178: Chapter 179 My PR team is already itching for action!
In "Li's Medical Clinic," the scent of herbs permeated the small space.
Li Yong sat by the old wooden table, clutching the "Application for Special Qualification for Folk Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioners" that Zhang Fan had helped him print out, his brows furrowed tightly. "Young Manager Zhang, President Zhou said the Health Commission still needs to review it, and the results won't be out until tomorrow afternoon at the earliest. But if Wang Haoyu makes a move early tomorrow morning, what are we going to do?"
He had just scrolled through several local forum posts where people were already asking, "Is Divine Doctor Li in the suburbs really unlicensed?" Although there weren't insults yet, the oppressive feeling of a storm about to break made him feel panicked.
Zhang Fan set a cup of freshly brewed chrysanthemum tea in front of Li Yong, his tone calm. "Uncle Li, don't worry, drink some tea to calm your nerves. I expected Wang Haoyu to wage a public opinion war—since he can't win with force, he has to resort to soft tactics. We've seen plenty of these sleazy methods."
Gu Jingshen chimed in from the side, "Exactly! Fan Zi is the best at dealing with these internet trolls! Last time Chang Yuan hired people to smear Singularity, Fan Zi threw the evidence out in a heartbeat, causing Chang Yuan to get roasted instead! Wang Haoyu's little tricks aren't worth worrying about!"
Li Yong looked at Zhang Fan's confident demeanor and felt slightly relieved, but he still couldn't help but worry. "But people online don't know the truth. What if they really believe Wang Haoyu's words and call me a quack? Then in the future..."
"The truth will come to light." Zhang Fan interrupted him, tapping his fingers lightly on the table. "What we need to do now is wait—wait for Wang Haoyu's trolls to jump out, wait for them to make their stories as outrageous as possible. Then, we'll throw out the evidence and catch him off guard. Liu Ruyan is already monitoring online public opinion; she can track the source of any abnormal posts."
As soon as he finished speaking, Zhang Fan's phone rang. The caller ID showed Liu Ruyan.
He answered the phone and pressed the speaker button. Liu Ruyan's urgent and professional voice came through immediately. "Manager Zhang, just as you predicted! There are now a large number of posts attacking 'Divine Doctor Li, the Folk Healer in the Suburbs' appearing online. They're on Weibo, TikTok, and local forums—someone is claiming Li Yong 'cured a liver cancer patient to death' and even posted a forged 'death certificate.' Others are saying he 'sells fake medicine to scam people,' accompanied by pictures of low-quality herbs from who knows where. The topic's popularity is skyrocketing abnormally. The traces of internet trolls are very obvious; it must be Wang Haoyu's side making a move!"
"Look, here it comes." Zhang Fan curled his lips slightly. There was no surprise in his tone, only a sense of understanding. "Ruyan, don't panic. Follow the plan we discussed earlier: First, the Technology Department will track the IPs of all the troll accounts and record their posting history, especially those accounts with forged evidence; mark them as high priority. Second, contact the positive-energy media we cooperate with, but don't speak out yet. Wait until we have all our evidence collected, then synchronize. Third, organize the contact information of the patients Li Yong has cured, especially those three liver cancer patients. Have them prepare video testimonials to prove they are still alive and have recovered well."
"Received! Brother Wang has already arranged for the Technology Department to start tracking IPs. Is the patient contact information the photos you sent me? I'll go organize it right now and expect to send it to you within half an hour!" Liu Ruyan's voice immediately stabilized; she was clearly already familiar with this response process.
After hanging up, Li Yong looked at Zhang Fan with eyes full of admiration. "Young Manager Zhang, I didn't expect you to have the response plan ready in advance... I was so worried I couldn't sleep, but now it seems I was overthinking."
"It's not overthinking, it's caution." Zhang Fan picked up his teacup and took a gentle sip. "Behind Wang Haoyu is the Tianming Group. Their methods will only be more despicable than we imagine. Being prepared is never wrong."
Gu Jingshen leaned in, looking excited. "Fan Zi, when are we going to counterattack? I can't wait to see the look on that kid Wang Haoyu's face when he gets humiliated! He thought he could take down Uncle Li just by hiring a few trolls; he's too naive!"
"Wait a little longer." Zhang Fan looked out the window. The night had grown darker. "Wait until his trolls stir up the heat to the maximum, and wait for more people to see those fake messages. Then we'll throw out the evidence—at that point, not only will we clear Uncle Li's name, but we will also make Wang Haoyu's 'false accusation' charges stick, making him lose more than he gained."
The lights in the medical clinic were soft, reflecting the figures of the three men.
Li Yong picked up the chrysanthemum tea and took a sip. The worry in his heart had mostly dissipated.
He knew he hadn't chosen the wrong person this time. Following Zhang Fan, he could not only protect his formula but perhaps even make bad people like Wang Haoyu pay the price.
Time flew by. It was 2:00 AM at "Li's Medical Clinic." The light from the phone screen reflected on Li Yong's wrinkled face. Because it was so late, staying up late was indeed difficult for an elderly person accustomed to going to bed early.
Li Yong blankly scrolled through his phone, intending to drive away his sleepiness, but each vicious comment stabbed into his heart like a needle.
On TikTok, a woman dressed in black, covering her face and crying, claimed to be a "family member of a liver cancer patient." She sobbed, "My dad went to Li Yong for treatment, and he passed away three days after taking his herbs. He also swindled our life-saving money." The video already had over 100,000 likes, and the comment section was filled with insults like "unlicensed quack" and "disregarding human life."
On Weibo, the topic #UnlicensedDivineDoctorGetOutOfJiangcheng# had surged to 18th on the hot search list.
Clicking into it, everything was full of poorly photoshopped "medical records"—some hospital seals were blurry, some dates were written as "February 30, 2024," and some even had the wrong patient names. But the trolls didn't care about these things; they frantically spammed these fake proofs. Someone even dug up the address of Li Yong's grandson's school in the countryside, threatening, "I will let the child know that his grandfather is a murderer."
"I have been practicing medicine for a lifetime and have saved so many people. How can they slander me like this!" Li Yong was trembling all over. The phone fell onto the table with a "thud," and his eyes were red. "I don't even know that so-called 'family member'! If her dad really had liver cancer, why didn't he come back to me for a follow-up? Why didn't they dare to show their faces?"
Gu Jingshen picked up the phone and looked at the malicious comments, wanting to smash the phone in anger. "These trolls have no bottom line! They won't even spare a child! Fan Zi, let's not wait anymore. Let's throw out the evidence now!"
Zhang Fan, however, remained sitting on the wooden stool, his fingers gently rubbing the rim of the teacup, his eyes as calm as a deep pool. He picked up the phone, flipped through the forged evidence, and a cold sneer curled the corner of his mouth. "They dare to bring out such fake things with so many flaws to embarrass themselves—the trolls Wang Haoyu found are too amateurish."