Chapter 636: Unveiling the Truth Behind the Pharmaceutical Division

“No need, really, but thank you! It’s getting late—let’s talk about your situation.”

Zhou Can gestured for the woman to sit down.

She pulled over a small round stool and sat across from Zhou Can, a coffee table between them.

“What would you like to know?”

She sat with a certain elegance, her gaze steady as she looked at Zhou Can.

Trusting his instincts, Zhou Can felt the aura she gave off was anything but ordinary—she wasn’t like most women.

By all rights, someone like her shouldn’t be so easily controlled by Dr. Huang.

Let alone threatened by him for years.

“Can you tell me about how Dr. Huang coerced you? And why didn’t you ever approach leadership in the Pharmaceutical Division about this?”

Zhou Can steered clear of the word ‘police.’

Sometimes, women worry about their reputation if word gets out, and Dr. Huang is an old hand—he leaves no loose ends and it’s tough to get concrete evidence. Even if the police got involved, they’d likely question him, find nothing actionable, and have to let him go.

In the end, the culprit walks free and the woman’s reputation is left in tatters.

Most women who’ve suffered would rather grit their teeth and bear it.

Little do they know, that only allows criminals to be even more brazen.

“I tried reporting it to the higher-ups, but it was useless. They’re all in cahoots, covering for each other.”

A bitter expression crossed her face as she spoke.

“As for the details of what I went through, I’ve written it all in that tip-off letter. I really can’t bear to reopen those wounds.”

Seeing her pained expression, Zhou Can couldn’t bring himself to press further.

His real goal in talking face-to-face was to see if she was lying.

After all, it’s hard to fool someone with your eyes.

Especially when you’re face-to-face—no matter how skilled, there’s always a giveaway.

“Then, can you tell me if Dr. Huang has done anything else against the rules or outright illegal?”

Zhou Can shifted the topic.

“Yes,” she replied with a gentle nod.

She nodded lightly.

“Dr. Huang is just a minor leader in the Pharmaceutical Division, but he knows how to play the game. He’s on good terms up and down the ladder. The third Chinese herbal research lab he runs has won ‘Outstanding Lab’ five years in a row. When it comes to researching and developing formulas for tonics, they’ve even secured several patents and innovative technologies…”

The central role of the Pharmaceutical Division is drug research and development.

As for sales, it’s all done in-house.

That’s the case in many top hospitals—they’ve got their own pharmacy and R&D center. It’s common to see them produce and sell their own meds.

Many of their secret formula medicines are only available at their own pharmacy.

Take one medicine for breast nodules. There’s plenty on the market, but nothing matches a secret formula concocted by a top hospital in the capital—its effects are remarkable.

If you wanted it, you’d need to register for a specialist at their breast surgery department or the thyroid and breast division. Only after the doctor diagnoses and prescribes it are you allowed to buy.

The medicine isn’t pricey and works very well.

But since it’s made in-house, you can’t buy it easily.

Most pharmaceutical companies have to put their drugs through strict evaluations before selling. Order online and it’ll arrive at your door, easy as that.

This saves patients the hassle and money of traveling for treatment—no wonder it’s so popular.

But the in-house formulas from top hospitals just can’t be sold this way.

Years ago, Tuyu set up its Pharmaceutical Division to keep up with the times, following domestic leading hospitals.

Plus, the division itself had deep roots. If built well, it could revitalize traditional Chinese medicine for the country.

But things didn’t go as planned—after opening, it just grew more unwieldy while results lagged behind.

It’s bloated, disorganized, and the return on investment is abysmal. It’s become a real burden on Tuyu Hospital.

Actually, the division has many R&D departments—tonics, blood supplements, yin-nourishing formulas, yang-strengthening, treatments for nodules, bone-growth plasters, and more. Each lab studies its own field.

Now that Zhou Can has bought the Pharmaceutical Division as a whole, the hospital leaders must’ve thought it over carefully.

First off, the division is too unwieldy to manage. They’ve really lost control.

Plus, the output has been disappointing and it’s drifting further from its purpose. Left like this, even a thousand years won’t get results.

