Chinese Medicine: Starting with Daily Intelligence-Chapter 201: A Medicine Hard to Come By

In the sales department office of Ding's Pharmaceutical Factory, Wang Lei leaned back with his legs crossed, leisurely sipping his freshly brewed Longjing tea.

Just a few months ago, he had been running to pharmacies all over the country, humbly begging them to stock his products.

But now, the tables had completely turned. His phone rang from morning till night, with every call from a pharmacy owner somewhere in the country, each one politely begging him to approve a larger shipment.

This was especially true for the Strongly Fragrant Dry Rice Pills. Ever since Lu Yu recommended them on Weibo, the orders had exploded.

But production was limited, so every pharmacy was given a supply quota.

Scarcity creates value. The more restricted the sales, the more sought-after the product became.

Now, a 300g box of the Rice Pills was being sold on the black market for as high as 50,000 yuan, more than double the official price.

RING RING RING—

Wang Lei's phone rang again. The caller ID read: Kangning Pharmacy, Zhang Zhigang.

A smirk played on his lips. He deliberately let the phone ring four or five times before slowly answering, "Hello, Boss Zhang?"

On the other end of the line, Zhang Zhigang's voice was laced with a fawning tone. "Manager Wang! It's been a while. Business must be booming!"

Wang Lei took a sip of tea and chuckled. "It's alright. Just busy. My hand goes numb from answering the phone all day."

Zhang Zhigang gave a dry laugh and asked tentatively, "So... Manager Wang, I'm calling to ask about our Strongly Fragrant Dry Rice Pills. Is there any chance you could approve a shipment for our pharmacy?"

Wang Lei feigned a thoughtful pause. "Ah, Boss Zhang, you know how it is. These Rice Pills are in short supply, the factory's raw materials are limited, and a lot of chain pharmacies are already lined up..."

"Manager Wang!" Zhang Zhigang grew anxious. "We've been working together for so many years. You have to look out for me!"

Wang Lei sighed. "Alright, fine. Seeing as you're so sincere, I can give you 10 boxes. Not one more."

"Ten boxes?" Zhang Zhigang's voice cracked. "Manager Wang, that's... that's far too little! We have customers asking for it every day. Ten boxes is barely a drop in the bucket!"

Wang Lei chuckled to himself, but his tone was troubled. "Well, how many do you want then?"

"At least 30 boxes!"

"Thirty boxes?" Wang Lei almost burst out laughing. "Boss Zhang, you're putting me in a difficult position."

Zhang Zhigang immediately humbled himself. "Manager Wang, please, help me out! How about this? I'll order a larger quantity of your other medicines this time. What do you think?"

This was the very sentence Wang Lei had been waiting for.

He pretended to think for a moment before saying reluctantly, "...Fifteen boxes. I really can't do any more than that."

Although Zhang Zhigang was disappointed, he knew this was the limit and quickly agreed. "Okay, okay! Fifteen boxes is fine too! Thank you, Manager Wang!"

The corner of Wang Lei's mouth curled up slightly. He took the opportunity to add, "By the way, our factory just launched a new Watermelon Frost. Do you want to stock some of that as well?"

"Watermelon Frost?" Zhang Zhigang was taken aback. "Isn't that stuff sold everywhere?"

Wang Lei chuckled. "Ordinary Watermelon Frost is everywhere, but ours is different. The formula was improved by Dr. Li Xu. It works fast and isn't irritating."

The moment Zhang Zhigang heard "Li Xu's formula," he immediately changed his tune. "Stock it! We must stock it! I'll take 200 boxes to start!"

He was well aware that the only reason Ding's Pharmaceutical Factory had managed to turn its fortunes around was by latching onto Dr. Li.

The previous Mao Duddu Eye Drops and True Martial Pills both involved Dr. Li—at least, that's what Ding's Pharmaceutical Factory said in its marketing.

Wang Lei nodded in satisfaction. "Alright, I'll arrange the shipment for you right away."

After hanging up, Wang Lei leaned back in his chair and took a leisurely sip of tea.

'This is how you do business.'

The scarcity of the Rice Pills had turned them into a "hard currency" within pharmacy circles.

