Chapter 509: Chapter 216: Half-Price Herbal Medicine? I’ve Agreed to the Consultation (2)

"United South Chinese Medicine Association?"

Lin Mu raised an eyebrow; he wasn’t familiar with the situation over in Zhijiang. Being a manager of a Western pharmacy, he naturally wouldn’t proactively understand much about traditional Chinese medicine or doctors.

If it were a traditional Chinese medicine association in Anjiang County, he might know a bit, but once outside Anjiang County, he knew nothing.

Ye Feifei understood Lin Mu’s unfamiliarity with the significance of United South Chinese Medicine Association, so she immediately explained, "This association is highly esteemed. In Yong City, it’s regarded as the pinnacle among traditional Chinese medicine practitioners. Numerous doctors are proud to be invited to practice at United South, and average practitioners, even those who are head doctors, might not qualify for an invitation from them.

I checked the practice records at United South. Currently, most of the doctors there are retired senior practitioners, many from prominent medical families, along with several national-level renowned doctors."

"So impressive?"

"Indeed."

"In this case, inviting Dr. Lu Xuan to consult for a few days shouldn’t be a problem. It’s no wonder so many people have come for prescriptions even within half a day; his reputation in Yong City must be huge," Lin Mu thought aloud.

"But there’s more to it."

Ye Feifei continued, "I also found out that he is a director at the Yong City Chinese Medical Association. It’s quite rare for someone so young to hold this position; many senior doctors at United South don’t even have this qualification."

"It seems I really underestimated Dr. Lu," Lin Mu said with a smile.

"Brother-in-law, what do you think about this?"

"Agreed."

"Shall I contact him?"

"No need, I’ll contact him directly."

Lin Mu shook his head, refusing Ye Feifei’s suggestion to contact Lu Xuan.

Earlier, he had casually mentioned it to her without much thought. But now knowing Lu Xuan’s status in Yong City’s Traditional Chinese Medicine Circle, if he let Feifei, a pharmacy staff member, invite him, it would truly disrespect him.

Even if he agreed to come, he might end up refusing.

Relationships are reciprocal.

If you extend respect, they may not reciprocate, but won’t make things difficult either.

If you don’t, they surely won’t respect you.

This is absolute.

Ye Feifei initially thought of saying something to make Lin Mu delegate this task to her. But after hearing Lin Mu explain the circumstances, she realized this task had nothing to do with her. She could only respond with a simple "Oh," noting that more people were coming for prescriptions. She then said to Lin Mu, "Brother-in-law, more people are here for prescriptions. I’ll send you his contact information; you can reach out to him."

With that, she didn’t say more to Lin Mu and ended the call directly.

Over on Lin Mu’s side, after receiving the contact information from Ye Feifei, he pondered for a moment before dialing Lu Xuan’s number.

The phone rang for a while; then, a young voice came from the other end, "Hello."

"Hello, Dr. Lu, I’m Manager Lin Mu from Huian Pharmacy," Lin Mu greeted politely.

"Hello, Manager Lin. Anything you need me for?"

Lu Xuan didn’t know the manager of Huian Pharmacy, but Feifei, who attended to him yesterday, had mentioned it. However, he didn’t recall the name. At this moment, Lin Mu suddenly called him, and Lu Xuan thought perhaps the other wanted to invite him to work at Huian Pharmacy. To his surprise, Lin Mu immediately said, "I won’t beat around the bush, I’ll just say it directly."

"Go ahead."

"I heard about this morning from the pharmacy staff, so I’d like to invite you to consult at our Huian Pharmacy," Lin Mu said directly.

Upon hearing it was an invitation to consult, Lu Xuan didn’t hesitate to refuse, "I’d rather not..."

But before Lu Xuan could finish his sentence, he heard Lin Mu chuckling, "You see, I didn’t make it clear; Dr. Lu, I’m not asking you to work at our pharmacy. I’d like you to come to our Huian Pharmacy’s main store for a few days. Just a few days. You can name the fee; as long as it’s reasonable, I can accommodate it.

And, when you consult, the prescriptions we dispense will be sold to patients at fifty percent off."

Offering just a fee didn’t tempt Lu Xuan much, but hearing the latter part of Lin Mu’s words was indeed quite enticing for him.

The profit margin on Chinese medicines isn’t low anymore, but selling at fifty percent off means Huian Pharmacy will incur losses instead of profits. Huian Pharmacy has only this main store to procure supplies, and their shipments aren’t large. The distributor couldn’t possibly offer very low prices, and Huian Pharmacy’s medicine quality is quite good, making it already difficult to profit.

Currently selling at fifty percent, they’ll be facing substantial losses.

"Manager Lin, if you proceed this way, you’ll likely incur losses rather than profits," Lu Xuan pointed out directly.

Businesspeople seek profits.

At ten percent, they become restless; at fifty percent, they venture risks; at one hundred percent, they defy laws; at three hundred percent, they risk execution.

The masses bustle for fame; they swarm for profits.

Behavior like Lin Mu’s, not motivated by profit, frankly made Lu Xuan somewhat wary, unwilling to agree lightly.

As the manager of Huian Pharmacy, Lin Mu is far more experienced than Lu Xuan in understanding commerce. Plus, having dealt with numerous business transactions, although Lu Xuan didn’t verbalize his concerns, Lin Mu seemed to understand his hesitation. Smiling, he said, "Dr. Lu, rest assured. We’re not profiting but rather gaining reputation. Simply put, we wish to leverage your consultation to help promote Huian Pharmacy.

Though short-term profits may not be visible, if we can open up the market or boost our reputation, it’ll significantly help in expanding our market share in Anjiang County, and profits will undoubtedly surpass current levels."

This explanation reassured Lu Xuan.

Businesspeople don’t rise early unless profit beckons; he couldn’t believe Lin Mu wouldn’t profit.

Upon hearing this explanation from Lin Mu, reflecting upon it, it indeed made sense.

If this strategy opens the market and wins more recognition for Huian Pharmacy, more customers will flock there for medicines, naturally increasing profits.

Compared to several day’s losses, this is insignificant.

Contemplating these points, Lu Xuan hesitated briefly before agreeing.

He wasn’t focused on the potentially substantial fees from Huian Pharmacy; it was mostly Lin Mu’s discussion of patient benefits that tempted him.

Fifty percent off is significant.

Given his current popularity, spreading his reputation could easily attract hundreds daily in the subsequent days, with each purchasing nearly 200 worth of traditional medicines, causing Huian Pharmacy to lose tens of thousands daily, leading to losses after several days, plus they’d need to pay him consulting fees, tallying up to forty or fifty thousand.

"Alright, I agree to this, but I can only consult at Huian for about five days. Once the holiday ends, I’ll have to return to Yong City."

"Five days is sufficient; let’s finalize the date. Is the day after tomorrow okay for you? Technically it’s just four days, as we plan to use a day for promotional purposes," Lin Mu asked for Lu Xuan’s thoughts.

Lu Xuan initially thought it might start tomorrow. Hearing these words, he understood Lin Mu’s intention.

Promote it, and more people will come.

At that time, offering discounts on Western medicines could compensate for the loss on Chinese medicines.

Moreover, Huian Pharmacy would need to prepare for his consultation, requiring time.

Thinking it over, Lu Xuan agreed.