There was an Audi parked outside the entrance of Huaqing Hospital. A foreign came down from the backseat in a silver suit. He had a height of 6’0” who looked to be in his mid-thirties. His facial features were well proportionate as if a grandmaster engraved them. He wore a black leather shoe with his blond hair reflecting from the gel.
The president of Flowerview Hospital, Tao Qiuping, went up to shake hands with this foreign man and smiled, “Welcome, Mr. Nicholas.”
Nicholas was a vice president of America’s Ferry Pharmaceutical Conglomerate in Asia’s headquarters. He had an excellent personal relationship with Tao Qiuping. He had been participating in several medical forums for the past few days. When Tao Qiuping heard that Nicholas was in Beijing, he invited the latter to the hospital for a visit.
Coincidentally, Nicholas came at the same time when Su Tao was giving his talk.
Tao Qiuping also made a timely arrangement. He will first bring Nicholas around the hospital before inviting him to participate in Su Tao’s talk, striking two birds with one stone.
Nicholas spoke out in proficient mandarin, “Mr. Tao, you’re too polite. You’ve always been receiving me personally whenever I visited China.”
Waving his hand, Tao Qiuping replied, “It’s my honor that you can accept my invitation. We have a talk in the hospital today. So you can take a look at it if you have time.”
“Oh? What talk is it about?” Nicholas was briefly stunned before he sounded his curiosity.
“It’s a talk on TCM. The lecturer is a specialist from the Central Healthcare Bureau, a National Healer for short. Furthermore, he’s barely in his twenties.” Tao Qiuping quickly explained.
Tao Qiuping’s words piqued Nicholas’ words as he smiled, “Then I’ll have to thank Mr. Tao first for giving me the chance to meet this National Healer.”
Nicholas came to China this time with the objective of Ferry Pharmaceutical Conglomerate, making a full entrance into China’s market. The Huaqing Hospital was a first-class hospital in Beijing. It might not be comparable to Tianhe Hospital, but it was also an iconic hospital.
For marketing public relations, the Huaqing Hospital was more appropriate. Tianhe Hospital was too influential in Beijing, and they would be restrained in the negotiation with them. On the other hand, starting with Tao Qiuping could solve the problem and have an example. The Ferry Pharmaceutical Conglomerate could make a full entrance into China with one or two examples.
Nicholas was aware of the huge business opportunity in China after the collapse of the Cambell Pharmaceutical Company. The Neuer Pharmaceutical Conglomerate had withdrawn from China’s market. So other pharmaceutical conglomerates were coming for this opportunity.
Ferry Pharmaceutical Conglomerate might not have a huge pie of the market in China compared to Cambell Pharmaceutical Conglomerate. However, they still had to seize the opportunity to enter the market as the second biggest.
Most importantly, Nicholas heard some news that was unfavorable to his company. The Italian Tosca Pharmaceutical Conglomerate was making preparations to enter the market. They even reached a cooperative relationship with Yan Peng, a famous merchant.
Following Tao Qiuping inside, Nicholas stood before a poster. He stood and stared at the poster for a long time before he smiled, “This is Su Tao, the National Healer who’s giving the talk?”
“Yeah. You know him?” Tao Qiuping smiled, nodding his head.
Shaking his head, Nicholas replied, “I don’t. I’m just surprised by how young he looks. Please forgive me for being blatant, but China’s TCM doesn’t seem to be making any progress, in my opinion. Conmen have been disguising themselves as physicians over the years. So I don’t have a good impression of TCM. I hope that I can find a different impression of him.”
Tao Qiuping did not expect that Nicholas would comment on TCM in this manner. Nicholas might be telling the truth, but those words made Tao Qiuping feel uncomfortable. Then again, it might be due to Nicholas’ culture as a foreigner. Nicholas might be fluent in Mandarin, but he clearly did not have enough understanding of China’s culture. Some things couldn’t be spoken too blatantly, or it would only make things awkward.
Tao Qiuping had a high vision. He knew that Su Tao wasn’t an ordinary physician. How could someone who got through the National Healer’s examination be a conman?
Tao Qiuping bore it in his heart. These foreigners were all prideful of themselves, and they did not think much about TCM.
Then again, why would people need western medicine equipment if TCM was popular? Exquisite examination equipment costs hundreds of thousands. On the other hand, TCM did not require those pieces of equipment to make a diagnosis, saving a considerable chunk of money in the process.
Nicholas might seem blatant with his words, but how could someone in his position be that simple?
Why did so many people like watching American TV series? Not only were they trilling, but the personality of every character was unique. In Chinese dramas, the characters would usually come out as a good person. But in the American TV series, the characters could change between good and bad each episode.
That went with Nicholas’ ability to hide his true nature.
