Not long after Wang Qiqi and the others were seated and had exchanged a few polite pleasantries, Li Qian placed the sought-after tea in front of Wang Qiqi.

Wang Qiqi looked at the suddenly appearing tea. Her first thought was whether Sister Qian had deliberately given it to her while Uncle Ye wasn't around, trying to keep her and Uncle Ye apart? Although the outcome would be the same, Wang Qiqi felt like something was missing. Was it really that stolen things taste sweeter? "Sister Qian is still the best to me."

"Don't thank me, your Uncle Ye said you liked it, so he asked me to prepare it." Ye Ruizhi was the one who asked her to prepare this in the first place, and Li Qian had no intention of claiming the credit.

Prepared by Ye Ruizhi? Wang Qiqi was startled by Li Qian's words. "Uncle Ye prepared this for me?" Wang Qiqi wondered how Uncle Ye could be so kind. Although he would eventually give her the tea, he certainly wouldn't give it so easily without putting her through some trouble first. Him giving it so readily today made Wang Qiqi feel very strange, but she secretly raised her guard, not wanting to be completely disoriented by Uncle Ye later. "Did the sun rise in the west today?"

Everyone laughed upon hearing Wang Qiqi's teasing words. This girl really seized any opportunity to speak ill of Ye Ruizhi.

Ye Ruizhi walked out of the room just in time to hear Wang Qiqi speaking, and he became angry. "Ah, is that how you treat me? If I give you tea, you say the sun rose in the west. If I don't give you tea, you call me stingy." As Ye Ruizhi passed Wang Qiqi, he tapped her head, eliciting a few rolls of her eyes, as expected.

"Hello, Uncle Ye," Shi Man and Zhu Lina greeted him.

"Hello, Uncle Ye," Song Yao also stood up and said very respectfully.

Seeing the group of people looking so deferential, Ye Ruizhi inwardly sighed about how dull it was. He considered himself a good-tempered person, so why were they all treating him like a formidable enemy? "Sit down, sit down."

Shi Man knew Ye Ruizhi was a good person, but she always felt immense pressure around him. Of course, Shi Man figured that since he was the boss, a certain degree of respect for Uncle Ye was appropriate.

Zhu Lina didn't share Shi Man's thoughts; it was just that Ye Ruizhi carried a heavy aura of authority, especially in his gaze, which made one feel completely exposed. Zhu Lina admired Qiqi for being able to joke and laugh so freely around such a formidable figure, wondering if she was just thick-skinned or if it was due to how long she had known Ye Ruizhi.

Song Yao viewed him as a well-educated person. Although Song Yao also read books on economics frequently now, overall, she felt quite inferior in her heart.

"Uncle Ye, I was just startled by you being so incredibly generous," Wang Qiqi showed no embarrassment at being caught. "If you were usually more generous, would I have said that about you?" Wang Qiqi unceremoniously pushed the entire reason for her comment onto Ye Ruizhi.

Ye Ruizhi's eyebrows twitched. So, in the end, it was all his fault. "Then perhaps I should be stingier. By the way, I'll take that tea back." Whether he gave it or not led to harsh words, so he might as well not give Qiqi the tea at all.

Oh, the boss is getting stingier, wanting to take back something he gifted me. Wang Qiqi was furious and swiftly shoved the tea into her bag. "What tea are you taking back? This is my tea now."

Wang Qiqi's swift action of putting the tea in her bag made Ye Ruizhi’s eyes twitch. This kid had been abroad for a while and couldn't even distinguish between truth and lies anymore. "It's fine, take the tea. I will settle the payment with you." Had this foolish girl forgotten that he still owed her wages?

Wang Qiqi immediately lost her swagger. It was only then that she remembered she still relied on Uncle Ye for money. Her expression instantly changed to one of fawning adoration. "I was just joking with Uncle Ye. Uncle Ye is such a generous person..." Compliments poured out as if they were free.

Everyone present watched Wang Qiqi switch her expression so quickly while lavishing praise on Ye Ruizhi, and they all had the same thought: Wang Qiqi, where did your integrity go? How could you be so spineless?

Wang Qiqi noticed Shi Man sending her a look of "contempt" and felt wronged. She didn't want to be like this either, but the money was in the boss's hands, so she had to bow her head. "Sister Qian, I'm hungry. Can we eat now?" Sigh, forget it, let's eat first. Once we've eaten well, we can discuss the cooperation matter.

Li Qian went to the kitchen to ask the auntie if they could start serving, then announced, "Time to eat!" Getting the meal over with early so the auntie could clean up meant they could start discussing matters. In Li Qian's view, setting up the Traditional Chinese Medicine wellness center involved far too many issues to handle; the shareholding structure was a minor problem.

