【With the long holiday half over, are everyone tired of playing and back to reading? I recommend Hongchang Faca's older work, Rebirth Legend, for everyone to check out. Just search for it.】 It was true that Gan Lin and the others had seen right through him; when it came to his research achievements being unjustly seized, Wang Zhuo indeed had other plans.

Admittedly, the "Relevant Department" was incredibly powerful, instilling a sense of "human capability has its limits" and "gazing at the vast ocean with a sigh" helplessness when facing them, but Wang Zhuo was long past being a soft persimmon that others could easily manipulate; he had his own methods! "There are two things that are already set in stone." He smiled, held up two fingers, and said, "The first thing: when the Relevant Department summoned me for a meeting, they put it nicely as a discussion, but bluntly, it was a notification. Whether I went or not, or whatever my attitude was, my status as the inventor was no longer mine.

That cannot be changed." Upon hearing this, some people understood, while others did not. Qi Fei and Guan Yingying, being slightly older, understood that in the face of national interest, the "small self" must be sacrificed. Cooperation meant issues could be discussed; non-cooperation meant compliance under coercion!

From local governments evicting beggars and demolishing houses to conscription on the front lines during wartime, many things are not subject to individual will—political necessity dictates everything! Those who didn't understand were Gan Lin and Siyuan. However, even though they didn't grasp the nuance, they still believed what Wang Zhuo said was the truth.

Smiling faintly, Wang Zhuo continued, "The second thing: they were absolutely certain that given my status today, I wouldn't dare to completely fall out with them over this honor. As the saying goes, the barefoot man has nothing to fear from the man in shoes. If I were an unknown expert who received such unfair treatment, I might well emigrate, go abroad, and turn my guns on them to claim the honor that should have been mine.

But I am not an unknown expert; my family, my career, my everything, is in this country, so they determined I would swallow this injustice silently." Everyone understood this sentiment. Dealing with the barefoot requires fearing their reckless resistance, but dealing with the man in shoes is sometimes much simpler because he has reservations! "We understand what you're saying now," Guan Yingying said with a frown.

"So what is your plan?" "My plan? Of course, it's not letting them get away with this benefit for free!" Wang Zhuo sneered. "If they offered sufficient benefits in exchange, I could play the good guy, but the way they are acting—so righteous, self-satisfied, and self-entitled—that’s simply improper.

What, only they are working for the nation, while I risked my life to develop something, and I haven't contributed to the nation? Is the country only for their civil servants and not for patriots like me?" Hearing him claim the status of a patriot, Siyuan chuckled, but Qi Fei and the other two couldn't bring themselves to smile. Wang Zhuo's annual investment in charity and public welfare ran into the hundreds of millions, and that was just his personal contribution; his stake in the corporate group was calculated separately.

If even he didn't count as a patriot, then truly few patriots remained in this country. As for his somewhat loose belt regarding romantic entanglements... well, those were personal matters, unrelated to patriotism.

Let's call it minor flaws obscuring major virtues! Wang Zhuo stood straighter, exuding an air of proud defiance, and continued, "Since they acted improperly in this matter, they shouldn't blame me for playing a few tricks on them. We are all contributing to the country, so why should they consider themselves superior?

Why should my achievement be used by them without compensation? Even in wartime, there was an understanding of distributing spoils to the teams that contributed the most. I’m fighting at the front, and they’re dividing the spoils in the rear—that makes no sense!" "Alright, alright, we know you contributed the most, we know you were treated unfairly, and we know you feel wronged, okay?" Qi Fei said, torn between laughter and tears.

"If you keep rambling, our ears will grow cocoons. Hurry up and tell us what you plan to do." Guan Yingying chuckled and said, "Sister, let him vent for a bit. Not many people can take advantage of him now; he’s got a belly full of resentment." Wang Zhuo scratched his head sheepishly and said, "I never planned to hand it over." Everyone froze.

Gan Lin asked doubtfully, "But haven't they already taken it? And only after informing you and getting your approval?" "Taken it, what do you mean by 'taken'?" Wang Zhuo said with a cool, composed smile. "Don't assume that just because something has been reported on the news, it’s set in stone and cannot be overturned.

Didn't the news report ten thousand jin of grain yield per mu in the countryside? But what is the reality? The yield of the Super Rice barely exceeds one thousand kilograms per mu." Guan Yingying snorted, pouring cold water on him: "That's from a different era.

If you dare go against the news broadcasts now, you're just an ant trying to stop a chariot." "Who says I’m going against the news broadcasts?" Wang Zhuo laughed casually. "Didn't Liu Zhiyung’s nationwide railway great leap forward receive praise from the news broadcasts back then? What happened later?

After he cooked up that disastrous national railway project, didn't he still get removed from office?" The four women were stunned, immediately understanding Wang Zhuo's stance. He wasn't planning to confront the entire state system; instead, he was lowering his target again and again, focusing on the Ministry of Health! "Now you understand?" Wang Zhuo chuckled and spread his hands.

