Qin Manshu was unable to participate in this seminar due to her grandmother's presence, only making a brief appearance at the end. The entire seminar was basically led by Jiang Shichu, the current chairman of Best Pharmaceuticals.

Jiang Shichu clearly wasn't very enthusiastic about the projects his company was researching; they were mostly just going through the motions, including many pre-arranged speeches. On the contrary, his subordinates were very enthusiastic about the research projects and repeatedly hoped that the seminar would focus on the development of PD-1 inhibitors and drugs.

After Qin Manshu presided over the closing remarks and announced the successful conclusion of the seminar, some senior researchers from the research institute, some less senior researchers, and young doctors gathered together for a brief discussion.

Li Lizhang also made a special trip here this time, as he had some research projects with the Qin family's research center before. Naturally, he was willing to give face to the Qin family in hosting this seminar.

Jiang Jianian remained silent throughout. At Li Lizhang's request, Jiang Jianian could only say a few words in accordance with Li Lizhang's wishes, and asked Jiang Shichu a few questions. In fact, these questions were all about Baishi's research and development direction and some of the formulas published above. However, Jiang Shichu did not seem to want to answer, and smiled indirectly, saying, "We have considered all of these things you mentioned. Some questions involve some internal research secrets of the company, which I am not at liberty to answer. In fact, we still have to see the final clinical results. Only when Baishi is finally put on the market and helps those patients who had to give up their chance of survival due to the difficulty in obtaining drugs, will that be the best answer."

This statement sounds quite grand and plausible, leaving no room for criticism.

Jiang Jianian didn't say anything. Instead, the others who were slightly older than Jiang Jianian and called themselves his senior brothers patted Jiang Jianian on the shoulder and teased him, "You're still young. You can still tell us such trade secrets."

Jiang Shichu understood the other party's teasing and smiled politely in return.

Although he was reluctantly hosting the seminar, his mind was actually wandering to Qin Manshu. He was very worried about Qin Manshu's health, and he could still vividly recall the pain the old lady had felt when she hit Qin Manshu with those sticks.

He answered somewhat absentmindedly, and later made an excuse that he had something to do and left early. Once Jiang Shichu left, the final exchange activity was basically over.

Before leaving, Ji Shuli seemed to sense that Jiang Jianian was hiding something, and he couldn't help but ask, "Did you find out something?"

"What problems can I find?"

"When Dean Li had people discussing it, didn't you ask Jiang Shichu a few questions? I know you too well. You definitely wouldn't have asked a few questions unless you discovered something was wrong."

Jiang Jianian chuckled and asked Ji Shuli in a light tone, "I just find it strange, but didn't Jiang Shichu say that he couldn't disclose trade secrets?"

"So their drugs were eventually able to be successfully launched on the market?"

"I don't know."

Ji Shuli had a headache. This guy was really tight-lipped. He must have discovered something, which was why he wouldn't say anything. In particular, the more Ji Shuli pressed him for answers, the less Jiang Jianian would say.

Jiang Jianian glanced at Ji Shuli and said indifferently, "I can't comment on anything without seeing their specific situation."

Ji Shuli: ...

After realizing that he couldn't get any information from Jiang Jianian, Ji Shuli still refused to give up. Just as he was about to press Jiang Jianian for more information, Qin Manshu came out and stopped him as soon as he stepped out of the main hall of the seminar.

Jiang Shichu, who had been surrounded by people, followed behind Qin Manshu. Although he had already guessed the outcome, he had largely accepted that after finding Qin Manshu, Qin Manshu's first reaction was to ask him about Ji Shuli.

Unfortunately, Jiang Jianian was with Ji Shuli. This time, she finally restrained her emotions and said to Ji Shuli with all her might, "Shuli, can we talk in private for a moment?"

Ji Shuli was surprised that Qin Manshu would chase after him. He remained silent for a moment, but did not refuse Qin Manshu.

Qin Manshu said to Jiang Shichu behind her, "Could you take care of this classmate Jiang for me? I need to say a few words to Shuli first."

They had already left, but now they've turned back.

Qin Manshu took a deep breath and smiled at Ji Shuli, saying, "I invited you here, so I should treat you well. But my grandmother somehow found out that I had invited you and suddenly came over and flew into a rage. So the seminar that I was supposed to host had to be canceled, and Shichu had to fill in for me for now."

Ji Shuli said with a smile, "Jiang Shichu is very popular. I saw several seniors surround him and ask him a lot of questions as soon as he appeared."

Ji Shuli understood the implication in Qin Manshu's words, but he had a headache and could only pretend not to understand, forcefully steer the conversation in another direction.

Qin Manshu, however, seemed not to have heard Ji Shuli's words and continued, "Grandma was very angry today. Her words were somewhat ridiculous, as if I invited you here because we had some private affair."

Ji Shuli sighed, "Isn't Miss Qin supposed to be engaged to the eldest son of the Yu family? I was indeed impolite today; I shouldn't have come to such an occasion in the first place."

"It's just an engagement, not a wedding. It was just to appease my grandmother," Qin Manshu said casually. She gave Ji Shuli a deep look and asked again, "If—and I mean if—I wasn't a girl from the Qin family, and we didn't have so many grudges between us, and I could have achieved what I have today through my own abilities, would you think of me a little more highly—"

Ji Shuli was surprised that Qin Manshu was still fixated on this point even though she was about to get engaged to Yu Jingchen. She shook her head and said, "Miss Qin, we talked about this at the gym before. I have already made everything very clear. Asking these questions is meaningless. You are very smart and capable. You should not get bogged down in such trivial matters."

Qin Manshu ignored the unpleasant things Ji Shuli said and continued, "I thought you would remind me of the conflict between my little cousin's family and Yu Jingchen."

Ji Shuli looked at Qin Manshu and said, "Miss Qin is an adult and has her own ideas. I don't need to remind her of these things."

No matter what Qin Manshu said, Ji Shuli remained extremely indifferent, dismissing her with a few words. He hadn't refused her suggestion to talk alone because he didn't want to embarrass her in front of others, but now that it was just the two of them, he refused decisively.

Qin Manshu wanted to argue a little more, but Ji Shuli's attitude told her that he really had no feelings for her. Qin Manshu clenched her hands, unable to suppress the resentment in her heart.

She stared at Ji Shuli and continued to ask, "Is there absolutely no possibility between us?"

Ji Shuli said apologetically, "Yes."

Qin Manshu laughed, clinging to her last hope as she asked a question, only to be met with such a cruel answer.

She took a deep breath, as if all her worries were gone. She didn't even look up at Ji Shuli, but just lowered her head and said to herself, "I'm sorry, I was just a little unwilling before the engagement. I did lose my composure again today. You made it very clear before. I originally thought that you agreed to come here because of me—it seems that I was overthinking it."