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Under Zhang Xin's insistence, Tao Ziwen briefly recounted the process of solving the murder case of Zhu Dapeng. When Tao Ziwen mentioned the arrest of Zhu Peng, he couldn't help but sigh, "The murderer has finally been caught. But that child is only twelve years old! If this child had been born into a normal family, with a father who wasn't an alcoholic and parents who loved him, how could he have killed his own father?"
Cheng Yuwan could see the inner turmoil in Tao Ziwen and said, "Actually, catching him might not be a bad thing. Otherwise, he would have buried the secret of killing his father deep inside, and this incident would become a shadow over his entire life."
Tao Ziwen nodded in agreement.
"Like father, like son; a mouse will always dig holes. An alcoholic's son becoming a murderer is nothing surprising. Cheng Yuwan, I'm talking to Tao Ziwen here; why are you interrupting?" Zhang Xin said as she handed the drink that Cheng Yuwan had prepared to Tao Ziwen. "Tao Ziwen, let's finish this drink and then go dance, okay?"
Tao Ziwen wanted to shake off Zhang Xin and said, "I want to chat with Wan'er here for a while; can you find another dance partner?"
Zhang Xin looked suspiciously at him. "You call her Wan'er so affectionately; are you two a couple?"
Tao Ziwen and Cheng Yuwan quickly denied it. "No!"
"Since you're not, then what are you chatting about here?"
Tao Ziwen smiled bitterly. "Sister Zhang, I really can't dance!"
Zhang Xin threw a tantrum again. "I don't care! I want you! After we finish this drink, we're going dancing."
Tao Ziwen looked at Cheng Yuwan, who shrugged helplessly.
"Cheers!" Zhang Xin clinked glasses with the reluctant Tao Ziwen and downed her drink in one go before flipping her glass upside down on the bar. "Now that we've finished drinking, let's go!"
Zhang Xin pulled Tao Ziwen away. Tao Ziwen sought help from Cheng Yuwan: "So... are we going dancing now?"
"You two go ahead!" Cheng Yuwan pretended to be indifferent, but after Tao Ziwen was taken away by Zhang Xin, there was a hint of loneliness on her face.
At the banquet hall.
A waiter whispered something in Tao Gongjin's ear, and he nodded. The waiter then approached Zhou Junsheng and whispered something to him as well; Zhou Junsheng stood up with Cheng Shuping.
Zhou Junsheng, Cheng Shuping, Tao Gongjin, and Sun Puyi followed the waiter away.
Cheng Yuyao stood on the second floor, observing everything happening below. She quietly followed behind them, exiting the banquet hall.
The waiter led Tao Gongjin and the others to a door and gently knocked. A voice from inside the room called out, "Who is it?"
The waiter replied, "General, it's me! I've brought you the people you wanted!"
The door was opened from the inside, and after everyone entered, it was closed again. Cheng Yuyao hurried over and pressed her ear against the door to listen.
This room was a conference room with a round table in the center. Zhang Zhaolin sat at the head of the table, flanked by the police chief and several dignitaries. Zhou Junsheng and Tao Gongjin, who had just been brought in by the waiter, took their seats on either side. Soon, everyone was seated.
A female server adjusted Zhang Zhaolin's napkin in front of him, and he said, "Now that everyone is here, let's eat while we talk! Let's begin!"
The four female servers at the table uncovered the delicious dishes laid out before them. The steaming delicacies looked tempting, but no one dared to pick up their chopsticks. Only the servers standing beside them served the dishes onto their plates.
Zhou Junsheng asked, "General, may I ask why you called us here?"
As Zhang Zhaolin picked up food with his chopsticks, he replied, "Your pharmaceutical companies are among the top enterprises in Shanghai. Seven years ago, I sponsored a major project for you to collaborate on, which ultimately failed. If you're willing, I would like to sponsor you again for further joint research and development."
Tao Gongjin declined, saying, "General, we also hope to develop this project with Qilin Pharmaceutical Company, but it's too dangerous!"
"The more dangerous the project, the more profit there is to be made! I come from a military background and don't understand your high-tech knowledge or medical theories. All I know is that if this project succeeds, both you and I can make a lot of money!"
Zhou Junsheng interjected, "Seven years ago, I was the project leader and conducted numerous live experiments with other organisms alongside Tao Gongjin; all of them failed."
Tao Gongjin added, "For this project to succeed, we must bypass other organisms and conduct live experiments directly on humans."
Zhou Junsheng disagreed: "I cannot agree to that! It's too dangerous; any misstep could lead to casualties. I do not want such a tragedy to occur. This is why I terminated this project seven years ago, and I still oppose restarting it now."
Tao Gongjin rebutted Zhou Junsheng, saying, "I disagree with Old Zhou's approach. The development of medical science throughout history has been built on various experiments. If we didn't conduct human trials, we might not have discovered the existence of antibiotics even to this day!"
Zhou Junsheng replied, "That's a completely different matter!"
