Short, Light, Free

Chapter 50: Field of Vision III

I started searching for the most suitable buyer.

I was convinced that Anoinfloxacin wasn’t just a medicine to cure blindness.

It was difficult but I found a candidate, nevertheless.

Approaching this target wasn’t going to be easy so I engaged the help of my high school classmate who was also one of the national minister’s assistants.

We got reacquainted through a reunion gathering last year. I remembered how shocked we all were by the fact that he had been working for the minister.

Because of his unique job, he left a deep impression on me.

I flipped through my contact book, hoping that he hadn’t changed his number.

I called a few times and after a few voicemail, he finally picked up.

“Hey, Dahai?” I started.

“Yes, this is?”

“Your high school classmate, Luqiao.”

“Oh, the boy at the back row. I remember you!” Dahai laughed.

“Help me with something, will you?”

“Help? I’m no national leader so I won’t be of any use.”

“I just wanted to know if the minister’s color blindness has been cured,” I explained.

“Why are you asking that out of nowhere? Don’t you know how serious this is?” he responded sternly.

“Of course, I know. I have taken over my father’s company and we have successfully developed a medicine that cures color blindness and I’m just here to promote it. Since there hasn’t been any suitable candidate, the minister came to mind.”

“Cure color blindness? Are you serious? You want me to talk to him about it and lose my job?” he asked incredulously.

“But have you thought about how you will benefit when he’s cured?” I challenged.

“Alright, let me sleep on this,” he gave in.

“Give me a call anytime,” I encouraged.

…

One and a half year ago, our prime minister entered the office.

He was quick to start work, attending to different nations’ friendly meetings during his first year.

China attracted a lot of tourists and the minister often traveled to promote our culture. He was able to form strong ties with respective nations.

However, his condition was slowly revealed to the public.

There had been an event where a nation known for its Musang King Durians invited him down to get acquainted with them.

“‘Musang King Durians’ fall on their own upon ripening and those intact would be brought in a cage with a civet to test for quality. If the civet was pleased with what it sniffed, the durian was of excellent quality.” After explaining, the nation’s king pointed at a yellow durian before him.

Our minister then took a few steps forward and picked up a green one to observe.

This went unnoticed until the matter spread to other nations and people started coming up with weird ideas.

The worst incident happened when a nation’s president placed a green candy among a pile of yellow ones and told our minister that he wanted a green one.

Our minister then picked out a yellow one, in front of everyone and the cameras, and gave it to him.

“Thanks for the green candy,” he responded, immediately causing a huge sensation.

Two groups of people surfaced.

One group was busy cursing the other nation while the other was throwing ridiculous remarks at our nation.

Our minister quickly returned home and even canceled the next overseas conferences.

He also started traveling out less, from a few times in a month to a few times in a year.

——————

The next afternoon, my phone rang.

“You weren’t lying about the cure, were you?” Dahai asked urgently.

“I wouldn’t dare,” I reassured him.

“He wants to see you. Bring your medicine.”

I practically leaped out of my chair and sprung toward the laboratory.

I quickly went through the procedures and I entered the innermost room to pull the professor out to tell him everything.

I then called the finance department and booked a flight ticket to the capital.

Upon arriving at a luxurious building, a few men in pencil straight suits surrounded us.

The minister looked more or less the same as he did on television.

As he approached us, I quickly opened up our briefcase and retrieved the Anoinfloxacin spectacle lenses and my name card.

The minister smiled. “That’s not necessary. We’ve already run a check. You may go straight to the point. The medicine cures color blindness, you said?”

I handed the spectacles to him. “This is it.”

“A pair of glasses to correct color blindness?” the minister put it on doubtfully.

In the next second, he jaw dropped in disbelief.

I smiled. “Not the glasses but the chemical within. It will be injected into the eyes.”

The minister removed the glasses, waited for two seconds, and put them back on again.

I knew that half of the battle was already won. No one could possibly resist the beauty of Anoinfloxacin.

“You’re saying that in order to have this view, I’ll need those bottles of substance inside my eyes?” he clarified.

I nodded.

“Can’t I just wear this glasses?” he asked, puzzled.

“The effects will only last for an hour,” I explained.

“An hour you say?” the minister repeated and stood up.

He displayed the exact reaction as I had previously.

He walked toward the windows and looked out, taking in the breathtaking sights.

I waited for a full hour before he took the glasses out and turned around.

“Success rate and side effects?”

I got up slowly and took out some documents. “There’s always a chance of failure but the success rate is 90 percent. No side effects. Here are some follow-ups of patients who’ve had the surgery, please take a look.”

The minister fell into a short silence as he flipped through the documents. “Why isn’t there any cases of patients with color blindness?”

A cold sweat dripped down my forehead but I answered confidently, “We don’t do follow-ups for that since it’s considered a small case. Plus, Anoinfloxacin is mainly used to cure blindness. If it works for blind patients, it should work even more effectively for those with color blindness, don’t you think?”

It was a ridiculous excuse since Anoinfloxacin wasn’t meant to cure color blindness, to begin with.

Yellow would still be yellow and green would still be green. Colorblind patients would still be unable to distinguish between them.

However, the difference between B5 Yellow and B5 Green would be more obvious under the light.

Anoinfloxacin would merely raise the color gamut. It would allow colorblind patients to become more sensitive to different shades and thus learn to differentiate between different colors. Making use of more colors to neglect the fact that they weren’t able to distinguish between certain colors was the main reason why I decided to find our minister.

I clenched my fist in anxiousness until I saw him nod his head as he read through the documents.

“Right, if there’s been a 90 percent success rate for patients who were born blind, there shouldn’t be a problem for me. Make the necessary arrangements, quick.”

I almost jumped off my seat.

…

Three years later.

Our minister started attending friendly meetings more regularly and with more confidence.

Nations who had planned to mock him took him to an art exhibition but were left speechless by his accurate analyses of the art pieces.

Today was the first day where every citizen would be injected with Anoinfloxacin, as ordered by our leader.

It was also the day of my surgery.

The whole process took about ten minutes.

There was a new law in our country regarding the usage of Anoinfloxacin.

Upon turning 18, nationals would receive a free Anoinfloxacin injection and those who refuse surgery would not obtain citizenship rights and privileges.

Of course, all cost was being absorbed by the government.

And my once private company became a government-owned firm and sole operator within the country.

Thanks to more government funds, Anoinfloxacin has become more effective and successful. Nevertheless, its price remains the same.

As I walked out of the hospital, my view of the world renews.

Finally, a rich man now, Father’s words rang in my mind.

You’ll only understand its beauty after experiencing it for yourself.