Everyone knew that the following discussion would concern the cooperation details. Nobody drank much at the table. After a quick meal, Ye Ruizhi returned to his study to handle his affairs. Li Qian took a sip of tea and was the first to speak, "I've been thinking about opening the TCM wellness center these past few days. Putting aside the issue of doctors for a moment, we have another problem to face: the procurement of Chinese herbs."

Was that a problem? Wang Qiqi and the others exchanged glances. To be honest, this wasn't a problem even for Zhu Lina, let alone Wang Qiqi. Why would Li Qian bring it up specifically?

Wang Qiqi saw the confusion on everyone's faces. She pinched her nose and asked first, "Sister Qian, can't we just source from the pharmaceutical companies?" It's not like they won't sell us herbs just because we're a private wellness center, right? We aren't refusing to pay. Nowadays, pharmaceutical companies are privately run, even if they are nominally state-owned. As long as we pay them, what's the issue?

Shi Man and the others nodded in agreement. They had originally thought they were meeting today to discuss funding and future management and operations. They wondered if Li Qian had some new ideas.

Li Qian knew that was what Wang Qiqi and the others were thinking. Of course, she knew getting supplies from pharmaceutical companies wasn't an issue. "But doing so will cut into our profit margins significantly." The pharmaceutical companies also procure from the raw material producers. It's possible they are reselling after several transfers. Even at their most favorable price, how much profit could we retain? While the wellness center wouldn't lack money, that middle portion of the profit would just be lost to them. Li Qian preferred to deal directly with the raw material sources. Even if our initial volume was small and we might not get preferential pricing, it certainly wouldn't be more expensive than buying from the pharmaceutical companies. Once business picked up, pricing could be negotiated, and crucially, quality could be guaranteed. "Besides, haven't you considered that maybe in the future, we could also wholesale Chinese medicinal materials?"

Getting Chinese herbs directly from the source? And wholesaling medicinal materials? Wang Qiqi felt that her small-scale plan, with Li Qian's involvement, was ballooning into something much bigger. This wellness center was initially conceived as an added service for the beauty salon, but in Li Qian's vision, it might become even more successful than the beauty salon. Was this the difference between the rice I eat and the salt Sister Qian consumes? Or perhaps, even though I've been reborn, my experience doesn't match Li Qian's insight, coupled with my inherently small-scale thinking? Thus, despite the grand scale, I hadn't dug deep. For instance, Wang Qiqi only thought about opening more branches for the wellness center, never considering wholesale operations for the herbs.

Zhu Lina quickly recovered from her surprise. "Sister Qian, wholesaling Chinese medicinal materials isn't that easy, is it?" Although the Zhu family wasn't involved in medicine, she knew that many processes required permits, and getting approval for something on the ground was difficult enough, let alone in the capital.

"We can handle that while getting the necessary licenses when we open," Li Qian suddenly recalled an old classmate who worked in the health department. If Ye Ruizhi hadn't mentioned seeking her help for permits, Li Qian would have completely forgotten. "Of course, this is just my idea. Once the shop is set up, maybe we won't even care much about the profits from herb wholesaling. But as long as our materials are good and slightly cheaper than what the pharmaceutical companies offer, we won't have to worry about customers seeking us out."

Wang Qiqi and the others understood Li Qian's implication: she had connections to acquire these licenses. Moreover, even if the profits from herb wholesaling weren't substantial later on, sourcing directly from the origin meant that if someone noticed their booming business and tried to cause trouble, their supply chains would be diversified. The cost for that person to try and control them wouldn't be insignificant.

Wang Qiqi and the others thought that no matter how appealing the pie Li Qian was painting, if even a small part of what she said was true, it could save costs. But the problem remained: "We don't understand Chinese medicine. What if we receive low-grade materials, or they substitute similar herbs?" Wang Qiqi analyzed calmly. Her initial idea of sourcing from pharmaceutical companies was precisely to ensure stable channels; generally, they wouldn't take such risks. But procuring from other regions meant many things were beyond their control.

"The TCM doctors we hire will understand! Besides, we aren't just hiring doctors; we need people to dispense the herbs too," Li Qian realized they were true novices who didn't grasp the fundamentals. After all, nowadays, most children got sick from Western medicine, rarely seeing a TCM doctor, so they knew nothing about prescribing and dispensing herbs. "You all really haven't done any preparatory work. You weren't just expecting dividends once the money was put in, were you?" Even Zhu Lina could be forgiven, but how could even Qiqi, who was so eager to open the wellness center, have made no moves?

When Li Qian pointed this out, both Wang Qiqi and Shi Man lowered their heads. They actually felt quite wronged. They had assumed they wouldn't be involved in management since they would mostly be abroad long-term, but hearing Li Qian's words made them genuinely uncomfortable.

Seeing the two of them bowing their heads, Li Qian realized her words might have been too harsh, but she didn't know how to comfort the two girls, and the atmosphere instantly grew a little subdued.