My Virtual Girlfriend-Chapter 457

Upon seeing that the female assistant finally took his words to heart, Zhao Qingtian snorted coldly and said, "Go handle it now!"

"I want results!"

"And they had better be satisfactory!"

"Otherwise, pack your bags and return to guard the old house in Xiao Xiang!"

Hearing Zhao Qingtian’s unambiguous warning, the female assistant quickly reined in her wandering thoughts.

Her body trembling, she replied, "Yes, Uncle."

Then, she quickly walked out of the office and sprinted to the public relations team that was in a meeting dealing with the current crisis!

This team was composed of the elites from the Compliance, Brand Promotion, Legal Affairs, and Public Relations departments of Zhao Group headquarters.

It represented Zhao Group’s top-notch crisis response abilities.

The team was assembled by Zhao Qingtian after a few phone calls upon learning about the incident.

At that time, the female assistant did not quite understand Zhao Qingtian’s approach.

After all, in her view, the matter, though significant, did not seem to warrant such an intense response.

Although it involved Zhao Qingtian’s family members, he himself was not involved.

Such a powerful team—capable of smoothing out a monumental PR crisis threatening to topple Zhao Group—was now merely deployed to deal with this issue.

It felt like using a cannon to kill a mosquito.

Moreover, they were so sensitive as to act this way without even knowing the exact identity or circumstances of the opposing party. The female assistant felt Zhao Qingtian was making a mountain out of a molehill.

But just now, in the office, seeing how furious Zhao Qingtian was, the assistant suddenly realized something: it didn’t matter whether she thought the matter was important, as long as her boss did, that was sufficient!

She also understood that her casual attitude must have been detected by her boss, which explained the admonishment in the office.

Therefore, she had to proactively ensure she handled this matter successfully!

With that thought... she pushed open the door to the conference room.

Inside the meeting room, the department elites were intensely busy working.

Phone calls and keyboard clicks were unceasing.

Everyone’s brows were furrowed, deeply engrossed in their work.

And the female assistant, who had seemed so submissive in front of Zhao Qingtian, was here more like a queen.

With a gesture, she summoned the heads of the four department teams and then asked, "What’s the situation now?"

The managers exchanged glances, then began to explain.

"The media houses have already been settled."

"All platforms have finished their PR efforts."

"The person behind this is almost impossible to trace now."

Hearing the managers’ comments, the assistant’s eyes lit up as she pressed further, "Who is it?"

The Public Relations manager thought for a moment before speaking, "It is likely a rising tycoon from Qin Island: Chen Yan."

"Although he has always remained behind the scenes, and these online mercenaries and the small PR companies out in the open appear unrelated to him."

"However, we found that these companies have had deep collaborations with his film and television company."

"They have been involved in several project promotions and creating momentum for actors."

Hearing it was Chen Yan, the female assistant’s brow furrowed deeply.

Because other people in the company might not know Chen Yan’s subordinates, but as Zhao Qingtian’s assistant over the years, she did.

It was the woman whom Zhao Qingtian could never forget.

She was unaware of what had happened in the past, but she did know how obsessed her uncle had been with that woman.

Over the years, she had seen Zhao Qingtian engage in pretense and be infatuated with various women. But she had never seen him so passionately devoted.

At first, she didn’t understand why, but it was something Zhao Qingtian had once revealed to her after a few drinks, revealing the reason:

"The wife is not as good as the concubine, the concubine is not as good as the thief, the thief is not as good as... not being able to steal."

Zhao Qingtian, although ruthless and calculating in his dealings, actually had very few vices. He didn’t eat lavishly, drink, or smoke—his only weakness was women.

Even though he married a woman from another prominent family in his earlier years, it never hindered his amorous pursuits.

And because he was good-looking, dignified, humorous, and wealthy, providing abundant resources, nearly no woman could escape his charm.

Except for... Yang Rou.

That was why Zhao Qingtian could never get over her.

Now, with the incident implicating Yang Rou, the assistant suddenly felt that the situation had become much more complicated.

After all, knowing the history between Zhao Qingtian and Yang Rou, no one would think that Chen Yan’s sudden move against Zhao Qingtian would leave Yang Rou uninvolved.

Thus, she could imagine how furious Zhao Qingtian would be once he learned of this development.

For a moment, she even prayed for Chen Yan: you truly have stirred up a hornet’s nest... I hope you can face the boss’s wrath...

After mulling it over, the assistant regained her composure.

