Liu Fei Quits Sword and Fairy, Mother Reveals Attempts at Exploitation!
"This is getting more and more lively. Before I've even figured out how to deal with her, this woman starts biting back!" Huang He threw the latest issue of an entertainment magazine onto the desk, a faint smile playing on his lips, as if it were some amusing news, not something targeting him.
In this report, Liu Fei's mother, with all her might, twisted the truth. She claimed a certain big shot had visited the set, taken a liking to Liu Fei, and attempted to invite her out for dinner, implying an attempt at quid pro quo. However, she stated she had strongly refused.
Subsequently, this big shot allegedly demanded the director add intimate scenes not originally in the script, as a form of revenge against her and her daughter. But she declared she fought to the death to protect her daughter's innocence and safety.
As a result, this big shot allegedly incited the entire crew to violently confront her, forcing her to flee the set in disarray. The other party then unilaterally terminated the contract, announced Liu Fei's expulsion from the crew, and badmouthed her to outsiders.
In short, Liu's mother single-handedly concocted twenty to thirty thousand words of drama, even weeping in front of reporters. Over a dozen tearful photos were taken, from various angles, as if more than ten cameras were simultaneously focused on her.
The effect of such an interview was predictable. All entertainment media exploded, excitedly reporting the related news. Some reporters even managed to obtain photos, including shots of crew members surrounding Liu Fei, seemingly finding evidence.
Furthermore, some articles and magazines, while not naming anyone directly, implicitly pointed the finger at Huang He, the behind-the-scenes owner of Tangren Film and Television.
For a time, the public outcry surrounding the Jiangnan Group intensified with an even more explosive piece of news. The reputation of the Jiangnan Group seemed to have reached an all-time low, becoming as black and as foul as it could possibly be.
It felt like the calm before a storm.
"How is it, is it arranged?" Huang He rubbed his nose and asked Hu Jing beside him.
"It's all set. This time, it's actually an old acquaintance of ours," Hu Jing said with a smile.
"That's good. We've been too lenient with these guys letting them frolic and enjoy themselves for so long. It's time for us to have some fun!" Huang He flashed a happy smile.
"Ring ring ring!" Suddenly, a rapid phone ring echoed in the office. Huang He picked up the phone, and the smile on his face instantly diminished.
"Boss, what happened?" Hu Jing asked urgently.
"Some unexpected issues!" Huang He's expression was extremely complex. "The entire family of four used gas to commit suicide. It's uncertain if they can be saved."
—
"Director, I never imagined the three of us would be dispatched together!" Li Sisi exclaimed on a plane.
Ever since the incident three months ago, Li Sisi had believed her future was ruined.
After submitting all the video footage, Li Sisi thought her troubles were over and that the Jiangnan Group wouldn't be able to appear at the gala.
To her surprise, Li Sisi still saw the Jiangnan Group at the gala, though the final edited footage seemed completely different from what she had witnessed, yet every piece of footage was indeed hers.
This experience dealt a severe blow to Li Sisi. She initially tried to report it to higher authorities, but Lao Wang suppressed it.
She even considered resigning, as the journalistic career she envisioned was completely different from her actual experiences. Her worldview had been severely shaken.
Of course, Lao Wang also suppressed this matter.
Later, the Jiangnan Group performed a series of miraculous maneuvers, leading to a stunning reversal. The mastermind was even brought to the forefront. These events made Li Sisi feel as though her worldview and understanding, built over 20 years, were about to collapse and be reshaped.
For the next month, the station seemed to have forgotten about Li Sisi. She continued to work silently until today, when Lao Wang called her again. The same cameraman, Lao Liu, was with her, and they were about to embark on another assignment.
"Yes, it's hard to believe we're still entangled with this Jiangnan Group matter after all this time!" Lao Wang sighed.
Their current mission was to interview and investigate the widely publicized issue of the Jiangnan Mall selling counterfeit products.
However, unlike most national media outlets that merely relayed Wang Hai's personal arguments, CCTV directly addressed the core issue, dispatching this three-person team to Urumqi to find the shop named "Naza's Dried Yak Meat" to see if it truly sold counterfeit products and what its connection to the Jiangnan Mall was.
They were tasked with a thorough investigation to uncover the truth.
However, Li Sisi's spirits were somewhat low. After some hesitation, she asked, "Director, will the footage we shoot this time be tampered with again?"
