74: Chapter 74 The Degenerate Capitalist!
Eight-thirty in the morning.
Inside a luxurious bedroom covering over two hundred square meters on the third floor of the main building at Twelve Oaks Manor.
Lin Tian slowly opened his eyes.
As soon as he opened his eyes, he saw the mature woman lying beside him, staring at him with her large, watery eyes.
Lin Tian smiled slightly and asked casually, "Sister Meier, what's the matter?"
Jiang Meier had long since grown into a mature and beautiful woman, radiating the gentle grace unique to Eastern women, completely devoid of the ostentatiousness of Western women.
She was like a good cup of tea; the more you savored it, the more flavor you found.
"It's nothing, Young Master, it's time to get up!"
Although the two had long since consummated their relationship, Jiang Meier still blushed whenever Lin Tian stared at her.
Lin Tian teased with a smile, "I really want to be a decadent ruler who never holds court again!"
"Pfft!" Jiang Meier couldn't help but laugh. "Young Master, you really think of yourself as an emperor!"
Even though Lin Tian had corrected her countless times, telling her to call him by his name, Jiang Meier was stubborn and insisted on calling him Young Master, as it rolled off her tongue.
"What's an emperor? How could an emperor be as comfortable as me? Cooped up in the Forbidden City all day being watched by an old hag—just thinking about it makes me feel sorry for them!"
"Alright, Young Master, stop with the glib talk!"
Jiang Meier smiled, pulled the silk quilt over her body, and sat up against the headboard.
She reached out and rang the brass bell beside the bed.
The bedroom door was soon pushed open.
A group of young girls in maid outfits filed in, carrying washbasins, towels, mouthwash, and clothing, and lined up in front of the bed.
The head maid, Helen, spoke respectfully, "Master, please freshen up!"
"Alright!" Lin Tian got out of bed and finished freshening up with the maids' assistance.
The maids efficiently helped him change into a well-fitted red suit.
He didn't even have to lift a finger to put on a single piece of clothing the entire time.
Regarding this decadent capitalist lifestyle, Lin Tian only wanted to say: Please, let me stay this decadent forever!
After he was dressed, The Old Butler, Butler John, who had been hired from England, walked in.
The Old Butler was burly with a straight posture and a white, bushy beard.
Ever since the manor renovation was completed five years ago, he had been managing the family business for Lin Tian.
He kept the massive estate in perfect order, a true model among butlers.
"Sir, Miss Elizabeth just called the manor!" Butler John reported, bowing with his right hand over his chest.
"What did she say?" Lin Tian asked while letting Jiang Meier help adjust his tie.
"Miss Elizabeth said that the ten thousand doses of Sulfonamide have already been distributed. But the crowd gathering outside St. Louis Hospital is only growing larger!"
Upon hearing this, Lin Tian helplessly covered his forehead.
He glanced at the clock on the mantelpiece.
What the hell time is it, and they're already out? Why didn't that girl think to limit the supply with tickets!
Even though the production cost of Sulfonamide was as cheap as dirt.
Long before this thing was developed, the system had provided the complete, top-tier production process for free.
But Lin Tian was counting on the exorbitant profits from selling the medicine to make back the money he had spent buying shares in Wells Fargo.
How could he keep acting like a sucker and giving it away for free? Did they really think he was running a charity?
Lin Tian calculated for a moment and instructed the butler: "Butler John, call the person in charge of the pharmaceutical factory and have them send another five hundred doses to the hospital!"
"Understood, Sir!" The Old Butler acknowledged the order and withdrew.
After breakfast, the time reached nine o'clock.
Lin Tian got into his car and headed straight for The New York Times building in Times Square.
Meanwhile.
It wasn't until ten in the morning that the pharmaceutical factory's delivery truck finally arrived at the hospital with the five hundred doses of Sulfonamide.
The hospital authorities used a megaphone to announce that production was limited and that this was the last batch of life-saving medicine for the day.
The crowd outside the hospital gates completely erupted.
The families of patients who couldn't buy the medicine were red-eyed with anxiety, shouting at the top of their lungs: "Sell the medicine to me, I'll pay any price!"
