400: Chapter 400 Countering Public Opinion and Turning Point

Chu Qianlan naturally understood the attitude of the Municipal Government, but he was unwilling to swallow his pride and suffer in silence.

Moreover, his industries were worth hundreds of billions, a fortune sufficient to make people take desperate risks. If he backed down now, more wolves would inevitably pounce on him in the future.

Chu Qianlan raised his hand to rub his temples, a flash of determination in his eyes: "Since they don't want to resolve this properly, then we will do it our own way."

He looked up at Wang Shijie, his tone carrying a clear directive: "The evidence that Chen Haoyu entered Deep Blue Semiconductor to film secretly is conclusive. Although the Police Station has already issued a penalty, it does not prevent us from continuing to sue."

"Have the Legal Department prepare the lawsuit and submit it to the court. The specific demands don't matter; the point is to make this lawsuit the focus of public attention."

He paused, his fingertips tapping heavily on the desk: "Additionally, compile a complete chain of evidence and post it on the Deep Blue Semiconductor official website. From Chen Haoyu's identity to his ability to enforce the law as an Environmental Protection Bureau employee without proper credentials, to the evidence videos of the spying equipment, the penalty decision from the Police Station, and the reply letters from the Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau and the Municipal Government—do not hold anything back."

"Since they want to downplay the issue, I will let all the netizens judge for themselves!"

A flash of excitement crossed Wang Shijie's eyes, and the previous suppression instantly dissipated: "Understood! I will have the Legal Department and the Public Relations Department coordinate immediately. We will synchronize the evidence compilation and the drafting of the lawsuit to ensure it can be posted on the official website and provided to the media first thing tomorrow morning."

"However... will doing this completely offend the Municipal Government and Dingsheng Real Estate?"

"Offend?" A cold sneer curled the corner of Chu Qianlan's mouth. "From the moment they condoned Chen Haoyu's secret filming, they never intended to leave us any room. Instead of being beaten passively, it is better to take the initiative and draw our swords."

Upon hearing this, Wang Shijie nodded slightly: "I will go implement this right away!"

However, he had barely walked out of the office for two minutes when he hurried back.

"CEO Chu, news has suddenly spread online claiming that Deep Blue Semiconductor's sewage treatment is substandard and that we violently obstructed an inspection by the Environmental Protection Bureau!"

Wang Shijie's voice was filled with urgent anxiety as he turned his phone screen toward Chu Qianlan: "Look! These posts were published less than half an hour ago and have already been forwarded by a large number of paid trolls. They even attached forged photos of sewage samples and screenshots of anonymous 'insider' tips, claiming our treatment equipment is just for show and that we pushed the law enforcement officers!"

Chu Qianlan scanned the glaring headline on the screen, "Deep Blue Semiconductor Pollutes the Environment, Faces Investigation, and Violently Resists Inspection," and his eyes darkened instantly like a cold abyss.

The "sewage photos" attached to the post showed water that was indeed pitch black as described in the text, clearly untreated.

On the other hand, the pictures of the "violent resistance to law enforcement" were quite clear. It was obvious that several security personnel wearing Deep Blue Semiconductor uniforms were surrounding a young man wearing an Environmental Protection Bureau work badge.

Chu Qianlan did not immediately scroll through the comments below, but instead pointed at the sewage picture and asked, "Is this what Deep Blue Semiconductor's drainage situation looks like?"

Wang Shijie's face flushed red, his tone filled with urgent defense: "Absolutely not! The company's sewage treatment station operates 24 hours a day. The treated water is clear and transparent and can even be recycled for landscaping irrigation. How could it possibly be this black water!"

"The content of the photo doesn't match either. There is a 20-meter trench between the company's sewage outlet and the river, not a direct discharge into the river, and the vegetation on the riverbanks doesn't match either. This is likely a photo of sewage from another factory, pinned on us."

"As for the 'violent resistance to law enforcement' picture, it is clearly footage of the security guards stopping Chen Haoyu from filming secretly. They cropped out the key parts and twisted the truth. Judging by the angle of the photo, it was likely taken by other staff from the Environmental Protection Bureau."

After confirming it wasn't his company's issue, Chu Qianlan returned the phone to Wang Shijie and opened his computer to browse related trending topics using the Nuwa System.

At this moment, the topic of Deep Blue Semiconductor had already ignited public opinion on social media platforms like Weibo and Tieba. Paid trolls and netizens unaware of the truth quickly jumped on the bandwagon, and the comment sections were soon flooded with negative remarks.

"No wonder the environmental protection department wants to investigate strictly! So they really are secretly discharging sewage. For the sake of making money, this kind of company doesn't even care about the environment!"

"The pictures look so shocking. Black water is being discharged directly into the river; how are the surrounding residents supposed to live? They must be severely punished!"

"Violent resistance to law enforcement is confirmed! The security guards are surrounding the law enforcement officers; this is a total disregard for the law. There must be powerful connections behind them to be this arrogant!"

"Doesn't Deep Blue Semiconductor always brag about its advanced technology and compliant operations? It turns out it was all a fake image packaged for show. Disgusting!"

However, as the discussion fermented, some rational netizens raised questions.

"Is there a full video? Looking at screenshots alone proves nothing. Maybe there was another reason for the security guards to intervene?"

"My home is right near Deep Blue Semiconductor. I've never seen them discharge black water, and the water in the river has always been very clean. I've never seen the scenery in these photos; they are definitely not Deep Blue Semiconductor's drainage outlets."

Although many netizens noticed that there were issues with the photos, their voices were quickly drowned out by paid trolls and angry netizens.

Just one hour after the post titled "Deep Blue Pollutes the Environment, Violently Resists Inspection" was published, Deep Blue Semiconductor was already caught in a whirlpool of public opinion.

Chu Qianlan's fingertips tapped rapidly on the keyboard as the Nuwa System quickly searched for the source of the public opinion spread.

The IP address that initially published the post came from an internet cafe and could no longer be traced.

However, the final IPs of a large number of core troll accounts were dug up by the Nuwa System. Only a very small portion of them came from Dingsheng Real Estate, while many more IPs originated from Tencent.

Based on the timing of when both sides initiated the public opinion campaign, it could be seen that although they shared the same goal, they were not under unified command.

In other words, although Tencent participated in the public opinion campaign against Deep Blue Semiconductor, it was not premeditated.

Chu Qianlan pondered for a moment and guessed that Tencent must have learned about the relationship between Deep Blue Semiconductor and Xinghai Technology.

It was precisely for this reason that when Tencent saw negative public opinion against Deep Blue Semiconductor online, they stepped in to fuel the flames.

Chu Qianlan tapped his fingertips heavily on the desk, his eyes cold as ice: "Dingsheng Real Estate takes the lead, and Tencent follows up to deliver the killing blow—they certainly have a well-calculated plan."

He looked up at Wang Shijie, his tone carrying undeniable decisiveness: "I was worried before that exposing everything would offend the government, but now Dingsheng Real Estate has given us an excuse!"

"After you go back, follow my previous arrangements and publish the sequence of events online. However, change the reason to clarifying online rumors. As for suing Chen Haoyu, just mention it briefly."

"Also, take the opportunity to clarify the environmental pollution situation. In addition to the evidence, publish the location of the sewage outlet, and while you're at it, install a camera and sync the video feed to the official website. Since someone is framing us for discharging sewage, we will let the netizens supervise us together."