As soon as Wang An finished speaking, He Liang said with a look of disbelief
"You're going to find a way? What way could you possibly find? You've never even left Heilongjiang Province. Let me tell you, none of these insects are produced here in the North."
The others also cast skeptical glances toward Wang An, clearly doubting his ability to resolve the matter.
Wang An smiled slightly at their expressions, then swayed his head and said with great smugness
"This humble mountain man has a brilliant plan! Hahahaha..."
Wang An dared to say this not because he was bluffing, but because he truly could solve the problem.
In his previous life, Wang An had traveled far and wide trading goods; it could be said that he had been almost everywhere. Consequently, he was intimately familiar with the primary circulating goods of various regions.
For instance, he had visited specialized hubs like the small commodity markets of Zhejiang Province, the red date distribution centers of Hebei Province, and the fur trading markets of Fengtian... and so on.
The place Wang An intended to go to solve the medicinal herb problem this time was the traditional Chinese medicine wholesale market in Hebei Province.
Of course, if Hebei couldn't solve it, he would head to Shunwang City in the land of Qi-Lu. If Shunwang City still couldn't solve it, he would have no choice but to go to Bozhou City in Anhui Province.
Regardless, Bozhou City was the largest traditional Chinese medicine wholesale market in China. If it couldn't be solved there, he would just have to accept it, or perhaps raise the selling price of the product.
In any case, scar-removal medicine was a niche product; it wouldn't be an issue if it were a bit more expensive.
Seeing Wang An's confident expression, Wu Dong, Wang Shuai, and the others were even more surprised. In their eyes, although Wang An was very shrewd and knew a great deal, he was ultimately just a country boy with little worldly experience.
After their surprise subsided, Wang Shuai said with some apprehension
"How about you tell us first—how exactly do you plan to solve this? That way, we can help you weigh the options and see if it's feasible."
After Wang Shuai finished, Zhang Shuya also said worriedly
"Yeah, you've never even been on a long trip. I just can't figure out how you're going to solve this problem."
Hearing this, Wang An said in a relaxed tone
"Hah, when it comes to things like medicinal herbs increasing in price, the only solution is to change suppliers. Things that are deathly expensive around here might be as common as cabbage in other places, not worth much at all."
Pausing for a moment, Wang An added
"The reason the people in Harbin dare to raise the prices of those herbs is simply because, in this corner of Heilongjiang, they are the only ones who have them. No one else does, and they want to make money off us in the long run. This time, we'll just bypass them and find another channel—or even establish our own channel specifically to supply our pharmaceutical plant. Let's see if they can still act high and mighty then."
Wang An's words immediately made Wu Dong and the others look at him with newfound respect.
The fact that a second-generation rich kid like He Liang was this distressed showed that the herb prices in Harbin had already exceeded his limit.
And the suppliers in Harbin were certainly betting on the fact that Wang An's pharmaceutical plant couldn't survive without the herbs in their hands.
Needless to say, this supplier was an absolute bastard!
Once Wang An finished, He Liang put down the roasted squirrel in his hand, narrowed his eyes at Wang An, and said with a serious expression
"Xiao An, I'm starting to think you should be the one running this pharmaceutical plant. With your way of thinking and the methods you usually use to get things done, this plant would definitely prosper under your leadership."
Wu Dong immediately chimed in
"Exactly! Back when we looked for TV stations, newspapers, and radio stations to run ads, it was Xiao An's idea. Otherwise, how would I have known about those methods?"
After the two of them spoke, six pairs of eyes focused on Wang An once again, as if they were all wondering what kind of monster this kid was. How could he be so knowledgeable about business?
Wang An was startled inwardly and hurriedly said
"These are just lice on a monk's head—obvious things! I'm not stupid; you can figure this stuff out with a bit of simple thinking."
With Wang An's mind, let alone a small pharmaceutical plant, he could easily control even a large enterprise—and more importantly, ensure that the enterprise turned a profit!
However, having been reborn, Wang An only wanted to live a stable, easy, happy, and free life. He truly did not want his freedom to be shackled by such things.
Mainly, Wang An didn't lack money, and there were many ways for him to make it. In his view, running a business was a laborious task with little reward.
Of course, offering a few ideas or holding some shares was something Wang An was very happy to do. Money doesn't prick your hands; the more, the better!
After Wang An spoke, the six pairs of eyes were still staring at him. On a whim, Wang An pointed toward the beggar's chicken and said
"Oh my god, the beggar's chicken and the sparrows are roasted! Quick, quick, quick! If they get burnt, it'll be a waste."
As he spoke, Wang An ran toward the two newly dug pits.
Although Wu Dong, Zhang Shuya, and the others knew Wang An was changing the subject, they were helpless against his tactics.
Since they first met, while Wang An was getting to know them, they had also been getting to know him. They had all witnessed Wang An's consistent behavior of being "content with a little wealth."
Of course, while they said "content with a little wealth," Wang An—like the rest of them—wasn't actually "a little" wealthy at all. Considering the gold they had brought back from the mountains, every one of them was a bona fide millionaire.
Therefore, expecting Wang An to take the lead at the pharmaceutical plant was completely impossible.
The group looked at one another and all shook their heads gently.
Immediately after, they all ran toward Wang An, pushing him aside to start digging the sparrows out of the pits themselves. The scene was like a battlefield.
Pushed to the side, Wang An looked at the sparrow skewers in his hand and without hesitation took a bite of a sparrow, sliding the whole bird off the stick and chewing it.
To make sure everyone got a taste, Wang An had put two sparrows on each skewer; so after he slid one off, only one remained on the stick.
With sparrows, you have to roast the bones until they are crispy; otherwise, since the bird is so small, spitting out bones would leave nothing to enjoy.
While chewing the sparrow, Wang An looked at Huang Zhong beside him, then at the remaining sparrow on his skewer. He handed the skewer to Huang Zhong, mumbling indistinctly
"This isn't as tasty as roasted grey dogs."
They say "better to eat a mouthful of fowl than half a pound of beast," but to be honest, so far, Wang An really hadn't found any fowl meat that tasted better than squirrel meat!
(End of Chapter)