"Ah!" Lin Yao was startled awake, realizing things had suddenly become much more complicated. Calming himself down, he calculated that with 1213 patients, if each received a bottle of the beverage at 2000 yuan per bottle, that would generate over 2.4 million yuan in sales revenue. Initially, at least three bottles would be needed for stabilization, followed by one bottle daily. Considering the massive production volume of 100,000 bottles by Huarentang, and the eagerness of customers to open and drink them after taking them home, how many people would there be?
“Ah Qiu, something’s not right. Given Huarentang’s distribution network, it’s impossible that only 1,200 people were poisoned. The amount of beverages sold must be enormous. Let’s not worry about the money for now. We need to let these customers know how urgent the situation is and gather them all in Chengdu to prevent kidney failure.” Lin Yao thought of a new problem.
"Ah! What should we do then?" Qiu Zuiyue was also shocked. Thinking of the potential poisoning patients, his solid professional skills immediately gave him a flash of inspiration, and he suggested, "We can advertise, advertise on TV and radio, and let those patients contact us on their own initiative. We can set the contact number as the disaster relief service center's number. There are many customer service representatives there, which should be able to handle the pressure of answering the calls."
At this moment, Liu Wei, who had been standing to the side, calmly offered his opinion: "Television and radio are indeed the fastest means of communication, but there is one point we cannot underestimate. It's fine for them to broadcast it as news; I estimate that every TV station and radio station would voluntarily broadcast this news. However, the timing can only be arranged by themselves, and they might only be able to insert one news segment into the evening news each day, which is not effective. If we want to truly warn all consumers, we can only pay for their advertising time and insert it temporarily. I estimate that these radio and television stations will give the green light, but the money is inevitable. After all, every unit has business pressure. Broadcasting our news will squeeze out other advertising time, so appropriate compensation is unavoidable."
"This..." Lin Yao hesitated, but when he thought of the huge number of people who had been poisoned and the huge profits that were about to be made, he immediately felt more confident. "A Qiu, A Wei, please contact TV stations and radio stations in various places immediately. We will apply for advertising for three days and see how much it will cost. We will try to get their help."
"As for the advertising costs, I'll contact my mom right away and have her calculate the advertising costs. We'll use the profits from this sale to the poisoned patients to fill this gap. Otherwise, Minhong Pharmaceutical will go bankrupt instantly. We don't have much money left in the accounts, and even if we did, it would only be donations from people all over the country. We can't touch that money." Lin Yao analyzed the situation seriously, then looked up and asked Ye Zhaoxian beside him, "Ah Xian, do you think we should adjust our pricing? Isn't 2,000 yuan a bottle a bit high? We set the price that way to prevent various departments from extorting money and demanding bribes."
Ye Zhaoxian glanced at Lin Yao and said in a calm tone, "I don't think we can adjust the price. The pricing system is enough, with disaster relief prices for disaster areas and market prices for non-disaster areas. If a company is not serious about pricing, it will give people the impression that it is not rigorous. We cannot take this step."
"Then let's compensate them with a buy-one-get-one-free offer, or buy one bottle and get N bottles free." Qiu Zuiyue was quick-witted and immediately came up with a solution that wouldn't change the pricing structure.
“That’s not good either.” Ye Zhaoxian shook his head, rejecting Qiu Zuiyue’s plan. His expression was detached. “Do we need to lower the price? Have you forgotten the situation of these poisoned patients? They are not ordinary people who can afford to spend 2,000 yuan on drinks. Would people who are just trying to maintain their health lack that little money? No price reduction, no freebies, just sell it for 2,000 yuan a bottle. Ayao, the only thing your family needs to consider now is how to use this profit. If you don’t use it well, your previous reputation will be ruined. Of course, you can choose not to consider these things, after all, no one can deny the fact that it’s for disaster relief.”
"Let me think about it." Lin Yao lowered his head, covered his forehead with his right hand, and carefully considered the public's reaction and his parents' attitude. Then he raised his head and said, "I have an idea. I haven't discussed it with my parents yet, but it shouldn't have any major problems."
“We’re setting up a fund, a fund open to the public. The initial funding will come from the profits from this sale, after deducting advertising and other management fees. This fund will then be used to help those truly in need across the country. I suggest focusing more on education. Recent news about the dismissal of substitute teachers in the education system has generated a lot of discussion. Teachers are already scarce in some remote areas; if these teachers are dismissed, children won’t be able to attend school. We could also consider building more Hope Primary Schools. Of course, you should draft a plan first, and I’ll discuss it with my family before giving you a response.”
Ye Zhaoxian nodded emphatically, not saying another word. After all, this involved a sum of over 100 million yuan, and as an outsider, he had no right to offer his opinion. Seeing Lin Yao come up with this plan without hesitation, he was deeply moved. This was the kind of brother Ye Zhaoxian should have chosen.
