After Minister Yue’s surgery, Li Yun’s name in the medical reached the level of celebrity. However, the celebrity spent weeks in his home on the second floor of Dong Xuan clinic, examining ways to remove imperfections from his medicine. Eventually, he completed his own NSAID, Yunli- 01.
Fatty Fang had sent in the formal documents to CFDA for approval. At the same time, the factory had started to manufacture the pill without the official approval. They didn’t have time to waste.
Li Yun was being extra careful about the potential for any sabotage, so there were cameras set up to record the manufacturing process. He didn’t care if the cameras were leaked or hacked as he wasn’t planning to keep his formula or production a secret. Things that were advantageous and good would be stolen anyway. Also, in order to reproduce the pill to the quality that was produced in his plant, the pharmaceutical company must be at Berne’s level.
Even if the formula was stolen, Li Yun would retain the original patent. An original patented drug was almost unheard of in China, especially from a new emerging company.
One thing that would ruin his plan was if someone damaged his product. He took it upon himself to personally spot test all the new batch of finished product to ensure nothing harmful or foreign was introduced.
The problem was getting out of bed. Since returning from Imperial City, he had been researching at home. He hadn’t found the motivation to drive out to work with a mini lab installed next to the bedroom.
However, once the factory completed a batch of inventory, he still had to show up to work and test it himself. He could have someone test it for him, but he preferred to identify the quality with his own body.
The factory was 30 minutes away, too far away in his opinion. However, it was the only location with a good piece of land with an existing factory and greenhouses. On the other hand, he was lucky he didn’t have to leave town at all. Still, 30 minutes in the car was a waste of time.
“If I learn feng shui, do you think there will be some sort of teleportation array?” Li Yun asked as he sat up from bed and stretched his arms.
Rouxi rolled her eyes. There were books about feng shui on Li Yun’s side table. Most looked like architecture books, so she didn’t understand how he thought it could teleport him. “Find yourself a driver,” Rouxi finally suggested. If there was one thing her boyfriend was lazy about, it was driving.
“Not a bad idea,” Li Yun said. A driver was considered a luxury, but he was considering it. He could use Zuowang while in the car. Instead of leaving, he pinned Rouxi down and kissed her, leaving a mark on her neck and collarbone. She quickly pushed him away.
“Yun! That was intentional!” Rouxi was planning to wear a strapped dress to class.
“It’s getting chillier anyway, a sweater will prevent you from catching a cold,” Li Yun jumped out of bed and quickly dressed before she could attack him.
“It’s almost 25 degrees outside,” Rouxi made a mental note not to prepare her outfit the day before as she slipped into an eggplant colored turtleneck dress.
****
Somewhere in Imperial City, Xia Lihou was hearing insider reviews regarding a new product coming from a small company in Yide.
“What sort of chemicals are they using?” Xia Lihou was reading a report from an insider.
This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
According to the report, the herbs growing in the Shennong's greenhouse were growing at an unusual rate. If they were using harmful substances, Xia Lihou could request an inspection to shut down production. If it wasn’t anything harmful, Xia Lihou wanted the technology for himself.
“I want the spy to find out their secrets at all cost!” Xia Lihou demanded.
****
Greenhouse cycle and technology allowed herbs to be grown at an alarming rate. There were many agricultural production and trade secrets that the public were not aware of. Plants could be grown in days, but most were genetically modified.
The spy hired by Xia Industry was a mousy man named Hun Lun. He was one of the engineers hired while Li Yun was away in Imperial City and the only spy who made it through the interview process.
It was said that the hiring process wasn’t too strict. However, none of the previous spies made it pass the interview with the CEO, Ju De.
Ju De didn’t look like a typical boss, and most people couldn’t understand how a man so simple looking and common were able to lead a company. The spies all thought they made good impressions, but none of them made it through until Hun Lun.
At the Shennong meeting room, Fatty Fang and Ju De reviewed employees' weekly performance. It was important to evaluate employee’s progress to see who needed more training and who should be awarded. One of the employees from the video caught Ju De’s attention.
"Hey, I think that new employee is a spy," Ju De stated suddenly.
"What!?" Fatty Fang was surprised Ju De could even make mistake. "You're supposed to weed them out."
“Why are you treating me like a lie detector?” Ju De shrugged. “I can’t read minds.”
“Dammit, I thought you’re supposed to be able to see these things,” Fatty Fang growled. “What are we going to tell Li Yun when he realized we hired a spy?”
“I bet he’ll be deeply amused.”
“Amused by what?” Li Yun asked, entering the meeting room. He had heard a bit of their discussion outside, so his question wasn’t about the topic, but a way to greet them.
“We hired a spy!” Ju De announced in a giddy tone.
“You sound excited,” Li Yun wondered how someone was able to pass by Ju De.
“Well, he has legitimate working experience and he had eye surgery around the time of the interview, so I couldn’t see his eyes. And might had also taken some relaxant.”
“That sounds like very convenient timing,” said Li Yun.
It was possible for the spy to evaluate his predecessors' failure and decided that getting surgery was the best course of action to get hired. The spy was very dedicated.
Corporate spies were well paid if they were able to uncover trade secrets. Li Yun was curious about Hun Lun, so they walked to the security room and watched the spy as he worked to inspect the equipment.
Not knowing that he was being watched by the three big bosses of Shennong Pharmaceutical, Hun Lun casually walked the mezzanine that overlooked the extraction machines. There were several raw materials that needed to be processed in order to extract certain materials. Hun Lun was so fascinated by the variety of machinery. It seemed more like a pristine laboratory than a factory. Many of the equipment were automated with the labor workers doing simple tasks of maintaining and shifting materials around that were out of place.
Unfortunately, Hun Lun was only allowed in the extraction room. The production factory was also divided into a mixing room, purification room, and recycling room. Only top level engineers were allowed to enter all rooms up close. The best Hun Lun could do was take pictures from atop the mezzanine where he could see everything.
“At least he’s diligent,” Li Yun remarked as he watched Hun Lun paced back and forth from the mezzanine.
“A bit too diligent and thorough,” Ju De responded. “He personally checks everything.”
“Well, that’s his job as quality control manager,” Fatty Fang commented. “He’s only here for 10 days, but he knows a lot already about all of our equipment.”
“How about the control settings?”
“Each part of the process is headed by different engineers, and they are not allowed to discuss the specifics. He only knows the settings of the binding agent.”
“Some sort of hidden genius?” Li Yun asked. “I wonder how much they paid him.”
“Why? You want to keep him?” Ju De wondered if Li Yun had some sort of plan.
“I need a driver…”
“Are you really that lazy to drive yourself?” Fatty Fang thought he was lazy, but when Li Yun didn’t want to do something, no one could force him to work.