Huaqing Technology was located in a suburban biotech industrial park. They occupied a small building and a half, rented under favorable policies from the district government. Half of the building was used for management offices, while the other full building had been renovated into laboratories. Currently, two of the three office floors were dark and locked; even on the remaining floor where signs of life persisted, many workstations sat empty. Amidst several vacant desks, Li Qianqian—Jiang Tong’s junior by six years, Huaqing’s temporary head of investor relations, interim CFO, and part-time secretary—was anxiously rummaging through a mess of scattered forms for a copy of a contract.
Found it! She pulled the contract from beneath a stack of reports, her heart leaping with joy, only for a shadow to suddenly fall over her. She looked up blankly to see Jiang Tong standing before her desk, looking down at her with his brow furrowed into a deep "川" shape. Standing against the light, the contours of his features seemed deeper than usual, projecting an uncharacteristic severity and coldness.
"President Jiang... what’s, what’s wrong?" Her heart hammered against her ribs, and her voice hitched as soon as she spoke.
Jiang Tong opened Outlook on his phone and thrust the screen before her eyes. "See for yourself."
Utterly confused, Li Qianqian read the email. Before she had finished two lines, a cold sweat broke out on her forehead. "President Jiang, I am so sorry. I accidentally swapped the investor profiles for Huayu and Blue Lake."
"But the meeting times are correct," she added in a small voice, trying to save some face. "The FA just called to confirm with me again. This afternoon at 2:00 PM at the Westin Hotel cafe, Blue Lake’s second-in-command and their head of healthcare investment will both be there."
Their voices weren't loud. However, the acoustics of the vast, empty open-plan office were excellent. Out of the corner of his eye, Jiang Tong saw several colleagues who were supposedly busy typing quietly glance up to scout the situation.
Huaqing was a battered ship tossed in a violent storm. At this critical juncture of life and death, the company could not afford any ripples that might shake morale. Jiang Tong forced down the turmoil in his heart and signaled to Li Qianqian with a tilt of his head. She followed him into his office.
It wasn't until the door was closed and she was sitting across from Jiang Tong with a trepidatious heart that Li Qianqian still hoped—and assumed—that her habitually good-tempered boss would smile and let her off the hook as usual. After all, compared to the mountain of problems they currently faced, mislabeling investor background info was practically negligible.
However, Jiang Tong only let out a soft sigh.
"Qianqian, I know Lu Wei sent you an offer as well." Anger and disappointment were energy-consuming emotions. Sitting face-to-face with the young woman, Jiang Tong couldn't find the strength to be furious; he only felt an all-encompassing exhaustion from the inside out. "I won't force anyone to stay. If you want to leave, then go."
Li Qianqian’s eyes instantly reddened. "Senior, I really messed up. Please give me a chance to fix it. Please don't kick me out."
"You usually do your work very carefully and thoroughly," he said, sounding almost apologetic. "The company has had... frequent personnel changes lately. You’ve stayed here, taking on multiple roles without a single cent of a raise. It’s normal to be under pressure, to be in a bad mood, or even to make small mistakes."
"Don't feel burdened by it. A wise bird chooses its tree; I understand you."
"I already rejected him," the girl said quickly. "I told him I would never be his subordinate. And once my options vest and the company goes public, I’m going to buy six months of continuous advertising on Metro Line 4 just to curse him and Yang Tian as shameless villains who stabbed us in the back."
"And Zhang Wenshan, Fu Yimei, Xue Kai, Song Jiaqi..." She listed the names of the R&D backbone who had remained at the company one by one. "Lu Wei sent offers to all of us. No one paid him any mind."
She had originally intended to comfort Jiang Tong, but as she spoke, she became indignant herself. "Joining the Nationalist Party right before the liberation—that’s exactly what those runners are doing! They’ll be crying once CD30 hits the market."
Jiang Tong was amused by her. "Your revolutionary faith is quite firm. I’ll reward you by ordering an extra braised pork hock for your lunch."
Li Qianqian’s brows shot up. "How can you brush me off with just a piece of pork? Why don't you give me more options during the capital increase in this funding round?"
Jiang Tong made a playful gesture as if to hit her, but his heart felt warm. The company was at a life-or-death threshold; its stock could become scrap paper at any moment. The fact that Li Qianqian was still willing to put in her own hard-earned money was the maximum support she could offer.
After discussing the next steps of the financing plan with Li Qianqian, the young woman skipped out of the room to call the clinical lead to report progress to the boss. Jiang Tong watched her light, retreating figure, realizing that the massive waves of emotion from reuniting with his old flame had unknowingly receded.
