Chinese Medicine: Starting with Daily Intelligence-Chapter 207: Competitors

Zhou Dafu didn't quite hear what Zhou Xiaolin and Li Xu said. He spoke up for himself, "My land is the best in the whole village! It's easy to irrigate, and the soil is fertile!"

A flash of understanding crossed Li Xu's eyes. He turned to the crowd and said, "Fellow villagers, our cooperative has specific requirements for the watermelons. For now, we only want the sandy soil on the west side of the village. We can look into cooperating on the clay soil on the east side in the future."

Hearing this, Zhou Dafu's face immediately darkened. "So you're looking down on me, is that it? It's not like I'm begging you!"

With that, he flung his arm and stormed off. A few villagers who were close to him hesitated for a moment before following him out.

The venue briefly fell into chaos.

Zhou Changshun quickly tried to smooth things over. "Everyone, don't panic. Joining the cooperative is voluntary. Those who find the terms suitable can stay to discuss the details, and those with concerns can take more time to consider."

Ding Kaifang quickly adjusted his strategy. "How about this: for anyone willing to sign a contract today, in addition to the terms stipulated in the contract, the cooperative will provide an extra signing bonus of 200 yuan per mu!"

As soon as this sweetener was offered, more than twenty households immediately raised their hands, indicating they wanted to sign.

Li Xu and Ding Kaifang split up and set up shop in the village committee office. One by one, contracts began to be signed and stamped with fingerprints.

During the signing process, Li Xu paid special attention to asking about the location of each family's land, insisting on only signing for the sandy soil on the west side of the village.

A few farmers from the east side tried to hide their land's location, but Zhou Xiaolin pointed them all out.

At noon, Zhou Xiaolin brought them lunch.

The two of them ate quickly and got back to work.

At four in the afternoon, the contract signing came to a close.

A tally showed that a total of 87 households had signed contracts that day, for a combined 503 mu of land, all located in the prime planting area on the west side of the village.

"It's less than half of what we expected..." In the car on the way back, Ding Kaifang said with some regret as he flipped through the contracts.

But Li Xu was very satisfied. "Five hundred mu is enough for the current stage of production. More importantly, we've locked down the most suitable land. The Watermelon Frost made from watermelons grown on the east side would be no different from what other pharmaceutical companies produce."

Ding Kaifang was a little confused. "Doctor Li, how did you know that watermelons from the east side aren't suitable for making Watermelon Frost?"

Li Xu said casually, "I've been here once before, so I had a good idea of the situation."

Realization dawned on Ding Kaifang. "Oh, so that's how it is."

...

Sanjin Pharmaceutical Factory, one of the largest traditional Chinese medicine manufacturers in the East China Region, held a market share of over 30%.

One of their flagship products was "Sanjin Brand Watermelon Frost." For years, it had firmly occupied the low-to-mid-end market for throat medications, thanks to its powerful marketing network and low prices.

However, on this particular morning, a new market research report lay on the desk of Xu Kai, the marketing director for Sanjin Pharmaceutical Factory.

"President Xu, a certain brand of Watermelon Frost has suddenly gone viral online. Its sales have skyrocketed. And while its market share is still less than 1%, it has excellent word-of-mouth and a very high repurchase rate," reported Liu Fang, a specialist from the marketing department.

Xu Kai frowned and picked up the report to look through it. "Which company?"

"A small pharmaceutical factory in Feng City, called Ding's Pharmaceutical."

Xu Kai scoffed. "Just a small workshop. They can't make any waves."

Liu Fang hesitated for a moment before adding, "But... we bought a few sample boxes to test, and the effect is indeed much better than ours."

Xu Kai raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

He picked up a sample box, opened the packaging, took out the Watermelon Frost powder inside, rubbed a little between his fingers, and smelled it.

"The ingredients should be about the same—it's all made from watermelon and Mangxiao. Nothing special."

