The Sickly Beauty Gives Up Struggling [Rebirth] Chapter 102

The detection of nylon fibers in Yuanhesheng pills suggested that production staff had violated cleanliness protocols. Personal items or fibers might have contaminated the formulation, leading to potential safety hazards.

Employees could introduce diseases, bacteria, or unknown foreign substances during production, causing unpredictable risks to patients taking the medication.

Li Rong had every reason to suspect that Yuanhesheng’s drug application data was also falsified.

With such a negligent attitude, it was unlikely that their safety records, biological sample collection, storage practices, or raw data analysis complied with regulations. It seemed plausible that any discrepancies had been erased, altered, or adjusted to make the reports pass inspection.

Shoving his laptop aside, Li Rong got out of bed immediately.

Despite his dizziness, he splashed cold water on his face in front of the sink. 

His fever still lingered, leaving his face flushed but his lips pale. Water droplets dripped from the ends of his soft hair, sliding down the side of his neck, where his pulse throbbed visibly.

But there was no time to waste. He didn’t even bother drying his face before calling Cen Xiao.

Leaning on the table to steady himself, Li Rong suppressed a cough and spoke firmly: “Book tickets immediately. We need to fly to Yangshi as soon as possible and meet with He Dayong, the head of Meijiang Pharmaceuticals.”

Cen Xiao paused before responding softly, “So urgent?”

Li Rong asserted firmly, “It has to be urgent. Right now, we’re the only ones who have conducted tests on the old drugs. He Dayong knows perfectly well how noncompliant Yuanhesheng’s old drugs are. Once the report comes out, it won’t be long before the news leaks. He can excuse drug inactivity as expiration, but he can’t deny the presence of ingredients that shouldn’t be there.

Currently, Yuanhesheng only has one production line in operation, while Qingrui is running at full capacity. It’s impossible for only Yuanhesheng’s drugs to have issues while all the others are completely up to standard. Du Mingli has been stirring things up for so long, even going as far as targeting Meijiang Pharmaceutical’s core members, yet He Dayong remains calm. This suggests that those core members have long been tied down by high salaries or other leverage, making it impossible for them to spill any secrets.

Our inspections must catch them off guard, giving them no time to prepare. Book the tickets now, bring the report with us, and once we arrive in Yangshi, we’ll report to Han Jiang and the other district leaders in District Nine.”

Their only advantage over Du Mingli was that they had no collaboration with District Nine’s intelligence team.

All their investigation data came from District One. For now, He Dayong didn’t know Cen Xiao had the convenience of District One, so it would take longer for him to obtain information about their team.

Moreover, with Han Jiang’s support and attention, Du Mingli’s presence was obviously much more high-profile. A glance at the resumes of Du Mingli’s and Cen Xiao’s team members would clearly indicate to He Dayong where his defensive priorities should lie.

In nearly three months, Du Mingli had indeed taken significant actions, causing several setbacks for Meijiang Pharmaceutical. Although the company managed to handle them, his capabilities were undeniable.

His efforts also drew considerable attention from peers in the industry. Some were waiting to see He Dayong fail, while others, assessing the situation, hesitated to take sides.

Attention brings risk, and Du Mingli was indeed a headache.

From the outside, it seemed Cen Xiao hadn’t done much, as if he were simply waiting for District Six’s revocation process to complete and fail.

Although he was the son of the District Three chairman, District Three had little connection to the pharmaceutical industry. At just nineteen years old, it was natural for He Dayong to assume Han Jiang had handed this matter to Cen Xiao purely out of respect for Cen Qing and wasn’t taking it seriously.

Compared to the socially experienced and tactful Du Mingli, He Dayong naturally didn’t consider Cen Xiao a threat.

In some ways, Du Mingli provided the perfect cover for Cen Xiao.

Hu Qijiang, Yuanhesheng’s old drugs, the symbolic significance of the “white horse and gray horse,” the nylon fibers in the drugs…

They had no idea how much He Dayong already knew, but this was a rare opportunity to catch him off guard. No matter what, it wasn’t to be missed.

Cen Xiao asked with concern, “Has your fever gone down? Are you feeling any better?”

Li Rong pressed his temples, which throbbed painfully from his excitement. “Much better. You book the tickets; we’ll leave today.”

Cen Xiao was silent for a moment, clearly reluctant for Li Rong to travel while sick. But Li Rong was the expert in their group—no one could replace him.

