That sa afternoon, Ding Kaifang arrived at Li’s Traditional Chinese dicine Clinic.
"Doctor Li, the results from this product are just astounding!" Even though Ding Kaifang was the CEO of a multi-billion-yuan corporation, he was still thrilled to witness such a miraculous product firsthand. "I propose a long-term partnership! We’ll handle production and sales, you provide the technology and raw materials, and we split the profits fifty-fifty!"
Li Xu was a little surprised. "President Ding, weren’t you planning to shut down the pharmaceutical plant?"
"That was before!" Ding Kaifang said with a smile. "With this product, the plant won’t just be brought back from the brink—it can beco the industry leader!"
He took out a market analysis report. "The dostic eye drop market is worth over 20 billion, but the results from 90% of the products are diocre at best. If we can capture just 10% of the market share..."
Li Xu pondered for a mont.
He had only intended to produce it on a small scale. He never expected Ding Kaifang to be this ambitious.
"The raw material supply will be an issue," Li Xu said frankly. "The yield of this special variety of foxtail grass is limited."
"That’s not a problem!" Ding Kaifang had already thought of this. "We can set up a cultivation base to specifically grow the variety you need."
Li Xu shook his head. "It’s not that simple. With certain varieties, you can’t just plant as much as you want and expect it to work."
Simply put, traditional Chinese dicinal herbs are plants with special properties.
A plant’s growth depends on its environnt.
Putting aside the difference between wild and cultivated varieties, factors like climate, water, and soil have a huge impact.
In fact, they are often the primary factors.
There’s a saying that an orange grown south of the Huai River is a sweet orange, but if grown north of the river, it becos a bitter, thorny orange. The principle is the sa.
So plants will only thrive and produce the desired dicinal effects when grown in a specific location.
For example, Goji Berries from Zhongning are better than those from anywhere else.
The sa goes for the notoginseng from Wen Mountain, the Dried Tangerine Peel from Xinhui, and the rice from Xiangshui.
Li Xu suspected that if this variant of foxtail grass were planted elsewhere, it would revert to being just ordinary foxtail grass.
Its efficacy could only be guaranteed if it continued to be cultivated near Bailingyu Village.
Therefore, its yield was destined to be limited.
However, producing the eye drops didn’t require a large volu of it. A single stalk of the foxtail grass could produce 500ml of the solution.
Ding Kaifang didn’t understand the underlying principle and thought Li Xu felt the offer was too low, so he upped the ante. "In addition to the fifty-fifty split, we will cover all expenses. You only need to provide technical guidance; you won’t have to worry about a thing."
"Alright."
Li Xu nodded in agreent.
Ding Kaifang imdiately called his secretary to bring over the contract, and the two of them signed the partnership agreent:
Li Xu would contribute the technology as his investnt, receiving 50% of the sales revenue.
Ding’s Pharmaceutical would be responsible for production, sales, and future research and developnt.
Li Xu would supply the raw materials.
The initial production run would be 5,000 bottles, released to the market gradually, with a large-scale launch planned for the following year.
After signing, Ding Kaifang let out a long sigh of relief. "Doctor Li, you’ve just saved our entire pharmaceutical company!"
Li Xu smiled. "It’s a win-win for both of us."
As he was about to leave, Ding Kaifang suddenly rembered sothing. "Oh, right, what would be an appropriate price for the product?"
Li Xu thought for a mont. "What’s the cost per unit, roughly?"
"With the herbal ingredients, packaging, and marketing, it won’t be more than 10 yuan a bottle."
In truth, the cost wasn’t so clear-cut.
The main factor was sourcing the variant of foxtail grass. Its cost could be calculated as either very low or very high.
After all, the variant of foxtail grass was extrely rare.
"How about 68?" Li Xu suggested.
"Hmm... that’s a little low. Many international brands that cost over a thousand aren’t as effective. Of course, their prices include a brand premium... I think 98 is more reasonable," Ding Kaifang shared his opinion.
Li Xu didn’t know much about marketing. "President Ding, you can set the price. I won’t get involved in the sales side of things."
