Chapter 513 511: Trouble in the Backyard

"I remember."

Shopkeeper Su had once told Mu Lin that the management policy of Profound Secret Pharmacy's parent company, Mingyang Pharmaceutical, had undergone an earth-shattering change.

The upper management, blinded by money, was substituting inferior medicines for quality ones to cut costs and reap huge profits.

Shopkeeper Su couldn't fight the pressure from the executives on his own.

The executive who supported him had fallen gravely ill and could no longer manage company affairs.

He had pleaded with Mu Lin to cure this executive, hoping to use the man's influence to protect the reputation of Profound Secret Pharmacy and save the time-honored brand.

Then, Shopkeeper Su did something that took Mu Lin by surprise.

He first went to the door, poked his head out to look left and right, then shut it firmly.

In a voice low enough for only the few of them to hear, he said, "Mr. Mu, I suspect there's a mole in the pharmacy. Someone who's leaked our discussions to the company's top brass."

"Something like that happened?"

Mu Lin frowned. "What's been the fallout since the information was leaked?"

"I've practically become public enemy number one."

Shopkeeper Su took out his phone, fiddled with it for a moment, and handed it to Mu Lin.

"Their methods are truly vicious. They don't just want to destroy me; they want to crush my spirit!"

After taking a few minutes to read the content on the phone, Mu Lin couldn't help but be furious.

The web page Shopkeeper Su had pulled up was from the largest local general-interest forum.

It was filled with all sorts of dirt on Shopkeeper Su and the Profound Secret Pharmacy.

Some of the articles were obviously fabricated nonsense.

But many more were written to sound quite plausible.

They claimed that Su Changyuan, the shopkeeper of Profound Secret Pharmacy, only appeared honest but was actually a black-hearted, crooked merchant.

That for years he had been passing off inferior goods as high-quality ones, selling large quantities of substandard medicinal herbs.

The authors of some posts claimed to be patients of the Profound Secret Pharmacy.

They alleged the pharmacy had charged them exorbitant consultation fees and made them sign so-called confidentiality agreements.

Given the pharmacy's renowned medical skills, people felt they had no choice but to sign the agreements due to the severity of their illnesses.

If someone hadn't exposed the Profound Secret Pharmacy's true face, they would never have dared to post their experiences online.

Shopkeeper Su said with grief and indignation, "You could beat me to death and I'd never do something so wicked. These posts online are nothing but baseless slander."

"It must be a scheme from one of the executives. Their goal is to force me to resign and completely discredit me so I can't even make a living in this city."

Just as Mu Lin had said, they were indeed out to not only destroy him but also crush his spirit.

The scale of the public opinion storm was massive. It wasn't just the local forums that were filled with dirt on Shopkeeper Su.

Other mainstream websites were also flooded with articles containing the same content.

Mu Lin said, "No wonder you're so anxious. Anyone in this situation would be in a panic, just like you."

Shopkeeper Su said bitterly, "They're clearly trying to back me into a corner with no way out."

"Mr. Mu, I hear you know a lot of influential people. Are any of them in the media business? Could you possibly ask them for a favor, to help me contain this online smear campaign?"

"The media business... What a coincidence!"

As soon as he said this, the other three, including Lou Jingzhi, were all stunned.

'What does Mu Lin mean by that?'

'What does he mean, "what a coincidence"?'

Seeing their bewildered expressions, Mu Lin laughed. "I'll call a capable person over. He might have a way to stop this storm."

A short while later, Hong Jiantao drove to the Profound Secret Pharmacy.

Hong Jiantao had already gotten a general sense of the situation over the phone.

After entering the break room, he heard more from Shopkeeper Su and understood the intent behind the smear campaign.

It was only then that Shopkeeper Su and Mo Cangsong learned that Mu Lin had acquired the largest local media company, Xingchen.

Hong Jiantao, once a titan of the media world, was now his subordinate.

The two revelations were each more shocking than the last.

Before, the two of them had thought of Mu Lin as an extraordinary and elusive figure.

But now, "extraordinary" was no longer enough to describe Mu Lin.

The man before them was clearly an omnipotent, god-like being.

Mu Lin asked, "President Hong, you're the expert in handling media crises. Help us think of a way to contain this storm."

Hong Jiantao stated concisely, "They've launched a public opinion war. To solve the problem, we must also fight back on the public opinion front."

