LWDC Chapter 112

by Volare

Chapter 112 – His Romance

The matter of “smuggling” the new drug from the Huichuan base to create “generic drugs” was, of course, orchestrated by Yu Zhou with Ning Fei’s direct participation.

If Yu Zhou had reported to Yue Fengping in advance, he might have won the argument, but adhering to the idea of “the less trouble, the better,” he didn’t inform Yue Fengping at all. Since he didn’t say anything, Ning Fei was even less likely to go over his head and report it. Therefore, the fact that Huichuan’s drugs were circulating privately within Huichuan was something Yue Fengping, as the base’s commander-in-chief, was genuinely unaware of.

And now that Duan Yunhong had directly exposed the truth, Yue Fengping looked at Yu Zhou and Ning Fei with surprise, and the two of them exchanged glances.

Yu Zhou: What kind of foul-mouthed lover did you find? You can’t even control him.

Ning Fei: Serves you right for wanting to have dinner with him.

The former teacher and student tacitly shirked responsibility in their hearts, then one looked at the sky, and the other looked at the ground. When Yue Fengping saw Yu Zhou like this, he roughly guessed what was going on. It wasn’t the first time Yu Zhou had secretly engaged in petty actions behind his back. Since Duan Yunhong and Ning Fei were present, Yue Fengping didn’t want to reprimand Yu Zhou in front of them, so he replied, “I’m really not too clear about what Director Duan is saying. But since you’ve come all the way to ask in person, I will definitely help investigate, don’t worry. It’s just not convenient to deal with this matter here tonight. Come to my office tomorrow, and we can discuss it in detail?”

Neither admitting, nor denying, nor questioning the most suspicious colleague on the spot, these words were the standard delaying tactic. Once Yue Fengping went back tonight and compared “notes” with Yu Zhou, his attitude might be different tomorrow. Even if Duan Yunhong wasn’t clear about Yu Zhou’s methods, he was very familiar with the consistent style of managers. When encountering any unclear and unfavorable events, they first use rhetoric to appease, then privately clarify the facts, then transform it into the handling method that has the least impact on themselves, and finally everyone is happy.

Duan Yunhong didn’t want them to have such an easy time. Just as he was about to open his mouth to say something more, Ning Fei suddenly interjected, “Investigate what? Director Duan says that Huichuan’s drugs have been brought to Tianyue privately. That’s just empty words. What evidence is there?”

Upon hearing these words, Duan Yunhong turned to look at him sharply.

Although Duan Yunhong hadn’t expected these people to admit it in the first place, he had originally wanted to at least make these people argue, to not be so united. He hadn’t expected Ning Fei to not engage in pleasantries with him, skipping the negotiation stage and directly entering the “denial” phase.

And Yu Zhou, upon hearing this, also raised an eyebrow slightly, but didn’t say anything, nor make any extra movements.

“You’re asking me for evidence?” Duan Yunhong said coldly, “Are you sure?”

“Otherwise? You say what is what? Then I’ll say that the people from Huichuan stole ten shotguns from me. Will Huichuan compensate me?” Ning Fei sneered. He wasn’t afraid of Duan Yunhong’s accusations. The drugs were given to him privately by Duan Yunhong, without going through the registration process like clinical volunteers. Ning Fei even suspected that Duan Yunhong’s drugs were also smuggled out of the research institute, also without going through the process.

If Duan Yunhong dared to question him face-to-face now, Ning Fei dared to deny it to his face. If Duan Yunhong took out physical evidence like videos or audio recordings, Ning Fei wouldn’t be afraid either, directly reporting it to Huichuan. It would be best to pull Duan Yunhong down from the position of director of the research institute. The lower his position, the less he would be a hindrance.

Duan Yunhong also quickly roughly guessed Ning Fei’s thoughts, narrowing his eyes slightly, “Then if Tianyue later ‘develops’ a topical wound medicine that is the same as Huichuan’s, you dare to say it’s a coincidence?”

“Why wouldn’t we dare to say it?” This time Yu Zhou also spoke, composed and at ease, even more confident than Ning Fei, “There are no coincidences without coincidences, it’s just possible that it’s such a coincidence. Besides, what does ‘same’ mean? If the ingredients are the same but the proportions are different, is that called ‘same’ in the pharmaceutical industry?”

It is indeed difficult to determine patent infringement in the case of generic drugs.

