“What？”

James, who was almost one-tenth as handsome as Roland, smashed his eyes, his pupils were full of surprise, stared at his sister for a few seconds, and he glanced around without getting more information, and when he saw the nature emanating from Ashley and Mary, he subconsciously pouted and revealed his inner world.

“Damn！”

"This damn guy didn't tell me again!"

He patted his thigh angrily, wanting to throw away the gift in his hand, but as soon as his arm was raised, regret drove him to put things on the table, looking at the two gift boxes, one large and one small, and a helpless smile clinging to his face.

"This guy must have done it on purpose!"

Since '96, Roland and James have been getting together less and leaving more.

The former has to work, the latter has to learn.

But the distance in time and space cannot cut off their feelings and relationships.

James communicates with Roland regularly, and Roland always cares about each other, often sending spring-like warmth to his friends.

For example, Christmas gifts are for admission to Johns Hopkins University's summer camp; Then after learning that the other party had received an admission invitation, he specially met with Michael Bloomberg, hoping that the other party could take care of Fa Xiao......

(?? ω??)

Well, maybe the person concerned may have something to say about this concern.

But no matter what, they are still related to each other over the years.

Although—

In every communication, Roland always brings up some clichéd questions:

'Are you looking for a girlfriend?' ’

'Do you need me to introduce you to one?' ’

'Eighteen is ready to fall in love!' ’

'Don't wait for my kids to come out and you're still single!' ’

Anyway, you don't play games, so you don't need to practice that fast hand speed! ’

Whenever Roland's true feelings are revealed, James on the other end of the phone will scold and withdraw from the voice, but isn't the mother-in-law's inquiry also a reflection of a close friend? It's like there's a kind of coldness that mom thinks you're cold......

Well, more often than not, the person concerned feels that it is mocking himself.

However, even if James is not interested in Roland's concern and concern, he still did not make the excessive act of not bringing gifts to the other party at Christmas, after all, one yard is one yard, I call you brother, you call me grandpa!

When choosing gifts, James had already thought about how to show (give) his muscles (beg) flesh (rao) in front of Roland this year, so that Roland would be honest in the future and mention those unpleasant things less in front of himself.

But now, this guy actually ran away?

That's not interesting!

This is like sending local products to some authors along the network cable, and the things are mailed out, but the recipient is Wang Dalong!

That sense of powerlessness made James feel that this year's Christmas was meaningless.

"James? James? ”

Just as James was thinking wildly, a call pulled his thoughts back.

Looking down, his sister Elizabeth was patting his arm, "What are you thinking?" ”

"Mom told us to come downstairs for dinner."

"Ah, okay." Hearing this, James immediately put away the boredom in his heart.

What if Roland isn't there?

Christmas is a time for the whole family, and it's important to be happy!

He, who is a grandfather, can't be as knowledgeable as his grandson!

Hum!

╭(╯^╰)╮

Coming to the restaurant with his sister, the food on the table made James, who had rekindled his smile, move his fingers.

Perhaps because the center of the topic disappeared in previous years, he finally experienced the taste of being valued by his family after nine years, and became the focus of everyone's attention.

Under the curious questioning of his sisters, James at the table told about what happened to him for more than a year.

"The gap between Baltimore and Los Angeles is huge, and the winter temperature there is below 10 degrees!"

"Wow, how did you get by?" Elizabeth's big blingbling eyes widened.

"Buy a down jacket!" "I had a down jacket in my suitcase, and I put it on when I was waiting for the plane in Baltimore, and when I got on the plane, I took it off," James said. ”

"This is so troublesome!" Mary frowned and spit out.

"Yes!" James nodded approvingly and said, "However, the temperature is still good, and I can endure it." ”

"The most uncomfortable thing for me is that the security there is not very good!"

"Baltimore's West and East Sides are home to black drug lords, and there are people fighting in broad daylight!"

"At the entrance of our school's Peabody Conservatory, there are often black people blocking there to rob!"

