Merchant and doctor

Chapter 1997 Yin Yang Floating and Sinking
The book "Qimin Shanglue" states: "Floating profits have their support, and business opportunities all come from those nearby..." The word "support" here means to pull or draw. It means that all commercial profits generated from non-direct labor do not fall from the sky for no reason. There must be some connection, someone to help you, or something to trigger them. The vast majority of business opportunities in the world come from people who are close to you.

During his leisure time, while casually flipping through books, Bian Mu was deeply impressed by these two sentences.

To put it simply, from ancient times to the present, there has never been any benefit without a reason!
No matter how capable a person is, or how popular they are, it's not like most of the good things in the world will fall into their laps, or that they'll always have endless opportunities to take advantage of others.

Although the two booksellers' identities were not suspicious and their conversation seemed reasonable to some extent, the key question remains: who, where, and why did this good fortune originate?

“Mr. Ma! May I ask who introduced you two to come directly to my door to discuss this matter? This is quite unexpected, and I'm deeply surprised. There are some details that need to be clarified.” Bian Mu asked the male salesperson.

"Oh! It's a task assigned by a higher-ups. One of our company's vice presidents specifically asked me to do it," the man replied with a smile without the slightest hesitation.

"Oh! What if I refuse outright?!" Bian Mu retorted with a half-smile.

Upon hearing this, the two were naturally taken aback.

"No... I heard you're going to be applying for a professional title soon. Wouldn't having an academic monograph increase your chances of getting approved?!" The woman chimed in with a smile.

"Really? I didn't even know I was going to be applying for a professional title. You two have some kind of precognitive ability! I admire you!" Bian Mu joked casually.

"The curator is joking. In such a large city as Lijin, can you find another person who can so easily and accurately diagnose the pulse of a cell phone and a radio?! It's unprecedented. As for whether there will be no one like it in the future, I think that's hard to say, right? Such astonishing skill in traditional Chinese medicine is something we've never heard of before. Taking advantage of this great era when traditional Chinese medicine is flourishing, we should publish a monograph on it. It benefits the industry, the people, and ourselves. Why not?!" As someone who frequents cultural circles, he knows how to speak.

"Oh! Have you two seen the relevant video or heard about this from a friend?" Upon hearing this, Bian Mu immediately became somewhat alert and asked without revealing his true feelings.

At that small industry gathering at "Lianhu," Bian Mu repeatedly asked his colleagues not to record audio or video. Not long after, he heard an outsider directly revealing the key technical details of the meeting. Naturally, Bian Mu was annoyed, feeling that his colleagues from the small clinic were ultimately not sophisticated and were untrustworthy.

"I heard from our Vice President Yang, is there a video? Would it be convenient to witness the master's amazing skills?" the man replied very naturally.

Hearing this, Bian Mu's emotions finally returned to normal.

"You're joking. As the saying goes, seeing is believing, hearing is deceiving! Rumors from the outside world shouldn't be taken seriously! If our conversation goes well, will I personally pay for this so-called monograph?" Bian Mu asked tentatively.

"No, it's not that. Our company is wholly owned by us. That means we will cover all the upfront costs. The subsequent sales will be conducted online and offline only after we have obtained your consent and authorization. The profits will be recalculated by both parties according to a certain ratio," the female salesperson explained in advance.

"Oh! I'm providing the manuscript free of charge, or..." Bian Mu inquired further. "Our company will buy the manuscript outright. Does that seem reasonable to you?" the saleswoman replied immediately, clearly eager to finalize the deal.

"Hehe... Now that you mention it, I'm actually quite curious. If I could really produce the kind of manuscript you're hoping for, I wonder how much your company is prepared to offer?" Feeling rather curious, Bian Mu asked casually with a smile.

"Well... if you can agree to this, we'll go back and ask Vice President Yang for instructions right away. The specific amount is handled by a colleague in another department. They'll send someone to coordinate with you afterwards. We're not really sure about the details..." the man replied.

"Oh! To be honest, I'm really curious. Just chatting, you two are industry insiders, and there are no outsiders here. If we're talking about the manuscript, how much is it estimated to be worth?" Bian Mu asked again with a smile.

Clearly, Bian Mu kept asking about the remuneration for the manuscript's patent nature, which surprised the two men quite a bit. They were caught off guard and were speechless for a moment.

“Alright, I won’t make things difficult for you two. Since it’s a commissioned article, the fee must be quite high. However… I’m quite curious, what word count range does your company aim for for this so-called pulse diagnosis monograph?” Bian Mu asked with a smile.

“50 to 120 words! Of course, this is just our estimate as laymen in the medical field. Whether it is simple or complex is ultimately up to you to decide!” the man replied very politely.

"Hehe... Is that so? Let me put it this way, as a representative of the 'numerical medicine' school, to be honest, a monograph like this could be written in just four characters, the so-called 'yin-yang floating and sinking,' that's it! Just four characters, add a cover and it's a book, really! Or it could be written separately, 'yin,' 50 words, 'yang,' about the same number, 'floating' might take more effort, and you'd need to add some illustrations and diagrams, and maybe some clinical cases, and before you know it, it could be 200 million words, and the last one, 'sinking,' is even more troublesome, after all, in the context of the new era, the pulse in big cities has tended to be 'near-sinking and difficult to sink' in recent years, which is also a key point of pulse diagnosis research. If you really let go and write it, 500 million words wouldn't be enough. You two tell me, how many words should this so-called monograph be?!" Bian Mu explained with a smile.

Upon hearing this, the two were dumbfounded.

After a moment of silence, the man replied very humbly, "The Master's strength is indeed astonishing, far exceeding the shallow misunderstandings of us laymen. I apologize for the lack of prior preparation; our arrival was indeed somewhat rushed. However... we are truly sincere and hope the Master will do his best to facilitate this matter, for mutual benefit! What do you say?"

"Thank you for your kind offer! The topic you've chosen for this manuscript is far too broad! If I were to accept this offer right now and receive a certain amount of royalties in advance from your company in a couple of days, it would take me at least three to five years to write it without a break. By then, would you still want this manuscript?!" Bian Mu replied with a smile.

The two of them seemed quite embarrassed at that moment.

"I'm so sorry, it's our fault for not being prepared in advance. Well... our company sincerely invites you to write an article. I wonder if we could sign a letter of intent first? Even if it's for five years, we are willing to wait for your masterpiece. Do you think... we can finalize this agreement today?" The man was quite good at negotiating business, and his attitude was excellent from beginning to end.

“I can’t write it! My understanding is this… what you’re actually looking for is a manuscript at the level of a medical university’s standardized textbook, which I’m not qualified for! I’m sorry to have made you two come all this way for nothing.” With that, Bian Mu picked up his teacup and prepared to see his guests out.

The two men looked at each other for a few seconds, smiled awkwardly, exchanged some more pleasantries, and then took their leave.