Nicholas was no stranger to Su Tao. He had conducted a detailed investigation of Tosca Pharmaceutical Conglomerate’s entrance into China’s market, in which Su Tao played a key role. Nicholas never expected that he would meet Su Tao today, which made him feel a little curious and vigilant. Su Tao was also a director of Tosca Pharmaceutical Conglomerate. He might only be a small director, but that meant that he was a potential opponent of Ferry Pharmaceutical Conglomerate.
TAo Qiuping had no idea what Nicholas was thinking about. He invited Nicholas to the lounge and instructed an administrative staff to bring a cup of coffee. After exchanging a few words with Nicholas, he received a call from the reception counter and smiled, “Mr. Su is here. Please take a rest here while I pick him up.”
“It’s okay. You can get busy with your matters first.” Nicholas smiled heartily. He slowly drank his coffee and started looking around. At the same time, he was pondering how he should get along with Su Tao later.
After Su Tao got out of the vehicle, he saw Tao Qiuping walking over. He first shook hands with Tao Qiuping before walking towards the lounge. When he entered, he saw a blond foreigner inside. He remained silent and waited for Tao Qiuping to make the introduction.
“This is Mr. Nicholas, the Vice-President of Asia’s Ferry Pharmaceutical Conglomerate.” Tao Qiuping introduced.
Su Tao had a smile on his face, but he was feeling puzzled. It seemed that Tao Qiuping wasn’t attentive enough on this matter. He wasn’t on the same path as someone from the Ferry Pharmaceutical Conglomerate, and it would be a surprise if there were no conflict putting them together.
Then again, Su Tao did not show it on his face and shook hands with Nicholas, “Hello!”
Nicholas felt Su Tao’s firm grasp and immediately pulled his hand back with a smile, “Mr. Su, I heard that you’re holding a talk later. I’m honored to be given the opportunity to learn about TCM.”
Despite having a smile on his face, Tao Qiuping knew that this foreigner wasn’t simple. What he said now was completely different than before. He could feel that Nicholas was hostile towards Su Tao, but he couldn’t understand where his hostility came from.
With a humble smile, Su Tao replied, “There will be lots of interactive sessions later. I’m just sharing some of my experience, and I hope that everyone can join in the discussion together for us to make improvements.”
“Why don’t I join as well? I’m acquainted with many American medical professors who can go online with you. What do you think?” Nicholas smiled.
“Won’t that be a little troublesome?” Tao Qiuping smiled. The original content of the lecture had already been determined, and making another online session would only make the lecture more complicated.
“It’s fine. Since Mr. Nicholas is so enthusiastic about it, I can have an online session with an American specialist. But you might have to get a translator because I’m not exactly an expert at it.” Su Tao seemed magnanimous. Then again, he naturally knew that Nicholas was planning.
This person wanted to show off his contacts in the medical industry, and on the other hand, he wanted to set up an obstruction for him. Su Tao even suspected that Nicholas wanted to ruin his reputation.
Nicholas behaved as usual. He just mentioned it tentatively, but he never expected that Su Tao would really agree with it. He smiled, “Then I’ll contact James right now. He’s the best general practitioner in America right now. He’s proficient in all kinds of intractable diseases and even provided healthcare services to the President in the White House.”
“You’re able to get in rough with Dr. James?” Tao Qiuping became excited. He had a western medicine background. So he naturally knew about this James that Nicholas was talking about.
“I just had a meal with him last night. But I have to contact him about this matter. After all, there’s a huge time difference here, and I’m not sure if he’s resting right now.” Nicholas shrugged.
It was 9 a.m. in China, which meant that it should be 9 p.m. in America with the time difference. Nicholas estimated that James must still have some time to spare at this moment.
Due to his outstanding ability, James held many medical positions at the same time.
He was also the medical consultant for Ferry Pharmaceutical Conglomerate, responsible for cutting-edge products. The conglomerate paid him five to six million a year to have his name there. This post was recommended to James by Nicholas, so Nicholas was confident that James could help him.
Nicholas then gave a call to James and stood outside the corridor. When James heard that the other party was an expert in TCM, he became interested and asked, “You’re saying that he’s only in his early twenties?”
“China is a society where you can use favors. He might have the support of his family to come this far. James, I hope that you can embarrass him later during the online session.” Nicholas whispered, clutching the headset.
“Why?” James lagged.
“Because he’s one of Tosca Pharmaceutical Conglomerate’s directors. This concerns if Ferry Pharmaceutical Conglomerate can expand further in China’s market.” Nicholas deliberately exaggerated the matter.
“Well, let me prepare a few questions to see if I can stump him.” James frowned as he began to plan how he could satisfy Nicholas’ request.
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