After leaving Cao Jianzhu’s ginger washing factory,
Ding Kaifang felt rather frustrated.
He had his driver circle around the town.
Whenever he ca across a farr who grew ginger, he would first inspect the quality.
If the quality was good, he would make an offer, but the response was always the sa—"We’re not selling right now."
"President Ding, I just asked around. The place up ahead is the largest grower in town. Want to give them a try?" the driver suggested.
A middle-aged man was smoking in front of his ginger cellar. Seeing the luxury car stop, he warily narrowed his eyes.
"Friend, how much for your ginger?" Ding Kaifang asked directly.
The man blew a smoke ring. "Not selling right now."
"I’ll pay seventy percent above market price."
Old Liu scoffed, "Soone offered double yesterday and I didn’t sell. With the market this year..."
He pointed to the sky. "It’s a gift from the heavens. Only a fool would sell now."
Ding Kaifang was speechless.
He knew that no price, no matter how high, could overco the farrs’ expectations of an *even higher* price.
On the drive back, Ding Kaifang was silent.
Everything was ready; he was just missing the final, crucial piece.
He just couldn’t accept it.
’What if... I get so lower-quality ginger?’
The thought had barely crossed his mind
before Ding Kaifang shook his head, dismissing it.
He was well aware of how important the quality of the ingredients was.
If you dared to use subpar ingredients, the market would teach you a harsh lesson.
Besides, Doctor Li still needed to inspect the goods himself,
and inferior ingredients would never pass his inspection.
’What should I do?’
Ding Kaifang racked his brain.
Suddenly,
he saw a company sign through the car window: Chuanlong Pharmaceutical.
"That’s it!"
Chuanlong Pharmaceutical was a well-known supplier of dicinal ingredients in Feng City.
They had partnerships with many hospitals.
Ding Kaifang knew the inside story—Dong Haitao of Chuanlong Pharmaceutical had connections at the Health Commission, which was how he managed to secure large procurent contracts from hospitals.
Although Chuanlong Pharmaceutical’s ingredients were only of average quality,
they were, after all, supplying hospitals,
so their ingredients couldn’t be too bad.
’It’s not top-tier... but it should be usable, right?’
Ding Kaifang had the driver turn the car around. "Take to Chuanlong Pharmaceutical."
By the ti they rushed back from Jun Tun Town,
it was already getting late.
Chuanlong Pharmaceutical had already closed for the day,
and the entire office building was deserted.
The receptionist was also packing up, getting ready to leave.
"Hello, sir. Do you have an appointnt?" Seeing Ding Kaifang’s distinguished air, the receptionist quickly put down her purse and asked with a smile.
"Ding Kaifang, from the Ding Group." He handed her his business card. "I’d like to discuss so business with your President Dong."
When the receptionist saw the gold-foil logo of the group on the card, her expression changed instantly. "Please wait a mont, President Ding. I’ll get in touch with him right away."
In less than three minutes, the elevator doors opened, and a middle-aged man in a sharp suit strode out. "President Ding! I’ve heard so much about you! I’m Liu Bohong, the deputy manager of Chuanlong Pharmaceutical’s purchasing departnt. Unfortunately, our President Dong is out today, but he specifically instructed to give you a warm reception."
Ding Kaifang shook his hand and replied politely, "You’re too kind, Manager Liu."
...
In the reception room, Liu Bohong personally brewed tea. "I hear Ding’s Pharmaceutical recently developed a new eye drop product that’s selling quite well. Congratulations."
"We just got lucky."
Ding Kaifang replied modestly.
Liu Bohong then asked, "President Ding, are you here today to purchase so dicinal ingredients?"
"Ginger," Ding Kaifang cut straight to the chase. "The best quality. At least thirty tons."
Liu Bohong’s eyes lit up. "What a coincidence! We just received a shipnt of small yellow ginger from Yunnan. It was originally ant for the City Hospital of Traditional Chinese dicine..."
He feigned hesitation. "But since it’s you who needs it, President Ding..."
"The price?" Ding Kaifang asked bluntly.
