Free Web NovelChapter 426: Chapter 426: Negotiating the Contract
Li Xu and Ding Kaifang walked into the Aloe Vera field, carefully observing the plants’ growth.
Although the soil here was different from the one at Perfect Company’s base, the Aloe Vera’s condition was in no way inferior. In fact, some of the plants looked even more robust.
The sheen on the leaves and their plumpness both indicated that these Aloe Vera plants were rich in active ingredients.
"The quality of this Aloe Vera is excellent."
Li Xu was pleasantly surprised.
Ding Kaifang was just as happy, the worries in his heart swept away.
He hadn’t been able to find a suitable Aloe Vera base along the Yunyuan River, but unexpectedly, he’d found such a high-quality resource here.
Moreover, this was Ma Jinhua’s village, which would make cooperation even more convenient.
"Village Chief Ma, how large is this Aloe Vera field? Can it supply Ding’s Pharmaceutical exclusively?"
Ding Kaifang asked impatiently.
Village Chief Ma replied, "President Ding, this plot is about eight hundred mu. However... before the new year, our village had already decided to clear out all this Aloe Vera and plant Aconite instead. If you need Aloe Vera, we can give you this season’s harvest, but after that, there won’t be any more. Unless..."
His tone shifted as he stated his condition. "Unless the price you offer is the same as the profit the villagers would make from planting Aconite."
Hearing Village Chief Ma’s condition, Ding Kaifang did a quick calculation.
He factored in core elements like land costs, seedlings, fertilizer, labor, and depreciation, and quickly estimated the figures:
Currently, the annual profit from one mu of Aconite is about 24,000 yuan.
However, Aconite requires crop rotation. After one year of planting, the land needs to lie fallow for two to three years. This means the actual annualized profit needs to be reduced by 50%, bringing the adjusted comprehensive profit to around 15,000 yuan.
Aloe Vera, on the other hand, has the advantage of long-term returns; a single planting can be harvested continuously for five to eight years.
From the second year onward, there are no more seedling costs, and the profit per mu can rise to 13,000 yuan.
After comparing the two, the difference in annualized profit was only 2,000 yuan.
For Ding’s Pharmaceutical, this difference was completely acceptable.
What’s more, they primarily acquired Aloe Vera for making cosmetics, which had a very generous profit margin.
Never mind raising the acquisition cost per mu to 15,000 yuan; even raising it to 20,000 yuan wouldn’t significantly impact their final profits.
Ding Kaifang made a swift decision and agreed. "No problem. Village Chief Ma, we can sign a contract. From now on, the annual purchase price for Aloe Vera will be based on the market price of Aconite for that year, ensuring the villagers’ profits are equivalent to what they’d make from planting Aconite."
Village Chief Ma was overjoyed to hear this.
He immediately convened the village committee and discussed Ding Kaifang’s terms with the villagers.
The villagers were delighted to learn that Ding’s Pharmaceutical was willing to purchase their Aloe Vera at a price equivalent to the profits from Aconite, and on a long-term basis. After all, growing Aloe Vera was relatively less labor-intensive and less risky than Aconite.
Soon, the village committee and the villagers reached a unanimous agreement.
That very afternoon, Ding Kaifang signed a formal Aloe Vera procurement contract with Anchi Village.
The contract stipulated that Ding’s Pharmaceutical would purchase Curaçao Aloe from Anchi Village long-term, at a price that ensured the villagers’ profits were equivalent to those from Aconite. This not only solved Ding’s Pharmaceutical’s raw material supply problem but also provided a stable source of income for the villagers of Anchi Village.
Given that Aloe Vera gel should ideally be extracted within six hours of harvesting, it was impossible to transport the plants all the way to Feng City for processing.
Therefore, Ding Kaifang decided to build a small processing workshop right there in Anchi Village for preliminary processing on-site.
However, as the general manager of Dingshan Group, he couldn’t personally oversee this matter indefinitely.
He called a manager from his company who was in charge of infrastructure and production, telling him to come to Anchi Village as soon as possible to take charge of the project.
With all the arrangements made, Ding Kaifang booked a flight for the next day, preparing to leave first and entrust the follow-up matters to his professional team.
Just as Ding Kaifang, Li Xu, and Village Chief Ma were discussing the details in the village committee office, a young man from the village named Ma Xinhong went to find Ma Rui.
Ma Xinhong was in his twenties. Although he was on the leaner side, he looked healthy, with no obvious signs of illness.
He said somewhat mysteriously to Ma Rui, "Brother Rui, I heard Doctor Li is incredible—that he cured your illness. Could I trouble you to introduce me? I want to see Doctor Li for a consultation."
Ma Rui was a bit puzzled.
He looked Ma Xinhong over and asked doubtfully, "Xinhong, you look perfectly healthy. What’s wrong with you? Tell me, maybe I can give you some advice."
But Ma Xinhong just stammered and hawed, refusing to say what it was, and only insisted that Ma Rui make the introduction.
"Oh, come on, Brother Rui, just stop asking. It’s... just an illness. Please, just put in a word for me with Doctor Li."
Ma Rui couldn’t refuse him. After all, they were like brothers from the same village, and they saw each other all the time.
So, he had no choice but to take Ma Xinhong to the village committee office.
"Doctor Li, President Ding, Dad!"
Ma Rui pushed open the door and said, a little embarrassed, "This is Ma Xinhong from our village. He’s not feeling well and would like to see Doctor Li." fгeewebnovёl.com
The three of them stopped their conversation and looked at Ma Xinhong. freёweɓnovel.com
Li Xu asked, "Where are you feeling unwell?"
Ma Xinhong, however, glanced awkwardly at Ding Kaifang and Village Chief Ma, then looked back at Li Xu and stammered, "Doctor Li, uh... could I... could I speak with you privately?"
Ding Kaifang and Village Chief Ma were both shrewd men. Seeing Ma Xinhong’s hesitant and fumbling demeanor, they immediately understood.
They exchanged a knowing smile and stood up without a word.
"Alright, you two talk then. We’ll go for a walk," Ding Kaifang said with a smile.
"Yes, yes, you two talk. I’ll take President Ding to see the Aconite over there."
Village Chief Ma chimed in with a smile.
With that, the two of them left the room.
However, just as they stepped outside, they heard Ma Xinhong’s hushed, somewhat muffled voice from inside: "Doctor Li... I... I’m... impo-tent..."
Ding Kaifang and Village Chief Ma glanced at each other, then simultaneously stopped in their tracks, straining their ears to listen.
Village Chief Ma, in particular, was older and had occasionally experienced similar issues in recent years, so he was naturally paying close attention.
Inside the room.
Li Xu didn’t rush into a diagnosis. Instead, he asked, "Have you seen other doctors about this before? Do you have your medical records?"
Ma Xinhong was prepared. He quickly pulled an envelope from his jacket, which contained a thick stack of medical records.
There were diagnostic reports from Western doctors as well as prescriptions from other traditional Chinese medicine practitioners.
Li Xu took the records and leafed through them carefully.
He noticed that the diagnostic conclusions in these records almost all pointed to "damp-heat in the liver channel."
Therefore, the prescriptions from the previous TCM doctors were all primarily aimed at clearing liver heat and resolving dampness to unblock the yang.
After reading through the records, Li Xu placed them back in the envelope and asked, "Did you see no effect after taking these medicines?"
