Chapter 1938: Storm Rises Again

Many things in this world are actually highly coincidental.

The next morning, just after Zhao Fusheng woke up and before he could have breakfast, he received a call from Zheng Yao.

"Someone's up to something!"

Zheng Yao said bluntly.

"What's going on?"

Zhao Fusheng frowned. He hadn't expected someone to cause trouble at a time like this.

"A journalist published an article in the Business Daily, claiming that you and Baobao are exploiting martyrs." Zheng Yao briefly explained the situation, then concluded, "Now there are also forum posts discussing this online. It seems someone is fanning the flames behind the scenes."

"Heh, they couldn't hold back after all."

Zhao Fusheng sneered.

This wasn't entirely unexpected. After all, with him and Future Group making such a big venture capital move, it would be strange if no one tried to stir up trouble.

Often, the power of money is just that strong. For the sake of money, many people can completely abandon their principles.

Hustling and bustling, all come for profit, all go for profit.

As long as one lives in this world, they can never escape the word 'interest.'

Interest does not only refer to money.

Anything that can shake a person's will can be called interest.

Even Zhao Fusheng, if it weren't for the benefit of the company, would not have directly donated so much money.

As for others, it's actually the same, except that everyone is relatively hypocritical and likes to put on a show.

"I'll talk about it when I get to the company."

Zhao Fusheng thought for a moment and said to Zheng Yao.

This matter must be taken seriously. Regarding issues of internet public opinion, no one knows better than Zhao Fusheng. If it were in later times, once such a storm arose, it could easily completely ruin the reputation of a company or an individual.

Humans are creatures that yearn for light, but this world always has unavoidable darkness. To protect themselves, many people choose to wear masks and move forward under heavy burdens.

This is the sorrow of adults. They are exhausted, and they need a drink or a night of indulgence to redeem their oppressed souls.

But there are also some people who like to live behind masks on the internet.

They may be taciturn in real life, but they love to pontificate on the internet. They may be complete failures in real life, yet they are willing to stand on the moral high ground on the internet and criticize anyone.

Whoever does not meet their requirements or conform to their beliefs will be denounced as a heretic.

These are the so-called internet keyboard warriors, internet trolls.

Fortunately, Zhao Fusheng had long ago established an internet team within the Future Group. For such matters, the company has a mature set of coping strategies, so there is no need to panic.

"Alright, I'll gather some people first and discuss countermeasures."

Zheng Yao nodded and said.

After all, it involved the reputation of Zhao Fusheng and Fan Baobao, and the other party was a journalist who seemed very certain. This matter was indeed not easy to handle.

It was no exaggeration to say that if the person hadn't been a journalist, Zheng Yao wouldn't have been so worried.

But the other party had not only started with newspapers but was also pushing the matter on internet forums. In Zheng Yao's view, this was clearly a deliberate attack on Future Group.

Such things must never be tolerated or indulged!

After the meal, Zhao Fusheng went out, and Liu Yiming was already waiting at the door.

"Chairman, this is the information about that report."

Liu Yiming handed a document to Zhao Fusheng.

Before Zheng Yao reported to Zhao Fusheng that morning, she had already notified Liu Yiming, who immediately collected some information.

Zhao Fusheng nodded, took the document, and began to read.

First, a report came into view.

The content was not complicated; it mainly said that Zhao Fusheng and Fan Baobao were exploiting the martyr Chen Shijie. Zhao Fusheng was a profiteer using this incident to advertise himself and Future Group, treating disaster relief as a business.

"How vicious!"

Zhao Fusheng looked at the article, a cold smile curling at the corner of his mouth.

He wasn't stupid. The article was filled with a tone of deliberate slander, and the other party even blatantly stated that this was just a guess.

But the problem was, when you write guesses in a newspaper, how will the public perceive it?

Hype is something that gradually heats up as people pay attention.

Zhao Fusheng could even imagine that the internet was now full of discussions about this matter. In other words, no matter how he explained, the other party would have ten thousand reasons to mock him.

"Chairman, we've investigated. That journalist from the Commercial Daily has been publishing reports smearing our company for a while," Liu Yiming reported what he had learned.

"Oh?"

Zhao Fusheng was startled, then laughed: "Really? How come I didn't know? Did our company offend him?"

"It's like this: his wife previously worked at a branch of Future Advertising and was dismissed for taking kickbacks," Liu Yiming said, holding the document. "So he holds a grudge and has always been dissatisfied with us."

"So that's how it is."

Zhao Fusheng was somewhat surprised, then shook his head. He really hadn't expected such inside information.

