Success and Retreat

In Wang Yan's day-and-night studying, time passed slowly.

A month went by in the blink of an eye. Peng Hao had been observed enough and could finally leave the hospital to recuperate at home.

During this time, under Wang Yan's instructions, Peng Hao had also reached an agreement with Zhang Changlin. In the end, Zhang Changlin paid three million five hundred thousand in cash to buy out the domestic agency rights. It was limited to agency rights—how he imported and sold was his own business.

The contract's start date was set for August 2002, the same date Wang Yan had signed his agency contract.

Zhang Changlin understood this point: from then on, bridges were bridges, roads were roads. No problem, the money was his; if there was trouble, the blame was also his. Zhang Changlin had swindled people north and south for years—was he afraid? Definitely not. He agreed without a second thought.

To be honest, Zhang Changlin being able to come up with that much money really surprised Wang Yan. It showed just how many people this old bastard had cheated over the years. Truly, he'd done every evil deed imaginable.

That being the case, Wang Yan setting him up like this was also helping him retire, saving him from running around tirelessly, worrying constantly, and harming people everywhere.

Now that Zhang Changlin was out there taking the fall, whether Cheng Yong and Peng Hao would even end up inside was up in the air—it all depended on how Wang Yan played his cards.

After leaving the hospital, Peng Hao arranged to meet Zhang Changlin and go to India to re-sign the contract. Under Wang Yan's massive financial offensive and various threats and bribes, the Indian drug factory boss cooperated, agreed to keep his mouth shut, and everything was arranged cleanly. It was done quickly.

Zhang Changlin looked at the signed agency contract, his fat face twitching as he grinned from ear to ear. "Haha, Brother Peng, from now on, you'll be taking it easy while I'll be busy as hell."

"Oh, not at all, not at all, Brother Zhang. You're the one running around for the lives of those patients—a meritorious deed of boundless virtue. From now on, it's all on you." Peng Hao's face was solemn, as if this were a dignified handover ceremony.

This was also because Peng Hao's level had improved somewhat, plus Wang Yan's occasional half-baked guidance. He was no longer the clueless kid he used to be. Of course, his skill level was still nothing compared to Zhang Changlin's; he could barely hold his own.

If Wang Yan had been born and raised here, he wouldn't have been a match for an old hand like Zhang Changlin either. Zhang Changlin had roamed free for so many years—it wasn't that they didn't want to catch him, just that the enforcement wasn't strong enough. But even so, he was quite skilled. Not just anyone could stay free for years; ordinary people couldn't pull it off. Wang Yan didn't have that ability—he was far from it.

This was also why Wang Yan kept studying. If this had been the real world, with this kind of drive back in the day, he might have gotten into Qinghua or Peking University. He didn't want to go to future worlds and get played for a fool—that would really cost him his life. Although the system hadn't said what happened after death, it was easy to guess it wouldn't be very pleasant.

Back to the main story.

Wang Yan, as soon as he remembered someone like Zhang Changlin, had started investigating him. At the same time, he took all the cash he had on hand, plus the 3.5 million from Zhang Changlin later, totaling over ten million, and bought up all of India's Gleevec—nearly twenty thousand bottles.

In the previous six months, Wang Yan had been selling drugs like crazy, making over twenty million. But Wang Yan wasn't a professional, had no channels, and didn't dare find anyone else. He could only slowly launder money through two factories and some other channels. Even then, he'd only managed to clean less than ten million, being extremely careful every step of the way. He didn't know many tricks, and he didn't dare let those who did teach him. He could only be cautious, only be steady. That was why no major problems had cropped up so far.

Of course, his identity as the protagonist was the main reason.

Speaking of protagonists, one had to admit Cheng Yong was a real talent. He handled things in perfect order. Before, there was only one port channel, but as his operation grew, he developed multiple lines and found other channels from scratch. The supply kept increasing, and the price kept dropping—from the initial 1,200 down to under 800 now. Wang Yan really admired Cheng Yong's ability, but even more, he admired Cheng Yong's guts.