“We can also use Huarentang Group’s sales channels to track the market flow of the beverage, advertise more in those areas, and mobilize relevant communities and even social groups to find these patients who are poisoned but do not know it.” Qiu Zuiyue thought of another problem and immediately raised it. “That’s all I can think of. You can think about it slowly. I’m going to ask the editor-in-chief for help. He knows a lot of media friends and may have a better solution and be able to get the most suitable advertising time and price.”
"Thank you, I'll contact the relevant departments right away." Lin Yao felt that Qiu Zuiyue's suggestion was much better and could save a lot of unnecessary work.
Luo Jimin and Lin Hongmei, who had been woken up, naturally did not object to Lin Yao's suggestion. Their family had never planned to make money from drought relief beverages in the first place. Now that there was an opportunity to make a fortune, it would be good to give back to society, just like robbing the rich to help the poor. After all, disaster relief was only temporary. The future development of Minhong Pharmaceutical was more important. At this time, they could not let these profits ruin their mindset and principles.
"Mayor Duan, this is Lin Yao. My mother is the chairperson of Minhong Pharmaceutical. We've met before." Lin Yao dialed Duan Qing's number, changing his voice slightly. "Regarding the toxic beverage produced by Huarentang, we would like to ask Mayor Duan for your help in resolving this matter."
"Oh? Xiao Lin, hello, hello! I didn't see you when Minhong Pharmaceutical was listed last time." Duan Qing's attitude immediately improved after hearing Lin Yao's self-introduction. He liked this company and admired this family. "Tell me what you need. If I can help, I will definitely consider it seriously."
"Old fox, you only said you'd consider it, but you didn't say you'd help." Lin Yao thought to himself, but still spoke respectfully, "It's like this, we've learned that Huarentang Group has produced a total of 100,000 bottles of toxic beverages, and they've already been released to the market. Since 1 a.m. last night, 1,213 people have reported poisoning to our company."
"Mayor Duan, we reported to you yesterday on the treatment plan for these patients. At present, the only way to stop the condition from deteriorating further is to find all the patients in order to prevent them from developing kidney failure. We would like to ask you to arrange for Huarentang's sales and channel management personnel to track the final destination of these toxic beverages, and to purposefully publicize and gather all the poisoned patients to prevent more serious consequences."
"Ah!" Duan Qing, who had been leaning against the sofa, immediately sat up straight after hearing Lin Yao's words. He knew this was an opportunity, a chance to gain great merit. Having foreseen the impact and importance of this incident, if he personally led the resolution of the accident, his political achievements would be substantial. Perhaps the opportunity to become mayor from deputy mayor was just around the corner. The current mayor was rumored to be about to be transferred to another province, and everyone was eyeing the vacant position.
"Xiao Lin, where are you? I'll arrange for someone to contact the relevant people immediately. Let's meet right away and resolve this matter." Duan Qing answered the phone while leaving the office, gesturing to his secretary to prepare for the emergency.
After agreeing on a meeting place with Duan Qing, Lin Yao hung up the phone and returned to his room to arrange the content of the online announcement. He confirmed the establishment of the foundation, stating that all profits would not be directly enjoyed by Minhong Pharmaceutical, but would be donated to help the most grassroots compatriots.
After agreeing on the advertising plan via phone, Lin Yao left the technology center and, accompanied by Ge Yong and Banan, headed to the headquarters of Huarentang Group. At this point, only Huarentang's accounts had been frozen; the company had not yet been seized.
Sitting in his newly purchased Toyota Hiace 10-seater luxury minivan, Lin Yao was filled with mixed emotions, feeling somewhat regretful about the potential profits of several hundred million yuan.
He's desperately short of money! The continued development of Minhong Pharmaceutical requires funds. The planned 100-acre plot of land alone will cost over 100 million yuan. There's also the foreign-invested group company that Long Yihun is planning to establish, which is a bottomless pit that eats up money. The initial funding requirements are simply too high.
Of the 60 million yuan that was just obtained from the military region in the north, half has already been transferred to Long Yihun's account to arrange his investment immigration. He will then return to China to invest under the identity of an overseas Chinese, enjoy more lenient policy support, and most importantly, make some things easier to handle.
The funds he had left in his own hands and those in Minhong Pharmaceutical's accounts were no longer enough to support the company's rapid development, so he had to find a way to make more money. The fact that he couldn't take the hundreds of millions of yuan right in front of him was truly painful for Lin Yao; he finally understood the pain of being the center of attention for a celebrity.
Where else can I make money? Where else? Lin Yao kept thinking about this question the whole way, muttering to himself, which made Banan, who wasn't driving, very curious.
