Retiring After a Job Well Done

As Wang Yan studied day and night, time passed slowly.

A month flew by. Peng Hao had been observed long enough and was finally cleared to leave the hospital and recuperate at home.

During that time, with Wang Yan's instructions, Peng Hao had reached an agreement with Zhang Changlin. In the end, Zhang Changlin paid 3.5 million in cash to buy the domestic agency rights. The deal covered only the agency rights; how he brought the medicine in and sold it was his own business.

One of the terms also stipulated that the contract would take effect in August 2002, the same month Wang Yan had signed the agency agreement.

Zhang Changlin understood what that meant: from then on, each would go his own way. If nothing went wrong, the money was his; if something did, the blame was his too. After all these years of conning people all over the country, was he afraid? Of course not. He agreed without a moment's hesitation.

Truth be told, Wang Yan hadn't expected Zhang Changlin to have that much money. Who knew how many people the old crook had fleeced over the years? He really had done every kind of wicked thing.

In a way, Wang Yan had arranged for him to retire early, sparing him the daily grind, the constant worry, and the need to keep harming people wherever he went.

Now that Zhang Changlin was there to take the fall, whether Cheng Yong and Peng Hao would end up in prison was still up in the air. It all depended on how Wang Yan played things.

After leaving the hospital, Peng Hao arranged to go with Zhang Changlin to India and sign a new contract. Wang Yan threw money at the Indian factory owner and piled on threats and inducements. The owner cooperated, agreed to keep quiet, and did exactly as instructed. The whole thing was settled in no time.

Zhang Changlin looked at the signed agency contract, his fleshy face twitching with delight. He grinned from ear to ear. "Haha, Brother Peng, you can finally take it easy now. I'm the one who'll be busy from here on out."

"Oh, not at all, Brother Zhang. You're out there risking your own neck for the lives of all those patients. It's a noble deed that earns boundless merit. We'll be counting on you from now on." Peng Hao looked solemn, as though this were a formal handover ceremony.

Peng Hao had become more capable, too. With Wang Yan's occasional, half-baked pointers, he was no longer the clueless kid he'd been before. Of course, he was still nowhere near Zhang Changlin's level. He could only just about hold his own.

Even if Wang Yan had been born and raised here, he still wouldn't have been a match for an old hand like Zhang Changlin. Zhang Changlin had stayed free all those years not because the police had never tried to catch him, but because they hadn't pursued him hard enough. Even so, he was a real pro. Not just anyone could stay on the run for years. Wang Yan didn't have those skills; he still had a long way to go.

That was why Wang Yan kept studying. If he'd put that much effort in back in the real world, he might even have gotten into Peking or Tsinghua University. He didn't want to enter some future world only to be played for a fool. That could really cost him his life. The system hadn't said what happened after death, but he could imagine it wouldn't be pleasant.

But back to the point.

Wang Yan had started investigating Zhang Changlin as soon as he remembered him. He also took the cash he had on hand, added Zhang Changlin's 3.5 million, and spent it all on Gleevec from India—over ten thousand bottles' worth.

In the previous six months, Wang Yan had sold medicine like crazy and made over twenty million. He wasn't a professional, had no connections, and didn't dare ask anyone for help. He could only move the money out slowly through two factories and a few other channels. Even after being extremely cautious, he'd laundered less than ten million. He didn't know any fancy tricks, and he didn't dare let anyone who did show him how. All he could do was be careful and steady. That was why nothing major had gone wrong so far.

Of course, being the protagonist was the main reason.

Speaking of protagonists, Cheng Yong really was a talented man. He handled everything with remarkable efficiency. At first, he'd had only one port as a source. As the operation grew, he expanded on multiple fronts and found more suppliers from scratch. The amount of medicine kept increasing, and the price kept falling—from 1,200 at the start to under 800 now. Wang Yan admired Cheng Yong's ability, but he admired his nerve even more.

Wang Yan had known about this kind of thing before. There were always plenty of rumors going around, and he must have heard some. But only after experiencing it himself did he understand...

