427: It's more painful than cutting yourself

Everyone responded in unison.

Everyone present was not new; they were experienced, long-time employees.

Any questions that no one asked were answered concisely to avoid accidental mistakes.

However, their hearts were still full of questions.

Why did Qin Feixu walk onto the podium empty-handed?

She didn't even bring the most basic materials, nor did she plug in a USB drive. How was this crucial decision-making meeting going to proceed?

Everyone muttered to themselves, but no one dared to question her.

"I've already learned about President Xu's latest countermeasures," she paused, then said, "There's only one strategy: wait and see!"

The so-called 'waiting for the rabbit' meant maintaining the status quo and holding back until new instructions arrived, allowing public opinion to continue to spread.

Hearing this, everyone fell into a brief silence. Were they just going to stand by and watch the company's image be attacked without doing anything?

It felt worse than being stabbed.

"Meeting adjourned."

After saying this, Qin Feixu quickly got up and left the conference room with steady steps.

The senior executives in the conference room exchanged glances.

Since taking office, they had never seen such a method of operation. In any company, whenever negative news broke, the first reaction was always to quickly suppress it.

Don't forget, every minute delayed in handling it had a greater impact on the stock price!

What exactly was Xu Lian thinking?

The department heads opened their mouths, but in the end, no one called out to Qin Feixu until she completely disappeared through the doorway.

"Trust the leader; without the leader, we wouldn't have our positions!"

"When he had a net worth of over a hundred million, many of us were still earning five thousand a month."

There were also a few more insightful veteran employees who spoke up, trying to break the awkward silence in the conference room.

The meaning was actually very clear: once a person reached Xu Lian's level, their perspective on problems was no longer something ordinary people could understand.

Their duty was to follow instructions, not to question them.

If Xu Lian had to consider their opinions for everything he did, he wouldn't be in his current position.

Standing on different levels, their ways of thinking were bound to be far apart.

Hearing this, those who were initially confused suddenly felt much more at ease.

The company was his; if he wasn't anxious, why should we be?

If anything truly went wrong, Xu Lian himself should be the most nervous.

No matter how anxious they were, these ordinary managers would only cause trouble.

Clearly, Xu Lian must have already prepared a countermeasure, which was why he told everyone to stand by.

Understanding this, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

But if they knew that President Xu was currently sitting at home, watching a drama and leisurely peeling an orange, they would probably be too stunned to close their mouths.

Facing this trending topic storm, Xu Lian made no deliberate moves at all.

His thinking was very clear:

Since the other party chose to attack Ouyou Tianxia Games, their only goal was to see him panic and then seize the company's loopholes.

So he deliberately didn't panic!

Even more incredible, he even posted his daily life of watching TV dramas and eating fruit on social media.

Just then, Qin Feixu's phone popped up with a message notification.

Seeing that the message came from Xu Lian's social account, Qin Feixu's eyes lit up.

It seemed Xu Lian was starting to make his move!

But after he finished reading the content, the smile on his face froze.

He thought it was a major move, but who knew that at such a moment, he was showing off that he had caught up to the latest episode of a popular drama!

Isn't this just a high school student's little trick to show off their life?

Although a bit incomprehensible, Qin Feixu still silently liked his post.

Only you would dare to do this!

.........

In a dilapidated, unfinished building outside the city.

An inner room had been simply tidied up, with basic tables, chairs, and kitchen utensils.

Several young people sat in front of old computers, staring blankly as they scrolled through Xu Lian's updated content, their hearts wavering.

They said he would be anxious, didn't they?

They said he would fall for it and reveal flaws, didn't they?

They said he would immediately trace their IP source, didn't they?

To prevent tracking, they had moved their computers here the day before publishing the article and registered a new, hidden account.

They had endured a lot of hardship along the way.

The conditions were as bad as a homeless person's; they even ate bread and drank cold water for meals.

But now, Xu Lian's actions completely bewildered these few people.

Can a company really have no emotional fluctuations after being attacked? Does this guy even have any humanity left?

"Boss, what do we do now?" the person in the gray Polo shirt asked impatiently.

Logically speaking, Xu Lian should be the anxious one right now; they should just sit back and watch the show.

Unexpectedly, they were the ones who were now flustered.

They hadn't had supplies for several days and were now in a very disheveled state.

"Boss, I really want to take a shower and change into clean clothes."

"I haven't shaved in almost a week; my girlfriend will definitely be angry when she sees me."

"I want to eat meat! I don't want to eat instant noodles and compressed biscuits anymore."

"You cowards," the leader scolded loudly.

Success was clearly within reach; as long as Xu Lian was forced into disarray, someone would naturally jump out to fan the flames.

But...

The boss looked at the group of brothers in front of him again.

Indeed, their mental state could no longer hold up, and their overall appearance had hit rock bottom.

Once clean-cut young men, they were now dirty and smelly.

He wasn't a heartless person; it was fine if he could endure it, but he couldn't bear to see his brothers suffer like this.

"Take this money, go home and wash up," the boss sighed, then paused. "Be back here at 8 PM, and no one is allowed to contact anyone outside!"

It was four o'clock, giving them four hours to go home and rest, which was enough.

Hearing that they could finally go back, several people were immediately overjoyed and set off at once.

In less than a minute, no one was left in the room.

.........

Inside Aoyou Tianxia Game Company.

As the incident continued to escalate, the online public opinion became increasingly strange.

The grassroots employees in various departments also began to worry.

After all, they worked for this company, and the company's fate was tied to theirs.

Everyone sincerely hoped that the company could go higher and further!

Moreover, those online articles were clearly biased.

It was true that a Streamer had spent a lot of money to clear a dungeon.

But that wasn't the whole truth at all!

That Streamer couldn't play this game to begin with, and he only cleared it because he paid someone to level up for him twenty-four hours a day!

He started from scratch and demanded to clear it as quickly as possible.

To rapidly advance, he could only spend more.

As long as the player was willing to invest money, the power leveler would naturally work hard to boost their combat power.

The total cost, including labor, was only tens of thousands!

But for any normal player who accumulated equipment slowly by following daily tasks, clearing that later stage wouldn't require spending so much money.