108: Public opinion erupts

Qiu Wanjun handled this matter using a business-oriented mindset; after receiving the news yesterday, he immediately had his team collect information.

He planned to fly over in person today to show the other side what the "iron fist of capital" meant. At the same time, he thought about letting his boss see how beautifully he had handled it.

Who would have known that the other side would take action that very night.

"Damn it, they have no sense of martial ethics; they actually launched a sneak attack beforehand." Qiu Wanjun was furious. The opposition was too well-prepared, spreading newspapers everywhere overnight, and public opinion was completely one-sided, causing reputational damage to his boss.

Qiu Wanjun was both angry and anxious, his body even trembling. He had originally wanted to show off in front of his boss.

His phone rang, and realizing it was Wang Cheng, he answered immediately.

"I was planning to fly to Hong Kong in person today." Qiu Wanjun stated his original plan. At that moment, he wanted to slap himself twice.

Wang Cheng was speechless; this mindset was too business-focused. He also hated himself for being too trusting of business bigwigs, without any precautions.

"What do we do now?" Both of them spoke at the same time. If this matter couldn't be salvaged and the boss's reputation was ruined like this, they might as well go home and raise pigs.

"Contact the media and have them pull the newspapers." Qiu Wanjun said urgently.

"No." Wang Cheng immediately vetoed it: "The news is already out; the more we try to suppress it, the more violently it will explode."

"Even trying to find media to hedge the public opinion is too late. The other side's advantage lies in the support of many Hong Kong Artists."

"Then what should we do?" At this moment, Qiu Wanjun was truly at a loss.

"I will release the video through the internet first, and then we will think of other ways." Wang Cheng said this; right now, he could only disclose the truth to the public.

Wang Cheng had already arrived at the company and arranged for Ding Yan to release the video first.

Now, the entire Golden Culture was becoming a bit chaotic. The company was originally meant to serve the boss, but now it had dragged the boss into a public opinion crisis.

"Director Wang, were you not prepared at all?" Ding Yan looked at Wang Cheng unkindly while arranging for his subordinates to publish the video.

To be so careless about the boss's affairs, he suspected that Wang Cheng was intentionally trying to sabotage the boss.

"Let's focus on how to handle this first. Whatever mistakes were made, they are all on me. After this is over, I will tender my resignation to the boss." Wang Cheng was also filled with regret and helplessness; how could he have imagined that Qiu Wanjun, who had patted his chest and guaranteed success, would make such a huge blunder.

This was originally a matter that could have been suppressed with a single phone call; even if they couldn't force the other side to apologize, they could have negotiated a settlement.

At the same time, he wanted to slap himself. If he had known, he wouldn't have provoked him over the phone last night; he should have just played it safe.

Arrogance invites disaster.

Ding Yan also felt a headache. From a PR perspective, the best way to solve such a thing was to handle it before public opinion erupted. Once it erupted, no matter what method was used to eliminate the public opinion, it would leave excuses for conspiracy theories.

The video of the conflict was published on the internet, allowing many people to see the entire process.

Facing Dicky Cheung's initial sarcasm, Li Xiuwu ignored him.

It wasn't until a stagehand carried a stand and smashed it onto Li Xiuwu's parasol that Pan Lei went over to help support it and sternly reminded him to be careful.

Dicky Cheung exploded directly, mocking him for being arrogant and bullying people. Finally, he was the first to make a move, and together with Nicholas Tse, they attacked Li Xiuwu, but were countered by Li Xiuwu, who knocked both of them down in one go.

"So that's the truth. I didn't see any violence from Li Xiuwu, but I did witness the high-handedness of Dicky Cheung."

The first batch of people who saw the video made such comments.

"Li Xiuwu is really impressive. I didn't even see how he moved before he knocked both of them down."

Ding Yan was monitoring the public opinion on the internet, but this didn't have much impact on the overall public opinion.

In this situation, print media still had great influence. Entertainment gossip TV stations tended to report in directions that could trigger sensations; they reported however they could to stir up people's emotions.

This was not yet the era of self-media; the spread of truth was too slow.

The spread of the truth on the internet could only happen within a very small range. The public's attitude toward this matter was: if the media said Li Xiuwu hit someone violently, then it must be Li Xiuwu's fault.

People inside Golden Culture were as anxious as ants on a hot pan.

...

In the Courtyard House, Li Xiuwu had just woken up when he received a call. He looked and saw it was from Liu Xiaoli.

"Xiuwu, you got into a fight with someone. Are you hurt?" Liu Xiaoli asked anxiously, concerned about Li Xiuwu's situation.

"Huh?" Li Xiuwu was a bit surprised: "Auntie, you already know?"

He was puzzled; how did Liu Xiaoli know? Who told her? Was the spread of this matter so fast?

"Where are you now? Are you hurt? Is anything uncomfortable?" Liu Xiaoli's tone was full of concern for Li Xiuwu.

"I am not hurt. They didn't even touch me." Li Xiuwu said very affirmatively.

"That's good, that's good. But the public opinion is very unfavorable to you right now. Don't run around; I will call people to help handle it." Liu Xiaoli said.

"Public opinion? Has this matter blown up?" Li Xiuwu was even more puzzled. Didn't he ask Lin Qian to handle it? Could it be that Lin Qian couldn't handle it? Did he misjudge him?

"Yifei wants to talk to you." After Liu Xiaoli finished, a crisp voice came from the phone, filled with worry.

"Li Xiuwu, are you okay?" Liu Yifei had also just found out and was very worried.

"I'm fine, you don't need to worry." Li Xiuwu put away the confusion in his heart and comforted Liu Yifei.

"You should stay in the Courtyard House for now and don't run around. We will find a way to help you solve it." The public opinion was too big, and many Hong Kong and Taiwan artists spoke out, causing public opinion to be one-sided.

"I understand. You don't need to worry either; I will handle it well on my side."

Although he didn't know exactly what had happened, Li Xiuwu was not anxious.

Not to mention whether they could blacklist him, even if they did, so what? At worst, he would just put away his playful heart and become a trillionaire bigwig.

After soothing Liu Yifei and ending the call, Li Xiuwu went online to understand the situation.

His phone rang again immediately.

"Brother, are you hurt?" Shu Chang's worried voice came from the phone.

"I am fine. You know your brother's strength; two or three small fry aren't enough for me to punch." Li Xiuwu answered relaxed.

"Brother, I am going back now to contact the media. I support you." Shu Chang had no background; the only thing she could do to help Li Xiuwu was to voice her support.

Although compared to those Hong Kong Artists, her fame was not worth mentioning, this was the only thing she could do.

"No, you focus on filming, don't worry about anything. Trust me, your brother can handle it." Li Xiuwu spent a lot of effort to soothe her and tell her not to worry.

Li Xiuwu also received a call from Yang Xue, her voice filled with worry.

Yu Min and Zhao Jian from the flying immortal from beyond the heavens crew also called.

"Xiuwu, if there is a need, we can accept interviews. We are willing to support you." Both of them said this.

They were both directors and knew what kind of character Hong Kong Artists had. Although Li Xiuwu was a bit high-profile on set, he was definitely not the type to bully people.

Zhou Xiaowen, who was working on post-production, got the news, and after watching the video, he immediately contacted the media, loudly accusing the Hong Kong Artists of distorting facts and having no morals.

After Li Xiuwu answered calls from many friends, he finally received Wang Cheng's call and understood the ins and outs of the matter.

Lin Qian, who received the news and saw such a huge entertainment scandal, only felt a surge of blood rushing to his head.

"Qiu Wanjun!"