Jason Liu opened the payment app and scanned the code to make his purchase.
He left the pharmacy carrying a large plastic bag filled with various medicines. On the way back to his rental house, Jason Liu went into a supermarket, began browsing the items in the Hualian supermarket in his community.
He picked out two boxes of instant noodles, one box of sauerkraut, and one box of spicy beef noodles. He also grabbed a box of ham, two bags of toast, a bottle of Nongfu Spring water, two bags of frozen dumplings, and some snacks.
Additionally, he bought two large bags of White Rabbit candy and two big chocolate bars. To round out his shopping, he selected some fresh vegetables to stock the refrigerator at home.
With all these items, Jason Liu had to make two or three trips up and down the elevator to bring everything inside.
As he passed by Dr. Victor Clinic located on the ground floor of his building, Jason Liu felt a sudden urge to stop. He thought for a moment and then walked toward the small clinic.
Dr. Victor Clinic had only one doctor, who was in his fifties. The clinic had been in operation for over 20 years. It wasn't large, consisting of just two rooms.
In a clinic like this, patients typically came for minor issues like colds and fevers, where they would receive fluids or have their blood pressure checked. For serious illnesses, people generally went to the city hospital.
In the last couple of years, Jason Liu had visited this small clinic several times for colds, so he and Dr. Victor had become somewhat familiar with each other.
Pushing open the glass door, Jason Liu smiled and greeted Dr. Victor, who was sitting behind the medicine cabinet. "Uncle Victor, are you busy?
Dr. Victor, wearing reading glasses on the bridge of his nose and a white lab coat, looked up from the medical book he was reading. At that moment, the clinic was empty.
"Oh, Jason Liu!" Dr. Ma replied, setting the book down. He adjusted his glasses and asked, "What's the matter? Are you feeling unwell?"
"Actually, I didn't come here for a check-up," Jason Liu said, walking over to sit across from Dr. Victor "I just wanted to ask you something."
"What do you want to know?" Dr. Victor replied, raising an eyebrow in curiosity. He wondered what could possibly bring this young man into his clinic.
Over the years, Dr. Victor had developed a positive impression of Jason Liu, seeing him as a hardworking young man who often went out early and returned late. He frequently asked Jason for help with carrying medicines, and Jason was always willing to assist.
Seeing that they were alone, Jason lowered his voice and asked, "Uncle Victor, do you mind telling me where you usually get your penicillin? If I wanted to buy a large amount, is that possible?"
Dr. Victor was momentarily taken aback by this question. He looked at Jason in surprise. "Little Liu, aren't you working in sales? Since when did you start wanting to deal with medicines?"
After saying this, Dr. Victor tried to dissuade him. "Look, don't think Uncle Victor is nagging you. Your job is going well, and you're doing just fine. If you jump into an unfamiliar business like this, it could be a big mistake."
Dr. Victor frowned slightly, concerned that Jason didn't understand the complexities involved. "You see, the pharmaceutical industry has its complications. Without established hospital connections, it's hard to sell medicines at a decent price," he warned.
Jason nodded, understanding the implications of Dr. Victor words. He was aware of how challenging the pharmaceutical industry could be, but he had a different plan. He didn't want to enter the modern pharmaceutical market; instead, he intended to sell medicines to another world for significant profit.
What Dr. Victor said didn't really matter to him, but he knew he couldn't explain his true intentions. So, he pretended to listen, nodded in agreement, and continued, "Uncle Victor, could you help me out by selling me a few boxes of penicillin? I just want to test the waters. If it doesn't work out, I'll walk away from it."
Dr. Victor was surprised but also considered Jason's request reasonable. After all, selling a few boxes of penicillin wasn't a huge deal, and it wouldn't lead to any significant loss.
"Alright, I'll get you a few boxes," Dr. Victor said, thinking that perhaps Jason needed a little experience to see what this was all about.
"Thank you, Uncle Victor!" Jason said, feeling happy that he could buy a few boxes of penicillin. Then he hesitated and asked, "But Uncle Victor, penicillin is a prescription drug. If you sell it to me, will that cause any trouble?"
Dr. Victor waved his hand dismissively. "It's just a few boxes of penicillin! What's the big deal? Every clinic relies on penicillin to treat countless patients. As for you, it's not like you're planning to abuse it. Those small clinics don't care about a few boxes!" he explained.
As he spoke, Dr. Victor took out four boxes of penicillin from the cabinet. Each box contained ten vials, with each vial holding 1.2 million units.
Jason was thrilled to get the penicillin so easily. "Uncle Victor, how much does a box cost?" he asked eagerly.
Dr. Victor looked at the penicillin on the counter and casually replied, "This stuff is very cheap. If you get it directly from a pharmaceutical factory, it costs no more than 5 yuan per box, or about 50 cents per vial. If you buy a 25 kg barrel of penicillin powder, it will cost around 150 yuan, and one gram of raw powder has at least one million units. If you buy in bulk, the price can be negotiated further."
Hearing this, Jason was amazed—it was incredibly profitable! The production costs of finished drugs were so low that it was hard to believe.
The high prices many drugs commanded were mainly due to research and development costs added to the base price, as pharmaceutical companies sought to make a profit.
"The pharmaceutical industry really makes a lot of money!" Jason thought, quickly placing the four boxes of penicillin into his bag. "Uncle Victor, I also need ten syringes and twenty 2 ml vials of medical water for injection."
Dr.Victor nodded and gathered the syringes and injection water. He then reminded Jason seriously, "Before you inject penicillin, make sure to do a skin test. Don't forget!"
"Don't worry, I remember. I've had injections before!" Jason assured him quickly.
When it came time to settle the bill, Jason learned he was buying 40 vials of penicillin at 2 yuan each, ten disposable syringes at 1 yuan each, and two boxes of 2 ml medical injection water for a total of 4 yuan. In all, Jason spent 94 yuan at Dr. Victor clinic.
Dr. Victor also mentioned that penicillin, syringes, and sterilized medical water were extremely low-cost at pharmaceutical factories. If Jason could buy in larger quantities, he would find the prices to be several times cheaper than what he paid at the clinic.
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