The timing was truly unfortunate. Jiang Tong gazed at the clear autumn sky outside the window, a bitter smile touching his lips. It seemed he always lacked the luxury to indulge in sentimental sorrow.
A while ago, Huaqing had suffered a personnel earthquake; the entire clinical line had been nearly uprooted. Song Jiaqi was an old acquaintance from Jiang Tong’s days at a foreign firm. Jiang Tong had used every bit of persuasion to drag him in to put out the fire, thrusting him into the role of overseeing the BTK27 clinical trials. As a standard "golden child," Song Jiaqi had enjoyed smooth sailing through school and had worked on the client side at a major pharmaceutical firm immediately upon graduation. As a wealthy "landlord" with ample funding, he had always been the one picking clinical institutions, never the other way around. In the three months he’d been at Huaqing, he had endured more frustration than he had from primary school until now. With no subordinates to vent his anger on, he had spent his days and nights stewing in a mess of troubles, resulting in a row of fever blisters along his lip.
"Those bastards are experts at sucking up to the powerful and trampling the weak," Song Jiaqi said, his face full of displeasure as he spoke of the new CRO. "For the exact same experiment, the price has doubled compared to before."
"We should be grateful they’re willing to work with us at all. It took many closed doors to get this contract, so complain less," Jiang Tong said calmly as he reviewed the progress report.
"That wasn't a contract won through eating; it was won through drinking." Song Jiaqi pushed up his glasses, his smile carrying a hint of schadenfreude. "Too bad you blacked out that night. President Zhang got drunk and went crazy—he was a mess of snot and tears, hugging you and wailing like a baby."
"That’s enough," Jiang Tong said, glancing up from the report to give him a warning look. "When can enrollment be completed?"
"About another month," Song Jiaqi said, turning serious. "I don't handle the finances, but I’m giving you a heads-up. Once the clinical trials start, the costs will snowball. Get the money in place as soon as possible. Don't let me get all fired up and working hard only for the supplies to cut out halfway."
"I know." Jiang Tong signed the report and tossed it back to him. "Focus on running your hospitals."
He appeared confident, but in reality, he had no certainty. These days, Jiang Tong had been seeing VCs, PEs, and people who were described as "high-net-worth investors" but were essentially the nouveau riche all over the city. Everyone smiled during meetings and enthusiastically asked to keep in touch via email, but those who actually showed genuine investment interest were few and far between.
Jiang Tong knew their concerns.
For an academic returning from abroad to start a business, commercialization was always a hurdle; their greatest advantage was usually the high quality of R&D. But with the CFDA restarting clinical audit reforms, the scandal of a Phase I withdrawal combined with a mass exodus from the R&D department was a major red flag, even among domestic pharma companies that once survived on buying permits.
He believed implicitly in the value of CD30. But if multinational pharmaceutical giants had no interest in continuing work on that target, how could he expect investors—who couldn't even pronounce the English names of antibodies—to have the insight to recognize a hidden gem?
These were questions he couldn't afford to overthink. Jiang Tong packed his roadshow materials and grabbed his laptop bag, preparing to head out. Once the arrow is shot, there is no turning back. Lu Wei had dragged him to the gambling table, and now Lu Wei had shifted to the opposite side to place his bets. Jiang Tong could either stay in the game and continue to maneuver, looking for a slim chance of survival, or admit defeat and hand over his chips.
He couldn't give them up.
The roadshow with Blue Lake was, as usual, neither good nor bad. After the meeting, Jiang Tong stood at the entrance of the Westin waiting for a car to return to the office when he suddenly received a call from Beibei.
"Your son caused trouble at kindergarten again. Get over here right now."
***
**Glossary**
Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation
---|---|---
华清科技 | Huaqing Technology | Jiang Tong's biotech startup.
李倩倩 | Li Qianqian | Temporary CFO/IR/Secretary at Huaqing.
路巍 | Lu Wei | Jiang Tong's former partner/colleague who left to start a rival firm.
华毓 | Huayu | A potential investment firm/fund.
蓝湖 | Blue Lake | A venture capital firm (Blue Lake Capital).
宋嘉琪 | Song Jiaqi | Clinical lead at Huaqing, an old acquaintance of Jiang Tong.
蓓蓓 | Beibei | A female character close to Jiang Tong (likely family or ex-partner).
川 | Chuan | The Chinese character for "river," used to describe three vertical frown lines between the eyebrows.
良禽择木而栖 | A wise bird chooses its tree | Idiom: A talented person chooses a good leader/employer.
釜底抽薪 | Taking the firewood from under the pot | Idiom: To undercut someone or take drastic measures to solve a problem/sabotage.
CFDA | CFDA | China Food and Drug Administration (now NMPA, but often referred to by the old name in older or specific contexts).
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