"Ah Qiu, I'm sorry to trouble you again and disturb your rest." Lin Yao looked apologetic. He liked this peer with extremely high professional competence very much. He was sharp, hardworking, dedicated, wise, and knew how to advance and retreat. He was truly the best partner. At this moment, he had no choice but to continue to seek help.
"Brother Yao, what are you saying? This is nothing at all. You're giving me a chance." Qiu Zuiyue smiled, her youthful face radiating sunshine. "Is there any news this time? I came in a hurry, and my equipment is still in my dorm."
"Xiao Qiu, you'll really have to work hard. I'm afraid you'll have to work overtime." Luo Jimin also admired this young man. He had only met him two or three times, but he could feel the vigor and fighting spirit of the young man.
"Uncle Luo, please don't stand on ceremony with me. Just ask me for anything, I'd be happy to oblige." Qiu Zuiyue was somewhat flattered, and he greatly admired this family.
“It’s like this, A Qiu.” Lin Yao raised his right hand and touched his forehead, looking somewhat troubled. “We need to carry out a publicity campaign, but it’s hard to control the scale. If we’re not careful, we might touch the sensitive nerves of the media and the public. So we need your help. I also need you to discuss with the editor-in-chief how to operate and guide public opinion, and handle things as in a way that doesn’t lean towards the negative.”
"What is it?" Qiu Zuiyue became nervous, her adrenaline surged, her body became excited, and she trembled slightly.
“We just discussed how to deal with the Huarentang Group. Such a profit-driven company is no longer fit to serve the people, especially in industries related to people’s health.” Lin Yao’s voice was somewhat unconfident. “After today’s news, it is estimated that Huarentang’s accounts have been restricted from making payments. However, without a valid reason, the government cannot prevent them from making business payments. As a result, they are very likely to transfer funds tomorrow, and even if they are liquidated and bankrupt, they will not be able to pay compensation to the affected patients.”
“Here’s what we’re thinking: the poisoned patients need Minhong Anti-Drought Drink to maintain their current physical condition, which might be a good reason.” Lin Yao looked up and stared intently into Qiu Zuiyue’s eyes, his questioning expression clear. “If we provide these patients with the drink at the non-disaster area market price of 2,000 yuan per bottle, will it have a negative impact? Minhong Pharmaceutical’s reputation is one aspect, but another is how to prevent these patients gathered in Chengdu from having extreme reactions, or even their families causing trouble.”
"This..." Qiu Zuiyue was taken aback. He hadn't expected to hear such shocking news. Minhong Pharmaceutical was actually trying to profit from this matter. His social experience and professional expertise were insufficient to judge the direction of the situation, let alone offer advice. "I must report this matter to the editor-in-chief immediately before I can provide analysis and suggestions."
"Okay, then thank you for your trouble. The factory will send you a car later." Lin Yao nodded slightly. "If a decision is made, I'll need you to work overtime with the preparatory team tonight to cooperate with Ye Zhaoxian and Liu Wei and release the information online as soon as possible. Oh, Ye Zhaoxian is the head of the preparatory team, Liu Wei is a network expert who is responsible for the construction and maintenance of the company website, as well as all network work, and there is another network expert named Sun Yifu who is also there."
"Okay, I'll contact the editor-in-chief right away and head over there." Without saying another word, Qiu Zuiyue immediately took out her phone to make a call, then added a question that had been bothering her: "Does this really have to be the way it is? I mean, are there any other options?"
“Ah Qiu, I won’t lie to you.” Lin Yao’s gaze was sincere. “Minhong Pharmaceutical started with 4 million yuan, and in just over a month, we’ve lost all of that. We’re barely keeping going thanks to donations from all sorts of kind people and other methods. These donations are purely anonymous; their names don’t even appear on the company’s website. We are grateful to these people.”
“But it’s not a sustainable business for a company to keep doing things at a loss, and it’s not something to be encouraged. Although we can solve the funding problem temporarily, how long can we last? A month? Two months? We have to find a solution.” Lin Yao’s gaze began to sharpen. “Most importantly, Minhong Pharmaceutical is not just doing disaster relief. It also has its own development goals and its ideals for future growth. All of these require money, a lot of money.”
"On the one hand, it's to strike at the Huarentang Group and make them responsible for their patients; on the other hand, it's to raise funds and reserve capital for the future development of Minhong Pharmaceutical." Lin Yao's tone became calmer, but the momentum in his words grew stronger, making his parents and Ge Yong feel that his image was becoming increasingly imposing. "Furthermore, everyone knows that due to profit motives, the products that the company sells and distributes to disaster areas are not fully used on the disaster victims. Do you think we can use this incident of Huarentang's toxic beverage to warn consumers across the country, reduce or even eliminate the sale of drought relief beverages on the black market? If the market shrinks or even disappears, those unscrupulous merchants will no longer go to disaster areas to buy beverages, and the health of the disaster victims will be better protected."
