"Bastard! Du Yifan, you bastard! I should have known you wouldn't be so kindhearted! Give me back my husband—give him back to me…"
Huang Tiantian sobbed as though her beloved spouse had truly been torn away from her.
But she and President Zhang had only been married a year. He'd abandoned his first wife and children to wed a young beauty—and now their ambitions had been cut short before they'd even really begun.
Huang Tiantian had barely secured her footing in Zhang's company, owned scarcely any shares, and now he was gone—what would become of her?
His first wife and the family shareholders would never overlook her. No—this wasn't her fault. It was all Du Yifan's doing. He'd killed President Zhang; she'd simply trusted the wrong person!
She grabbed Du Yifan, pounding him with fists and kicks, shrieking that it was he who'd caused Zhang's death.
The attending physician exchanged a glance with the staff and hastily called the hospital director.
A patient who dies on the operating table—even if accidental—is a medical tragedy that no one can shrug off.
Du Yifan had been frozen in terror from the moment Huang Tiantian stormed him. How could he be dead? How?!
"That's got nothing to do with me!" He shoved her aside and ran to the attending doctor. "He collapsed and died suddenly, right? It was his own fault!"
"You tell me," he demanded, "how did he die? Speak!"
The doctor, gasping for breath, held up his phone. On the line was the director's voice:
"With Mr. Zhang's condition, shock is not expected. Investigate his preoperative medications. Do not move the body. Inform the police immediately…"
Preoperative medications?
Du Yifan felt his mind go blank. Panic seized him.
Every drug administered in a hospital is logged in detail—except for the vial he had smuggled in. The hospital ordinarily forbade outside drugs, but he had signed a guarantee, vouched for its legality, and shown his ID. Only then had they reluctantly agreed.
Besides, the Traditional Medicine Hospital had already completed a small clinical trial run and discharged several cured patients. Word in medical circles was that a limited batch of this new drug had already been approved and produced.
When Han Weicheng's own drug gained approval, insiders could smuggle some doses out. The hospital hadn't questioned it.
No one expected disaster.
Huang Tiantian continued to beat and scream at him. The police had already been called; everyone involved was detained. When President Zhang's family and his first wife learned of the death, they swiftly lodged criminal complaints.
Even once locked in the detention center, Du Yifan couldn't shake his shock. Where did it go wrong? he wailed. It couldn't have been my fault.
He demanded a lawyer and insisted on an independent autopsy. He refused to believe that the vial he'd stolen had caused Zhang's collapse.
Luo Jialin learned of the hospital emergency immediately. He fell into a pit of despair—unable to act, yet compelled to act.
He found Han Weicheng and grabbed him by the collar.
"You tell me straight: did those drugs ever undergo animal testing? Are they even safe?"
Han pushed him away. "Animals differ from humans. I did warn you I hadn't had the chance for extensive clinical trials. If accidents happen—that's regrettable, but inevitable. I told you so."
"Well then what now?" Luo Jialin sputtered. "If the hospital finds out it's our fault, we're all finished."
Han Weicheng frowned. "There's only one option left—the one we discussed before. You have to take the lead."
His words jolted Luo Jialin awake. They had indeed planned a contingency—but he'd never imagined they'd need to use it. Seeing Han's calm resolve made him realize how rash and soft-hearted he'd been. Compared to Han, he was no ruthless executor.
Luo Jialin drew a deep breath. "What if he blabs? If he swears the drug was your idea, it'll bury our entire team."
"He stole the vials from me. If he tries to pin it on us, he'll need evidence." Han's face remained impassive. "Besides, framing us gains him nothing—if he's not an utter fool, he won't do it."
He patted Luo's shoulder. "If worst comes to worst, we simply insist he only took the first-stage trial vials—not the finished, licensed product. That severs the link."
"Luo Jialin," Han said firmly, "now is not the time for mercy. Someone must shoulder the blame—or we have no future."
At this point, there was no turning back. Even obtaining the clinical trial data would be meaningless if the hospital scandal went public. Their drug—no matter how perfectly replicated—would never sell again.
Their only hope was to suppress any news of the incident, to let it vanish without a trace, and abandon any further sales efforts.
They would have to wait for He Xin's team's launch, then reverse-engineer the formula in secret and hope to break even. But to beat Mutian to market? Impossible now.
Luo Jialin stared at Han, dismayed at how far he'd fallen. Back in school, he and his peers had been equals—his own brilliance had set him apart. Yet here in the real world, time and again, he'd been beaten by others he once considered equals, even inferiors.
Was he truly less capable than these two?
No. It couldn't be. He glared at Han, thinking, It's Han Weicheng's fault—his team's fault. If only his research had succeeded, I wouldn't be crushed by Mu Side's advance.
Luo Jialin's anger and resentment boiled over.
"I'll handle Du Yifan. But the hospital scare is beyond my control. Professor, you need to finalize our PR plan—how we'll manage this if it leaks."
"You needn't worry," Han Weicheng replied as if he'd anticipated everything.
"I'll arrange for it to be resolved quietly. You wait for my finalized formula and continue your manufacturing. No delay to your revenue."
"If for some reason we can't contain it, I'll drag He Xin's team in too—make sure they can't profit from our misfortune. That way, Luo Medical's interests will remain intact."
Luo Jialin felt a chill run down his spine. My mentor—my respected, beloved teacher—would resort to such ruthless tactics?
He barely recognized the man before him. How…?
Rage and remorse warred within him. But there was no time for regret now. He had to deal with Du Yifan first.
As he rushed toward the detention center, Shu Lanzhou arrived ahead of him to see Du Yifan…