A Man's Character Shows in How He Holds His Liquor

While Shen Qi was in the restroom, Old Yan said to Old Cheng, "Are you stupid? Don't you understand what Brother Qi means? Do you expect me to grovel and beg you, Team Leader Cheng, to come work at our center?"

"Brother Qi, do you really want me?" Old Cheng asked, somewhat uncertainly. "I heard your center only recruits PhDs, mainly for academic research. I've been an organic farming worker for five years, and I've long since lost touch with academics. Old Yan, you're different. Although you don't have a PhD, you've stayed at Yenching University to do academic work since graduation."

"Anyway, I think Boss Shen is interested in this. There are plenty of chemistry PhDs doing academic research, but Boss Shen wants to hire someone like you with frontline industry experience. In short, it's up to you. That's all I have to say." Just as Old Yan finished speaking, Shen Qi came in.

Shen Qi handed Old Yan a card. "Go pay the bill, we're about to leave."

Old Yan went out to pay the bill, leaving Shen Qi and Old Cheng alone in the private room.

"Old Cheng, what's your full name again?" Shen Qi asked.

"My name is Cheng Haonan."

"So it's Brother Haonan, my apologies for not recognizing you sooner," Shen Qi said with a smile.

"Brother Qi, you flatter me." Cheng Haonan filled his glass with wine, raised it with both hands, and said respectfully and sincerely, "It's a pity we didn't meet sooner, Brother Qi. I'll drink this cup to the end. I hope you will guide me in the future."

Cheng Haonan acted immediately, downing three ounces of liquor in no time.

"What a formidable fellow, Old Cheng." Shen Qi discovered a talent at the drinking table; Old Cheng's alcohol tolerance was over a pound.

"Then I'll drink it too." Shen Qi wasn't just a big brother for nothing; the combined drinking capacity of his two younger brothers was exactly half of his.

Alcohol emboldens the timid; after downing a pound of baijiu, Cheng Haonan opened up. "Brother Qi, I want to follow you."

Shen Qi asked, "Has your company paid out year-end bonuses yet?"

Cheng Haonan: "It was just sent out yesterday, not much, just 30,000 yuan."

Since his younger brother had already expressed his opinion, Shen Qi readily agreed, "Then come and report to me as soon as possible. Give your resume to Old Yan, and someone will take care of the rest for you."

"Thank you, Brother Qi! Thank you, Professor Shen, for giving me this opportunity to return to my alma mater!" Cheng Haonan was so excited that he grabbed a bottle of baijiu, which still contained three or four ounces of liquor, and looked ready to chug it down.

A person's character is revealed in their drinking habits; Old Cheng is a good comrade.

They'd drunk their fill of wine and built up their relationship, and Shen Qi poached a classmate from Yenching University's Chemistry Department with industry experience from an organic outsourcing company.

It's normal for talent to move around in private companies. Cheng Haonan submitted his resignation letter, settled all outstanding accounts, and reported to the Shen Qi Mathematical and Physical Research Center a few days later.

These days there are many graduate students and quite a few PhDs. Even PhD graduates from Yenching University are not guaranteed a job at the university, let alone graduate students.

Old Yan stayed at Yenching University after graduating with his master's degree, mainly because he was lucky; by chance, the Chemistry Department had such an opportunity that year.

The job at Yenching University is stable, not as tiring as working in a private company, and the pay is good. Cheng Haonan is very grateful to Shen Qi. Working at Yenching University is much better than working for an outsourcing company.

"Professor Shen, what are my main responsibilities now?" Cheng Haonan, eager to make a contribution upon returning to his alma mater, was keen to do something for Shen Qi.

At dinner parties, everyone addresses Shen Qi as brothers; at work, he is called Professor Shen, Director Shen, or Boss Shen.

Shen Qi said, "It's almost Chinese New Year, Old Cheng, why don't you familiarize yourself with the environment first? You've studied in the Chemistry Department for so many years, both as an undergraduate and graduate student, shouldn't you visit your advisors and catch up with old friends first?"

"That makes sense." Cheng Haonan nodded, then turned to Old Yan and asked, "How is Professor Lin's health?"

Both Old Yan and Cheng Haonan studied under Professor Lin during their graduate studies. Old Yan said, "Whether he's in good health or not, you have to go and see for yourself. You know where Professor Lin lives. He treated you very well back then, but you ruined it yourself."

"There's a story behind it?" Shen Qi asked, quite intrigued.

Old Yan: "Cheng Haonan, Brother Haonan, the most handsome guy in the Chemistry Department. Professor Shen, you see, he's quite a sly guy, isn't he? Back then, quite a few girls liked him, one of whom was Professor Lin's daughter."

"So Hao Nan didn't end up with the Lin family's daughter." Shen Qi could easily guess the ending. He asked Cheng Haonan, "Isn't Miss Lin pretty?"

"She's definitely not as pretty as Brigitte Lin," Cheng Haonan said, then added, "She looks a bit like Ruby Lin."

Shen Qi laughed, "Looks like your standards are too high; you don't even think much of Ruby Lin."

Cheng Haonan shook his head. "No, I'm just a poor guy with no connections, I'm not good enough for Professor Lin's daughter."

"Excuses! Cheng Haonan, you just like big breasts. Miss Lin doesn't meet your standards." Old Yan revealed a shocking secret, saying, "Back in your second year of graduate school, your ex-girlfriend had big breasts, and this girlfriend of yours has even bigger ones."

Shen Qi asked in surprise, "Old Cheng, so you're this kind of person?"

"You Old Yan, why are you always focusing on my girlfriend's size?" Cheng Haonan became wary.

Shen Qi: "Let's leave the size topic here for now. You two are both Professor Lin's students, so you know the ropes. For the C01B project, why don't you, Old Yan, take it to Professor Lin's Chemistry Department lab and have them help optimize it? Old Yan is the most familiar with this project. Old Cheng can go with Old Yan and start his formal work in the central chemistry field from this project."

"Okay." Cheng Haonan took the C01B data from Old Yan and began to study it.

The route for C01B, a Benzodiazepine compound, was designed by Shen Qi and Old Yan, and samples have been produced.

At Cheng Haonan's previous company, once this stage was reached, the experimental team would hand over the preliminary samples to the analysis team for optimization.

Compound optimization is routine work, and the more people you have, the faster you can do it. The core work of organic synthesis is strategic route design. This is Shen Qi's positioning of the center's Organic Chemistry field: we master the core technologies, and we outsource the rest to contract manufacturers.

It's just outsourcing the optimization of a compound; there's not much profit in that kind of work, and most outsourcing companies won't take it. So Shen Qi wanted to ask the Chemistry Department of Yanda University for help, and asked Old Yan and Cheng Haonan to handle the matter.

"Based on my understanding of the Chemistry Department, they have sufficient equipment and manpower, so they should be able to optimize it soon. Professor Shen, what are our plans after optimizing C01B? Who are our clients?" Cheng Haonan asked, after all, he came from an outsourcing company and had a client-first mindset.

Shen Qi said, "Old Cheng asked a good question. My idea is that after the C01B patent is granted, we don't need to hoard it. We should go through the formal channels and transfer the patent."

"Understood." Old Yan and Cheng Haonan went to work.

Soon after arriving, Cheng Haonan realized that his alma mater was the best, and that working at the Shen Qi Mathematical and Physical Research Center would lead to a bright future.