Chapter 237 A Little More
Over at the banquet hall, after Rodolfo finished giving Olivia her gift, he turned to face the many guests below and said, "Today, I invited you all here, and as I mentioned beforehand, we're not accepting any gifts.
Moreover, according to tradition, every year on Olivia's birthday, the Medica Vitae Sect donates large quantities of medicinal materials and medical aid.
Our Medica Vitae Sect also sends people to impoverished mountain areas to provide a month of free medical consultations.
This year, I ask you all to bear witness that our Medica Vitae Sect will definitely continue to carry on this charitable work!"
Although everyone already knew about this, when Rodolfo spoke about it, the venue erupted in continuous applause from the guests.
Everyone started discussing it among themselves.
"Rodolfo is truly righteous. The charity work the Medica Vitae Sect has done over the years is almost universally known. Your medical aid has saved so many people who needed help!"
"Yes, those kids at the welfare home all have various health problems. If it weren't for Rodolfo, they wouldn't have lived long enough to receive medical assistance."
"On behalf of those patients who have benefited from the Medica Vitae Sect's kindness, I thank you."
At this moment, Daniel, who had been watching Olivia from below the stage, finally spoke up, calling out, "Mr. McCoy, you're truly remarkable, but as Olivia's business partner and good friend, I still need to give her a birthday gift.
However, besides her birthday gift, in my personal capacity, I'm donating ten million dollars to the Medica Vitae Sect's poverty medical fund to help the Medica Vitae Sect continue their charitable medical aid work."
Daniel's announcement seemed to be a signal.
Not far away, Beatrix also spoke up, "How can you do good deeds without including me? In the name of the Miller Group, I'm donating five million dollars!"
Following these two taking the lead, the group of famous business tycoons present also followed suit, wanting to make charitable donations.
As for those who didn't donate money, they also expressed that they could contribute their efforts. Many people from the medical field said they wanted to participate in the Medica Vitae Sect's free clinic activities.
Rodolfo looked at this scene, somewhat surprised.
He said to everyone with a mixture of laughter and tears, "Everyone really doesn't need to do this. My intention in saying all this tonight wasn't to get anything from you."
Joseph also smiled and spoke up, "What's wrong with this, Rodolfo? Every year you use Olivia's birthday to make so many contributions to the outside world. This is a good thing.
Since everyone attended this birthday banquet today, being able to help out is also a blessing."
Beatrix also said, "Yes, my grandfather is right. This matter has great significance!"
The grandfather and granddaughter's words gained the approval of many people present, including Nathan and the others.
Every year, various places experience natural disasters, and these people, including the military, might need to dispatch personnel for relief and assistance.
Aid work as meaningful as what Rodolfo and his group do was really needed.
Moreover, because it was Rodolfo, they didn't doubt the truth of his words, because the Medica Vitae Sect wouldn't bother with such deception. Getting everyone's praise now was well-deserved.
Everyone said to Rodolfo, "Rodolfo, don't decline. These donations are all voluntary from us!"
"Yes, yes, everyone came tonight to celebrate Ms. Smith's birthday. Let's not talk about this now. Later, after the birthday banquet ends, we can discuss the donation matters in detail."
Hearing everyone's words, Rodolfo smiled helplessly. "In that case, I thank you all here.
Compared to gifts, these things are more meaningful to Olivia."
The atmosphere at the scene was harmonious and joyful.
Soon, Olivia came down from the stage and entertained guests together with Rodolfo.
At this time, the internet outside had exploded.
All the netizens were waiting to see scenes of corruption at the birthday party.
But what no one expected was that what they got instead was a harmonious scene of public charity work.
[What? This is what you call explosive news? A corruption scene? If this counts, then please give us more!]
[The Medica Vitae Sect doing free medical consultations and aid isn't just once or twice, and there are records every year, on this very day!]
[Yes, I also remember it's this day, and they've been doing this for over ten years. I didn't expect it was all for Olivia's birthday]
[I believe this is true, because my family was one of those poor families. Back then, it was the Medica Vitae Sect's doctors who came to our area for free consultations, which is how my brother got free treatment! We've always been grateful to them! Now I also want to say to Ms. Smith, thank you for having your birthday at this time!]
Besides this netizen, many others online shared the kindness they had received.
Of course, there were also some who spoke up for the Medica Vitae Sect.
[I don't know about other things, but hasn't Rick already committed slander this time?]
[You're done for, Rick. You not only slandered the Medica Vitae Sect but also slandered so many important people. I want to see who can protect you this time?]
[Exactly, and he was secretly filming too!]
All the netizens were frantically posting comments in the live stream.
