Chapter 915 - 881: Public Enemy

No one is a fool. Everyone clearly sees what Xu Chunliang has been doing at the Infectious Disease Hospital. Even the Lexus Group, a large international conglomerate, is left flustered by him. Who among them could possibly measure up to Xu Chunliang?

Now everyone understands that the key to the hospital’s successful construction lies with Xu Chunliang. Looking around the Infectious Disease Hospital, no one else possesses that capability.

Wang Jianming, the person in charge, has clearly stated that the city supports the construction of the new hospital for Dongzhou City Infectious Disease Hospital. Although they didn’t explicitly say they’d go to great lengths, this support implies there will be no more obstacles with the land allocated for construction.

With the issue of land ownership clarified and with Xing Yongjin’s assistance, the loan from Nanjiang Bank is essentially settled, meaning there are no obstacles to the Phase I construction of the hospital’s new site, and the project commencement is in countdown.

Anyone trying to target Xu Chunliang now could become the enemy of the hospital.

Sun Weimin weighed his options in his mind, prioritizing collective interests above all. Not to mention, this incident already has a reasonable explanation, even if Xu Chunliang used a company car for private reasons, so what? Which institution doesn’t have such occurrences? It wouldn’t be wise to drive out someone skilled over a trivial matter. Besides, trying to expel him could end up in embarrassment for oneself.

But not everyone thinks like this. Director Liang Guangsu from the Gastroenterology department is among those, as he also resides at Hidden Lake Villa. On the night Xu Chunliang drove to Qiaocheng, Liang Guangsu was strolling near the community entrance and saw the hospital’s Audi A6 driving out from the villa area. Out of curiosity, he glanced at it and saw a very beautiful woman sitting in the passenger seat.

When he heard about the accident involving Xu Chunliang’s car the next day, Liang Guangsu became more alert. He had a good relationship with the community’s property manager and privately retrieved the surveillance footage of that car leaving the premises. It clearly showed Xu Chunliang leaving with the woman in the car, laughing and chatting.

Clearly, the woman in the car wasn’t from the hospital. Liang Guangsu recorded a segment with his phone and took this footage to Sun Weimin.

With a mindset to maintain peace, Sun Weimin advised Liang Guangsu not to make a fuss about it. He knew Liang Guangsu disliked Xu Chunliang, but this footage alone couldn’t demonstrate any real problem. Moreover, he didn’t like Liang Guangsu, who previously became a laughing stock due to Xu Chunliang. The hospital knows full well about Liang Guangsu’s considerable gray income; after the matter, he cooperated with relevant departments to explain some situations and reportedly voluntarily surrendered part of his illicit earnings.

The medical system is generally quite lenient with such behavior. As long as you voluntarily submit illegal income, deeper investigations are usually avoided.

Though the exact figures surrendered by Liang Guangsu are unknown, judging by his recent somber mood, his losses must be substantial. The incident hugely impacted his reputation within the hospital. Critically, he’s exceedingly harsh on his subordinates, gobbling up the bulk of the drug commissions himself. After the scandal, all doctors in the Gastroenterology department united in expressing indignation towards him and collectively appealed to the hospital to seriously deal with and replace the department head.

Feeling abandoned, Liang Guangsu knew he had no footing left at the Dongzhou Infectious Disease Hospital. He had secured a position with a hospital in the south and prepared to resign, believing all his present troubles were caused by Xu Chunliang. Having decided to leave, he certainly wouldn’t miss the chance to strike back before departing.

Liang Guangsu didn’t get the justice he sought from Sun Weimin, and angrily declared that if the hospital didn’t address the issue, he would report it to the Health Bureau, the Health Commission, and so on, insisting he couldn’t tolerate such misuse of company vehicles causing significant loss to the unit.

Sun Weimin also disliked Liang Guangsu and gingerly reminded him: "Old Liang, we’ve looked into this matter. Xu Chunliang was indeed on official business, and as for who was in the car with him, that’s outside our jurisdiction and not inevitably linked to this incident. I advise you not to escalate the situation."

Sun Weimin’s advice had no impact; Liang Guangsu thought they wanted to minimize the matter due to fear of assuming related management responsibilities.

Liang Guangsu said: "Secretary Sun, ever since Xu Chunliang managed the car squad, that Audi A6 became his personal car, which is classic misuse of a company vehicle. What right does he have to make our entire hospital staff cover for his personal indulgence?"

Sun Weimin knew Liang Guangsu was stubborn. Initially, he thought Xu Chunliang’s lesson last time was profound enough, but he hadn’t realized that Liang Guangsu had been seeking an opportunity for revenge all along. Fairly speaking, Sun Weimin didn’t think highly of Liang Guangsu, who severely lacked self-awareness. He shouldn’t think that paying some of his gray income settled the issue; the payment receipt isn’t a get-out-of-jail-free card, and of all people to provoke, he had to pick Xu Chunliang.