The atmosphere in the room grew tense, and no one spoke.
Zhang Zhaolin wanted to put a piece of fatty meat into his mouth, but after hearing Zhou Junsheng's rebuttal, he slowly placed his knife and fork down on the plate. "Junsheng Zhou, I know you have a kind heart. However, history is written with blood and flesh, especially the history of medicine! To be honest with you, Tao Pharmaceuticals is already working on continuing the development of the 'biological' project. The reason we need your involvement is that they have encountered some difficulties during the development of this project. I hope you can join us to overcome these challenges together!"
Zhou Junsheng looked at Tao Gongjin across the table and sighed, "In the end, you still went ahead with it!"
Tao Gongjin responded, "If you don't do it and I don't do it, someone will always step up. Why shouldn't we seize the opportunity ourselves instead of handing it over to others?"
At that moment, voices from outside the conference room caught their attention; it was a conversation between a waiter and Cheng Yuyao.
"What are you doing here?"
"Oh, I wanted to go to the restroom. Can you tell me how to get there?"
Zhang Zhaolin signaled for the waiter to open the door. As the conference room door swung open, Zhou Junsheng stood up in surprise upon seeing Cheng Yuyao outside.
"The restroom isn't this way; come with me!"
"Oh!"
Cheng Yuyao innocently followed the male waiter as he led her away.
Cheng Shuping noticed Zhou Junsheng's unusual reaction and quickly glanced toward the door. Just then, Cheng Yuyao walked out of sight.
Zhang Zhaolin asked the waiter, "Who is she?"
The Waiter said, "She is the bartender hired by the housekeeper, just returned from Europe!"
Zhang Zhaolin ordered the Waiter, "You stand outside and don't let anyone disturb us!"
"Yes!"
The Waiter stepped out of the meeting room and closed the door.
A beautiful waltz played in the background.
Tao Ziwen and Zhang Xin were dancing. Tao Ziwen's steps were stiff, completely out of rhythm. His mind was elsewhere. Zhang Xin and Tao Ziwen exchanged a few words here and there.
Zhang Xin asked, "What are you thinking about?"
Tao Ziwen replied, "Nothing!"
Zhang Xin continued, "You don't have a girlfriend yet, right?"
Tao Ziwen answered flatly, "Yeah!"
"Then how about I be your girlfriend?"
Zhang Xin suddenly blurted this out, leaving Tao Ziwen feeling awkward: "This..."
Worried that Tao Ziwen might refuse, Zhang Xin added, "You can't turn me down! No one has ever dared to refuse me since I was little!"
Tao Ziwen still replied, "I'm usually very busy with work and can't take care of anyone... Actually, you could find someone better!"
"I won't! I'm set on you!"
Zhang Xin clung to Tao Ziwen's shoulders, leaning against his chest. Tao Ziwen was at a loss, neither pushing her away nor embracing her, awkwardly looking around. At that moment, he noticed Cheng Yuwan at the bar, looking displeased as she watched him.
Cheng Yuwan muttered while mixing drinks, "Forgetful of friends for the sake of beauty! Heartless man! Heartless man..."
Cheng Yuwan continued to mumble, completely unaware that Cheng Yuyao had approached her from behind. Following Cheng Yuwan's gaze, she saw Tao Ziwen, who was being entangled by Zhang Xin and wore a look of despair.
"Sister, who is that person?"
Cheng Yuyao's question startled Cheng Yuwan, who quickly pulled her thoughts back and focused on mixing drinks. "It's nobody!"
"Could it be that you have taken a liking to him?"
Cheng Yuwan turned her face away, her back to Cheng Yuyao, her cheeks flushed. "Of course not!"
In the conference room, everyone was chatting and eating under Zhang Zhaolin's lead, but Zhou Junsheng seemed distracted and deep in thought.
Zhang Zhaolin looked at Zhou Junsheng and Cheng Shuping. "I heard your pharmaceutical company hasn't been doing well lately!"
Cheng Shuping replied candidly, "Yes! It's because we haven't introduced any new products for a long time, so our market share is being eaten away by other pharmaceutical companies."
"Isn't Junsheng Zhou your company's talented pharmacist? With him around, I believe your company will soon launch new alternative products."
"Yes. Our company is currently increasing efforts in the research and development of new products."
Zhang Zhaolin and Cheng Shuping turned their attention to Zhou Junsheng.
Zhou Junsheng said, "Our company is a century-old pharmaceutical enterprise in Shanghai. In recent years, our performance has been declining continuously, and I bear an undeniable responsibility. If I hadn't spent a lot of time developing the 'Biological' project seven years ago, our company wouldn't have fallen to this state."
Tao Gongjin interjected, "That's just your personal opinion. To be honest with you, it was precisely because I insisted on developing the 'Biological' project over these seven years that we generated a large number of new experimental drugs, allowing my pharmaceutical company to grow from a workshop seven years ago to its current scale. The 'Biological' project is full of potential and can create miracles; once successfully developed, it will generate immense wealth!"