"Careful with your words!" Lao Wang glared at Li Sisi and then whispered, "Don't worry, the station's attitude is different this time. The station clearly told us that we are only responsible for investigating the truth."
"Okay!" Li Sisi nodded. If the same thing happened again, Li Sisi felt she might actually resign.
After the plane landed at Urumqi Airport, Lao Wang wasted no time and led the film crew in searching for the online store's location.
This time, there were no obstacles hindering their actions, but it was still quite vexing because they initially had no idea where the shop was.
After all, it wasn't a physical store but an online one, which could operate from any residential building. Finding it was genuinely difficult.
Fortunately, Lao Wang was very experienced. He pulled out a delivery slip from his pocket. The camera lens specifically focused on the slip, and then Lao Wang informed everyone that this delivery slip was obtained from a buyer of Naza's Dried Yak Meat, detailing the shipping address of the product.
Therefore, as long as they found the shipping address, they could roughly pinpoint the location of the online store Naza's Dried Yak Meat.
The film crew was greatly excited and praised Lao Wang's ingenuity. Following the address, they arrived at a residential area.
This was a common residential area in China. A sign for the "Urumqi Textile and Hardware Factory" hung at the entrance, indicating that this residential area originally belonged to the families of the Urumqi Textile and Hardware Factory workers.
Decades ago, this was the most envied place for ordinary people in China, as living here meant having a family member working in the factory.
It was the best era for workers. Although wages weren't high and they barely owned anything, the factory provided everything.
Not only did the factory manage their food and drink, but it also built and allocated housing to all the workers. The factory also provided various welfare benefits during holidays.
It also organized various cultural and sports competitions, movie screenings, and so on. In short, living in a factory residential area was the greatest dream of countless ordinary Chinese people at that time.
Of course, it had now become synonymous with dilapidation. The textile and hardware factory had gone bankrupt five years ago, and most of the workers were laid off.
The young either left to find work elsewhere or tried to make a living in other places. Only many white-haired elderly people remained. When they saw the film crew carrying cameras and microphones, they all gathered around.
They weren't curious but came to vent their grievances or to complain, recounting their experiences. It took the film crew a great deal of effort to clarify their purpose: to find a family named Naza.
"There's only one family named Naza here, in the easternmost building!" a kind old lady, upon understanding the film crew's intentions, said enthusiastically.
"Oh, and does their family sell dried yak meat?" Li Sisi asked.
"Dried yak meat? I haven't heard of that, but they do have relatives who herd cattle on the grasslands, so they've had access to dried yak meat since childhood!" the old lady said.
"This is basically the place!" Lao Wang and Li Sisi's faces lit up with joy. But in the next second, they heard the old lady say, "However, you've come at an unfortunate time. Naza's family is currently in the hospital, and it's uncertain if they'll survive!"
"What? What happened?" Li Sisi was shocked and quickly asked.
"What? Aren't you here to interview about their family's gas suicide?" the old lady asked in surprise. "I thought you reporters were here to cover that!"
"No, we're here to interview about something else. We had no idea about the gas suicide incident! What happened?" Li Sisi asked.
"Alas, it's all because of sin. That young girl from Naza's family insisted on persuading her mother to open an online store, saying it could make money. But it seems they were sued and had to pay a lot of money. They couldn't bear it for a moment and directly opened the gas to commit suicide!" the old lady sighed.
"Speaking of Naza's family, they are truly unfortunate. There are few families in our residential area as miserable as theirs!" The old lady began to ramble on, "Naza's family was originally living quite well. The man was a top student from Beijing, assigned to the municipal public security bureau as a criminal investigator."
"The mother was the most beautiful girl in all of Urumqi, surpassing her father's status, and became a worker early on. When they got married, the factory even provided them with a small car as a wedding vehicle, making everyone around us extremely envious. I myself got married in a donkey cart!" The old lady's face was still filled with envy and jealousy as she spoke of this.
"However, their luck ended there. After giving birth to their third child, Naza's mother's health suffered, leaving her weak and unable to do heavy work. She could only manage household chores at home."
"That was bad enough, but her husband, a police officer, died during a mission. When they found him, he was reportedly disfigured and had suffered greatly! Fortunately, they received a substantial compensation."