Liu Bohong held up three fingers with a grin. "Three tis the market price."
Ding Kaifang nearly spat out his tea. "Three tis? Manager Liu, you must be joking."
"President Ding," Liu Bohong said with a sincere look, "the price of ginger is changing by the day. Besides, this batch is of extrely high quality—its dicinal compound content is 30% higher than ordinary ginger. The City Hospital of Traditional Chinese dicine has already paid a deposit..."
Ding Kaifang suppressed his annoyance. "Can I see the shipnt first?"
"Of course!" Liu Bohong stood up. "Let’s go to the warehouse right now."
Chuanlong’s ingredient warehouse was quite large, but Ding Kaifang could tell with a single glance that it was poorly managed.
A few workers were mixing ingredients from different batches together, and a pile of clearly moisture-damaged boxes sat in a corner.
"This way, please." Liu Bohong led Ding Kaifang to the temperature-controlled section in the back. "This is the batch of small yellow ginger."
Ding Kaifang picked up a piece and examined it carefully.
The rhizo was plump with golden-yellow skin. When he broke it open, the flesh was a vibrant yellow and had a strong, pungent aroma.
’It’s definitely top-quality, but to say it’s worth three tis the price...’
"I’ll need to take a sample back for analysis," Ding Kaifang said, his face unreadable.
Liu Bohong’s smile didn’t falter. "No problem! But..." He lowered his voice. "There are already three other pharmaceutical firms negotiating for this shipnt. You’ll need to make a decision soon, President Ding."
After leaving Chuanlong Pharmaceutical,
Ding Kaifang sighed once more.
Although the Ding Group was one of the largest conglorates in Feng City,
it was just a newcor in the pharmaceutical field.
Dong Haitao was polite to him on the surface,
but in reality, he was asking for an exorbitant price.
There was nothing he could do about it.
After all, he was the one who needed their ingredients.
He called Li Xu. "Doctor Li, I’ve decided on the ginger. It’s the small yellow ginger from Yunnan, and the quality looks excellent. Are you free tomorrow? I’d like you to inspect it personally. If there are no issues, we’ll lock in the order."
When Li Xu asked about the price and heard it was three tis the market rate, he was left speechless.
’Damn, Chuanlong Pharmaceutical is ruthless,’ he thought.
But just like Ding Kaifang, he had no other option.
"Alright, I’ll go take a look tomorrow."
Li Xu agreed.
The last patient left the clinic.
"Alright, closing ti."
Li Xu stood up, stretched, and told Song Sisi she could head ho for the day.
"Boss, on my way in today, I saw soone in the next alley selling mugwort. Should we buy so?"
Song Sisi asked.
"Selling mugwort?"
Li Xu spaced out for a mont before it dawned on him that the Dragon Boat Festival was just around the corner.
The Dragon Boat Festival was a traditional holiday with many customs, such as eating zongzi, hanging mugwort leaves, and racing dragon boats.
The ancients considered the ti around the festival to be the "poisonous days." The weather was hot and dry, sickness was rampant, and it was the peak season for venomous snakes and insects, which could easily harm people.
Mugwort, however, emits a distinct aroma that snakes and insects find repulsive. Thus, they wouldn’t dare approach a ho with mugwort hanging outside, making it an effective repellent.
The fragrance of mugwort was also believed to purify the air.
In traditional Chinese dicine, mugwort was considered a fine dicinal herb, used to regulate qi and blood, warm the uterus, and dispel cold and dampness. The processed mugwort fiber was a crucial component in moxibustion therapy.
That’s how the custom of hanging mugwort during the Dragon Boat Festival was passed down through the generations.
In many places, people would bundle mugwort and calamus together and hang them up for the festival.
Every year around the Dragon Boat Festival, many vendors would set up stalls in the markets of Feng City to sell mugwort. They typically sold it in bundles of five or seven stems—always an odd number—paired with calamus. A bundle went for three to five yuan, and they were a popular item.
So of this mugwort was painstakingly harvested from the wild, while the rest was hogrown.
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