Chapter 13 The Company is in Trouble

June is graduation season.

Qin Yuzhen submitted his final application, marking the end of his university career.

Meanwhile, on his first day after graduation, his company was embroiled in a public opinion storm.

*

"That's completely a fabrication!"

Ziyu was pacing anxiously in the office. The operations and staff who had been called in by the incident were also overwhelmed by the comments circulating online.

This is something that didn't happen at all in the previous playthrough, nor is it something that should have happened in the plot.

The entire plot started falling apart little by little from the moment Qin Yuzhen said he hadn't given away his white moonlight.

What exactly happened?

The biggest and best money tree (a symbol of good fortune) no longer comes to the company, and they even spread rumors that the company is threatening and harming him.

There was no contract, no conflict of interest, so how could their company possibly threaten a popular internet celebrity? It was clearly a rumor that could be debunked at any moment, but when you went online, a group of people were talking about it as if they had personally witnessed how QY Company coerced and bribed Fang Yun, and how Fang Yun stubbornly refused to accept it.

A few comments pointed out something was wrong, but they were quickly overshadowed by comments from fans.

These people are completely swayed by rumors and don't care about the truth at all.

"What should we do?" The operations team had come up with a few ideas, but since the leadership hadn't given their approval, she didn't dare to implement them directly.

“It’s alright, I’ll contact Fang Yun again,” Ziyu murmured. “He can’t do this.”

He found Fang Yun's contact information and, unsurprisingly, discovered that all of his contact methods had been blocked.

"He had been planning this for a long time."

Suddenly a familiar voice rang out at the door, and hope immediately shone in the eyes of Ziyu's colleagues.

Qin Yuzhen stood at the door, coldly watching the group of people inside, who seemed to be wandering around like headless flies.

What?

Upon hearing Qin Yuzhen's words, Ziyu looked at Qin Yuzhen in astonishment.

"President Qin," the operations team called out to him as if he were their savior.

Qin Yuzhen made a reassuring gesture, stepped towards the anxious Ziyu, and said in a deep voice, "Don't worry."

Don't worry?

Ziyu showed Qinyu Town the messages she had received on her computer.

Isn't there anything to worry about?

Ziyu said worriedly, "This matter has triggered too many chain reactions."

The operations manager nodded in agreement: "President Qin, we must resolve these issues as soon as possible."

They discovered the incident too late; online public opinion was escalating, and some extreme netizens even affected the minor artists and internet celebrities signed to their company.

Some celebrities and online influencers are emotionally fragile. They come from niche platforms and don't aspire to become wildly famous. After signing with a company, they can earn a fixed high salary each month by achieving certain performance targets. But the next day, they wake up to find themselves being subjected to all sorts of online bullying and malicious comments. They can't take it anymore and send a message to Ziyu wanting to quit.

In the early days, their company offered very attractive terms to secure contracts with artists, with low penalties for breach of contract, emphasizing the principle of voluntariness.

Now look what happened; Quan Cheng has turned his own knife on himself.

“Many artists and staff are now demanding to terminate their contracts and leave the company; they can’t stand the online attacks,” Ziyu said. “Once these vital personnel leave our company…”

Qin Yuzhen remained unmoved upon hearing these words.

Ziyu stopped herself from saying what she was about to say.

Why did he feel that he couldn't quite understand Qin Yuzhen anymore?

Before, Qin Yuzhen's thoughts were easy for him to see through, weren't they?

Qin Yuzhen replied, "I'll handle these matters."

Before the operations manager could say anything more, Qin Yuzhen interrupted her and turned his gaze to Ziyu.

That gaze was tender and affectionate, and Ziyu felt a strange discomfort all over his body. Qin Yuzhen's strangeness was even more inexplicable to him than the current trouble at the company.

"You still have exams, right?" Qin Yuzhen said lightly, his eyes lowered. "Go back to school first."

"I'll handle it."

*

Ziyu sat back down in the library, her eyes glazed over, her temples throbbing.

He actually obeyed and came back.

I have absolutely no idea what Qin Yuzhen is thinking.

Let him calculate how far the plot has progressed.

The scene where Qin Yuzhen sends his white moonlight to the airport is gone, as is the scene where the submissive shou licks the scumbag gong's lovingly delivered lunchboxes despite wind and rain. The scumbag gong even pulls the "clean and virtuous" trick. Not only that, he also gets to know the second male lead ahead of time. Fang Yunzheng, who was supposed to be a money tree, is sparing no effort to harm their company.

[Help, can I check how far I've deviated from the storyline?]

Ziyu said helplessly.

[This is your assistant. After checking, the current plot deviation is 5%. We hope you'll keep up the good work, host.]

Upon hearing the answer, Ziyu was surprised that it was only 5% off. As long as the subsequent plot remained unchanged, there was almost always a chance to recover.

In the previous playthrough, there was a period when the plot deviation value exceeded 50%. He was so scared that he fainted that day. Fortunately, Xia Xiaoqiao, his white moonlight, came back later, and the deviation value slowly returned to a few percent. By the time he arrived at the crematorium, the deviation value had returned to 0.

That's alright.

Ziyu thought that, in short, as long as his mission was not compromised, it would be fine.

As for the company's affairs... Ziyu was genuinely curious about how Qinyu Town would handle it.

