14: Chapter 14: The Old Man's Scheme

No sooner had Weber finished speaking than the suite door was pushed open.

A middle-aged man with a bald head and gold-rimmed glasses walked in. His dark gray suit was well-tailored, and a small, subtle emblem was embroidered on his exposed cuff—the logo of Harvard Law School.

He carried a black leather briefcase and walked with a brisk, wind-swept air. When his gaze swept over Chen Feng and Dahei, he paused only slightly before returning to a state of professional rigor.

This was Weber's lawyer, Green.

"Mr. Weber." Green approached, his voice neither too loud nor too soft, just enough for everyone present to hear. He placed the briefcase on the other end of the coffee table, ready to open it.

"No rush, Green." Weber raised a hand to stop him, his aged gaze turning toward Chen Feng with an inscrutable smile on his face. "Before we sign, I'd like to give Mr. Chen Feng a lesson first."

Chen Feng didn't speak; he simply picked up his water glass and took another sip, as if he were the one listening to a lecture, rather than someone currently negotiating a partnership with an old man.

Weber leaned back into the sofa and pointed toward the myriad lights of Los Angeles outside the window.

"Mr. Chen Feng, you are a smart man, so let's be direct. The ruisu in your hands cannot be rolled out on a large scale in the U Federation."

Chen Feng set down his glass without even raising an eyebrow.

"It's not a question of efficacy." Weber saw his confusion and cut straight to the point. "It's a question of the interest structure."

He paused, his tone becoming somewhat heavy. "United Shield Health Insurance—do you think it's just an insurance company? It's merely the tip of the iceberg. Behind it lies the U Federation's healthcare system, a 2.4 trillion dollar cake every year."

Chen Feng's heart skipped a beat, but he didn't show it on his face. 2.4 trillion—this figure was even more massive than he had imagined.

"In this country, even antibiotics aren't something ordinary people can just buy whenever they want. The efficacy of ruisu is too strong. To what extent? Strong enough to pull a patient off the operating table, kick them out of the hospital ward, and compress a three-month recovery period into just a few days. Five hundred dollars a dose, and all problems are solved." Weber's voice carried an unquestionable calmness. "What does this mean? It means hospitals lose their hospitalization fees, insurance companies lose the price difference in claims, and pharmaceutical companies lose their long-term prescription renewals. Millions of people across the entire industrial chain will lose their jobs."

He looked into Chen Feng's eyes and asked, enunciating every word: "Do you think they will let some Chinese kid in a dilapidated three-story building in the South District flip the table on 2.4 trillion dollars?"

The room was silent.

Dahei raised his head, his ears twitching, as if he too felt the heaviness of the atmosphere.

Chen Feng was silent for three seconds. In those three seconds, his mind raced, calculating Weber's words. The old man was right; the efficacy of ruisu was a double-edged sword. He had previously only thought about how to make money and how to solve his immediate problems, never considering that when your product is powerful enough to overturn an entire industry, what you face is not competition, but the backlash of the entire system.

"So, what is Mr. Weber's plan?" His tone was calm, as if what Weber had just described wasn't the unemployment of tens of thousands of people and a trillion-dollar conflict of interest.

Weber smiled, a hint of admiration in his eyes. "Smart people are easy to deal with. My strategy is very simple, yet very effective, and, quite ruthless."

He extended a finger and tapped the coffee table in the air. "In the U Federation, you can only maintain a very small-scale private channel. High-end private clinics, private doctors for the wealthy, or some shady gray markets. Limit shipments to under three hundred doses per month, no more. This way, you can satisfy some special needs without triggering the nerves of the healthcare insurance system. This is just the small portion; though the profit is high, it's not the big share."

Chen Feng nodded. This was essentially the same as what he was doing in the South District, just with a higher-end scale and clientele.

"The big share comes from exports." Weber's tone became forceful. "The Hua Federation, with a population of 1.4 billion—do you know how large the gap is in their healthcare system for high-end imported drugs? I have ready-made drug import channels in the Hua Federation, and I have political and business connections. Their demand for this kind of drug is infinite. East Country, the Middle East United Arab Emirates, it's the same. These countries aren't under FDA jurisdiction; they only need the approval of the target country's drug regulatory agency, or they can enter the market quickly through some gray channels. Furthermore, the profit margin there is actually even larger."

Weber pulled a handwritten list from the briefcase Green had opened and pushed it toward Chen Feng.

"This is a preliminary estimate." He pointed to the numbers on the list. "For the Hua Federation, the first batch of orders starts at five thousand doses, and the unit price can be set at six hundred dollars. For the private medical channels of the Middle East royal families, they don't care about the price, only the results; the unit price can reach over one thousand dollars."

Chen Feng glanced at it, and the numbers on the list made his pupils constrict slightly.

"Conservatively estimated, your overseas revenue for the first quarter could reach eight to twelve million dollars." Weber's voice was like a hammer striking his heart. "And exports bring more than just money. The Hua Federation officials will notice this drug, and national-level investment funds will proactively approach you. That is your true long-term backing."

Chen Feng narrowed his eyes. This old man Weber hadn't just helped him resolve his immediate crisis; he had also pointed him toward a broad path to the global market and even planned out his future backing. This wasn't just a partnership; this was him teaching him how to do business step by step.

Green timely pushed an investment letter of intent in front of Chen Feng.

Chen Feng picked up the document and quickly browsed through it. When he saw the equity and project terms, his pupils shrank violently.

"Mr. Weber, you only want 1% equity in Maple Leaf Bio?" Chen Feng looked up, his tone carrying a hint of disbelief. "Plus the first priority usage rights for the 'Eternal' project once it's completed?"

He continued reading, confirming he hadn't misread it. The document had no requirements for board seats, no veto power, and not even any technical audit clauses. This was simply giving away money, not investing.

"One hundred million dollars in exchange for 1% equity and priority rights to a drug that doesn't even have a shadow yet?" Chen Feng asked directly, a hint of playfulness on his face. "You've valued my company at ten billion?"

Weber leaned back into the sofa, cold light flashing in his aged eyes.

"I am eighty-nine years old this year, and the money in my accounts is enough to last seven lifetimes. One hundred million dollars, for me, is just a matter of writing a check." His tone was flat, yet it carried an unquestionable air of dominance. "But time—time cannot be bought."

He looked at Chen Feng, his eyes sharp. "What you are giving me is not an equity return; it is life. I want life, not money."

Weber paused for a second and added, "One hundred million is just the first installment. Once I see the phased results of 'Eternal', the second payment will arrive."

Dahei yawned at his feet, his canine teeth flashing under the light, as if responding to this astonishing deal.