SWDnovel Chapter 45 A Self-Inflicted Trap
Chapter 45 A Self-Inflicted Trap
Sure enough, in just a few days...
The video went viral online, with everyone discussing Carter and Ji Feng's love story.
There's no way around it, the videos are just too bizarre, especially the second one.
This has led to all sorts of conspiracy theories emerging.
What? Ji Feng is a male colleague who used his resources for love.
Some netizens also analyzed that the whole incident was a trap set by the swarm of bees from beginning to end, deliberately throwing out bait to lure XunTeng into taking the bait, and intentionally setting a trap for the opponent.
Another completely opposite voice has been widely circulated, pointing out that this was a conspiracy orchestrated by XunTeng itself. They originally intended to secretly plot against the bee swarm but failed, so they immediately activated their backup plan, pretending to be the righteous side to smear and discredit the bee swarm.
This final set of public opinion statements was secretly disseminated by people arranged by Yang Yi in advance.
In the midst of industry controversies, it is always best to strike first. If you wait passively, you will only allow your opponents to smear you and frame you.
This is how online public opinion has always been: once the public forms a fixed perception and general consensus, no matter how much they try to explain or clarify later, it is very difficult to completely clear their name. The negative impression will be firmly imprinted on the company and accompany its long-term development.
Moreover, this last conspiracy theory best aligns with XunTeng's actions some time ago.
Besides, if the bee swarm was the mastermind, there must be some traces left behind!
Currently, all that is known online is that Carter initially appeared at the Hive booth, but was quickly expelled after it was discovered that she was not a contracted cosplayer.
However, Ji Feng and Carter's love story became a sensation online.
XunTeng is now using all available channels to frantically investigate everything related to Carter. Although the company's top management has always believed it is related to the swarm, there is not a single clue pointing to the swarm.
Before obtaining the truth, XunTeng cannot jump to conclusions. After all, if it really has nothing to do with the bee colony, saying the wrong thing could lead to an even fiercer backlash.
Even though XunTeng has a top-notch public relations department in China, it can only watch helplessly as the situation continues to escalate in the face of the overwhelming public opinion storm, completely unable to do anything about it.
At this moment, the atmosphere in the senior management meeting room of XunTeng Games Department was heavy and oppressive. A group of management members sat together, urgently discussing countermeasures.
Someone spoke first in a deep voice: "No need to overthink it, Yang Yi was definitely behind this whole thing, orchestrating it from beginning to end!"
Someone immediately retorted helplessly: "Everyone knows the truth, but the key is that there is no concrete evidence. Without evidence, we have no way to deal with public opinion or launch a counterattack."
Someone else suggested with a ruthless look, "Why not just sacrifice Ji Feng?"
Even if the whole thing was a trap set by the bees, he himself is already completely disgraced, since he really did sleep with her, and that fact cannot be changed.
Since the mistake has already been made, it's better to push him out completely to take full responsibility and maximize the remaining value to quell the storm.
No sooner had the words been spoken than someone shook their head in opposition: "This approach may indeed clear us of any conspiracy allegations, but publicly revealing the signing of special artists and provoking player backlash will only cause XunTeng to lose face and will not bring any benefits either."
The group argued endlessly, but eventually reached a consensus: "The only way to turn things around right now is to dig deeper into the clues and thoroughly prove that all of this was Yang Yi's premeditated conspiracy!"
Li Xiaoguang, sitting in the main seat, coldly watched the senior executives argue endlessly, his heart surging with anger, wishing he could tear Ji Feng apart.
In his eyes, regardless of whether there was a swarm of bees secretly plotting behind the scenes, the root cause of the whole incident lay entirely with Ji Feng himself.
The person was not properly assessed at the time of signing the contract, and even the other party's true gender was not verified. The contract terms were extremely lenient, with only a high double penalty for breach of contract, and no risk constraints whatsoever.
Even if there were pig farms vying for the partnership at the time, he shouldn't have hastily signed such a flawed contract.
