The old man and the young man stared at each other with narrowed eyes, as if they were kindred spirits who had met too late in life, leaving the important figure Song Chengxuan out in the cold.
Song Chengxuan secretly regretted not bringing the old man along when he went to work. He never expected the old man to undermine him like this. Although he admired Lin Yao and respected Min Hong's actions, a mistake is a mistake. The things Min Hong had done had indeed infringed on the rights of many people. If not controlled properly, it might become a factor of social instability.
“Say something! What are you standing there silently for? You look as wilted as an eggplant.”
Grandpa Song continued to belittle his son, Song Chengxuan, without any politeness. Then, his expression changed. "Xiao Lin, I heard you're working in Beijing now. You should visit this old man more often. Come over to our house tomorrow, and let Xiao Min prepare a good meal so we can have a good drink together."
The fact that an elderly man who had suffered a stroke could still drink alcohol made Mr. Song feel great. He was particularly proud in front of his old friends, so whenever he had the chance, he would use drinking to make appointments, even more so than before his stroke.
"Yes." Lin Yao readily agreed, finding the old man quite endearing. He had managed to silence the deputy minister with a single shout, suggesting the old man was also a heavy drinker and a straightforward northerner.
"Dad, we're talking about serious business. Please stop drinking. I wish I hadn't let you come."
Song Chengxuan bravely offered his opinion, but was met with a disdainful glance and a heavy snort from the old man's nostrils.
"Minister Song, since that's the case, please tell us what the GA department's attitude is. We don't think we've done anything wrong. Just bring up anything you need to say, and we'll correct our mistakes if we've made them and strive to improve if we haven't."
Lin Yao took the initiative and, before leaving, gave the elderly man a smile, which immediately cheered him up.
"Although Minhong's membership agreement contains relevant clauses stipulating that members' social lives can be disclosed and that they voluntarily accept supervision and exposure, such agreements are considered unfair terms and must be rectified..."
"Nobody forced those people to sign the agreement at gunpoint, and Minhong didn't beg them to become members. Don't try to scare Xiaolin with such big talk. Even when your dad was in charge of the GA department, he wasn't this unreasonable!"
Just as Song Chengxuan was getting into the swing of things, Old Master Song shut him down with a single sentence. It was clear that Old Master Song was completely on Minhong's side, disregarding his former status as the head of the GA department, and was only thinking about speaking up for Lin Yao. He even left his son's side and sat down next to Lin Yao, clearly stating his position.
Lin Yao smiled but didn't speak this time because he saw that Song Chengxuan's face was already very ugly.
She secretly had Xiaocao make an "antidote pill," stuffed it into the old man's hand, and pointed to her mouth under the table, gesturing as if to eat.
Old Master Song grinned, raised his large, fan-like hand, and the "antidote pill" landed in his mouth. Before he could chew, it melted into a fragrant liquid that slid automatically down his throat. The comfort was so intense that he wanted to groan.
Song Chengxuan rolled his eyes, looking at the grandfather and grandson who were making a lot of small movements, and thought to himself that he probably couldn't achieve his work objective today. He couldn't let the old man cause trouble again in the future.
After recovering from the illness, he lost all sense of responsibility towards his work, only caring about outsiders and even scorning his own son.
“Minister Song, Grandpa Song is right. We don’t care about any unfair terms. Minhong has always adhered to this principle, and everyone is clear about our goals beforehand.”
Lin Yao sat up straight and stared seriously at Song Chengxuan. "Let me reiterate, Minhong is a private enterprise, a membership-based service. We have never thought about, nor could we possibly, help all patients in society. We only serve those who are willing to accept social supervision."
"As you should have seen in the promotional materials, civil servants and people from other industries with status and position are not suitable to become members of Minhong, and we absolutely do not welcome them. We are even spending money on advertising to dissuade these people. Everyone can just cancel their memberships themselves."
"But that's unfair to maintenance workers and people in certain professions!" Song Chengxuan glared at Lin Yao, arguing his case for himself and his comrades.
"What's so unfair about it? Before Minhong came out, you civil servants and people in special professions didn't lack adequate medical services. Now that Minhong is here, you're bringing it up?"
"The world can function without Minhong. Besides, Minhong doesn't support public medical care, and they won't even let you use your medical insurance card. It's all out-of-pocket. If you don't want to be supervised, or if your work relationship prevents you from being supervised, then don't bother. Minhong isn't a state-owned enterprise. It's not included in the social security system. Don't try to talk to me about the equal right of citizens to medical care. I don't like hearing that."
Lin Yao's words left Song Chengxuan speechless, unable to utter another word.
