Chapter 369: Bargain

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio  Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Treating an elderly person would bring at least five million in value and at least five million in GDP.

This was the thrust engine of the Z nation’s future economy, and a guarantee for comprehensive recovery and maintaining national power. It was the reason for Xie Linze’s desperation.

Chen Jin nodded. “Old Ling’s analysis makes a lot of sense. Five million for each elderly person. If I were in his shoes, I too would be hoping that everyone would live 50 years longer. That would allow the massive benefits to roll in.”

“In that way, our economy, consumer market, real estate… all problems will be solved.”

It was such a supreme medicine, that the sooner it launched, the better.

Chen Jin looked at Lee Khang’s face on the screen and said, “Dr. Lee, based on you and your team’s efficiency, how many people do you think you can treat every year? What is the minimum time it will take to finish treating a million test subjects?”

Lee Khang thought for a moment and said, “The treatment period for each patient is around three months. Our hospital only has 3000 beds, and so we can treat a maximum of 12,000 people per year. Logically speaking, treating a million people would take eight to nine decades. However, we can expand our hospital and try to increase the number of beds to 10,000 units in one year and to 100,000 units in three years. Even then, we would only be able to complete treatment on 100,000 people within three years.”

“I would say that it is unlikely for us to be able to treat so many people within three years. Five years would be the minimum… this can’t be rushed.”

An idea popped into Chen Jin’s mind. “If we opt for half a million test subjects, reducing the numbers by half, won’t we be able to officially commercialize the treatment by the fourth year?”

“That will do. 500,000 will already be a considerable representation. As long as we get the green light from the chiefs, half is actually doable.”

Besides, it would save a lot of money. After all, for every single treatment, the consumption of funds would be at least at 100,000 dollars. The experimental nature of the practice also established that Xing Hai Technologies would be one to bear all the costs. The whole process would burn them at least tens of billions of dollars.

500,000 fewer would be an enormous saving. More than a years’ time could also be saved.

…

The next day.

Chen Jin met with Xie Linze once again and gave him his reply. “Introducing the life-prolonging treatment within three years would be feasible, but the number of subjects must be halved to 500,000. If you still wish to go for the full amount, we’ll need five years.”

“500,000? Let me ask.”

Xie Linze grabbed his phone and made a call. After receiving the answer, he said, “Scientifically speaking, it is more secure to conduct a million cases, but as our current situation doesn’t allow us to do so, we can make an exemption for you to do half of the full amount.”

“Okay.” Chen Jin nodded.

“Besides, I have another question.”

“Ask away.”

“How much will the cost of the treatment be? How much does Xing Hai Technologies intend to charge?”

“Uhm… it hasn’t been decided just yet, but I assume that it wouldn’t be less than 500,000 dollars. We are talking about a 50-year lifespan, after all, so 10,000 per year isn’t too much, is it? Xing Hai Technologies has always been a kind company. Our pricing will not exceed what the average consumer could afford,” Chen Jin said.

“500,000?” Xie Linze frowned, “Can you tell me the cost price of the treatment? How much is the cost per individual?”

“This is confidential, but since you’ve asked, I’ll give you a rough amount. I hope you can keep it between us.”

Chen Jin crossed his index fingers and said, “It’s more than a hundred thousand. The treatment cost for each individual is above a hundred thousand as of now. As quantity increases in the future, the cost will drop below 100,000.”

“In that case, you’re charging too much.” Xie Linze shook his head. “Most elderly people will be unable to afford such a hefty price. Tune it down a little if possible.”

500,000. Of the millions of elderly people in the country, could the number of people able to take out this amount of money even exceed 20%?

“Mr. Xie, this price is truly not expensive at all. Buying just any house in first and second-tier cities could pay for the treatment for ten or even twenty old people, sufficing for even an entire family. People can exchange a house for a few centuries to live, then use that few centuries of time to earn back a house. Couldn’t people commit to this?”

“If the housing prices in some places are not high and people couldn’t garner enough even after selling their houses, they can also mortgage their cars, borrow money from their relatives, opt for bank loans, etc… there are many channels of getting money. A mere 500,000 would not be difficult for most families.”

“The most precious thing in this world is time. Now at Xing Hai Hospital, time is offered at such a cheap price of 10,000 dollars per year. After someone gets their precious time, they could then find a job to earn back the money they used for treatment. I believe that this will be an easy thing to do.” In a nutshell, 500 thousand per person was truly very cheap.

“No!” Xie Linze still shook his head, “The price is still too high. Many people won’t be able to afford it, and people from the lower class will be infuriated! It should be 300,000 at most. You will also have to further lower the price after the cost has dropped. You shouldn’t be aiming for huge profits in this.”