"Originally, the family could have managed with the compensation and her mother's pension. But the factory later closed down, and they received a buyout. Naza's family lost their income but still had to bear the expenses for three daughters' education and living costs. Life was too hard. Her mother could only drag her ailing body to do some odd jobs. Life was too bitter!" The old lady's eyes involuntarily welled up with tears as she spoke.
Looking at the others, it seemed most felt the same. Naza's family's life was indeed truly miserable.
"Later, their eldest daughter graduated from vocational school and started working, which eased their financial situation a bit. But this child's life wasn't stable. For a young girl, instead of finding a good husband, she constantly thought about making money. She even claimed that the future was the age of computers and that one could make money through some kind of wire, which was simply incomprehensible."
"Then, about a month ago, she actually resigned and took her family to open a store. Opening a store is one thing, but opening a store that doesn't require a physical location, how is that possible!"
"But for some reason, their family actually made some money at first. However, starting last week, something happened that we don't know about. The entire family of four became like walking dead. Yesterday, people in uniform visited, and that very evening, they opened the gas!"
"Alas, their family is so ill-fated. I always told her mother not to take shortcuts. You have three daughters, each and every one of them beautiful. Marry them off to wealthy good men, and your future life would be worry-free. Why did they have to make trouble?"
As the old lady spoke, the sound of news broadcasting could be heard from a nearby resident's television: "Anti-counterfeiting hero Wang Hai has found 25 buyers who previously purchased counterfeit dried yak meat. Together, they approached the Jiangnan Group, demanding that the Jiangnan Group fulfill the requirement of refunding three times the price.
'The Jiangnan Group has remained silent on this matter, offering no response. However, according to a leaked statement from an employee, responsible personnel from the Jiangnan Mall have already rushed to Urumqi overnight, seemingly to negotiate with the online store!'
'Meanwhile, reporters have discovered that many prices on the Jiangnan Mall's storefronts are extremely exaggerated. Including shipping costs, some product prices are even less than half the price of a normal purchase. We can't help but ask, are such products truly qualified and safe products?'
'Now, please watch the detailed report from our reporter…'"
—
"Found it! According to the nurse, the family of four who were poisoned by gas is on this floor!" At the hospital, after Lao Wang revealed his identity as a CCTV reporter, he learned about the situation of Naza's family.
However, when they reached the door of the ward, they found that several people were already waiting there.
While it wasn't unusual for people to be waiting outside a ward, as most patients have family members.
Unlike the ordinary people in the hospital, dressed casually and looking hurried, with the air of everyday life about them.
These individuals were dressed in professional attire, and the woman leading them possessed an extraordinary aura.
Although dressed in ordinary professional attire, her appearance was extremely beautiful, and within her beauty, there was a hint of allure. Her figure was curvaceous, exuding a unique charm that set her apart from the crowd outside the ward, like a crane among chickens.
"So beautiful!" Even Li Sisi, who considered her own beauty second to none, felt a sense of inferiority upon seeing this woman.
"Hey, Lao Wang, do you know who this woman is? She looks like a celebrity!" Li Sisi asked.
"I'm not sure, but I think I've seen her somewhere, I just can't recall where!" Lao Wang replied in a low voice.
"I didn't expect you reporters to find your way here! Are you still unwilling to let this poor family go?" Just as they were whispering, the woman walked directly towards them, her face tinged with anger, and said to Li Sisi and her group.
"Hello, I don't understand what you mean. I can only tell you that I am a reporter from XX Television, and this is our first time here. We have never met Naza's family before. Of course, our purpose here is to interview this family, understand the truth of the matter, and convey it to the people of the country!" Lao Wang stepped forward proactively, speaking neither subserviently nor arrogantly.
"So that's how it is. I apologize for my previous bluntness. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Leng Zhiruo, Vice President of Jiangnan Group and CEO of Jiangnan Mall. It's a pleasure to meet you!" Leng Zhiruo said directly. Li Sisi and Lao Liu quickly introduced themselves as well.
Li Sisi, in particular, exclaimed inwardly, "My goodness, the head of Jiangnan Mall is a woman, and such a beautiful woman at that! This is simply astonishing!"
Li Sisi looked at Leng Zhiruo with great admiration. It was incredibly difficult for a woman to reach such a position.
However, Lao Wang was not too swayed by Leng Zhiruo's charm. He quickly asked, "President Leng, are you also here for Naza's family matter?"
"Of course!" Leng Zhiruo nodded. "Our company has been in communication with them all along. We didn't expect to receive news of their family's suicide attempt last night, so I came personally to find a way to save them!"
