Chapter 222 Controlling Public Opinion

The last day of August should have been a normal Sunday of rest, but Tengda Group was holding an emergency meeting at this moment.

The lights in the conference room were cold and the atmosphere was subtle. Outside the window, there were lightning, thunder, strong winds and heavy rain.

Weibo’s female president Liu Yan stared at the chairman, looking a little nervous: “Boss Song, Sanlu Group sent a lawyer’s letter to the company with a tough attitude.

We demand that the Weibo platform immediately remove and block all false statements about its products, otherwise we will sue us immediately."

Song Ci, who was sitting in the first seat, lowered his head and looked through a document with an indifferent expression, as if he was oblivious to Liu Yan's concerns.

Zhang Yong glanced at the chairman, then cast his eyes on a middle-aged man who looked eager to try: "Mr. Peng, what does the legal department think about this matter?"

Peng Nuo, the group's chief legal officer, played with the lawyer's letter in his hand with a playful look on his face. Since its establishment, the legal department of Tengda Group has been famous and has never lost a lawsuit. Sanlu Group is really brave!

It's good to sue, because suing can reflect the value and presence of their legal department.

Hearing the CEO's question, Peng Nuo smiled contemptuously: "This kind of lawsuit has no technical content at all. Even if the case goes to the Supreme Court, Sanlu Group has no chance of winning."

After a brief pause, a shrewd look flashed in his eyes: "Not only that, we can counter-sue the other party for commercial fraud, intending to promote products with safety risks on our Internet platform."

Zhang Yong nodded when he heard this. Seeing that Peng Nuo was confident, he stopped worrying. Lawsuits were commonplace. Tengda had to fight more than a dozen cases every year and never lost.

Song Ci closed the materials in his hand and looked up at Liu Yan: "Mr. Liu, is the content of this investigation material in my hand true?"

"Absolutely true!" Liu Yan's expression was extremely solemn. Last time, she received the chairman's advice and conducted an in-depth investigation on Sanlu milk powder. The result was shocking.

It is precisely for this reason that the Weibo platform has not dared to run advertisements for Sanlu milk powder to date.

Song Ci asked back, "Then why are you so nervous?"

With the recent closing of the Olympic Games, Weibo lacks breaking news and its user growth is weak. This is a perfect opportunity for the Sanlu Group to build its reputation and completely secure its victory in the Weibo competition.

Liu Yan was still a little hesitant. After hesitating for a moment, he persuaded: "Mr. Song, Sanlu is, after all, a private giant in Hebei Province with revenue exceeding 10 billion yuan. The forces behind it are complicated and intricate, so we still need to treat it with caution."

Song Ci sneered, with a hint of coldness in his eyes: "I understand, isn't it just that someone is protecting him?

But truth cannot be hidden. Once the truth comes out, no interest group can withstand the anger of the people across the country!

The group will hold a press conference tomorrow to release these materials and seek justice for the victimized children."

Zhang Yong was shocked. He didn't expect Song Ci to be so radical. This move was tantamount to completely breaking off relations with the Sanlu Group.

He wanted to give some advice, but the murderous look in the chairman's eyes made him swallow his words back.

After some deliberation, he suggested, "Mr. Song, if you really want to do this, you must make a final decision. It would be best if an authority in the medical field could speak out to enhance the persuasiveness."

Song Ci nodded: "Of course, since Tengda has decided to take action, he must be fully prepared!"

Seeing that the chairman had made up his mind, COO Wang Jing immediately responded, "Then I will arrange the relevant matters of the press conference right away. President Song, are you going to attend?"

"I will preside over it myself!" Song Ci's voice was firm and resolute.

At this moment, a flash of lightning suddenly flashed outside the window, as if foreshadowing that a violent storm was about to sweep in, and a storm was about to come.

On September 1, when primary and secondary schools and colleges across the country were busy preparing for the start of the school year, Tengda Group suddenly invited major media outlets in Beijing to hold a press conference.

At 10 o'clock in the morning, the temporary press conference hall at the headquarters of Tengda Group was packed with reporters from major media outlets, all of them looking forward to this sudden press conference.

As the host announced the official start of the press conference, the lights on the scene dimmed slightly and the spotlight shone on Song Ci who was standing in front of the podium.

Today he was wearing a very formal dark suit, his expression was serious and solemn, and his eyes revealed a determination and awe.

