Chapter Summaries

Sanqing launched its Alzheimer’s special-effect drug worldwide for 999 domestically and 999 US dollars overseas, drawing widespread praise and a rush of demand. After overseas insurance covered it and the first three million export boxes sold out in three days, investors flocked to Sanqing, which rejected their offers.

• Sanqing announced the drug’s prices, dosage information, and medical-insurance coverage, prompting patients, experts, and netizens to praise its affordability.
• Netizens calculated the drug’s potential revenues and speculated that Wei Kang could become the world’s richest man.
• Overseas patients petitioned for coverage, and the Eagle Country Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services added the drug to Medicare.
• Patients rushed to pharmacies, and Sanqing sold all three million boxes prepared for overseas markets within three days, earning three billion dollars.
• Major banks and investment institutions sent Sanqing investment requests, but Sanqing politely turned them down.

After Wei Kang announced that Sanqing would invest heavily in research and keep its pharmaceutical business private, Academician Chang Sanwei published a post criticizing the domestic industry’s low R&D spending and lavish praise for Sanqing. Wei Kang recruited Chang as an honorary consultant and arranged university-enterprise cooperation with Jingda, hoping to attract top researchers and build a world-leading biochemical R&D base.

• Wei Kang announced that Sanqing’s drug research had entered a virtuous cycle, that it planned to increase R&D spending, and that its pharmaceutical business would not go public.
• Chang Sanwei published an analysis comparing domestic pharmaceutical companies’ low research spending and high marketing costs with Sanqing’s commitment to drug development.
• Netizens praised Chang’s post and debated whether Sanqing could lead the industry toward greater investment in research.
• Wei Kang contacted Chang through Academician Qi and invited him to become Sanqing’s honorary consultant.
• Sanqing proposed strategic cooperation with Jingda’s Biology and Chemistry departments to strengthen its research capabilities and recruit top talent.

Zhao Li’s family celebrated his father’s recovery thanks to Sanqing’s medicine, while Sanqing’s leaders chose neural stem cells as their next research target. The company invited scholars worldwide to join the project, prompting global debate, and Wei Kang received a phone call.

• Zhao Li’s family enjoyed a New Year outing and discussed his son’s plan to study pharmaceuticals and work for Sanqing.
• Sanqing employees returned to work after receiving generous bonuses and discussed their company-sponsored vacation.
• Wei Kang proposed researching a medicine that could activate neural stem cells and regenerate atrophied brain neurons.
• Wenren Long, Tang Que, and Chen Yiqing agreed to join the research project, and Wei Kang praised their commitment.
• Sanqing invited scholars worldwide to help research adult neural stem cells, provoking a global uproar.
• Wei Kang received a phone call as the debate over Sanqing’s announcement continued.

Wei Kang learned that he had won the Lasker Clinical Medical Research Award and arranged for Chen Yiqing to accept it for him. The honor prompted him to consider establishing a major science award in China to support basic research.

• George of the Lasker Foundation called Wei Kang to tell him he had won the Clinical Medical Research Award and explain the prize arrangements.
• Wei Kang told Three Purities' administration about the award, and the company staff celebrated the news.
• As he reflected on the lack of Chinese names among major international award recipients, Wei Kang decided to explore creating a well-funded science award in China.
• Wei Kang replied that Chen Yiqing would accept the Lasker Award on his behalf because he could not travel.
• Three Purities announced Wei Kang's award, and congratulations from academics and the public followed as the news spread across the internet.

After Wei Kang won the Lasker Award, a street interview reminded him to resume Sanqing Beauty’s delayed hair-growth project. Celebrity Xu Heng used the serum and regrew thick hair within a month, sending the product viral and leaving netizens demanding its release date.

• Official media reported Wei Kang’s Lasker Award, and interviewees praised his medicines while a balding man asked him to create a hair-growth solution.
• Wei Kang remembered that Sheng Changya had been tasked with developing Sanqing Beauty’s haircare line and decided the launch was near.
• Xu Heng received Sanqing Beauty’s hair-growth serum and applied it to his bald scalp twice a day.
• One month later, Xu Heng showed off his newly grown hair at the Golden Flower Film Awards and credited Sanqing Beauty’s serum.
• Photos of Xu Heng’s transformation topped online searches, and netizens flooded Wei Kang’s Langbo homepage asking when the serum would go on sale.