She turned to the managers and said, "We can’t be careless with this. Continue the investigation. Confirm whether it is really him."

After she finished speaking, the managers nodded.

Then, it was the PR team manager who voiced another concern, "Additionally, there’s something else. Because we tracked down Chen Yan, we didn’t reach out to Headline Technology."

"After all, that’s a public opinion platform controlled by Chen Yan."

"This... how should we handle it?"

Hearing the PR manager’s concern, the assistant realized he was worried that Headline Technology, if they used their connections or resources to exert pressure, might easily be manipulated by the other side into controlling evidence.

If the issue blew up further, it could put them into a more passive position.

With that in mind, she pondered for a moment and said, "I’ll handle this."

"I’ll personally call Zhang Yonghao to discuss this matter."

As a director’s assistant of Zhao Group, she was a senior executive herself. Plus, having had contact with Zhang Yonghao last time over a matter concerning Headline Technology, it was more appropriate for her to step in.

After all, even if Headline Technology sided with Chen Yan, as a well-known tycoon in Tiandu, Zhang Yonghao certainly would not personally record or leak information about Zhao Group.

Not only would that destroy his credibility in the circle, but it would also be akin to a declaration of war against Zhao Group.

The assistant believed that Zhang Yonghao would not do such a thing.

...

Meanwhile, back in the office, Zhao Qingtian sat in the boss chair, his face as frosty as ice.

Just as the assistant had guessed, he placed great importance on this matter.

Because he knew that this issue was anything but as simple as it seemed on the surface.

The rumors outside only mentioned Zhao Jie leveraging connections to become a recent graduate.

As for who made those connections and who was involved, no one knew.

In fact, many people still believed that it was the "unreasonable" school admission requirements that forced Zhao Jie’s hand.

But... only he knew. It was he who had pulled those strings. And... the most troublesome part wasn’t that. It was what followed with Zhao Jie’s extra recruitment...

It concerned a key national defense university with a very high profile.

Moreover, the people he delegated this to meant that high-level and influential individuals were implicated.

Should this be exposed, it would indeed be like a bomb going off!

Therefore, he could not allow this issue to ferment any longer; it had to be suppressed!

This matter had happened so many years ago, and he couldn’t change the fact. But he could address the people who were talking about it...

No matter the cost, he must quash this matter!

And he wouldn’t let off those shooting arrows in the dark behind his back!

Later, he would personally settle scores with them, one by one!

...

With Zhao Qingtian’s firm stance, the massive engine that was Zhao Group suddenly began to whirl into frenzied action.

As a top-tier conglomerate with trillions in assets and millions of employees, Zhao Group’s power was immense.

When still, it seemed as harmless as a rock.

But once it began to move, everyone understood its terror: it was a truly heaven-shrouding behemoth!

Thus, with a single blow from Zhao Group, discussions about Zhao Jie vanished without a trace across all large online platforms and media outlets.

Someone who had enjoyed the spectacle in the morning and remembered it in the afternoon, wanting to search for it, was stunned to discover: the topic had been scrubbed clean from Weibo.

When they tried posting about it on Weibo, they found their content under review.

Someone brought up the issue on Zhihu, only to find that while they could post their question, there were absolutely no responses: it was being suppressed.

Unless they @mentioned someone or sent the link directly, others simply couldn’t find the topic.

And even scarier was the situation in QQ and WeChat groups. Someone shared the issue, only to find that after sending the message, it was as if the group hadn’t seen it, continuing their various conversations.

At first, they were puzzled, thinking the topic simply wasn’t of interest.

But after inadvertently discussing it with someone else and seeing their screenshot, they realized—the message they sent could only be seen by themselves. No one else could see it.

In that moment, a sense of dread set in.

This was happening across various platforms.

People drawn by the trending topic on Weibo found that their voices couldn’t get through.

Some didn’t realize that others couldn’t hear them, thinking instead that there was just no interest.

Others were frightened by this eerie phenomenon and dared not spread the word any further.

Only a small fraction continued to discuss the issue on niche forums and platforms, finding it utterly chilling.

And of course, Chen Yan and Yang Rou, who had been keeping an eye on online public opinion, noticed these events.

So, even though she hadn’t gone to work that day, Yang Rou still rushed to Chen Yan’s place first thing to discuss their next move.

Well... "rushed" might be an overstatement.

After all, the two lived right across from each other.

Yang Rou even wore slippers when she arrived at Chen Yan’s home.