Moreover, in this day and age, even if Huichuan’s research institute were to apply for a patent, Tianyue could very likely obtain a compulsory license. Duan Yunhong knew these principles well, so he hadn’t expected to collect any patent fees or sell the drugs for money in the first place, but just wanted to earn some “impression points” for Huichuan, in order to pave the way for the later “savior” image.

However, now, Ning Fei and Yu Zhou didn’t seem to want Huichuan to exclusively enjoy this honor.

–Tsk, I shouldn’t have given him the drugs in the first place.

This thought occasionally flashed through Duan Yunhong’s mind, but he couldn’t really call it regret. What’s done is done. He couldn’t argue with the two debt collectors now, so he turned to look at Yue Fengping, “Does Commander Yue also think so?”

Yu Zhou turned his head to look at Yue Fengping. Yue Fengping remained silent for a few seconds, then replied, “I don’t know the whole story of what you’re saying, so I can’t comment.”

What a great “I don’t know the whole picture, so I won’t comment.” These words sounded neutral, but in fact, it was choosing a side. No matter how upright Yue Fengping was, he knew what was good and bad in his heart, not to mention that he also differentiated between closeness and distance.

Yu Zhou was very satisfied, while Ning Fei was winking innocently at Duan Yunhong during their eye contact.

“…” Duan Yunhong suddenly wanted to laugh.

It wasn’t an angry laugh, but just felt that this situation was a little interesting, and also a little humorous. He was now finally beginning to personally experience how troublesome it was when two capable and extremely tacit debt collectors joined forces.

–However, it was also more interesting.

This “welcoming banquet” had a slightly strange atmosphere, but overall, it ended smoothly. After all, with Ning Fei and Yu Zhou around, as long as the two of them didn’t want to make the atmosphere too tense, they could always chat normally.

To be precise, it was performing “normal chat,” for Yue Fengping alone to see.

After dinner, Yue Fengping went to pay the bill, and no one argued with him about it. While he went to pay, Yu Zhou stuffed a small appliance and a large bag to Ning Fei. Duan Yunhong glanced at it. It was a capsule coffee machine and a large box of coffee capsules.

“Almost forgot to give it to you. You find the beans troublesome, the capsules should be simple enough.” Yu Zhou didn’t care that Ning Fei couldn’t hold it all, and directly pushed it onto him, “I also got a few good packs of cigarettes and a toaster, I’ll give them to you together tomorrow.”

Ning Fei was speechless, “Fun fact, I have hands and feet, I can buy things to eat and cigarettes to smoke myself, I won’t starve to death.”

“No way. Yue Fengping’s comrades asked for these things, I got them for them, you have to have them too when you come.” Yu Zhou chuckled, “Whether you want them or not, I’ll get them for you anyway.”

Ning Fei raised an eyebrow, “Looks like I don’t have the right to refuse.”

“Yes, very smart.” Yu Zhou lightly patted his face, “Alright, go back. Report to me here tomorrow, Tianyue doesn’t support idlers.”

Ning Fei said, “Then I still want to get some wine. Didn’t his comrades say they wanted to drink wine? It doesn’t matter, I want to drink.”

“You’re really self-righteous.” Yu Zhou smiled, “But, I think it’s possible, I’ll get it for you if I can.”

“Then it’s settled.” As Ning Fei said this, Yue Fengping came back. He saw the things Ning Fei was holding, didn’t react much, and even exclaimed, “If Yu Zhou hadn’t remembered, I wouldn’t have remembered either. Thankfully, I almost left the things at the hotel.”

“It doesn’t matter, anyway, it’s a hotel opened by your comrades’ family, they can’t embezzle our things, right?” Yu Zhou waved his hand, “Let’s go, although your alcohol tolerance must be good, still pay attention while driving.”

The four bid farewell to each other, and Ning Fei and Duan Yunhong returned to the Hummer. In the Tianyue base, Ning Fei was the one driving. He threw the things into the back seat first, then got into the driver’s seat.

This time Duan Yunhong watched him fasten his seat belt, and suddenly said, “You say Yu Zhou is a love brain, but I think Yue Fengping is like his toy.”

“…Hmm?” Ning Fei was half distracted, and turned his head to look at him, “You said ‘toy’? Not really, did you not see how he thinks of Yue Fengping in everything?”