He hadn't known about these ins and outs before, of course—there were always folk tales floating around, and he'd heard them. But only by experiencing it did he truly understand...

The two Indians parted ways, and Peng Hao went home to rest and recover.

Zhang Changlin, on the other hand, was in a frantic hurry, racing around with his underlings to sell drugs everywhere. This time, he was selling real drugs. By now, domestic patients basically knew the stuff worked—he'd have to be an idiot to sell fakes.

Meanwhile, Wang Yan didn't want to wait any longer. No more messing around. He launched his actions simultaneously with Zhang Changlin. First, he kept his earlier promise and sold some drugs at 4,000.

Then, he secretly arranged for people to casually spread information about Zhang Changlin among the patients, openly and subtly promoting Zhang Changlin as a good man, a great benefactor working for the welfare of countless fellow sufferers.

Wang Yan's channels were incredibly powerful. There were only a few tens of thousands of people in the country with this disease. His own patient customer base was already substantial, and counting their families, the number was uncountable—a sea of people. With these folks spreading the word, basically everyone with the disease knew.

No matter the era, rumors spread at an astonishing speed. Zhang Changlin had no idea that his reputation among patients and fellow sufferers had reached its zenith.

Although he didn't know, he clearly felt the difference. Even if it was real medicine, the enthusiasm was over the top. He was puzzled himself, scratching his head in confusion: "Is my medicine really that good? They're buying so eagerly?"

Not understanding the reason, he just kept roaming around with his underlings, raking in money at 5,000 a bottle. Since Wang Yan was selling at 4,000, some patients knew and brought it up to him, wondering why there was a price difference if it was all from him. Zhang Changlin didn't care—it was a seller's market, and he called the shots. It never crossed his mind that Wang Yan was setting him up.

He didn't bother with lectures anymore. The efficacy had been proven—why would he waste time talking? Although his channels weren't as solid as Cheng Yong's, his cost was still under 1,500. With that time, he could make a lot more money.

Wang Yan just watched him feast, waiting for the tower to fall.

Thanks to Wang Yan's promotion, Zhang Changlin's good days ended in less than a month. Too many people knew—secrecy was lost—so the crackdown on him intensified significantly. Fortunately, the patients were grateful and kept helping him escape.

He'd encountered this situation often before—small potatoes. What puzzled him was that this time, the heat was especially intense.

With no other choice, he had to hide his tracks, direct operations remotely, and evade the police pursuit.

Wang Yan, taking advantage of Zhang Changlin's exhaustion and inability to look after himself, acted in Zhang Changlin's name to push prices down.

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

With Wang Yan's massive cash flow, as the Indian put it: "Don't mention the contract—we're the best of friends. Shouldn't friends help each other?" He kept using the money from sales to restock, and Gleevec's price plummeted. The patients were in a frenzy of celebration.

Norman Company couldn't hold out. In the end, they fired Zhao Lizhong and sent a foreigner to replace him. When something goes wrong, someone has to take responsibility. They also made some concessions to India, directly shutting down the factory and halting production.

As for Zhao Lizhong, Wang Yan really had no good feelings for him—maybe the actor played the role too well. Making money was understandable; kneeling to earn it was also comprehensible. The man had reached that position; setting other factors aside, his ability wasn't lacking.

For someone like that, when Wang Yan heard the news, he just heard it. Whatever. Wang Yan didn't care.

While slashing prices drastically, Wang Yan kept spreading word among patients about Norman Company's despicable acts. He paid people to publish articles about leukemia in some established media outlets and continuously built up Zhang Changlin's reputation, making him famous.

Zhang Changlin had also noticed something was off during this time. The drug price was crashing—even a pig would know something was wrong. He thought it might be Peng Hao setting him up, but the idea came and went. Before approaching Peng Hao, he'd investigated him thoroughly. Logically, Peng Hao had no reason to do this. It would be dogs biting dogs—no one would escape, and the result would only be a joint disaster.

