Pharmaceutical Negotiator - Chapter 21

Zhang Sitan felt the air was exceptionally stifling today, whether it was psychological or not. The air conditioning was on in the office, constantly blasting cold air, making people’s throats dry and hoarse, and thus making them feel even more irritable.

Qi An had been here for over a month, and for over a month, Zhang Sitan had been appreciating the little person across the desk, shaking their head and contemplating in front of the computer screen.

She watched her short hair, sometimes sticking up in little corners, watched her subtle, troubled expression with thinly pursed lips and hands resting on the keyboard, watched the glass cup with “Go, Go!” written on it, and watched her bounce to the pantry and bounce back.

Now, the seat across from her was empty again. The office chair was pushed against the desk, the glass cup was placed to the side, and the computer Li Hua had moved there was squarely positioned. The small wage slip that had previously been taped to the side of the screen was carefully peeled off and stuck inside her notebook after Zhang Sitan mentioned it.

It was only one day’s leave, just one less person calling out “Sister Sitan, Sister Sitan” around her. She should have felt tranquility, but instead, an inexplicable sense of suffocation arose, as if a hot fog was surrounding her, even with the air conditioning on.

Zhang Sitan was quiet for a moment, then drank the remaining water in her cup all at once. The water was warm, flowing down her esophagus, cooling her down more effectively than ice water.

Colleagues around her began to rustle, packing up their things. It was time for lunch; some ate at the unit’s cafeteria nearby, and some who lived close went home and back.

Li Hua, seeing Zhang Sitan still sitting, urged her: “Going for lunch?”

“Hmm.” Hearing the voice, Zhang Sitan looked up at Li Hua, who was already standing up from his chair.

He was almost fifty, but his face showed no wrinkles. Perhaps he just wasn’t the type to worry much, merely putting in his time at the unit without much to fret about, so he hadn’t worried himself into wrinkles.

However, he wasn’t completely unconcerned. Seeing Zhang Sitan still engrossed in her chair, he joked again: “Your little assistant isn’t here, so you’re not eating on time now?”

Zhang Sitan heard his words and gave an embarrassed smile: “Still have a bit more to finish.”

But Li Hua wasn’t wrong. When Qi An was around, Zhang Sitan would call her to head to the cafeteria exactly at lunchtime. She knew that if she didn’t move, Qi An wouldn’t either. That little reluctant girl wouldn’t dare to suggest eating first, even if she was starving.

“Let’s go. We’ll share a table today.”

Li Hua urged her again, seeing her still in a daze. Zhang Sitan finally got up from her chair, saved her document, and followed Li Hua out of the office.

They came out late, and the cafeteria was already bustling and packed with people. The cafeteria served more than just their one office, and since it was built inside the building, the area was inevitably limited.

Li Hua went to get a boxed meal, while Zhang Sitan queued at a different counter.

The cafeteria used large ceiling fans, and the cooling factor was several notches lower than the office’s air conditioning.

When it was Zhang Sitan’s turn, she looked at the menu, pondering whether to choose Korean cold noodles or Three sauce cold noodles. She was tired of the Beijing style noodles, so they weren’t an option; she hadn’t tried either the Korean or the Three-Sauce ones.

The server urged her: “What would you like?”

With the crowd, Zhang Sitan didn’t want to delay. She randomly ordered the Three-Sauce cold noodles, worried that the Korean ones might not have meat.

After the noodles were scooped up from the large pot and drained, the server asked her what toppings she wanted.

Zhang Sitan glanced at the condiments on the counter: “Add everything, no spice.”

“Alright.” The server was very quick at pouring on the sesame paste and seasoning.

Only when the server was adding peanuts did Zhang Sitan see them. She had a prejudice against peanuts, thinking they were meant for oil, high in fat, and would make people gain weight.

But the server’s spoonfuls were coming in rapid succession, and Zhang Sitan knew her mouth couldn’t beat the server’s hand, so she simply let the server add them to her noodles.

Carrying her noodles, Zhang Sitan walked over to where Li Hua had already found a seat.

