The air suddenly went quiet for a second, and Mu Qingxue's hand, which was about to reach for her coffee cup, froze in mid-air.
The supply of rhodiola rosea was cut off.
This was currently the company's highest secret; aside from a few core executives, no one else knew about it.
Who was this person? One of Qin Xiao's people? Here to deliver an ultimatum?
"Bring the phone over."
Mu Qingxue took a deep breath, trying her best to calm her breathing and regain her usual vigorous and resolute posture.
As if granted a grand pardon, Xiao Ai hurriedly ran in, placed the wireless receiver on the desk, and then slipped out as if escaping, closing the door behind her.
Mu Qingxue looked at that white receiver as if she were looking at a Pandora's box.
A few seconds later, she reached out and picked it up.
"Hello, who is this?" Her voice was cold, carrying a chill that kept people at a distance.
"CEO Mu, don't be so angry."
Coming from the receiver was a voice processed through a voice changer.
Low, raspy, and carrying an inscrutable mechanical quality, it was impossible to tell the age or gender.
"Getting too angry makes it easy to get wrinkles. When that happens, you'll have to use your own ice skin dew to fix it; what a waste."
Mu Qingxue's brows furrowed. "Hiding your head and showing your tail. If Qin Xiao sent you to mock me, then you can get lost right now."
"Qin Xiao?"
The person on the other end gave a light laugh, one filled with a bit of disdain. "Don't compare me to that kind of scion who only knows how to use underhanded methods. It's too degrading."
"Then what do you mean? What is your purpose in looking for me?"
"Who I am isn't important. What's important is that I know you're very anxious right now."
On the other end of the phone, Fang Ming sat by the window, watching the river view outside while leisurely bluffing this beautiful CEO.
"The fire at Sus Pharmaceutical Industry is burning quite bright. Young Master Qin's move to pull the rug out from under you was indeed played beautifully. However, CEO Mu, do you really think that without Zhang the butcher, you'll have to eat pigs with hair?"
Mu Qingxue's fingers gripping the receiver suddenly tightened. "Speak plainly. My time is precious."
Fang Ming stopped beating around the bush. "Modify that lousy formula of yours. Although rhodiola rosea is good, it's not irreplaceable. Replace it directly with sedum sarmentosum."
"sedum sarmentosum?"
Mu Qingxue was stunned, and then a look of absurdity and anger appeared on her face. "Are you playing with me?"
She was a professional. Although she came from a management background, she had also cram-studied pharmacological knowledge.
sedum sarmentosum was just a roadside weed, a cheap item that cost a few yuan for a large basket, usually used to treat hepatitis or to clear heat and detoxify.
Using such a cheap weed to replace the plateau rhodiola rosea that costs thousands per pound?
This was as ridiculous as someone telling her that if she removed a Ferrari's engine and replaced it with a tractor's engine, it could run even faster!
"Don't be in a hurry to hang up."
Fang Ming guessed the other party's thoughts, his voice still unhurried. "Although sedum sarmentosum is cheap, its medicinal properties are actually thirty percent similar to rhodiola rosea. They are both plants of the Crassulaceae family."
"The reason you think it won't work is because you haven't found the right method. Give me your WeChat ID, and I'll send you something. After you see it, if you still think I'm talking out of my ass, it won't be too late to block me."
"Oh right, let me remind you of one thing."
Fang Ming's voice suddenly became a bit more serious. "Qin Xiao doesn't have much patience. At 9:00 AM tomorrow, if your lab still hasn't produced results, then for the rest of your life, you'll only be able to be a trophy wife for the Qin Family."
Mu Qingxue listened to the voice coming from the phone, standing frozen on the spot.
sedum sarmentosum? A lunatic, he's simply a lunatic!
Reason told her that this was absolutely a scam, or even that Qin Xiao had deliberately found someone to humiliate her.
But... 9:00 AM tomorrow!!
Mu Qingxue glanced at the wall clock; there were only fifteen hours left.