Zhang Jun bought Three Purities Hair Growth Solution and regrew his hair, then discovered his coworkers had done the same. The product’s success devastated competitors and gave Three Purities an 80% share of the hair-care market.

• Zhang Jun saw tech creator Luo Xiaohei reveal his thick hair and learned from the comments that Sanqing Beauty’s hair growth serum had helped him.
• Zhang Jun ordered three bottles and used the serum until his bald crown grew glossy black hair.
• Zhang Jun arrived at work without a hat and found that all his coworkers had also grown thick hair after using the serum.
• More customers trusted the serum after seeing its results on people they knew and began buying Three Purities hair-care products.
• Three Purities Hair Growth Solution seized 80% of the market as competitors lost sales, transformed their businesses, or went bankrupt.

Three Purities Hair Growth Serum spread overseas and gave Bull Country’s balding royal family and men a way to regrow their hair. After the serum received international approvals, Edward and David met in Mist City with thick hair beneath their hats.

• Overseas demand for Sanqing hair-growth serum drove proxy purchases, sold out supplies, and led Sanqing Beauty to limit each ID to three bottles.
• First Prince imported the serum and applied it daily, hoping to reverse the Bull Country royal family’s inherited baldness.
• Half a month later, First Prince found new hair growing and shared the news with his family.
• Old Prince and Second Prince used the serum, and a month later the royal family appeared at a ceremony with thick hair, inspiring Bull Country’s bald men.
• After Three Purities Hair Growth Serum received FDA approval and entered markets worldwide, Edward and David met in Mist City and revealed their newly regrown hair.

Chen Yiqing accepted the Lasker Award on Wei Kang’s behalf and announced Sanqing’s plans to research human brain neural stem cells. Global pharmaceutical companies and Eagle Country responded by forming an alliance and committing major funding to surpass Sanqing.

• Chen Yiqing accepted the Lasker Award for Wei Kang and praised Sanqing’s medical research in his speech.
• Medical experts crowded around Chen Yiqing, eager to speak with him and learn about Sanqing’s work.
• Novartis executives and researchers vowed to compete with Sanqing and revealed that global pharmaceutical giants had formed an alliance.
• Pfizer, Bayer, Johnson & Johnson, and other companies and institutions joined the effort to advance neural stem cell research.
• An Eagle Country agency approved five years of funding at one billion U.S. dollars annually to support research aimed at surpassing Sanqing.

Chen Yiqing reunited with Harvard alumni and learned that Xiang Gaofei had attempted suicide after suffering depression and work-related pressure. He persuaded Xiang and other researchers to consider joining Sanqing, while an Eagle Country agency revealed it had placed a secret operative inside the company.

• Chen Yiqing arrived at an alumni gathering and learned Xiang Gaofei was hospitalized after trying to kill himself.
• Chen visited Xiang, who explained that career setbacks, depression, and the pressure of hiding his illness had driven him to despair.
• Chen urged Xiang to return to China and offered him a role at Sanqing's AI Pharmaceutical Laboratory, which Xiang accepted.
• Chen described Sanqing's benefits to the alumni, and Little Jiang showed interest in joining if he could work under a technically skilled supervisor.
• Saul told Chris to keep their secret operative in Sanqing classified, and Chris said he could control the operative through greed.

Duan Cheng referred Chen Ping, whose six-month-old son needed the controlled drug Clobazam, to Gu Xian, but Gu Xian refused to help. After Chen Ping died with her child, Jian Lianyun asked Wei Kang whether Sanqing would make a generic version of Clobazam.

• Duan Cheng gave Chen Ping Gu Xian's address after learning that her infant son needed Clobazam and she had no remaining supply.
• Gu Xian refused to provide the controlled drug, and Chen Ping left the shop in despair.
• Gu Xian synthesized Clobazam several days later, but Duan Cheng told him Chen Ping had jumped from a building with her child.
• Gu Xian blamed himself after reading the news of Chen Ping's death.
• Jian Lianyun told Wei Kang that thousands of parents were calling for legal access to Clobazam and asked whether Sanqing would make a generic version.

After learning about families’ struggle to obtain Clobazam, Wei Kang decided Three Purities would launch a Rare Disease generic drug program, starting with Clobazam. He assigned Li Zhong to prepare the project and publicly pledged to make affordable orphan drug generics available through legitimate channels.