“That’s just his ‘amusement project’.” Duan Yunhong looked ahead, and said faintly, “He does seem to be wholeheartedly for Yue Fengping, and I also admit that when he looks at Yue Fengping, there is emotion in his eyes, but this doesn’t conflict with him controlling Yue Fengping. The reason he gives you things is because Yue Fengping’s comrades want them, so his friends must have them too. This shows that even if he is willing to give to Yue Fengping, he is also calculating in his heart, he doesn’t want to be at a disadvantage.”

“Enough. It’s their business how they want to be in a relationship, what does it have to do with you, and you’re even offering sharp criticism.” Ning Fei started the car, his tone indifferent, “You’re not planning to ruin their relationship, are you? Once they’re not together, Yu Zhou won’t have the motivation to work hard for Yue Fengping, and it’ll be easier for you to win the competition between us?”

“I’m just describing what I see. I was still wondering before, since Yu Zhou is the kind of guy who’s in a relationship with ordinary people in the mission worlds, how are you willing to wholeheartedly help this kind of person. Now it seems that he’s not that kind of stupid love brain.” Duan Yunhong replied, “His so-called ‘being in a relationship’ is not much different from the relationship of finding someone for a fixed period of time in these worlds. Yue Fengping should have been completely manipulated by his ‘love magic’, right? Ha, it’s pretty happy to be kept in the dark.”

“Who are ‘we,’ don’t put me in the same category as you.” Ning Fei glared at him, “I also don’t want to compare my methods to his, don’t include me, thank you.”

Duan Yunhong looked at him, “If I really ruin their relationship, what will you do?”

“Nothing, I can’t control what you want to do.” Ning Fei raised an eyebrow, “You don’t think I’ll righteously stop you from ruining Yu Zhou’s relationship, do you? Then you’re wrong, whether he’s in a relationship or not, who he’s in a relationship with, whether they break up or not, it’s none of my business. He can fight his own ‘battle for love’, what does it have to do with me.”

As Duan Yunhong listened, an idea suddenly flashed through his mind, staring at Ning Fei’s face.

Ning Fei noticed his actions, “What? Speak if you have something to say.”

“…It’s nothing.” Duan Yunhong obviously didn’t plan to tell the truth, and changed the topic, “I just suddenly feel that your and Yu Zhou’s styles of doing things are actually a bit similar.”

“Is that so?” Ning Fei actually didn’t refute it, “It’s not strange if they’re similar, he used to teach me.”

Duan Yunhong didn’t expect to hear this, and was a little surprised, “He’s your teacher?”

“That’s what he calls himself, but he’s actually more like a senior in the workplace. He mentored me for a while when I first became a debt collector.” Ning Fei didn’t think these things were much of a secret, anyway, many people in the Bureau knew about it, “I’m not deliberately imitating him either. I just think that his methods and style are indeed efficient, so I also adopt a high-efficiency approach. However, Yu Zhou often spends luck casually like you, I can’t agree with that. I still prefer a more cost-effective approach.”

“Then I guess your rhetoric must have started with him too.” Duan Yunhong said, “He looks like that, but his speaking and style of doing things are so mismatched, others must be easily deceived by his face.”

“He can pretend, he just doesn’t want to pretend. Isn’t it annoying to pretend back and forth when you’re in a relationship?” Ning Fei said indifferently, “As for whether his face and character match or not, who decided the standard? No one is free to follow those standards, and it’s not your turn to be a judge to score him.”

Duan Yunhong asked, “Did you get shot? Is discussing your colleague making you so angry? You weren’t polite when you evaluated Chonglin last time.”

“Because he’s a traitor who was bought off by your petty favors, a fool.” Ning Fei sneered, “I’m not angry either, I just don’t want to discuss it. I’m on the same side as him now, why would I discuss my partner with you, an opponent? I’m not stupid.”

“‘Partner’…” Duan Yunhong repeated the word. Ning Fei thought he was going to make some annoying comments again, but unexpectedly, there was no follow-up. Duan Yunhong fell silent.

Ning Fei glanced at him without batting an eye, and found that he was turning his head to look at the moving scenery outside the window, without moving.

Ning Fei didn’t speak either, and the Hummer passed through the base in the darkness in silence.

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Driving under the influence is for the needs of the writing! Don’t drink and drive, don’t drive and drink!