Siheyuan (traditional courtyard house): Starting with the Korean War, returning home to take charge

It rained all night and hadn't stopped by morning.

He Yuzhu stood at the entrance of the research institute, watching the jeep turn into the alley. The wheels splashed through the puddles. The car stopped, and Sun Xiuying jumped out, wearing a faded blue cotton jacket with the sleeves rolled up to her wrists. Rainwater streamed down the edge of her umbrella, dripping onto her shoulders and staining a small dark patch. She wasn't using an umbrella; instead, she pulled a canvas bag from the back seat, cradling it in her arms.

"Where does it grow?"

He Yuzhu stepped aside. "Come in."

Sun Xiuying followed him inside. The corridor lights were on, shining brightly and illuminating the water stains on the floor. She walked slowly, each step steady, but He Yuzhu noticed that her knuckles were white as she held the canvas bag.

The office door was open. He Yuzhu went in, and Sun Xiuying followed. She placed her canvas bag on the table but didn't sit down. She unzipped the bag and took out a small, silver-white metal box, about the size of a palm, with shiny edges. She placed the box on the table, her hand on the lid, but didn't open it.

He Yuzhu poured her a glass of water. She took it, took a sip, put it down, and then picked it up again.

"Hey, there's something you need to see," she began, her voice lower than usual.

She opened the box. Inside, there was cotton padding, and on top of that, a row of glass bottles, about the thickness of a finger, transparent, containing a pale blue liquid. She turned the box around so He Yuzhu could see it more clearly.

He Yuzhu didn't reach out. He stared at the bottles for several seconds. "What are these?"

"It's extracted from penicillin fermentation waste liquid," Sun Xiuying said, her voice trembling as if she were talking to herself. She picked up a bottle, held it up to the light, and the liquid was clear, without any impurities, and had a slight bluish tint under the light.

He Yuzhu took it, unscrewed the cap, and sniffed it. There was no smell.

"Animal experiments were conducted?"

Sun Xiuying took a notebook out of her canvas bag, opened it, and placed it on the table. Then she took out another notebook, and another. She stacked the five notebooks together.

"Three hundred mice. Divided into three groups." She pointed to the first report. "Those that received this treatment have normal liver function. Half of those that received saline or nothing died, and the rest had damaged livers."

She flipped to the second one. "It was repeated once. The result was the same."

The third, the fourth, the fifth. "Five times. All five times the same."

He Yuzhu picked up the top document and read it slowly. The data was dense, and he read it line by line. Sun Xiuying stood beside him, not urging him. The rain was still falling outside the window, pattering against the glass.

"Where's the rabbit?" He Yuzhu asked without looking up.

"Twenty. Injected with liver toxin. Those who received this have intact livers. Those who didn't, their livers are damaged."

He Yuzhu put down the report and leaned back in his chair. "Safety?"

Sun Xiuying pulled out a report from underneath and opened it. "Mice and rabbits were observed for three months. Blood routine, urine routine, liver and kidney function tests were normal. After dissection, no lesions were found in the heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys."

He Yuzhu took the report, turned to the last page, and closed it. He stood up and walked to the window. The rain was pouring down, obscuring the courtyard wall; all he could see was a hazy, gray mist.

"What's the name of this medicine?"

Sun Xiuying said, "I haven't gotten up yet. Could you please get me up?"

He Yuzhu thought for a moment. "Huayuan No. 1. Hua means China. Yuan means the beginning. It was extracted from waste liquid, turning waste into treasure."

Sun Xiuying put the reports away and back into her canvas bag. She zipped it up, picked up the bag, and stood by the table, not leaving.

"He Chang, the animal experiments are finished. It's time to move on to humans. But human trials take too long; it might take three to five years to get results."

He Yuzhu turned around. "I'll figure out a way to handle the human trials. You go back first and scale up the process. If the lab can produce a few milliliters, the factory should be able to produce several tons."

Sun Xiuying nodded. She walked to the door, then turned back.

"This medicine is not expensive. If it can be mass-produced, ordinary people can afford it."

She left. The sound of her footsteps in the corridor faded into the distance, and soon there was no sound at all.

The next day, before dawn, He Yuzhu got into the car. Ma Yuejin was asleep in the passenger seat, snoring. He Yuzhu leaned against the window, watching the darkness outside gradually turn gray, then white. The poplar trees on both sides of the road leaned back one after another, their leaves not yet fully grown, sparse and scattered. He remembered Sun Xiuying's words from the previous night—five times, five times it's all the same. Animals have survived. Can humans survive? He didn't know. But his old leader drank that cup of tea back then and recovered. That cup of tea also came from the system; it couldn't be mass-produced. Now this medicine can be extracted from waste liquid and made available to ordinary people.

When the car arrived in Shijiazhuang, the sun had just risen.

The lights were all on in the workshop of the North China Pharmaceutical Factory. Sun Xiuying was wearing a white lab coat, a hat, and a mask, only her eyes were visible. When she saw He Yuzhu, she stood up from in front of the workbench and walked over.