"The security around the medical school is also very bad, and as soon as I entered the school, I learned that there were once medical students who passed by the Blue Light District after school, and were killed just by glancing at the gangsters in the middle of the fire!"

"Then all the school buses were replaced with bulletproof glass."

"Ahh So dangerous? ”

Hearing his son say this, Ganetti, who was still smiling, was shocked, "What about the school police at your school?" ”

“Mom…… Don't you know that the coverage area patrolled by the school police is the least safe place? James shrugged helplessly and complained: "If it weren't too chaotic, would it be necessary for the school to send school police to patrol every day?" ”

"So you're all away from the area patrolled by the school police?"

"No, I'm not out of school at all!"

Although everyone knew that Baltimore was a murder capital, knowing and witnessing are two different concepts.

If there are a lot of homeless people on the road here in Los Angeles, they are like NPCs in the game, whenever you pass by, you can see all kinds of guys, but as long as you don't get closer, they won't send you a big job (shout), then Baltimore is equivalent to the capital of sin.

Open Google's crime map, select Baltimore, and you'll notice that the map is full of yellow and red dots.

Among them, yellow is where the theft took place, if it is a money bag icon, it means that it is a street burglary, and if it is a residential icon, it means burglary, as for the red dot...... It's all gun-to-hand murders.

Comrade Jianguo also has a 'famous saying': Only rats go to Baltimore!

The American drama "The Line of Fire" also interprets the situation in Baltimore very well.

At the same time as James complained, David on the main seat had no sympathy, "Didn't you choose it yourself?" ”

"If I asked you to go to UCB, you don't go, you have to go to Baltimore."

As soon as these words came out, James was helpless, because he knew that his father was still angry about his behavior of giving up UCB Haas School of Business and choosing JHU's biomedical engineering school!

“Dad！ Isn't it that I don't like that stuff? ”

"Is it a matter of liking it or not?"

"Of course! If there is no interest driven, where is the motivation to learn? James subconsciously moved out of his grandson, "Look at Roland, that's interest-driven career, if he's interested in movies, then he'll join Hollywood, if he's interested in the Internet, then switch to invest in the Internet, you can accept his choice, how come to me, it's not good?" ”

Such words made David give his son a blank look.

'Take a case of survivor bias to explain everything, I read your book in vain!' ’

Is Roland's success because he is good? ’

'No! It's because you're not good because of his side! ’

However, since his son moved out of Roland, David will not continue to nag.

He felt that he could still help Roland keep an eye on him for more than ten years, so he would naturally not favor one over the other and forcibly lose his career to his son to inherit.

Besides, real estate is really not easy to do.

In the case that the infrastructure in various places is infinitely improving and the population will not skyrocket, the profits of this industry will become less and less, and more commercial real estate companies will turn to business.

Not to mention, the son chose the ultimate field of human development, biomedical engineering.

"Okay, okay, everyone is gone, then study hard~" David waved his hand and said to his wife: "Although Baltimore is not safe, as long as he stays in school, it is impossible for him to have an accident." ”

"And with Roland here, the school doesn't dare to let him have an accident."

What David said is true, as the guy named by the chairman to take care of him, the dormitory where James lives, the first floor is the school police duty room, and there are people on duty 24 hours a day, unless the gangsters slaughter all the eight people on duty inside, don't think about going upstairs.

Not only that, David also equipped his son with bodyguards, and the vehicles used to travel were all transported from home.

No way, safety first!

However, just as David wanted to get over the dull topic and restore the atmosphere at the table to the joy of Christmas Eve, James suddenly added, "Actually, I won't be in Baltimore for long." ”

"Huh? Why? Ashley asked curiously.

The other four also cast puzzled glances at him.

"Because Professor Carroll has a new project to work on with her supervisor, she will be going back and forth between UCSF and JHU from next summer, so ...... I'm ready to join in the fun. ”

"Graduating early and graduating later doesn't make much difference to me, as long as I complete the credits in six years."

