Chapter 252 - Publicity Crisis

Xiao Luo couldn't help but chuckle. He had not expected Zhang Dashan's mother to be a fan of celebrities as well. After all, she was more than 50 years old. Being the fan of an idol was something trendy and young. It rarely happened with people in her age group, right?

Feng Wuhen teasingly said, "Brother Zhang, it seems that your mom is very trendy, hahaha…"

Zhang Dashan clapped his thigh with his hand. "Yeah, ever since I taught her to use a smartphone, she has become addicted to it. She uses it to watch shows, listen to music, make new friends, and so on. She knows all of its functions. Do you all know what my mom's username is?"

"What is it, Brother Zhang? Do tell us!" Little Five was extremely curious about it.

"It's 'Highly Talented Eighteen-Year-Old Girl'!" Zhang Dashan showed them his mother's WeChat profile on his phone.

Poof!

Xiao Luo couldn't hold it and spat out the water in his mouth.

Feng Wuhen and the others laughed out loud. It was too amusing for a 50-something woman to pick the username Highly Talented Eighteen-Year-Old Girl.

"Laugh all you like. I couldn't stop laughing when I first saw it either. It's alright for my mom to have such a username, but she also deliberately found the photo of a pretty young girl online to use as her profile picture. It attracted countless jerks looking for sex. My dad even fought with her over it. He gave me a hard scolding, telling me that I have corrupted my mom."

Zhang Dashan sighed and said, "F*ck, what can I say. My initial intention was to be able to video call my mom. Who knew that my mom was still a girl at heart. Other than becoming a fan of celebrities, it seems like she also wants to seek the thrill of an extramarital affair."

"Dashan, I finally know why you are so lewd," Xiao Luo suddenly said.

"Lewd your ass," Zhang Dashan said with agitation. "As a man, so what if I am a little lewd? F*ck!"

"Oh no!"

Little Five suddenly exclaimed loudly.

"What's there to shout about? Did your dick get chopped off?" Zhang Dashan shouted at Little Five in exasperation.

Little Five flipped his phone over. His expression was rather anxious. "Brother Xiao, Brother Zhang, Luo's Workshop is in the headlines!"

What?

Zhang Dashan quickly calmed down and snatched Little Five's phone. He started viewing the article. The more he read, the more serious his expression became. He passed the phone to Xiao Luo. "Motherf*cker! That Xu Guansong posted a long article claiming his innocence. For some reason Jia Zhengyi reposted it to his Weibo, causing a huge commotion online."

Xiao Luo took the phone and roughly scanned through it. Indeed, Xu Guansong had posted a long article claiming that Luo's Workshop was immoral. They had fired a senior employee like him as they pleased and forcibly framed him for siphoning the tax expenses of the company just to find a good reason to do so. They had even spent money to get a female department head to falsely claim to be involved in an illicit affair with him, thus defaming him and ruining his reputation. In the end, they even went to the lengths of using personal relationships to get the cops to detain him.

Every word was well-crafted and contained deep feelings. It seemed sincere and earnest. One could see that Xu Guansong had a way with words, causing people to pity him after reading it and believe that he had indeed been wronged and maliciously suppressed.

Looking at how many times the Weibo post had been shared and commented upon, Xiao Luo couldn't help but frown. It had been shared 7 million times and had 90,000-plus comments. Moreover, the comments were one-sided. All of them said that Xu Guansong was innocent and complained about Luo's Workshop.

"Who is this Jia Zhengyi?"

Xiao Luo was instantly curious. Given that so many people followed him on Weibo, this person had some background. Yet, Xiao Luo had never heard of him.

"F*ck, don't you know him? He is the host of Old Jia's Talk Show. It's extremely popular. He has gained many fans. Look at the number of followers on his Weibo. It has reached a terrifying number of 10 million. While still not a superstar perhaps, he can definitely be considered an A-list celebrity."

Zhang Dashan was extremely anxious. The reputation of the company was very important. If that reputation took a downfall, it would directly affect the sales of their cakes. "F*ck, that Xu Guansong is a vicious and ungrateful person. We weren't going to really pursue his case due to his contributions to the company in the past. We only asked him to return the 00,000 he siphoned, and it would be done after detaining him for like 10 days or so. Now, look at what he has done. He directly posted a long article blaming us and got a nationally influential host to support him. What the f*ck is he trying to do?"

Xiao Luo's expression darkened. Luo's Workshop was going to start opening branches all over the country at the start of the next year. Now that such an incident had occurred, Luo's Workshop was instantly pushed to the cusp of public opinion. Not only was it going to significantly affect Luo's Workshop's progress regarding its advancement to the entire nation, but the drop in reputation might also cause the sales in the Jiangcheng headquarters to hit rock-bottom. The company would have to return to the state it was back when it was almost bankrupted by Taste Buds suppressing it.

Zhang Dashan's phone kept on ringing. After receiving a call, he said to Xiao Luo, "Li Zimeng and Luo Qi have all seen the post. They are as anxious as a cat on hot bricks. They are asking us what the company should do."

"Ask Zhang Yong, the head of the legal affairs department, to sue Xu Guansong. In front of absolute evidence, this long post of his will just slap him in the face in the end."

Xiao Luo looked very calm, but there were fires of rage deep within his eyes. Xu Guansong's ignorant provocation had made him determined to make that many pay a heavy price.

"OK, we'll do that. Even if we can't get that son of a b*tch to be reduced to poverty and ruined by the fines imposed and compensation demanded, we must at least let him get seven or eight years of jail. F*ck, what a jerk."

Zhang Dashan was very angry. Xu Guansong could not have been more clear about the truth, yet he still dared to twist the truth online and defame his ex-boss. He was indeed a bastard.

…

In Chongshan House, Chu Yunxiong's expression didn't look too good either. Looking at the public opinion online, he sighed. "Xiao Luo is in trouble again!"

"What trouble has he gotten himself into now?"

Ge Zhongtian, sitting opposite him, pushed his glasses back. He had a puzzled expression.

"Take out your own phone and look at the news."

Chu Yunxiong didn't want to say much. He poured himself a hot cup of tea and began sipping it slowly.

Ge Zhongtian unlocked his phone and scrolled through the news. His expression quickly changed as he said, "Xiao Luo is accused of nepotism by the original vice president of the company and of casting senior key employees aside. That Jia Zhengyi even reposted it, pushing Luo's Workshop instantly to the cusp of public opinion. What is this even? Is Jia Zhengyi too free and proactively seeking trouble?"

"Don't forget that Jia Zhengyi has become popular for being bold and critical. He relied upon gossiping about celebrities in the beginning. Recently, there hasn't been much going on with celebrities, so it is reasonable for him to repost a long article full of emotions like this. In many people's eyes, he is being approachable. It is a tactic commonly used by celebrities to get famous."

Chu Yunxiong immediately exposed the secret within the situation.

Ge Zhongtian was surprised and couldn't help but laugh. "He is based in Xiahai, so he doesn't know how capable Xiao Luo is. If he knew what kind of person Xiao Luo was, he probably would never have had the courage to seek trouble with Xiao Luo. He wouldn't have done it even if he had 100 times more courage."

"Some people need to learn a lesson before they understand what kind of person they shouldn't seek trouble with."

Chu Yunxiong raised an eyebrow, shook his head, and slightly smiled. "I am very curious to see how Xiao Luo handles this publicity crisis."