Chapter 2197: Words Have Limits, But the Meaning is Endless

Zhou Andong was still lazily sprawled on the soft sofa, holding an ice cream, licking it with great satisfaction and eating with relish, as if everything An Jing had said had absolutely nothing to do with him.

Meanwhile, An Jing, standing to the side, still wore a look of schadenfreude on her face: "You've messed it up, haven't you? At a time like this, you actually still have the mood to eat ice cream?"

Zhou Andong merely glanced at her indifferently, his gaze like that of someone looking at a hopeless idiot, and continued eating his ice cream as if nothing had happened.

But that look of his, as if he were looking at an idiot, made An Jing, this little woman, very unhappy: "Aren't you going to hurry up and think of a way to clean up this mess? What are you looking at me for?"

Zhou Andong sighed helplessly and spoke slowly: "Heaven is indeed fair. Since it gave you a beautiful shell, it wouldn't give you a smart brain. That you've managed to live safely until now with your IQ is another great miracle outside of the world's eight great wonders."

An Jing's almond eyes widened, and she glared angrily at Zhou Andong, gritting her teeth as she said, "You—if you have the guts, say that again!"

"Good words are not repeated twice." As Zhou Andong said this, he stuck out his tongue and lightly licked the ice cream in his hand; his manner was as infuriating as it could possibly be.

An Jing suddenly stood up and, without any warning, raised her foot and kicked Zhou Andong on the thigh.

"Ouch, damn it!" Zhou Andong was in so much pain he nearly jumped up. His originally lazy sitting posture immediately straightened, and he quickly reached out, rubbing the spot where he had been kicked with force.

Seeing Zhou Andong baring his teeth and grimacing, An Jing laughed triumphantly, then stepped away, preparing to leave.

Seeing that An Jing was about to leave, Zhou Andong hurriedly shouted, "Stop!"

Hearing the shout, An Jing stopped in her tracks, slowly retracted the leg she had already stepped out with, and then turned around, staring provocatively at Zhou Andong.

"What is it?"

Zhou Andong gave her an annoyed look, stuffed the remaining half of the ice cream directly into his mouth, chewed it a few times, and swallowed it. "How is the acquisition negotiation for Kaorou Wan and Kaorou Ji progressing?"

"I won't tell you." An Jing tossed her head haughtily and turned to leave.

Watching An Jing's enchanting back, Zhou Andong said with dissatisfaction, "This woman, really, if you don't beat her for three days, she'll be tearing the tiles off the roof!"

Tang Lin, standing to the side, took the opportunity to fan the flames: "Go ahead and beat her, I'll sell my house and land to support you with everything I've got!"

Zhou Andong ignored this idiot, grabbed the phone nearby, and dialed Wu Huilin's office. Soon, the other party picked up.

"Chairman?"

"It's me!"

Zhou Andong stretched, then once again sprawled lazily on the soft, comfortable sofa as if he had no bones, and then spoke nonchalantly.

"Regarding the matter of Sunrise investing in India, I heard that central leadership has started paying attention?"

"Yes!"

Wu Huilin's tone was clearly filled with helplessness and worry as she detailed the content of the calls from the foreign affairs department and the Ministry of Commerce that morning.

"This matter has blown up a bit too big. I'm really worried that in the end, we won't be able to control the situation."

Zhou Andong laughed: "How could overseas investment be that simple and easy? There are too many uncontrollable factors. The central leadership must be as clear as a mirror in their hearts about this."

"We just need to follow the normal procedures for investigation and negotiation. Regardless of whether Coca-Cola has taken the bait, when the time is about right, we can just find some excuse to pull out."

"For example, the Indian market isn't mature or stable enough, the conditions proposed by the Indian side are too harsh and lack sincerity, or our competitors Coca-Cola and Pepsi are causing trouble and sabotaging us, etc. Just picking one or two of these is enough to get by."

"Besides, if we really must engage in overseas investment, there are so many countries in Southeast Asia for us to choose from. Why not pick one with a friendlier relationship? Like Malaysia—our old friend, the Sugar King Guo, he would certainly be very interested in cooperating with Sunrise."

"I will discuss this matter in detail with Chairman Man. After all, it's not just the central leadership watching us; the whole country is watching. We cannot let them be too disappointed."

After Wu Huilin finished speaking, she immediately asked, "Have you seen the news about Yin Mingsheng publicly apologizing for Yin Mo's illegal and criminal activities?"

