Chapter 331: Five Years 2.0

"Hmm, not bad, Xiao'e, you really have a head for business, but you are pregnant now, so you should still rest more. Once the pharmaceutical factory goes into production, hire two secretaries to help you."

"Hehe, okay."

Zhang Ping'an had already laid out the company's organizational structure last time, so they just needed to recruit accordingly. In Xiangjiang, as long as you pay enough, there are plenty of people willing to work for you.

In the afternoon, Zhang Ping'an met with Jia Youwei again. The company's initial car models had already entered the market and, with their extremely high cost-performance ratio, were rapidly capturing market share.

They also adopted Zhang Ping'an's suggestion to donate one hundred police cars and five hundred motorcycles to the Xiangjiang Police Force within two years.

The factory security was also recruited from retired police officers; these two moves directly discouraged the underworld and business bigwigs who wanted to come and get a piece of the pie.

"Ping'an, you came at just the right time, take a look at my second son."

The forty-five-year-old Jia Youwei lacked the sloppiness of a tech geek; instead, he was crisp and capable. Just as he said, he had been sloppy for over a decade, and in the future, he only wanted to live exquisitely.

"Second Brother, mixed-race children really are better looking."

"Hahaha, envious? You should find one too, anyway you aren't..."

"Ahem, Second Brother, I am a devoted person."

"Mm-hmm," Jia Youwei rolled his eyes at him and continued.

"Come with me to the factory later to take a look. Those models you drew are already on the production line. They should be assembled today, and after testing, we expect to be able to sell them by the end of the year."

"No, let's do it next time. I have to go back tonight, and I still need to go see Dahu and the others later."

"Mm, that's fine too. Here, take these photos to Big Brother."

"Okay."

Leaving Jia Youwei's place, Zhang Ping'an went to see Qian Dahu. The gate security already recognized Zhang Ping'an, so they saluted and let him through.

Children were having classes in several classrooms, and more than a dozen teenagers around twenty years old were training on the training ground.

"Master, you came at just the right time. This is Er Nizi, my wife, she is the martial arts instructor here," the burly Qian Dahu introduced with a bashful expression.

"Oh? Not bad, not bad." Er Nizi's leopard-like muscle definition, especially the muscles in her legs, must have amazing explosive power; only Qian Dahu could handle her.

"Master."

"Mm, who did Er Nizi learn her martial arts from?"

"Master, Er Nizi's is a Family Martial Arts, Tan Leg."

"Yes, Master, I am from Lu Province in my hometown, I would like to ask for your guidance."

"Alright."

Zhang Ping'an didn't mind. Er Nizi did indeed have some foundation, and she was from Lu Province, which was the birthplace of Tan Leg, though it was later incorporated into Ji Province.

Moreover, he also knew Tan Leg, and the manual even had annotations from various martial arts masters of the Republic of China era; he believed he wouldn't be any worse than Er Nizi.

The training ground quieted down, and a space was cleared in the middle. For a time, legs were flying in the training ground, and it was all shadows of kicks.

"So fast."

Zhang Ping'an maintained a level on par with Er Nizi, feeding her moves until she ran out of stamina.

"Master, you also know Tan Leg?" Er Nizi panted heavily.

"Mm, I know a thing or two."

"Master, please continue to teach me."

"Get up. I won't be here for long, but every time I come over, I will take the time to spar with you. As for how much you can learn, that depends on yourself."

If Zhang Ping'an hadn't seen that she and Dahu were already married, he definitely wouldn't have taught her, but since she was already one of his own, Zhang Ping'an naturally wouldn't be stingy.

Although Qian Dahu wasn't very smart, he was serious about martial arts. Er Nizi being able to gain his approval meant the two had clearly been together for quite some time.

And Zhang Ping'an saw that Er Nizi was a straightforward person, not pretentious, so it was no wonder she could get along with Dahu as a couple.

"Alright, thank you, Master."

Zhang Ping'an returned to the office with Dahu, and Dahu explained the development of the stronghold.

"There are currently one hundred and ninety-five people: forty-five are over twenty, eighty-five are over fifteen, thirty are over ten, and the rest are under ten."

"Mm, cultivate them well. The pharmaceutical factory will likely need about twenty security guards by the end of the year, so you can arrange for people to go over then."

"Also, go register a security company here first, so that business dealings will be more convenient in the future. If it can't be registered, then delay it for two years."

"Yes, Master."

"Mm."

At five o'clock, he returned to the villa to say goodbye to the children and the three women, then Zhang Ping'an returned to the small fishing village and drove back to the procurement point.

Time flew by, and a year passed in the blink of an eye. Jia Youwei's cars were already on sale; the steady and imposing business sedans and the wild and domineering SUVs, paired with Jia Youwei's exclusive technology, hit the G-spot of foreigners perfectly.

"Oh my god, this is simply unbelievable. Such a cool and unique design is actually from an Oriental."

"Wow, we must poach him."

"Yes, this person is definitely a mechanical genius. If we poach him, our technology will advance even further."

However, no matter how they inquired, they didn't know who the designer was, as the Lou family and Jia Youwei did a good job with confidentiality.

The Lou, Jia, and Zhang parties all made a fortune. Zhang Ping'an received over 1.3 million USD in dividends in one year, just like picking up money.

At the same time, the Skin Cream from the Xiangjiang pharmaceutical factory had successfully spread widely in the circle of wealthy ladies, but it wasn't on sale to the public yet, as they were producing and stocking up with all their might.

The same went for the Medicinal Wine, a gospel for men. In Xiangjiang, there were no shortage of men like Lou Bancheng who had several concubines; after experiencing it, they all scrambled to place orders, but it was also limited in quantity.

With the background checks from Lou Bancheng and his several concubines, the final price for the Skin Cream was set at one hundred USD per bottle (five hundred grams), and the Medicinal Wine was priced at two hundred USD per bottle (jin).

Zhang Ping'an also used the car dividends to rent storefronts for the pharmaceutical factory in the main bustling areas of Xiangjiang. Although they were only about fifty square meters, it was enough for the initial stage.

Lou Xiaoe's child was also born, a girl named Zhang Wanyi. Now Zhong Mingzhu was also pregnant and would give birth in another half a year.

Li Aihua also became pregnant in February, with her due date also at the end of the year. By this count, Zhang Ping'an already had thirteen children, big and small.

Returning to Sijiucheng, the Siheyuan second generation had added quite a few newborns this year. Now every family basically had three children, and Qin Huairu had also given her job to Xiao Dang.

Another two years passed in the blink of an eye. The Skin Cream and Medicinal Wine were known to everyone on the market, but they still couldn't meet market demand. This wasn't because Zhang Ping'an was using Hunger Marketing, but because production capacity couldn't keep up.

So, while expanding the pharmaceutical factory, Zhang Ping'an also mixed the Skin Cream he made with space herbs over the past two years with the ordinary ones in a certain ratio to launch a mid-to-high-end series, which successfully harvested many more wealthy ladies; the same went for the Medicinal Wine.

Zhang Ping'an earned a fortune, and at the same time, he handed the original share certificates to the four concubines of Lou Bancheng, who all accepted them with beaming smiles and promoted them even more diligently within the circle of noblewomen.

Compared to the Skin Cream and Medicinal Wine, other Chinese patent medicines like cold medicine and deworming medicine seemed obscure, but their penetration rate in the lives of the common people was decent, as they were high-quality and inexpensive after all.

It was now June of 1975; Xiangjiang had been affected by the bursting of the stock market bubble the year before last, causing property prices to be cut in half, and Zhang Ping'an took the opportunity to buy up all the pharmacies while also hoarding a large amount of land last year for future development.