Lin An and his colleagues rushed back to the company in a great hurry.
The area in front of the office building was already packed with people. As they squeezed forward, they saw Lin Haoran standing in the crowd, wailing, with a large sign hanging on his body.
The sign was titled "The CEO's Son Drives His Elderly Father to Desperation." The content was roughly that he had given everything for Lin An, but now that he was old, in poor health, and unable to earn money, his son abandoned him. He was now homeless and starving, and all he could do was ask his son to acknowledge him.
Behind him stood two frail old men with canes, holding a banner that read: "President Lin An is a heartless rich man who has forced his own father to live on the streets."
Lin Haoran was covered in dirt, wearing clothes he'd picked up from some recycling station, and had deliberately smeared dirt on himself, making him look like a homeless man living under a bridge.
Yu Yuntian was on tenterhooks for Lin An, and exclaimed in surprise:
"Wow! This old man is putting on quite a show, Mr. Lin. I think he's determined to get you."
Zhao Gancheng suggested, "President Lin, why don't you retreat first and get away to a safer place?"
Lin An glared angrily at Lin Haoran, showing no intention of backing down.
When Lin Haoran saw Lin An arrive, a smug look flashed across his face. There were many people around, and among them were many people taking pictures with their phones. In addition, he had hired two frail old men, so the security personnel of Xiao An's company did not dare to take action easily.
Lin Haoran took a few seconds to gather his emotions, then let out a loud cry, ran to Lin An, sat down on the ground, and hugged Lin An's legs, wailing loudly:
"Son! You've finally come to see me. I can't go on living."
"Dad is old and useless, please don't abandon him."
Lin An's face turned ashen, his features contorted in shock. He never imagined that Lin Haoran, who was bankrupt, could be so shameless.
At this point, some well-meaning citizens with a strong sense of sympathy stepped forward to criticize Lin An:
"You're a CEO now, and you're still letting your dad suffer like this. Where's your conscience?"
"Of all virtues, filial piety is the most important. You will be punished for what you've done. Sooner or later, you'll be torn to pieces!"
There are also peacemakers who always come out and make peace with each other:
“Young man, every family has its own problems. Maybe he did something wrong in the past. No matter what, he is still your father. Take him home and be a good son to him.”
“No matter how wrong he is, he gave birth to you and raised you, that's a debt of gratitude. Please forgive him and let's go home together to reunite.”
Xu Mo knew best about the mess in the Lin family; he knew how much Lin An had suffered. However, considering the company's public image, he could only advise Lin An to be patient.
"Lin An, all he wants is money. No way, let's just give him some money to get rid of him. Right now, our company's main business is live streaming. Online public opinion is very important to the company and will affect every streamer. Just bear with it for a while and think of it as being bitten by a dog."
Seizing his opportunity, Lin Haoran cried out, "I have no money to live! My son is unfilial! Give me money! Give me money!..."
Lin An glanced around and saw people chattering amongst themselves. Naturally, they sided with Lin Haoran, the weaker party.
He felt a surge of anger rising in his chest. There was no true empathy in this world. He loathed those who advised him to be magnanimous without knowing anything about the situation. Don't advise others to be kind if you haven't experienced their suffering. Forgive my ass!
I'm getting angrier the more I think about it. I've had a rabies vaccine, so why am I afraid of dogs?
Lin An sneered at Lin Haoran a few times: "Trying to play moral blackmail, huh? Fine! I'll play along!"
Then he turned to Xu Mo and said, "Get me a chair! Get me a speaker! Bring down the live streaming equipment and start broadcasting."
If public opinion can't be controlled, at worst he can step down from the company. That doesn't change his status as a major shareholder; he just won't be in management anymore.
However, if guided well, it can generate a huge influx of traffic; take a gamble and you might turn a bicycle into a motorcycle.
Soon, everything was in place. Lin Haoran was a little flustered; he didn't understand what Lin An was going to do.
He kept repeating, "My son is unfilial; he doesn't support me."
Lin An crossed his legs, sat down in the chair, picked up the speaker, and tested the sound: "Hello, hello, hello."
The sound is loud and clear, and the sound quality is excellent.
Lin An shouted at Lin Haoran, "You keep telling me to take care of you, how old are you this year?"
Lin Haoran was sitting on the ground a few meters away from him. He rolled his eyes and felt that it was inconvenient for him to say this at his age of over forty. He repeated without thinking, "I have nowhere to go. My son is killing me."
"Fine, if you won't tell me, I'll tell everyone. His name is Lin Haoran, he's forty-seven years old, not even fifty yet. How can he not be self-reliant?"
The speaker worked very well; the sound immediately drowned out Lin Haoran's wailing.
The surrounding crowd gasped in surprise. A middle-aged man sighed, "Isn't this the same age as me? I had my child at thirty-five, and he just started junior high school this year. He's already thinking about retirement at this age. It's too much to ask of his child."
Lin An's single sentence shifted public opinion. Sensing the situation was turning sour, Lin Haoran shouted urgently, "I'm not in good health and shouldn't be working. You're so rich, why can't you give me some?"
Lin An smiled slightly and retorted, "You're in poor health and can't work, but you can support a mistress, right? Everyone can look up the rumors about the woman who was struck by lightning and charred black; she had a very close relationship with him."
The women in the crowd were furious upon hearing this; the wives hate mistresses the most.
A woman who had divorced because her husband cheated on her instantly put herself in Lin Haoran's shoes and started yelling at him:
"You shameless bastard! You use your money to support prostitutes and come here to bully children. Why don't you just die?"
"Chen Shimei, you have no conscience..."
The older woman became more and more agitated as she cursed, as if her damned ex-husband was sitting on the ground.
Lin An said at the right moment, "He not only keeps a mistress, but also brings his illegitimate child home to raise. He treats the illegitimate child much better than he treats me."
A group of middle-aged women were furious after hearing this. After giving birth, many women shift their attention to their children, who are like half of their lives. The thought of their husbands bringing home illegitimate children and treating their own children badly made them extremely angry.
They were filled with righteous indignation, pointing at Lin Haoran and cursing him incessantly, calling him a bastard repeatedly.
Lin Haoran mustered all his strength and roared, "I didn't! He's lying! He's smearing me!"
The surrounding noise subsided a little, and everyone looked at Lin An with questioning eyes.
Lin An's lips twitched slightly, revealing a meaningful smile.
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