Sensing his hesitation, Li Rong couldn’t help but smile. “Come on, I’m still young. I’m not that fragile, and the ice packs have helped a lot.”

Cen Xiao finally relented, “I’ll ask Yu Fuyan to book the tickets. Before we leave, I’ll check on your condition again.”

“Alright,” Li Rong replied gently.

After hanging up the phone, he took his temperature again—it was still 38°C, showing no sign of decreasing.

Calculating the time, he knew his body needed more time to regulate itself under a mild fever, but he couldn’t afford to wait.

Li Rong set down the thermometer and retrieved a box of fever reducers from the medicine kit Cen Xiao had prepared. Taking one pill with warm water, he pocketed an extra packet in his coat just in case of a relapse during the trip.

After taking the medicine, he turned back to the report, hoping to uncover something new.

At that moment, Jian Fu’s side had made another discovery.

After broadening the search scope for deleted posts related to Meijiang Pharmaceuticals, Jian Fu uncovered more than just patient complaints about drug issues—there were also posts from interns complaining about disguised exploitation.

[Jian Fu: Big scoop! Oh my God, Meijiang Pharmaceuticals is a treasure trove of scandals! Is there no clean corner in this company?!]

The post Jian Fu found was a comment left by a pharmacy student on a recruitment website:

[Anonymous User: I can’t hold it in anymore; I have to rant about Meijiang Pharmaceuticals. Fresh graduates, please don’t intern here—it’s a trap! During the interview, they claimed a six-month internship was required, with post-conversion salaries and benefits above the industry average. The offer looked appealing, so I took it (PS: I even turned down an internship at a major company). But Meijiang Pharmaceuticals completely lied. As soon as the six-month internship was up, they found an excuse to dismiss me. They had no intention of paying high salaries—they just wanted cheap labor! Oh, and don’t even get me started on how poorly managed their production workshops are. For anyone unfamiliar with the industry, here’s some advice: avoid Meijiang’s drugs. I’m sorry I can’t post this under my real name—I’m afraid of retaliation. The pharmaceutical industry here is monopolized by the Sixth District under Blue Pivot’s jurisdiction. It’s a tightly knit network of interests, and Meijiang’s HR even boasted about having the power to blacklist someone across the industry!]

[Jian Fu: This recruitment website has lax management—posts can be made without logging in. For now, I can only trace the user’s device and location, but I’m not sure if we can contact them directly.]

Judging from the caution the poster displayed, it was clear they feared Meijiang Pharmaceuticals discovering their identity and had taken great care to hide their personal information.

Moreover, the post was made two years ago. A lot could have changed in that time—the poster might not even be in the country anymore.

However, this was still valuable information, as it demonstrated that Meijiang’s workshop safety standards had been subpar for quite some time.

Li Rong was about to reply to Jian Fu when a sharp spasm in his stomach made him gag.

His face turned pale as he hurried to the bathroom, gripping the toilet for support as he vomited.

It dawned on him that he had taken antipyretics without eating breakfast.

The antipyretics currently on the market were harsh on the stomach—a few years later, milder alternatives would become available, but for now, he had to deal with the side effects.

Li Rong retched for what felt like an eternity, only managing to expel some stomach acid.

The acid and medication left his esophagus burning unpleasantly. His eyes were red, tears streaming down from the physical strain, as he crouched on the floor, breathing weakly.

After several minutes, he finally mustered the strength to stand up and rinse his mouth at the sink. The bitter taste of the medication still lingered.

Taking a deep breath, Li Rong forced himself to go to the kitchen, where he opened the fridge and pulled out a small packet of bread.

The cold air from the fridge made him shiver. His stomach churned with acidity, his body ached, and his fever left him weak. He had no appetite at all.

But he compelled himself to eat the entire packet of bread.

Since he had vomited up the earlier medication, he waited until the bread settled before taking another dose of antipyretics.

No matter what, he needed to appear well enough by the time Cen Xiao came to pick him up.

***

Meanwhile, both Cen Xiao’s and Du Mingli’s teams received a notification from Ghost Eye Squad leader Han Jiang.

Han Jiang: “We’ve just received word that the Sixth District’s revocation process is nearly complete. In no more than ten days, we’ll lose all authority to investigate Meijiang Pharmaceuticals.”

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