Forget revitalizing traditional Chinese medicine—honestly, as long as the old formulas don’t get lost and the techniques aren’t forgotten, that’s enough.

Now, the division’s become a money pit—dragging the hospital down. They need to let go of it.

If not, it’d seriously hinder Tuyu Hospital’s growth.

Tuyu Hospital has become a powerhouse in the provincial medical scene and now has its sights set on the whole country.

Their competition is all top-tier.

Dragging dead weight into that fight is a guaranteed loss.

And finally, once it’s privatized, the pharmaceutical company will have more autonomy—no more suffocating red tape.

The woman named Lou Wei laid out Dr. Huang’s offenses one by one—organized and thorough.

She even produced a stack of evidence she herself had gathered.

Some of it implicated two vice ministers of the Pharmaceutical Division.

When Zhou Can felt the conversation had run its course, he stood to leave.

He’d gotten a lot out of today: key evidence and a look into the dark corners of the division’s secrets.

His eyes wandered over the wall filled with photo albums, snapshots of her with friends and family.

Lou Wei grew a bit tense when she noticed Zhou Can looking at those pictures.

“Mr. Zhou, let me walk you out.”

She was clearly eager for him to leave.

“No, that’s alright. It’s late, and you’re here alone. Lock up tight.”

Stepping out, Zhou Can waved her goodbye.

“I’ll hand over anything that should go to the police as soon as possible. As for the rest, I’ll verify it and deal with it myself. Thanks for all the vital information. Goodbye!”

“Take care!”

She saw Zhou Can off to the door, watched him head to the elevator, then finally closed her door.

But Zhou Can couldn’t get those photos on the wall out of his head.

One group shot caught his eye—Lou Wei standing arm in arm with a refined, scholarly-looking middle-aged man.

She looked strikingly young in that picture—she couldn’t have been more than eighteen or nineteen. The man seemed strangely familiar too.

He definitely wasn’t her father or brother.

And if it was a cousin, they wouldn’t look so close.

So Zhou Can guessed she’d been seeing that man since she was barely an adult, maybe during a trip to the beach together—hence the photo.

“He looks way too familiar. I’m sure I’ve seen him somewhere before.”

Zhou Can stared at his feet in the elevator, deep in thought.

He hadn’t touched the glass of water Lou Wei poured for him.

He’d come alone—what if she spiked it? He’d be helpless.

This woman was anything but simple.

Back in his car, Zhou Can decided he should get the personnel files for everyone in the Pharmaceutical Division.

He called the head of Human Resources right away.

“Hello, is this Chief Guan?”

“Yes… Is this Mr. Zhou?”

The woman on the other end was sharp—she recognized his voice right away.

“Yes, it’s Zhou Can. I need a favor.”

“No problem! Just tell me what you need, and I’ll do my best.”

Her attitude was excellent.

After all, Zhou Can was now her boss—it paid to be polite.

“Sorry for the trouble, but could you work a little overtime and send me all the personnel files for the Pharmaceutical Division? I’ve got hospital duties during the day and only have time at night to look into the staff there.”

Zhou Can offered a brief explanation.

“No problem. I’ll head straight to the division’s HR office. Would you prefer I email the files or make full copies for you?”

She agreed readily.

“Email is fine. I need every single one, please—don’t leave anyone out.”

“Understood!”

The call ended.

The HR chief was a woman in her forties. Zhou Can had only dealt with her once before.

She’d made a strong impression on him.

This woman was efficient and to the point.

And she seemed to have a knack for reading people.

Zhou Can remembered that on their first meeting, he never even introduced himself, but she still figured out who he was. When they spoke, it was like she could see exactly what he was thinking.

He was a bit afraid of her power, to be honest.

He actually felt a little intimidated by her.

He didn’t want to cross paths with her too often—she’d see right through every single one of his thoughts.

There’s no end to this world’s surprises.

Geniuses come in all forms.

Chief Guan in HR and the usually reticent, exceptionally low-profile Minister Xia—both made Zhou Can uneasy.