"Hmm?" Zhou Andong couldn't help but be stunned: "There's such a thing?"

Wu Huilin explained: "It was in the news this morning, but we received the news yesterday afternoon."

How would Zhou Andong know? He had spent the entire morning busy with discharge procedures and then accompanying his child for a physical exam. By the time he finally got home, he hadn't been idle either; he had run to the front to wander around and simply didn't have the spare time to read the newspaper.

At this moment, Wu Huilin's voice came through the receiver again: "Besides the news of Yin Mingsheng's public apology, there are a large number of articles singing his praises, desperately trying to whitewash him."

"I feel that we cannot just let it be. We must take action to refute and criticize those articles singing Yin Mingsheng's praises. We absolutely cannot let them stir up public opinion."

"If Yin Mingsheng really succeeds in whitewashing himself and establishes his glorious image of being diligent and serving the people, that would be greatly disadvantageous to us."

Zhou Andong pondered and said: "Yin Mingsheng is a powerful regional official. To refute those articles singing his praises, we would need to find stains on his governance. Not to mention whether we can find them, even if we did, which media outlet would dare to report it?"

"When the rabbit dies, the fox grieves; things of the same kind feel for each other." Zhou Andong was silent for a moment, then said in a deep voice: "Even if a media outlet dared to strip Yin Mingsheng bare, have you thought about what those who, like Yin Mingsheng, hold high positions would think? Would we become the target of public criticism?"

Wu Huilin realized: "Does that mean we can't do anything and can only watch them manipulate public opinion to whitewash Yin Mingsheng?"

"Of course not." Zhou Andong laughed: "We can't publicly strip Yin Mingsheng bare in the news media, but we can do as we did before—get people to go chat with those old folks."

"As the saying goes, words have limits, but the meaning is endless. The word-of-mouth among the common people might be even more powerful than those printed newspapers. After all, human imagination is extremely vast and boundless."

Wu Huilin still said with lingering unwillingness: "Your words might be correct, however, relying solely on the word-of-mouth of the common people, the scope of influence that can be generated is ultimately limited."

Zhou Andong shifted his body slightly, allowing himself to sprawl in an even more comfortable posture: "You have to understand, our real battlefield is in Liaoning Province, in Jiangzhou. As long as we make the common people of Liaoning believe that Yin Mingsheng is a fame-seeking hypocrite, that's enough."

Wu Huilin sighed. Actually, she knew in her heart that openly attacking a powerful regional official in the media definitely wouldn't work, but she just felt stifled inside.

That guy was clearly sharpening his knife, preparing to hack at the Yugong Group, yet she could only watch and couldn't fight back. Whoever was in her shoes wouldn't feel happy.

"I'll contact Yao Jun in a while and have him arrange for people to do it."

"Don't be so depressed!" Zhou Andong had a faint smile on his face and spoke unhurriedly: "Although we can't target Yin Mingsheng directly, we can completely start from his son, Yin Mo."

"That trash is arrogant and domineering on a daily basis; can he be clean? Maybe he even has major cases against him. And as for Yin Mo, the media won't have any scruples."

"As long as we can collect evidence of his illegal and criminal activities, once exposed by the media, no matter how many articles sing Yin Mingsheng's praises, it will be of no use."

"Clearly his son has committed numerous crimes and has many cases against him, yet he has remained at large. If the news insists on saying Yin Mingsheng didn't use the power in his hands to support and excuse him, and didn't engage in any acts of seeking personal gain through power, are they treating the common people like idiots?"

"And what about being upright, honest, and diligent in serving the people?"

"Such unrealistic flattery—the more they flatter him like this, the less likely it is to have a positive impact on Yin Mingsheng. Instead, it will make the common people feel that they themselves have been fooled and deceived by Yin Mingsheng."

"In this way, the common people will inevitably develop great resentment and disgust toward him, further intensifying the public's distrust of Yin Mingsheng. That alone will be enough to give Yin Mingsheng a headache."

"Collect the evidence as soon as possible on your end; the longer it takes, the more disadvantageous it is for us." Zhou Andong's words made Wu Huilin feel much more spirited: "Also, Sunrise will officially be listed on August 15th. Are you going to Hong Kong?"

"I won't go." Zhou Andong yawned and picked up a cigarette from the coffee table to light it: "You lead the team. It's a good chance to go home and take a look." ===== CHAPTER 2198 =====