Chapter 5

The first commercial product created by Alex was a type of floor and bathroom cleaner. His product cleaned faster and better than other cleaning products sold in stores. Praised by his mother and family, Alex became too excited and made many bottles of cleaning products, so his mother had to tell Jackson and Lily to bottle the liquids and distribute them for free to the neighbours. This was just to get rid of the strong-smelling liquids.

The product instantly became famous as the Bolton Family Floor Cleaner. Lily received candies and cakes every time she distributed the product, and Jackson, along with Michael, started quietly collecting money for every repeat request for their cleaning liquid.

Since then, Alex began creating various other products and never forgot to add other ingredients he believed would improve his products. He called it improvisation. Alex made cleaning liquids, shampoo, bath soap, and other products. Some products completely failed and had to be dumped into a special underground liquid waste container. However, some looked better than the ones sold in stores. Lily's favorite product was a floral-scented and fragrant bath soap. Alex made it by adding his mother's perfume.

The soap quickly became popular among the neighborhood girls and the town, all because Jackson and Michael distributed it for free. They were excited to distribute soap to have an excuse to meet pretty girls in town.

However, Alex had to face his mother's anger after discovering that his expensive perfume bought from Paris was used up by Alex. After that, Alex had to find another ingredient to replace the expensive perfume as the base for his soap fragrance. He once tried to extract the scent core himself following the instructions in a blending book but gave up due to the lengthy process. He preferred buying ready-made perfume cores and simply mixing them.

One day, a friend of Jackson's asked about the soap-making process in the backyard. Alex could hear their conversation from the upper floor of his room. "Wow, your younger sibling made this soap?" the friend asked in disbelief.

"You don't believe it?" Michael laughed, enjoying his friend's surprise. "He's a genius, buddy."

"As long as this product isn't defective like his legs," the friend retorted, not wanting to be outdone. "You know, defective products? Those who use this soap might end up with blistered skin."

At that moment, a flowerpot and a few books flew out of Alex's window towards the man. Angry shouts echoed until Jackson and Michael had to escort their friend out of the house forever.

Alex always got angry if people mocked his legs, and he was even more furious if anyone ridiculed the products he made wholeheartedly. Every product he made went through a long trial process. He knew more than a hundred products on the market contained harmful substances. However, the products he made for his family were far from dangerous. Alex always used safe chemicals for all his products. Some people would immediately judge his products as bad without trying them or knowing their basic ingredients. Alex despised people like that.

Jackson and Michael attended the same university, majoring in economics and business. Sometimes, to earn extra money, they would ask Alex for products to sell. Although their parents were not lacking in financial matters, they were strict in monitoring their children's spending.

"50:50!" Alex shouted, refusing to back down, which forced Jackson to agree to a highly unfair deal. 50% of the profit for Alex and the other 50% divided between himself and Michael who sold the products. However, because Alex's products were always excellent, they never had trouble selling. Every store was willing to stock their products—although they didn't have official permits at that time—and every customer was willing to repurchase their products.

"I think Alex is pushing too hard for quality in his products," Michael said to Jackson on their way home one day. "Especially after our friend mentioned it."

"He was like that even before being mentioned. His perfectionism is terrifying," Jackson replied. He still remembered how Alex tested each of his products by recording every effect when used by neighbors for free. "Do you know what he said to me?"

"I might be flawed, but my work will never be flawed."

After Jackson and Michael graduated from university, they decided to start their own business, making and selling Alex's products officially on a much larger and formal scale.

Knowing the quality of Alex's products, their grandfather and father supported the venture and decided to invest as well. The capital gathered was used to build a factory for manufacturing chemical products and purchase transportation equipment for distributing the products. His father easily handled all the necessary business permits. At that time, Alex was only around 16 years old and led several chemistry graduates to mass-produce products such as floor cleaners, floral-scented bath soaps, hair wash, and laundry detergent powders.

Their company grew very rapidly, and their factory kept expanding. If Alex had to be honest, it was all thanks to Jackson and Michael. Both men were born with high business instincts and exceptional sales abilities.

They led a team of salespeople and continued to open distribution branches in many regions. Through interactions with chemistry experts, Alex realized that many of them were much better than him, more talented, and had a deeper understanding of chemistry. Their various creations were even better than his. However, because no one marketed, sold, and financed their products on a large scale, they could only work for the company for their livelihood. He was lucky to have everything.

At the age of 20, Alex received a professorship from a university thanks to several valuable discoveries in chemistry and also his innovative products. To celebrate, Alex published two large books containing descriptions of the chemical ingredients of every common product that most families had at home. The books were printed in very limited numbers and not sold to the public.

At the age of 28, a university sent him an invitation to become a chemistry lecturer there. Alex had no interest in responding to the letter, just like offers from dozens of universities before. Meanwhile, Jackson felt that his younger brother's life had become too busy with creating new products for years and isolating himself in the factory research area. Meeting almost no one.

Michael, who shared the same thoughts as Jackson, visited Alex at his research place. "It's not healthy to keep busy with all these new products continuously. Besides, there are already over fifty new products waiting to be made. The factory can't keep up with your discoveries," Michael said, concerned about Alex, who was like his own brother.

Alex lived in seclusion, his body thin, his face pale, and he avoided socializing with anyone. Deep down, Michael knew that Alex always felt insecure about his condition.

"Alex, for your own well-being, seek a peaceful life. You are one of the owners of this company; why bother with making new discoveries when you already have dozens of chemists and several professors working for you? Go out and enjoy your life."

After being urged by Jackson, Michael, and his parents, Alex finally left his position as head of research at the factory and moved to a house near the university to start his new job as a chemistry lecturer. However, he still received regular updates from his factory research team.

All because he felt that his life had no meaning without his work. More precisely, he had nothing else besides his work.