Zhou Junsheng said, "As people in the medical field, our primary concern should not be wealth, but human life!"
The atmosphere in the room became awkward once again.
Zhang Zhaolin wiped the grease from his mouth with a napkin. "After going around in circles, we’ve returned to the original topic!"
Zhang Zhaolin stood up and began to pace around the round table. "When it comes to human lives, no one here has more authority to speak than I do. I come from a military background and have fought in over twenty major battles, witnessing all kinds of deaths. Some were riddled with bullets, some blown to pieces by shells, others had their bellies sliced open with intestines spilling everywhere, and there were those who were burned alive, running around the battlefield engulfed in flames. Some have asked, if so many people die in war, why does war still exist in this world? Why?"
Everyone present dared not speak.
Zhang Zhaolin walked behind Zhou Junsheng, placing a hand on his shoulder and leaning close to his ear. "That's because the deaths now are for future peace. Once we achieve peace, there will be no more deaths! I believe that conducting human trials follows the same principle. The deaths in experiments now are because this project will succeed and can save more lives. Isn’t war like this? Isn’t medicine the same?"
The sheriff led the applause, and soon everyone at the conference table followed suit. The applause thundered, but Zhou Junsheng and Cheng Shuping remained worried.
Zhang Zhaolin raised a glass of wine and handed it to Zhou Junsheng. "I understand your concerns, Junsheng Zhou, but I hope you can think of the bigger picture and reconcile with Tao Gongjin and me so we can work together on the 'human body' project!"
Just as Zhou Junsheng was about to express his stance, Zhang Zhaolin immediately stopped him, patting his shoulder. "You don’t need to rush to express your opinion right now. Think it over first and get back to me when you’re ready! For now, let’s just drink! Come on, let me toast you!"
Zhou Junsheng clinked glasses with Zhang Zhaolin and downed the drink in one go. Afterward, Zhang Zhaolin turned his empty glass upside down to show everyone he had finished drinking and then patted Zhou Junsheng's shoulder again. "I believe you will make the right choice!"
As the banquet concluded, everyone began to leave.
The Cheng Sisters walked ahead while Tao Ziwen weaved through the crowd trying to catch up with them.
"Wan'er! Wan'er!"
As the Cheng Sisters exited the venue and descended the steps, Tao Ziwen finally rushed out.
Cheng Yuwan glared at Tao Ziwen and said angrily, "Why are you following me instead of comforting her?"
Tao Ziwen quickly explained, "It's not what you think between her and me! I'm afraid you'll misunderstand!"
Cheng Yuwan retorted, "Whether it's what I think or not, what does it have to do with me?"
At that moment, a jeep stopped in front of the Cheng Sisters. Cheng Yuwan grabbed Cheng Yuyao's hand and was about to get in the car when Tao Ziwen hurriedly grabbed Cheng Yuwan's arm.
"Wan'er, what can I do for you to believe me? I just met her today!"
Cheng Yuwan replied, "We're not a couple, so why are you telling me all this?"
Tao Ziwen finally realized his recklessness. Reluctantly, he let go of Cheng Yuwan and watched as the Cheng Sisters got into the jeep. The jeep drove away, and Tao Ziwen stood there watching the vehicle disappear into the distance.
Inside the jeep, Cheng Yuwan was overjoyed, her face beaming with happiness.
Cheng Yuyao teased her, "You say you have no feelings for him, but look at you—you're smiling so much your mouth is crooked!"
"Not at all!" Cheng Yuwan blushed.
Cheng Yuyao asked, "Hey, tell me, what's his name?"
Cheng Yuwan pretended not to understand. "What name? I don't know what you're talking about."
Cheng Yuwan gazed out of the car window at the neon lights, her face blooming with joy.
The sheriff found Tao Ziwen outside the banquet hall and immediately scolded him, "Tao Ziwen, what are you doing here? The General and your father are looking for you in the hall!"
"Why are they looking for me?"
"You'll find out when you go!"
As Tao Ziwen walked back to the banquet hall with the sheriff, he brushed past Zhou Junsheng and Cheng Shuping.
Zhou Junsheng turned to look at Tao Ziwen and said, "Isn't that Tao Gongjin's son?"
Cheng Shuping replied, "Yes!"
Zhou Junsheng thought for a moment and added, "If I had known today was going to be a banquet of intrigue, I wouldn't have come!"
Cheng Shuping remarked, "Zhang Dashuai has been entrenched in Shanghai for so many years. Besides you, I doubt anyone else would dare confront him openly!"
Zhou Junsheng and Cheng Shuping continued walking toward the door.
Cheng Shuping asked Zhou Junsheng, "During the meeting, you suddenly stood up. What did you see?"
Zhou Junsheng sighed, "A girl. For a moment, I thought it was Ruoxin returning."
Cheng Shuping said, "It would be great if she came back! If she returns, you can focus on going back to the company and continue your career."
The two walked together toward the door, leaving behind two figures filled with melancholy and solitude.
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