In a hotel in the capital, Wang Qing Tian, the president of Bing Tian Pharmaceutical and Ling Tian's father-in-law, returned to his room with a dejected expression.
Wang Qing Tian's trip to the capital this time was for business. He represented Bing Tian Pharmaceutical and was preparing to acquire a company called Feng Yuan Pharmaceutical.
The core business of this company was the cultivation and processing of traditional Chinese medicinal herbs. Several of their Chinese herbal medicines had extremely high yields, and they were precisely the main raw materials for several of Bing Tian Pharmaceutical's products.
Recently, Bing Tian Pharmaceutical had been continuously targeted by the Long family and the Situ family. The opposing parties had also severely disrupted Bing Tian Pharmaceutical's raw material procurement channels, causing many domestic traditional Chinese medicinal herb suppliers to cancel their orders.
Although Bing Tian Pharmaceutical had tried every possible way to explore new raw material suppliers, the production of some traditional Chinese medicinal herbs was monopolized by certain companies. The small amounts of medicinal herbs Bing Tian Pharmaceutical managed to acquire through piecemeal efforts could not guarantee stable production.
Even though Ling Tian had made arrangements long ago to build Bing Tian Pharmaceutical's own raw material production bases, it would take time for these bases to be built and to provide qualified raw medicinal herbs.
Ling Tian believed that the current production model for traditional Chinese medicinal herbs made it difficult to provide qualified medicinal materials. In particular, many herbal growers used large amounts of chemical fertilizers during cultivation. Although such herbs grew well and were large in size, their active ingredients were severely insufficient. Furthermore, the residues of fertilizers and pesticides could even produce toxins.
Ling Tian had extremely strict requirements for the medicinal materials his company produced. Before cultivating any medicinal herbs, the land needed three years to recover.
In the first year, the land designated for growing medicinal herbs would be left fallow, with nothing planted. Then, a large number of earthworms and other animals would be introduced to improve the soil quality and, incidentally, to gradually degrade residual fertilizers and pesticides in the soil.
In the second and third years, a small amount of medicinal herbs would be planted. The herbs grown would not be used directly. Instead, after the herbs matured, they would be pulled up by the roots.
These herbs would be dried, then ground into powder by machines, and spread back onto the medicinal fields.
The same process would be followed in the third year. Only in the fourth year could normal cultivation of medicinal herbs begin. Bing Tian Pharmaceutical's cultivation bases had only reached the second year, which was far from being able to solve the immediate problem.
Feng Yuan Pharmaceutical was also an established producer of traditional Chinese medicinal herbs, with a large number of medicinal fields and processing plants.
However, the days for Chinese medicine companies had been difficult in recent years, which also affected companies like Feng Yuan Pharmaceutical that produced traditional Chinese medicinal herbs. Feng Yuan Pharmaceutical's business performance had been deteriorating, and their debt had reached 12 billion yuan, bringing them to the brink of insolvency.
At this point, even if Bing Tian Pharmaceutical provided them with a large number of orders, they could not escape their debt crisis, nor could they guarantee timely delivery of these orders.
Therefore, Bing Tian Pharmaceutical had made a takeover offer, intending to acquire Feng Yuan Pharmaceutical for 15 billion yuan.
This was truly a case of someone offering a pillow just when one was about to doze off. The people at Feng Yuan Pharmaceutical were overjoyed. This acquisition price would be enough to pay off all their debts, shed a huge burden, and still leave them with a net profit of 3 billion yuan.
Thus, both parties agreed to hold negotiations at Feng Yuan Pharmaceutical's headquarters in the capital.
Wang Qing Tian attached great importance to this matter. He personally led several senior executives to the capital to handle the acquisition.
However, upon meeting, the other party made an outrageous demand, proposing an acquisition price of 20 billion yuan and refusing to negotiate. The other party was well aware of Bing Tian Pharmaceutical's current predicament, which immediately put Bing Tian Pharmaceutical in a passive position.
Wang Qing Tian convened an emergency meeting with his capable subordinates. After weighing various factors and performing repeated calculations, they ultimately decided to agree to the other party's demands.
Bing Tian Pharmaceutical had already stopped accepting new orders. However, even to fulfill the current orders, they would face a shortage of raw materials in two to three months. At that time, not only would they make no profit, but the hefty liquidated damages could also drag the company down!
The other party's sudden price increase of over 5 billion yuan was merely equivalent to two months of Bing Tian Pharmaceutical's net profit.
However, just as both parties were about to sign the contract, Feng Yuan Pharmaceutical inexplicably raised their price again, demanding 30 billion yuan and adopting an "take it or leave it" attitude.
Seeing the other party's arrogant demeanor, Wang Qing Tian finally understood that someone must be manipulating things from behind the scenes.
Feng Yuan Pharmaceutical was already on its last legs, on the verge of bankruptcy. Their boss was practically ready to jump off a building and flee. Yet, their attitude had suddenly changed so drastically. It was simply impossible to believe this was happening without someone backing them!
Subsequently, there were multiple rounds of negotiations. Today's negotiation, in particular, lasted for several hours. However, the other party remained unyielding, even stating that their offer might increase to 40 billion yuan in a few days.
Wang Qing Tian was so enraged that he slammed the table and walked out. He could not agree to such an extortionate demand. Moreover, even if he agreed now, who knew if the other party would not raise the price to 50 billion yuan again.
As Wang Qing Tian sat in his hotel, lost in worry, he received a phone call from a vice president of the China Association of Traditional Chinese Medicine.
This person invited Wang Qing Tian for a chat, saying he would introduce someone who might be able to help Bing Tian Pharmaceutical overcome its current crisis.
So, Wang Qing Tian went out. An hour later, at a coffee shop near the hotel, Wang Qing Tian met the capable individual mentioned by the vice president.
This was a young man in his early twenties. One could tell that his demeanor was extraordinary, his arrogance palpable, and he exuded an aura of confidence unlike that of an ordinary person.
"Hello, Mr. Wang. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Situ Liu Guang..."
Upon hearing the name, Wang Qing Tian's face immediately fell. He knew this person, of course, because the current predicament faced by Bing Tian Pharmaceutical and the Wang family was entirely orchestrated by this person.
He was also aware that this person had forced his way to their home, pressured the elder, and even used force to try and abduct Wang Bing Xia.
He turned to leave immediately. There was nothing to discuss with such a person, and no need to show any pleasantries.
"Mr. Wang, are you leaving just like that? Won't you sit down and have a chat, perhaps a cup of tea?" Situ Liu Guang said with a smile, as if he had anticipated Wang Qing Tian's reaction.
"There is nothing for us to discuss. You know what you have done, and I will not do business with someone like you!" Wang Qing Tian stated righteously.
"Then do you believe that as soon as you walk out of this room, Bing Tian Pharmaceutical will never be able to acquire Feng Yuan Pharmaceutical?"