It Was Time

The storm was still brewing.

The entire internet was in shambles.

All accusations pointed straight at Zhuang Xin, as a tidal wave of abuse swept toward him.

Zhuang Xin remained at home, watching the reports spread like a virus.

He was quietly waiting for the matter to ferment.

He was waiting for everything to erupt to its peak.

At the same time, he was waiting for a phone call.

This continued until... Zhuang Xin saw a comment.

"People like him should be shot!"

Though it was only a short sentence, seemingly an unguarded remark made in anger.

It was precisely that sentence that let Zhuang Xin know things were getting closer and closer to the point he had imagined.

"What's going on? Has Juncheng not even started investigating? A heartless profiteer like him must have done plenty of bad things."

"He achieved so much at such a young age. What exactly is he hiding behind the scenes?"

Whoosh—

More and more comments began growing increasingly extreme.

Zhuang Xin knew it was about time.

He took out his phone and sent a message to the Doushi shareholder group.

"Tonight, no matter what video makes the headlines, none of you are to interfere."

After sending that message, Zhuang Xin closed his social media app and opened Doushi.

Meanwhile, the shareholder group exploded.

"What's going on? Is Manager Zhuang making his move?"

"Things have already reached this point. What else can be done?"

"Manager Zhuang, don't act impulsively. Just endure it, and it'll pass."

But Zhuang Xin ignored them.

Instead, he sneered and contacted a large number of influencers on Doushi.

He sent them some materials.

Ah Sheng: "Holy crap, bro, what the hell is this?"

Tuantuan: "Is this real? This is way too..."

A Yun: "This is explosive news."

A large number of smaller influencers below also sent him plenty of messages.

Zhuang Xin sent them all the materials and replied with one sentence: "These are major news stories. Post them, and your traffic will definitely surge."

For small influencers, this was a great chance to turn their lives around.

For major influencers, it would also bring considerable traffic.

Everyone stared at the materials in their hands in shock, unsure what to do for a moment.

The things contained within were unbelievable.

That night!

A small-time influencer, trembling nervously...

posted a short video.

"Big news! I unexpectedly got my hands on some firsthand information today. Everyone, help me verify whether it's real!"

As he spoke, he attached the materials.

He only had tens of thousands of followers, so he was not particularly popular.

He did not earn much either, but at this critical moment, when those tens of thousands of followers saw the firsthand information, they all fell into an eerie silence.

In just a few hours, the video received tens of thousands of likes, yet not a single comment.

It was not until after eight o'clock that the first comment appeared: "Hard to say. The descriptions inside are too detailed, and there's a bit of evidence, but none of it can be confirmed. All I can say is that it's possible!"

Once there was a first comment, there would be a second.

"This situation is kind of strange. What's going on now?"

"Wasn't this Zhuang guy supposed to be an ungrateful bastard? Why does this feel a little different from the rumors?"

The messages flooded in, quickly turning into tens of thousands of comments.

The small influencer's follower count also began skyrocketing.

Over the course of one night, he went from a small influencer with tens of thousands of followers to a traffic influencer with more than a hundred thousand followers!

In Fancheng, a young man sat before his computer in a shabby rental apartment.

All kinds of filming equipment filled the room.

Holding his phone, he stared wide-eyed at his rapidly climbing follower count.

He had been an influencer for three years, but his achievements had been neither impressive nor terrible.

He could only barely make a living, no different from an ordinary salaried worker.

Every day, he had to rack his brains to come up with all sorts of content!

And even then, he had only reached thirty thousand followers...

Yet now, in just one night, it had surged past a hundred thousand!

This...

He was stunned. Everything before his eyes felt like a dream.

So unreal.

As the first person to eat the crab, he did not know whether this crab was poisonous...

But after truly taking a bite, the taste made him want to suck every last drop from its bones.

He immediately contacted Zhuang Xin again. "Boss, do you have any other materials? This scoop is too explosive!"

Zhuang Xin sat at home, looking at the first message that came back. A brilliant smile appeared on his face. "No rush. There'll be plenty of chances. Wait a little longer. The timing isn't right yet. Even if I gave it to you now, you wouldn't gain any traffic."

"Huh? O-Okay, then. It's just... I'm curious, boss. Why are you helping me? I gained a hundred and ten thousand followers in one night. It's terrifying."

"Helping you? Haha, not really. I just discovered something interesting. You could say I'm helping myself, too."

"Helping yourself?"

The small influencer stared at the final message in his rental apartment and fell into deep thought, but no matter how hard he thought, he could not understand what it meant.

Forget it!

After all, he had not directly opposed the wealthy businessman or spoken out to clear his name.

Elsewhere, in Doushi's moderation department.

Someone saw a Doushi video rapidly being pinned to the top.

Countless likes came pouring in.

He could not help but freeze.

"What video is this? It's blowing up way too fast."

Unable to resist, he reached out and opened it. By the time he finished watching, he was completely dumbfounded.

"What is this? A reversal? That profiteering tycoon everyone's been talking about in the news and on Doushi lately actually has this kind of hidden story? But I don't know whether it's true. Forget it, I'll report it to the higher-ups and see whether they want to promote it."

He sent a message to his manager!

The manager was sitting in his office when he received a phone call.

"Alright! Don't worry, General Manager Wang, I understand! Tonight, as long as information related to this matter isn't rumor-mongering or blatant whitewashing, I won't interfere! As for promoting it... understood, understood!"

Smack—

After hanging up, he slumped into his chair. Before he could do anything, another call came in.

He looked at it and saw it was from the moderation department.

"What is it?"

After answering, he heard the moderator's voice from the other end, recounting the video he had seen in full detail.

After a brief silence, the manager remembered General Manager Wang's words!

A chill flashed across his face.

Those newspapers actually dared to slander their own major shareholder over a peasant woman?

They were tired of living.

If the evidence had been conclusive, that would have been one thing, but the recent news and videos had all been vague and ambiguous.

Many of the so-called pieces of evidence were full of holes!

These people were simply scum among the media.

"Promote it! Promote it with everything you've got! I want to see it in the trending section within an hour!"

"Huh? Manager, th-this isn't in line with the rules, is it? The regulations—"

"Regulations? Why would we care about regulations now? Do you know who these people are slandering? It's Doushi's major shareholder! He controls more than fifty percent of the shares and holds the power of life and death here. With a single word, he can have both you and me kicked out of this place!"

"Besides! Those reports are all false claims without the slightest logic behind them. If that kind of trash can make the headlines, why can't a clarification?"

"A major shareholder?"

The moderator was utterly shocked. He did not even notice his phone falling to the floor.

(Fan group: 571840873. All readers are welcome to come cosplay in women's clothing.)