Chapter One: Under the Same Roof as Tongrentang

  The next day, Song Jian drove his own Range Rover towards Siyuan Pharmaceutical Factory.

  As soon as he got off the car, Song Jian saw more than 30 large trucks lined up and entering the Sihuan Pharmaceutical Factory. Many loaders were unloading goods with their upper bodies exposed.

  Although it's just the beginning of March, the temperature has already risen to over 20 degrees Celsius, as if yesterday was still winter and today suddenly entered summer.

  Song Jian looked up at the round sun in the sky, knowing that with such an abnormal temperature, something strange must have happened. He shrugged his shoulders and walked towards the factory.

  Liu Dachun hastily came forward to greet him, and upon seeing that Song Jian's body had fully recovered, he couldn't help but rub his hands together in excitement, grinning from ear to ear with a row of big teeth showing. This Liu Dachun was a retired soldier, although he didn't have any special skills, but he was an honest and trustworthy person, and worked very diligently, so even when it came to supervising the production of those hundreds of millions of dollars worth of medicine, Song Jian also felt at ease entrusting it to Liu Dachun.

  "Are all the medicines ready?" Song Jian looked and asked.

  "They're all here," Liu Dachun said, opening his mouth to say something, but then stopped again.

  Song Jian looked at Liu Da Chun strangely and said: "If you want to say something, just say it."

  Liu Dachun chuckled and said, "Director Song, I think these medicinal materials are not suitable for our factory's products. The medicinal materials you've purchased are mainly for treating colds, damp-heat diarrhea, and other diseases, but our factory primarily produces plaster medicine."

  Song Jian nodded and said, "Let's go inside and talk. I have some things to tell you."

  "Ah," the burly man accompanied Song Jian into the office building.

  Upon arriving at the office, Song Jian handed Liu Dachun a piece of paper and said: "For now, let's not produce any medicinal plasters or that Bu Yang Fu Mai Tang. Instead, spend these few days recruiting more workers to sort out and roughly process these herbs - Pei Lan, Huo Xiang, Zi Teng, Ju Hua... all thirteen types of herbs should be ground into powder. Also, go contact a textile factory and have them produce a large batch of sachets with the words 'Si Yuan' on them."

  Liu Dachun listened dazedly, and when he heard Song Jian grinding the medicine into powder, he was already very confused. However, afterwards, Liu Dachun understood that Song Jian was preparing to make sachets.

  "Director Song, this will produce a large number of sachets. I see that the amount of medicine is enough to fill at least 5 million sachets. With so many, when can we sell them out? Moreover, Director Song, you may not be very clear about the properties of the medicines. Those fragrant medicines like Perilla and Elsholtzia have a short shelf life if used to produce sachets. By the time we sell them, I'm afraid those sachets won't be fragrant anymore." Liu Dachun reminded Director Song, fearing that he was being too impulsive.

  Song Jian suddenly felt that he had indeed found a capable subordinate, so he waved his hand and said: "I have it all figured out. Oh, right! Our pharmaceutical factory will be renamed Siyuan Pharmaceutical Factory and merged with Siyuan Natural Technology Co., Ltd. You are now the highest-ranking person in the company, aside from our two chairmen. Your salary should also be increased. This afternoon, I'll talk to President Xu about it and have her adjust your salary to 30,000 yuan per month."

  Liu Dachun was stunned for a moment, his salary had been eight thousand just a moment ago, how did it suddenly become thirty thousand.

  "This...this isn't right, is it?" Liu Dachun hesitated, "Director Song, I'm just a errand boy, I don't have any professional knowledge myself, can't compare with those technical personnel."

  Song Jian walked over, patted Liu Dachun's shoulder, "You deserve it, do a good job. If we succeed this time, your bonus will be more. Go contact the fabric factory, I'll go to the Administration for Industry and Commerce to note our company name, and ask them to give us a production batch number, so that we can produce and sell those Bu Yang Huan Wu Tang."

  After handing over the textile factory, Song Jian drove to Tongrentang. He wanted to find Zhou Wenyi from Tongrentang to understand the situation of the pharmacy business and ask if Zhou Wenyi had any suitable pharmacies for sale, so he could take one over. Directly taking over all kinds of health permits from the pharmacy would save a lot of trouble.

  Zhou Wen's Tongrentang store is very large, and not many people come to it. After all, the prices of medicines at Tongrentang are quite expensive, so ordinary people will choose some common pharmacies instead of going to Tongrentang to buy these trustworthy medicines.

  He walked into Tongrentang and saw Zhou Wen Yi standing in the hall of the pharmacy, staring blankly at rows of medicine cabinets.

  "Old man Zhou, what are you doing?" Song Jian asked. He and Zhou Wen Yi were also quite familiar with each other, it could be said that after rebirth, among the first few people he got to know was this Old Man Zhou.

  Zhou Wen turned his head and saw that it was Song Jian. He hastily beckoned him over, saying: "Come, come, I was just thinking of you, and here you are."

  "What am I supposed to do?" Song Jian wondered.

  "I'm about to leave here, so I wanted to say goodbye to people I know. That's when I thought of you. Although we're not very familiar with each other, I think we have a pretty good fate. Zhou Wen smiled with his eyes narrowed, "Ah, that five-branch ginseng thing, I still haven't let it go. I feel like I've been cheated, this old man has been fooled, didn't expect you to actually find the trick."

  "I was also deceived," Song Jian said with a humble smile.