And Carter pulled out something so much bigger than him, yet he still managed to take it.
Incompetent bungler!
If Ji Feng were in the conference room right now, he would definitely retort: "She's so beautiful, who would question her gender for no reason? You wouldn't pass the second test either."
Ji Feng is now completely disgraced and has been suspended from his job by his company to reflect on his actions at home. He doesn't even dare to pick up his takeout orders and has the deliverymen leave them at his door.
In the meeting room, Li Xiaoguang ultimately decided to determine the direction of handling this incident through a vote by all members.
Ultimately, the strategy of in-depth investigation and direct counterattack won by an overwhelming majority of votes.
There's no way around it; Yang Yi was definitely behind this. It would be too humiliating not to fight back.
Li Xiaoguang felt the same way. Given the consistent style of the bee swarm, they would never silently endure unwarranted smears and public opinion suppression.
But starting from the game expo, Yang Yi completely disregarded domestic public opinion and allowed Xun Teng to smear him at will, which shows that he must have a backup plan. He can't really be out of options!
There's a saying, isn't there?
If a child is quiet, they must be up to no good!
"Alright, now that we have an action plan, let's all get to work. The public opinion department should find a top celebrity to have an extramarital affair or evade taxes, and use that to cover it up."
It can only be said that XunTeng is indeed a veteran company. Once the plan was finalized, it started operating at high speed. That same night, a male celebrity was trending on social media because of his extramarital affair.
As for what Yang Yi was doing at this time, of course she was watching the drama unfold. The netizens who were always eager to hear the gossip were much more scathing than the girls.
"Damn it, I'm so angry with XunTeng! What do you mean the female cosplayer I've always liked is a guy?"
"I used to call Carter 'wife' in front of my friends, but now they're looking at me strangely!!!"
"I can't hold it in anymore. I just made a mistake with him a few days ago, and now just thinking about it makes me so nauseous I can't eat!"
"Don't worry, there are still plenty of brothers who took photos with each other on the cheek! They haven't complained yet!"
"Is it possible that they're too ashamed to show their faces in public? They used to spread these group photos all over the world, but now they've all deleted their social media posts and completely quieted down."
"Stop talking, my brother can't take it anymore!"
"Seriously, she's almost as thick as my girlfriend's forearm. How could Ji Feng do that?"
"Maybe that's just their taste?"
"A real man should sleep with another man!"
"In the second video, Ji Feng is so manly! Come to Chengfu, I'll give you a try."
"As expected of the Cheng family, the probability of encountering a random man is 0%."
"You shouldn't hate gay men; they not only left us with lots of women, they also took a bunch of men with them."
"genius!"
"Aaaaaaah! I swear I will never forgive XunTeng!!!"
"This is truly shocking!"
"Swarm of bees, we were wrong. It was you who saw through everything!"
Where are all the netizens who used to praise XunTeng? They've all gone silent.
"Didn't they say XunTeng turned the tide? Why aren't you all speaking up for it now? And what about all those girls who were defending Carter? He has that thing, aren't you surprised!"
"What's wrong with us? In other countries, women are the only gender. What's wrong with us speaking out for women?"
"Should we be ridiculed just because we are biologically male? Many top-tier professions in ancient times were dominated by women; they're just being forgotten now!"
"I can testify to this: in ancient times, the pilots of bamboo submarines were all women, but that skill has been lost."
"That's fucking a pig-drowning cage!"
"Oh my god, why didn't you say so earlier!"
Netizens who enjoy watching gossip are generally quite skilled; they can all verbally abuse XunTeng's online trolls until they can't even lift their heads.
Good heavens, this really can't be blamed on Yang Yi. He didn't intend to harm Xun Teng; he was just forced to retaliate.
Ji Feng was only reaping what he sowed. He tried to seize the fortune to deal with Yang Yi, but little did he know that part of the fortune had been polluted by the foreign Heavenly Dao.