"Director He, you've arrived."

He Yuzhu took out the stack of documents from his pocket, wrapped in kraft paper, and handed them to her. Sun Xiuying took them, untied the rope, and turned to the first page. She looked at it for a few seconds, then her hands began to tremble. She looked up at He Yuzhu.

"This thing..."

"Don't ask where it came from," He Yuzhu said. "Can we get it?"

Sun Xiuying lowered her head and continued flipping through the pages. She turned each page slowly, her finger tracing the process flow. She paused when she reached the purification page.

"It's possible. But we need the equipment. High-speed centrifuges, ultrafiltration units, and freeze dryers all have to be imported."

"I'll coordinate the equipment. We'll buy it from Germany and Sweden. I'll figure out the funding."

Sun Xiuying closed the document and hugged it to her chest. "Okay. I'll organize a team to tackle this."

He Yuzhu walked around the workshop. The fermentation tanks hummed, the centrifuges whirred, and workers in white coats were busy at their workstations. He walked up behind a young female worker and watched her pour the fermentation liquid into the centrifuge, start it, separate the liquid, and let the supernatant flow out to proceed to the next step.

"What's your name?"

The female worker looked up, her eyes crinkling slightly. "Li Xiaomei."

He Yuzhu nodded. "Do a good job. This medicine can save many lives."

Li Xiaomei's eyes lit up. "Really?"

He Yuzhu didn't answer. He turned around and walked out of the workshop.

We ate lunch in the cafeteria. Steamed buns, scrambled eggs, and cabbage soup. Sun Xiuying sat opposite me, eating very quickly, slurping loudly, and wiping her mouth as she finished.

"Director He, have you thought this through regarding the human experimentation?"

He Yuzhu put down his chopsticks. "I've made up my mind. We'll use it on volunteers first. I'll be the first to try it."

Sun Xiuying stood there, stunned. One of her chopsticks fell from her hand, bounced on the table, and rolled to the floor. She didn't pick it up.

"No." Her voice suddenly rose, and several workers nearby looked up, then quickly looked down again. "You're the director. What if something happens..."

"Nothing will happen."

"How do you know you won't? Animals are animals, and people are people. You can't judge yourself like that..."

"Chief Engineer Sun," He Yuzhu interrupted her, his voice low but each word firm. "I can't wait three or five years for this medicine."

Sun Xiuying looked at him, her eyes reddening. She opened her mouth, as if to say something, but no words came out. She picked up the chopstick from the ground, placed it on the table, and stood up.

"Director He, what brings you here...?"

"First, we'll scale up the process. Once the drug is ready, I'll be the first to try it."

He Yuzhu stood up, collected the bowls, washed them, and put them back in the cupboard. He walked out of the cafeteria, and Sun Xiuying stood at the door, still clutching the pair of chopsticks in her hand. He didn't turn around.

In the afternoon, He Yuzhu returned to his office. The door was open, and Qin Huairu was sitting in his chair. She was wearing a blue cotton jacket and an old apron, and her hands were still covered in flour. She rarely came to the research institute.

He Yuzhu stood at the door, stunned for a moment.

Qin Huairu looked up at him without saying a word. She placed a brown paper envelope on the table and pushed it towards him.

"Medical examination report. Organized by the neighborhood committee; every household needs to have it checked."

He Yuzhu walked over, without taking the envelope, and looked at her. "What's wrong?"

Qin Huairu lowered her head, looking at her hands. "Nothing much. Just wanted to show you."

He Yuzhu picked up the envelope and opened it. He read slowly, turning the pages one by one. When he reached the third page, he stopped. ALT (alanine aminotransferase) was elevated. AST (aspartate aminotransferase) was also elevated. He put the report down.

"Early-stage liver fibrosis." Qin Huairu said this in a very flat voice, as if she were talking about someone else's situation.

He Yuzhu didn't speak. He walked to the window, his back to her. The rain outside had stopped, but the sky was still overcast. He stood there for a long time.

"It will be alright."

Qin Huairu didn't reply. After a few seconds, she stood up.

"You want to try first?"

He Yuzhu turned around. Qin Huairu stood in the doorway, looking at him.

"Sun Xiuying called me."

She left. He Yuzhu stood by the window, watching her figure disappear through the courtyard gate. A gust of wind blew, turning a page of the medical report on the table.

He took the sample bottle of Huayuan No. 1 from his pocket, placed it on the table, and stared at it for a long time. Then he picked up the phone and dialed Sun Xiuying's number.

"Chief Engineer Sun, how long will it take to scale up the process?"

There was a few seconds of silence on the other end. "Six months."

"Three months."

The phone call ended. He Yuzhu put the bottle of medicine away, placed it in the drawer, and locked it. It was getting dark outside; the streetlights had just come on, casting a dim, yellowish light on the courtyard wall, making it look dusty and gray.