Just as she sat down, her phone vibrated. It was a message from Qi An. She clicked on her phone, and Qi An’s all black avatar popped up.

“Have you eaten, Sister Sitan?”

“I’m eating now. How about you?”

“Waiting for lunch.”

Zhang Sitan smiled knowingly. The child must be bored waiting.

The two chatted casually, exchanging emojis. Zhang Sitan didn’t ask Qi An who she was eating with, knowing she wouldn’t get an answer if she did. Since Qi An had said she would tell her tonight, she would wait until then to ask for the details.

In the time she spent chatting, Zhang Sitan looked at her bowl of noodles again, and they had already clumped together. The sesame sauce clung to the bowl walls, the noodles were stuck in a mass, and the various toppings were floating on the surface, still not mixed in.

Zhang Sitan sighed, picking up her chopsticks and stirring the noodles hard to mix them well.

Li Hua looked at her: “Who are you chatting with? Smiling so happily you’re neglecting your food.”

“” Zhang Sitan’s eyes widened. Had she been smiling just now?

“Brother Li, you’ve been at the unit for a long time. I wanted to ask, how hard is it for a temporary position to switch to a regular one?”

“Definitely hard. This is such a big Healthcare Security Bureau even a fly trying to get in would be scrutinized three times, let alone the fact that the number of fixed posts is limited every year, and countless people are eyeing them.”

Li Hua said while spooning food into his mouth: “Why, do you have an idea?”

“Yes. Qi An is on a temporary contract, and when it’s up, I don’t know if she’ll be transferred or continue rotating. She’s made a lot of progress this month, and she’s very perceptive. I really want to keep her.”

“Hahaha, I didn’t notice until you mentioned it. Since Qi An came, you’ve completely relaxed. The old Zhang Sitan was always tightly wound, desperately trying to be all things to all people, making sure everything was taken care of up and down the hierarchy.”

“Ah, was I?” Zhang Sitan gave a forced smile.

“You were. Now, you don’t seem so stressed. Look, your noodles have even clumped up,” Li Hua teased her.

Zhang Sitan looked down at the noodles in her bowl and couldn’t help but laugh herself. She had mixed them vigorously just now, and a small gap had appeared between the strands, but they were still dry and sticky.

“Hey, you were chatting with Qi An just now, weren’t you? Your mouth was stretched from ear to ear.” Li Hua put down his chopsticks and looked at Zhang Sitan with a gossipy expression.

“I was chatting with her.” Zhang Sitan hesitated, beginning to doubt if she had really smiled just now.

Seeing his guess confirmed, Li Hua said smugly: “An old man’s eyes are sharp. I’ve always seen you smiling at her like that.”

Zhang Sitan questioned herself again. Did she smile at Qi An often?

“You call yourself an old man? You’re still a few years away from fifty, aren’t you?” Zhang Sitan didn’t dwell on the matter of smiling at Qi An.

“Not many years left until fifty. My age is almost the same as your dad’s, right?”

“Still quite a difference,” Zhang Sitan’s eyes darkened as she said faintly.

Words like “Dad” or “Father” were forbidden topics for her. When she was very young, she used to call him “Da,” her Shaanxi dialect. After her mother passed away, her address for her father became “Hey.”

“Hey, drink less alcohol,” “Hey, I’m leaving.” Other than that, there were no words.

Near the end of the afternoon, Zhang Sitan glanced at her schedule and remembered that today was the day Su Wei was returning. The two had already planned to have dinner, so Zhang Sitan saved her day’s work and started checking the navigation to the restaurant Su Wei had chosen.

Although the two had some acquaintance, their relationship wasn’t deep enough to warrant a dinner invitation immediately upon landing. The reality was that Dr. Su’s schedule was busy after giving a report, she would be flying to Australia again. Negotiations with German Semborg Pharmaceuticals needed to be advanced, so both of them cherished the time and scheduled dinner for today.

A light breeze blew as she exited the office building. The temperature had dropped.

Although the wind was warm, it felt cool at night. Zhang Sitan wrapped her suit jacket tighter around herself, covering the silk blouse underneath.

