"Who could possibly give Kangnai a hard time?" "And get Director Ma this worked up?" Deeply puzzled, Su Xuan pushed open the door to Director Ma’s office. Aside from Director Ma, there was also a rather portly middle-aged man in the office. "Boss, you’re finally here!" Upon seeing Su Xuan, Director Ma immediately ushered him into his own executive chair, brewed him a cup of tea, and then stood by his side. "Old Ma, tell me what’s going on," Su Xuan said to Director Ma. "Boss, it’s ." Director Ma glanced at the portly man and said, "Two years ago, Kangnai signed a long-term procurement contract with their company for a medicine called Heart Relief Oral Solution. The contract price was two thousand a box. But today, the contract has expired, and this Manager Fang came to discuss the renewal. He’s trying to take advantage of the situation and jack up the price, wanting to increase it to three thousand a box. The production cost is what it is; an increase that high is completely unreasonable! Don’t you think he’s just making trouble?" "Director Ma, I don’t appreciate that tone," Manager Fang said with a curl of his lip. "It was indeed two thousand a box before, but costs have risen in the past two years. We have to raise prices to maintain our profit margin. If you think it’s too expensive and don’t want to buy Heart Relief from us anymore, you’re free to find another pharmaceutical supplier, aren’t you?" "I don’t believe a word you say!" Director Ma planted one hand on his hip and pointed at the man with the other. "The main ingredient of Heart Relief is Danshen, and for the past two years, its price has been dirt cheap! What rising costs are you even talking about!" "Old Ma, are there no alternatives?" Su Xuan couldn’t help but interject. "Of course not!" Manager Fang answered for Director Ma with a look of pride. "Heart Relief is our company’s proprietary drug, with its own patented formula. It’s a one-of-a-kind on the market; there are no alternatives." "So you’re saying you can charge whatever you want for it?" Su Xuan glanced coolly at the man. "You could put it that way," the man said, smiling at Su Xuan. "Boss, just look at his shameless face!" Director Ma’s anger flared up again. "Which company are you with?" Su Xuan asked the man. "You don’t know which company we are?" Manager Fang tilted his head back, his arrogance growing. "Ever heard of Laifu Pharmaceuticals? We gather top talent from home and abroad, integrating R&D with production. We’re the leading enterprise in Huaxia’s pharmaceutical industry. All hospitals and pharmacies sell our medicine. You could say our company controls half of the entire pharmaceutical market in Huaxia!" Su Xuan couldn’t help but spray out the tea that had just entered his mouth. After all this, it turned out this man was an employee of his own company! The system’s reward from last night was the majority share of Laifu Pharmaceuticals! Now his two companies were actually fighting each other. Interesting! Very interesting! "Are you looking down on us?" Manager Fang, who had been sitting, shot to his feet at Su Xuan’s reaction. "Not at all, not at all!" Su Xuan waved his hands dismissively, took a napkin from Director Ma to wipe his mouth, and asked the man with a smile, "I don’t buy your story about rising costs. Can you tell me the real reason?" "I am telling you the truth!" The man threw his hands up. "The main ingredient of Heart Relief may not have gone up in price, but our labor costs have!" He wasn’t telling the truth. The real reason was that the president of Laifu had issued a sudden order that very morning. The company’s ownership had changed, and a new boss was taking over. To present the new boss with an impressive performance report, all sales managers were urged to quickly close several large, high-profit deals. That was why he had come to Kangnai, sparking the current conflict. "Hold on a second, will you?" Su Xuan didn’t reveal his identity. He simply picked up his phone, sent a text message to the president of Laifu, and then sat back, leisurely sipping his tea. "I’ll only wait twenty minutes." The man sat down again, crossing his legs. "If you can’t make a decision by then, I’m leaving. Our Heart Relief saves lives. I’m sure you understand the gravity of the situation. And it’s not just Heart Relief. We supply Kangnai with many other medicines. I hope you won’t let this one issue affect our broader partnership!" Su Xuan chuckled. He wasn’t angry at the man’s display; he was actually a little amused. This guy has some serious nerve, daring to offend Kangnai just for one contract. It proves that Laifu Pharmaceuticals is a pretty formidable company! And since Laifu was his company, its formidability naturally made him happy! "I’m thirsty." After sitting for a moment, the man suddenly stood up, helped himself to the teapot in front of Su Xuan, poured himself a cup, and gulped it down noisily. "You, you, you!" Director Ma looked like he was about to go berserk. Other pharmaceutical suppliers who came to Kangnai were always meek and deferential, but this sales manager from Laifu was beyond arrogant! If Kangnai didn’t truly need the various medicines supplied by Laifu, he would have already grabbed a broom and chased the man out! "Calm down, Old Ma." Su Xuan smiled and patted Director Ma’s arm. "Let me ask you, is Kangnai really that dependent on Laifu Pharmaceuticals?" "It’s not about dependence!" Director Ma shook his head. "It’s just that their medicines combine the advantages of traditional and Western pharmacology. They’re not only highly effective but also have minimal side effects, meaning they’re much gentler on the patients’ bodies..." The source of thɪs content is 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝·𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖·𝕟𝕖𝕥 "And our drugs are less than half the price of imported ones, sometimes even a third!" the man chimed in at the perfect moment. "Take Heart Relief, for example. It’s not truly irreplaceable. An imported Western medicine has a similar effect, but it sells for six or seven thousand yuan a box!" "So you’re quite conscientious, then?" Su Xuan remarked. "Of course. While we are in it to make money, we also consider the common working people, making sure they can afford ethically priced medicine," the man said. "But your conscience only goes so far!" Su Xuan turned back to Director Ma. "Old Ma, you’re an old expert who deals with medicine every day. Can you calculate the cost price of Heart Relief?" "One moment, Boss." Director Ma opened the calculator on his phone and checked the current market prices for the ingredients. A few minutes later, he said to Su Xuan, "The cost price is nine hundred yuan at most!" Su Xuan said, "Old Ma, let’s make a bet. Do you think I can get Laifu to sign a contract at cost price?" Director Ma shook his head. "You would definitely lose. That’s like asking a tiger for its skin!" The man snorted. "Sign at cost price? Not unless everyone at Laifu is an idiot!" Just then, someone walked into the office and said to the manager, "Fang Yongfu, I am going to sign with Kangnai at cost price. Does that make me an idiot, too?" Manager Fang saw the person and was instantly dumbfounded.