61. The dust has settled

After ending the call, Jiang Nan let out a breath and began to think about a more comprehensive way to deal with the situation.

As he walked back to his workstation, the looks he received along the way were mixed: surprise, curiosity, and barely concealed gossip. Wang Papi had retreated dejectedly into his office, his expression grim behind the soundproof glass, but Jiang Nan ignored it.

As soon as she sat down, she dialed Song Wei's number.

"Boss Song," she said, trying to keep her voice steady. "The rumors about me have already been traced back to their source... You know, the Liang family. They're targeting me. I'm sorry for getting you into trouble."

Jiang Nan didn't tell anyone about Shengcheng, but still mentioned the Liang family.

Song Wei on the other side was silent for a moment, then sneered silently: "She really exists."

"The statement must be made quickly and firmly, directly pointing out that this is a malicious smear campaign by a competitor," Song Wei said quickly. "Post all our raw material registration certificates and quality inspection reports."

"Okay, Mr. Song," Jiang Nan said, "We are already drafting a lawyer's letter to properly handle the individuals and platforms that spread the rumors."

Song Wei was silent for a moment before continuing, "Defense alone is useless. I think Summer Pulse should take advantage of this opportunity to get ahead of the curve. Once we've finished reviewing the final draft, we'll let you know and use the hype surrounding the new product to outweigh the negative news. Prepare pre-launch posters and press releases now, highlighting the authenticity of the ingredients and the craftsmanship to counter their rumors."

Jiang Nan immediately understood: "We will do our best to strengthen the positive image and eliminate the negative impact."

"Yes, that's right. There are also people targeting Summer Pulse, not just Liang Yue and her family, right? Regarding catching the source of the troll army," Song Wei paused, "have you made any progress there?"

"We're still catching them," Jiang Nan said without further ado, "but we'll have results soon."

"Okay, I'll wait for your news. I'll also mobilize media resources," Song Wei said decisively. "In an hour, I want to see the preview poster and the first draft of the press release."

As soon as they hung up, Jiang Nan immediately called Wenwen and the core project team members to start a new round of work. The atmosphere in the office became tense, with only the sounds of keyboards, hurried discussions, and ringing phones. Wang Paopi tried to interject several times, but was completely ignored. He could only retreat to his office in disgrace.

An hour later, Summer Pulse's official social media account released a series of visually striking new product posters, with captions that both aligned with the brand and refuted the rumors. The account also displayed a series of raw material traceability certificates and authoritative third-party testing reports.

In addition, several core media platforms controlled by Song Wei published an in-depth article titled "Who is Afraid of the Truth? Exposing the Business Intrigue Behind the Summer Pulse Scandal." Although the article did not directly name any company, it cleverly led the charge to Shengcheng, which had recently failed to acquire Youchuang and was in fierce competition with the Song family's businesses.

When Jiang Nan saw that Song Wei had also found Shengcheng, the culprit, he was very glad that he had been holding back and not told Chen Yunsheng everything he had told her.

With the publication of this article, and the efforts of Song Wei and Youchuang, the online sentiment began to subtly shift. Netizens who had originally been watching the excitement began to discuss the product itself, and the momentum of the black water movement was gradually curbed.

A few hours later, just as the discussion reached a peak, Wei Yan sent a chain of evidence to Jiang Nan. The evidence directly pointed to a PR firm under Shengcheng hiring a network of "trolls" to manipulate the situation.

Jiang Nan checked it and forwarded the information to Song Wei.

About ten minutes later, Song Wei's personal account and Summer Pulse's official account simultaneously released a stern statement, directly naming Shengcheng and its public relations company, and stating that they had collected comprehensive evidence and submitted it to judicial authorities for processing.

The account of Fu Yifang Studio also posted a short text, calling for respect for the deceased and an end to the spread of false information.

As a result, the heat of public opinion increased a lot, and Shengcheng instantly fell into a public relations crisis. He was overwhelmed and unable to make an effective response.

The situation is under control.

By the afternoon, the tense atmosphere that had lingered all day finally eased slightly. While public opinion monitoring and legal proceedings were still ongoing, the most dangerous juncture had passed. Summer Pulse had even turned a disaster into a blessing, garnering unprecedented publicity.

Jiang Nan tiredly turned off the computer, rubbed his sore eyes, and finally breathed a sigh of relief. Wen Wen came over and said, "Amazing, Nan Nan! Your fighting power today was simply amazing. Wang Baopi's face turned green."

Jiang Nan smiled and said nothing more. After chatting with Wenwen for a while, the two of them began to pack up their things and picked up their bags to leave work.

As they walked out of the office building, the evening air was a bit cool. She was about to say goodbye to Wenwen, but Wenwen suddenly uttered a "whoosh" and said to her with a gossipy look on her face, "Baby, I think I saw your husband."

Jiang Nan frowned in confusion, then followed Wenwen's gaze. Standing next to the familiar black car was Chen Yunsheng himself.

He leaned against the car door, his suit jacket draped over his arm, his tie loosened a little, and seemed to have been waiting for a while. At that moment, the afterglow of the setting sun cast a soft halo around him, diluting his usual coldness.

Jiang Nan blinked and said to Wenwen awkwardly, "Um—I'll go over first."

Wenwen cleared her throat and deliberately raised her voice: "Go find your husband."

