James intended to continue criticizing Sasha but he was quickly stopped by his wife, Helen, who waved her hands to stop the argument. “Well, we got it. Sigh, we’ll forget about the money because we probably aren’t lucky enough to have it. But, Sasha, you have to think about us from our perspectives. We can’t just stay at home doing nothing else but wait for your allowance to support our lives, can we?”
Sasha heaved out a sigh of relief. As long as they were willing to compromise in terms of the money, she would accept their other requests more readily. “Mom, the two of you should really live a relaxed life at home at your age. Although our company doesn’t earn much, it’s enough for all of us, so both of you don’t have to worry about your finances,” Sasha reassured.
Helen waved her hands dismissively and clarified, “Sasha, you don’t quite understand what I meant. I’m trying to say that it’s not good for your father and I to idle at home all the time. In fact, both of us are thinking of working on something.”
Sasha looked slightly alarmed because they established Wellness Herbary after they mentioned something like that previously. Yet, in the end, their company nearly made a costly blunder. What trouble were they going to stir up this time? However, she decided to welcome her parents’ idea with more willingness when she thought about the 300 million.
“Mom, what are you guys interested in doing?” she asked them tentatively.
Helen first glanced at James and muttered, “We’re thinking of opening a pharmacy since we happen to have a company that manufactures drugs. We will hire professionals to handle all the internal affairs while we will just man the cashier. Moreover, I don’t think anything can go wrong with having a pharmacy since the drugs which are allowed to be sold are approved by relevant agencies and their quality is assured. Sasha, what do you think?”
After mulling it over, Sasha thought it was a good idea. To open a medicinal company, they had to have a deep understanding about all the herbs, but they needed not worry about that with having a pharmacy. Nothing could possibly go wrong if they hired a group of competent staff to manage the store when all the drugs sold were approved by the relevant agencies.
Sasha was not concerned whether it would bring a lucrative business or not, because the main purpose was to let her parents have something to work on. Otherwise, they would pester her time and again, causing her constant headaches. Still, she first glanced at Matthew for his opinion instead of deciding it right away.
Matthew nodded his head slightly in approval. It was only then did Sasha nod and announced, “Mom, this idea of yours is great and you have my support. Let’s do it this way—I will arrange everything for the pharmacy within the next two days. With my savings of several hundred thousands together with the dividends I am going to draw from the company in advance, I guess I have enough money to open a pharmacy.”
Helen shook her head immediately and ventured, “Sasha, you are referring to a small pharmacy but what I am thinking of having is a huge one with multiple franchised stores.”
Sasha went dumbfounded when she heard her mother. “Huh? W-Why do you guys need to own such a large-scale business?”
Helen stressed anxiously, “Sasha, you’re a president of a large company. If we were going to have a small pharmacy store, we would bring you embarrassment when people know about our relationship. Also, all of our old friends and old classmates might deem you an unfilial daughter. While you’re a president of a company, your parents are just having a small pharmacy store. How embarrassing will that sound?”
Sasha looked puzzled because she couldn’t see why it would be embarrassing. However, she dared not argue with her mother at that juncture. It was with much effort did she manage to steer the conversation away from the 300 million and she couldn’t risk angering her parents anymore. “In that case, how extensive do you guys want the business to be?” Sasha asked extensively.
After a moment of contemplation, Helen declared, “At least as large as Carlson Pharmacy!”
Sasha was so taken aback by her mother’s comment that she nearly burst a blood vessel. “Mom, do you have any idea of the market value of Carlson Pharmacy? Our Cunningham Pharmaceuticals isn’t even worth one-third of its value! I can’t afford to buy you a business worth as much as Carlson Pharmacy even after I sell the entire Cunningham Pharmaceuticals!”
Helen appeared flabbergasted. “Really? Is Carlson Pharmacy worth that much? Isn’t it just a pharmacy? How can it be worth so much?”
Sasha was left speechless in response to that. Was Carlson Pharmacy just an ordinary store? It was Stanley Carlson’s most lucrative business out of everything he had!
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