25: Business War

A patient, eating melon in the waiting area, completely filmed the doctors' melee with his phone.

He felt the scene was a bit explosive, so he casually posted it on a short video platform.

【Today's spectacle at Zhongshan Hospital: Directors of various departments almost came to blows over longevity water. Can someone explain what this treasure is?】

The video initially gained some traction in the local circle until a highly upvoted comment appeared, completely igniting its popularity.

【Hospital Insider: longevity water is a miraculous item for doctors to survive night shifts. One dose can keep you going all night. The Department of Neurology hoarded it, and other departments are green with envy, forming a group to borrow some (dog emoji)】

【Mystery solved, no wonder our department director was so sneaky today】

【So doctors also rely on cheats, huh?】

【Department of Neurology: It's all mine, all mine!】

What truly made the incident go viral and hit the trending topics was another seemingly inconspicuous reply.

【Rebirth of a Quiet Ear: My dad drank longevity water yesterday in the Department of Neurology, and today he said the cicada buzzing in his head has gotten quieter. It's truly miraculous.】

This comment was quickly pushed to the top by people suffering from nervous tinnitus.

【It's true, my wife's tinnitus is much lighter too.】

【I've been drinking it for three days, the effect is absolutely genuine.】

【So it's not just my dad; we thought it was psychological.】

【Can longevity water treat nervous tinnitus?】

This topic was like a depth charge, instantly changing the nature of the entire incident.

Countless patients and their families suffering from tinnitus began frantically searching for related information. The Zhongshan Hospital official website and the Department of Neurology's phone lines were on the verge of being overwhelmed.

Li Bin rubbed his temples, looking at the trending topic push notifications on his phone and the incessant ringing of phones in the department.

What was bound to happen had finally arrived; the real tough battle was beginning.

Fortunately, a lot of data had been collected during this period.

In the following days, Zhongshan Hospital experienced an unprecedented siege since its establishment.

Before dawn, the hospital entrance was already packed with people.

Besides the patients and their families truly suffering from nervous tinnitus, there were also many curious citizens and internet celebrities holding equipment, hoping to gain traffic.

The outpatient hall was packed, the waiting area of the Department of Neurology had long been out of control, and the corridors became impassable.

Li Bin and the entire Department of Neurology reached their breaking point.

The hospital director was also capable; he had anticipated this situation and had already made contingency plans.

Dozens of large military tents were set up in the parking lot, and isolation zones were established, effectively creating a temporary field hospital.

Based on the clinical data accumulated over the past week, Li Bin organized a preliminary treatment plan targeting different types of tinnitus and varying severities of symptoms.

This plan was quickly disseminated to relevant departments, greatly improving diagnostic and treatment efficiency.

With the connection to Lin Dong, Zhongshan Hospital quickly replenished its supplies, allowing the chaotic situation to gradually normalize.

As the incident continued to escalate, more and more people began to flock to the Demon Capital from all over the country.

In just a few days, the situation changed dramatically.

The outpatient halls of Zhongshan Hospital and Huashan Hospital in the Demon Capital resembled train stations during the Spring Festival travel rush.

The entire medical system was on the verge of collapse.

The Star Sea Official conducted emergency coordination, and surrounding hospitals quickly dispatched medical teams to support the two major hospitals.

While ostensibly providing support, they were also seizing the opportunity to learn and gain experience, hoping to replicate the longevity water treatment plan to alleviate medical pressure.

However, this was merely a drop in the ocean.

The patient base for nervous tinnitus far exceeded imagination.

As the incident escalated, nervous tinnitus patients from all over the world reacted, flying to the Demon Capital at the first opportunity.

Hotels and guesthouses in the Demon Capital were fully booked, and prices soared.

Internet cafes and bathhouses were crowded with people waiting for appointments.

In parks, open spaces around hospitals, and even in the underground parking lots of large shopping malls, colorful tents sprung up like mushrooms after rain.

The massive influx of people plunged this international metropolis into unprecedented busyness, and all walks of life reaped the first wave of unexpected benefits.

But this also brought traffic in the Demon Capital to a standstill, and material supplies were on the verge of collapse.