Besides, Peng Hao had helped him a lot during this time, even giving him 500,000 to run.

It never occurred to him that someone like Wang Yan was behind it all.

Now Zhang Changlin was stuck. The market was in Wang Yan's hands, and he had no choice but to follow the price cuts.

Once he cut prices, combined with Wang Yan's relentless promotion of his name, it directly confirmed that he was the one organizing the sale of pirated drugs. He couldn't talk his way out of it.

The police were also keeping a close watch. After gathering this information, they launched a joint operation across multiple regions. Even then, Zhang Changlin was still directing things remotely—he must have been crazy. It took nearly two more months to finally arrest him.

Thus ended the three most glorious months of Zhang Changlin's life—or perhaps the most carefree.

Just like in the movie, where he didn't sell out Cheng Yong, Zhang Changlin confessed to all the crimes he was charged with and took full responsibility.

The process moved very quickly. This case was too big. By the time Zhang Changlin was caught, Wang Yan had already stirred up a huge fuss.

Zhang Changlin was ultimately sentenced to life in prison. At first, many patients petitioned and pleaded for leniency. In the end, the police had to release Zhang Changlin's criminal record. Seeing the long list of offenses, the patients backed off. They couldn't understand how someone so rotten to the core could do such things.

But regardless, many patients still owed Zhang Changlin a debt of gratitude. Several thousand people saw him off. This was arguably the most glorious moment of Zhang Changlin's life. Later, when he's inside shooting the breeze, bragging, and spinning tall tales with the other inmates, he'll definitely leave them dumbfounded.

Why Zhang Changlin didn't rat out Peng Hao was anyone's guess. Maybe it was some twisted sense of honor? A sudden pang of conscience? Or maybe, having been in this line of work for years, he was used to piling up debts and didn't care anymore—he knew the law inside out, understood that life plus life still equals life, damn it.

Who cared why he kept quiet? Whether it was a conscience awakening or just giving up on himself, Peng Hao, Cheng Yong, and even Wang Yan had made a clean getaway. Happy ending for all. That's just how it goes—if you're not doing life, I am, so it's still you doing life.

Still, pinning all your hopes on one person like that was a bit unrealistic, downright brainless, especially when that person wasn't exactly a saint. Mainly, Wang Yan had no experience with this kind of thing. Matters of emotion and law were tough for the police too. They were human, and they didn't want to stir up more trouble. If they really wanted to get technical, there were so many holes in the case that every single one of Wang Yan's crew would be caught. Did they really think the state's time-tested enforcement apparatus was just for show?

For all anyone knew, the cops had already picked up on the clues. They just saw that these guys had some backbone and weren't doing any real harm, so they didn't dig deeper.

Wang Yan had long been prepared to sacrifice Cheng Yong and Peng Hao. Luckily, the outcome was ideal.

Cheng Yong and Peng Hao could finally relax and live their lives in peace. Wang Yan wasn't stingy either. Both of them were now millionaires. As long as they didn't screw around, they could start a small business. With their past skills, they'd live comfortably, with food on the table and clothes on their backs.

Of course, the smugglers didn't fare so well. The police launched a massive crackdown on smuggling crimes and made plenty of arrests. That's just how it was—when they said they were coming for you, you weren't getting away.

Medical reform had been planned all along. Wang Yan had simply taken the place of the original Cheng Yong and done a few things.

Would he do better than Cheng Yong? Wang Yan didn't think so. In the end, he wasn't any different from Cheng Yong. Both were ordinary people, with limited insight and just so much wisdom. How could he claim to do better than anyone else?

The one good thing was that he didn't end up behind bars. But was there really no one who knew about him? Not quite...

Dying to Survive had reached its finale here. Wang Yan had played the role of a behind-the-scenes hero.

Wang Yan's task wasn't to coast to the end. The real question was: how was Lü Shouyi supposed to survive?

No way around it. Wang Yan had no leads. He could only take it one step at a time.