• Jian Lianyun asked Wei Kang whether Three Purities would make a generic version of Clobazam, and he said the company would consider a broader Rare Disease drug strategy.
• Wei Kang read the viral open letter from families seeking legal access to Clobazam and researched the challenges facing Rare Disease drug development.
• Wei Kang decided Three Purities would begin producing generic Rare Disease drugs with Clobazam, then pursue original drugs for other conditions.
• Wei Kang instructed Li Zhong to compile a list of Rare Diseases, treatments, and expired-patent drugs, and to urgently prepare the Clobazam project application.
• Wei Kang informed Jian Lianyun of his decision and posted Three Purities’ commitment to produce affordable Rare Disease generics online.

Sanqing began developing generic Clobazam and met Gu Xian, a pharmacist who had already created and supplied an improved version to families of children with refractory epilepsy. Haunted by his refusal to help Chen Ping, Gu offered Sanqing his formulation and patents so the medicine could reach patients quickly.

• Sanqing announced its generic Clobazam project, and Wei Kang told parents it could take one to three months to produce samples and begin testing.
• Gu Xian revealed that he had a mature Clobazam formulation and gave Wei Kang a bottle of samples for laboratory testing.
• After the parents left, Gu told Wei Kang how his mother's cancer had driven him to make affordable generic medicines and how he had been arrested after competing with smugglers.
• Gu explained that he had refused Chen Ping's request for Clobazam, then regretted it after she died and began supplying an improved generic to children who could not obtain medicine.
• Gu offered Sanqing his Clobazam technology and related patents, hoping the company would bring the drug to market quickly and ease his guilt over Chen Ping.

Wei Kang learned that Gu Xian had developed an unusually high-quality generic drug formulation and called to offer him a position at Three Purities. Gu Xian agreed to join, provided he could work on the Orphan Drug generic drug project.

• Gu Xian gave Wei Kang his contact information, and Wei Kang agreed to review the sample and pursue the Clobazam generic.
• Wei Kang considered the technical challenges of generic drugs and went to the laboratory to check the sample results.
• Li Zhong reported that the sample had very low impurities, high uniformity, and strong stability, while Wenren Long and Chen Yiqing praised its formulation and crystal structure.
• Wenren Long and Chen Yiqing competed to recruit Gu Xian into their research groups, while Tang Que watched.
• Wei Kang called Gu Xian and offered him a job at Three Purities or a purchase of his technical materials.
• Gu Xian accepted a job at Three Purities on the condition that he join the Orphan Drug generic drug project, and Chen Yiqing reconsidered his chance to recruit him later.

Gu Xian joined Sanqing and began developing a generic version of Clobazam, while he and Duan Cheng discussed ways to help patients access affordable medicine. The drug launched a month later to widespread praise, as patients and parents called on Sanqing to develop treatments for other diseases.

• Wei Kang arranged for Gu Xian to join Sanqing and oversee generic drug work with Li Zhong.
• Gu Xian told Duan Cheng he would work on generic Clobazam and rare-disease medicines, and Duan Cheng proposed setting up an India-based website to ship generics directly to domestic patients.
• Gu Xian completed his onboarding at Sanqing and began clinical research on generic Clobazam.
• Sanqing developed a version with fewer impurities and side effects, improved sustained release, and a weekly rather than daily dosage, and the government expedited its approval.
• Sanqing launched generic Clobazam a month later at half the original drug's price, prompting thanks from parents and calls for treatments for other illnesses.

Sanqing launched nine generic drugs for rare diseases, giving patients access to treatments that had been unavailable or unaffordable. Li Lei began treatment for Fabre Disease, Fang Chao’s child was set to receive Nitisinone, and Old Mr. Zhou obtained Pyridostigmine after it returned to pharmacies.

• Wei Kang approved Gu Xian’s report on nine completed rare-disease generics, and Sanqing announced the drugs’ launch.
• Li Lei learned that Sanqing’s generic Fabrazyme cost far less than the imported drug, and his doctor arranged treatment for him.
• Fang Chao learned that Sanqing’s newly launched Nitisinone could treat his child’s suspected rare metabolic disease, and the doctor prepared an application for the medicine.
• Old Mr. Zhou learned that Sanqing had launched Pyridostigmine after months of shortages, and his son bought him a supply at the pharmacy.
• Old Mr. Zhou read in his patient support group that Sanqing planned to keep producing Pyridostigmine even at a loss, and he felt reassured.

Three Purities’ launch of cheap, highly effective generic drugs alarmed Teva and Sun Pharma, both of which feared losing market share. Teva planned layoffs and new products, while Sun Pharma moved to avoid direct competition and secure first-generic launches.