Jiang Nan understood Wenwen's intention. She smiled embarrassedly at her colleague who was walking towards her from behind, then turned around and walked quickly towards Chen Yunsheng.

"Why are you here?"

Chen Yunsheng naturally took the computer bag from her hand and looked at her tired but sparkling eyes. "I said I would pick you up after get off work. Get in the car."

He opened the passenger door and nodded slightly to Jiang Nan's colleagues who were gathered in front of the building and looking at him curiously.

Jiang Nan looked back at his colleagues, forced a smile, and then got into the car.

Afterwards, Chen Yunsheng put away his computer bag and sat in the driver's seat.

"Where's Master Zhang?" Jiang Nan made small talk.

"Give him a day off," Chen Yunsheng started the car. "Is he tired?"

"Yeah," Jiang Nan admitted honestly, leaning back in his chair, "This is the most tiring time I've ever had at work."

"But you did very well," he said, looking straight ahead, his tone affirmative and gentle. "Song Wei just called me and praised you for a long time and apologized for the previous offense."

Jiang Nan was a little embarrassed: "It's mainly because Mr. Song is quick to react and makes decisive decisions."

"You don't need to be modest," Chen Yunsheng glanced at her. "Your composure and execution are key. Faced with that kind of situation, many people would panic."

His words were like a gurgling stream, gently washing away the day's fatigue. Jiang Nan's heart softened, and she said nothing more, just quietly looking at the city lights outside the car window.

After a long while, Chen Yunsheng suddenly spoke up, "The cheongsam for the birthday banquet, the master informed us, can be tried on this Thursday afternoon, and then we can make some minor adjustments based on the situation. I'll review it with you then."

Jiang Nan thought of the light green cheongsam and her heartbeat quickened slightly. "Thursday. I may not be free."

"Then I'll ask them to postpone it to Saturday."

"Hmm..." Jiang Nan said hesitantly, "Not necessarily. Now that things are over, maybe I can apply to work from home."

"Well," he said, "if you can't, don't push yourself. It'll be the same trying it on Saturday."

"Yeah, I understand."

The car stopped at a red light. Chen Yunsheng's fingers tapped the steering wheel. Then, seemingly casually, he asked, "You said she was my wife in front of so many people today. Afterwards...did anyone ask you anything?"

Jiang Nan thought for a moment, "A few colleagues I'm close to have been curious and asked me why I hid it so well. I just dealt with it vaguely. Anyway... everyone will find out over time."

"Well, you don't have to hide anymore." After saying that, he lightly stepped on the accelerator and followed the flow of traffic to the next intersection.

Jiang Nan glanced at him secretly. His profile, which was focused on driving, looked gentle and calm under the flowing light.

She suddenly felt that this marriage, which had begun as an agreement, seemed to be quietly taking root and slowly growing into real branches in a direction she had never expected. But this time, she no longer felt panic, and even had a faint, sweet anticipation.

In such anticipation, all the troubles gradually settled down.

Shengcheng was in a state of panic, its stock price plummeted, and it faced a serious business credibility crisis, leaving it with no time to take care of anything else - Shengcheng had always done things in a dishonest way, and many of the companies it had bullied had taken advantage of it.

At the same time, a purge was underway within Youchuang. After a personal interview with CEO Yao, Wang Papi voluntarily resigned, then packed up his belongings and left the company in disgrace. It was rumored that CEO Yao had definitive evidence of his financial dealings with Shengcheng, and not sending him to jail was a last ditch effort of respectability.

The atmosphere in the office was half celebrating Wang Paopi's departure, and half preparing for the vacant director position and the soon-to-be-vacant deputy director position.

Chen Yunsheng's findings regarding the strange anonymous phone call and text messages were surprising.

It was Pete who made the calls and sent the text messages.

Liang Yue used an intermediary to find Peter, who had been fired but still held a grudge, and promised him a large sum of money to do the job. Her purpose was to create trouble for Jiang Nan, ideally to make her project fail and her reputation ruined, and even imagined that this would shake her position in the Chen family.

Not only did Pete do it, he also had a meeting with Wang Papi in the name of Shengcheng, so Wang Papi's attitude was like that on the day of the incident.

When Jiang Nan learned about all this, he just felt it was absurd and ridiculous - working was already annoying, and now he had to play tricks with this group of people.

Chen Yunsheng's approach to this matter was straightforward. All the evidence was bundled together, and Peter was summoned for questioning on charges of defamation and harassment. As for Liang Yue, Chen Yunsheng simply passed the evidence of the Liang family's involvement in the scandal to his second uncle, Chen Minghui.

The next day, Chen Minghui personally brought Liang Yue, a pale, tearful woman, to apologize and promised to send her abroad immediately and not return for several years. Chen Yunsheng said nothing more, but simply sent her away in a cold manner.

But when Mr. Chen found out, he called Chen Minghui to his old house and scolded him severely. It is said that he even threw a teacup.

Jiang Nan learned most of this turmoil from Chen Yunsheng's brief narration and Wei Yan's occasional supplements. She had a vague feeling that Chen Minghui's intentions were more than just this, but since this was a Chen family matter, she couldn't say much. Furthermore, these days, her attention was more focused on finishing the Summer Pulse project and the upcoming birthday party.