Su Wei had chosen a place near the university town, accessible by bus.

However, it was rush hour, and the bus was packed. To find something to hold onto, even the overhead handrails were all occupied.

Squeezed among the crowds all the way, Zhang Sitan struggled to stand, clutching the side pole, and finally reached the place Su Wei had mentioned.

Because it was near the university town and had a snack street nearby, students often came here to hang out. Now that it was dinnertime, the crowd was even larger.

Zhang Sitan had only taken correspondence courses and hadn’t truly experienced university life. So, watching these groups of energetic students coming out for food at night felt very soothing.

People were gathered around various small stalls, the sounds were noisy, but it had a sense of the thousands of lives bustling in the world.

Following the navigation, Zhang Sitan walked deeper into the alley and saw an antique-style building with a sign that read “Guest Question Wine House.” She exited the navigation when her phone said, “Destination is on your right.”

She didn’t know if the building was modeled after the Qing or Ming dynasties, or if the architect hadn’t researched thoroughly and simply overlaid various elements. It had vermillion walls, a large four-open gate, but paper-embroidered lanterns hung in the courtyard, and the window lattices had fine carved patterns.

Following the information Su Wei had given, and without needing guidance, Zhang Sitan immediately spotted a row of regular script characters carved on a black wooden plaque to her right. Yunxiu Pavilion the private room Su Wei had booked.

Zhang Sitan walked over and raised her hand to knock on the door. The wooden door was heavy and carved with the same pattern as the window lattices. The wavy lines, following the original grain of the wood, spread out. The strength of the carving, a balance of tension and relaxation, actually made the wooden door seem lighter.

The door was pulled open from the inside. The door frame was made with mortise and tenon joints, and when pulled, it made a creaking sound.

Inside the door, Su Wei, with her neatly trimmed short hair and an earthy-colored work uniform, greeted Zhang Sitan with a warm smile.

Only lanterns illuminated the outside of the private rooms in this restaurant. From outside the silk fabric, it was impossible to tell whether the lanterns were powered by electricity or real candlelight. The light was dim, and the hallway was not bright.

The private room used light bulbs and was much brighter. As the door opened, more light entered Zhang Sitan’s eyes, and they brightened momentarily.

“Professor Su, long time no see.”

“Long time no see.”

Su Wei warmly invited Zhang Sitan in and closed the door.

The interior of the private room was furnished in a very classical and elegant style, with large, straight-backed chairs, and a framed ink wash painting of grapes hanging on the wall.

The painting was handmade, using techniques like splashed ink, broken ink, and accumulated ink, giving it a solemn, imposing appearance on the wall.

Stepping into the room, Zhang Sitan noticed that Zhou Yangyue was also there. She was sitting with her head lowered, looking tired. Having traveled all the way, she must have been exhausted.

“Little apprentice is here too, long time no see.” Since Zhou Yangyue didn’t greet her first, Zhang Sitan spoke up to tease her, winking.

“Mhm.” Zhou Yangyue raised her head. Her voice clearly showed her fatigue: “Long time no see.”

She had driven Su Wei on the highway. Upon arrival in Beijing, she went straight to the hospital without rest, and was now very tired.

“Quickly, sit down. The food is slow here, so I ordered ahead. You can see if there’s anything else you want to order later.” Su Wei spoke, settling things.

Zhang Sitan sat down nearby, took the tea water Su Wei handed her, and asked, “This place is quite far from your hospital, why did you choose to eat here?”

“Yangyue studies here.” Su Wei sat next to Zhang Sitan, making it easy for them to talk.

“Studies?” Zhang Sitan glanced at Zhou Yangyue, estimating her age was over 25. “Haven’t graduated yet?”

Zhou Yangyue was far from both of them, on the other side of the table. She didn’t join the conversation, just lowered her head and closed her eyes to rest, looking very well behaved.

“She’s been delayed in graduation.”

Su Wei spoke softly, her gaze crossing the wooden table and meeting Zhou Yangyue’s eyes on the opposite side, carrying a hint of provocation.