After seating Yang Rou on the couch and pouring her a glass of water, Chen Yan began to converse, "Sister Rou. It’s just as you predicted."

"I originally thought we would catch Zhao Qingtian off guard at least."

"Then take advantage of his delay in response to press the attack."

"But unexpectedly, he resorted to such a heavy-handed policy at once."

Speaking thus, even Chen Yan was astounded, "One wouldn’t know better would think he had encountered some major crisis to react so strongly."

Hearing Chen Yan’s words, Yang Rou was equally grave.

She thought even further, "Mr. Chen, this might actually be a good thing."

"It shows that we indeed picked the right issue."

"The only problem now is how we break through Zhao Qingtian’s high-pressure censorship."

Chen Yan nodded.

As he sipped water, he was deep in thought.

Pondering, the idea of Headline Technology came to his mind.

As a newly emerging Internet giant in the country, Headline Technology held several high-traffic apps in its portfolio.

Their leading product of the moment: Headline.

They had made a heavy bet on their core product, Douyin.

And there was another one they had just started working on, positioned as a humorous joke segment.

Even though there was some overlap in the user base, even so, they could still cover at least one or two hundred million users domestically.

He just happened to have his own shares in the company, and now, even more importantly, he held a veto power.

Might as well take this opportunity to open a breach in Zhao Group’s public opinion front, making the topic explode on Headline and Douyin.

Fortunately, the topic was sensitive and had been censored across the whole internet. Once it was only available on Douyin and Headline, it might just bring a huge wave of traffic to the two products of Headline Technology!

Thinking of this, Chen Yan shared his idea with Yang Rou.

After listening, Yang Rou nodded in agreement.

She thought it was a good idea.

After all, that’s how the game of capital was played. Shareholders were all part of the same family.

On matters that didn’t concern the company’s survival, firms tended to help their own.

And whether it was the chairman of the board or the general manager, they would unite the major shareholders.

Because you never know when you might run into trouble and need the support of the other’s voting rights.

So Yang Rou thought that Chen Yan’s idea was both feasible and quite good.

With Yang Rou’s approval, Chen Yan no longer hesitated.

He went straight to the balcony, took out his phone, and made a call to Zhang Yonghao.

The call went through, but the line was busy...

Chen Yan didn’t mind.

After all, it was normal for a company’s general manager to be busy.

He waited a little over a minute and called again, and this time the call connected.

After the call connected, Chen Yan said with a smile, "Mr. Zhang, you’ve been quite busy lately, haven’t you?"

Zhang Yonghao replied with a smile, "No, not at all. There’s just a lot on the company’s plate."

After saying this, he took the initiative to ask about Chen Yan’s situation, "What can I do for you, Mr. Chen?"

Pondering his words, Chen Yan then said, "It’s like this. I want our company’s two apps to help me push a topic."

Zhang Yonghao was taken aback for a moment and asked, "What topic?"

Chen Yan replied, "Zhao Group’s chairman’s son cheating in the college entrance exams."

Hearing Chen Yan’s words, Zhang Yonghao inhaled sharply.

Then he said, "Mr. Chen... this is a bit... inappropriate, isn’t it?"

"I’ve heard of this too, but without hard evidence, pushing it could have a very negative impact."

Since Chen Yan had decided to talk to Zhang Yonghao about this matter, he didn’t intend to hide anything from him.

Moreover...

Considering the magnitude of the scandal, he couldn’t keep it hidden anyway.

So he said, "The incident is indeed true, and I have some evidence in my hands."

"As for the legality, you don’t have to worry. When the time comes, I’ll have my people release this information."

"If there are any problems, it’ll be my people who are responsible. It won’t be connected to your side."

Hearing Chen Yan’s words, Zhang Yonghao coughed, then asked tentatively, "Mr. Chen, did something happen between you and Mr. Zhao?"

Chen Yan fell silent for a moment, then said, "There were some incidents."

Zhang Yonghao laughed dryly twice and said, "Mr. Chen, I can’t really interfere in your personal affairs over here."

"Besides, you know, our company works on algorithms. We have a whole set of recommendation logic."

"I can’t just disrupt this logic for personal reasons."

He continued, "If you really want to post it, you... well... you should let someone else do it."

"Whether it can make it to the front page or get recommended will depend on the quality of the article itself."

Hearing Zhang Yonghao’s words, Chen Yan felt his heart gradually sinking.

Zhang Yonghao’s words weren’t without merit.

