Spy Wars: Red Shopkeeper

Chapter 153 Drugs
As the largest pharmacy in the Chinese-speaking world, Qi, the owner of Jiuzhou Pharmacy, was skinned alive by Gu Yansheng, and his shelves were emptied, yet he is still alive and kicking.

He was wearing a jacket and fiddling with beads at the door, chatting and laughing with the still-charming female owner of the rouge shop next door.

"Boss Qi, what a dashing sight!" Gu Yansheng stepped out of the car and looked at him with a smile.

When Qi Wuzhou saw Gu Yansheng, he involuntarily shrank back, almost scared out of his wits.

He immediately rushed up with a smile: "Director Gu, your presence is an honor to our humble abode."

"Did I disturb your conversation? You shouldn't be busy." Gu Yansheng glanced at the female shopkeeper next door, who gave him a flirtatious wink and smiled even more happily.

"No disturbance, of course not, Director Gu, please come in." Qi Wuzhou wiped away non-existent cold sweat. What did "not busy" mean? Was he implying that he hadn't been diligent in his work?

Gu Yansheng liked the smell of Chinese herbs in pharmacies. He took a deep breath but didn't say anything.

Qi Wuzhou bowed and took the initiative to report, "Director Gu, I know we are a bit slow, but it is definitely not because we did not take this matter to heart. Please listen first, have a cup of tea, and I will explain it to you in detail. Xiao Liu, bring chrysanthemum tea!"

Director Gu, after our meeting, we discussed it and felt that with such a large volume of goods, it wouldn't be good for each of us to operate independently. First, it would easily lead to competition, and second, everyone would undermine each other, so we might not be able to complete the task.

So we all got together and banded together. Those with connections contributed their connections, and those with resources contributed their resources. We went directly to the production areas of various medicines and found capable people in those areas to source the goods, just like someone like you.

This way, the problem of large-scale supply can be solved. As long as this powerful person is dealt with, the rest will be no problem.

We need to spend more time finding this person, but once we reach an agreement, we can get a large quantity of goods.

Of course, although we had this idea in mind, we didn't forget our core business: reselling small quantities. It's just that the quantities are small; for example, we only bought about fifty kilograms of quinine, so I'm embarrassed to tell you that.

Xiao Liuzi placed the chrysanthemum tea on the table. Gu Yansheng didn't drink it either. After he finished speaking, he asked, "So, has everything been settled?"

"The quinine deal is done." Qi Wuzhou perked up. "This is exactly what you need. The first thing we discussed was getting quinine. The officials in Southeast Asia aren't any good. We found a local gang. Now it's just a matter of negotiating the price. We're almost done. Those guys are desperate for money and are asking for an outrageous price."

Qi Wuzhou bent over, smiling sheepishly.

"You're quite efficient at getting things done, have a seat." Gu Yansheng picked up the chrysanthemum tea, blew on it, thought for a moment, and then put it down without drinking it.

Snatch the items from the shop owner. This shop owner knows about pharmacology, so I hope he doesn't add anything like arsenic or croton oil.

The boss was smiling and about to sit down after receiving the praise, but when he saw that Gu Yansheng hadn't drunk any, he sat up again.

Gu Yansheng didn't have time to worry about his mood. He put down his phone and asked, "How much exactly? I don't understand anything too complicated. Just tell me how much it will cost to purchase and how much it will cost to deliver to Shanghai."

Qi Wuzhou paused for a moment: "The locals buy it for 300 silver dollars per kilogram, but the local gangs, with shipping costs, will charge 800 silver dollars per kilogram in Shanghai."

Gu Yansheng scoffed upon hearing this: "Those local gangs are really ruthless. They charge 50 silver dollars for one ton, and 500 million for ten tons."

The cost of transporting ten tons of medicine is just a matter of one ship, it doesn't cost much at all.

However, this account is not right. At that time, Mitsui's Sato Seiken gave $40 in exchange for two tons of quinine, which is equivalent to $1 for 5 grams of quinine.