"Yes, that's a good idea. News propaganda can definitely serve as a warning and a deterrent. I'm certain of that. In fact, my graduation thesis was about the relationship between news coverage and social reactions to such crisis events." Qiu Zuiyue smiled, no longer having any doubts, and decisively pressed the send button on her phone.
The Luo family mansion experienced its first sleepless night in decades. Members of the family in Chengdu gathered together. The Luo family, including Lin Yao's former aunt Luo Jilan, Luo Jishi's son Luo Shizhang, daughter Luo Shifang, and Luo Jichang's youngest son Luo Shiye, all sat in the living room with worried expressions, no longer the spirit they once were.
Luo Shijie was sent to the hospital by Cui Haodong to treat his injuries. With this capable manager missing, the only experienced people who could take charge were the old man and Luo Jilan. The others were simply distressed and fearful about the wealth and status they were about to lose.
“Uncle, my second brother only managed to transfer eight million to my company account today. Tomorrow we’ll go to the relevant departments to argue our case. Before the court makes a preliminary ruling and issues a notice, they have no reason to freeze Huarentang’s accounts. We need to get the available working capital in hand first.” Luo Jilan stared at the old man, her expression somewhat dejected, but not particularly heartbroken. Huarentang’s shareholding reform hadn’t taken place, and she herself didn’t hold many shares. “Tonight, have someone work overtime to draft an agreement to separate some assets unrelated to pharmaceuticals from Huarentang. They can be temporarily registered under my company, or I can find some friends to take them over. Even pharmaceutical-related assets, as long as they are financially independent, we’ll separate them first, to prepare for the worst.”
"Hmm." The old man looked at his niece, frowned and nodded. "You all go and do it right away. Have Shijie discharged from the hospital as soon as his cast is put on and come home to handle this together."
"Did Uncle really not show any mercy at all?" Luo Jichang's youngest son, Luo Shiye, still couldn't believe it. In his memory, Luo Jimin's family was weak and could be bullied at will.
The old man glanced blankly at Luo Shiye, too lazy to even nod, and turned to look at Luo Jilan's husband, Wen Yongqiang, a lieutenant colonel.
“Uncle, it just so happens that my subordinates are in charge of manpower allocation for escorting goods for Minhong Pharmaceutical. I’ll make some arrangements to see if Fourth Brother can meet with you again.” Wen Yongqiang sat upright on the sofa, nodded to the old man’s gaze, thinking that this was a good opportunity to let Luo Jimin relax his pressing pace a little. After Huarentang’s assets were transferred to his wife’s real estate group, his family would benefit even more.
"Then I'll have to trouble you, Yongqiang." The old man nodded slightly, his expression softening a bit. At this moment, he wanted to show his attitude and treat those who could help with courtesy.
Luo Jilan suddenly recalled her husband Wen Yongqiang's way of addressing her. Her family's uncles had always ranked the second generation according to seniority, so Luo Jimin became the fourth brother based on age, while her own brother Luo Jirong became the third brother. However, the older generation of the Luo family always addressed each other according to their own family's seniority. Just look at how Luo Shijie and Luo Shiye addressed Luo Jimin as "Third Uncle"—it was clear that in their eyes, her family wasn't truly considered part of the direct line of the Luo family.
Just as Luo Jilan was thinking about these things, the phone in the living room rang. The old man answered it himself, hummed a few times, and his expression grew worse and worse. Finally, he hung up the phone loudly, showing his agitation.
"Uncle, what's wrong?" Luo Jilan asked cautiously when she saw that the old man looked unwell.
“Jimin and his gang are really going all out this time. They just said on the phone that Minhong Pharmaceuticals posted a notice on their website that all poisoned patients must buy their drinks for 2,000 yuan a bottle. This is just to prevent their condition from worsening. We don’t know how much the next stage of treatment will cost.” The old man lost his composure again, and the voice squeezed out from between his teeth sent chills down people’s spines.
It's over! Luo Jilan made a quick judgment: Huarentang is completely finished. The money spent on the Minhong beverages and the subsequent treatment costs will definitely fall on Huarentang. There's no need to pull strings tomorrow; the bank and relevant departments have ample reason to freeze the group's assets. Even the eight million yuan transferred today will be investigated. She immediately decided not to touch the money to avoid getting herself into trouble.
"How could they set a price of 2,000 yuan? This is exorbitant profiteering, profiting from a national crisis!" Wen Yongqiang stood up excitedly. The thought that his family couldn't benefit from it made him furious, and his earlier joy was wasted.
"Yongqiang, tomorrow, please contact Jimin for me and have him meet with me. I must persuade him to change the price to 1.8 yuan, or even 2 yuan. Only then can the group be saved." The old man also stood up, walked to Wen Yongqiang's side, put his right hand on the other's shoulder, and spoke earnestly.
