Chapter One Hundred and Twenty Various News

  The second day in Suzhou, the sun still rises in the east. The difference is that today this Jiangnan water town is shrouded in a vast fog. The fog rolls and swirls, as if it were an earthly paradise.

  The same fate befell the surrounding cities of Suzhou, Tongnan and Zhejiang, as well as Xiangnan.

  Dense fog rolled in, causing highways to be closed, flights delayed and roads congested.

  In the early morning, people scolded the weather bureau for being useless, failing to predict such a big foggy day. Meanwhile, they opened their computers and posted online, wanting to share with distant friends this rare foggy day that comes once in a hundred years.

  However, one video set the entire internet abuzz.

  "Master of Siyuantang explains the sun and rain", a video with this title, over two minutes long, occupied the homepage of Baidu and other major video websites, and even many friends found that it was also on the homepage of well-known adult websites such as May Day and Grass Community.

  Then people clicked in, and for a time, debates about the authenticity of this video message were all over major online forums.

  Some netizens believe that the news is true, because this video was excerpted from Suzhou News, and naturally it has been reviewed by medical authorities. Even if the ratings of Suzhou News are low, it is still an official media outlet representing government credibility, so it must be true.

  More people think this video is suspicious, the biggest reason is that it doesn't look like a news report at all, but rather an advertisement. And the Chinese medicine feng shui master in the ad is too young. Can you believe what such a young master says?

  The debate continued to heat up, with neither side convincing the other. However, regardless of whether the news was true or false, everyone remembered the place called "Si Yuantang".

  Due to the popularity of major forums, some Western medical authority experts have been posting messages on their Weibo and various forums, claiming that the "master" in the news is a charlatan whose words cannot be trusted. They also said that the country's epidemic monitoring mechanism is already very sound, and if there is an epidemic, the first to know will definitely be Western medicine, not traditional Chinese medicine like fortune tellers.

  On the bus, a bespectacled man holding a briefcase and an iPad looked at this video in surprise. He pulled his girlfriend beside him and said, "Look, look quickly, now the Huaxia government really has no bottom line, actually starting to fake news and do advertisements."

  The woman beside the man with glasses was drowsy, this bus on the crowded road could hardly move fast, it had been starting and stopping for nearly twenty minutes, but only moved a few kilometers.

  "What's this," the woman squinted her eyes and watched the video, "Oh, I think the government has finally come to its senses. Look, you see, yesterday's interview, that little Chinese medicine doctor said there would be fog today, and now isn't it just a thick fog everywhere?"

  The man with glasses curled his lip and said, "Isn't the heavy fog easy to predict? After such a long time of rain, the weather is hot again, and it's natural for fog to form after the rain stops. This guy is so young, he must be blind. And look, behind him is an advertisement board. I guarantee that this is a staged video, and Sifangtang must have given the TV station a large sum of advertising fees."

  The woman snorted and said, "I knew it, just a case of crying over spilt milk. Oh dear, what if the plague really breaks out? No wonder I was afraid of the cold last night and my head is still dizzy now, not clear-headed at all. Heaven, I've got the plague."

  "What's wrong? You might have caught a chill last night, it doesn't matter... Ah-choo!" The young man said, and he himself sneezed first.

  "Look at him, this young doctor has a clear and bright appearance, you can tell he's not a scammer," the woman said as she took out a mask from her bag and put it back on herself.

  "Hey, you still believe in fortune-telling? Don't be fooled, these days swindlers all look like this," the bespectacled man said with a tinge of sarcasm.

  This debate is being staged everywhere, both online and offline, and the popularity of forums has also made it impossible for the government to ignore. If not handled properly, this could very likely lead to public panic.

  At this time, in the director's office of Gusu City TV Station, Huang Gang was slapping his bald head non-stop. His head originally had a few sparse hairs, which were extremely precious to him, but at this moment, he couldn't care about them anymore. As his palms slapped his bald head, those precious hairs also fell off with the wind.

  "Oh my god, oh my god! You damned Zhou Tong, if you want to die, don't drag me down with you!" Huang Gang's eyes were welling up with tears, in front of him was a computer, and on the Baidu homepage was yesterday's Suzhou news interview report on Song Jian.

  As soon as Huanggang saw the video this morning, he knew he was done for. The phone outside the office rang non-stop, all from netizens calling in to verify after seeing the news report. And it's not like they didn't make a lot of money from these calls either, because some of them were charged at one yuan per minute.

  But Huang Gang didn't care about the money anymore, he was thinking of how to get out of this matter.

  "Ding ding ding......"

  The phone in front of me suddenly rang.

  Huang Gang's hands trembled as he picked it up.

  "Huang Pangzi! You think you can die and drag me down with you, don't you want to work anymore? Do you have an opinion about me?" The loud voice of Luo Daming, the director of the Municipal Radio and Television Bureau, came from the phone. Luo Daming has a very old seniority, after this round of changes, he has an 80% chance of being promoted to work at the Provincial Radio and Television Propaganda Bureau, but at this critical moment, that damned Huang Gang actually made such a big mistake.

