Chapter 33: I Thought I Was Already Deplorable Enough, But It Turns Out There Are Masters Out There.

Lin Qinghe looked at Lin Chen, then at Xu Qingfeng, feeling that something was off.

Xu Qingfeng was someone she had scouted; in a sense, he was her person. Initially, she had viewed him merely as an employee or a business partner. She never imagined that this guy would suddenly transform into a major shareholder of the company, with a stake nearly rivaling her own. The world was truly a strange place. Who would have thought that while looking for a streamer, she would end up with a shareholder?

Seeing the two of them sitting together, already beginning to research a proposal, Lin Qinghe curiously leaned in to take a look.

"Behind Iron Bars: Where in Life is There Not a Prison?"

"I'm sure you've seen the impact 'Tears Behind Iron Bars' had on our view counts, Mr. Lin?" Xu Qingfeng asked.

"Don't call me Mr. Lin, it sounds too distant. I'm a few years older than you; just call me Brother Chen."

Xu Qingfeng clicked his tongue: "..."

"I'm at your service, Brother Chen!"

"Hahaha, we're brothers now!" Lin Chen pulled out a report. "After 'Tears Behind Iron Bars' went live this afternoon, backend statistics showed that videos featuring this song saw a 34% increase in views compared to those without."

Xu Qingfeng flipped through the report. "In that case, let's launch a challenge event themed around 'Tears Behind Iron Bars.' We'll look for those who feel trapped. Participants can win prizes, and sharing the link will earn them cash rewards."

Xu Qingfeng summarized the plan, and both Lin Chen and Lin Qinghe listened intently. Lin Qinghe occasionally offered suggestions. "The copy could be more poignant."

Xu Qingfeng pondered for a moment. "How about: 'It’s only when squeezed into the subway that we realize the only difference between us and a tin of sardines is that the sardines don’t know they’ve been sealed.'"

Lin Qinghe’s eyes widened. "You’ve really lived a bit, haven't you? But wait, you haven't taken the subway that many times, have you?"

Xu Qingfeng replied, "You don't need to have eaten pork to have seen a pig run, right?"

"No wonder you can write these songs; your empathy is incredibly strong," Lin Qinghe said, lost in thought.

Xu Qingfeng felt a surge of secret satisfaction; being looked at with such admiration felt quite good.

"We can use these three songs from today as our entry point to launch the challenge and attract new users. If we execute this correctly, gaining ten million new users will be effortless."

Lin Chen raised a concern: "Weiguang will definitely follow suit immediately, and they’ll siphon off a large portion of our users."

Xu Qingfeng said shamelessly, "Can they even compare to me?"

Lin Chen: "..."

Lin Qinghe: "..."

The two looked at him quietly, speechless. Xu Qingfeng awkwardly rubbed his nose. "You don't believe me, but the truth is, everyone in the entertainment industry isn't even qualified to tie my shoelaces."

Lin Chen slowly uttered one word: "Nice."

"Alright, no more jokes," Xu Qingfeng said, turning serious. "Actually, I have plenty of songs in reserve. To put it mildly, I could go a month without repeating a single one. Neither Weiguang nor any other competitor has that kind of strength."

"They could hire stars and buy songs," Lin Chen countered, unconvinced.

Xu Qingfeng smiled without a word, pulling out his gold-rimmed glasses to toy with them.

"Holy crap!"

"Huh?!"

Lin Chen looked shocked. "You don't mean you plan to expose whoever they hire?"

"What do you think?"

Lin Qinghe’s expression was complex. After struggling for a long time, she replied, "I don't think much of it. If you keep this up, you'll become the public enemy of the entertainment industry, and they'll go crazy exposing you in return."

Xu Qingfeng took a sip of water. "I'm not afraid of being exposed."

Lin Qinghe was stunned. "Don't they have any dirt on you?"

"Oh, they do, but they’ve already exposed all of it," Xu Qingfeng said, spreading his hands.

The two silently gave him a thumbs-up.

Lin Chen felt a toothache coming on, his brows knitting into a knot. "Won't that be a bit unscrupulous?"

Xu Qingfeng remained expressionless. "You don't think they wouldn't do the same to you? I advise you not to hold onto any ridiculous moral high ground."

"Oh, that won't happen. You're overthinking it."

"Good."

"How about this? You monitor the Weibo trending list every day. Whoever dares to trend, you expose them. That way, they won't dare to trend anymore. These people will definitely move to other platforms—like our Shanying, or maybe Weiguang..."

"And then?"

Lin Chen grew excited, clenching his fist tightly. "Wherever they go, we expose them there!"

Xu Qingfeng: "...Nice."

He had thought his own idea was unscrupulous enough, but Lin Chen was not to be outdone. This was essentially a scorched-earth policy. If they really did this, the Weibo trending list would become like a death note—whoever appeared on it would be finished. Weiguang would suffer, and the only beneficiary would be Shanying.

"But if we do that, Shanying will become a lightning rod for everyone," Xu Qingfeng warned.

Lin Chen sneered. "Do you think they aren't targeting us already?"

Xu Qingfeng: "..."

He had overestimated the moral baseline of business warfare.

After finishing the discussion, it was late at night. Xu Qingfeng left Shanying and headed home. The negotiation with Lin Chen had gone very smoothly. He now held 7% of Shanying's shares, plus an additional 1.5% from the valuation adjustment mechanism—a total of 8.5%, making him a major shareholder.

Neither Lin Chen nor Lin Qinghe realized what 8.5% of the company truly meant. If Shanying could become the TikTok of this world, that stake would be worth over thirty billion US dollars. That’s over two hundred billion RMB—the current net worth of Pony Ma is roughly the same.

Of course, Shanying might not necessarily achieve such success, but with a cheat like Xu Qingfeng, the outcome would definitely exceed Lin Chen's wildest imagination.

Shanying was working overtime through the night to prepare event materials, while their competitors were working overtime to dig up dirt. Everyone had a bright future ahead.

Since Xu Qingfeng began his stream, Jiang Wei and Wang Yao had become the center of attention. The title of "Undead Warrior" had spread far and wide, and "Love Trade" had become the talk of the town. Jiang Wei was pinned on Weibo, enduring the "warm regards" from netizens toward his ancestors for eighteen generations. The trending topic had to be removed three times before it finally cooled down.

[All hail the Undead Warrior!]
[The Nemesis of Ghost Babies!]
[Twenty-year veteran in construction, specializing in hellish architecture.]

Wang Yao fared even worse. Weibo was filled with people singing "Love Trade," some expressing heartbreak, but most were politely asking for her "price," as if the supermarket were having a clearance sale.

[Wait for me, I just bought a lottery ticket, I'll have money soon.]
[Just give us a price already!]
[Are you practicing price discrimination?]

The toxicity of Weibo continued to ferment after Xu Qingfeng's revelations, eventually backfiring on Jiang Wei and Wang Yao. Not everyone could remain calm in the face of such malicious trolling from netizens—at least, most people couldn't. They organized a PR firm overnight, planning to start a massive counter-offensive early the next morning to muddy the waters and distance themselves from the scandal.