"Right now is the peak of the situation; the state is paying extreme attention to this matter, so those people hold the imperial sword. I must first avoid the sharp edge. But once this intense period passes, whoever took mine will return it to me.

Whoever gave the order will slap their own face in the future. It's that simple." Guan Yingying’s eyes suddenly lit up, and she exclaimed, "Are you saying, the leadership reshuffle next year?" Wang Zhuo immediately laughed, a triumphant, smug laugh. What is foresight?

This is foresight! His opponents are powerful now, relying on authority granted from above to bully him, so he chose to comply, chose to endure! But once this fervor subsides, and his opponents' emergency powers are revoked, coupled with political shifts, he will have opportunities to maneuver and reclaim what should be his!

Following this, Wang Zhuo laid out his detailed plan completely to the women. Since everyone present was an insider, they would never divulge the information. This satisfied both their curiosity and Wang Zhuo’s desire to confide.

It turned out Wang Zhuo's secret was just one character: delay. With the earth-shattering effect of the Festering Mosquito Disease cure, the "Relevant Leaders" of the Relevant Department would undoubtedly strike while the iron was hot to push for the Nobel Prize in Medicine for the three fake experts. Considering that China had yet to produce a single Nobel laureate (the Nobel Peace Prize had become a political tool, existing in name only, so it wasn't counted), they would certainly strive to seize such a grand opportunity.

But it was already the end of the year; the deadline for Nobel Medical Prize nominations was January 31st. Coupled with the fact that the Festering Mosquito Disease cure required a certain period for practical application and social feedback, the nomination time for the fake experts would certainly fall within the last few days. Wang Zhuo planned his move around this nomination deadline.

He intended to quietly send several experts who had collaborated with him on the research abroad first, and then, at the critical moment, have them raise questions overseas regarding the identity of the inventor of this medical breakthrough. Given the benefit this medical achievement brought to human society, it certainly had the merit to compete for the Nobel Prize, but its true owner was in dispute. How could the award be judged, and to whom should it be presented?

In this way, this year's nominations would naturally be shelved! "How insidious!" Siyuan’s eyes shone with excitement. This strategy of undermining the foundation was absolutely brilliant!

"If you drag it past next year's selection, you can still participate the year after, or the year after that," Guan Yingying said happily. "But next year is a reshuffle year; you can use that opportunity to make significant moves. By then, once you dismantle the backing of those three impostors, no one will be competing with you!" Siyuan giggled, "As for the news reports, haven't there been countless instances where they couldn't justify their own stories?

One more won't hurt!" "But this matter has too large an impact. Won't it cause higher-level leaders to lose face?" Qi Fei expressed some worry. "Oh, Sister—" Guan Yingying threw an arm around her shoulder and said playfully, "What's there to fear?

Even the CCTV hosts said during internal galas that the masses are never privy to the full truth, and the superiors are always kept in the dark." "Exactly," Wang Zhuo chuckled. "We are only targeting the bad leaders and cadres who deceive the masses below and conceal things from the leadership above. Whoever cooks up the bad idea to steal my research results, we target them, and it has nothing to do with anyone else!" ...

In reality, Wang Zhuo had worried too much about this matter. He had originally assumed that once the inhibition enzyme entered mass production, it would quickly bring the worldwide Festering Mosquito Disease epidemic under control, leading the three experts to qualify as Nobel candidates, necessitating his interference to disrupt things. But things did not develop as he predicted, for a reason both simple and realistic: although the cost of the inhibition enzyme wasn't high, the production cycle for one of its raw materials was quite long, which ultimately affected the final output of the product.

Countless countries dispatched special aircraft and experts to China. They had a dual objective: first, to confirm whether China's announcement was truly effective, and second, to see if they could import it, and if so, what price they would have to pay. The Chinese had previously made the foolish mistake of allowing Japanese experts to observe the papermaking process for Xuan paper, only to have the Japanese learn the technique.

While there were still some fools and traitors engaging in similar behavior, this time, under the strict guard of another Relevant Department, such a security breach would not occur. Originally, Wang Zhuo was also on the list for strict surveillance. After all, if he merely sent out the relevant technical data or research concepts, he could have befriended at least a dozen countries and might even have secured immense economic benefits.

But he had truly lost his temper over this issue in Taijing, which prevented him from being temporarily confined. The domestic output of the new drug couldn't even achieve self-sufficiency, let alone supply allied nations or be sold to countries with subtle relations like the US, UK, Japan, or France. Thus, research targeting this drug continued in many nations, while impoverished countries severely affected by the epidemic—like Haiti, Libya, or Somalia—still faced impending disaster...

As for the Nobel Prize in Medicine, who knew if some cheaper, more efficient substance might suddenly emerge to save this global catastrophe? The three fake experts and certain leaders in the Ministry of Health were eager to push the matter through while the heat was on, but how could experts from Western nations agree? They hadn't lost yet!

RA