Actually, he understood. In the advertising industry, taking kickbacks was quite common.

Not to mention, in his previous life, Zhao Fusheng himself had even taken them.

But now, at Future Advertising, Zheng Yao absolutely would not allow such things to happen.

The company's internal audit department had also been diligently investigating. If such matters were discovered, the penalty would range from dismissal at the least to direct referral to judicial authorities at the worst.

But Zhao Fusheng had never expected to have such a connection with that journalist.

"Chairman, should we release his wife's information?" Liu Yiming thought for a moment and said to Zhao Fusheng.

Zhao Fusheng smiled: "What, you think that would work?"

"He's clearly retaliating."

Liu Yiming said with a dark expression: "Once this kind of thing is confirmed, he definitely won't be able to clear himself."

That was the truth. For one thing, his wife had been fired for taking kickbacks, and her husband had never stopped obsessing over Future Group. For that journalist, his career was basically over.

"No need."

Zhao Fusheng shook his head: "Do you think they wouldn't have considered that?"

"You mean the people behind this did it on purpose?" Liu Yiming asked, puzzled.

Zhao Fusheng nodded: "Yes, I suspect they did it deliberately. Once we get into a public fight with that journalist over this, the whole thing will gain momentum."

Liu Yiming was thoughtful; he had been too simplistic.

"Let's wait and see."

Zhao Fusheng smiled faintly.

He knew very well that there would be more to come. How things developed next required patient waiting.

...

...

Soon, the motorcade arrived at Future Group's headquarters.

Zhao Fusheng got out of the car and, accompanied by Liu Yiming, went straight upstairs.

He didn't have the senior executives come down to greet him—this wasn't a Korean drama, with a bunch of people standing on both sides; that would be too tedious.

But even so, employees who saw Zhao Fusheng gave slight bows to welcome him.

Going upstairs, Zhao Fusheng didn't go to his office but headed directly to the conference room.

There, Zheng Yao was already waiting with her team.

"Chairman, the whole story..." Someone immediately began reporting to Zhao Fusheng after they sat down.

"Not yet."

Zhao Fusheng waved his hand: "I already know. Tell me, what's the current situation?"

He had already understood the cause and process of the incident. What Zhao Fusheng cared about now was how to handle it.

"Posts discussing that report are starting to appear online, and people are posting about it on various forums." Zheng Yao waved her hand, and someone immediately stood up to brief Zhao Fusheng on the specifics.

It had to be said, just as Zhao Fusheng had guessed, there was indeed a systematic force behind this.

"So, have you found out who's behind it?"

Zhao Fusheng smiled, speaking to Zheng Yao in a relaxed tone.

These days, there is no hatred without reason, nor love without cause.

The tree that stands out in the forest is the first to be felled by the wind.

That principle was perfectly normal.

For one thing, Future Group had made such a splash; it would be false to say no one was jealous.

At times like this, when someone dangled bait, others would naturally follow.

The saying 'when a wall is about to collapse, everyone gives it a push' captures this idea.

In the internet age, the most terrifying thing is this kind of public opinion storm. Once it forms a major tempest, it will develop in an uncontrollable direction, and you can only wait for the heat to die down.

As for the truth?

Ha, no one cares.

Netizens only care whether they've vented their deep-seated anger at the moment; they don't care about the truth.

Even after it's over, when they learn they were wrong, they won't admit it.

After all, posting online to curse people doesn't require taking responsibility.

Apologies? They don't exist!

This is most common in the entertainment industry.

Those celebrities who are viciously attacked—when a scandal breaks, they're almost drenched in a torrent of abuse. But when the truth comes out, no one apologizes; they can only silently accept that they're finished.

The most obvious example is Teacher Pan Yue'an. When he divorced Dong Bailian, he went from being a popular young star to a wife-beating, gambling scumbag.

At that time, the entire internet was a chorus of condemnation against Pan Yue'an.

And those who cursed him, aside from the paid trolls Dong Bailian hired, were mostly netizens who didn't know the truth.

They didn't know what the truth was; they were just led to attack Pan Yue'an wildly.

It wasn't until Dong Bailian's true face was exposed that everyone realized Pan Yue'an had been wronged.

But by then, he was already finished.

And the netizens who attacked him and completely ruined him faced no consequences at all.

After all, the internet can't trace your real identity. As long as you don't attack the nation or ethnicity, cursing a few celebrities is no big deal.

That's the mentality of most netizens.

What Zhao Fusheng feared most now was that this incident involving him and Fan Baobao would end up like that.

If that really happened, he would not only feel sorry for Fan Baobao but even more so for Chen Shijie.