Urban Super Medical Saint

"I am somewhat interested in investing in the herbal tea drink factory, how much money did you borrow back then?" After listening, Ge Dongxu saw Yuan Li's eyes filled with tears and handed her a tissue while asking.

Ge Dongxu said he was interested in the herbal tea drink factory not because he wanted to help Yuan Li specifically but because her words reminded him that it was a good investment opportunity.

Herbal tea is "neither cool nor tea." It is a beverage commonly made in Lingnan, Hong Kong, and Macau from a complex combination of locally produced herbs or single herbs, brewed to create a drink that cools the body internally, dispels "internal heat," and addresses conditions such as heatstroke in summer or dry throats in winter. People have developed herbal teas based on local climate and soil conditions, guided by traditional Chinese health-preserving theories and using herbs as ingredients, providing benefits like clearing heat, detoxifying, generating fluids to quench thirst, and dispelling dampness.

The climate in Jiangnan Province is actually quite similar to that of Lingnan and Hong Kong, especially in coastal cities like Ouzhou, where there's a traditional habit of drinking herbal tea due to the easy onset of heatstroke from the humid and hot summers. In Changxi County, during this season, one can find vendors selling herbal tea on the streets everywhere. These vendors mostly sell herbal tea made from Immortal Herbs.

The history of herbal tea is long, tracing back to the Shang Dynasty of Huaxia Country. An important figure in the history of Huaxia Country's herbal tea is Ge Hong, a Taoist and medical scholar from the Eastern Jin dynasty, who is regarded as the founder of Taoist herbal tea.

It is said that in 306 AD, Ge Hong moved to Lingnan. At that time, due to the prevalence of local diseases, he was able to thoroughly study the various fever-related medicines of Lingnan. Later, the medical works left by Ge Hong and the subsequent compilations by medical scholars in Lingnan formed a rich cultural foundation for Lingnan herbal tea, with formulas and terminology passed down through generations. The renowned "Lingnan Medicine Valley" herbal tea, for example, adheres to the authentic formulas originated by the founder of Taoist herbal tea.

Unfortunately, during the "Cultural Revolution," the culture of herbal tea was severely damaged. Not only were herbal tea shops closed, but artifacts related to the production of herbal tea, such as tools, sites, relics, historical documents, and photographs, were almost entirely lost. Fortunately, some of these cultural aspects were partially preserved in Hong Kong and Macau. Famous formulas like He's Original, Shangqing Drink, Huang Zhenlong, and Wang Laoji have been passed down from generation to generation.

Ge Dongxu, as the direct descendant of Ge Hong, the founder of Taoist herbal tea, naturally inherited a variety of unique and complete herbal tea formulas. However, Ge Dongxu habitually categorized this heritage under the field of medicine and never considered brewing herbal tea that is cooling but not cold, clearing heat without harming the spleen and stomach, non-toxic to the liver and kidneys, suitable for all seasons, preventative when healthy, and therapeutic when sick, "fighting dryness in autumn and winter, dispelling heat and dampness in spring and summer," and certainly healthier by many times than foreign sodas like Coca-Cola or Pepsi.

Because he hadn't thought of this aspect, Ge Dongxu had never considered setting up a herbal tea drink factory, especially since he didn't have much money before. However, now, although he still doesn't have money in his pockets, he owns land. Those twelve acres of land could be sold for as much as 3.8 million currently.

3.8 million, at this time in Changxi County, is definitely a huge amount of money, enough for him to invest in several small herbal tea drink factories.

"Thank you for your kindness, Dongxu. But when we invested in the herbal tea drink factory, we were very optimistic about its future, which seems wrong now. Now, Liu Lihe can't come up with the money to pay off the loan, partly because he and Yang Hong secretly squandered it behind my back, and partly because of the poor business. Otherwise, if the business were booming, even their extravagant spending wouldn't have left them with not even a penny to their names. Moreover, you just mortgaged the factory to take out a loan not long ago, which shows you are also strapped for cash," Yuan Li said, moved by Ge Dongxu's interest in investing in the herbal tea drink factory.

Seeing Yuan Li still considering his situation under these circumstances, Ge Dongxu finally understood why her ex-husband and her cousin managed to deceive her to this extent.

This was a woman whose kind nature had not been worn down by society.
Your journey continues on empire

Because of this, Ge Dongxu became even more determined to help her, especially since he had planned to invest in a herbal tea beverage factory.

"You don't have to worry about that. Since I'm prepared to invest in a herbal tea beverage factory, I definitely have the necessary funds. For now, just tell me how much you've actually borrowed," Ge Dongxu said.

"550,000! The factory building and equipment are currently worth at most 300,000. The apartment I'm living in has 85 square meters, and because it's quite old, it could at most sell for about 50 to 60 thousand. I also have 30,000 in savings, and they might be able to squeeze out another 10 to 20 thousand from their side. So, the shortfall is roughly 150,000—a conservative estimate," Yuan Li, seeing that Ge Dongxu insisted, said with a bitter smile.

150,000, in this era, might be negligible for a county industrial and commercial bank branch manager, but at that time, it was an absolutely enormous amount. Just the interest for one year could amount to nearly half of Yuan Li's salary. So even though Yuan Li was the deputy manager of the Changxi County Industrial and Commercial Bank branch, she was tearful and utterly helpless about the money.

"Selling the apartment is out of the question. Can you, a dignitary deputy manager, really live in a rented house? Here's the plan, tomorrow at eleven forty, you book a car and wait for me at the entrance of Changxi No. 1 Middle School. I'll join you for a trip to the herbal tea beverage factory at Wangzhou Mountain. I'll see what the factory is like, and if it's passable, I'll invest 500,000 to buy it. But don't tell your ex-husband and cousin yet, let's see how much they can really contribute. They've already taken great advantage; they shouldn't continue to do so," Ge Dongxu thought it over and concluded that 500,000 was completely manageable for him, especially considering that if he had to build a new factory and buy new equipment, not only would it waste time, it would definitely cost more than 500,000. Therefore, he didn't mind spending 500,000 to buy the factory outright.

This way, not only could he start the herbal tea beverage business with relatively less investment and quickly, but he could also help Yuan Li weather her financial crisis, achieving two ends with a single action.

Actually, Yuan Li had only revealed the loan amount because Ge Dongxu had persistently asked her. She hadn't genuinely expected that Ge Dongxu would invest in the herbal tea beverage factory, considering it involved an investment of several hundred thousand—after all, who would casually throw in such an amount for someone they weren't very close with.

Unless that person coveted her beauty, or wanted to engage in a power-for-money trade, considering that her looks and physique were quite remarkable, and the position of deputy manager of the Changxi County Industrial and Commercial Bank branch did hold some power.

But Ge Dongxu was still a young man, and it definitely wasn't because he coveted her beauty or wanted to engage in a power-for-money trade.

So when Yuan Li heard Ge Dongxu say he really planned to invest money to buy their factory, and he was willing to pay an extra 200,000 for a factory worth at most 300,000, she was stunned and eventually said with disbelief, "You, you're really planning to invest 500,000 to buy the factory?"

ps: Brother Xu is finally about to start another promising business venture, support needed!