"And Professor Carroll had already chosen the corresponding courses for me when I entered the school at the beginning of this year, and as long as I finish the courses in the spring semester next year, the theoretical knowledge will basically be fine."

"So? Then you might as well transfer to UCSF! Garneti felt that her son was doing too much.

Of course, she was even more worried about what her son had just described.

David didn't have much of an opinion, but he gave advice on life, "If you often travel back and forth between San Francisco and Baltimore, then buy you a business jet, it's more convenient." ”

Faced with this proposal, James's eyes lit up, but in the next second, he shook his head and said: "Forget about the business jet." ”

"You and Roland didn't buy it, what do I need to use first?"

"I don't need it for the time being, and Roland is too lazy to buy it!" David rolled his eyes, "When he went to England this time, he asked Charlie Munger about the Boeing 777 he borrowed!" And he doesn't know how many times he's done this kind of thing! ”

"I'm used to this, and I asked him why he didn't buy clothes and luxury cars when he made money, but he said it wasn't necessary."

"At that time, I wondered, how can there be such a person in this world!"

"Now I know that at that time he was already detached from material needs and pursued spiritual pleasure."

"Buying clothes, watches, luxury cars? Is it refreshing to buy a company? ”

"What's more, there is such a thing as appearance, and having a girlfriend will naturally improve."

Just as James politely declined his father's proposal, Elizabeth, who was pulling ice cream there, suddenly raised her head, "Then when are you looking for a girlfriend?" Are you looking for someone prettier than Kate? ”

As soon as he heard his sister mention this, James, who was still righteous, was full of black lines.

glared at his sister, signaling the little guy not to open which pot to mention, at the same time, he also took advantage of his mother's inquiry, decisively changed the topic, and looked at his father, "By the way, when it comes to buying a company, I think of something." ”

"Roland's Watch Ventures, do you invest in companies that have already been listed?"

"What do you want to do? Swindling money from Roland? ”

"I can tell you, I read all the accounts of the Roland Company, don't make a bad idea."

Having said that, there was ridicule in David's eyes.

How did he not know that his son was avoiding his wife's inquiries and wanted to gag the other party's mouth with work?

Of course, although he guessed correctly, he didn't guess the result.

James, who is single, really doesn't want to talk to his mom about his girlfriend, but he really has a project he wants to talk to his dad about.

“Dad！ Am I that kind of person? ”

"Yes."

"Hey! I'm serious! ”

"Okay! Just say, I'll see what kind of flowers you can make up......"

"So I said it?"

"Don't waste time!"

"Well, didn't I say before that Professor Carroll and her mentor have a new project to work on? I'm talking about a company that has to do with the new project they're working on. Previously, Professor Carroll and her mentor discovered how telomeres and telomerase protect chromosomes, and through their research, they learned that measuring telomere length can predict people's chances of developing heart disease, cancer and other chronic diseases, as well as measure people's current overall health and aging. ”

"Not only that, the telomerase inhibitors produced according to their discoveries can fight cancer, and the telomerase activators can be anti-aging, and the former has already shown results in the 90s, and as for the latter, there are no discoveries for the time being."

"Telomere shortening is the result of programmed aging, and telomerase does lengthen telomeres as much as possible, however, in the course of their study, they found that not all cells express telomerase."

"Telomerase in stem cells and germ cells has a high level of activity, while telomerase in most other cells has almost no activity, so if you want to achieve the goal of anti-aging immortality, you have to solve this problem first......

When James explained the situation to his family in popular language, three small ones and two big ones, all of them were staring at each other with big eyes, and no one understood what James was saying, and after finding that his understanding couldn't keep up with his son's words at all, David slapped him directly and said, "Speak human words!" ”

"Ah...... Good ......" James, who was in pain, came back to his senses, and after finding that his three younger sisters were suffering and his parents were confused, he immediately understood that the generation gap of the times was as deep as the Mariana Trench.

