15: Chapter 15 Public Opinion on the Internet

Xu Hao was stunned for a moment.

The person in front of him was the new assistant he had hired after the restructuring of Xu's Heavy Industry.

Her name was Wang Qian, a top student from the Management Department of Modu University.

After the restructuring, the adjustment and planning of the factory area, staff management, and the handling of his official business were all managed by her single-handedly.

She was methodical, careful, and responsible in her work.

Under her management, everything at the restructured Xu's Heavy Industry was proceeding in an orderly fashion.

However, she, who was always steady and calm, seemed a bit nervous at this moment.

"Hmm, what's the matter?" Xu Hao asked.

Wang Qian immediately explained the situation:

"About an hour ago, many posts slandering our Xu's Heavy Industry suddenly appeared online."

Wang Qian frowned.

As Xu Hao's personal assistant, she was always keeping an eye on everything related to Xu's Heavy Industry.

Just now, she suddenly noticed that posts about Xu's Heavy Industry online had suddenly increased.

In just one hour, they had reached several thousand.

Moreover, the number was still increasing at an alarming rate.

Upon learning this news, Wang Qian immediately came to Xu Hao's office to report it.

"Oh, so that's what it is?" Xu Hao's expression immediately relaxed, and he smiled slightly. "Haven't there always been these slandering posts? No need to worry too much. Once the trend passes, they will naturally disappear."

Learning that Wang Qian had come for this reason, the worry in Xu Hao's heart vanished.

During this period, there had been quite a bit of negative public opinion regarding Xu's Heavy Industry, but Xu Hao hadn't taken any of it to heart.

As long as he did his own work earnestly and steadily.

Once Director Guo Fan's movie was released, these voices would naturally die down.

"It's not like that, Chairman Xu. This time it's different."

Seeing that Xu Hao was somewhat indifferent, Wang Qian's fair, pretty face immediately showed some anxiety.

"It's not just slandering us; there's a lot more dirt on Xu's Heavy Industry!"

"Look!"

Wang Qian opened the laptop in her hands, clicked on Weibo, and pulled up the posts.

What met his eyes was a striking topic:

* Xu's Heavy Industry, a black-hearted company with no bottom line!

"This topic suddenly appeared on the hot search list. Although it's at the bottom of the list, as more people join the discussion, the popularity is gradually rising."

"The posts inside expose a lot of dirt on Xu's Heavy Industry; even things from more than a decade ago have been dug up."

Almost every post was about dirt on Xu's Heavy Industry.

Some of them even included photographic evidence.

When Wang Qian saw them, she couldn't help but gasp.

Looking at the slightly young chairman in front of her, she suppressed the unease in her heart and calmly analyzed:

"Chairman Xu, this is clearly a premeditated and organized attack against us."

The topic appeared out of nowhere, and various pieces of dirt were emerging one after another.

The timing of the exposés was consistent, and the wording in many of the posts was very similar between the lines.

Wang Qian was a top student at Modu University, and she had studied these kinds of things in her professional courses.

Now, seeing such tactics, she could tell at a glance.

Taking the laptop from Wang Qian, Xu Hao looked at the posts on it seriously.

There were many posts; as he scrolled through them with the mouse, real-time posts were appearing almost every second.

The content on them was also extremely similar, all being various kinds of dirt on Xu's Heavy Industry from recent years.

For example:

"A certain bridge that Xu's Heavy Industry participated in building had relevant data that didn't meet the standards at all..."

"A batch of large agricultural machinery produced by Xu's Heavy Industry had serious quality problems, causing ten thousand acres of farmland to fail to be sown in time..."

"Xu's Heavy Industry owes wages to workers..."

"Xu's Heavy Industry evaded taxes, with the evaded amount reaching nearly 2 billion!!"

"..."

Things like this, and even photos of his father having a private meal with a certain official back in the day, were exposed.

Xu Hao slowly scrolled the mouse, his brows furrowed deeply.

Just as Wang Qian had said.

If the online public opinion before had just been teasing or slandering Xu's Heavy Industry.

Now, it was directly aiming the spearhead at Xu's Heavy Industry.

Xu Hao's expression was serious as he clicked into the post with the highest popularity and the most comments.

The content of the post was very long, containing all sorts of dirt on Xu's Heavy Industry.

He scrolled to the bottom and looked at the netizens' comments:

"Damn, this is supposed to be one of the top 100 companies in the Dragon Kingdom? It's simply a black-hearted company!"

"No wonder it's going bankrupt now; a company with no moral bottom line like this should have shut down long ago."

"Firmly boycott the cooperation between Xu's Heavy Industry and Guo Fan Film Industry; we cannot let their black hands reach into the film and television industry."

"A heavy industry company is actually cooperating with a film company? I'm afraid it's just another attempt to evade taxes, right?"

"Right! Xu's Heavy Industry definitely wants to evade taxes again; I suggest a strict investigation."

"Long Tax Bureau! Xu's Heavy Industry has a criminal record of tax evasion; shouldn't you investigate it properly?"

"..."

Seeing these comments, Xu Hao's brows furrowed even deeper.

Tax evasion, this was no joke.

The Dragon Kingdom was extremely strict about cracking down on tax evasion!

Every case discovered would be severely punished; they would never go soft!!

If they were really labeled with the big accusation of tax evasion, no matter what kind of high-tech products they created, it would be of no use.

Once on the official blacklist, there would undoubtedly be no way out!

"Chairman Xu, what... what should we do?"

Wang Qian bit her lip, looking anxious.

"Some of what these posts say is true, but the vast majority are fake. However..."

Her expression was dejected and somewhat helpless.

"Netizens nowadays don't care whether you are real or fake; they choose to believe whoever is loudest."

"Now, with all kinds of text and photos exposed, these netizens all believe that this dirt is real."

"Chairman Xu, our situation is very dangerous!"

Wang Qian analyzed powerlessly.

In the current online environment, netizens are only willing to believe what their own eyes see.

As for the truth behind it, they often don't pay attention.

Unless there is new evidence brought forward...

Xu Hao moved his gaze away from the computer screen and leaned back in his chair.

After a while, he gradually calmed down, and his mind also became clearer.

He frowned, thinking about one question in his heart:

"Why did so much dirt suddenly break out online all of a sudden?..."

Xu Hao frowned and thought carefully.

Just as Wang Qian said, this dirt that suddenly broke out must be an organized and premeditated attack against Xu's Heavy Industry.

But... Xu's Heavy Industry doesn't seem to have offended anyone, right?

Apart from reaching a cooperation with Director Guo Fan, Xu's Heavy Industry hasn't had any other moves recently.

Xu Hao's brows tightened.

Could it be the investors of the movie 'The Wandering Earth' who did this?

Xu Hao shook his head, rejecting this idea.

Since the investors invested in 'The Wandering Earth', they naturally hope that the movie will be made well, and it's impossible for them to smear a partner company.

Since it wasn't them, then who could it be?