Urban Super Medical Saint

Chapter 158 Acquisition Plan

In the spring of 1998, the entire Asia was enveloped in the cold wave of a financial crisis. Although Huaxia Country, thanks to the decisive and wise measures adopted by the government, ultimately did not fall deeply into this financial maelstrom that swept across all of Asia, its economy was still somewhat affected.

That year, Ge Dongxu was seventeen years old, in the second half of his sophomore year. He had invested in two businesses which, instead of being affected by this financial tempest and plummeting into a cold trough, were actually developing at an explosive rate.

Similarly explosive was his cultivation. Having inherited Ge Hong's mantle and knowing how to carve the Spirit Gathering Formation Talismans Jade, coupled with sufficient financial backing, and the fact that the villa was located on a Feng Shui treasure land rich in spiritual energy, Dongxu had broken through to the Qi Cultivation Fifth Layer just after the New Year. His true Qi entered the heart through the Hand Shaoyin Heart Meridian, forming an air cyclone within the heart.

In contemporary medicine, the heart is considered the most important organ in a vertebrate's body, providing pressure for the blood and circulating it to every part of the body; the cessation of its beating often signifies the end of life.

For cultivators as well, the heart is an immensely important organ and one of the hardest hurdles in the Qi Cultivation stage. Most cultivators, without exceptional talent or opportunity, typically find themselves stuck at this stage.

Yet Dongxu, in this age of declining Daoist practices and scarce spiritual energy, had broken through to the Qi Cultivation Fifth Layer at just seventeen, controlling the true Qi to form an air cyclone inside the heart, thereby significantly strengthening it—an absolute miracle. Even in the previous eras when Daoist practices thrived and spiritual energy was abundant, reaching the Qi Cultivation Fifth Layer at such a young age was commendable.

Dongxu himself was unaware that he had created a miracle in this Dharma Ending Age. He only knew that he was becoming increasingly strong, that his Talisman carving was becoming smoother, and he was even able to barely draw top-grade Dharma Talismans. The only imperfection was that now he needed to use his family's Feng Shui treasure land, setting up seven pieces of Taiyin Spirit Gathering Formation Talisman Jade to meet his cultivation needs.

This also meant that his expenses were exploding as well, which meant he could not be complacent with the status quo; he still needed to work hard to earn money.

"Dongxu, are we really going to acquire the Linzhou City beverage factory?" Wu Qianjin asked with a worried frown in the conference room of the Qinghe Herbal Tea Beverage Factory.

Previously, the Qinghe Herbal Tea Beverage Factory didn't have any conference room, but now it had rapidly become a star enterprise in Changxi County, with production lines increasing and the plant expanding significantly. Even the local government, in order to retain this star business, had provided twenty acres of land for the expansion almost as a gift.

After all, the Qinghe Herbal Tea Beverage Factory was now a major source of revenue for Wangzhou Township. Without offering incentives and land, there were plenty of other towns and counties in Changxi ready to offer them. Everyone who wasn't foolish could see that even if the Qinghe Herbal Tea Beverage Factory might not spread across Jiangnan Province or the whole of Huaxia Country, it would undoubtedly dominate the local beverage market in OuZhou City for years to come.

"What do you guys think?" When Ge Dongxu saw Wu Qianjin's worried expression, he knew he was reluctant to spend money that had just entered their coffers, so instead of asking him further, he turned directly to Cheng Yazhou and Tang Yiyuan, the other shareholders.

"It's a bit risky! But since you're the majority shareholder, if you say we take it, we'll take it. It's just hard to part with the money we've just started to warm up, and we'd have to take out a loan, which really gives me mixed feelings. Honestly, I'm quite content with our current rate of earning. But of course, I'll go along with your decision, you're always right," Cheng Yazhou said after a moment of thought.

"Right, right, of course we'll listen to you, Dongxu. You make the call," Wu Qianjin quickly added. Now that he had risen from a small merchant to a shareholder of a star enterprise in Changxi County, all thanks to Ge Dongxu, he had to maintain the right attitude despite his reluctance to part with the money, lest one day Dongxu should decide to kick him out, leaving him nowhere to turn.

"I'll go by your decision, but it's natural to have worries," Tang Yiyuan said after some thought. Find more chapters on empire

"The acquisition price of thirteen million is indeed a bit high, but have you considered this? Our herbal tea sales are still increasing, and with summer just around the corner, we are certainly going to encounter a sales peak, by which time we'll definitely be out of stock given our current rate of development. Moreover, there's another phenomenon developing—more and more distributors from outside Ouzhou City are starting to inquire about our products, hoping to purchase from us. This is an excellent opportunity to break into markets outside the Ouzhou City area, but we don't have enough production capacity to supply them. Therefore, the pressing matter is to proceed with the acquisition, which would quickly increase our production capacity and solve our supply issues. Only by solving the production issues can we confidently invest in advertising and promotion. To put it another way, the thirteen million we spend will not vanish, we're buying tangible assets," Ge Dongxu said.

"Then let's make the purchase!" Seeing that Ge Dongxu was clearly decided, Tang Yiyuan and the other two didn't waste further words and simply nodded in agreement.

"Alright, I'll talk to President Yuan about mortgaging the factory for a loan. We'll leave enough working capital in the factory and if it's still not enough, then we'll have to dig into our own pockets again," Ge Dongxu nodded.

"Hehe, it's definitely not going to be enough. Looks like the house I just redeemed will have to be mortgaged again," Cheng Yazhou said with a wry smile.

Although the Qinghe Herbal Tea Beverage Factory had been booming over the past six months, because they had continuously expanded their production lines and made hefty investments, the real earnings were just over two million yuan. The factory's main assets were not the buildings or the land, but the "Qinghe" brand itself. However, how much they could actually borrow against it was uncertain, and it was surely not going to cover thirteen million.

"Over the years, I've managed to save some money, though I'm not sure if it's enough. If it's not, I'll just have to swallow my pride and mortgage my house again," Tang Yiyuan said.

He had been practicing medicine for many years and was a university professor; naturally, he had a considerable amount of money. However, even if his shares were only ten percent, thirteen million still amounted to one million three hundred thousand.

One million three hundred thousand was a huge amount in 1998, even for Tang Yiyuan, and certainly not something he could produce at a moment's notice.

"You all stop pretending to be poor for a minute. If anyone should be complaining, it's me—I have the largest stake here!" Ge Dongxu laughed.

"Dongxu, stop being modest in front of us. With 'Donglin Qi' being so successful, are you really short on money?" Cheng Yazhou laughed.

"You only see the success of 'Donglin Qi' but haven't noticed how much we have put into advertising. To tell you the truth, I invested six million in 'Donglin Qi,' and I haven't seen a penny in return yet since all the earnings have been reinvested. If President Yuan isn't willing to extend a larger loan to me, then I might have to temporarily mortgage the 'Donglin Qi' brand," Ge Dongxu said with a bitter smile.

Upon hearing Ge Dongxu say this, Cheng Yazhou and the others started looking at him more seriously.

This was a man who was bound to be someone they looked up to in the future!

ps: Starting today, I'm going on a trip with my family for eleven days and will be back at the end of the month. I'll try to keep the updates the same as before, though there might be fewer updates occasionally. Please forgive any delays, and I'll try to make up for it when I return. If you want to know more about this trip, follow me. I'll be posting some photos. Hehe, the destination is a place known for its glitz and glamour!