Minister Xia had run the Pharmaceutical Division for years; his abilities needed no explanation.

After Zhou Can took over, Minister Xia was flexible as could be. Any time Zhou Can gave an order, Xia got it done fast and without fuss. When they met, he was always polite and deferential.

Driving home, Zhou Can showered and started sorting through all the materials he’d gotten from Lou Wei.

Su Qianqian saw his troubled expression and silently brought him some ginseng soup, leaving him alone.

She knew that when a man’s under work pressure, the best thing a woman can do is take care of his needs. Now’s not the time to pester him with affection or comfort.

Otherwise, it would just annoy him.

And it wouldn’t help his work one bit.

Some unreasonable women think, ‘I tried to comfort you, so why are you still angry with me?’

Next thing you know, she’s sulking herself.

Over time, the man would rather sit in his car smoking after work than go upstairs to his own home.

“Mr. Zhou, all the personnel files have been sent to your email. Please check them. There are 482 employees. I’ve sorted them by role, and the attachment password is 1771.”

Chief Guan sent a text message.

She didn’t call.

It was late, and she probably didn’t want to disturb Zhou Can’s rest.

She was attentive—that level of thoughtfulness was impressive.

“Thank you for your hard work.”

Zhou Can replied with those words, then opened his email and downloaded the attachment.

He entered the password to extract the files. There was a spreadsheet and several folders with individual personnel files.

He immediately searched for Lou Wei’s file.

He soon found it. She was actually from the north, and had attended university in Magic City.

“She’s northern? Minister Xia’s from up north too.”

Suddenly, it clicked—no wonder the man in the white T-shirt in Lou Wei’s photo looked so familiar.

It was Minister Xia from years ago.

Lou Wei was thirty-one now. If she knew Minister Xia at eighteen or nineteen, that was more than a decade ago.

Zhou Can pulled up Minister Xia’s file.

His most recent photo wasn’t much use—he’d aged and gained weight.

But in the old photo at Lou Wei’s home, the man in the white T-shirt was younger and fit.

He checked Minister Xia’s graduation documents.

Turns out, he was from the north too, and the grad photo—taken twenty years ago—looked a little different from the man in Lou Wei’s snapshot, but it was clearly the same person.

“So the person pulling the strings all along is Minister Xia.”

This discovery left Zhou Can fired up.

He’d spent so much acquiring the division, but while he was the boss in name, someone else held the real reins. They were like leeches, draining him dry.

If he didn’t root them out, he’d always be the one paying the price.

He’d end up sucked dry by these people.

If that happened and the company failed, they’d be the ones to seize what’s left.

No wonder he’d felt something was off about Lou Wei the moment they met.

If she really were a victim of Dr. Huang, she wouldn’t have that confidence—let alone such presence.

That kind of energy comes from real strength and backing.

She’d been Minister Xia’s secret lover for over a decade—it was no surprise she’d see herself as the division’s first lady.

Even if that couldn’t go public, it didn’t stop her from knowing her position.

Naturally, she’d get special treatment at work.

“It’s interesting—if she’s Minister Xia’s lover, why would she come forward now and help topple Dr. Huang?”

Zhou Can was sure there was something more under the surface.

Throughout their conversation, Lou Wei was calm, logical, and collected.

She’d studied at a top university in Magic City—no way she was dumb.

A smart woman like that wouldn’t do anything reckless.

In fact, her actions were probably at Minister Xia’s instruction—or at the very least, he knew all about it.

So what exactly were they trying to achieve?

He went through all the evidence again, lining up Lou Wei’s materials with other evidence of illegal activities.

Dr. Huang’s embezzlement was massive. The evidence was clear—if he got sued, he’d see the inside of a cell for years.

He had to remember, Dr. Huang’s crimes went way back.

The division used to be part of a public hospital—not private. That made his crimes even more serious.

And it wasn’t just Dr. Huang—he had dirt on two vice ministers and three department chiefs as well.

“Maybe if I talk with Dr. Huang tomorrow, I’ll learn something new.”

Zhou Can muttered to himself.