  "Luo Bureau, I...I..." Huang Gang "ah"ed twice, and then stopped, this matter seemed to be related to him no matter what.

  "What the...! Hurry up and think of a way to refute the rumors. Dammit, I'm so angry, let me tell you, Huang Baozi, you're done for!" Luo Daming yelled before slamming down the phone.

  "Wooo..."

  Huang Gang shed tears of regret, he picked up his phone and frantically dialed Zhou Tong's number, but that damn woman had her phone turned off the whole time.

  "Damn it! That's why!"

  Huang Gang picked up his phone and slammed it onto the glass table with a "crack", shattering it into pieces.

  Just as he was filled with regret and hatred, the phone on his desk rang again.

  Huang Gang's eyes turned red with rage, his temper suddenly flaring up. He grabbed the phone and bellowed: "Whatever it is, come at me! I'll take them all on!"

  There was silence on the other end of the phone for a while.

  Huang Gang was panting heavily.

  "Haha, Xiao Huang, no need to be so angry? I apologize for what happened earlier. When you're free, I'll invite you to Jinbi Huihuang and treat you to a meal, on my own dime, don't be so petty." Luo Daming said with a laugh over the phone.

  Huang Gang was stunned, he lowered his head to take a look at the number, it was Luo Daming, Director Luo's phone call. How...this can't be right, how could the attitude change so greatly in just a short while?

  "Lu Ju, what's wrong with you?" Huang Gang hesitated.

  "Huang Gang comrade, I just received a document from the Provincial Propaganda Department's Radio and Television Bureau. A large-scale flu outbreak has appeared in the southern part of Huaxia Country. The National Health Department has temporarily designated Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Hunan provinces as third-level epidemic warning areas, without ruling out the possibility of upgrading to level four, or even triggering a global infection. Please ensure that all departments do a good job in defensive propaganda work, comfort, reporting, isolation, and treating patients before charging fees. Huang Gang comrade, this time we owe it to you. It was your station's interview that alerted the National Health Department's epidemic prevention department, allowing them to discover the outbreak so quickly. Little Huang comrade, work hard, next term's deputy director position is still up for grabs!" Luo Daming said with a smile.

  Huang Gang was stunned.

  "Comrade Little Huang? Director Huang? Yellow Ridge!" Luo Daming roared.

  "Ah! Yes, yes, yes! Director Luo, you instructed." A sentence suddenly came out of Huang Gang.

  "Huh? Didn't you understand? Hurry up and broadcast the news, inform the masses that the plague is about to break out, and also publicize some preventive measures." Luo Daming said helplessly.

  "Yes, yes! I guarantee to complete the task!" Huang Gang suddenly stood up straight, he put down the phone and got down on the ground to look for his own mobile phone.

  He hastily put the phone battery back, turned it on, and Huang Gang quickly flipped through the menu. Although Zhou Tong's phone was turned off, Ye Chen that kid shouldn't have the guts to turn it off, he might be able to find Zhou Tong.

  The phone rang and on the other end, Ye Chen's crying voice immediately sounded: "Director Huang, it has nothing to do with me, it has nothing to do with me! It was Sister Zhou who asked me to interview this program! It has nothing to do with me!"

  Ye Chen opened his mouth and sold out Zhou Tong. Firstly, Ye Chen was timid, secondly, Zhou Tong had a slightly stronger background and could withstand things.

  "What a mess! Ye Chen, you get me Zhou Tong right now and tell her to continue the coverage of that quack...ah, no, that Chinese medicine master at Siyuantang! And fast! Within an hour! I want to see the news interview!" Huang Gang yelled.

  "What? Director Huang? You..." Ye Chen was confused about the situation.

  "What? The plague has broken out and has been upgraded to a level 3 warning, it's possible that it will reach the level 4 warning like SARS or even a global level 6 warning! Quick! I want news!" Huang Gang shouted.

  "Ah! Yes, yes, I'll go right away." Ye Chen hung up the phone, his whole person as if in a dream.

  At this time, in a villa, a middle-aged man wearing a suit was curled up on the sofa watching the latest news. His forehead was densely covered with scars and his face was dark yellow. He was Qi Fei, who had just been released from prison.

  The last time in the sanatorium, teasing Song Jian, was being ordered by an old man to be locked in a black room, not to mention that he couldn't eat his fill all day, and had to endure the torture of those dirty roommates.

  And the charge is unexpectedly a mysterious potential threat to national security crime, what the hell kind of crime is this!

  Zhi Fei was furious, this anger had been suppressed in his heart for a long time, he felt that his chest was about to explode. After coming out, he reported everywhere, but surprisingly no one paid attention to his lawsuit.

  "Huh?" Zhi Fei, who had been listless all along, suddenly came to life and sat up. He stared blankly at a news interview, first in shock, then in surprise, and finally burst out laughing!

  "Song Jian, Song Jian, I've investigated you. You're just a fallen rich kid, a chemical engineering graduate student, and now you're pretending to be a traditional Chinese medicine doctor, spreading rumors and panic, haha, hahaha!"

  Laughing loudly, Qi Fei grabbed the phone beside him.