In these fifteen hours, if she couldn't find a new supplier for rhodiola rosea, it would be a dead end.
"Phew..."
Mu Qingxue took a deep breath, like a drowning person grabbing onto the last straw.
With trembling hands, she took her phone from the desk and recited her WeChat ID.
Soon, they added each other as friends. Before Mu Qingxue could type a question, the other side sent over a document.
[Filename: ice skin dew Improved Process Flow.pdf]
Immediately following was a text message.
[.]: "The sedum sarmentosum needs to be steamed three times with sixty-degree strong liquor to remove its cold nature. The ratio of the auxiliary ingredients Bletilla and Dahurian Angelica should be adjusted to 3:1. Most importantly, add Old Aloe juice that is more than three years old as a catalyst at the end."
[.]: "Go do an experiment. It only takes two hours, and the results will surprise you."
Mu Qingxue looked at this paragraph on the screen, her heart beating violently.
This formula... looked too much like a joke!
Boiling weeds in strong liquor? Aloe juice catalyst? Was he sure this wasn't some folk remedy?
"CEO Mu?"
At the door, the assistant Xiao Ai poked her head in again and asked cautiously, "Um... Dr. Liu from the R&D department is still waiting for you to hold the meeting to discuss the production cut..."
Mu Qingxue stood up abruptly and grabbed her phone, a flash of determination in her eyes.
"No more meetings!"
"Have Dr. Liu bring his team and go to the lab immediately!"
"Also... have someone go to nearby pharmacies and buy back all the sedum sarmentosum for me, along with high-proof liquor! And aloe!"
Xiao Ai was dumbfounded. "Huh? Buy... buy those for what? Are we making a cold salad?"
"When I tell you to go, just go. Why so much nonsense!"
...8:00 PM.
The Yunlan International R&D Center was brightly lit.
A strange smell filled the air, like Chinese medicine mixed with the alcoholic scent of Erguotou.
Several R&D personnel in white coats were surrounding a precision centrifuge, all wearing expressions of questioning their lives, like 'who am I, where am I, what am I doing'.
"Nonsense! Simply nonsense!"
The grey-haired Dr. Liu slammed the notebook in his hand down, huffing and puffing with rage.
"CEO Mu, I only stayed at Yunlan out of respect for the Old Chairman!"
"If you want to engage in feudal superstition or have been scammed by some traveling quack, I won't stop you, but please don't do it in my lab!"
"Replace rhodiola rosea with sedum sarmentosum? And use liquor to boil it? If word of this gets out, where will I, Liu, put this old face of mine? Our colleagues in the entire industry will laugh their heads off!"
Mu Qingxue stood with her arms crossed in front of the test bench. Although she was also uncertain in her heart, she remained firm on the surface.
"Uncle Liu, the company's survival is at stake right now. I have to try any opportunity. If something goes wrong, I'll take responsibility. You just focus on the data analysis!"
"Hmph, take responsibility? If this thing can even reach half the effect of ice skin dew, I'll eat this beaker!"
Dr. Liu turned around indignantly and stared at the data stream on the display screen.
Just then.
"Ding!"
The centrifuge stopped running, and a young researcher carefully took out a test tube. Inside was a light green transparent liquid, crystal clear and emitting a faint fragrance.
"Quick! Do the activity test and antioxidant comparison!"
Mu Qingxue's voice was trembling.
A few minutes later.
"Holy crap?!"
That young researcher suddenly blurted out a curse, his eyes fixed on the image under the microscope.
"Xiao Zhang! Mind your manners!" Dr. Liu scolded with a frown. "What did you see? Is the data a total mess?"
"No... it's not..."
Xiao Zhang swallowed hard, a look on his face as if he'd seen a ghost, and tremblingly handed over the report.
"Old... Old Liu, see for yourself."
Dr. Liu snatched the report and glanced at it casually.
The next second.
The expression on his face froze.
Immediately after, he abruptly took off his reading glasses, rubbed his eyes, put them back on, and pressed his face against the report.
"This... how is this possible?!"