Admittedly, it is unreasonable to require members to accept social supervision and even some exposure, but this is an agreement signed voluntarily by both parties. No one is forcing anyone, and there is no question that those who do not become members of Minhong will not receive sufficient medical protection. It is by no means an unfair contract.
Minhong doesn't welcome those people at all. Now, production capacity can't keep up with market demand. Song Chengxuan, representing the GA system, came to negotiate with Minhong, but he was already very unsure of himself. He only wanted to bluff Minhong and get the big shots' wishes to be implemented, but he didn't expect Lin Yao to completely ignore them.
Song Chengxuan's expression changed rapidly several times. He thought to himself that this job was really inhuman. Why did he have to be so talkative? He had to reveal that he knew the young master of Minhong Pharmaceutical, which caused the minister to put the work task directly on him.
He opened his mouth, but Song Chengxuan couldn't say anything. He just wanted to shout, "The drugs that Minhong will return in the future are something no one can refuse!" But he remembered Gan Mei's repeated instructions not to betray her, and he struggled to suppress his impulse.
"Xiao Lin, what kind of candy was that? It tasted really good. Give me a few more so I can show it off to my old buddy later."
Old Master Song didn't hesitate to ask for a bribe, but since he no longer held a public office, it wasn't a big deal. Even though he knew that what Lin Yao offered was very valuable, he still couldn't help but ask for it.
"Grandpa Song, that won't do. That stuff is very expensive. The one you want costs 200,000 yuan. Just name your price."
Lin Yao had already prepared a plan to deal with the demands. He casually quoted an exorbitant price for the "antidote pill," shocking the confident old man into silence. The old man secretly thought to himself that he had swallowed two hundred thousand in one gulp. Coming today was definitely the right thing to do.
Seeing Song Chengxuan staring at him in astonishment, Lin Yao had no choice but to continue explaining, "It's nothing, just that the ingredients are a bit expensive. Actually, the medicine is just for detoxification. I guess Grandpa Song won't have to worry about getting a sore throat all summer long. He can eat hot pot every day and nothing will happen."
"By the way, it can also help with hangovers. Grandpa Song's alcohol tolerance has increased a lot now, but don't overdo it, or you can still get drunk and die."
Lin Yao's additional words made the Song family father and son extremely eager to get more, but they were scared off by the price of 200,000.
“I don’t blame you for being businesslike, but even if it’s just a few dozen yuan worth of ‘antidote pills,’ I won’t give it to you today. It’s because your attitude is unpleasant to look at.”
Lin Yao looked at Song Chengxuan and thought to himself, but his face was indeed full of smiles. He felt that he was becoming more and more talented in acting. He was really too decadent!
"Let's leave it at that. I'll report to the ministry later." Song Chengxuan swallowed and sighed. "Xiao Lin, Minhong can't keep this attitude. There are many people watching from above. It will put you in a very passive position later."
"If nothing goes wrong, that's fine. But if Minhong makes any mistakes in the future, he will definitely be dealt a severe blow. I'm telling you this in advance so that you don't misunderstand the situation and suffer a great loss later."
Seeing Song Chengxuan's somewhat troubled expression, Lin Yao instantly understood the reason for the other party's attitude this time. It turned out that it all came from above.
Lin Yao wasn't worried about the people at the very top, since he had the title of imperial physician and he figured the top leaders wouldn't have any personal opinions about him. But now that Song Chengxuan had said that, it meant the problem lay with those who weren't at the top, those who weren't included in his service.
These people are all of high status and great power. Knowing about her extraordinary medical skills, they were naturally resentful that they were excluded from Minhong's list of people whose health was guaranteed. That's why they kept targeting Minhong and tried every means to put pressure on her.
I'm not afraid of him!
Lin Yao was provoked and thought to himself, "We're all human beings, why should I serve you? I don't even know if it's good or bad, I might as well just help the businessmen who are paying, or the ordinary people. I don't have time to treat these people's illnesses."
"Thank you, Minister Song! I understand." Lin Yao thanked Song Chengxuan again, and his initial objections had been dispelled.
Grandpa Song did not disturb their conversation any further, leisurely drinking tea and occasionally glancing around at the glass walls of the teahouse's private rooms, observing the various scenes of pedestrians on the street through the one-way reflective glass.
"Zhang Zheng is one of my capable subordinates. I heard you two knew each other before?"
Song Chengxuan changed the subject and brought up the second work topic of the day.
"What a coincidence!" Lin Yao smiled faintly, without mentioning how familiar he was with Zhang Zheng. He needed to find out Song Chengxuan's opinion of Zhang Zheng first, lest his good intentions backfire.