The atmosphere in the conference room was heavy.

Mayor Lin’s face was ashen.

"Everyone, this is an emergency, so I’ll be brief." Mayor Lin cut straight to the point. "The Xixi Paper Industry issue has severely damaged our city’s image and reputation. We must take immediate action to minimize the fallout."

He slammed his hand on the table. "We’re forming a joint investigation team, effective immediately. I’ll be the leader. Every department will dispatch its elite members. Tonight, you will raid Xixi Paper Industry, shut it down, and make arrests. Market Supervision, you’ll verify product quality and licenses. Public Security, you’ll apprehend the suspects. Environmental Protection, test the production environment. Commerce, investigate their registration. The judiciary will handle the subsequent legal proceedings, and Propaganda will manage public opinion. We must bring the suspects to justice, seize all non-compliant production lines, and give the public the explanation they deserve, all in the shortest time possible."

"Yes, sir."

Everyone responded in unison.

That night, law enforcement officers moved with swift and decisive force, launching a surprise raid to shut down Xixi Paper Products Co., Ltd., located in the suburbs.

In the darkness of the night, the flashing lights of numerous police cars and law enforcement vehicles silently surrounded the factory.

Officers vaulted over the main gate and charged into the production workshop.

The scene before them was horrifying. The workshop was brightly lit, machines were roaring, and workers were bustling about their tasks. The air was thick with the pungent, mixed odor of chemicals and waste paper pulp.

Rows of machines operated at high speed, shredding, bleaching, and reprocessing mountain-like piles of used diapers and defective sanitary napkin materials, ultimately turning them into new "sanitary napkin cores."

"Don’t move! We’re the city’s joint investigation team! Everyone, cease production immediately!"

An officer shouted.

The workers, stunned by the sudden raid, all stopped what they were doing.gentlemen

Meanwhile, several public security officers rushed to the factory’s back door, catching the person in charge, President Liu, red-handed as he was about to climb the wall to escape.

President Liu was escorted into the production workshop. Faced with the mountains of defective materials and the squalid production environment, he wore a smirk, looking as if none of it had anything to do with him.

"Liu Qian, do you have any idea what you’re producing? Do you realize you’re breaking the law? Do you know how much harm these products will cause consumers if they reach the market?"

The head of the Market Supervision Bureau demanded sharply.

Liu Qian shrugged, a look of innocence on his face. "Breaking the law? I had no idea. We’re just engaged in normal production, using good materials. How is that illegal?"

Just then, Mayor Lin himself arrived at the scene.

He took in the filthy, chaotic production environment, smelled the pungent odor in the air, and then saw Liu Qian’s shameless expression. He was instantly overcome with fury.

"Liu Qian, you dare to keep making excuses even now!"

Mayor Lin pointed at the mountain of used and defective materials and roared, "CCTV reporters have already exposed your crimes, yet you still dare to work overtime here, making dirty money! Do you have any conscience at all? Any sense of social responsibility as a business owner?"

Liu Qian’s face turned pale from Mayor Lin’s tirade, but he still refused to admit anything.

Mayor Lin wasted no more words and gave a decisive order: "Immediately seal all of the factory’s production lines and confiscate all products. The individuals involved will be punished severely according to the law, with no leniency."

The law enforcement officers moved quickly, sealing all of Xixi Paper Industry’s production equipment and warehouses while detaining and investigating the involved personnel.

...

The news of CCTV exposing the substandard sanitary napkin manufacturer continued to ferment online.

Topics like #LiveInsectsAndCarcinogensInPads, #FamousBrandsOEMScandal, and #FengCityRaidsSubstandardPadFactoryOvernight quickly shot to the top of the trending lists on all major platforms, their popularity refusing to die down.

Online, public opinion boiled over, and the collective mood was one of fury.

Countless netizens flooded social media platforms, furiously cursing the heartless manufacturers for being utterly devoid of conscience, willing to sacrifice consumer health for a pittance.

"I can’t believe it. The brand I’ve used for over a decade is actually this filthy."gentlemen

"Live insects? Carcinogens? Oh my god, what on earth have we been using? I feel sick all over!"

"These scumbag businesses should be bankrupted! Fine them until they never dare to do evil again!"

"Feng City did a great job this time. An overnight raid, nice!"

But amidst the curses aimed at the unscrupulous manufacturers, even more consumers were left feeling lost.

"If you can’t even trust these big brands, who can we trust? What sanitary napkins are actually safe to use?"

"I feel like I have to be on edge every time I buy anything now. It’s exhausting."

"I threw out all the sanitary napkins I had stocked up at home. I don’t dare use a single one now. I’d rather go back to using old-fashioned cloth pads. At least I can be sure they’re clean if I wash them myself."

Consumers were baffled about what to choose in the future, and their trust in the entire industry had plunged to rock bottom.

Following this, well-known sanitary napkin brands that were named or implicated in the OEM scandal—such as Sophie, Cotton Code, and Free Point—all issued emergency statements.

These statements were cautiously worded. The gist was that they were "unaware" of the contract factory’s violations, expressed their "deepest apologies" to consumers, and promised to "immediately and thoroughly investigate the matter, strictly control product quality, and ensure the safety and reliability of future products."

However, these statements failed to quell the consumers’ anger.

"’Unaware’? We’ve been using your products for years, and now that there’s a problem, you claim you were ’unaware’? Do you take us for fools?"

"You say one thing and do another. Who knows what shady stuff you’re pulling behind the scenes."

"Don’t think you can just brush this aside. We want the truth and we want punishment, not a few hollow apologies."

"You talk about ’strictly controlling quality’ now? Where were you before?"

Online, the anger continued to spread.

Many consumers began posting screenshots of their returned orders, declaring a complete boycott of the problematic brands.

The official livestream channels of some brands became "battlegrounds" for consumers to vent their fury.

The livestream’s bullet-comment section was flooded with furious remarks like "SCUMBAGS," "REFUND," and "GIVE ME BACK MY HEALTH," making it impossible to promote any products.

Eventually, the livestream channels for famous brands like Sophie, Cotton Code, and others disabled their comment sections to prevent public opinion from escalating further.

...

The next morning, Li’s Traditional Chinese Medicine Clinic opened for business.

Song Sisi arrived at the clinic early, carrying breakfast.

As soon as she saw Li Xu, she couldn’t wait to tell him about yesterday’s big "scoop" regarding the sanitary napkins.

"Boss, did you see the news last night? There’s a huge problem with sanitary napkins. Several big brands got nailed."

Song Sisi said indignantly.

Li Xu had been reading since after dinner last night and didn’t know anything about it.

After Song Sisi told him, he cursed, "These crooked businesses are completely without conscience. They’ll stop at nothing for profit and have absolutely no regard for consumer health and safety."