As they were about to enter the parking lot beneath the headquarters of Huarentang Group, Lin Yao suddenly thought of a way out, and everything before him suddenly brightened up, as if the car was not entering an underground passage, but a sunny avenue leading to heaven.
Making money is easy; all you need to do is find a solution to the beverage poisoning problem. The drought-resistant beverage can only prevent the poisoned patients' conditions from worsening, and this portion of the profit involves the beverage itself, making it unsuitable for direct use. However, the medicine and methods to completely cure these patients certainly don't involve the drought-resistant beverage. This gives Minhong Pharmaceutical a sufficient reason and excuse to charge extra fees, and it seems like collecting a large sum of money won't be a problem. This finally solves part of their funding problem.
Aha! Lin Yao jumped up in the van, his head hitting the roof hard but he didn't feel any pain. This made Banan, who was next to him, rush over and hug him around the waist in a panic.
"Boss, what's wrong? Are you alright?" Banan pressed Lin Yao back into his seat and made sure to fasten his seatbelt. His face was full of worry, and he valued Lin Yao's life more than his own.
"Ah!" Lin Yao woke up, still very excited. "It's okay, it's okay, I'm fine, nothing's wrong."
"Extreme profits, extreme profits, haha, extreme profits..."
Lin Yao's mutterings were clearly heard by Ge Yong, who was driving. He thought to himself, "Has the boss taken the wrong medicine? This is a big problem. Who else can I turn to if he can't even handle his own illness?"
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Chapter 122 Gathering in Chengdu
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Before meeting Duan Qing, Lin Yao made ample preparations. Ge Yong gave him a pair of contact lenses that could change the color and refractive index of his pupils. After wearing them, Lin Yao was not recognized by Duan Qing.
Identifying a person involves looking at several aspects: appearance, mannerisms, voice, facial expressions, and eye contact. Those who are more familiar with each other can see through the other person's disguise by observing their habitual actions.
Lin Yao had only met Duan Qing once. In order not to reveal his identity, he had disguised his eyes, facial expressions, and voice. It seemed that the effect was quite good, and he passed the test safely.
There's a saying that goes, "If you give it enough attention, nothing is impossible." Duan Qing put all his effort into this task, and naturally, everything went smoothly. Meanwhile, the employees of Huarentang Group were aware of the trouble the company had gotten into. The joint seizure team from the Municipal Drug Administration, the Municipal Health Bureau, and the Municipal Administration for Industry and Commerce, who arrived shortly after Duan Qing, silenced the usually high-ranking white-collar workers and self-proclaimed successful employees at Huarentang Group headquarters. After cooperating with the government departments to investigate and seal off the assets, they lined up to leave the group company, leaving only a few mid-to-low-level staff in charge of distribution channels to assist in the work.
The remaining employees, adhering to the principle of "leniency for those who confess," did not need any mobilization and proactively cooperated in organizing all the information and materials, and also took the initiative to contact provincial distributors and agents.
Having arranged important matters, Duan Qing took his leave. He was busy returning to his office to arrange special work reviews and report to the mayor and secretary. Such serious issues would also attract the attention of the provincial governor and even the provincial party secretary, so he had to prepare in advance and plan the next step of the province-wide pharmaceutical industry self-inspection and rectification campaign.
The success of Huarentang Group was no fluke. Lin Yao, after interacting with the group's employees, understood this firsthand. Despite the tight schedule and excellent secrecy, Luo Jichang had still done thorough and meticulous work to promote the new products manufactured using plagiarized technology. The thick product promotion and advertising plans and various contingency plans laid out before Lin Yao made him admire the rigorous and efficient work style of the large group and envy their large pool of highly skilled professionals.
Minhong Anti-Drought Beverage became famous throughout the country. When distributors and agents from all over the country heard that Huarentang Group's new beverage product was produced with the same technology as Minhong Anti-Drought Beverage and had the same effect, they were filled with unprecedented enthusiasm. All the general distributors and agents personally came to Chengdu to grab the product inventory. The direct consequence of this phenomenon was that the inventory of toxic beverages in the warehouse in Chengdu was zero.
Lin Yao was even more troubled, so he simply delegated the task to the preparatory group. He had more important work to do. The first batch of poisoning patients who had flown to Chengdu had gathered at the science and technology center. He needed to select patient representatives of all ages and genders to study ways to completely cure the poisoning symptoms.
As Lin Yao was about to leave the meeting room of the service center's preparatory group, he heard bad news. The distributors who had previously sold the black market drought-resistant beverage had already sold out their agency quotas in just a few days. This was because they had existing customers. These customers, who had previously purchased the drought-resistant beverage, saw a large quantity of products with the same properties and taste and bought up all their inventory as if it were free. They then stored it for themselves and their families to enjoy, and also gave it away as a favor.