"Is this matter worthy of President Leng's personal trip?" Lao Wang asked.
"Four lives! Even if it were the King of Heaven himself, I would have to come!" Leng Zhiruo sighed, then heard the ward door open, and several doctors emerged.
"Doctor, how are they?" Leng Zhiruo asked with concern. The cameraman immediately raised his camera.
"The condition has improved, and the patients have passed the critical stage and are awake. However, the next ten-plus days are very important. You family members must cooperate with the hospital in meticulous nursing care, otherwise, problems may still arise."
"Also, the fees..." The doctor only then noticed the camera and immediately closed his mouth, never mentioning fees again, and quickly left.
Lao Wang gave Li Sisi a look. She, with the cameraman, quickly followed, intending to get more detailed information from the attending physician.
"President Leng, would you be available for an interview later?" Lao Wang asked.
"Since you've all found your way here, what choice do I have but to accept an interview?" Leng Zhiruo said with a wry smile. "This time, we cannot remain silent!"
—
"This operation was very successful. I propose the three of us raise a glass with Mr. Wang Hai, thanking him for his wisdom and courage!" In the private room of the same five-star hotel, the same four people were present.
However, compared to last time, all four faces were beaming with joy.
Because the public opinion battle over the past week had been extremely successful. The news frenzy was a constant wave, and the Jiangnan Group seemed to have completely lost its ability to resist their attacks, maintaining a constant silence.
Furthermore, a fortuitous assist had appeared from somewhere – the scandal within the Jiangnan Group's entertainment industry. In a way, the impact of that scandal was even greater than that of fake and shoddy products, drawing waves of criticism.
It could be said that whether online or offline, not a single person was speaking positively of the Jiangnan Group.
They didn't know who else was trying to strike at the Jiangnan Group from behind the scenes, but they preferred to believe that fate itself intended for the Jiangnan Group to perish.
To gauge public opinion, they even conducted an online poll. The results showed that 70% of users believed the Jiangnan Group was a black-hearted enterprise and that platforms like Jiangnan Mall should be shut down immediately.
In addition to the poll, there was a joint signature campaign, inviting netizens to sign online to boycott Jiangnan Mall and never purchase its products.
In just three days, over 400,000 netizens had signed the petition. Such a favorable situation naturally made the attendees all smiles, and Wang Hai was beaming. The three individuals present had each given him a generous red envelope of 100,000, making him overjoyed.
As the group was happily chatting, Li Guoqing's secretary walked in and placed a document in front of Li Guoqing. Li Guoqing glanced at it, and his eyebrows twitched instantly.
"Old Li, what happened? Is there more good news?" Shao Yibo asked cheerfully.
"..." Li Guoqing remained silent, but the smile on his face disappeared.
"Old Li, tell us what happened. Don't scare us!" Everyone present was adept at reading expressions. Seeing Li Guoqing's demeanor, they knew something bad had likely occurred.
"Because I wanted to know the specific sales situation of Jiangnan Mall, I had my programmers create a web crawler program the day before yesterday."
"This is not a difficult program; it's specifically designed to collect sales data for various shops on Jiangnan Mall," Li Guoqing said slowly. "This program was completed yesterday and has been running for 16 hours, collecting some sales data for yesterday and today."
Indeed, as Li Guoqing stated, it wasn't a particularly challenging program because the sales figures for each shop on Jiangnan Mall were directly displayed on the page.
Therefore, a simple web crawler program could instantly gather the total sales data of Jiangnan Mall.
"Are you trying to tell us that despite all our efforts, the sales of Jiangnan Mall haven't decreased?" Shao Yibo asked fearfully.
"It's not that they haven't decreased..." Li Guoqing said calmly. Before everyone could breathe a sigh of relief, he revealed a smile more bitter than a cry. "According to the collected crawler data, Jiangnan Mall's total online sales yesterday were 273,600 orders, and today, as of now, Jiangnan Mall's total online sales have reached 312,324 orders. Compared to yesterday, sales have increased by 14% today!"
"..."
Silence fell upon the scene.
It was said that 70% of users considered Jiangnan a black-hearted enterprise.
It was said that 400,000 people had jointly signed a petition to boycott Jiangnan Mall.
How could Jiangnan Mall's sales have surged by 14%? What had they been busy with for the past week?