"Given the time constraints, I've come up with a three-point counter-strategy for now."

"President Hong, you're a real talent."

Mu Lin gave him a thumbs-up.

"You came up with three solutions in such a short time. Tell us, what are they?"

Hong Jiantao cleared his throat and said, "First, we launch a PR counter-offensive and hold a press conference."

"We denounce the false information online, prepare cease-and-desist letters, and be ready to file lawsuits at a moment's notice."

"Second, we assemble a public relations team to contact the administrators of all major websites and forums. We do whatever it takes to get them to delete these posts that are harmful to Mr. Su."

The two methods would complement each other.

On one hand, we use legal means to protect our rights.

On the other, we contact the website administrators to ensure the defamatory posts about Shopkeeper Su no longer appear on their sites.

As for the third method, it's the most crucial one.

Investigate who is behind this smear campaign against Shopkeeper Su.

Identify the perpetrator and gather dirt on them as quickly as possible.

Then, we start an even bigger public opinion war.

We'll use it to bury the current crisis.

In an era where traffic is king, the public's and the media's attention won't stay on one thing for long.

As soon as something more eye-catching appears, all eyes will shift to it.

"We'll do it just as you've said."

Mu Lin declared, "The manpower and resources of Xingchen are yours to command."

"I only have one requirement for you: solve this problem for Shopkeeper Su, clean and quick."

"Mr. Mu, rest assured, I will definitely—"

Before he could finish, Hong Jiantao's phone rang.

He glanced at the caller ID. It was his assistant, Lao Xu.

"Go ahead and take the call. We can talk about the other things later."

Mu Lin slowly sat down and reassured Shopkeeper Su, telling him to relax.

With a professional like Hong Jiantao on the case, the situation would soon be under control.

"This is outrageous!"

Hong Jiantao roared into the phone, fuming, "I gave a clear order before I left! All news related to Mr. Su Changyuan was to be suppressed. How dare Ren Yuejin act on his own authority?"

「Several kilometers away, at the Xingchen office building.」

The general manager's assistant, Lao Xu, watched the office area ahead with a complicated expression.

"President Ren is a company veteran, basically the number-two man here. If he wants to publish something, we don't have the authority to stop him."

"I'm the general manager of this company, not Ren Yuejin! He's just the Director of Operations. He has no right to go over my head and issue orders."

"Go to him right now. Tell him to retract all the articles he just published. Not a single trace is to be left online."

Lao Xu hung up with a sigh, his steps heavy as he walked toward the operations department's office area.

Standing before the office door with the "Director of Operations" nameplate, Lao Xu knocked.

"Come in."

Inside the office, the portly Director of Operations, Ren Yuejin, seemed to be in a good mood.

"Hello, President Ren. President Hong asked me to inform you that you need to retract all the articles concerning Su Changyuan. What do you think?"

"Hmph!"

Ren Yuejin snorted coldly. "Retract the articles? Easier said than done!"

"Do you have any idea how much money we'll lose if we retract them?"

Lao Xu tried a conciliatory tone. "President Hong is the head of the company, after all. He gave the order personally. If you don't retract them, I'm afraid he'll be upset."

"He's upset? Well, I'm not exactly thrilled either."

Ren Yuejin said, "The client paid us one million to publish this dirt on Profound Secret Pharmacy and Su Changyuan."

"If we don't publish, not only do we lose out on a million, but we also have to pay a penalty for breach of contract. You're not unaware of the pros and cons here, are you?"

After his show of authority, Ren Yuejin walked over to Lao Xu and patted him on the shoulder.

"You're an old-timer at this company, too. There are some things I don't need to spell out for you to understand."

"Don't just look at the fact that the company has a new owner who appointed Hong Jiantao as general manager. He's an outsider, after all. He's not one of us."

"If you're willing to help me, I promise you, the Director of Operations position will be yours in the future."

Hearing this, Lao Xu's eyes widened in astonishment.

"President Ren, you... you mean..."

"They say you're a smart man, and it's absolutely true."

Ren Yuejin said with a pleasant smile, "You're the general manager's assistant. A lot of documents have to pass through your hands before Hong Jiantao sees them."

"As long as you pull a few strings, with me giving a push from behind, I guarantee Hong Jiantao will be out of this company in less than a month."