After the scene quieted down, Song Ci said in a low voice: "Dear journalists and friends, good morning, welcome to this press conference. I think you must be curious about the theme of this press conference. Here, I would like to ask everyone to read a paragraph of materials."

After saying that, Song Ci walked to the side of the stage. The large screen in the center lit up and began to play heart-wrenching pictures and detailed investigation materials.

On the screen, the infants and young children all had painful expressions on their faces, were weak in body, and were crying incessantly due to the pain. Their originally pure eyes were filled with fear and helplessness, and they were suffering in pain.

Seeing this, the reporters in the audience immediately realized the great news value contained in it, and quickly picked up their cameras. The sound of shutter clicks rang out one after another as they recorded these scenes.

After about a quarter of an hour, the short film ended quickly, and Song Ci reappeared in the center of the stage, his expression becoming increasingly gloomy: “I think everyone must be curious about why I played such a documentary.

I want to tell all the journalists that those children could have grown up healthy and happy, but because of the greed and viciousness of some people, they ignored the laws of the country in pursuit of profit and harmed these innocent children like this.”

The reporters in the audience were suddenly in an uproar, whispering and discussing among themselves.

If what Song Ci said was true, it would be a vicious incident that shocked the whole country. Its bad influence and serious consequences are simply inestimable.

Song Ci was in a very heavy mood. He pressed his hands down slightly, signaling the reporters to be quiet. After thinking for a moment, he continued:

"The whole story is this. Initially, Sanlu Group wanted to cooperate with our Tengda Group and intended to invest a huge amount of advertising money on the Weibo platform.

However, they made an extremely unreasonable request, which was to help the Sanlu Group block all unfavorable news.

As a company with a strong sense of social responsibility, Tengda Group has always adhered to the business philosophy of honesty and integrity and will naturally not agree to such unreasonable demands.

At this point, Song Ci showed a trace of disdain in his eyes, "However, the Sanlu Group did not stop there, but intensified it, trying to force the Tengda Group to compromise through despicable means of intimidation and blackmail."

Song Ci stood on the stage and narrated the whole story while observing the reactions of the reporters below the stage.

At this point, the reporters' curiosity had been completely aroused. They had never imagined that this matter would involve a giant enterprise in Hebei Province, the Sanlu Group, the leader in the dairy industry.

Song Ci paced back and forth on the stage, seemingly giving the reporters enough time to digest this shocking news.

"Something is fishy. After Sanlu Group made unreasonable demands, our company soon discovered some abnormalities. Since the first half of this year, users have been exposing the quality problems of Sanlu milk powder on Weibo.

In line with its highly responsible attitude towards society and users, Tengda Group immediately organized professionals to conduct an in-depth and detailed investigation, and the results were horrifying.

We found that countless babies developed various deformities and lesions after consuming three-way milk powder. These poor children may never recover their health in their lifetime, and their future has been ruthlessly destroyed.

What was just shown in the short film is just the tip of the iceberg. The toxic milk powder from Sanlu Group is still circulating in the market. If it is not stopped as soon as possible, who knows how many children will suffer the same harm.

Here, I call on all journalists to work with Tengda Group to conduct a more extensive and in-depth investigation into the Sanlu Group tainted milk powder incident, make the truth public, and seek justice for the children who have been deeply harmed. "

At this moment, the reporters were all stunned. They had never thought that Tengda Group would directly go to war with Sanlu Group. At this point, it was obviously a serious situation of life and death.

Some timid reporters were so scared that their hands were shaking slightly. The confrontation between two large groups with a scale of tens of billions was bound to be an event that shocked the whole country.

If they are not careful, these little people who report and track events may be involved or even crushed to pieces.

Song Ci continued his powerful speech: "I hereby guarantee that everything announced at this press conference is true. If there is any inaccuracy, I and Tengda Group are willing to bear all legal responsibilities."

On the day of the press conference, many influential products under the Tenda Group, including Toutiao, Weibo, and TT Voice, were in full swing, and simultaneously and strongly promoted the Sanlu Group's toxic milk powder incident.

For a time, the online world was in an uproar, stirring up a storm. Both Tengda Group and Sanlu Group were pushed to the forefront and became the focus of national attention.

Countless netizens, filled with shock, anger, and curiosity, flooded Weibo to follow the latest developments. On the hot search list, all the hot searches were dominated by news about the Sanlu Group.

