Chapter 1872 — A Sudden Turn of Events
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
With that, Kang Jingming turned and walked away.
Divine Doctor Kang sighed, his face growing heavier by the moment.
"Grandfather, don't listen to Zhaoming's nonsense. He must still be shaken by what happened before—give him a few days and he'll be himself again!" Kang Jinglong was only too glad to see Kang Jingming in such a state; if Kang Jingming kept sliding into despondency, the hour would come when Kang Jinglong was once more the heir apparent.
"Guifeng, Zhaolong, the two of you had better get over to that launch and see what Wei Zhao and Fatty Lai are really up to!" Divine Doctor Kang spoke with a distinct unease. "There are things we cannot afford not to guard against..."
"Yes, sir..." Kang Guifeng and Kang Jinglong answered, though neither took it seriously. The Kang family's products were selling like the noonday sun; they did not believe Doctor Guan Pharmaceuticals had any trick left to turn the tide.
Of course, it never occurred to them to ask: had Doctor Guan Pharmaceuticals not also stood at its noonday height once—and had it not gone down the road to ruin in the blink of an eye?
At the new-product launch, to the astonishment of every media outlet present, Fatty Lai unveiled several new products, each one matched item for item against the Divine Doctor Kang Pharmaceutical Company. Aside from the earlier trauma medicine, still heavily promoted and now priced roughly on par with Divine Doctor Kang's—though a shade dearer—every other product was in fact priced considerably higher than the Divine Doctor Kang line!
Every reporter in the hall and every onlooker in the crowd was left blinking in disbelief. At such prices, with such similar products, how did Doctor Guan Pharmaceuticals expect to compete with the Divine Doctor Kang Pharmaceutical Group? It held no advantage whatsoever!
True, many had already noticed that Divine Doctor Kang's golden wound medicine was plainly not as effective as it once had been—but it won on price. Doctor Guan's trauma medicine worked well but cost more, and given the choice, most people would settle for second best.
And though Doctor Guan's trauma medicine was also on promotion, it was buy one, get one free—ninety-nine yuan for two bottles, forty-nine fifty apiece—whereas Divine Doctor Kang's golden wound medicine was ninety-nine yuan for three, working out to a mere thirty-three yuan a bottle!
Set side by side, not one of Doctor Guan's products held the advantage. Admittedly, if the trauma medicine still worked as it once had, some customers might pay a little more for the Doctor Guan version—but what of the other products?
Yes, the superstar Xu Shilan was their spokeswoman, but unless one were an utterly devoted fan, who would pay more for Doctor Guan's goods? Everyone else would sooner not play the dupe. It was not that they could not afford it; there was simply no reason to spend the extra money.
"Hmph, and I thought they'd have some clever trick up their sleeve. It looks like Father was worried over nothing!" Standing amid the crowd, Kang Guifeng gave a cold laugh and said to Kang Jinglong, "Nothing but a parrot mimicking others, no innovation at all, and the prices sky-high into the bargain. If they can beat our Kang family, I'll eat my hat!"
"Exactly. Who knows what Kang Jingming frets about all day long. If Wei Zhao meant to come after us, he would have come long ago—why wait until now? Look at the Gu Group: how much the An family swallowed down, and how much they had to cough back up. That starting capital for Doctor Guan Pharmaceuticals is probably the settlement the An family paid Wei Zhao." It had to be said, Kang Jinglong's guess was uncannily accurate—he had struck the nail square on the head.
"And what good does any of that do them? Come on, let's go back. Apart from Xu Shilan's fans, no one will buy their products," Kang Guifeng said.