180: Chapter 181 That old geezer is really wicked
At 6:00 AM in Jiangcheng, as the sky was just beginning to brighten, many netizens had just opened their eyes to scroll through their phones when they were blindsided by the name "Li Yong"—among the top thirty trending topics on Weibo, five related to him were crowded together.
#Li Yong Miracle Doctor Treatment Cases# was still slowly rising,
#Unlicensed Miracle Doctor Li Yong Black Material# suddenly popped up,
and even the homepage of the local forum was filled with posts asking, "Is the folk doctor Li Yong a savior or a scammer?"
"Who is this Li Yong? How did an old man suddenly flood the screen?"
"Yesterday, I saw someone saying he cured liver cancer, and today there's dirt on him. Isn't this reversal a bit too fast?"
"Could it be he's crazy about wanting fame and bought trending searches for hype?"
The comment section was full of confusion; most people had no impression of the name "Li Yong" and just felt it was another inexplicable internet farce.
But not long after, a link titled "Jiangcheng Internet Celebrity Xiaoya's Livestream Exposé" suddenly spread through various groups, instantly attracting everyone's attention.
The streamer, called "Xiaoya Ya," didn't have many followers—only a few tens of thousands—but she started her broadcast promptly at 7:00 AM. In front of the camera, she wore a white dress, her eyes were red-rimmed, and she looked pitiable.
"Everyone, I know that saying this today will offend people, but I really can't hold it in anymore." Xiaoya wiped away a tear while facing the camera, her voice choked with sobs. "That Li Yong, who has been touted as a 'miracle doctor' recently, is just an old scammer without a license, and he's also an old pervert! In short, that old man is very bad!"
This sentence was like a bomb, causing the number of people in the livestream to skyrocket instantly. The comments scrolled by rapidly: "Is it real or fake? Don't talk nonsense, streamer!" "Do you have proof? You can't just slander people!"
Xiaoya seemed prepared; she took a notebook from the side, opened it to a page, and showed it to the camera: "This is what I wrote down when I went to him for medical treatment last year. He didn't properly take my pulse at all; his hands kept rubbing against my arm, and he even said, 'Young lady, your skin is tender, you need to take care of it,' and said all sorts of messy things!"
She paused and cried even harder: "And another time, I brought my boyfriend to see him for a cold. He actually pulled me aside privately and said, 'Your boyfriend isn't good enough for you. Break up with him, and I'll find you someone better.' When I didn't agree, he threatened me, saying he would go to my boyfriend's company and report him for 'slacking off at work' to make him lose his job!"
These words were half-true and half-false, but they were fabricated with convincing details. Combined with the "victim" image Xiaoya deliberately cultivated, the tide in the livestream changed instantly—
"Damn, I didn't expect this old man to be so disgusting!"
"No wonder he doesn't have a medical license; he's just a hooligan!"
"Don't be afraid, streamer, we support you! Expose all his dirty secrets!"
No one knew that at this moment, behind the scenes of Xiaoya's livestream, Wang Haoyu was watching with his phone, a smug smile curling at the corners of his mouth.
At 6:00 AM, the paid trolls reported, "We can't suppress the positive topics, we need to find a more explosive point." He immediately thought of Xiaoya—the internet celebrity he had harassed last year, who later accepted 500,000 to bite back at Li Yong. As long as he paid enough money, she dared to tell any lie.
He had his lawyer contact Xiaoya immediately, offering one million right off the bat: "As long as you say in the livestream that Li Yong molested you and threatened you, and portray him as an 'old pervert,' the money will be transferred to your account immediately."
Xiaoya hesitated at first, but upon hearing "one million," she was instantly tempted—she hadn't made that much money in a year of streaming.
The lawyer even specially found a screenwriter who wrote short plays to write a detailed "script" for her, designing everything from the rhythm of her sobs to the angle of showing the "notebook," just to prevent her from slipping up.
"Also, you have to say he can't cure illnesses and only knows how to scam money," Wang Haoyu instructed over the phone. "Just say your neighbor went to him for lower back pain, but it got worse the more he treated it. Finally, they went to a big hospital for a check-up, and they said it was delayed by his herbal medicine—the more specific, the better, to make netizens believe it."
