Chapter 549: Chapter 549: Asking a Question You Already Know the Answer To

Bai Zilan didn’t spend much time:

"Class C is 800."

"Class M is 1400."

"Class O is 300."

"Class F is 400."

Zheng Chunhua tried to observe her expression: "Do you have any recommendations for these four different drugs?"

Bai Zilan pointed at herself in confusion: "Uncle, are you asking me?

"I don’t have any recommendations. Besides the price differences, are there other differences between these drugs? I’m just a salesperson; I really don’t understand them.

"Why not buy the cheapest one? Since they are all special drugs, it would be less burden for the patients, and we could earn more.

"I’m just saying casually. Uncle, it’s still up to you to decide."

Zheng Chunhua did a simple calculation, adding up the four prices reported by Bai Zilan.

And then, he compared them with the previous quotes from Chen Guangming in his mind.

"Bai Zilan’s quote totals 2900, while Chen Guangming’s bundle price is 3000. The two prices are very close.

"Therefore, each of Bai Zilan’s quoted four prices should fall within the suggested retail ranges for these drugs, considering she can’t be sure exactly which ones or how many I will buy.

"Moreover, the four salespeople couldn’t meet each other, and in the early stages of the game, they shouldn’t be able to communicate and collude on prices.

"Both quotes offer a certain profit margin.

"Class M drugs are relatively the safest, so they are the most expensive. Qin Cheng’s judgment is correct."

Thinking about this, Zheng Chunhua asked: "How many bottles did you bring for each?"

Bai Zilan was a bit surprised: "Oh, I just brought one bottle each. Because I fear if I buy too many, it would be troublesome if they all end up with me.

"If you can confirm you want more, I’ll bring more next time."

Zheng Chunhua nodded: "Alright, I’ll buy all four bottles this time.

"Next time, you can bring more M class and O class drugs."

Bai Zilan nodded: "Sure, uncle. Then these four bottles total 2900.

"Why bring more M class and O class drugs? Is there any reason for these two?"

She looked at Zheng Chunhua curiously with a gleam of curiosity in her eyes, though not overtly apparent.

Zheng Chunhua shook his head: "Currently, I am also not clear about the specific differences between these drugs, but since the prices of these two are the lowest and highest respectively, it seems right to prepare more.

"The expensive M class drug has its reasons for being pricey, and the less expensive O class drug might be tested for mass sales with low margins.

"That’s how I consider it.

"Of course, if you have any new information or thoughts, you can also tell me."

Bai Zilan stared at Zheng Chunhua for a while, then nodded: "Alright, uncle, I’ll try to buy more bottles of M class and O class drugs next time."

Both completed the transaction using their Medical Cards.

Watching Bai Zilan leave the room, Zheng Chunhua let out a sigh of relief.

Luckily, things seem to be going smoothly for now.

According to Qin Cheng, actually, buying just the M class drug would be enough for Zheng Chunhua.

Among these four special drugs, C class codeine and M class morphine are relatively safe drugs, with lower addictive potential.

However, C class codeine is not necessary. It’s unlikely to fully treat special pain, thus cannot exist as a lifesaving drug.

It can only be considered as a superior substitute for general pain relief.

The truly valuable drug is only M class morphine.

However, Qin Cheng has already reminded him not to just buy M class upfront.

Given the current game mechanics, anyone who becomes a ’salesperson’ has likely invested a lot of Visa time, and it’s very unlikely they’re rookie players. Plus, they surely carry huge performance pressures within the game.

They will definitely try every way to sell their drugs at the highest profit.

If you start by only requesting M class drugs, it could reveal particular information to these salespeople, prompting them to prepare for this.

For example, both salespeople might deliberately refuse to sell M class drugs, leading to a stalemate.

That would put Zheng Chunhua and Qin Cheng in a very passive situation since salespeople can use special drugs to treat themselves anytime, while patients face increasing death risk without access to drugs.

However, based on the current situation, Zheng Chunhua feels Qin Cheng’s concerns are somewhat unwarranted.

Bai Zilan and Chen Guangming appear to be different types of players.

If Bai Zilan can cooperate and continue supplying M class drugs at 1400 medical points, it would be a happy ending for everyone.

As a salesperson, Bai Zilan can still secure some profit, and all the patients in Zone D can obtain life-saving medication, albeit at the cost of some medical points deposited before entering the game.

...

In the fourth round of the game, Zheng Chunhua waited for a while, and no application came from Qin Cheng, indicating that the situation in Zone D is temporarily safe.

During their last meeting, Zheng Chunhua had already given Qin Cheng a bottle of M-Class painkillers, and at most one infected person would appear in each area per hour.

