I Can Hear the Heart's Voice of Traditional Chinese Medicine-Chapter 397 - 165: Pharmaceutical Companies’ Siege, Battle of the Besieged City (Part 3)
Don’t be fooled by how Wu Beiming casually asked a question, as if it were just an offhand remark.
But when he asked that question, he had already made his intention clear. Huang Beishan, having been retired for many years and not having much interaction with such people, perhaps let his guard down and casually mentioned which table he was at.
Wu Beiming’s question had undoubtedly revealed many things to Huang Beishan.
To settle the bill.
Why else would he ask which table?
The implication was obvious.
This kind of person, having been savvy even in youth, now holds a high position and has maneuvered through society for many years. It’s difficult to catch any flaw in their words. If Huang Beishan hadn’t remembered Wu Beiming from back then, he might not have thought of this.
What seems like a simple sentence was actually a setup for the upcoming payment of the bill.
Once or twice may be nothing, but for this kind of person, if they pay for you once, there will be a second time, a third time, even a tenth, or dozens of times. By then, can you still remain indifferent?
And by that point, you might no longer be eating at Yong’s Famous Food but feasting on luxurious meals costing several thousand or even tens of thousands. By then, who can say it’s no big deal?
Others may not understand these things clearly, especially people like Zhang Jingcai and Ye Haishen, who have spent little time in large hospitals, some of whom have never been to such hospitals and are unaware of the complexities involved.
But Huang Beishan is different; he was once the director of City First Hospital.
He didn’t know how many pharmaceutical representatives lined up daily wanting to invite him to dinner and give him money.
And they were always around, wherever you went, you’d run into them.
It wasn’t hard to encounter several pharmaceutical reps vying to pay for a meal.
Back then, Huang Beishan wasn’t very fond of these people, after all, medicines are for treating illnesses and saving lives. Once it gets entangled with interests, it concerns a patient’s life.
How much does a pharmaceutical company have to spend to trap a large hospital?
Huang Beishan didn’t know for sure, but it surely wasn’t a small amount. As for these expenses, pharmaceutical companies could only cut costs on drugs, ultimately leading to medications that barely work, or wherein the same amount of medicine no longer has the needed effect.
For example, the same antipyretic, ibuprofen, produced by different companies, might have the same dosage but end up with vastly different results.
Precisely because these pharmaceutical companies try every means to entrap, more and more hospitals in recent years have witnessed various medical incidents. The scary part is when something goes wrong; you have no idea where the problem lies.
Even though Huang Beishan retired from his position as the director of the City First Hospital many years ago, and he’s been retired for many years, he was indeed once a director and is still a nationally famous Chinese medicine doctor. His influence in Yong City’s medical community remains significant. If he were to speak, how many hospitals in Yong City could refuse him?
None.
Probably not even one.
Huang Beishan knew very well what Wu Beiming would do. Once tangled with such a person, who knows what means it would take to shake them off.
The simplest was to prevent being ensnared from the start.
Therefore, seeing Wu Beiming leave, he quickly headed straight to the cash register.
To have a meal paid for puts you in debt, and it’s an ancient truth that taking favors softens you.
Once there’s a first time, there’s bound to be a second.
Many believe they will only experience it once, thinking to themselves they will strictly refuse any further benefits next time. But by accepting the first favor, more are bound to follow.
In the end, lost in the pharmaceutical companies’ entrapments.
Perish in a siege.
Such things happened too often.
Over the years, countless hospital directors have fallen, and behind their downfalls lie the shadows of numerous pharmaceutical companies.
It is the flow of money and interests, the deepest darkness hidden beneath the sunlight.
When Huang Beishan reached the cash register, as expected, he heard Wu Beiming trying to pay for their table’s meal. He quickly stepped forward to stop Wu’s next move and gave the cashier a look: "I’ll pay."
The cashier obviously knew Huang Beishan too, since the United South Chinese Medicine Association and Yong’s Famous Food are only a few dozen meters apart, and given that Huang Beishan and his people often visited, it was natural they understood his intent and directly showed him the payment code.
Wu Beiming smiled: "Elder Huang, you’re making it too formal. Back then, it was already something if you weren’t fond of me. After all, you were the director of City First Hospital then. Keeping a distance, I could understand. But you’re no longer a director now, you’re retired. As a junior who has known you for decades, inviting you to a meal is but courtesy."
Huang Beishan replied, "President Wu, you’re joking."
While speaking, Huang Beishan paid the money, feeling much relieved afterward.
Wu Beiming, helplessly: "You’re being too formal. Elder Huang, our company has been around for many years, the medicines have been sold for many years and have always worked well, without any problems. Moreover, you’re not a director now, so there’s no need to resort to those superficial things, right?
It just happened, I was here with friends and ready to leave, just wanted to cover the bill together, it’s only a matter of a few hundred bucks, not a lot."
"President Wu, thank you for your kindness, but I still have friends over there, won’t chat much."
Huang Beishan did not say much. Having been in the world for so many years, Wu Beiming had long mastered the art of persuasion, and there wasn’t much left for him to discuss with Wu.
Of course, he didn’t pay attention to him, even now less than before.
After finishing, Huang Beishan turned and walked toward the restroom.
Meanwhile, Wu Beiming watched him head in the direction of the restroom, glanced once more, and then turned his head to look at the window-side in the distance, walking straight over.
Having failed to pay, but since he was here, he ought to say goodbye before he left, right?
