Chapter 20 (1/2)

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

“First thing’s first. I could give your company the sole right to manufacture and deal the T-1.” The first sentence Zhang Heng uttered put Li Jianguo at ease right away. “My terms are actually far from complicated. I’d only like you to put your connections to work and have the FDA approve the T-1 as soon as possible, and eventually release it to the market.”

“No problem with that. We of the Li Group still have quite a bit of influence after all.” Li Jianguo nodded right away.

“Secondly, I’d like you to make use of your connections and build an offshore company in the Bermuda Islands in my name. Of course, while I’d like you to just take care of the procedure for me, I want a company that is entirely my own from the inside-out.”

“Why not set it up here at home?”

“I have my own reasons. Can you just tell me if you can get that done?” Zhang Heng looked straight at the older man’s eyes.

“Deal.” Li Jianguo didn’t bother arguing after hearing Zhang Heng’s words. None of that would be of any problem to him after all.

“Thirdly, the release of this new drug into the market will definitely have the government hounding us. As such, I’d like you and your company to serve as the spokesperson for the new drug. I’ll wash my hands clean from any dealings with the authorities. I’d be willing to give you 60 percent shares in this. As for how much the authorities will be taking out of this, I’d let your company see to that.”

“Only 60 percent of the sales of the shares?” Li Jianguo looked troubled. He knew well that the national authorities would want a piece of the shares of sales of such a drug, and they would definitely not settle with just 20 to 30 percent. The conventional way of doing things said that said authorities would want more than 50 percent.

But, then again, the government also wouldn’t let such a loss to him remain uncompensated. There would definitely some sort of preference, privileges, and leanings given to his company in the future. However, if Zhang Heng was only willing to give him 60 percent, then he would only have about 10 percent to gain after 50 percent was taken away by the government.

The reason why the government would want a piece of this was something that both Li Jianguo and Zhang Heng knew very well. The government wouldn’t allow such an epoch-making drug to stay in the hands of private persons, and they would definitely want a piece of the pie.

However, that wasn’t to say that the authorities would just dismiss Zhang Heng with a sum of money and take away all rights regarding the drug. No scientist would have been willing to work in Huaxia otherwise. The best deal Zhang Heng could get out of it was simply the right to manufacture and sell the drug, but the authorities would nonetheless buy away part of the company’s shares as they took away the formula, turning the company from a private one into a government-linked company. That would be their way of ensuring that all technologies regarding the T-1 remained within Huaxia.

Simply put, Zhang Heng would need to hand the formula of culturing the T-1 to the Huaxian government.

Zhang Heng had been prepared for a long time when it came to that aspect. That wasn’t to say that he had changed his mind and wanted to just hand everything over to the government, resigning himself to the role of a nanny. He simply saw fit to bear some losses at the moment.

Being penniless and powerless meant that he had to get himself someone powerful to back him. As mentioned before, there was no way the government would allow the T-1 to stay in the hands of private persons. The only way Zhang Heng could profit from selling the T-1 drug, yet ensure that he wouldn’t be swallowed whole by others, was to have the government back him.

However, this was the only time he would do such a thing. Once he got his starting capital, the sky would be the limit.

That was why Zhang Heng didn’t want to register his company in Huaxia. He knew all too well just how headstrong the Huaxian government could be with their systems and methods. The only way a monopoly enterprise could grow was to be established in a capitalist environment. Only by setting up his company offshore, could he grow his company into a goliath.

The very reason why he went out of his way to show the Li Group just how potent the effects of the T-1 Virus was, was because he feared that some unscrupulous jerks among the upper echelons of the government would get greedy, getting their hands on the drug by killing him outright. There was simply nothing he could have done if he ended up dead. However, with the Li Group serving as a witness to the drug’s effects, he deemed that he would be safe, as there was no way any of those unscrupulous people could just get rid of the Li Group entirely after all.

In actual practice, the possibility of him getting assassinated was really very small, as someone capable of developing a drug like the T-1 would be regarded as a treasure to the nation. But, then again, he saw fit to be cautious, which was why he involved the Li Group in the first place.