Lu Chen sighed, "Is it that fast? Actually, we haven't known each other for very long. Don't say you love me just because I can heal your leg."
Shangguan Bei said earnestly, "It's almost true. When I first couldn't walk, I had this thought: I would definitely fall in love with the person who healed my leg."
Lu Chen laughed, "What if the person who healed your leg was an old man?"
"Impossible!" Shangguan Bei became even more serious, "It's precisely because I know that the person who healed my leg will be my Prince Charming that I'll fall in love! I've waited for so many years, and my Prince Charming has finally appeared!"
Lu Chen muttered, "Speaking of which, doesn't it sound like the sleeping princess has finally been awakened by a kiss from her prince?"
Shangguan Bei giggled, "I think so too!"
The two lingered like this for a while, then Shangguan Bei called a nanny to bring the medicine to be brewed. Lu Chen solemnly explained the decoction process to the nanny, including how to add water and control the heat.
Then, Shangguan Bei led Lu Chen to the laboratory.
Along the way, she carefully explained everything to Lu Chen.
In this Flying Eagle Biotechnology Research Company, Shangguan Bei is the highest leader, the general manager, and also the research director. In addition, there are a marketing director, a medicinal herb cultivation director, a production director, and a safety director, under whom are several departments.
Most importantly, of course, is the research department. Below the research director are several researchers and experimentalists, as well as technical backbone personnel and staff below the experimentalists. Researchers are equivalent to managers, while experimentalists are equivalent to supervisors.
Therefore, the chief researcher, Ouyang Bihua, is essentially the head manager of the research department.
Currently, the research department is divided into seven or eight project teams. Besides developing various drugs, they are constantly exploring ways to enhance the medicinal properties of existing drugs, thereby upgrading them. For example, the company's flagship product, Huolong Liquid, is one such team.
Flying Eagle Biological Research Company primarily produces tonics and health supplements for the general public. However, its other business is quite different: researching and producing drugs for extremely rare and intractable diseases.
"The business of developing drugs for intractable diseases has always been unprofitable. Many of my subordinates advised against it, including Ouyang Bihua, but Grandpa supported me!"
"Those patients with rare diseases who have no cure and can only take painkillers and wait to die are so pitiful. I've made a lot of money just selling supplements and health products, so of course I should use a portion of it to develop those drugs and help those patients."
"Brother Chen, don't you think so?"
Lu Chen pinched Shangguan Bei's cheek and said, "Yes, that's right! Little Bei is so cute!"
Shangguan Bei lowered her head: "Brother Chen, I've never told anyone about my parents, but I want to tell you. They both died. When I was fifteen, they went to Africa to investigate investment projects and contracted a very rare disease. There's no specific drug for it. The disease exhausted them, and they died of weakness."
Her voice trembled with tears.
Lu Chen understood why this girl was so strong. To develop the Dragon Elixir, she had tasted hundreds of herbs like Shennong, even ruining her own legs.
He didn't offer any words of comfort, but gently touched Shangguan Bei's face, feeling a few tears.
Shangguan Bei suddenly grabbed his hand, kissed it, and said softly,
"Brother Chen, I heard from Lao Pang that you don't want to be my R&D director. But I want to ask you one more time, please come? I don't require you to be on time, just help me figure out how to improve projects. Besides, if you're my director, I'll feel more secure and at ease."
Lu Chen could tell that he had become Shangguan Bei's support.
Even without him, she managed to run the company so well! This could only mean that this girl truly loved him. It's hardest to resist the kindness of a beautiful woman!
Lu Chen sighed, unable to refuse, and finally agreed.
"Great!" Shangguan Bei exclaimed joyfully, like a little girl.
In truth, in Lu Chen's mind, she had always been like a little girl.
However, after entering the research lab, Shangguan Bei changed. She became very serious and composed. When staff members greeted her, she barely nodded.
They seemed used to her aloofness, only showing curiosity towards Lu Chen.
Who is this young man pushing our general manager?
Looking at the research lab, Lu Chen was also surprised.
This wasn't just a lab; it was practically a hall, a huge hall.
This hall was divided into several areas by thick tempered glass, each containing various precision instruments. Pipes ran through the ceiling, transporting heat, purifying water, fuel, and so on.
It felt like stepping into a futuristic world.
Shangguan Bei appeared quite proud: "These devices might not be the most advanced in the world, but they're certainly at the forefront internationally. With these research facilities, everything becomes much more convenient."
Shangguan Bei introduced many things to Lu Chen, truly broadening his horizons.