That's $0.2 per gram, roughly 0.8 yuan.

Normally, Sato would have offered them a price that was cheaper than theirs.

But now, even with the gang extorting money, the smuggling cost is only 0.8 silver dollars. Just how expensive is it for the Japanese to buy quinine themselves?
"Has this purchase price always been the same?"

"No, it's definitely more expensive if you buy less, and even more expensive if foreigners buy. But we found a local gang and they stepped in. I guess they used some tricks, so the price is particularly cheap. But the brokerage fee is too expensive. How can they be so shady?"

In the end, it's actually more expensive than our original purchase price. We used to buy it for about half a dollar per gram, just in smaller quantities.

Gu Yansheng didn't seem to care.

This is an interesting deal; they bought two tons of quinine, even though they initially thought they would lose money.

Even at this exorbitant price, we still won't lose money.

He initially thought they would make up for the losses by selling other drugs, but it's true that you have no right to speak without investigation. He was still discussing with Ding Mocun how much they would lose on quinine, and he was led astray by Sato's thinking.
Qi Wuzhou smiled obsequiously: "Director Gu, because you asked us to sell to you at the price of one gram of gold for ten grams of quinine, which is about 0.4 silver dollars per gram, so, hehe, we wanted to talk to you and try to lower the price a bit. That way, when you buy other medicines from us, our financial pressure will be lighter, right?"

"You don't need to worry about that. If we can talk, we can talk. If we can't reach an agreement, we should order the goods as soon as possible. I'm concerned about time."

Instead of wasting time haggling over prices, it would be better to secure the goods sooner, or to reduce the number of anti-Japanese soldiers who die. In any case, this money can be earned back from other sources.

"Yes, yes, I'll contact the people over there right away."

"What about the other medicines?"

Qi Wuzhou then talked about the situation of other medicines, and the most sought-after smuggled drugs were mainly sulfonamides and morphine.

Sulfonamides, including medical devices, are imported from Germany, which requires dealing with German customs. Alternative countries include the United States and the United Kingdom.

Morphine is made from opium, which can be imported from India and Myanmar and then produced in private workshops in Shanghai. However, its effects certainly do not meet medical grade standards.

The sources of medical morphine are still Germany, the United States, and Japan itself.

So these people from Qiwuzhou are now attacking German customs. Theoretically, if they take over Germany, they will have all the major medicines, including aspirin.

"Sometimes you have to try a different approach. Don't think that you have to win over officials. Officials have big appetites, but the people below them may not be. Throwing a sum of money, maybe ten thousand US dollars, can make the people below lose their bearings and desperately try to find a way to get you out. If you can't get out, they won't feel at ease taking the money."

This is how customs work in Germany, and it's the same with the gangs in Southeast Asia.

The big gangs are greedy, but the second-largest gangs may not be.

"In Nanyang, you can get ten tons of quinine in one go. Once the goods are ready, when you're making the deal, you can try to steal it from their rival gang. What's worth 800 million, you can probably handle for 80."

Qi Wuzhou's eyes widened, and his scalp tingled. This idea was beyond imagination; it was ruthless enough.

"Alright, hurry up. I hope to see your medicine soon. I don't care how you got it or how much you spent. If you really manage to get ten tons of quinine for 80, I'll still buy it from you at the agreed price of 100 million US dollars. Anything more is yours."

As soon as he finished speaking, Qi Wuzhou's blood boiled, "Is what Director Gu said true?"

If that's the case, then they can earn 300 million silver dollars on this trip! 300 million!
Who needs rival gangs? We'll just recruit 1000 fearless warriors from Shanghai and rob them of their lives!
Get some Czech rifles and some grenades, and these Southeast Asian bumpkins are no match for you.
They'll turn around and say they're Japanese, and then come after me to Shanghai if they dare!
"Of course, I don't care about the process, I only care about the result. Call me if you have any news."

Although Gu Yansheng is no longer with the municipal government, Liu Xiaolou is still there and can be contacted.

(End of this chapter)