"The technical department ran a comparative experiment," Liu Fang said, handing over a test report. "Our Watermelon Frost has an average anti-inflammatory effect, but their sample provides noticeably faster relief for a sore and swollen throat. It also has a finer texture and no bitter taste."

Xu Kai's expression gradually grew serious.

He pondered for a moment, then suddenly let out a cold laugh. "It seems this isn't a problem with the formula, but a problem with the raw materials."

"What do you mean?" Liu Fang asked, puzzled.

"The same formula, yet such a huge difference in effect. The only explanation is... their watermelons are better than ours."

「Two days later.」

Sanjin Pharmaceutical Factory dispatched a market researcher, Ji Qinglian, to Feng City to investigate the source of Ding's Pharmaceutical's watermelons.

Ji Qinglian was in his early thirties, wore gold-rimmed glasses and a casual suit, and looked like an ordinary businessman.

He got off the high-speed train and headed straight for the industrial district where Ding's Pharmaceutical Factory was located.

He didn't go directly to the factory. Instead, he first went to a small eatery near the factory area.

At six in the evening, workers from Ding's Pharmaceutical began getting off work and trickled into the eatery in twos and threes to eat.

Ji Qinglian sat in a corner, slowly eating his fried rice while observing the workers.

Soon, he locked onto a target: a dark-skinned male worker in his forties, who was drinking a beer by himself.

Ji Qinglian walked over with his drink and struck up a conversation with a smile. "Brother, drinking alone?"

The worker looked up at him, not paying much mind. "Yeah, just relaxing after work."

Ji Qinglian took the opportunity to sit down. "You work at Ding's Pharmaceutical, right?"

The worker became wary. "Why are you asking?"

Ji Qinglian smiled and lowered his voice. "I'm in the medicinal materials business. I'd like to ask about something."

As he spoke, he pulled a stack of cash from his wallet and pushed it in front of the man. "A little something to show my sincerity. Let's be friends."

The worker stared at the stack of money, swallowed, and glanced around. Seeing no one was paying attention, he quickly stuffed the cash into his pocket.

"What do you want to know?"

"I heard the Watermelon Frost your factory has been producing lately is selling very well. I want to know, where do you buy your watermelons?"

The worker hesitated for a moment, but the thought of the ten thousand yuan in his pocket made him speak in a low voice. "Zhou Village. A few months ago, a watermelon seller from Zhou Village drove a truck of them directly to our warehouse."

Ji Qinglian's eyes lit up. "Zhou Village? Where is that, exactly?"

"In the Feng City Suburbs, out by Tang Mountain."

Ji Qinglian smiled with satisfaction and raised his glass. "Thanks, brother."

He finished his drink, got up, and left the eatery, a triumphant smile playing on his lips.

'Ding's Pharmaceutical... your watermelons will soon be ours.'

...

It was already late.

Ji Qinglian stayed the night in Feng City. The next day, he took a taxi to Zhou Village. Standing at the village entrance, he sized up the quiet little hamlet.

The weather was pleasant. The sun shone gently, warming the air. Several old men sat by the roadside, chatting.

Ji Qinglian straightened his collar, put on a friendly smile, and walked toward the old men.

"Sir, could I trouble you for a drink of water?"

Ji Qinglian wiped the sweat from his forehead, his tone respectful.

An old man with graying hair sized him up, then jutted his chin toward a small convenience store nearby. "They sell water over there."

Ji Qinglian chuckled, took out a cigarette, and offered it over. "Sir, I'm a fruit wholesaler just passing through. I heard the watermelons in your village are quite good and wanted to ask about the market."

The old man accepted the cigarette, and his attitude softened slightly. "Oh? You want to buy watermelons?"

"That's right. I heard your village's watermelons are high-quality, and I wanted to see if we could cooperate."

The old man took a drag from his cigarette and shook his head. "You're too late. Someone just came yesterday and signed contracts. Most of the land in our village has been leased out."

Ji Qinglian acted surprised. "Oh? Which company was it?"