"Oh, right. I’ll need to take so of the product."
"Are you going to promote it?"
"In a couple of days, I’m going to Shanghai for an awards ceremony. I can give so to a few senior figures there. It’ll be a form of publicity."
"No problem, I’ll have my driver deliver them to you tomorrow."
...
That evening, Ding Kaifang returned ho holding a few bottles of the "Mao Duddu Eye Drops," fresh off the production line.
As soon as he walked in the door, he saw his daughter, Ding Duoduo, hunched over the coffee table doing her howork, her face nearly pressed against the workbook.
"Duoduo, how many tis have I told you? You need to keep so distance when you’re writing," Ding Kaifang said with a frown.
Duoduo pouted and looked up. "You scold as soon as you get ho, Daddy. I don’t like you right now."
"Uh..."
Ding Kaifang felt a headache coming on.
Seeing how cute his daughter looked even when she was angry, he imdiately surrendered. "Duoduo, I brought you sothing special. If you use it, your eyes won’t feel so tired anymore."
Ding Kaifang took out the eye drops.
"What’s this?" Duoduo asked, curiously examining the beautifully packaged little bottle.
"It’s the newest eye drop from our company. It’s incredibly effective," Ding Kaifang said as he carefully administered two drops into his daughter’s eyes.
Duoduo blinked a few tis, then suddenly cried out in surprise, "Daddy! The words in my workbook are clearer now!"
Drawn by the commotion, Ding Aiguo ca out of his study just in ti to see his granddaughter excitedly pointing at the wall calendar. "Grandpa! I can read the tiny words on the very bottom line!"
"This... this is truly effective."
Ding Aiguo took the eye drops his son handed him. After trying them himself, he had a look of utter shock on his face.
Ding Kaifang said smugly, "No other product on the market can compare to the effectiveness of these eye drops."
He then told him about the contract he signed with Li Xu.
"Dad, with this product, the pharmaceutical company can stay in business."
Ding Aiguo sighed with emotion. "We’ve really struck gold this ti."
After dinner, the father and son had a detailed discussion in the study.
"What’s the plan for your sales channels?" Ding Aiguo asked.
Ding Kaifang answered with confidence, "Production will be limited this year, so I plan to start locally in Feng City. The sales network we built from our previous pharmaceutical business is still intact. The connections may have grown a little stale over the past two years, but we can still reach out to all of them."
He pulled up a diagram of the sales network on his computer. "Across the city, 128 chain drugstores, 73 hospital pharmacies, and 15 optical shops can all serve as our initial points of sale."
"And the pricing?"
"A unified retail price of 98 yuan, and a wholesale price of 70," Ding Kaifang calculated. "After deducting costs, the net profit per bottle will be around 60 yuan."
Ding Aiguo raised an eyebrow. "The profit margin is that high?"
"Dad, you have no idea," Ding Kaifang said excitedly. "Those imported eye drops on the market only cost a few yuan to produce, but plenty of them sell for one or two hundred. With how effective our product is, 98 yuan is an incredibly fair price!"
"Quality control has to be stringent," Ding Aiguo admonished. "Doctor Li has placed his trust in us. We cannot let him down."
"Don’t worry," Ding Kaifang nodded seriously. "I’ve already assigned our most reliable production line and will have it strictly monitored from start to finish."
...
Li Xu didn’t pay much more attention to the matter of the eye drops.
He received ten bottles of the product.
He booked a high-speed rail ticket online.
Tomorrow, he would head to Shanghai.
"Boss, do you need to co along and be your assistant?"
Song Sisi asked with a playful grin.
"No."
Li Xu waved her off. "Everyone at the awards ceremony is a major figure in the industry. If they see a small-ti doctor like bringing along a female nurse, they’ll definitely get the wrong idea. It would look bad. You should just stay here at the clinic."
The 17th Award Ceremony for the Scientific Integration of Chinese and Western dicine was being held in Shanghai the next day.
Professor Wang Tao’s team’s research on the ’Clearing Qi and Stabilizing Blood Formula’ won first prize.
Since he was one of the project’s participants, he was going along to accept the award with the team.
...
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