This infected person has an hour to cure themselves, and they might not expose themselves immediately.

So, as long as Qin Cheng still has enough medication on hand, he won’t actively seek to meet Zheng Chunhua.

For Zheng Chunhua at this moment, it is more important to open up the drug sales channels to ensure that when more infected people appear later, the stock of M-Class medication will be sufficient for every patient.

Hence, after confirming that Qin Cheng had not sent an application, Zheng Chunhua still decided to meet with Chen Guangming.

Soon, the application was approved.

Appearing genteel and wearing gold-rimmed glasses, Chen Guangming entered the audit room and sat across from Zheng Chunhua.

Although his demeanor was appropriate and he seemed polite, for some reason, Zheng Chunhua always had a sense of danger, like looking at an oil painting depicting natural scenery that seemed apparent at first glance, but, on closer inspection, the colors and lines of the painting seemed to conceal a venomous snake.

So, from the beginning, Zheng Chunhua was somewhat wary of Chen Guangming, especially after being reminded by Qin Cheng.

The reason he still needed to meet Chen Guangming is because he couldn’t put all his eggs in one basket, depending solely on Bai Zilan as the only medication channel.

As the best solution for an auditor, it is still to source medication from both Bai Zilan and Chen Guangming and try to have them drive each other’s prices down to obtain M-Class medication morphine at the lowest possible price.

"Hello, have you considered it?"

"This time, I brought a lot of drugs. If you buy more, I can consider giving you discounts and offers."

Chen Guangming’s demeanor was very much like a professional salesperson. Zheng Chunhua suspected he might have previously worked in a similar profession, as some habits are hard to change.

After thinking for a moment, Zheng Chunhua asked, "Is it still a package sale this time?"

Actually, he could straightforwardly say he only wanted the M-Class drugs, but doing so might reveal unnecessary information to let Chen Guangming know the special nature of the M-Class drugs.

So, after considering, Zheng Chunhua decided to wait a little longer.

Chen Guangming nodded, "This time I brought 1 bottle of C-Class drugs, 5 bottles of O-Class drugs, and 5 bottles of F-Class drugs.

"Selling them as a package for 6000 medical points."

Zheng Chunhua frowned slightly, further confirming his previous suspicion that Chen Guangming was not a benevolent player.

Previously, Bai Zilan had already quoted the prices of four types of drugs, which, while having profit margins, were certainly within the suggested retail range.

Since it was just four numbers, after the last game round, Zheng Chunhua repeatedly memorized these four numbers: 8, 14, 3, 4.

Estimating based on these prices, the package price for 1 C-Class, 5 O-Class, and 5 F-Class drugs should be around 4300, already a price with profit margins.

However, Chen Guangming’s package price is over a thousand more than that, which is clearly exorbitant.

Clearly, this is an offensive probe. If Zheng Chunhua doesn’t realize the catch in this pricing, the next time they meet, Chen Guangming might have new tricks up his sleeve.

Zheng Chunhua leaned back, his expression darkening: "If you sell like that, I’m afraid we can’t cooperate.

"I’m not limited to getting medicine from only one channel.

"In the price you gave me, there’s at least over 2000 medical points in profit; isn’t that too much?"

But Chen Guangming didn’t mind; he smiled: "In business, you always leave room to negotiate.

"I’m asking for a high price, and you’re offering a lower counter. You should know very well the profit space isn’t as much as 2000.

"Tell you what, I’ll take a slight loss, my final offer is 5000 medical points; what do you say?"

Zheng Chunhua stared at him for a few moments, then said, "Why is there no M-Class medication this time?"

Chen Guangming shrugged indifferently: "Because the purchase cost is too high and the profit margin is too low, so I didn’t buy it."

Zheng Chunhua pursued: "Even with a smaller profit margin, there’s still some, right?

"That reason isn’t very convincing to me."

Chen Guangming shook his head: "As a seller, the funds I use for inventory aren’t infinite, and I have to consider the risk of ’dead stock’.

"Because the M-Class medication has a high starting price and low profit, buying it would mean a greater loss if it doesn’t sell, so I didn’t stock it.

"Have you ever done business? If you have, you’d know this is a common consideration."

After a pause for thought, Zheng Chunhua said, "Is the profit margin for this medication really low? Then I want to buy it even more.

"How about this: I can purchase more M-Class drugs; I think that precisely because of its low profit margin and high price, it’s likely more important for doctors and patients.

"You can have some profit margin, as long as it turns over; a high purchase price isn’t a problem, right?"

Chen Guangming looked at Zheng Chunhua for a while and then suddenly revealed a meaningful smile.

"Alright, let’s not pretend with each other anymore.

"You already know the special nature of M-Class drugs, right?"