Topics such as "Sanlu Toxic Milk Powder", "The Dark Side of Sanlu Group", and "The Current Situation of the Affected Babies" have soared in popularity, and the number of registered users on Weibo has exploded in a short period of time, and its level of enthusiasm is no less than that of the just-concluded Beijing Olympics.

"How terrible! Is the toxic milk powder real or fake? Is there any official or authoritative organization that can clarify this?"

"I guess it's true, otherwise Tengda Group wouldn't have to do this. If it's an untrue accusation, Sanlu Group can sue Tengda until it goes bankrupt."

"How shameless! The Sanlu Group will be punished for making such shady money."

"Tengda Group would never do something without a purpose. With so many photos and documents to prove it, we strongly urge the relevant departments to conduct a thorough investigation of Sanlu Group and give justice to the victims."

The truth of the matter has been exposed and has turned into a shocking event that has attracted the attention of 1.3 billion people. No one and no force can cover up the truth of the matter.

That afternoon, the national food and health departments felt the urgency of public pressure and responded quickly, announcing that they would immediately form a special task force to investigate the Sanlu Group and give the public an explanation.

It turned out that the matter had come to a temporary deadlock, and everyone was waiting for the results of the investigation by the relevant departments. However, Song Ci had a far-reaching plan and had already made a foolproof plan, playing a trump card that was fatal to the three-way group.

The next morning, just one day after the Tengda press conference, the official Weibo account of Peking Union Medical College Hospital released a blockbuster news.

It was announced that Union Hospital had admitted more than a dozen children whose health conditions had deteriorated sharply due to long-term consumption of Sanlu milk powder.

These children have been taking Sanlu milk powder since birth and now face urinary system problems of varying degrees, including kidney stones, bladder stones and other diseases, which have brought great pain to their tender bodies and young minds.

What is even more sad and infuriating is that some children are in critical condition, some even show symptoms of acute renal failure, and can only undergo hemodialysis to maintain stable vital signs.

At the same time, Union Hospital stated that it has established a special medical team to be responsible for the diagnosis and treatment of such children, and is actively cooperating with other medical institutions to jointly explore the best treatment methods.

They also promised to continue to do their best to treat every sick child and cooperate with government departments in investigating and collecting evidence.

Once this news from Peking Union Medical College Hospital was released, it almost made the final decision, nailing the Sanlu Group to the pillar of shame.

What is the status of Peking Union Medical College Hospital? It is the No. 1 in China's medical community and the most authoritative and professional medical institution in the country. Now that it has released a number of cases and evidence, confronting the Sanlu Group head-on, it means that there is definitely a big problem with the milk powder of the Sanlu Group.

At this point, netizens no longer had any doubts about the news released by Tengda Group, and the evil deeds of Sanlu Group were completely confirmed.

For a while, the public was outraged and furious. They denounced the Sanlu Group and demanded that the relevant departments severely punish the Sanlu Group and restore a clean society.

The influence of Union Hospital is self-evident. After it publicly expressed its support for Tengda Group, influential stars in the entertainment industry such as Cheng Long, Gong Li, Fan Bingbing, and Huang Xiaoming also stepped forward.

They condemned the ugly behavior of Sanlu Group and called on all sectors of society to pay attention to the toxic milk powder incident and food safety issues.

Seven days later, on the 39th floor of Tengda Technology Building, Song Ci stood in front of the window, gazing at the bustling streets of Peking in the distance, with Wang Jing and Liu Yan standing respectfully behind him.

"Boss Song, public opinion has completely turned against us. Sanlu Group has become a rat crossing the street that everyone wants to kill. There is no possibility of turning things around."

Wang Jing was filled with joy. After a week of investigation, the authorities had preliminarily determined that Sanlu milk powder had serious safety issues. The truth gradually surfaced, and this life-and-death clash between the two major groups ended with Tengda Group's complete victory.

After the Sanlu Group incident, in less than ten days, Tengda Group established its great reputation in the Chinese business community.

All walks of life have witnessed Tengda's terrifying strength in the field of media. Whether it is the promotion speed of its products, the wide coverage, or the ability to guide public opinion, it is deeply shocking.

The ability to bring down a multi-billion dollar giant in the blink of an eye, and the ability to make things happen made the name Song Ci extremely popular and well-known throughout the country. He was regarded as an idol by countless young people and was also deeply feared by many business people.

(End of this chapter)