• Schultz told Teva’s executives that Three Purities had launched a generic Glatiramer in China and ordered them to develop next-generation products.
• Schultz proposed cutting ten thousand employees and later using the savings to acquire companies and expand Teva’s product line.
• Sanghavi confronted Sun Pharma executives over falling sales of its generic Tregolide and Bosentan tablets in China.
• Sun Pharma’s executives said Three Purities had undercut their prices while matching the original drugs’ effectiveness with fewer side effects.
• Sanghavi ordered Sun Pharma to avoid direct competition with Three Purities, focus on drugs still protected by patents, and secure first-generic status for drugs whose patents had expired.

Wei Kang reviewed Sanqing’s accumulated drug formulas, aiming to expand the company’s product line, and extracted a compound with exceptional moisturizing and skin-repairing properties. He named it the Super Moisturizing Factor and continued searching the archive for more useful formulas.

• Wei Kang considered how Sanqing could broaden its product lines and compete across more pharmaceutical markets.
• Wei Kang found a formula for a bone-marrow blood-production drug whose side effects included an unknown ingredient that repaired skin cells and increased moisture.
• Wei Kang extracted the ingredient through the system and received a new formula for a gentle compound that moisturized skin and promoted natural skin-secretions.
• Wei Kang named the compound the Super Moisturizing Factor and recognized its potential in cosmetics and dermatology.
• Wei Kang recorded the formula and continued reviewing the archive to extract more compounds.

Wei Kang extracted ten valuable drug prescriptions from his employees’ research, giving Three Purities a broad new product lineup. He identified Xiang Gaofei as the source of many promising formulas and planned to use the results to encourage more drug development.

• Wei Kang reviewed the extracted prescriptions, including new painkillers and weight-loss medicine, several common treatments with fewer side effects, and an accidental male contraceptive pill.
• Wei Kang checked his key subordinates’ research and learned that Chen Yiqing was working on pet medicine while Tang Que was pursuing biopharmaceuticals and rare-disease treatments.
• Wei Kang discovered that Wenren Long’s failed virility enhancer had produced the male contraceptive pill as a side effect, and laughed at the unexpected result.
• Wei Kang found that Xiang Gaofei had developed more than a dozen formulas and contributed five of the extracted medicines, including a hemostatic drug, a diuretic, and a painkiller.
• Wei Kang decided to showcase the successful prescriptions to motivate employees to develop more drugs, pleased with the eleven medicines in the harvest.

Wei Kang revealed a portfolio of drug formulas to the Four Heavenly Kings, including promising hemostatic and nonaddictive painkiller candidates. After assigning research priorities, he approved Wenren Long's request to continue developing his formula series, leaving Wenren eager to test the male contraceptive pill.

• Wei Kang showed the Four Heavenly Kings the formulas, and they praised the potential of the hemostatic drug and painkiller.
• Chen Yiqing volunteered to oversee animal testing of the painkiller, while Wenren Long said a nonaddictive version could attract global demand.
• Wei Kang revealed a male contraceptive pill derived from Wenren Long's aphrodisiac formula, and the group laughed as Wenren agreed to test it himself.
• Wei Kang assigned research and testing priorities for the drug portfolio and directed Wenren Long to manage the contraceptive pill's preclinical testing.
• Wenren Long asked to continue developing his formula series, and Wei Kang gave him permission to proceed.

Chen Yiqing and Wei Kang celebrated Three Purities' Super Hemostatic Agent, which stopped bleeding in three seconds, and agreed to pursue a drug that could rapidly heal wounds. As the company's other drugs entered clinical trials, Wei Kang accepted Jian Lianyun's invitation to dinner and began looking through her social media.

• Chen Yiqing brought Wei Kang test results showing the Super Hemostatic Agent could stop bleeding rapidly and performed well in laboratory and animal tests.
• Wei Kang called the drug a potential star product and directed the company to begin Phase II and Phase III Clinical Trials.
• Chen Yiqing proposed developing a drug to accelerate wound healing, and Wei Kang approved the research project.
• As the company's other drugs entered Clinical Trials, Wei Kang reflected on how his subordinates now handled most of the work.
• Jian Lianyun thanked Wei Kang and invited him to dinner, and he agreed to meet her the following evening.
• Wei Kang opened Jian Lianyun's Moments to learn more about her daily life.