48. Top Scandal
It was supposed to be an ordinary day, a drowsy afternoon when Fatty came over and patted her: "Vivian, would you like a cup of coffee downstairs?"
The two of them didn't have anything in particular to talk about, so they just lazily looked at their phones. In boredom, Xiaopang's eyes suddenly lit up: "Oh my gotd! Look, look!"
"What?" She was startled.
Xiaopang had sent her a link, and she was also stunned after opening it.
It was a Weibo post. Though the blogger's pseudonym was a common English name mixed with random numbers, Vivian knew it was Zhou Linsen, a partner at the company who had been with Zhang Ruolin for almost the same period. He usually commented on various news events on Weibo, occasionally enjoying romantic moments and writing poignant poems. Everyone in the company knew it was him, but due to his high position, PR was reluctant to intervene. They simply reminded him to avoid touching on sensitive topics and to refrain from praising or criticizing his peers, and left his romantic whims to his own devices.
This Weibo account is usually unknown, with only a few hundred followers and almost no comments or interactions. It is just a secret post for an ordinary middle-aged man.
But the latest one is shocking.
"Lin Sen has lived a well-behaved life, achieving modest success. Today, I'm willing to give up everything to pursue my true self with my beloved. I can't face the concern and inquiries from my family and friends, and I find it difficult to explain. I can only leave without saying goodbye. I beg for forgiveness."
"sky!"
She and Xiaopang were stunned and looked at each other, then they each picked up their phones and started sending messages frantically.
Everyone has his or her own secret circle of information.
At the same time, the number of reposts and comments on this Weibo post increased rapidly.
As they inquired, they speculated:
"Is it possible that the project was involved in an investigation and they're looking for an excuse to escape..."
"Could it be... he's planning to start his own new fund? But this kind of hype is a bit too weird."
"Hype? No way. This industry is different from the entertainment industry. We still need to have some dignity."
Whether true or not, Zhou Linsen publicly declared he'd given up everything. A prominent figure, middle-aged and enjoying a peaceful life, suddenly went mad. A man with a heart as hard as steel, so consumed by passion for a woman, was truly unheard of.
Unlike the entertainment industry, where scandals are commonplace, the financial world isn't always a bad place. At best, they're just playing it safe, with gossip and rumors confined to a small circle. The bizarre nature of this incident, if compared to the entertainment industry, rivals the Feng Fei romance or the famous Weibo post, "Our marriage has ended. I'm fine, take care of yourself too."
Vivian and Xiaopang were incredibly excited, discussing the matter for a long time before returning to the office. Everyone seemed to know, their calm expressions concealing their excitement. They'd meet in the hallway, exchange meaningful glances, then head downstairs or find a corner to gossip.
The comments under that Weibo post were even more heated, with some conspiracy theorists saying with certainty: Don't be fooled, these two people are actually planning to start a company together, and this incident is pure hype.
The atmosphere in the office seemed to have never been so cheerful.
At the end of the day, Vivian was just about to head to the gym when she spotted Zhang Ruolin in the hallway, his face livid, his PR manager following him. She was about to duck into the restroom to avoid a direct encounter when Zhang Ruolin said, "Vivian, come over here too."
She secretly groaned inwardly. What bad luck.
Zhang Ruolin was naturally furious. To him, this wasn't just a scandal—who doesn't have a few close female friends at this age?—it was a major crisis that directly threatened the company's brand.
In this industry, fund terms often include a "Key Man Clause," which provides that if a key member of the fund management team dies or leaves the fund, investors have the right to request the suspension of their capital commitments and subsequent investments. If both parties cannot reach an agreement on a replacement, the fund may be dissolved and liquidated.
Zhou Linsen, a partner nearly as senior as Zhang Ruolin, was a key figure in several funds. He has now completely lost contact with the company and his family, making it difficult for anyone to reach him and thus unable to perform his duties. Worse still, he chose the most public platform, Weibo, rather than communicating privately ahead of time, leaving no room for private action.
At this point, Vivian's sympathy wasn't with Zhou Linsen's wife and children, but with the company's PR. As fellow slaves, they dreaded this kind of sudden, unprovoked disaster. This kind of once-in-a-decade, bloody incident had no established procedures, and if handled improperly, they'd be blamed.
Vivian had no choice but to follow Zhang Ruolin into his office.
Zhang Ruolin sat down, untied his tie, and asked the PR manager, "Tina, tell me first, how can we do this?"
Tina's expression was solemn. Everyone knew that Zhang Ruolin was extremely difficult to deal with when he was in a bad mood. "Mr. Zhang... this is all over the place right now. We've received a lot of inquiries from LPs and the media. We're all noments right now, but I'm wondering if we should release an official statement on our WeChat account? That way, at least the media and the outside world can get the company's perspective instead of just random speculation."
Zhang Ruolin remained noncommittal: "Vivian, do you know why I called you here?"
Vivian shook her head.
"You can now stand at the third-party level, without having to consider internal politics. Come, give me some advice on how to speak out."
If she wasn't about to leave, Vivian would have played dumb and said she didn't understand public relations and agreed with the professionals' opinions.
It's not your own business, so why make enemies for nothing?
But it doesn't matter now.
"Mr. Zhang, I don't know much about PR, but not long ago, when that major computer manufacturer was facing a brand crisis, someone said something a bit vulgar, but it made sense: When faced with a crisis, the best thing to do is play dead. If that doesn't work, then act pathetic. But avoid being pretentious. I think we just need to explain to our LP. There's no need to say anything to the media or the public. After all, no one knows what Mr. Zhou will say next."
Tina's face was cold. "Playing dead" was just contradicting her.
At the same time, messages kept popping up on Tina's phone, all from media reporters she was familiar with, but this gave her a headache.
The happiest people at this moment are the media outlets. This industry's media outlets often focus on their own entertainment, rarely producing articles with over 100,000 views, due to the industry's inherent niche nature. Who would have thought that in their lifetime, they would encounter such a hotly debated scandal, one that didn't touch on any sensitive topics?
Even the company and his family were still unsure of what had happened, yet several media outlets published articles expounding on many details, including interviews with people claiming to be close friends. "I believe this isn't hype," he said. "Investment is a business based on credibility and integrity. If someone hypes up a new company in such a ridiculous way, it will inevitably damage the credibility of both him and the company, let alone the ability to conduct investment business."
Even when Weiwei went to the gym, the coach who never paid attention to her work asked, "Sister Wei, is that boss who ran away from your company?"
"God! Why do you care about this?"
"It's even trending on Weibo, saying they eloped for love. It's so high-profile, is that still called eloping? It's called public eloping—a public elopement!"
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