There's hope! Luo Jilan's eyes brightened again. She thought that as long as Minhong Pharmaceutical adjusted the price to two yuan, she could use many tricks to her advantage. A rough estimate suggested that she could gain at least 40 million yuan in benefits. After all, Huarentang was not listed on the stock exchange, and most of its assets were fixed assets that would not depreciate. It was no doubt that they would take a cut from every opportunity.
At this time, Lin Yao was drinking with his parents at a late-night snack spot in Guanghua Village near the pharmaceutical factory. Ge Yong, Shen Ruohua, and more than a dozen other security guards arrived. Some of them were not allowed to drink and had to remain vigilant. Luo Jimin and Lin Hongmei couldn't sleep anyway, so they accompanied their son Lin Yao out for some fun.
"A drowning dog should be beaten hard! A desperate enemy should be pursued relentlessly! This is the truth that Chairman Mao taught us!" Lin Yao was in a very good mood, and famous quotes he had seen somewhere kept coming out of his mouth, his voice quite loud.
The large table, made up of four wooden tables, had four big holes in it, which were the locations for the hot pots of Chengdu's famous snack, "Hot Pot Skewers." Several dry pots were also placed in the gaps between the tables. The nouveau riche had ordered a lot of spicy rabbit dry pot, squid dry pot, yak dry pot, jumping frog dry pot, and mantis shrimp. Even the smallest gaps were filled with snacks such as sliced beef and tripe in chili sauce. It brought together several local specialties from nearby restaurants, and the security guards on their break from their shifts smacked their lips and exclaimed how satisfying it was.
Luo Jimin and Lin Hongmei also drank quite a bit of beer. Looking at his wife's rosy cheeks and ears, Luo Jimin felt a sense of happiness...
Thank you to "Invincible Little Angel", "Fat Liang", "I am a Little Snake", "Happy Luoba", and "Dragon's Contract" for their generous donations!
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Chapter 121 Exorbitant Profits
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Lin Yao got up very early the next day, before ten o'clock. Luo Jimin, Lin Hongmei, and Wen Youmin were all hungover and probably still had headaches.
After getting up, Lin Yao prepared some hangover remedies for them and then left Minhong Pharmaceutical Factory. Before leaving the factory, he ran into Wu Jianwei and greeted him. He thought to himself that Wu Jianwei was indeed a veteran of alcohol, able to appear at the work site in high spirits even after drinking so much. He himself was only able to get through it because of Xiao Cao's help in cheating.
The morning weather was pleasantly cool, without sun, just like the mornings in other parts of the country, the air so fresh it felt like it had been washed. Lin Yao drove to the science and technology center where the preparatory team was located, where his comrades who had worked through the night were staying. He wanted to bring them his regards and several cases of drought-relief drinks. Lately, work had been so busy that even young masters like Ye Zhaoxian had become disheveled and glued to online games.
"Ah Xian, you've all worked so hard. Why don't you rest a little longer?" Lin Yao gave Ye Zhaoxian a hug as soon as he entered the room, followed by hugs from the other members of the organizing committee. It's hard to believe how close everyone had become; it was all a result of gradual, unspoken influence. Devoting themselves to a common goal can indeed quickly bridge the gap between people.
Ye Zhaoxian's smile vanished in an instant, the joy of seeing him again replaced by sorrow and deep anger. "That bastard Huarentang company has done so much harm!"
Seeing the confusion on Lin Yao's face, Ye Zhaoxian immediately gritted his teeth and explained, "We only released an announcement on the official website last night, asking all poisoning patients in the country to register so that we could arrange accommodation for them. As of now, 1,213 poisoning patients have already registered. Most of the patients have already started to travel from all over the country. I estimate that the flights to Chengdu today will be full. I wonder if Shanghai, Beijing and Nanjing will add special flights."
"So many people? How can there be so many people? Their drinks have only been produced for a few days!" Lin Yao was shocked by this news, and the smile on his face disappeared.
"The Qiu you introduced learned about Huarentang's production situation through a colleague's connection. He said they've already produced 100,000 bottles of beverages, and that's only because they're running out of raw materials. Otherwise, they might have produced a million bottles. The bottling company is their own, so they're very efficient." When Ye Zhaoxian said the last sentence, he didn't use the expected sarcastic tone. His suppressed emotions made his witty remarks fail miserably.
"100,000 bottles?!" Lin Yao was completely dumbfounded. Of course, he knew that with Huarentang's sales channels, it would be easy to distribute these beverages all over the country. But now he was in big trouble. How could he save so many poisoned people? Was he supposed to have Xiaocao help them one by one?
Upon hearing the news that Lin Yao had arrived at the technology center, Qiu Zuiyue rushed over to meet him. His eyes were bloodshot from not sleeping all night, and his messy hair was probably the result of writing. He burst into the room without a word, turned Lin Yao around, and said urgently, "Brother Yao, you have to think of a solution. With these 1200+ patients alone, according to the previous plan, we'll have to spend a huge sum of money on drinks. You need to come up with a plan immediately. This topic is already being discussed online and in other media."