A little after seven in the evening, An Wuyang arrived home carrying fresh meat skewers packed from Xiao Fang Fresh Meat Barbecue.
'Beep Beep Beep~'
The fingerprint lock verified his identity. An Wuyang pushed open the door, changed into slippers in the entryway, and only realized that his parents were also in the living room when he walked in.
An Wuyang paused slightly, then asked, "Have you eaten?"
As he asked, An Wuyang raised the bag of skewers from Xiao Fang Fresh Meat Barbecue in his hand.
Li Wenya countered, "You haven't eaten yet?"
"Mm, I packed them to eat at home." An Wuyang did not explain further, lest they get sidetracked and his parents start asking all sorts of questions again.
His mother in particular was a marriage lawyer, and marriage lawyers certainly did not lack a taste for gossip.
"Have you finished dealing with the group's affairs?" An Wuyang asked casually.
An Huchun replied with a denial. "No. In fact, the group is facing an even more complicated situation now."
When An Wuyang had messaged An Huchun earlier, An Huchun had already mentioned this matter.
"So what trouble has the group run into this time?" An Wuyang asked in return.
An Huchun remained silent for several seconds before saying, "You know our group is a family business, right?"
"Of course!" An Wuyang answered firmly. "Our Wugengtian Pharmaceutical Group is a private, unlisted company wholly owned by our An Family."
An Huchun continued, "If some capital were willing to invest in Wugengtian, take on all of Wugengtian's debts, and offer a huge premium as well, what would you think?"
"Huh?" An Wuyang complained, "Dad, did you run into a scammer?"
An Huchun said nothing.
Li Wenya likewise said nothing.
Facing their silence, An Wuyang realized that An Huchun was not joking.
An Wuyang asked in confusion, "Did we run into some ridiculously generous fool?"
"Or does the other party have some harsh demands?" An Wuyang added.
He leaned toward the latter possibility. After all, where were there so many ridiculously generous fools these days?
"Do you remember where our ancestral home is?" An Huchun asked.
"Tianjing Village?" An Wuyang was still confused. "Ever since Grandpa passed away, haven't we only gone back once a year during the Qingming Festival?"
"Then do you know that our family owns a 15,000-mu medicinal herb planting base in Tianjing Village?" An Huchun continued asking.
An Wuyang answered firmly, "I know."
"Wait!" An Wuyang suddenly realized. "I remember that Tianjingyan Medicinal Herb Planting Base doesn't belong to Wugengtian Pharmaceutical Group. It operates independently and is responsible for its own profits and losses, right?"
"So this investor has set its sights on our family's medicinal herb planting base?" An Wuyang quickly analyzed.
An Huchun confirmed An Wuyang's answer. "That's right! This investor really has taken a liking to our family's medicinal herb planting base, and they've offered extremely generous terms."
"What terms?" An Wuyang asked curiously.
"First, 150 million yuan in cash after tax, with the investor covering all processing fees and tax expenses," An Huchun explained.
"Second, the investor will take on all the debts of Wugengtian Pharmaceutical Group, as well as the related employee severance compensation," An Huchun added.
"Finally, we can retain ten percent of the equity in the newly established joint-venture group, receive a seat on its board of directors, and obtain one percent of the equity in the investor's parent company. We'll also receive a seat on the supervisory board of the investor's parent company," An Huchun continued.
Hearing such generous terms, An Wuyang showed no sign of happiness. Instead, he asked hesitantly, "Aren't these terms too good?"
"So what harsh demands did they make?" An Wuyang pressed.
An Huchun did not conceal them. "First, the investor wants to merge our Tianjingyan Medicinal Herb Planting Base and Wugengtian Pharmaceutical Group into a new joint-venture group, and rename it."
"So they want us to give up the name Wugengtian Pharmaceutical Group?" An Wuyang complained.
An Huchun nodded.
"Second, the investor is Tsumura & Co. from Japan," An Huchun revealed the investor's identity.
"Tsumura Pharmaceutical." An Wuyang frowned immediately.
"Dad, don't agree to it!" An Wuyang pleaded.
"Tsumura Pharmaceutical's ambitions are enormous. If I remember correctly, they've already acquired several traditional medicine companies in our Xia Kingdom, and merged with a great many medicinal herb planting bases," An Wuyang added.
A smile appeared on An Huchun's face. He had never actually considered selling Wugengtian Pharmaceutical Group to the Japanese!
Now that An Wuyang had rejected the Japanese acquisition, An Huchun was naturally delighted.
"You're absolutely right," An Huchun said first.
"Tsumura Pharmaceutical's ambitions are indeed extremely vast," An Huchun added.
"For example, when it comes to overseas patents for our traditional Chinese medicine, we ourselves control less than ten percent, while Tsumura Pharmaceutical holds nearly seventy percent of the overseas patent rights for traditional Chinese medicine." An Huchun used the figures to illustrate Tsumura Pharmaceutical's ambitions.
"For another example, last year Tsumura Pharmaceutical spent 1.2 billion yuan to acquire eighty percent of Jinmen Shengshi Baicao Traditional Chinese Medicine Company, bringing a high-quality traditional Chinese medicine modernization company into its fold." An Huchun cited another acquisition to demonstrate Tsumura Pharmaceutical's ambitions.
"Besides, we aren't Tsumura Pharmaceutical's only target. Rumor has it in the industry that Tsumura Pharmaceutical is negotiating a partnership with a time-honored brand with nearly four hundred years of history," An Huchun said, sharing industry gossip.
An Wuyang raised his brows. "A time-honored brand with nearly four hundred years of history in the pharmaceutical industry? Isn't that Kenzo Group?"
An Huchun did not deny it. "There's another frightening figure. As early as 2015, when there were only 195 GAP medicinal herb planting bases in our country, Tsumura Pharmaceutical already owned more than seventy!"
"That matter caused a tremendous uproar at the time. Later, Tsumura Pharmaceutical chose to control domestic GAP medicinal herb planting bases through complicated equity structures. Now, no one knows exactly how many GAP medicinal herb planting bases in Xia Kingdom Tsumura Pharmaceutical controls." An Huchun sighed.
An Wuyang fell silent. He knew that Tsumura Pharmaceutical's ambitions were vast, but he had not known that it had already gone this far.
Its arrangements at the very top of the traditional Chinese medicine industry chain were actually this extensive?
An Wuyang suddenly thought of a possibility and hurriedly asked, "Is there any investment from Tsumura Pharmaceutical behind Caimai Pharmaceutical?"
An Huchun shook his head. "I don't know."
"Caimai Pharmaceutical isn't a listed company, so it doesn't need to publicly disclose its shareholder information," An Huchun explained.
"Are you suspecting that Caimai Pharmaceutical deliberately targeted us in this round of centralized pharmaceutical procurement, and that Tsumura Pharmaceutical is actually pulling the strings behind the scenes?" An Huchun was a clever man as well, and he figured out what An Wuyang meant.
An Wuyang answered firmly, "I do have that suspicion!"
Before you continue