Chapter 750 - 723 Confidence

Capital, Drug Administration.

Standing in front of Niu Yanping’s desk, with a pained expression on his face, Xie Miao quashed the idea of the other party getting up and running away.

In his hand, he held a box of An Shenduo, shaking his head and saying:

"This isn’t a Class II psychotropic drug, it is a compressed towel... no, it’s a health product!

An Shenduo doesn’t cause addiction, nor is it a narcotic. Everyone knows its main effect is to invigorate rather than induce sleep; drowsiness is merely a side effect!

Overdose won’t result in death even without prompt stomach pumping as there is an excitement threshold—after which one naturally collapses from exhaustion. There has never been such a safe invigorating drug. Director Niu, you must have secretly tried it yourself, right? It’s so effective!"

Niu Yanping was nearly being scolded by Xie Miao, which was simply unimaginable in the past.

As the agency that approves the marketing of drugs, pharmaceutical companies have always been the ones supplicating the Drug Administration to cut them some slack. Who has ever seen such overt criticism and finger-pointing?

However, Xie Miao was an executive at Xinyuan Company, and more importantly, Xinyuan had extensive biochemical drug collaborations with the military and space agencies. Their influence was rock solid.

Xinyuan Company wanted to promote "An Shenduo" as a health product. In their view, it was simply unjustifiable not to widely market such a harmless stimulant. They themselves were using it extensively, and it had even become standard-issue materials for the Aerospace Development Committee, free to apply for when overtime work was required.

But Niu Yanping couldn’t just look at the drug’s effects. However safe "An Shenduo" might have felt after his own experience, mass distribution could easily lead to shifts in public opinion.

Classification as a controlled drug would have been acceptable—if it could replace sleep aids like Eszopiclone, that would be great. However, if they wanted to market it as a health product or over-the-counter drug, the backlash from those unaware could literally drown him in saliva.

So even though Xinyuan had opened up connections higher up, they only received tacit approval for marketing. If Niu Yanping refused to budge, there really wasn’t much that could be done.

"Mr. Xie, it’s not that we are refusing approval—it’s just that the situation is special. Just like that drug you are clinically testing that can replace teeth, it’s excellent, you’re about to take all the dentists’ money in the country. But this one really isn’t feasible; no health product has such strong effects."

Xie Miao: "Then I’ll take a step back—classify it as a drug, an over-the-counter drug, will that work?"

Niu Yanping’s head still shook like a bobblehead.

"Prescription drug, a prescription drug is fine, but it can’t be a controlled substance. The effect... is still invigorating, focusing attention, preventing motion sickness, with the side effect of causing sleepiness!"

"This..."

Niu Yanping wobbled left and right in his chair, only to eventually settle on a face of helplessness.

"..."

Thinking back to the expressions of his subordinates when they returned, because they repeatedly hit a wall here, Xie Miao had personally flown over to try and turn the tide, only to find that there was really no solution.

He fixed his thoughts for a moment, then suddenly said:

"At the root of it, you’re afraid that the public won’t have confidence in An Shenduo, aren’t you?"

Slap!

Niu Yanping forcefully slapped his desk, immediately agreeing:

"Exactly, even if ten million people benefit from An Shenduo, it’s imperceptible to the vast majority. Just a little bit of public opinion and we’ll be too busy quelling rumors.

What’s more, what if a bunch of counterfeit products pretending to be yours crop up? It’s not that I’m overly cautious, but it’s like qigong—not that it doesn’t work, but the genuine products are too few and the fakes too many, prone to..."

Spreading rumors is as easy as opening one’s mouth; dispelling them requires you to run till your legs break. If Lin Ju were here, he’d immediately understand. The troubles and unexpected chaos and rumors that erupted during the world line’s vaccine rollout were not insignificant.

However, Xie Miao, after hearing this, seemed contemplative and analyzed:

"Guidance is very important. So, if there is a group of people who lead by example, wouldn’t that have a very good promotional effect?"

Niu Yanping said, "You must absolutely not suggest using this thing at the Aerospace Development Committee as publicity. It would cause trouble."

Xie Miao: "No, of course not. I’ll let you in on some news in advance: Xinyuan is going to accelerate its Moon development plans and is also going to build an ultra-large space station."

"..."

Niu Yanping touched his balding crown. Could this even be considered a leak? Is this not fast enough already?

"To put it simply, we are going to build independent cities in space and on the Moon. We need talents from all industries, not countless astronauts. The selection and training should be starting around this year."

"This... what does it have to do with An Shenduo?"

Xie Miao: "What if I apply to establish recruitment centers and training camps across the country and list An Shenduo as an internal special supplement, to promote it first?"

Niu Yanping’s gaze immediately shifted, as this was entirely in Xinyuan’s field of advantage. Using pharmaceuticals as an outright endorsement for space missions didn’t seem appropriate, but an indirect promotion might unexpectedly have very positive effects.

Still, he subconsciously objected:

"To do this for one kind of medicine seems not worth it, right?"

Xie Miao: "No, this is already part of the company’s plan. I am just making slight use of it. Plus, in the future, we will have dozens of health-related drugs. We have already improved the astronauts’ qualifications... in short, it’s far more significant than you can imagine.

Have you heard of brain-computer interfaces, the technology of implanting chips in the brain? We are exploring it, and there is no better medium than space travel. People are naturally inclined to believe that the technology from here is the most advanced and safest."

Ah, it appears I’ve heard some incredible secret.

Niu Yanping thought to himself, but with the conversation at this point, he couldn’t well continue to refuse:

"All right, it’s feasible to approve it as an internal special medicine, but you need authorization from the Aerospace Development Committee."

"I’ll go right after... What time is it now? It’s the evening rush hour, isn’t it?"

Both men looked out the window, as if they could already see the dense traffic.

The vehicle regulation around the regulatory bureau was relatively strict; at least for Director Niu, riding a bicycle after work wasn’t a gamble. But if he had to go to the other end where the Aeronautics Commission Building was located, that would be a real plight. It wasn’t much better than traffic jams, even taking the subway.

Just thinking about it made Xie Miao’s face darken, and Niu Yanping couldn’t help saying:

"How about having dinner at my place later? It would be the same to go afterward. Now everyone knows that people at the Aeronautics Commission Building work day and night."

"Forget it... If only they were all autonomous vehicles, Xin’an needs to get moving faster..."

"What?"

Niu Yanping didn’t catch his mutter, only picking up on the words "autonomous vehicles."

Xie Miao: "Autonomous cars, self-driving. Beijing is the first pilot city. In the future, most of the cars on the streets of Beijing will be driverless, networked for regulation. Surely it wouldn’t be this congested then."

"You mean autonomous taxis? They’ve been around the airport area for a while, but I’ve never been. There are just a few dozen of them—it would take at least ten years to become mainstream."

"Ten years? I bet that within 5 years, you’ll see driverless taxis darting through the alleys!"