Chinese Medicine: Starting with Daily Intelligence-Chapter 149: A Precipitous Fall

’Could it really be this Mugwort Bag?’

Lin Xiaoyu was skeptical, but her body had already begun to relax.

She turned off her phone and lay down under the covers. A faint, elusive fragrance drifted around her pillow, like some kind of natural sleep-inducing aromatherapy.

’Whatever, I’ll just sleep.’

Unexpectedly, despite usually having trouble falling asleep, she drifted off quickly. She slept soundly without a single dream until morning.

...

The next morning, Lin Xiaoyu sat in her office, feeling unusually refreshed.

She opened her laptop and reviewed the topic proposals for the next issue, her fingers tapping lightly on the keyboard.

’Hu Qiming’s friend might not be very cooperative, but this Mugwort Bag’s effect is truly astonishing...’

She recalled her peaceful sleep the night before and the quiet, mosquito-free room, and the corners of her mouth turned up slightly.

’That settles it. The next feature will be about this.’

She opened a new document and typed out a headline—

The Modern Miracle of the Traditional Mugwort Bag: Repels Mosquitoes + Aids Sleep, A Summer Essential!

...

「Chuanlong Pharmaceutical」

President Dong Haitao was, for once, in his office.

Vice Manager Liu Bohong went to report on his work.

"President Dong, this is the batch of medicinal herbs we need to deliver this month. The problem is, many hospitals still haven’t settled their payments for last year’s herbs."

Liu Bohong complained.

Dong Haitao lit a cigarette and exhaled a cloud of smoke. "Don’t worry, I’ll follow up with them in a few days."

He was only in the hospital herb business because he had connections.

If it were anyone else, collecting the debt might be difficult.

But he just needed to make a few more visits to get the money back.

"By the way, how’s our ginger stockpile?"

"Heh heh, ginger prices have been soaring lately. The City Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine has called a few times, urging us to deliver on schedule."

"In their dreams," Dong Haitao laughed. "Double the price, and demand cash up front. Otherwise, they get nothing."

"President Dong, we signed a contract. The price was agreed upon..."

"What’s a contract? This is a ’force majeure’ situation... They can take it or leave it."

"Understood."

...

「Ding’s Pharmaceutical Factory」

Ding Kaifang was inspecting the warehouse.

Piles of medicinal herbs were stacked in the warehouse: Poria Cocos, Peony, Aconite, Atractylodes... The only thing missing was ginger.

Back in his office.

He opened the ginger market website again to check the day’s trading price.

The price had risen significantly since yesterday.

He grew even more anxious.

On one hand, Li Xu had told him to wait a few days.

On the other, the price of ginger was continuously rising.

’How am I supposed to choose?’

"Huh?"

Ding Kaifang stared at the computer screen, not blinking.

The ginger price curve was plummeting like a kite with a snapped string.

He refreshed the page, and the number dropped even lower.

"What... what’s happening?" he muttered to himself.

’Did the system crash?’

Even now, he still couldn’t believe the price of ginger would plummet.

Suddenly, a bold headline popped up.

America Announces Major Tariffs on All Categories of Goods, Dragon Country Exports Suffer Setback.

Ding Kaifang shot to his feet, knocking his chair over in the process.

"This... this..."

Ding Kaifang was both shocked and overjoyed.

For some time now, relations between the two countries had been unstable.

Many had speculated that America would impose tariffs.

But no one had expected them to be so high.

They exceeded 100%.

Under these circumstances, continuing to export was pointless.

Trade between the two countries had essentially been severed.

Ding Kaifang had been studying the ginger market recently.

He knew that a large shipment of ginger was currently on its way to America.

As a result, while the prices of other goods hadn’t moved yet, ginger was the first to take the hit.

"He was spot on! Spot on!"

Ding Kaifang grabbed his phone and called Li Xu.

"Doctor Li! The price of ginger has plummeted!"

His voice trembled with excitement. "You’re a genius! How did you predict this?"

On the other end of the line, Li Xu laughed. "I like to keep up with international news. It was just a guess."

