At the entrance of the Capital Traditional Chinese Medicine Association's office building.
"Old Wei is here, didn't get drunk last night?"
"Haha, the wine last night, could it get me drunk?"
"Old Wei, don't be so arrogant. We'll celebrate again later, and I'll make sure you get completely drunk..."
Zhang Fenglin, Shen Tonghe, Ding Huixiang, and others arrived and gathered at the entrance. The younger generation, Huang Jingshan, Song Sinan, Zhang Xiaoyu, Wei Renxin, Shen Yingrui, Ding Zipeng, and Miao Yanzheng, also arrived.
At the same time, professors from TCM universities like Chen Jiadong and Yuan Jingguo also came.
However, everyone had expressions of mixed emotions. They gathered together without speaking, and the atmosphere was somber!
The Gu family members were arrested yesterday. The news revealed that their entire family were informants, traitors who sold out the country. This made those who had contact with the Gu family extremely panicked, fearing they would be implicated...
Furthermore, Gu Yuanbai had suddenly convened all members of the Traditional Chinese Medicine Association in the capital to attend a conference today, which made Chen Jiadong and the others uneasy.
"Elder Li is here...!"
Someone saw Li Tiangui arriving with Li Yuxiu. Wei Datong and Shen Tonghe and others went to greet them: "Elder Li, this must be your daughter, Li Yuxiu?"
"Yes, this is my younger daughter."
When Li Tiangui mentioned his elder daughter, Li Yuxiu, his old face was filled with pride.
After all, her discovery of herbs in Marli, Africa, which cured the Red Demon L virus alongside Wan Yunting, had already made her a famous figure in the country.
Therefore, Li Tiangui's face had been beaming with pride for the past two days. Li Yuxiu had truly brought honor to their Li family this time.
"Are Wan Yunting and Chairman Gu not here yet?"
Li Tiangui noticed that most of the members of the Traditional Chinese Medicine Association had arrived, but Wan Yunting and Gu Yuanbai were nowhere to be seen.
"Elder Li, they're here...!"
Immediately, a car slowly drove over. Wan Yunting opened the car door and got out first, then helped Gu Yuanbai out. The crowd at the entrance rushed forward to greet them: "Chairman Wan, Chairman Gu, you've arrived..."
Now, Chen Jiadong, Yuan Jingguo, and the others had changed Wan Yunting's title back to Chairman Wan.
This was because they had long anticipated that Wan Yunting would definitely return to the Traditional Chinese Medicine Association and take over the chairmanship.
"Elder Li, you've arrived too." Gu Yuanbai shook Li Tiangui's hand and asked kindly.
"Yes, just arrived." Li Tiangui smiled, incredibly happy.
"Doctor Li."
Wan Yunting looked at Li Yuxiu, who was standing beside them, and greeted her with a smile. In front of others, he always called her Doctor Li, only calling her Sister Yuxiu in private.
Li Yuxiu also nodded at him with a smile, saying nothing.
"Shall we go inside then?" Li Tiangui asked, seeing that Wan Yunting and Gu Yuanbai had arrived.
"No hurry, let's wait for Minister Xia." Gu Yuanbai said with a smile.
Everyone present was stunned, and then they saw another car arriving. It was Xia Xinhou, the Vice Minister of the National Health Commission, who was also from Wan Yunting's maternal family. Wan Yunting had to call Xia Xinhou uncle.
"Wow, even Minister Xia has been invited. This meeting must be significant!"
"Yes, there are probably important decisions to be made!"
Everyone present watched as Xia Xinhou, dressed in formal attire, arrived with his assistant. Wan Yunting, Gu Yuanbai, Li Tiangui, and others also went forward to greet him, clasping their hands in greeting: "Minister Xia has arrived..."
"Chairman Gu, Elder Li, Chairman Wan..."
Xia Xinhou smiled and greeted everyone he recognized.
"Minister Xia, shall we go inside now?"
"Alright, Chairman Gu, please..."
After some polite exchanges, they all entered the office building and went directly to a conference room on the fourth floor.
"Everyone find your seats..."
Gu Yuanbai gestured, and those who entered moved chairs and sat down in an orderly fashion around a rectangular conference table. The younger ones who couldn't find chairs stood to listen.
Gu Yuanbai sat in the main seat, with Xia Xinhou and Wan Yunting on his left and right respectively. Then came Li Tiangui and Li Yuxiu, and Ding Huixiang and others, all seated at the conference table.
"Many people are missing!"
Xia Xinhou looked at the members of the Traditional Chinese Medicine Association present and sighed.
Gu Yuanbai and Li Tiangui and others also looked solemn and nodded, unsure of what to say.
"Alright, Chairman Gu, let's get energized..."
Xia Xinhou turned to look at Gu Yuanbai, Wan Yunting, and everyone present, smiling and encouraging them: "The future of TCM still depends on you all!"
Everyone nodded, and their spirits began to lift.
Gu Yuanbai began: "We have convened everyone for an impromptu meeting today primarily to discuss the several major ups and downs that our Traditional Chinese Medicine Association has experienced recently!"