Some pharmacies, after receiving their stock, didn't even put it on the shelves. Instead, they would privately contact their regular customers and sell it at a markup.

Some people even specialized in reselling them, turning the Rice Pills into the "Rolls-Royce of health supplements."

Wang Lei, of course, knew about all this, but he didn't care. 'The factory ships the goods at the list price; how the pharmacies sell them is their own business.'

'The more sought-after it is, the higher the brand value.'

That afternoon, he took several more calls, all from pharmacies around the country trying to buy Rice Pills.

Wang Lei's standard reply was, "Limited supply, first come, first served."

Some owners even offered to treat him to dinner or send him gifts, all just to get a few extra boxes.

Wang Lei politely refused them all, but he was gloating inside.

A few months ago, he was just a salesman who had to plaster on a smile everywhere he went. Now, he was "Manager Wang," a man everyone was trying to suck up to.

'This was the benefit of backing the right horse.'

...

Compared to the "hunger marketing" strategy for the Rice Pills, promoting the Watermelon Frost was much simpler.

Ding Kaifang had the sales team focus on chain pharmacies, pushing the "Li Clan formula" as the key differentiating selling point.

"Regular Watermelon Frost just soothes and relieves pain, but we use different ingredients. The effect is excellent—you'll see results in a single day."

As soon as the pharmacy owners heard it was developed by Li Xu, they were almost all willing to buy in. After all, the effectiveness of the previous few medicines was plain to see, and everyone had extremely high trust in the "Li Clan" brand.

In just a few days, the first batch of 100,000 boxes of Watermelon Frost was completely sold out.

Ding Kaifang looked at the financial report, grinning from ear to ear. "Doctor Li, our reputation is soaring! The major distributors trust us completely. The effects of the Watermelon Frost haven't even been fully proven, and it's already selling like crazy! The factory price for a box is 12 yuan, and our revenue in just the last few days is 1.2 million yuan."

Li Xu said, "Once the pharmacies sell the Watermelon Frost and word-of-mouth starts to build, they'll order even more."

Ding Kaifang nodded. "Exactly. After experiencing the magic of the Watermelon Frost, no patient will be able to resist it. They'll definitely buy it again."

...

「Capital City.」

In the practice room, Ji Youyou opened her mouth, but only a hoarse, airy sound came out.

Her throat felt like it had been scorched by fire. It was so swollen and painful that even swallowing was difficult.

"What's going on?!" Ji Feng burst through the door, his face dark. "The commercial performance is tomorrow, and you're telling me now that you can't sing?"

Ji Youyou pointed to her throat and shook her head, her eyes filled with anxiety.

"We're going to the hospital! Right now!" Ji Feng grabbed his jacket, his tone leaving no room for argument.

Municipal Hospital, ENT Department.

A doctor examined Ji Youyou's throat with a tongue depressor and shook their head. "Acute edema of the vocal cords and severe congestion of the pharyngeal mucosa. This was caused by overuse of your voice combined with catching a cold."

Ji Feng asked anxiously, "Can you fix it? She has a performance tomorrow!"

The doctor frowned. "Even with an anti-inflammatory shot right now, it will take one or two days at the very least for the swelling to go down. Sing tomorrow? Impossible."

Ji Youyou's heart sank.

This commercial performance was supposed to be her first public appearance after more than a year of silence. Her fans had been waiting for a long time; some had even made special trips from other cities to be there.

If she canceled at the last minute, not only would her fans be disappointed, but the public would start to question her physical condition. "Hasn't Ji Youyou recovered yet? Was her comeback just a flash in the pan?"

Once that negative narrative took hold, her singing career could plummet into another low.

Ji Feng was still arguing with the doctor. "Can't you increase the dosage? Or use steroids?"

The doctor shook their head firmly. "The vocal cords are very delicate. We don't recommend that. Besides, a large dose of steroids would be bad for the patient's health."

As they walked out of the hospital, Ji Youyou's face was even paler than when they had arrived.

This was partly because of her condition.

But it was also because of what her brother had subconsciously said in the examination room: *A large dose... steroids...*

She gave a bitter smile. 'In my brother's eyes, my career is far more important than my health.'