To prevent urban overload, the Star Sea Official reluctantly chose to temporarily seal the city, allowing only exits but no entry.

The core contradiction quickly shifted from insufficient treatment capacity to resource scarcity.

The supply capacity of longevity water became the biggest problem.

Although Xinghai Biology operated at full capacity, with its two major production bases running twenty-four hours a day, it still seemed somewhat stretched in the face of tsunami-like demand.

On the black market, the price of longevity water had been driven up to a thousand yuan per set, but it was still a market with price but no goods.

Public grievances began to accumulate and boil over.

On social media, complaints and doubts gradually overshadowed the initial surprise.

All major well-known internet platforms were filled with a large amount of negative sentiment.

Especially the comment section below the videos posted by the Star Sea Official accounts had been completely overrun.

【I waited in line for three days, and they told me they ran out of medicine. Is there any justice left?】

【Xinghai Company stands by and watches people die, why don't they make the formula public?】

【Support State-owned Major Factories taking over production; we can't let capitalists control the lives of ordinary people.】

【Aren't you guys morally blackmailing?】

The number of replies below this comment exceeded fifty thousand, and it was completely overwhelmed.

【Moral blackmail? My family is almost driven crazy by tinnitus; what morality are you talking about?】

【@Xinghai Biotechnology, please be human, open up production!】

【Human lives are at stake; Xinghai can't decide this. The formula must be made public.】

Star Tower, 23rd floor.

He Ming looked out the office window at the dense tents and congested crowds below, a cold sneer flashing in his eyes.

“Hiring internet trolls, finding actors; this tactic is really familiar.”

“Sir, do you need to control the comments?”

jarvis's voice appeared in He Ming's ear.

He Ming took out his notebook and quickly wrote down.

【List the main sources of unfavorable public opinion against Xinghai.】

【Chen Huiming, Wang Yongchang, Zhang Chenze...】

The list contained a total of twenty-three people.

【List the detailed information for these twenty-three people.】

The text disappeared, and the answer appeared... Among these people, three were high-level executives from Guangming Pharmaceutical Factory, and the remaining twenty were ordinary leaders of internet trolls who took money to do things.

“jarvis, compile the personal information, transfer records, and social media chat records involving illegal transactions for these individuals, and send the package to the local police station in the Demon Capital.”

“Yes, sir.”

The area around Star Tower was surrounded by emotional crowds and media who had caught wind of the situation.

A large number of internet celebrities hoping to gain traffic joined this feast of attention, holding up their equipment.

Xinghai had no choice but to urgently strengthen security; all employees dared not enter or exit freely and were forced to eat and live at the company.

The entire Star Tower was like an isolated island besieged by zombies.

Even more severe were the two main production plants located in the suburbs.

To prevent any potential incidents that could affect production, the Demon Capital municipal government had to dispatch a large number of police and security forces to set up isolation zones around the factory areas and patrol 24 hours a day.

Vehicles transporting raw materials and finished products required special permits and could only enter and exit under the escort of security forces.

Pressure, like tangible leaden clouds, heavily weighed on Xinghai Biotechnology.

He Ming twirled his pen, pondered for a moment, and quickly wrote on a blank page of his notebook.

【Are there any behind-the-scenes organizers among the people around Star Tower?】

Over a dozen names instantly appeared on the notebook.

“Indeed, creating such a big fuss, this is to get the longevity water formula, isn't it?”

【Give me the list of the ultimate sources, with details.】

【Demon Capital Guangming Pharmaceutical Factory Head: Chen Haidong...】

“It's Guangming Pharmaceutical Factory again.”

He Ming knew about Guangming Pharmaceutical Factory; it was a large private factory, dozens of times the size of Xinghai.

Its name sounded like a local Dragon Kingdom pharmaceutical factory, but in reality, it was an enterprise controlled by foreign capital.

It had branches all over the country and owned several best-selling medicines.

There were many such foreign-funded brands disguised as Dragon Kingdom brands; it was difficult to trace their origins without deliberately doing so.

“You want to swallow longevity water? You're not qualified enough.”