"Some guess! You’re more accurate than the experts."

Ding Kaifang showered him with compliments.

Li Xu thought, ’Of course it is. This information came from the system; it’s absolutely foolproof.’

"Doctor Li, what’s our next move?" Ding Kaifang asked.

Li Xu already had a plan. "Let the bullets fly a little longer."

Ding Kaifang understood immediately. "Got it! Once a speculative commodity like this starts to fall, the brakes won’t catch anytime soon."

After hanging up, Ding Kaifang took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.

He walked to the window and looked down at the factory grounds, an unconscious smile spreading across his face.

Now, he held all the cards.

...

Meanwhile, in the president’s office at Chuanlong Pharmaceutical, Dong Haitao was cursing at his computer screen.

"FUCK! What the hell is going on?!"

He snatched the ashtray and hurled it against the wall, sending shards of glass flying.

Liu Bohong stood timidly to the side. "Pres... President Dong, the City Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine just called. They said... they said they don’t need that batch of ginger for the time being..."

"Bullshit! They signed a contract!" A vein bulged on Dong Haitao’s forehead. "Contact their director immediately!"

"The director said..." Liu Bohong swallowed hard. "He said it was due to ’force majeure’..."

Dong Haitao’s face turned ashen.

This was the exact excuse he had used to brush off the hospital a few days ago, and now it was being thrown right back at him.

He had connections, but no matter how good they were, they couldn’t make a hospital bow to his every whim.

Getting the hospital to purchase their herbs was already an impressive feat.

"Call Ding Kaifang!" he suddenly roared. "Didn’t he want to buy ginger? Sell it to him now!"

Liu Bohong fumbled with his phone to dial the number, but it rang for a long time with no answer.

"Keep calling! Call until he picks up!" Dong Haitao paced his office like a caged animal.

It was no wonder he was anxious. A while ago, he had seen the high price of ginger and bought up a large batch. Half of the company’s liquid capital was tied up in that ginger. If he didn’t sell it off soon, his losses would only grow.

Ding Kaifang’s phone buzzed incessantly on his desk, the name "Liu Bohong, Chuanlong" flashing on the screen.

He took a slow, deliberate sip of his tea, letting the call go to voicemail.

"President Ding, aren’t you going to answer?" his secretary asked curiously.

Ding Kaifang smiled. "What’s the rush? They’re the ones who should be panicking now."

He opened his computer and pulled up Chuanlong Pharmaceutical’s financial report—it was publicly available information within the industry.

Just as he thought. Chuanlong had been hoarding large quantities of ginger for the past six months, tying up nearly fifty percent of their liquid assets.

"For every dollar the price drops, Chuanlong loses millions," Ding Kaifang said softly. "Let them stew for a while longer."

It wasn’t until the next day that Ding Kaifang "reluctantly" answered Liu Bohong’s eighth call.

"Oh, Manager Liu, my apologies. I didn’t have my phone with me yesterday." His tone was so relaxed it was almost lazy. "What’s that? The batch of ginger? Well... you know how the market is right now..."

On the other end, Liu Bohong’s voice was clearly sycophantic. "President Ding, our President Dong said we can give it to you at market price—no, at a ten percent discount!"

Ding Kaifang almost burst out laughing.

’This morning they were arrogantly demanding triple the price, and now they’re offering discounts.’

"Well..." He deliberately drew out his words. "I’ll have to discuss it with my technical department. We’re considering adjusting our formula, so we might not need that much ginger anymore..."

"Twenty percent off!" Liu Bohong said urgently. "No, thirty percent! President Ding, we go way back..."

A glint of coldness flashed in Ding Kaifang’s eyes.

’This Manager Liu certainly wasn’t singing the same tune in the Chuanlong warehouse a few days ago.’

"How about this," he finally relented. "I’ll send someone to check the goods tomorrow. If the quality is fine, we can talk price then."

After hanging up, Ding Kaifang let out a long sigh of relief.

Business was like a battlefield. This victory swept away all the frustration that had been building up for days.