The two men in India went their separate ways, and Peng Hao went home to recover in peace.

Zhang Changlin, meanwhile, hurried off with his men and started selling medicine all over the country. This time, he was selling real medicine. By now, patients throughout China knew it worked well enough. He'd have to be an idiot to sell fakes.

At the same time, Wang Yan decided he'd waited long enough. No more pointless stalling. He moved in step with Zhang Changlin, first keeping his earlier promise and selling some of the medicine for 4,000 a bottle.

Then he quietly arranged for people to casually spread the word among patients about Zhang Changlin. They praised him publicly and privately as a good man who was working for the benefit of countless fellow sufferers.

Wang Yan's reach was formidable. Only tens of thousands of people in China had the disease, and he already had quite a few patients among his customers. Count their families, and the number grew beyond measure. With all those people passing the word along, almost everyone with the disease heard about it.

No matter the era, rumors spread at a ridiculous speed. Zhang Changlin had no idea that his standing among the patients had already reached dizzying heights.

He didn't know what was going on, but he could tell people were treating him differently. After all, even if the medicine was real, there was no need for them to be this enthusiastic. He couldn't help wondering, "Is my medicine really that good? Why are people buying so eagerly?"

He didn't understand the reason, but he went around with his men all the same, making a fortune by selling the medicine for 5,000 a bottle. Some patients knew Wang Yan was selling it for 4,000 and asked Zhang Changlin why there was such a price difference. Zhang Changlin didn't pay it any mind. It was a seller's market, and he set the price. He never would have guessed Wang Yan had set him up.

He'd stopped giving lectures, too. The medicine's effectiveness had been proven, so what was there to lecture about? His supply chain wasn't as solid as Cheng Yong's, but it still cost him under 1,500 a bottle. He'd make a lot more money spending that time selling.

Wang Yan simply watched as Zhang Changlin entertained his guests, waiting for the whole thing to come crashing down.

Thanks to Wang Yan's publicity campaign, Zhang Changlin's good days were over in less than a month. Too many people knew about him; once secrecy was lost, everything fell apart. The police suddenly stepped up their efforts to catch him. Fortunately, the patients were grateful and did everything they could to help him escape.

He'd run into this sort of thing many times before. It was small potatoes. What surprised him was how much harder they were coming after him this time.

He had no choice but to keep hiding his whereabouts, giving orders remotely, and evading the police.

While Zhang Changlin was running himself ragged and could barely look after himself, Wang Yan used Zhang Changlin's name as a cover to carry out the price cuts.

3,800, 3,500, 3,300, 3,000...

Wang Yan had plenty of cash. As the Indians put it, "Forget the contract. We're the best of friends. Shouldn't friends help each other out?" He kept using the money he took in to buy more medicine, and the price of Gleevec plunged. The patients went wild with excitement.

Norman Company couldn't hold out any longer. In the end, Zhao Lizhong was sacked and replaced by a foreigner sent over from headquarters. Someone had to take responsibility for what happened. At the same time, the company offered the Indians certain benefits in exchange and shut down the factory, halting production.

Wang Yan had no particular fondness for Zhao Lizhong. Maybe the actor had played him too well. There was nothing wrong with making money, and he could even understand kneeling to do it. Anyone who made it that high had to have some ability, setting everything else aside.

When Wang Yan heard the news, he simply registered it and moved on. He didn't care.

As he slashed the price, Wang Yan kept telling patients how despicable Nuowa Company was. He paid people to publish articles about leukemia in larger media outlets, and continued building Zhang Changlin's reputation.

Zhang Changlin had also started to notice something was wrong. The price was plummeting; even a pig could tell something was up. He'd considered whether Peng Hao was trying to frame him, but quickly dismissed the thought. He'd investigated Peng Hao thoroughly before approaching him, and there was no reason for Peng Hao to do this. That would be a case of both sides fighting each other, and neither of them would get away. They'd both end up singing in prison.

