long the team's anticoagulant project, and Wenren Long identified flaws in their experimental procedure rather than in the AI model or algorithm.
• Wenren Long explained how to improve the experiments, and Wang Yong and his five teammates later found a promising new Coagulation Factor Antagonist.
• Wenren Long presented the team's anticoagulant to Wei Kang, who praised its potential against Apixaban but revealed he had also developed an antihypertensive drug and an anti-thrombotic drug.
• Wei Kang assigned all three cardiovascular drugs to Wenren Long to oversee in clinical trials, leaving Wenren Long newly awed by his boss.

Wei Kang assigned Sanqing’s remaining innovative drug projects to his staff, including the FIP antiviral to Chen Yiqing. Chen began arranging animal clinical trials and reflected on the promise of China’s pet medicine market.

• Wei Kang reviewed Sanqing’s progress in developing independent research and development capabilities and assigned the antihypertensive and anti-thrombotic drugs to Wenren Long.
• Wei Kang arranged for CRO companies to handle trials for the scar-removal cream, hair-removal cream, and insecticide.
• Wei Kang assigned the FIP antiviral project to Chen Yiqing, who eagerly accepted and asked to direct a future animal healthcare laboratory.
• Wei Kang assigned the anti-allergy drug project to Li Zhong, whose clinical trial and market-launch work had earned Wei Kang’s trust.
• Chen Yiqing studied the animal experiment report, considered the shortage of specialized pet medicines and the severity of feline infectious peritonitis, and contacted a pet hospital to arrange animal clinical trials.

Chen Yiqing arranged clinical trials for Sanqing Pharmaceutical’s new FIP antiviral and watched it quickly ease a severely ill tabby cat’s symptoms. Director Fang called late that night, excitedly declaring the medicine incredible, but the chapter ended before he explained what had happened.

• Chen Yiqing arranged clinical trials with Xinchen Pet Hospital and contacted a CRO company about the new antiviral.
• Chen Yiqing recommended Xinchen Pet Hospital to Magical Girl after she reported that her kitten had diarrhea, a fever, convulsions, and an abdominal lump.
• At Xinchen Pet Hospital, Director Fang gave the antiviral to a tabby cat with severe wet FIP, and the cat’s breathing improved after the initial and increased doses.
• Director Fang observed that the tabby cat regained energy and ate half a can of cat food, then agreed to update Chen Yiqing on its recovery the next day.
• Director Fang called Chen Yiqing late that night and excitedly praised the medicine as incredible.

After Sanqing's medicine rapidly improved a sick cat, Chen Yiqing offered it for free to a group member whose cat had FIP, but the group accused him of selling fake drugs. He realized In the Water was promoting her own generic 441 medicine, and Magical Girl ordered it before Chen Yiqing went to bed.

• Director Fang told Chen Yiqing that the cat treated with Sanqing's medicine was recovering quickly and would likely be fully well within three days.
• Magical Girl asked the Cute Stuff Group for help because her cat had FIP and its doctor had given up hope.
• Chen Yiqing offered to bring Magical Girl a free FIP miracle drug, but In the Water and other members accused him of peddling fake medicine.
• In the Water promoted generic 441 and sent Magical Girl a seller's link, and Magical Girl ordered the medicine for delivery the next day.
• Chen Yiqing realized In the Water was selling generic 441, decided that any effective treatment mattered, and went to sleep.

Chen Yiqing visited Xinchen Pet Hospital and discovered that Magical Girl’s cat Snowflake had worsened after she bought counterfeit 441 from In the Water. Director Fang treated Snowflake with Chen’s medicine, and the cat quickly improved; Magical Girl then learned In the Water had been arrested for selling counterfeit drugs.

• Chen Yiqing read Director Fang’s updates about cats recovering with the new medicine and arranged to visit the hospital.
• Chen Yiqing toured the hospital and saw several cats with feline infectious peritonitis being treated after three others had recovered and been discharged.
• Magical Girl brought in Snowflake, whose condition had worsened after she took counterfeit 441 bought from In the Water.
• Chen Yiqing recognized Magical Girl from their group chat, and Director Fang explained his credentials and the medicine’s origin to her.
• Director Fang gave Snowflake Chen’s medicine, and the kitten soon opened its eyes, ate, and breathed more easily.
• Magical Girl checked the group chat and learned that In the Water had been arrested and criminally detained for selling substandard and counterfeit drugs.

Chen Yiqing learned that In the Water and her daughter had been arrested for making and selling counterfeit cat medicine, while Magical Girl’s cat improved after receiving Sanqing’s FIP Antiviral at Xinchen Pet Hospital. As public attention turned to Sanqing’s drug trials, Wei Kang announced the company’s entry into the pet medicine market and established its Animal Protection department.

• Kun Ma told the group that In the Water and her daughter had been arrested on suspicion of producing and selling substandard drugs, with sales reaching ten million over two years.
• Magical Girl showed the group that Snowflake was eating and improving after taking Sanqing’s FIP Antiviral at Xinchen Pet Hospital, and explained that Chen Yiqing worked for Sanqing and had brought the medicine there for clinical trials.
• Group members apologized to Chen Yiqing, who explained that the FIP Antiviral was undergoing trials and could be administered legally at Xinchen Pet Hospital.
• News of In the Water’s arrest and Sanqing’s FIP Antiviral spread online, prompting Wei Kang to announce Sanqing’s entry into the pet medicine market.
• Wei Kang decided Sanqing should develop more pet medicines, and the company established its Animal Protection department within a week.

Sanqing Group prepared to launch its scar removal cream and depilatory cream, which Wei Kang expected to become highly successful products. After Sheng Changya asked to try them, he approved her and other employees to participate in testing under clinical trial rules.

• Sanqing Group established new animal health and crop divisions while awaiting approvals for its products.
• Wei Kang considered the scar removal cream a major opportunity because it could remove scars rather than merely fade them.
• Sheng Changya told Wei Kang that female employees were eager to try the scar removal and depilatory creams.
• Sheng Changya showed Wei Kang a burn scar on her hand and asked to test the scar cream, and he agreed to arrange samples for eligible employees.
• Sheng Changya also asked to test the depilatory cream before a beach vacation, and Wei Kang approved her request subject to the rules.