[Chapter 477: Wild Suma Root Shortage]
Riding the hype of the Super Bowl commercial and the Victoria's Secret Angels, on the day after Linton returned to Los Angeles, Universal Pictures and Linton Films jointly held a press conference. They unveiled four posters, officially kicking off the promotional campaign for the movie Mission: Impossible.
The four posters included: Linton escaping from an aquatic restaurant after blowing it up with a chewing gum bomb; Linton rappelling down from the CIA headquarters ceiling while stealing a computer hard drive containing a list; a scene of Linton fighting enemies atop a moving train; and Catherine, disguised as a sexy office lady in Chanel professional wear inside the CIA headquarters.
The fourth poster showcased Catherine's stunning beauty and charm to the extreme. Combined with the other three adrenaline-packed, high-energy posters, the set presented a strikingly harmonious visual. Each poster prominently displayed the words "A Linton Anderson Production" and "May 10 North America Release" in the lower right corner.
As soon as the posters were released, they sparked a mania among movie fans and collectors.
Meanwhile, Linton arranged for his fan office to distribute these posters and a two-minute promotional video to fan clubs across the globe. Within just days, buoyed by the Super Bowl ads and the Victoria's Secret Angels buzz, the Mission: Impossible posters rapidly covered North America.
Since the release date was still weeks away, Linton refrained from further promotional activities.
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On March 2nd, Linton took two assistants and returned to the farm. This visit had two purposes: to spend time with Madonna and little Lina, a pregnant Sophie Marceau, Cristiana, and Monica, and to finalize the operations at the factory producing the Beauty Pills.
By March, Montana's weather improved with the long-missed sun breaking through, temperatures rising above freezing, and the snow on the ground beginning to melt. It looked like the factory construction could begin in about ten days.
As the temperatures increased, the weather control array that Linton had set up in the garden started to lose effectiveness, and the garden's temperature aligned with the outside environment. The snow in the garden, already scarce due to warmer weather, mostly melted away, revealing sprouts of green grass poking through the earth.
Without noticing it, Lina was already half a year old. Even before birth, she had been nourished by the essence of Linton's vital energy. After birth, Madonna continued to provide abundant breast milk, allowing Lina to keep receiving this vital nourishment. Living in the garden, which was filled with spiritual energy, only enhanced her well-being.
From birth, Lina showed remarkable differences from other children. Not only was she especially pink and adorable, but she was also easy to care for, rarely fussy in the middle of the night, and never slept oddly. The two nannies remarked that they had never encountered such a low-maintenance child.
She was incredibly healthy, never suffering headaches or fevers. Although she couldn't speak yet, Lina could recognize familiar adults around her. Just then, seeing Linton, she flailed her limbs excitedly in Madonna's arms, uttering indistinct baby sounds. It was clear -- she had recognized her father and wanted to be held.
Seeing such an innocent and adorable little girl, Linton felt his heart melt instantly. He quickly approached, scooped up both mother and daughter, and spun around twice amid Lina's silver bell-like laughter. Then, holding Lina alone, he planted two kisses on her rosy cheeks and played a few rounds of lifting games.
After that, Lina refused to let go of him, clinging to him even during hugs with Sophie Marceau, Cristiana, and Monica.
The night party following this little reunion was lively and spirited, as expected.
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Linton then custom-ordered automated filling and sealing machines and worked swiftly to solidify the Beauty Elixir production process. The assembly line was divided into eleven operational stations.
Including herbal identification and storage, warehouse management, quality control, and finance, there were a total of fifteen positions, each staffed by two people. Given the elixir's astronomical price, the factory's production demands were light enough to be handled during regular working hours.
However, to avoid unforeseen circumstances, Linton decided to assign two people per station, totaling thirty workers.
Goodman spent nearly a week in Montana handling all factory paperwork. The factory was named Linton Health Products, and the trademark for Linton's full product range was officially registered.
Linton then invested $50 million into Linton Health Products.
...
The factory's first business deal was purchasing raw materials. The Herbal Emporium was ready with almost all the ingrediants, but unfortunately, they faced issues with the wild suma root supply.
Though the formal contract was not signed, agreements on materials allocation and procurement had already commenced in full. The list of herbs, pricing, and quantities were all settled without problems. However, the delivery schedule posed challenges.
All herbs except wild suma root, aged over thirty years, could be shipped within two weeks after contract signing. The wild suma root supply was far below demand after stock inventory and market research.
They requested amending the contract to 500 kilograms, delivered in two batches: 200 kilograms within two weeks and the remaining 300 kilograms spread over one year.
Even if Linton agreed to have an additional 500 kilograms delivered the next year, the Herbal Emporium wouldn't commit. It wasn't about the price -- the profit margin on this deal was already substantial.
They simply lacked confidence in next year's wild suma root supply. Any promise without guaranteed delivery and quality would be disastrous, especially given the risks inherent in international trade. No one dared take that chance.
After hearing the explanation, Linton's heart sank. His fears were confirmed. Wild mountain suma root was a rare and uncontrollable resource. Stable supply was impossible.
When signing the contract, Linton maintained the original quantities and price but extended the deadline for delivering the last 500 kilograms to within three years.
Given the scarcity of wild suma root, the only option was to reduce the supply of Vitality Pills and raise its price.
The 500 kilograms of wild suma root represented a three-year raw material reserve, meaning the Vitality Elixir's output would be cut to one-third, with only 4,000 pill bottles produced annually.
Reducing production to a third while maintaining total revenue and profit meant the price had to triple.
Hillary had proposed setting the price at $2 million per bottle; now, it might as well be raised to $6 million per bottle. This would cement the Vitality Pills as a luxury item only the ultra-wealthy could afford.
With such limited supply, and to prevent hoarding and black-market speculation, sales would need strict real-name registration and record-keeping. Buyers would be limited to one bottle per year and would be required to provide credit verification and other documentation during purchase.
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