Chapter 449 — The Company's Plans

"So that's how it is!" Wei Zhao nodded in sudden understanding. "But Uncle Guan seems to be doing rather well for himself these days? He's not leaning on the family anymore?"

"Since that time, he hasn't leaned on me for anything either," Guan Xuewen shook his head with a bitter smile. "But Little Xiang was lucky—he found himself an even more formidable patron, and now he's riding high. Whenever he has a spare moment, he wants to prove to me that he can succeed without my help."

"Ha, I never knew Uncle Guan had that side to him," Wei Zhao said with a laugh. "He must know by now that you meant well back then—it's just that the knot in his heart hasn't come loose yet."

"Of course he knows. He's simply brooding over it," Guan Xuewen said. "Well, never mind him. It's been so many years, I'm used to it. Though he still seems to hold a grudge on the surface, deep down he's always been good to me."

"I don't even know who my parents are... ha..." A trace of sorrow crept into Wei Zhao's voice. He had only understood what parents meant after he grew up, yet he still harbored a quiet resentment over having been abandoned by his. Fortunately, he had two masters who doted on him, and their love had filled the place of the parental affection he had missed as a child.

Guan Xuewen was slightly taken aback. He had entertained many guesses about Wei Zhao's origins—he had even wondered whether Wei Zhao might be the descendant of the benefactor who had guided him all those years ago, and this was one of the reasons he trusted Wei Zhao unconditionally. But he had never dared to ask.

For one thing, Wei Zhao never mentioned his background, and it would have been awkward to inquire outright; for another, he feared it might be a secret Wei Zhao was not permitted to divulge, and asking would only deepen the embarrassment.

"You... you don't know who your parents are?" Guan Xuewen stared at Wei Zhao in astonishment.

"Ha, I only have two masters. But they've both treated me well, raised me like their own son... strict, perhaps, but I know they meant it for my good." Wei Zhao saw no need to conceal his origins—there was nothing to conceal.

"It's good that you see it that way. But anyone who treats you well—whether or not they're your true parents—you'll treat them as family, won't you?" Guan Xuewen said with a smile. "Master, master—the word itself means a master is as a father!"

"Yes, exactly. So my childhood was not short on love, and my mind is quite sound," Wei Zhao said with a serious nod.

"Your medical skills—were they taught to you by your masters?" Guan Xuewen hesitated a moment, then asked.

"Yes. One master taught me martial arts, the other taught me medicine, and there was a wicked uncle-master who taught me to steal and to gamble..." Wei Zhao said with a wry smile.

"I see..." Guan Xuewen felt a faint headache coming on at the complexity of Wei Zhao's sect ties. "If your medical skill is already this remarkable, then your master must be..."

"Ha, Grandfather Guan, that I can't say. Both the old man at home and my martial arts master have rather unusual identities, and until I have their permission, I must beg your pardon and keep it to myself." Wei Zhao had no wish to hide anything from Guan Xuewen, but matters of the sect were grave, and without his masters' consent he could not possibly reveal them.

Even people as close to him as Yang Huaijun knew nothing of these things.

"That's quite all right. I was only making idle conversation." Guan Xuewen felt a flicker of disappointment, though he did not blame Wei Zhao—after all, Wei Zhao had done nothing wrong. "Let's talk about the company. The finished medicines we could launch at the outset—one is a painkiller, the other a wound medicine. As for other varieties, without formulas, I wouldn't presume to decide..."

"Ha, I do have formulas for a few other varieties, but I don't know which ones would sell best." Wei Zhao knew nothing of such business matters.

"Well... so long as it works, any of them will sell," Guan Xuewen said. "Take the common cold medicine, for instance—if you could formulate a traditional Chinese medicine with few side effects, it would sell just as well. But those already have established formulas and long-standing pharmaceutical companies behind them. For us to enter and fight for market share would be pointless."

"The formulas for cold and flu medicines are indeed fixed. Even if I improved on them, there wouldn't be much gain. The best approach would be to supplement them with acupuncture or cupping, but that's only feasible in a clinic—a pharmaceutical sales operation couldn't manage it. We can hardly sell cold medicine and throw in silver needles and cupping jars as gifts, can we?" Wei Zhao nodded with a smile.

"Actually, I'm no expert in business myself—I'm just offering my personal opinion," Guan Xuewen said. "You really ought to hire a management specialist to run the company."

"That's true, but professional managers aren't easy to find on demand." Wei Zhao knew Guan Xuewen was right. "First, whether the person can be trusted; second, whether they're truly capable... after all, whether the pharmaceutical company makes a splash on its first outing depends entirely on this professional manager's ability."

"On that point, I think you should ask Mr. Lai—the one from just now. He's been in the business world so long, he should be fairly experienced. Asking him to find a professional manager shouldn't be difficult!" Guan Xuewen said. "At least it'll be easier than us looking on our own."

"You have a point..." Wei Zhao nodded.

About half an hour after Fatty Lai had left, he came charging back in a frantic rush, several bags of Chinese medicinal herbs in his hands, and burst into Guan Xuewen's study: "Divine Doctor Lin, I've bought them—bought them all!"

With that, Fatty Lai set the several bags he was carrying down on the tea table in front of Wei Zhao.

Wei Zhao stared at the pile of bags before him with a rather peculiar expression. Why were there so many? Even if a full catty of every herb on his list had been bought, it still would not have come to this much.

Wei Zhao opened one of the bags and checked the quantity of herbs inside. They had all been weighed out in five-ounce portions according to the prescription he had written, and he could not help finding it odd. "Isn't this enough? What's in all the other bags?"

"The other bags are the same, only they were bought at different stores!" Fatty Lai said, panting for breath. "There are so many cheats these days, and I was afraid I might get fake herbs if I bought everything from one shop, so I figured I'd try a few more places. Bound to be some genuine ones in among them, I thought."

"..." Wei Zhao was momentarily left speechless by Fatty Lai's words. These herbs were not cheap, yet Fatty Lai had been willing to spend freely enough. Then again, when he thought about it, the man had given him an entire building outright just to curry favor with him; a little money on herbs was nothing by comparison.