84: Chapter 84 Reconciliation Reversal Notice

During the third class in the afternoon, Chu Qianlan suddenly received a text message from the Legal Counsel stating that Zhang Lei and the others had signed the letter of reconciliation.

It was said that the families of those six people used their connections to find the leaders of Shenzhen University.

The vice deans of the School of Management and the School of Physics arrived in person, and since the compensation offered was substantial, Zhang Lei and the others agreed to the reconciliation.

Seeing this message, Chu Qianlan fell silent for a moment.

He could ignore others, but since the vice deans of the school had gone, it was understandable that Zhang Lei and the others did not press the issue further.

After all, they were still students; if they offended the vice deans too deeply, life at school would not be easy for them in the future.

Fortunately, the families of those six people did not bully them with their power, and the compensation offered was quite reasonable.

Zhang Lei and Liu Daocheng each received 1.5 million in compensation, while the others received 100,000 each. Even Kong Lingguo, who had not been present, received 100,000 in compensation.

Since Zhang Lei and the others were willing to reconcile, Chu Qianlan naturally had no objections. He had previously stated that the final decision rested in their own hands.

However, Chu Qianlan still instructed the two Legal Counsel members to handle the follow-up work properly so as not to leave any hidden risks.

"Third brother, you won't blame us for reconciling, right?" Liu Daocheng asked after Chu Qianlan arrived at the hospital room that evening.

"I said long ago that the final choice is entirely up to you. With generous compensation and the pressure from the school leadership, compromising is normal." Chu Qianlan pulled up a chair, sat down, and shook his head.

After chatting for a while, Zhang Lei suddenly asked, "Li Meng and Zhao Qingqing went for an interview at Xinghai Technology this morning. Did they get the job?"

Chu Qianlan glanced at him and retorted, "I came straight here after class, how would I know the result? Don't worry, they will definitely be able to intern at Xinghai Technology!"

Returning to the dormitory at night, Chu Qianlan saw the list of newly hired employees sent by the Human Resources Department in his StarChat inbox.

Li Meng and Zhao Qingqing were both on the list. After informing Zhang Lei about this, Chu Qianlan closed his inbox.

However, when he saw the message from Qu Feng on StarChat, his expression became serious again.

A few days ago, Xingyuan Exploration released an announcement, which made those who were smearing Xingyuan Electrolyte quiet down for two days.

Perhaps seeing that Xingyuan Exploration had not taken any actual action, those so-called 'industry insiders' started acting up again.

Various posts claiming that Xingyuan Electrolyte was unsafe frequently appeared on forums.

Fortunately, near the end of the workday, the Legal Department of Xingyuan Exploration received notification that the Shenzhen Primary Court had filed the case, and they could obtain the 'Case Acceptance Notice' tomorrow morning.

"Tomorrow at work, have the Legal Department send someone to the court first thing to get the 'Case Acceptance Notice' and post it on the company's homepage." Chu Qianlan sent a message to Qu Feng on StarChat.

After thinking for a moment, he left a message for Manager Qi Hong of the Public Relations Department at Xinghai Technology, asking her to contact the internet trolls tomorrow and repost the 'Case Acceptance Notice' under those posts smearing Xingyuan Electrolyte.

Because Chu Qianlan did not go to work on weekdays, he handled daily tasks at night, and the company's management had long since gotten used to it. After receiving orders, if they had no objections, they would not reply to his messages.

The next morning, as soon as the Legal Department obtained the Case Acceptance Notice from the court, they posted the scanned copy on the homepage of the official website.

At the same time, they included the caption, "Xingyuan Exploration officially sues online rumor-mongers; legal proceedings have begun."

Subsequently, the Public Relations Department of Xinghai Technology took action. Manager Qi Hong directed the internet trolls to "occupy" the comment sections of various smear posts with screenshots of the notice.

At this point, no words were needed; the 'Case Acceptance Notice' alone was enough to represent the confidence of Xingyuan Exploration.

For a time, the news that Xingyuan Exploration was suing online rumor-mongers spread rapidly to all major internet forums.

A large number of posts smearing Xingyuan Electrolyte were quickly deleted, for fear that Xingyuan Exploration would sue them as well.

Even a few 'prominent figures' who had already been sued by Xingyuan Exploration began to secretly delete their posts.

Unfortunately, the Legal Department had already preserved the evidence, and even if they deleted the posts, they could not erase the fact that they had spread rumors.

Under a hot post on a technology forum titled "Reversal of the Xingyuan Electrolyte Safety Mystery! Official Action Taken to Sue Rumor-mongers," netizens were arguing endlessly.

"First row, eating popcorn! I felt those smear posts were fishy a long time ago; the wording and scripts were exactly the same, clearly organized trolls! Moreover, those posts appeared too suddenly; it was completely manipulated by someone behind the scenes!"

"Support corporate rights protection! The internet is not a lawless place. Spreading rumors takes one mouth, refuting them takes running until your legs break. We must teach the rumor-mongers a lesson!"

"Have you noticed that the first two defendants are from Japan? They aren't the most famous, and their follower counts and click rates aren't the highest, yet they were ranked first. Is there some hidden mystery here?"

"I understand the source of this public opinion now. Previously, the raw materials for electrolytes in China were long monopolized by Japanese companies. Now, Xingyuan Electrolyte has successfully broken the deadlock with a new formula. This public opinion storm was most likely deliberately instigated by Japanese raw material companies to maintain their monopoly and suppress Xingyuan Exploration."

"Looking at the notice, the charges in this lawsuit by Xingyuan Exploration include defamation and damaging commercial reputation. If they win, the rumor-mongers could face up to seven years in prison. This move to kill the chicken to scare the monkey is ruthless enough!"

...

In an office in Shanghai, someone suddenly chuckled, "Manager, our forum has been sued again!"

Clearly, this kind of thing had happened many times, and the people in the office were almost immune to it.

"What happened again!" a young man sitting in front of a computer asked without raising his head.

"A company was smeared, and while that company is suing the rumor-mongers, they are also suing us for lax supervision!"

The young man sneered, "We run a forum; unrestricted speech is the freedom of netizens! There's no need to worry about this kind of thing. Just follow the usual practice and have the company send a Legal Counsel over!"

...

Meanwhile, in a hotel next to Shanghai University, six Japanese international students were looking dejected.

Tanaka Ichiro's expression was gloomy. "Xingyuan Exploration didn't play by the rules and went straight to legal proceedings! The forum bloggers we hired are all panicking now. If we don't handle this well, we're afraid we'll be implicated."

A flash of panic crossed Inoue's eyes. "My account has also been sued. If I lose the case, will the school expel me?"

Sato, the leader of the Japanese international students, clenched his fist and slammed it on the table. "According to past experience, companies would first do public relations and issue statements, and once the public opinion calmed down, it would be the end of it! Why is Xingyuan Exploration so difficult to deal with?"

"We can't worry about that much anymore. Let's contact Kanto Chemical first; they have to handle this matter. If that really doesn't work, we'll have to seek help from the embassy!"