Besides, Peng Hao had helped him quite a bit during this time, even giving him 500,000 to flee.

He never would have guessed that someone like Wang Yan was pulling the strings behind his back.

Now Zhang Changlin had been pushed into the spotlight, while Wang Yan controlled the market. He had no choice but to follow along and keep cutting prices.

Each time he lowered the price, Wang Yan worked even harder to boost his reputation. That made it look as though Zhang Changlin was the one organizing the sale of counterfeit medicine. He couldn't talk his way out of it.

The police were keeping a close eye on the situation, too. Once they learned what was happening, they coordinated investigations across several regions. Even then, Zhang Changlin was still giving orders remotely. He had to be out of his mind. It took nearly two more months before they finally caught him.

And so ended the three most glorious months of Zhang Changlin's life—perhaps also the three months when he'd felt freest.

Just as in the movie, he didn't sell Cheng Yong out. He confessed to all the charges against him and took all the blame.

The proceedings moved very quickly. The case was too big, and by the time Zhang Changlin was arrested, Wang Yan had already made it a nationwide sensation.

Zhang Changlin was sentenced to life imprisonment. Many patients had petitioned on his behalf and pleaded for leniency, but in the end, the police had no choice but to release a list of his crimes. Faced with the long list, even the patients couldn't bear to defend him anymore. They couldn't understand how someone so rotten to the core could have done such things.

Still, many patients remained grateful to Zhang Changlin. Several thousand came to see him off. It was probably the most glorious moment of his life. Later, when he chatted, bragged, and spun yarns in prison, he'd surely leave his fellow inmates dumbfounded.

Why Zhang Changlin didn't implicate Peng Hao was anyone's guess. Maybe it was some sense of honor. Maybe his conscience had finally kicked in. Or perhaps, after doing this kind of thing for so long, he'd grown immune to more charges and understood the law particularly well. A life sentence plus another life sentence was still just one life sentence, after all.

Who cared why he didn't talk? Maybe his conscience had awakened; maybe he'd simply given up. Either way, Peng Hao, Cheng Yong, and Wang Yan all got away clean. Everyone was happy. That was how it worked: if you didn't get life, then I did, so you got life instead.

But putting all your hopes on one person was unrealistic and downright stupid—especially when that person wasn't exactly a good guy. Wang Yan didn't have much experience with this sort of thing either. The police had to weigh both the facts and the law, and they were people too. They didn't want to stir up more trouble. If they had really dug into it, there were so many loose ends that every last one of Wang Yan's group could have been caught. Did they think the country's battle-tested law enforcement agencies were a joke?

It was entirely possible the police had already spotted some clues. Maybe they'd seen that Wang Yan and the others had shown some sense of responsibility and hadn't done anything malicious, so they chose not to investigate further.

Wang Yan had been prepared to sacrifice Cheng Yong and Peng Hao. Fortunately, things had turned out well.

Cheng Yong and Peng Hao could finally put their worries aside and live in peace. Wang Yan wasn't stingy; both men were now millionaires. As long as they didn't do anything reckless, they could run a small business and live comfortably on their past experience.

Of course, the smugglers didn't get off lightly either. The police launched a sweeping crackdown on smuggling and made a great many arrests. When they decided to come after you, you had no chance of getting away.

The medical reforms had already been planned. Wang Yan had simply taken Cheng Yong's place and done some things himself.

Would he do a better job than Cheng Yong? Wang Yan didn't think so. In the end, he wasn't all that different from Cheng Yong. They were both ordinary people, with limited experience and only so much wisdom. How could he claim he'd done better than anyone else?

The one good thing was that he hadn't gone to prison. But did that really mean no one knew about him? Probably not...

Dying to Survive had reached its finale here, and Wang Yan had played the unsung hero.

But finishing the story wasn't the key to Wang Yan's mission. The real question was: how could he make sure Lü Shouyi survived?

Wang Yan had no answers. He could only take things one step at a time.