114 - 1P vs. 3P

"Lingling, why are you working during dinner?" Rouxi watched Wu Ling as she furiously typed on her laptop at the dinner table. "We have a semester to work on our thesis."

They were casually eating out at Pao's Sichuan Restaurant after class.

"Looking up produce's prices," Wu Ling responded. "I'm thinking of doing my thesis on the agricultural market."

"I thought you're going to focus on the online marketplace, why the change?"

"Ju De's new property has a lot of new unused farmland."

Rouxi nodded. Li Yun had told Wu Ling that Ju De had created a pharmaceutical company. Wu Ling was skeptical that Ju De would create a company all of the sudden. Li Yun's explanation was simple, he was bored.

"They already have plans for the greenhouses, but they don't know what to do with the remaining fields," Wu Ling continued. "The factory is almost completely renovated and the greenhouses will be used to plant medicinal herbs to extract compounds."

"But isn't farming labor intensive? It's a lot more involved than Moondew and the profit margin is unstable. You really think it's profitable?"

"You do know Mr. Ma invested in farming? So there is market potential."

"Yes, but it's a dairy farm and he has made more from the Bababa store."

"I'm talking about something more in line with what DPP is doing, which is connecting farmers directly with consumers, by cutting out the middleman. They provide fresh produce directly to consumers."

"Yes, but DPP ended their first-party model and followed many big tech companies to create an open online marketplace. They are generating more revenues from the third-party model. So why are you using the first-party model?"

"First, it's to enhance the company's reputation. After DPP switched their business model, like many third party models, their customer satisfaction dropped. It is extremely difficult to monitor quality. Pharmaceutical companies already have a bad reputation. We aren't looking for profit by creating direct sales of the product, but to show the consumers that everything produced in the greenhouses and farm is high-quality product without artificial genetic modification. If high-end vegetables could be produced, consumers would equate it better than big pharma. It is more for positive publicity than sales, and the added income is a bonus."

Rouxi nodded, Wu Ling's business sense was a lot better than her own, probably on par with Xuxu. "Having a big portfolio and diversifying the business isn't a bad idea. You got all that idea from Ju De buying an old pharmaceutical company?"

"Cousin Yun recommended that I create a report for the unused land. If they like the proposal, they'll hire me after I get my degree. I just need to have someone make the app."

"So are you going to contact Bufu?"

At the mention of his name, Wu Ling scrunched her face. "Why would I want to contact him?"

"Because he's the only person you know who's even capable of making apps at that scale, and he works for Bababa, so he has a bit more knowledge."

"I have a lot of friends who know how to make an app."

"So you don't even consider him as a friend?"

Wu Ling thought back to her grandparents' gathering. She had been staying at the dorm, so she only returned to the apartment on the weekends. As for Bufu, he had also moved to a separate apartment, away from the noisy neighbors. He rarely ever appeared in the apartment.

It was strange seeing him again. They were close before as childhood playmates, but people drifted apart after growing up.

Wu Ling didn't like how Bufu turned out. He was a disappointment for a boy she used to have a crush on. She disliked him in the way he disliked Ning Xuxu for ruining his perception of women. It was strange because Bufu had a lot of female relatives. It wasn't like he treated any of his girlfriends poorly, but he had commitment issues like he couldn't trust himself or his partner to stay faithful.

"I kissed him at my grandparent's anniversary," Wu Ling confessed.

"I didn't see that coming."

"Are you being sarcastic?"

"Yes, and no. Why did you kiss him and what happened afterward?"

"I blame 5 shots of baijiu. Afterward, it felt a bit awkward, nothing happened afterward."

Rouxi wasn't sure she trusted that statement.

A few moments later, Li Yun walked into the restaurant. He had just finished working late at the factory.

After acquiring a bankrupt pharmaceutical company at the edge of Yide, Li Yun had been busy renovating the space. Needless to say, it was a lot of work. The bone and structure of the factory were relatively good, but the company that had originally built the factory ran out of money, so everything else was of poor quality. For a complex that was built less than ten years ago, he had to gut out the majority of the walls.

Li Yun wanted to create a sanitized working environment and create high-quality products. There were too many companies already cutting corners, and bankruptcy was often the end result.

The factory was quite large, so cleaning and rebuilding additional walls were time consuming. Labor was relatively cheap, but the time it took to get it exactly like how Li Yun wanted the space to function was turning it into a 2-months renovation project.

The architectural and engineering firm Li Yun had hired specialized in laboratory and pharmaceutical equipment. There was an existing laboratory, but it wasn't adequate for experimentation.

To speed up construction, Li Yun regularly took the time to work on the construction portion as part of his exercise.

"Uh, Dr. Li, are you sure you're allowed to frame the wall?" asked the construction supervisor. The construction crew was hired by the company, and they all naturally assumed Ju De was in charge.

"Don't worry about it," Li Yun worked until he tired out and returned to Dong Xuan Clinic to research afterward.

The crew was hesitant at first about Li Yun, but there weren't any complaints and they were paid the same as they were promised. Eventually, he worked there often enough that some of the crew thought he was just a regular construction worker like them.

During those two months, he was close to completing the modified TCM formulas.

As he finished, he drove back to Caoben Street for dinner.

"Hey," Li Yun hugged Rouxi lightly from behind, not wanting to get his sweat on her.

"You two are the bane to single people," Wu Ling sneered at the couple.

"No one invited you," Li Yun said as he sat down at the table.

The waiter arrived and he ordered a simple meal.

Since Rouxi was back to school, she didn't have time to cook on the weekdays, so they went out to eat instead. Pao Lie's restaurant was nearby and he had a really good chef, albeit, a bit strange in Li Yun's opinion.

"He's here!?" Pao Lie's head chef, Kaiyi, cried out from the large kitchen area. He had special senses when it came to Li Yun's arrival. "What did he order!?"