The company belonged to all shareholders and employees, not just one person. Therefore, it couldn’t be used for personal matters.

And the core recommendation logic of Headline was their competitive edge. Tampering with it could indeed cause problems.

But!

This was all under normal circumstances!

During war, there are wartime measures.

The enemy had attacked, and when Chen Yan wanted to counterattack, his ally said it was a personal grudge and to fight it out themselves.

That was nonsense!

What was the point of investing so much money if not to present a united front at critical moments?

Every person, every company has its leanings.

Since a company is made up of people, it can’t just operate coldly according to the rules.

Moreover, if Headline really were such a strict company, they wouldn’t have tried to break the rules and take back the shares in Chen Yan’s hands in the first place.

This was clearly a case of "follow the rules when it suits me, trample the rules when it doesn’t!"

And besides, Chen Yan truly didn’t believe that Headline’s algorithm was unadjustable.

Just from what he had seen, there had been more than one smear campaign against Slow Hand.

That couldn’t have happened without Zhang Yonghao’s nod!

So at this moment, Chen Yan really felt disheartened.

Even outright, he was a major shareholder with 20% of Headline Technology.

Yet, holding these shares was like clutching at straws—completely useless!

Facing Zhao Group, Chen Yan still had to confront them alone.

Then, what was the point of Headline? Of Zhang Yonghao?

If before Chen Yan had simply toyed with the idea of swallowing up Headline Technology, now he was certain: things had to be in his own hands for peace of mind!

As for the company’s prospects without Zhang Yonghao, Chen Yan didn’t care.

He had the system, he had the "Instant Camera."

So long as he retained the company’s core backbone and competitive strength.

With the "Instant Camera" as guidance, he was assured.

---

Chen Yan fell silent for a moment, then said, "There were some incidents."

Zhang Yonghao laughed dryly twice and said, "Mr. Chen, I can’t really interfere in your personal affairs over here."

"Besides, you know, our company works on algorithms. We have a whole set of recommendation logic."

"I can’t just disrupt this logic for personal reasons."

He continued, "If you really want to post it, you... well... you should let someone else do it."

"Whether it can make it to the front page or get recommended will depend on the quality of the article itself."

Hearing Zhang Yonghao’s words, Chen Yan felt his heart gradually sinking.

Zhang Yonghao’s words weren’t without merit.

The company belonged to all shareholders and employees, not just one person. Therefore, it couldn’t be used for personal matters.

And the core recommendation logic of Headline was their competitive edge. Tampering with it could indeed cause problems.

But!

This was all under normal circumstances!

During war, there are wartime measures.

The enemy had attacked, and when Chen Yan wanted to counterattack, his ally said it was a personal grudge and to fight it out themselves.

That was nonsense!

What was the point of investing so much money if not to present a united front at critical moments?

Every person, every company has its leanings. freēnovelkiss.com

Since a company is made up of people, it can’t just operate coldly according to the rules.

Moreover, if Headline really were such a strict company, they wouldn’t have tried to break the rules and take back the shares in Chen Yan’s hands in the first place.

This was clearly a case of "follow the rules when it suits me, trample the rules when it doesn’t!"

And besides, Chen Yan truly didn’t believe that Headline’s algorithm was unadjustable.

Just from what he had seen, there had been more than one smear campaign against Slow Hand.

That couldn’t have happened without Zhang Yonghao’s nod!

So at this moment, Chen Yan really felt disheartened.

Even outright, he was a major shareholder with 20% of Headline Technology.

Yet, holding these shares was like clutching at straws—completely useless!

Facing Zhao Group, Chen Yan still had to confront them alone.

Then, what was the point of Headline? Of Zhang Yonghao?

If before Chen Yan had simply toyed with the idea of swallowing up Headline Technology, now he was certain: things had to be in his own hands for peace of mind!

As for the company’s prospects without Zhang Yonghao, Chen Yan didn’t care.

He had the system, he had the "Instant Camera."

So long as he retained the company’s core backbone and competitive strength.

With the "Instant Camera" as guidance, he was assured.

If before Chen Yan had simply toyed with the idea of swallowing up Headline Technology, now he had made up his mind: possession was nine-tenths of the law!

As for the company’s growth following Zhang Yonghao’s departure, Chen Yan was unconcerned.

For he had the system, he had the "Instant Camera."

As long as he could retain the company’s core team and competitive edge.

With the guidance of the "Instant Camera," he felt secure.

With the guidance of the "Instant Camera," he was at ease.