"Director Liang, our Infectious Disease Hospital is a collective unit. Everyone’s primary task now is to develop and construct the hospital, rather than expending energy on internal conflicts, which negatively affect the hospital and cause trouble for oneself." Sun Weimin nearly spelled it out, implying that Liang Guangsu, being compromised himself, should not seek revenge.

Liang Guangsu surely grasped Sun Weimin’s underlying message, nodding: "Secretary Sun, I understand. Principles vary by person, alright, let’s pretend I wasn’t here."

Sun Weimin initially thought Liang Guangsu would back down, halting the matter here. But never did he expect Liang Guangsu secretly recorded their conversation and sent it to the Dongzhou Health Bureau, while reporting the misuse of company vehicles leading to the accident on the 12388 platform.

A societal norm exists where if the public doesn’t report, the authorities don’t investigate. Had Liang Guangsu not reported, the Infectious Disease Hospital internally resolved this matter. By reporting, the overseeing department had to verify.

When Secretary Sun Weimin heard he had been covertly recorded and reported by Liang Guangsu, he was so furious his face turned green, slamming his desk in anger in his office, cursing what kind of person Liang Guangsu was.

Due to this issue, the leadership at the Infectious Disease Hospital demonstrated unprecedented unity, consistently asserting that Xu Chunliang was indeed dispatched on official business. Regarding who he carried in the vehicle, it seemingly didn’t violate any principles. Perhaps he gave a friend a lift while en route, neither illegally operating nor breaching hospital car usage protocols. This report was purely malicious slander by a petty person.

Secretary Sun Weimin personally went to the bureau to explain and incidentally brought along the collective application from Gastroenterology department doctors requesting the replacement of Liang Guangsu.

Liang Guangsu typified those who don’t know when to stop. Don’t think his submission of part of the gray income to inspection departments solved his problem. It wasn’t enough, far from enough!

Typically, hospital leadership fosters a protective stance towards key personnel. Department heads at various specialties earn considerably well, not just at the Infectious Disease Hospital, but throughout the health system. Generally, people turn a blind eye unless excessive behavior occurs.

Internal corrections have been conducted multiple times. Whenever reform initiatives arise, there is always a group quietly surrendering gray incomes, mediated by the hospital with relevant departments, usually leading to fines rather than harsh penalties.

This time, however, Liang Guangsu truly crossed the hospital’s red line.

The assessed damage for the crashed Audi A6 totaled 250,000 according to insurance evaluation, with Mulan Herbal Planting Base promptly transferring the money to the hospital’s account.

Meanwhile, Mulan Pharmaceutical Group agreed on a strategic partnership with the Dongzhou Infectious Disease Hospital.

Xu Chunliang clearly understood the turmoil stemming from the incident. Since Liang Guangsu was intent on self-destruction, he facilitated it by forwarding collected incriminating material on Liang Guangsu to the disciplinary department.

Preliminary checks established that Liang Guangsu continued concealing and misreporting illicit income while also evading taxes.

Ahead laid two options for Liang Guangsu: continue paying money or face imprisonment.

The position Liang Guangsu had arranged fell through due to the prevalent anti-corruption efforts, as no one dared to risk hiring him, regardless of his medical skills and competency; overcoming the hurdle of medical ethics was insurmountable.

The Health Bureau initiated a Dongzhou-wide medical anti-corruption campaign due to Liang Guangsu’s issues, making him a public example, plunging the entire health system into a state of trepidation, where involved department heads and specialists feared for their safety.

After deliberations by city leaders, the city’s Health and Wellness Commission decided to establish a special account for integrity to ensure the smooth progress of the concentrated anti-corruption efforts in the city’s pharmaceuticals domain.

An integrity account, colloquially a restitution account, is set up during medical anti-corruption efforts, either by the government or medical institutions, allowing medical staff to deposit cash gifts received that can’t be refused, returned, or if they wish to voluntary hand them over.

Consequently, if inspected later, the payment receipt mitigates or exempts punishment. Establishing an integrity account theoretically provides a lenient treatment in legal terms, an opportunity to confess voluntarily; meanwhile, self-examination and correction by hospital staff reduce corruption stock internally, diminishing the cost of corruption investigation, alleviating pressure on disciplinary inspection. As an urgent measure, temporarily using the integrity account is a practical, favorable solution balancing reality.

Never did Liang Guangsu envision his revenge would incite a turmoil across the entire Dongzhou health system, leaving him seen as a public enemy. Overnight, he became a target, reviled as by all.

Changxing was affected by the storm; numerous experts and directors quietly sent funds to the integrity account.

Shu Yuanhang distinctly sensed the peculiar atmosphere within the hospital recently. Although he wasn’t personally concerned, some doctors in his team were affected.