If it were the thirty-something Mr. Qin from the previous game, perhaps this would just be a minor hurdle in his eyes. But in the eyes of Qin Yuzhen, who has just graduated, it might be considered a major ordeal.

never mind.

Ziyu forced herself to focus her attention back on the book.

If Qin Yuzhen can't do it, let him figure out a way.

Anyway, the submissive bottom is always the one cleaning up the mess for the scumbag top.

"The youngest?"

The dorm leader's delighted voice rang in her ears. Someone, disturbed, clicked their tongue in annoyance. The dorm leader immediately covered her mouth and waved her hand to apologize to that person.

Then he carefully sat down next to Ziyu and whispered, "You're studying here too?"

Ziyu waved his hand: "That's right, the final exams are in the next couple of days, if we don't review now we're doomed."

The dormitory head nodded in agreement and exclaimed, "You're always so hardworking, and you're still putting in this much effort. This first-class scholarship is definitely yours."

"Let's not talk about this before the exam is over," Ziyu waved her hand. "It's not good to open champagne halfway through."

The dormitory head didn't dwell on this point. After all, in his mind, the first-class scholarship was already synonymous with Ziyu. Ziyu was the undisputed number one in both academic performance and comprehensive assessment. If Ziyu hadn't had no intention of pursuing a master's degree, he probably would have been the one to receive that qualification.

However, Ziyu has always been humble and it's normal that he doesn't like to be high-profile.

If it weren't for his relationship with Qin Yuzhen, which brought Ziyu some fame, not many people would have noticed him.

The two sat together, studying quietly, and for a moment the only sounds in the library were the turning of pages and the taking of notes.

*

Inside the meeting room, the HR person sitting at the very end stood up.

"President Qin."

The personnel department reluctantly presented Qin Yuzhen with a list of recently departed employees.

"These are the employees who have left the company in the past few days."

Qin Yuzhen readily accepted the list. Most of the artists on it were leaving and their contracts were about to expire. He casually flipped through it a few times and then put it aside.

"Shouldn't we take some action?"

The operations team asked anxiously from the side. After all, in the internet industry, the slower you delay something, the worse it is for you.

She still really liked this company; at least it was somewhat humane. If she lost this job, she would have to find something else to do.

She also found it absurd that these netizens would believe whatever others said.

There's absolutely no basis to this; some accounts just spout off some dubious nonsense, and that's how they manage to stir up hatred.

This is absolutely bizarre.

Qin Yuzhen spoke up, instructing his secretary, "Find out where these people went after they left their jobs."

The secretary's eyes changed, and he quickly realized what was going on. After taking the list, he began to contact the designated person.

The HR and operations teams looked at each other in bewilderment.

Investigating the whereabouts of departing employees is not particularly difficult, but it still takes a lot of time, let alone investigating so many at once.

But unexpectedly, not long after, the secretary pulled up the whereabouts of all the departing employees.

Apart from a few internet celebrities who decided to go solo, everyone else—

"They all went to Jiaxing Entertainment."

That was an entertainment company under Tangzuo Company.

"What does Jiaxing Entertainment mean?! Do they really think we're easy targets?" The other executives in the conference room, who had been waiting for Qin Yuzhen to speak, couldn't help but ask.

They initially invested because Qin Yuzhen was the only son of the Qin family. Their original intention was for Qin Yuzhen to return home quickly so that they would remember their timely help. They never expected that Qin Yuzhen could actually turn such a small company into what it is today. What was originally a promising opportunity has now been ruined by someone.

If the methods were sophisticated, they would accept it, but the methods they used were so low-level and foolish.

What's most infuriating is that while such disgusting little tricks aren't enough to completely ruin the company, the bad luck they bring is truly unbearable.

"Where did we offend Jiaxing Entertainment?" another boss frowned. "We and Jiaxing Entertainment have completely different development directions."

Currently, Jiaxing Entertainment is a well-capitalized and established company that tends to cultivate artists suitable for films and other projects. QY, on the other hand, is more focused on youthful internet development. Although it has achieved some success, it is not enough to become a thorn in the side of Jiaxing Entertainment.

They didn't know why, but Qinyu Town knew perfectly well.

It's Tang Zuo again.

If it's him, then everything becomes clear.

Qin Yuzhen sneered.

No one but him would resort to such a disgusting and obviously underhanded trick.

He still developed an interest in Ziyu.

Qin Yuzhen interrupted the discussion, saying, "Instead of arguing about why Jiaxing is targeting us, let's take this opportunity to make QY famous."

"What are you going to do?" the first CEO asked.

It's easy to spread the word, and thanks to Fang Yun, QY has gained a lot of recognition, but unfortunately, none of it is positive.

"Fang Yun's rumors are easy to resolve; a court hearing will suffice. But there's a whole host of other issues to deal with afterward."

The absence of departing staff and artists, and insufficient financial investment... these are all problems.

After some discussion, the executives finally focused their attention on Qinyu Town.

The young man in the main seat leaned back slightly, his eyes sharp, and his demeanor was completely different from before. The CEOs sitting below him inexplicably shrank back.

Why do I always feel like they're not facing a recent graduate, but rather a seasoned shrew who's been in the business world for years?

However, it seems that the problems they are currently facing can be resolved.