Xiaoya followed every instruction, adding fuel to the fire in the livestream: "My neighbor, Aunt Zhang, went to him to treat her herniated disc. He prescribed some pitch-black herbal medicine. After drinking it for half a month, she was in so much pain she couldn't even stand up. When she went to the hospital, they said the nerve compression had become more severe, and she almost needed surgery! When Aunt Zhang went to argue with him, he even said, 'It's because your constitution is poor, it has nothing to do with my medicine.' It's too much!"
The popularity of the livestream kept rising. The topic #Li Yong Old Pervert# shot up like a rocket, quickly surpassing #Li Yong Miracle Doctor Treatment Cases# and rushing to the 12th spot on the trending list.
The paid trolls fanned the flames in the comment section, reposting clips of Xiaoya's livestream everywhere. Some even began digging up Li Yong's home address and his grandson's school, threatening to "uphold justice."
"Uncle Li, don't listen to her nonsense!" Gu Jingshen rushed into the clinic with his phone, his hands shaking with anger. "This Xiaoya, it was clearly Wang Haoyu who harassed her initially, and you saved her. Now she's actually turning around to slander you!"
Li Yong was sitting at the table, watching the clip of Xiaoya's livestream on his phone. His face was as pale as paper, and his hands were tightly clenched into fists, his knuckles white. Hearing Gu Jingshen's words, he suddenly looked up, his eyes bloodshot, his voice trembling: "I saved her. How can she say such things about me? I have practiced medicine for decades and have never had any crooked intentions toward a patient. How can she fabricate such lies..."
The more he spoke, the more agitated he became. His chest heaved violently, and he suddenly began to cough—a heart-wrenching, tearing cough, as if he were trying to cough up his lungs.
Zhang Fan quickly handed him a cup of water and gently patted his back: "Uncle Li, don't get agitated. Her words are full of holes; anyone with a discerning eye can see they are fake. She took Wang Haoyu's money, which is why she fabricated these lies. As long as we produce evidence, we can expose her."
"Evidence? What evidence?" Li Yong took the water cup, his voice full of despair. "She has a 'notebook,' she has 'neighbor cases,' what do I have? I can't exactly make Aunt Zhang come and confront her, can I? Aunt Zhang moved away to another place last year; I can't get in touch with her!"
"We don't need Aunt Zhang." Zhang Fan took out his phone and opened the message Liu Ruyan had just sent. "Liu Ruyan has already found out that the 'neighbor Aunt Zhang' Xiaoya mentioned never went to you for treatment—Aunt Zhang's herniated disc was operated on at City First Hospital three years ago. She has recovered very well now and has never drunk your herbal medicine."
"Liu Ruyan has already contacted Aunt Zhang's daughter, and she is willing to record a video to testify and expose Xiaoya's lies."
He paused and added: "Also, Xiaoya said you threatened to make her boyfriend lose his job—her boyfriend wasn't even working last year; he was unemployed at home. How could he have been 'reported for slacking off'? These lies can be debunked with just a little bit of investigation."
Gu Jingshen also nodded: "Right! Fan Zi has already had the public relations team prepare. In a moment, we'll throw these pieces of evidence out there and let Xiaoya and Wang Haoyu see that lying comes with a price!"
Looking at Zhang Fan's determined gaze, the despair in Li Yong's heart gradually dissipated. He wiped away his tears and gripped the water cup tightly: "Okay... okay! I trust you all! This Xiaoya, and Wang Haoyu, they cannot slander me like this. I want everyone to know the truth!"
Just then, Zhang Fan's phone rang; it was a call from Director Lin. He answered the phone, and Director Lin's voice was filled with excitement: "Mr. Zhang, we've found the dirt on Xiaoya! We have bank transfer records of her taking 500,000 from Wang Haoyu last year to bite back at Uncle Li. We also have the chat records of her taking one million this time, and the audio recordings of the lawyer and screenwriter writing the script for her. We have everything! Should we post it now?"
Zhang Fan looked at Li Yong, and seeing him nod, he said into the phone: "Post it! Post it now! Not only must we post the dirt on her, but we must also post the evidence of Wang Haoyu instructing the lawyer and bribing the screenwriter. Let everyone see who is really behind this 'slander'!"