The research department had its own conference room. After leading Lu Chen there, Shangguan Bei calmly instructed an assistant to notify all the researchers and experimentalists to attend a meeting within fifteen minutes; an important personnel appointment was to be announced. The assistant gave Lu Chen a strange look, immediately agreed, and went to make the arrangements.
Within fifteen minutes, about twenty people arrived. Among them was Du Haoqi, the experimentalist Lu Chen had seen earlier near the medicinal herb plantation, and Ouyang Bihua, who had barged into the general manager's office without knocking.
Du Haoqi remained indifferent, while Ouyang Bihua's face was full of black lines. As for the others, they didn't seem very happy, looking at Lu Chen with complex and jealous eyes. Of course, some remained calm.
It seemed they all knew what was about to happen.
Lu Chen suddenly felt a sense of being caught in the crossfire.
Of course, he wasn't intimidated. So what if he attracted attention? The stronger the wind, the more enjoyable it would be!
These people were mostly middle-aged and elderly men, with a few women, but all of them were also of a certain age. Du Haoqi was an exception—young, beautiful, sexy, and with a cold, aloof air.
Normally, Shangguan Bei should have introduced Lu Chen first, but she introduced everyone present to him first. They were all key members of the research lab, each responsible for different projects.
Chief Researcher Ouyang Bihua and Experimenter Du Haoqi were both in the Vital Dragon Liquid project team. Ouyang Bihua was the deputy team leader, with Shangguan Bei personally leading the team.
These researchers and experimenters included master's and even doctoral students from prestigious universities, several professors, retired traditional Chinese medicine practitioners from major hospitals, and talented individuals recruited by Shangguan Bei from other biotech companies.
They were all extraordinary individuals.
Without such qualifications and abilities, they wouldn't have been able to join this biotechnology research company.
Therefore, this was the basis for their disdain for Lu Chen.
Then, Shangguan Bei introduced Lu Chen to them.
"This is Mr. Lu Chen. I am honored to announce that Mr. Lu will be joining our technology company, replacing the position I have been holding concurrently—Research Director."
As she spoke, Shangguan Bei clapped her hands.
However, the applause was sparse and infrequent.
Questions followed in quick succession:
"I wonder which university Mr. Lu graduated from? Was it a master's or doctoral program?"
"To be appointed our research director at such a young age, you must have exceptional abilities. Mr. Lu, could you tell me about your qualifications and any outstanding achievements you've made?"
"Being a research director isn't easy. You need to be involved in all our research projects and continuously provide suggestions for improvement. Does Mr. Lu have any experience in this area?"
"Actually, what I'm most interested in is where Mr. Lu has relevant work experience."
"Yes, one would expect someone to have worked at a large company to be qualified for the director position, right? Johnson & Johnson? PolyGram? ACC? Geyinglan?... In my eyes, only people from those seven or eight large companies are capable of this!"
"That's not entirely true. While those companies are globally renowned, if just any junior assistant from one of them could become our director, it would be laughable."
"Mr. Lu looks so young; he hasn't been working for many years, has he? That's worth investigating!"
"Maybe he's young and promising, haha!"
...
These doubts started out as pure skepticism, but later turned into sarcasm and disdain. Some even began maliciously speculating that Lu Chen had gotten the position through connections.
After all, Lu Chen was too young, only twenty-three or twenty-four years old.
At that age, in a typical company, being a manager or director in a general management role would be perfectly acceptable, but this was the Director of Biological Research!
Who could hold such a position without decades of experience?
Even the man with the flowing white beard wouldn't dare say he was qualified.
Of course, two or three people believed they were qualified, so they were particularly resentful of Lu Chen's arrival, and their words were especially sharp. Among them was Ouyang Bihua.
He was quite shrewd, remaining mostly silent at first. Only after everyone had been talking for a while did he suddenly speak up:
"Everyone should be quiet for a moment. I think that since Miss has chosen such a talented young man to replace her as director, such an important matter wouldn't be done carelessly; there must be a reason. Perhaps we should let Mr. Lu introduce himself first before making any comments?"
It was clear that although Ouyang Bihua was among the younger generation, he held considerable authority. His words quieted everyone down considerably, and they all looked at Lu Chen with rather challenging gazes.
Clearly, they wanted to see who he was.
Lu Chen glanced around, nodded slightly, and then said calmly, "I'm very sorry, but I don't have the illustrious background everyone says I have, nor am I a graduate of a prestigious university. Before last year, I was a freeloader, but after entering the workforce, I now work at Moon's Tooth Pastry Shop. Like Mr. Ouyang, I'm also a head pastry chef. I'm the head pastry chef at Moon's Tooth!"