On the other end of the live stream, Rick's face had already changed.
At this moment, his live stream suddenly went black, with only one line of text on the screen: [This live stream involves violations and has been permanently banned].
In a Maybach outside the hotel at Emerald City.
David was reporting to Andrew, "Mr. Hamilton, the internet has started to widely ban tonight's rumor-mongering incident, and our people have also begun collecting evidence.
Those accounts that stirred things up and made nasty comments - we've preserved evidence of all of them. The police have also started taking action, locating them, preparing to arrest that rumor-mongering reporter.
Additionally, all the good deeds done by the Medica Vitae Sect have been listed and posted online."
Andrew nodded with rare satisfaction, "Good! Make sure to minimize all negative impact!"
"Yes!" David nodded, but cold sweat broke out on his back.
They were the first to discover tonight's live stream incident. Andrew had just arrived at the hotel when he unexpectedly saw this live broadcast.
Just as Andrew said, Daniel only learned about the online controversy at this time.
Earlier, when Rodolfo was speaking on stage, everyone's attention was focused on the front, and Eric didn't dare to approach rashly. He was getting anxious.
It wasn't until Rodolfo came down from the stage that Eric hurried forward to report.
Daniel didn't expect that a reporter had actually snuck in and started a live stream to cause trouble. His expression changed on the spot.
"Don't alarm the people in the banquet hall for now. First, find the live streaming equipment!"
"Okay!"
The two quietly left the banquet and quickly led people to search.
Although Rick's live stream was shut down and he was arrested, the equipment was still there.
Soon, Daniel led people to find the camera that was doing the live stream.
The equipment was still running, hidden inside a potted plant.
The plant had lush branches and leaves. Unless they specifically looked for it, they couldn't notice it with the naked eye.
Just as Daniel and his team were removing the equipment, others at the venue also noticed what was happening here.
When they discovered the equipment, everyone's expressions showed some surprise.
"What's going on? How can there be this equipment here?"
"Yes, and it was actually hidden in such a place."
"Is this part of the banquet arrangements?"
"I don't know."
Tonight, everyone entering the banquet hall had put their phones on silent and no one was checking messages. No one had notified them about what was happening online, so they knew nothing.
Seeing everyone starting to speculate, Daniel immediately walked quickly to the stage, took the microphone, and said to everyone, "I apologize. It was our oversight that allowed someone with ulterior motives to hide filming equipment in the banquet hall.
Not long ago, the person who hid the equipment used it to start a live stream online."
Daniel told everyone present about the matter in detail.
After hearing everything, everyone was shocked and took out their phones to check online.
Although Rick's live stream was shut down and many of the trending topics online were removed, the heat hadn't completely died down in such a short time.
Opening any website, you could see netizens discussing this banquet.
Some people had even reposted videos from the live stream.
Soon, everyone pieced together the whole story from the fragmented videos.
They were all shocked!
"This so-called reporter is absolutely outrageous! How dare he smear and spread rumors like this!"
"Exactly! This is just an ordinary banquet, what nonsense is he spouting!"
Olivia's expression was also very poor.
She couldn't understand how a completely unrelated reporter could sneak in and hide equipment to secretly film.
No matter who the target was, this matter was clearly aimed at her.
Olivia said in a deep voice, "This matter must be investigated!"
Daniel took this matter very seriously.
His expression was equally poor. Tonight, this hotel belonged to the Wilson Group, and yet someone had exploited such a loophole. As president of the Wilson Group, he couldn't escape responsibility.
He immediately instructed Eric, "Investigate! Find out who did this and how this equipment was brought in!"
The banquet hall was something he had the hotel manager and Simon oversee the setup for. Now, with things turning out like this, he really couldn't escape responsibility.
Rodolfo also learned about this matter and took the initiative to go on stage to apologize to everyone, "I didn't expect that just a birthday banquet would cause such trouble."
He really didn't know how to explain this to people.
Joseph spoke up to comfort him, "This isn't your fault at all. This matter is clearly because this reporter went crazy wanting attention. What does it have to do with you?"
With Joseph speaking up, others also chimed in, "Yes, this really isn't your fault. It's someone with ulterior motives who wanted to use this to smear reputations.
Tonight here, there were no money transactions, and everything can withstand investigation. Everyone shouldn't let this matter affect us."
"Yes, yes, let's continue."
Everyone understood Rodolfo's character and didn't take this matter to heart at all.
But Olivia couldn't just ignore it.
After understanding the whole story, she felt there was something fishy about it. Tonight's smear campaign came on so strong, it looked like it was premeditated!
Moreover, the core of the whole thing gave her the feeling that it was aimed at her and Rodolfo!