  "Grandpa, grandpa! Are you going to move that yuzhi plant? Hmm? Song Jian, are you here to buy medicine again? That's great, Grandpa and I were just about to have a big sale!" A round-faced girl walked out of the backyard, saw Song Jian, and joked.

  "What's going on?" Song Jian asked.

  "In that case, Grandfather and I are going to Beijing, so these medicines will have to be sold at a discount." Zhou Ting said with a smile.

  Zhou Wen's face was filled with reluctance, he gazed longingly at the rows of medicine cabinets, feeling old and sentimental.

  "What's going on in the capital? Is business not doing well here?" Song Jian asked.

  "Ah, what's the point of running a business or not? My store has been open for over 10 years and I haven't made much money. But back then, I bought this house for 800,000 yuan, and now the land value alone has increased tenfold to 8 million yuan." Zhou Wen smiled wryly, "I suppose this is a reward for my honest management of the pharmacy. Now that Tingting is going to Beijing for school, it's convenient that Tongrentang headquarters is recruiting me as an old pharmacist. Coincidentally, the state is revising the traditional Chinese medicine management regulations and the Jiangnan Provincial Drug Administration has recommended me, so I'll go and contribute to the development of traditional Chinese medicine one last time."

  There was a strong sense of reluctance in Zhou Wen's tone, he and Zhou Ting were different, Zhou Ting yearned for the future life, but Zhou Wen had a lot of feelings for this pharmacy that he had been operating for over ten years.

  "No matter what, you're also in the traditional Chinese medicine industry, if the Traditional Medicine Management Law is really implemented, our country's traditional Chinese medicine will benefit a lot. How about this, Old Zhou, just sell this store to me directly? To be honest, I came here this time to ask you about pharmacy management, since you're leaving, selling it to me directly would make things easier for both of us." Song Jian spoke straightforwardly, if he were a real businessman, he would definitely try to find ways to lower the acquisition price, but Song Jian and Zhou Wen Yi are not businessmen at heart, so they speak more bluntly.

  "You? Song Jian, are you going to open a pharmacy? This simple Chinese medicine store won't be very profitable," Zhou Wen advised.

  Zhou Ting held a white bag in her arms and smiled: "Song Jian, it's not that I'm being petty, this pharmacy is quite large, with a front hall and a backyard, and it's also located near the city center. The land alone is worth over 8 million yuan. You're not going to ask us for an IOU, are you? Haha, we won't agree to that. Who knows if you'll be able to pay it back?"

  Song Jian smiled and said: "Of course I won't ask for an IOU, Old Zhou, name a price, I really want to buy it."

  Zhou Wen stared at Song Jian, he had always thought that Song Jian was a white-collar worker, but unexpectedly today he directly opened his mouth to buy his own pharmacy.

  "If it were you running the business, I'd be more than happy to sell it to you for 8 million," Zhou Wen said with a smile. "The 8 million is just the price of the storefront; the medicinal materials and equipment here are all on me, so I hope you'll have a conscience and run the pharmacy well."

  Song Jianxin was slightly moved, and he smiled: "Alright, Old Zhou, I won't take more than that either. Nine million, the medicinal materials and equipment here, plus the business license will all be mine, how about it?"

  Before Zhou Wen Yi could refuse, Zhou Ting had already said: "Alright, deal! Haha, oh my, so Song Jian Ge is actually a rich second generation. Grandfather, you can rest assured now, the pharmacy won't be demolished, it's just going to be operated by someone else."

  Zhou Wenyi pulled Song Jian's hand and insisted on inviting him to dinner.

  Two people were discussing the current state of traditional Chinese medicine in their country. Zhou Wenyi sighed and said, "Alas, most traditional Chinese doctors these days are charlatans. The medicinal herbs are either grown with chemical fertilizers or bleached with sulfur. And those in charge are Western medical practitioners who don't understand traditional Chinese medicine. Alas, I wonder if our country's traditional Chinese medicine can survive for another twenty years."

  Song Jian's hand holding the wine glass paused for a moment, he stared at Zhou Wen in shock, "So serious? I think there are quite a few hospitals in China."

  "No way, no way. You go to the Chinese hospital and take a look around, all the doctors are prescribing Western medicine. The talent cultivation in Chinese hospitals is not good, the Chinese medicinal materials are not good, the management of traditional Chinese medicine is not good. So, can traditional Chinese medicine be improved in this country?"

  Song Jian seemed lost in thought.

  "Come, let's drink and not mention these sad things," Zhou Wen raised his glass and swallowed the bitter wine. Many things he had been holding in his heart, never having the chance to say them out loud. After all, in this bustling society, everyone was only concerned with fame and fortune, who would care about the life and death of traditional Chinese medicine? It wasn't often that Zhou Wen met a fellow practitioner like Song Jian, so as he prepared to leave, he couldn't help but vent some of his frustrations.

  After leaving Zhou Wen's store, it was already evening. Now that the pharmacy has been settled, the last worry is also gone. However, the company's account is almost empty as well. In just a few days, 35 million was left with only over 1 million by Song Jianhua.

  "If the plague doesn't come, I'll be in big trouble," Song Jian muttered to himself.

  In the late afternoon, the weather was still very hot. When I returned home, I saw Xia Lin wearing a thin short nightgown, jumping on the dance mat in the living room. The little nightgown skirt fluttered up from time to time, revealing glimpses of her underwear.

  Song Jian pretended not to see, bent down and changed his shoes. This little girl was too unreliable. Last summer when she and Song Jian were not familiar with each other, she would always pay attention to her dressing and behavior at home. But now that they were familiar... even if they were familiar, she couldn't dress like this and jump around.

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