What's wrong with me being a rich man?

Chapter 656 Carbon-Silicon System

Li Zheng is a senior executive at Baidu. He is attending the event today on behalf of the company and will be giving a long talk about the integration of healthcare within the internet ecosystem.

He heard two aggressive questions from Bi Sheng in quick succession, and after only a brief moment of thought, he decided to confront them head-on.

Company image is one thing, personal image is another.

Furthermore, he believes that Bi Sheng's attack was misguided.

Li Zheng looked at the audience below the stage, then at the entire room, and earnestly said to the guests who were clearly more attentive, "I hope you can give me another five minutes to respond to questions after my speech."

Applause erupted, partly for Li Zheng's composure in not avoiding the issue, and partly for the relief that the lively event wouldn't fall apart.

Bi Sheng suppressed the urge to continue questioning, but still felt nervous.

He felt the various gazes on the scene, silently murmuring General Manager Yu's name, determined to carry forward the spirit of overcoming obstacles to the end.

When Li Zheng's speech, which had been largely ignored, ended, the guests in the audience almost simultaneously perked up, eager to hear his response to the questions about Baidu.

"Undoubtedly, Baidu's actions regarding the commercialization of Tieba, especially those involving the medical field, have many areas that need improvement."

"Healthcare is an area that receives close attention from users and the public. After noticing the relevant issues, the company immediately held serious discussions and handed over all the forums related to the diseases to non-profit organizations."

"Including myself, we have participated in internal reviews and analyses multiple times, hoping to meet the expectations of the public and strive to use this issue as an opportunity to sort out the company's internal situation."

Li Zheng stood on the stage, holding a microphone, and mainly responded to questions about the commercialization of Baidu Tieba.

Bi Sheng listened to his eloquent speech, and this time waited until the other party finished speaking before asking the question that had been raised earlier: "Mr. Li, what do you think of Baidu's medical advertising bidding ranking?"

Li Zheng answered without hesitation: "President Bi, you used to work at Baidu, so you should know that the medical division I work in is not responsible for paid search ranking business."

Although Baidu's medical advertisements all use the word "medical," Li Zheng's department has absolutely no direct connection to it.

Bi Sheng had come prepared and naturally knew this, so he immediately pressed on, "Mr. Li, as a senior executive at Baidu, and more importantly, as a Baidu user, don't you know that when you search for any disease on Baidu, almost all the results on the homepage are advertisements? Your department isn't responsible for this business, so can't you express your opinion?"

"I believe Baidu does have some problems right now, but I want to emphasize that all the services our medical division provides are free to the public," Li Zheng stressed. "We provide services to users for free! Free appointment booking, free health education, free electronic health records—our medical division provides the public with free yet high-quality services!"

All these features are free, what more do you want from me?

Li Zheng's words were firm and resolute, and he had a clear conscience.

"So, Mr. Li, what's the revenue mechanism behind your free services?" Bi Sheng asked. "Does that free content also endorse the bidding ranking of medical advertisements?"

"Is it because Baidu charges for other things that you can offer it for free?"

"What's most hateful isn't that it's obviously fake, but that it's the mix of the real and the fake that makes it even harder to tell the difference."

"Mr. Li, I would like to ask you to answer my simple question directly: are you aware that there are false or misleading claims in Baidu's medical advertisements?"

Li Zheng frowned, unable to answer the simple question directly, his mind racing.

“Mr. Li, I know you’re not in charge of the paid search ranking business, but people who aren’t in the healthcare business might not be aware of the problems with those ads. As a professional in this field, you must know about Baidu’s wrongdoings in the medical advertising sector!” Bi Sheng exclaimed, defining the problem: “Baidu is doing evil!”

Li Zheng couldn't let the other party continue like this. He suddenly raised his voice: "President Bi, I know you're so indignant because your company, a silicon-carbon company, failed to secure funding from Baidu this time!" "President Bi, you're talking to someone who's not in charge of advertising, engaging in slander and malicious acts. Isn't that at the behest of that big short seller, Yu Xing?"

He proposed a theory—the carbon-silicon system.

The other party's actions were not motivated by public morality or user concerns; they were simply launching an attack due to business setbacks.

This is not an interaction; it's the other party's selfish attempt to attack and smear Baidu's reputation.

While Li Zheng was continuing his speech, he was thinking about how to deal with Bi Sheng, and ultimately decided to bring the other party into the realm of business factional competition.

Coincidentally, he had always disapproved of the short sellers stirring up trouble behind the scenes. No matter how Bi Sheng explained whether he was a carbon-silicon company or whether he was acting under the instructions of the short sellers, the course of the matter had already changed.

Bi Sheng did not panic when he heard President Yu's name, nor did he try to explain the carbon-silicon system label. He simply said loudly, "You can't talk about medical science popularization on the one hand, and avoid business collaborations and interest ties on the other."

"Whether you call it carbon-silicon system or what others think of me as being associated with Baidu, Baidu's biggest problem right now is that it is unwilling to face up to and correct its wrongdoing in medical advertising."

He then shifted his focus from Li Zheng on the stage to the reporters and guests below, saying, "You may find it hard to understand why I'm standing here today, but if you just use your phone or laptop to search for any disease name on Baidu, you'll know my shock and hatred. The results are all advertisements, and most of them are hospitals and institutions that are unable to provide effective treatment!"

Li Zheng, with his unobstructed view from the stage, noticed that someone was indeed doing this, and said directly, "I will never accept a smear campaign instigated by an empty shell."

After saying that, he put down the microphone and was about to leave.

"Li Zheng is guilty, he knows best what kind of search results this will produce!" Bi Sheng rushed onto the stage, grabbed Li Zheng's arm, and shouted, "He has to give us an explanation, Baidu has to give us an explanation!"

At this moment, some people at the scene had already followed Bi Sheng's instructions, randomly entered the name of a disease, and then clicked on the webpage at the front of the homepage.

Li Zheng was both shocked and furious, and shoved him, saying, "Bi Sheng, what are you doing! You're acting under Yu Xing's orders! You're smearing Baidu!"

Bi Sheng remained steadfast in his goal, shouting, "Does Baidu still need me to smear it?"

The two men started fighting on stage, while the audience either searched or took photos.

Soon, dissenting voices began to emerge from the audience.

"I didn't search for this hospital, so why is it showing up at the top of Baidu search results?"

"That's strange. When I search for stomach problems, it seems like all the results are from private hospitals. Isn't that a bit biased?"

Hearing the commotion from the audience, Bi Sheng shouted, "Baidu's pay-per-click advertising revenue comes from patients' life-saving money!"

"Baidu is doing evil! It's doing evil!"

At this point, Li Zheng finally managed to break free from Bi Sheng's control, realizing that he could no longer salvage the situation. He hurriedly left the venue, unwilling to be surrounded by the media.

Bi Sheng let out a long breath and suddenly realized that President Yu had similar feelings in different fields. These people collapsed at the slightest touch, truly rotten inside.

Standing on the stage, looking at the cell phone cameras or video cameras below, he felt a strange sense of self-elevation. He realized that only by standing on a moral high ground could he see the whole picture of the valley.

(End of this chapter)