The Tyrant Billionaire

"The Chinese are preparing to repay their debts with arable land near Hong Kong, right? I’ve thought of a way to use that land," Hardy said, his eyes narrowing in thought.

"We can’t start any kind of industry in a communist territory, so aside from cultivating herbs on that land, why not start a health supplement company? Instead of just selling raw herbs, we could produce supplements and sell them. It’s far more profitable. With the growing trend in the West towards health and wellness, especially in the U.S.

and Europe, the demand for vitamins and supplements has skyrocketed," Hardy explained.

"Then why don’t we just sell medicine?" Victor asked.

Hardy shook his head.

"Pharmaceuticals are too strictly regulated—tedious reports, several rounds of clinical trials, and it usually takes years to bring a drug to market. Health supplements are different; they’re classified as food. Once produced, they can be sold directly, as long as no one dies from consuming them, there’s no issue."

In Europe and the U.S., the law classifies supplements as dietary supplements, which are treated as food. The regulations are far more lenient compared to pharmaceuticals.

But it’s still a massive market. In the world Hardy came from, the health supplement industry had an annual market of over $200 billion.

Most importantly, the Chinese really doesn’t have much to offer right now.

What Hardy needs to do is make sure every assests under his hand are generating profits no matter how small it is.

"Since there are no large health supplement companies in Hong Kong, why not create one? Do you know the situation of the current dominant health supplement companies in Hong Kong?" Hardy asked. n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

"I do know one. It’s called VitaPlus Pharmaceuticals. It used to be a pharmaceutical company in Guangzhou but later relocated to Hong Kong, where they built a factory focused on health supplements and vitamins. The factory covers 150 acres, and all the equipment was imported from the U.S. and the U.K.," Victor said.

"Oh, how do you know so much about it?" Hardy asked.

Victor smiled sheepishly, "Once, at a cocktail party, VitaPlus boss, Sha Tongyi, was introduced to me. Since I was selling penicillin, and we have a penicillin factory in the U.K, he assumed I had connections in the U.S. supplement industry and hoped I could help him sell his products in the U.S."

"What kind of products do they produce?" Hardy asked.

Victor hesitated, "Sorry, boss, the names were all in technical jargon, and quite difficult to pronounce. I couldn’t remember them."

Hardy understood. Translating industry-specific terms is tough, and even many locals would find them hard to recall, let alone a Frenchman like Victor.

Hardy checked the time—it was 4:30 in the afternoon. "It’s not too late yet. See if you can get in touch with Sha Tongyi. Tell him I’d like to meet with him."

Hardy didn’t like delays. If something could be done today, why wait for tomorrow?

"Sure, boss. I’ll contact him right away." Victor quickly went inside to make the call.

Though he didn’t have Sha Tongyi’s number, that didn’t stop Victor. He called his assistant, who quickly looked through the business cards and found VitaPlus Pharmaceuticals’ contact information, eventually getting in touch with Sha Tongyi.

Sha Tongyi was 46 years old. His family had been involved in traditional Chinese medicine for generations, but he had pivoted to the modern health supplement industry, focusing on vitamins and dietary products. He had studied pharmaceuticals at Cambridge University, where he specialized in supplement manufacturing.

During his studies, Sha realized the potential for combining traditional nutritional knowledge with modern health science. Upon returning to Guangzhou, he founded a supplement factory, utilizing Western production techniques to convert traditional ideas into modern health supplements and vitamins.

VitaPlus business gradually grew.

But later, with the continuous outbreak of wars, Sha had the foresight to relocate his Guangzhou factory to Hong Kong. However, even there, he couldn’t escape the horrors of war. During the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong, the VitaPlus factory was shut down.

After Japan’s surrender, Sha regained control of the factory, but the equipment had been severely damaged, leaving only the buildings.

The original workers had also left.

Sha essentially had to start over.

Gritting his teeth, he sold off his ancestral properties in Guangzhou and took out a bank loan to purchase new machinery. After more than a year of effort, he managed to reopen the factory.

But new challenges arose—war broke out again on the China, severing trade routes. Finished products couldn’t be sold, and with a large amount of capital tied up, along with significant loans, VitaPlus struggled to stay afloat.

Sha had considered selling supplements abroad, but opening up foreign markets wasn’t easy. Currently, VitaPlus was barely scraping by.

Today, Sha was at his factory when he received a call from Victor’s assistant, asking him to return the call. Sha was stunned.

He had met Victor at a cocktail party through connections and knew Victor had extensive resources. Sha had hoped Victor could help him sell supplements abroad, but at the time, Victor had said they weren’t involved in that field.

Sha had been quite disappointed. Stay tuned to empire

He hadn’t expected that today, Victor would be asking him to call back. Was there something going on?

Regardless of the reason, Sha didn’t dare hesitate. He immediately called the number provided by the assistant.

After a transfer, he finally got through to Victor.

"Hello, Mr. Victor. This is Sha Tongyi. May I ask what you need from me?" Sha asked fluently in English.

"Mr. Hardy would like to meet you. Are you available?" Victor replied.

"Mr. Hardy?"

Sha was shocked. He never expected that Hardy himself would want to see him. Recently, Hardy’s visit to Hong Kong had been all over the newspapers. Sha had read the reports and naturally knew a bit about him.

In the U.S., he is a remarkable figure. Over the past year, the Hardy Group has invested heavily in Hong Kong, building a penicillin factory and establishing the Kowloon Tong Industrial Zone. He even owns Wells Fargo and has acquired HSBC, which shows his immense financial power.