Zhou Yangyue looked up then, and to Zhang Sitan’s surprise, she looked at Su Wei with a hint of resentment, like a young wolf cub with unsatisfied desire.

Zhang Sitan’s knowledge of medical students was limited to online jokes, which said they had to memorize a lot of knowledge and their schooling was long, earning them the honorary title of “university cattle.”

Su Wei’s face was full of schadenfreude. Zhang Sitan expected Zhou Yangyue to fight back, but after releasing her resentful little look, she instantly subsided, lowering her head and closing her eyes again.

During the course of the meal, the crowd in the university town thinned out significantly. Zhang Sitan guessed it was because of dormitory curfews, and the students had dutifully returned to school.

Su Wei still needed to take Zhou Yangyue back to school, so she couldn’t stay with Zhang Sitan. Zhang Sitan walked towards the subway station by herself, following the navigation.

The night was thick, and the summer night felt the most comfortable. The air was warm but not stifling, soft and gentle wrapped around her.

Zhang Sitan was thinking about the conversation she had just had with Su Wei. The cooperation between Taiyong Group and Aier Company was progressing smoothly, and the purity of anhydrous disodium hydrogen phosphate extracted from disodium water was very high. Subsequently, using disodium water as a starting point for negotiations with German Semborg Pharmaceuticals for the $beta$ injection would certainly give them a great chance of success.

Thinking along, Zhang Sitan naturally thought of the last topic Su Wei brought up.

She said she wanted to reintroduce Zhou Yangyue’s identity: not just her rebellious little apprentice, but also the girlfriend she planned to live with for the rest of her life.

Zhang Sitan still felt stunned thinking about it. If Su Wei’s expression hadn’t been so solemn, and the look in her eyes towards Zhou Yangyue hadn’t been so tender, and if Su Wei hadn’t used a phrase like “live with for the rest of her life,” she would have thought Su Wei was talking about a female friend, not a girlfriend.

Can girls and girls call each other lovers?

Of course, they can. Otherwise, why would the term “homosexuality” exist?

Zhang Sitan herself had a homosexual person in her home, who even slept in her bed. She cooked for her every day, let her use the same fragrant face cream as herself, and the two of them even went to the market together to pick up discarded cabbage leaves during the Rainbow Festival.

She crossed the road, and the red light behind her flickered on sadly. A car honked its horn, adding a few more lively sounds to this dynamic summer night.

Zhang Sitan, with her mind full of various thoughts, took out her phone from her bag, slid to the all-black avatar, and sent a voice-to-text message: “Are you home?”

“I’m home. Where did you go, Sister Sitan?” The black avatar quickly responded.

Zhang Sitan hadn’t set a chat background. On the white interface, the four square black blocks were like sprinkles on a white chocolate bar.

“Su Wei is back from Qingdao, we had dinner together,” Zhang Sitan held the phone to her lips, pressing the “voice to text” button, patiently explaining to Qi An.

“I’ll be back soon, you can go to sleep first.”

The reply was a roaring baby dinosaur emoji: “No sleeping. I haven’t told you what I did today yet.”

Zhang Sitan laughed softly. Beijing’s night was like the daytime; various artificial lights intertwined, forming a bright world.

The sky emitted a faint purple light; no stars or moonlight were visible, only a plane with a flashing red light passing overhead.

When leaving the restaurant just now, Su Wei asked the waiter to prepare a fresh portion of ‘bai gao’ (a type of steamed cake/dessert) for Zhou Yangyue’s breakfast tomorrow. Zhou Yangyue still looked drowsy, lazily took it, and slipped into the passenger seat of the car.

It was the same black Jeep that she had driven to Qingdao. She drove on the highway, and Su Wei drove in the city.

Su Wei was intellectual, highly skilled in medicine, famous both domestically and internationally, and well-mannered and understanding. Zhang Sitan really couldn’t connect her with this little apprentice who would happily greet people when in a good mood but droop her head when not, appearing cold and solitary.

She remembered Qi An once telling her very candidly and calmly, “I like girls.”

Qi An replied that she wouldn’t sleep, and Zhang Sitan happened to want to ask what it felt like to like a girl.