Chapter 450 — Volunteering Himself. Wei Zhao casually flipped through the Chinese medicines in a few of the other bags, then said, "Apart from one or two that have been sitting around a bit too long, they're all genuine."

"That's good, that's good!" Fatty Lai had been half afraid that every scrap of the herbs he had bought would turn out counterfeit; as long as some were real, that was enough. "Then please, Divine Doctor Lin, pick out the best and use those."

"Alright, Uncle Guan—you do have a stove here for brewing medicine, don't you?" Wei Zhao asked.

"We do. I'll have Nanny Liu bring it to you." Guan Xuemin was a grand master of Chinese medicine; his household would hardly be short of the apparatus for decocting.

"Then... should I... step out for a while?" Fatty Lai knew which way was up. Afraid that Wei Zhao might observe some taboo while brewing, he did not wish to be a nuisance here and wanted to withdraw first.

"No need—sit down right here. As it happens, I've some questions about the company's opening I'd like to pick your brain on." Wei Zhao waved a hand, motioning Fatty Lai to sit.

"Pick your brain?" Fatty Lai was somewhat flattered. He rubbed his plump hands together and said, "I wouldn't dare presume to advise you—I can only offer a thought or two. Rest assured, I'll hold nothing back: what I know, I'll say, and I'll say it all. That Divine Doctor Lin would let me speak—that's him doing me an honor!"

Nanny Liu soon brought over the brewing equipment. Wei Zhao deftly sorted out a handful of fresh herbs and tossed them into the pot; the grab looked careless, but the measure was exact to the fraction.

Fatty Lai marveled to himself, though he did not think much of it in the end. Wei Zhao's medical skill was far more than this kind of showy footwork—set against everything else he could do, it was nothing at all.

Even Guan Xuemin was somewhat awed by the speed of Wei Zhao's hands. It was as though Wei Zhao had not even looked, yet the measuring was already done.

"Fatty Lai, my pharmaceutical company has two medicines prepared for launch at the start: one is a potent analgesic with no side effects, the other a wound remedy. How should we promote them once they hit the market?" Wei Zhao asked.

"Divine Doctor Lin, is this wound remedy a prepared medicine with effects similar to Divine Doctor Kang's golden wound medicine?" The moment the talk turned to business, Fatty Lai's manner turned shrewd, and the sniveling weakling he had been moments before was nowhere to be seen.

"More or less. I've never seen what their golden wound medicine looks like, but my wound remedy closes wounds quickly and leaves no scar." Wei Zhao nodded as he spoke.

"Then they're close enough!" Fatty Lai pondered a moment, then said, "My advice is to launch the wound remedy first and use it to make a name for ourselves!"

"Oh? How so?" Wei Zhao looked toward Fatty Lai. Both he and Guan Xuemin had planned to release the two medicines together; it had never occurred to either of them that Fatty Lai would want them staggered.

"Heh—if we put out only one medicine, and its effects resemble those of the most miraculous thing on the market, Divine Doctor Kang's golden wound medicine, everyone will start comparing us to them," Fatty Lai said. "At first they'll have their doubts about our product, but once they find it works as well as Dr. Kang's, they'll begin coming around to us."

"Of course, that rests on two preconditions. First, our price has to undercut theirs. Second, our supply has to be plentiful—because as far as I know, several of the herbs in Divine Doctor Kang's golden wound medicine are produced in very small quantities, and they reserve them first for certain special institutions and the military, so their civilian sales volume isn't large at all! Which means that if consumers can't buy their product, they'll choose ours!"

"Of course, if our product is clearly superior to theirs, then we won't need to cut prices to sell it. Or if our own capacity can't be raised either, then either way this market will stay in shortage, and whether we fight them for it or not hardly matters."

Only after pouring it all out in one breath did Fatty Lai pause to wipe the sweat from his brow.

Wei Zhao and Guan Xuemin listened in dazed silence. They had never imagined this Fatty Lai actually had something to him—he was no mere crybaby, but a genuine talent.

"And the sales of the analgesic..." Wei Zhao had no experience in the business world, so he went on asking in all humility.

"Once our wound remedy makes a hit, the analgesic will be no problem at all," Fatty Lai said. "After our first product launches and consumers accept it, the second one will hardly need any promotion to speak of. Of course, holding a live launch event is still an option."

"I see!" Wei Zhao nodded, duly enlightened. "Then should I still go through with the auction I had planned? I meant to put a few Life-Prolonging Detox Pills up for bidding, but..."

Here Wei Zhao hesitated. He did not know Fatty Lai well and could hardly make the refining of the Life-Prolonging Detox Pill sound as easy as popping jelly beans—if the man thought he had been swindled out of an entire office tower for half a pill, he would be sure to feel cheated. Even though he had offered it freely of his own accord... Wei Zhao had no wish to be cursed behind his back.

So he went on: "But the Life-Prolonging Detox Pill is tremendously difficult to refine, and many of its ingredients have all but ceased to be produced, so the number is strictly limited and mass production is out of the question for now. If we auction them off, won't they seem to have no connection to the products of the pharmaceutical company?"

"Not at all! It's a hook—a genuine gimmick!" Fatty Lai waved his hands repeatedly at this. To himself he thought: this Life-Prolonging Detox Pill really is a marvelous thing; prying half a pill out of that crap had been sheer brilliance on his part. Wei Zhao couldn't have many of them left—these were nothing short of priceless treasures.

"I thought of it as a gimmick too, but by your reckoning, this gimmick doesn't seem to serve much purpose after all?" Wei Zhao asked.

"How do you mean, no purpose?" Fatty Lai waved him off. "We can announce to the public that the Life-Prolonging Detox Pill is a limited-edition, exceedingly rare medicine, on account of the terribly low refining success rate and the scarcity of its raw materials... Or better yet, say it was given to us by the exalted master who supplied our formula, and that no more will ever be made! Rarity breeds value, after all. Once the pill draws an excellent reputation and proves its efficacy, our wound remedy will rise right along with the tide!"

Wei Zhao nodded, finding the idea sound. "Do you know where we could hire a professional manager to run the company?"

"Well..." At Wei Zhao's words, a flicker of eager anticipation shot through Fatty Lai's eyes, and his face flushed somewhat red. "What do you think of me?"

"You?" Wei Zhao stared blankly for a beat before taking Fatty Lai's meaning. "You mean you want to be the professional manager?"

"That's right—what do you think? I've been scrabbling around the business world for the better part of ten years; I've got experience to spare!" Fatty Lai thumped his chest as he spoke.

"But your trading company and your real estate company..." Wei Zhao looked at Fatty Lai in puzzlement.

"From now on the trading company handles pharmaceutical sales, and the real estate company builds our branch offices!" Fatty Lai said with a sweep of his hand. "Both companies were founded by my own two hands—I call the shots!"

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