Upon hearing this, everyone knew they were getting to the point.
"The Xue family, the Liu family, and then the Gu family. Everything that has happened recently, I don't need to say it; everyone has seen the news!"
Gu Yuanbai's old face was solemn, and his sharp gaze swept over everyone present as he sternly said: "Their actions are a disgrace to our entire Chinese medical community!"
"Yes, it's a disgrace..."
At this moment, everyone present echoed his words, their expressions filled with anger.
First, the people from the Liu and Xue families plunged TCM into an unprecedented dark period, even more severe than the Sima family incident!
The entire nation's people were criticizing and cursing, believing that TCM harbored a bunch of useless parasites and had become a target of public outcry.
"Originally, with Wan Yunting and Li Yuxiu assisting our country's peacekeeping medical team in Marli, Africa, to successfully discover herbs and cure the Red Demon L virus, the whole world saw our TCM and was happy, but the result!"
Gu Yuanbai paused and said sternly: "The Gu Shiren, whom we regarded as a titan of TCM, was actually a spy who had been lurking in our country, a great traitor who sold out the nation. This is an even greater disgrace to TCM!"
It could be said that in this short month, TCM had experienced a roller coaster of public perception.
Now that Gu Shiren and his family were in trouble, the public, who had already believed in TCM, began to doubt it again!
"Now, the reputation of our TCM in the eyes of the public is a joke!"
Gu Yuanbai's old face was grim, and his sharp gaze swept over those present as he raised his finger and said sternly: "The public is even vowing to have us disband the Traditional Chinese Medicine Association!"
Facing Gu Yuanbai's fierce condemnation of those "parasites" in TCM, everyone present lowered their heads in silence.
Especially those like Chen Jiadong and Yuan Jingguo, who had frequently interacted with the Liu, Xue, and Gu families, dared not even breathe loudly now!
"Everyone, let's examine our consciences. Have you all forgotten the ancestral teachings of our ancestors?"
Gu Yuanbai stood up excitedly and shouted: "We are doctors. The duty of a doctor is to heal and save people, not to use medical skills to deceive and enrich themselves!"
"If everyone wants to be like their Liu and Xue families and the Gu family, how can our TCM hope for revival or prosperity?"
"We have already lost public trust over the years, but now, we are facing condemnation from the entire society, all the public opinion is directed at us, and we are also facing suppression from Western medicine!"
"What should we do now? How should we continue to develop?"
This last question stumped everyone, and they lowered their heads, not knowing what to say.
Wan Yunting, sitting beside him, also had a grim expression and remained silent.
The reason Gu Yuanbai began with such a harsh criticism of the Gu family was to give everyone present a warning, a stern warning that such incidents must not happen again!
"Everyone, we are running out of time."
Gu Yuanbai scanned the crowd, shook his head, and sighed: "If we continue like this, not to mention the deliberate defamation by Western medicine, even the public will gradually lose confidence in TCM."
"We must change!"
He delivered this last sentence with force, reaching the ears of everyone present. They couldn't help but look up at Gu Yuanbai's solemn old face and his sharp, determined gaze as he sternly said: "We must change ourselves and absolutely not allow incidents like those of the Liu and Xue families to happen again!"
"Otherwise, TCM will cut off its own inheritance and be eliminated in the long river of history."
"Therefore, we must change all of this!"
"Chairman Gu is right. We must start with ourselves and work together to change all of this...!"
Li Tiangui, hearing Gu Yuanbai's passionate and inspiring words, rekindled his determination to develop TCM and move towards revival, and couldn't help but applaud.
At that moment, everyone present reacted and started applauding...
Xia Xinhou, Wan Yunting, and Li Yuxiu also applauded. Gu Yuanbai nodded and raised his hands to signal them to stop. The applause subsided.
He looked up, his expression softening slightly, and said: "For the past decade, TCM has been suppressed by Western medicine, constantly belittled, accused of being unscientific and lagging behind, and not recognized by the public. However!"
"It's not that the public doesn't recognize us, but that we indeed have many 'tumors' and incompetent doctors among us, which has made the public lose hope!"
"Therefore, what we need to do next is to thoroughly eradicate those harmful incompetent doctors in TCM!"
"That's right, it's time to thoroughly eradicate those half-baked quacks who treat patients indiscriminately. Our reputation is so bad, and the public doesn't recognize us precisely because there are too many quacks!"
"Indeed, we must seize this opportunity to thoroughly eradicate them..."
Everyone nodded in agreement with Gu Yuanbai's words, finding them very reasonable.
"This is a general direction. I hope for everyone's cooperation and effort to assist Chairman Wan in completing this important task!" Gu Yuanbai said, pointing to Wan Yunting beside him.
This statement caused everyone to look at each other in bewilderment. Shen Tonghe and the others also knew that Gu Yuanbai was about to announce his resignation.
"From now on, I resign from the position of Chairman of the Traditional Chinese Medicine Association, and Wan Yunting will take over!"
Indeed, Gu Yuanbai announced loudly.
"What, this..."
Li Tiangui, Li Yuxiu, Chen Jiadong, and others who were unaware of this matter were all shocked.