To put it simply, the telomerase discovered by Professor Carroll may indeed be a path to immortality, but so far, no one has been able to see the door to the road, and in this case, there is a biopharmaceutical company on the market that sells this research to the capital, so Professor Carroll, who thought it was strange, went to investigate the company's research project, and was told by them...... To give...... How so? Anyway, do you think their development ideas seem to be right? ”

"Since the professors think it's right, then this company must be valuable, but the problem is that the topic of anti-aging can't be solved in a day or two, and after burning all the research funds, they will have no money."

"So they took over the outsourcing of GlaxoSmithKline and made 1.3 million."

"And in '96, with a drug to treat an eye infection called cytomegalovirus retinitis in people with AIDS, it raised $250 million through the issuance of shares."

"But even then, they eventually ran out of money."

"Now, they're ready to take a leap and buy a company that does the same kind of research."

"But—"

"They don't have any money."

"Ah......" David understood.

Isn't this the most common thing startups do, storytelling?

When all start-up companies raise funds, their valuation of the company is not based on the value of the company itself, but on how the founder of the company draws a pie for external investors, as long as the pie is big enough and attractive, they can get investment.

After getting the investment, you can still draw pies.

As long as the public and investors believe it, the founder of this company will not be Jia Yueting who will return to China next week.

Not only that, the biopharmaceutical field that James is talking about now is a very difficult place to produce results, and it is really normal to lose money, and it is even more common to have no money to operate and continue to raise funds.

If it were to be changed to other fields, how many years have not been profitable, then David will pass directly, but now-

Since it's my son's professor, I think it's good, so let's listen to it?

Thinking of this, David asked, "What company?" Where is it? After Christmas, I'm going to check it out? ”

The brief inquiry made James laugh.

"This company is in California, and it has a collaboration with the professor's mentor, and the name—"

"Gilead."

…………

Gilead, founded in 1987, is a research-based biopharmaceutical company.

In the first five years of its establishment, it did not have any income, and it was all surviving on the $2 million raised in '88, $10 million raised in '89, $40 million raised in '91, and $86 million raised in '92.

Like all biopharma companies, they sold all the concepts during this period.

Curb AIDS, solve multiple complications of AIDS patients, and live forever......

These are the big pies they draw for investors.

Not only that, but they also approached Warren Buffett in '88 to find Berkshire Hathaway's investment, but the old man refused, so they went it alone.

Since Gilead's vaunted elixir was an extended study based on the discovery of telomerase, the company was quickly noticed by the three discoverers of telomerase, Jack Southak, Elizabeth Blackburn, and Carol Greid, and after discovering that Gilead's research ideas coincided with them, the two sides became very close.

However, this kind of close visit did not bring much results for a while, so after spending the research funds, Gilead raised 94 million yuan through the issuance of shares in '95, and continued to raise 1.6 billion yuan in '96.

However...... It's only been two years, and the money has run out again.

In eleven years, 392 million yuan was burned, but the drugs produced were as rotten as a piece of!

After seeing such a research report, David even wondered if his son's mentor, Carol Greid, found out that the company's research funds were gone, so he wanted his son to come to him and Roland to cheat the investment.

After all, the whole world knows that he David Olsen is rich, and even more so that Roland Allen is the majority shareholder of Berkshire Hathaway!

But on second thought, David felt unlikely.

Because James's mentor Carol Greid, who is a professor at JHU, is already subsidized by the state's special research fund, and is unable to make money from herself.

So, David, who didn't want to invest in the financial report, but was not easy to refuse because of the identity of the other party, kicked the ball to Roland, and when Roland learned that he was just going to the United Kingdom for Christmas, James's turtle grandson actually brought him a pharmaceutical company, and then he ended his vacation and returned to New York to film, and he almost didn't jump up in front of the crew!

"Wait!" Roland raised his voice excitedly.

"David! You repeat! What's that company called? ”

"Is it really called Gilead?"

"Is that Gilead that loses money every year and never makes a profit?"