“Huge profits?” Chen Jin’s eyes widened, “Mr. Xie, what huge profits are you talking about? The various taxes that Xing Hai Hospital has to pay are the highest among all hospitals. About 35% of our income has to be turned over to the national treasury. Equipment purchases, paying our specialists and physicians will take up 15%. Further subtracting these with the treatment cost of more than a hundred thousand, even if the treatment costs 500 thousand for each elderly, Xing Hai Hospital would still profit about only a couple hundred thousand. How is this considered ‘huge profit’?”

At best, it was just a small profit with a quick turnover.

If the pricing was tagged at 300,000 per person, Xing Hai Hospital could only make a profit of about 30 to 50,000. That would make their gross profits astonishingly miserable. If foreign medical institutes were providing the 50-year life-prolonging medical services, it would be considered cheap at any price lower than a million. Even prices of five or ten million would not be exaggerated. Time was priceless. Some people were willing to sell everything they had for a few years to live, not to mention 50 more years.

“Ahe-ahem~”

As he listened to Chen Jin, Xie Linze coughed out of awkwardness. He was able to read between the lines and understood that Chen Jin was actually complaining about the high taxes.

In fact, there was a reason that heavy taxes had been imposed on Xing Hai Technologies. In recent years, Xing Hai Technologies went a little overboard. They actually threw a ton of hard cash into the deserts and initiated a few trillion-dollar projects in the Sahara Desert. It had caused huge amounts of hot money to gush out to foreign countries and had affected the domestic economic growth. In short, the fact that they had engaged in all kinds of irrelevant businesses was truly getting the country into a lather. Hence, the country could only ask them to pay more taxes.

Xing Hai Technologies however quickly took a drastic measure to address this situation.

Back then, the country’s leaders were incensed. They laid down antitrust investigations and gave them a small penalty for them as a warning. They never expected Xing Hai Technologies to immediately come back with a bang.

Xie Linze perceived that Chen Jin’s intentions were to negotiate and discuss the distribution of interests.

An elderly person could bring at least five million dollars’ worth of benefits. Without question, the country would be the one whom it will benefit the most. Xing Hai Hospital earning 300 to 500,000 dollars was not too much to ask. There was nothing wrong with their thinking. It was just that only 50 to 60% of elderly people at most could afford the treatment, which would not bring about the maximum interest. From the country’s point of view, they would certainly hope for every single elderly person to regain their youthful vitality and for everyone to live 50 years longer. But Xing Hai Technologies, on the other hand, wanted to gain huge profits from this, and this would affect the country’s revenue. After all, for each elderly person who missed out on treatment, Xing Hai Technologies’ potential loss was around a hundred thousand while the country’s potential loss would be a couple of million.

Both of them went silent for a moment as they were wracked their brains for a solution.

Out of the blue, Chen Jin said, “Mr. Xie, I have just come up with a plan that you might be interested in. Tax exemption! If the country is willing to provide tax exemption on matters revolving the treatment services, Xing Hai Hospital will only charge each patient 200,000 dollars as a treatment fee. That is a price that anyone can afford. Deducting the cost price, Xing Hai Technologies would at most profit by around one hundred thousand dollars.”

“Besides, the country could also launch a ‘medical insurance plan’. Those elderly people who are entitled to pensions will not have to pay even a single penny for the treatment. All the cost shall be paid by the country. The expense will be that, after treatment, the patient’s old-age pension could either be canceled or their pension amount and duration could be reduced. The country will only have to pay 200,000 dollars to get rid of a burden and gain a unit of labor force.”

“This is a wonderful deal!”

“Moreover, the country can make something out of this. $200,000 is just the price for the elderly people of Z nation. If foreigners come to the Z nation requesting life extension, treatment could be provided starting from a million dollars without an upper cap.”

“Xing Hai Hospital wants to take the money of foreign customers, and the nation can make some revenue as well. For instance, net profit could be divided fifty-fifty. After subtracting all the involved expenses, Xing Hai Hospital would take half of the profit while the country takes the other half. We can earn money together.”

“The foreign population is obviously much bigger than that of the Z nation alone. Their market is much larger than our domestic market as well. Assuming that we would earn a million from each foreigner, multiplying that by 100 million…”

Chen Jin heard Xie Linze inhale deeply.

He spread his hands and said, “Mr. Xie, are you able to comprehend what I’m saying? Xing Hai Technologies is taking out a super massive cake. The life-prolonging treatment will only be provided in Xing Hai Hospital within our country. The foreigners won’t get any slice of our cake while we at the same time tackle the issue of our severely aging population. I believe that those little unpleasant encounters we both had previously should have vanished by now. Compared to the super massive cake before our eyes, those are merely petty profits.”

Xie Linze nodded continuously while his eyes glowed brighter and brighter.

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