"I'll pay ten dollars!"
"You think you can buy life-saving medicine for ten dollars? Who do you think you are! I'll pay twenty dollars!"
"Thirty dollars!"
"Forty dollars!"
In the scramble to get the medicine, the price of Sulfonamide skyrocketed like a rocket, climbing all the way to eighty dollars per dose before it finally slowed down.
This was an era where you could have a hearty meal with meat for just twenty cents!
Even the market price of gold was only thirty dollars an ounce.
Eighty dollars had long since left the same weight of gold in the dust!
Unfortunately, St. Louis Hospital was a non-profit public hospital, and its major shareholders were giants like Rockefeller and Lin Tian who weren't short on cash.
No matter how much the people below shouted, it was impossible for the hospital to sell the medicine at a high price privately.
Once the last five hundred doses were gone, Sulfonamide became a legendary item on the market that was impossible to buy, regardless of the price.
The day after the miracle drug was released.
Major newspapers were frantically hyping it on their front pages.
The Washington Post: The Gospel of the End of the Century! A Life-Saving Miracle Drug You've Never Heard Of!
Chicago Tribune: Eight Years Later, Bruce Lin Creates Another Miracle; A Miracle Drug Descends!
Los Angeles Times: Sulfonamide! The Greatest Medical Miracle for Humanity in the Nineteenth Century!
With the frantic promotion by major newspapers, the reputation of the miracle drug Sulfonamide instantly spread across the United States.
By the third day, the miracle drug was finally officially stocked and on shelves in pharmacies across the country.
Countless ordinary people rushed into pharmacies with money in hand.
But when they saw the price tag of thirty dollars per dose on the counter, everyone was stunned.
A single dose of medicine was actually being sold for as much as an ounce of gold!
The pharmacy owner, however, argued confidently: "Everyone, this is a brand-new medicine! Mr. Bruce Lin spent eight whole years of effort on it. The newspapers have all written about it—he passed his own home seven times without entering, and only ate one meal a week! It's a miracle drug created after pouring in countless research funds, so what's wrong with it being a bit expensive?"
"Is this medicine that can bring people back from the brink of death not worth thirty dollars? Or are you saying your lives aren't worth thirty dollars?"
After hearing this, many people pondered it and felt that it actually made sense.
The big boss had poured in mountains of gold and silver, spending countless efforts.
If he didn't make any money, everyone would actually be afraid to buy the medicine.
In a capitalist society, making money was only natural.
If the boss wasn't making money, the common people would definitely suspect the medicine was poisonous!
Everyone gritted their teeth: Damn it, buy it!
In less than a week, three hundred thousand doses were sold like crazy across the United States!
Subtracting the negligible production costs, Lin Tian made a net profit of over five million dollars!
What is exorbitant profit? This was the craziest kind of exorbitant profit!
The pharmaceutical industry had always been the most profitable business in the world, often making more money than selling narcotics or drilling for oil.
Such speed in snatching money naturally attracted a bunch of jealous people.
Some tabloids began writing frantic articles to criticize him.
"Selling medicine at sky-high prices and still daring to make excuses about insufficient production capacity? This is all just a black-hearted method for unscrupulous capitalists to amass wealth!"
"If Bruce Lin really cared about the common people, he should release the patent for the formula for free, so everyone can afford the miracle drug!"
"A black-hearted businessman consumed by money! Sky-high priced medicine comparable to gold, the poor can only wait to die!"
Some newspapers with ulterior motives went all out.
This time, without Lin Tian needing to say a word, The New York Times directly published a counterattack.
"Someone actually shamelessly demands that the patent be made public for free for a new medicine that Mr. Bruce Lin spent eight years and countless real gold and silver to develop?"
"Setting aside whether federal law protects private property, if this precedent is truly set, who would be willing to pour money into researching new medicines in the future?"
"Once a medicine is created, the mob clamors for it to be free. Please use your brains and think: in the long run, can human medicine still progress?"
"This newspaper has reason to suspect that this is some hostile nation with ulterior motives, trying to use these despicable methods to steal our country's highest technological achievements! This newspaper calls on police departments everywhere to investigate this to the end!"