Chapter 0807 The Truth

"Heh, so that's how it is."

Zhao Fusheng held the materials Zhang Qian had brought back, a cold sneer appearing on his face.

In his previous life, he had wondered, "Stomach pain, stomach acid, bloating, please use Sidasu"—this was the advertising slogan for Xiuzheng Pharmaceutical's flagship product, Sidasu. But Zhao Fusheng never knew who had conceived that ad.

In this life, he had written out the concept from memory, and to his surprise, the other party had agreed immediately, and with a very good attitude. At the time, Zhao Fusheng thought his creativity had won them over.

But now, looking at the materials in his hand, Zhao Fusheng suddenly felt as if he had been duped.

The reason was simple: according to the content of these materials, stomach pain, stomach acid, and bloating all referred to symptoms, not diseases. There were dozens of diseases that could cause these symptoms, and based on Sidasu's active ingredients, it was merely a drug that could "relieve pain caused by excessive gastric acid irritating ulcer surfaces." How could it possibly treat all the diseases that cause stomach pain, stomach acid, and bloating?

If a patient actually had a self-limiting disease and felt "much better in the stomach" after taking Sidasu, what did that have to do with Sidasu?

If a patient had an acute condition, such as ulcer perforation, taking Sidasu, a "painkiller," would only mask the symptoms, creating a false impression of improvement. And if the stomach pain was caused by a disease like gastric cancer, taking Sidasu would only delay treatment.

Life sometimes feels like a joke: the things we want always appear just when we've lost hope, like a last-minute goal in football or an opening penalty kick.

Even Zhao Fusheng hadn't expected that the advertising concept, which in his previous life had been developed internally by Xiuzheng Pharmaceutical, would end up in his hands.

No wonder Xiuzheng was so satisfied—this was exactly the kind of concept they needed.

"What's wrong?" Zhang Qian asked curiously, seeing Zhao Fusheng's grim expression.

Zhao Fusheng sneered: "Those bastards at Xiuzheng actually used me as a pawn. They're asking for trouble!"

This was his honest feeling; he really hadn't expected to be played like this.

"Should I notify Manager Dong to terminate this cooperation?" Zhang Qian asked solemnly.

Since Zhao Fusheng said there was a problem, there was no need to continue the collaboration.

Zhao Fusheng shook his head: "Not so fast. Since we're already in talks, we should at least meet with them."

Although no contract had been signed yet, the negotiations were going quite well, and Xiuzheng had offered a high price—otherwise, neither Dong Chenxi nor Zhao Fusheng would have chosen to hand over the concept to them.

But the problem was that Xiuzheng, knowing full well the product had issues, still wanted Zhao Fusheng to create an advertising campaign for them. That really pissed him off.

"Alright, I understand," Zhang Qian nodded.

He had clearly defined his role: he was a knife in Zhao Fusheng's hand. Although Zhao Fusheng had repeatedly expressed his hope that Zhang Qian would learn some management skills and help him out, Zhang Qian had refused.

According to him, he knew his own limits. He could run errands, drive for Zhao Fusheng, or act as a bodyguard, but business matters were beyond him.

He had learned this lesson deeply back when they opened the arcade. If his comrade-in-arms hadn't been promoted by Zhao Fusheng, he felt the arcade would have been a mess under his management.

Zhao Fusheng had initially tried to persuade Zhang Qian, but after many attempts, he gave up.

In fact, thinking about it carefully, Zhang Qian was right. Self-knowledge is valuable; it's not easy for a person to clearly know what they can and cannot do. People with high ambitions but low abilities are as numerous as carp crossing a river. Sometimes, people have a mistaken perception of their own abilities, feeling as if they can do anything.

For example, singers think they can become great directors, directors think they can win Best Actor, and actors think they can become super directors.

Of course, there are those with extraordinary talent who successfully make the leap across fields. But the problem is, the odds are about the same as winning the lottery.

Zhao Fusheng wasn't looking down on those people; he just felt it was better to keep one's feet on the ground, to do what one can do, and not to make oneself look like a fool.

"By the way, what about Manager Dong?" Zhang Qian asked Zhao Fusheng after a moment's thought. This wasn't just Zhao Fusheng's personal matter; they needed to inform Dong Chenxi.

Zhao Fusheng nodded: "I'll call her. This matter really needs attention."

He thought of a very important issue: as Future Advertising expanded, they would frequently encounter problems with product quality, especially in pharmaceutical and food advertisements. He felt it necessary to remind Dong Chenxi and the others to be cautious.

"By the way, go to the studio and pick up Dong Guoxiang," Zhao Fusheng said to Zhang Qian after thinking for a moment.

Since he now knew about this, he had to do something.

Zhao Fusheng didn't know how long it would take for Xiuzheng's fake drug scandal to be exposed, but he had some other ideas.

After Zhang Qian left, Zhao Fusheng considered for a moment and then called Dong Chenxi.

"Have you finished reading the materials?" Dong Chenxi asked in surprise.

Zhang Qian had taken the materials from her that morning, and she had been waiting for Zhao Fusheng's call. Since she had already read the materials, she naturally knew what game Xiuzheng Pharmaceutical was playing. She was undoubtedly angry at their behavior, but as the manager of an advertising company, she couldn't judge based on personal likes and dislikes; she had to wait for Zhao Fusheng's opinion.

"I've read them," Zhao Fusheng said flatly. "I didn't expect the marketing department at Xiuzheng to be so bold."

"It might not necessarily be the marketing department's doing," Dong Chenxi refuted Zhao Fusheng's suggestion. "This is no small matter. Such a big problem is likely an open secret within the company, and they're just using us to voice it."

Zhao Fusheng neither agreed nor disagreed, but in his heart, he felt Dong Chenxi was right. Responsibility wasn't something that could be dismissed by claiming ignorance. Zhao Fusheng would never believe that Xiuzheng's top management was clueless about the whole affair.

It could only be said that the leader in charge of advertising at Xiuzheng was very clever.

But unfortunately, Zhao Fusheng was someone who couldn't tolerate even a speck of sand in his eyes. He couldn't accept being someone else's pawn.

Moreover, Zhao Fusheng couldn't accept that one day it would be exposed that the false advertisement for Xiuzheng Pharmaceutical had come from him.