Chapter 302 — The Question of Seed Capital
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
And Wei Zhao actually had a formula of similar efficacy? Then again, thinking of Wei Zhao's painkiller formula, Guan Xuewen did not doubt for a moment that Wei Zhao was merely boasting.
If he said he had it, then he certainly had it; if he said it worked, then it certainly worked. Of this, Guan Xuewen was utterly convinced.
"If it truly exists, then together with the painkiller formula we already have, these two flagship products brought to market could well put us on equal footing with the divine physician Kang." Guan Xuewen nodded. He had little interest in business dealings, but his interest in Wei Zhao's formulas was boundless.
"Grandpa Guan, I'll put up the formula as my stake and borrow your reputation—what say you to the two of us jointly founding a pharmaceutical company?" Wei Zhao laid out his intent.
Through their several encounters, Wei Zhao had come to a rough understanding of Guan Xuewen: the old man held fame and fortune lightly, was almost entirely without desire, and yet prized formulas above all else—not out of greed to claim them for himself, but out of a wish to study their pharmacological properties.
"My reputation—you're welcome to use it..." Guan Xuewen waved a hand. "I lack neither food nor clothing; there's no use for more money. But do you know how much capital it takes to establish a pharmaceutical company? Especially since with a formula like this we must keep it in our own hands and cannot contract the work out to other factories—we'd also need a full production line to match. Without a hundred million in seed capital, I'm afraid it simply cannot be done!"
"A hundred million?" Wei Zhao had no such business experience and was slightly taken aback. "That is rather a lot. Grandpa Guan, do you have the money? I could take a smaller share of the equity, that's fine too."
A hundred million was nothing at all to the Wei Zhao of before. Though the old man had lied to him that a single assignment paid only a few hundred yuan, Wei Zhao knew very well in his heart that many of his own assignments had run into the hundreds of millions—he simply had not been willing to quibble with his stingy old man, for that was the man who had raised him, and there was no need to reckon matters so precisely with him.
Only now did Wei Zhao find himself genuinely short of money, and only now did he realize that without money, nothing could be done.
"Heh heh... My money, beyond what covers ordinary daily expenses, has gone almost entirely to medical causes from consultation fees." Guan Xuewen smiled. "You know as well as I do that at my level, one has little to spend money on—the school basically reimburses all daily expenses."
Wei Zhao was somewhat at a loss now. It seemed he had been a bit too simple in his thinking, assuming that with a formula in hand the money would follow; the matter of seed capital had never crossed his mind.
If it came to drawing in investors, Wei Zhao could manage it—were he to explain the industry's prospects to Gu Pengzhan, he was sure the man would be interested. But Gu Pengzhan's own company had not even sorted out its internal problems, and Wei Zhao was unwilling to hand over the formula to a company he had so little confidence in.
It was not that Wei Zhao did not trust Gu Pengzhan; the crux was that whether the company would even belong to Gu Pengzhan in the future was another matter entirely. And even if it did, judging by those several bastards among the shareholders—men capable of orchestrating the assassination of Gu Mengyao—there was no telling whether the sight of this formula would set their greed ablaze and move them to seize it for themselves.
"My eldest son does have that kind of money in hand, but I will not use his money." Seeing Wei Zhao silent, Guan Xuewen went on: "He is a somewhat covetous man. He must not be involved in this matter!"