Chapter 255: It

Passive, extremely passive!

This was the true feeling of a certain big boss in Macau at this moment.

It was as if he were being beaten by a mob of countless people, yet he couldn't even make a sound.

Frustrated, extremely frustrated!

The connection between Hong Kong and Macau was too tight; ATV's viewership and influence in Macau were not low at all.

At the very least, the influence of Macau's local television stations couldn't compare to ATV's.

Coupled with the fact that numerous top-tier Hong Kong newspapers were attacking in unison, it felt to that Macau big boss as if he were facing an unprecedented public opinion offensive, and the most depressing part was that he had almost no power to fight back.

It wasn't that he hadn't thought about struggling, but unfortunately, the explosive news stories broadcast by ATV one after another had nailed him to the position of "great villain of the underworld," leaving him unable to move an inch.

The impact caused was absolutely catastrophic.

He immediately contacted the friendly Sir Run Run Shaw, hoping TVB would help speak up to ease the pressure.

As a result, he, who was often invited as a judge for the "Miss Hong Kong" pageant hosted by TVB, was directly rejected by Sir Run Run Shaw, who stated clearly that TVB did not want to wade into these muddy waters.

This is the business world!

It only talks about interests and not friendship; this was perfectly demonstrated at this moment.

Primarily, the public opinion offensive launched by ATV was too sharp and fierce, making even Sir Run Run Shaw feel somewhat unable to adapt, so naturally, he was unwilling to stick his neck out at this time.

This time, ATV's preparations were truly too thorough.

With one explosive video clip after another being revealed—the so-called "pictures are the truth"—how the public opinion was guided afterward was entirely up to ATV, wasn't it?

The result was self-evident: the man in Macau was smeared to the point of no return!

Yet to the people of Hong Kong and Macau, it still felt so justified.

It was as if the man in Macau deserved it!

But in reality, ATV's reporting was a bit too exaggerated.

It was as if Hong Hing, the number one society in Hong Kong, were a delicate little flower?

Is that possible?

However, including ATV, a group of top-tier Hong Kong newspapers had almost united to carry out a rather cruel public opinion bombardment against the man in Macau, trapping him in a highly passive public opinion environment.

It was like mud falling into one's trousers; even if it isn't shit, it's still shit.

Hong Kong's top-tier newspapers still had some integrity, or rather, they didn't dare to fabricate things recklessly.

But those second and third-rate, or even bottom-tier newspapers, didn't care at all for the sake of sales.

Whatever dirty laundry, whatever messy business—it was all dumped onto the head of that man in Macau!

Some of these things, the newspaper editors probably didn't even believe themselves, yet there were still plenty of readers who loved to see them.

The current public opinion situation really felt like a broken drum being beaten by everyone!

If it hadn't actually happened, perhaps no one would dare believe that a top-tier big boss of both Hong Kong and Macau could actually fall into a quagmire-like vortex of public opinion, unable to extricate himself!

If someone from the future were here, they would definitely recognize this as standard "cyberbullying"!

In the future, this would be absolutely unimaginable!

A top-tier tycoon of the Hong Kong and Macau region actually encountering "cyberbullying"—it sounded unreal just to hear it.

But the facts were exactly that!

A top-tier big boss of Macau, a figure famous throughout the entire Chinese-speaking world, was being "cyberbullied."

The most exaggerated part was that even though he was being "cyberbullied," he had little power to fight back.

In the future, that would be an absolutely unimaginable thing, yet it happened just like that.

Not to mention how the man in Macau reacted, the group of top-tier Chinese tycoons in Hong Kong was quite stimulated.

Lin Ershao, who had been closely following the development of the situation, said to his old man, Lin Baiyi, after returning home that day: "Old man, it's fortunate that we acquired the *Tian Tian Daily* quickly enough. If we had waited until now to try to acquire it, we would have had to spend at least much more cost and effort. At least now we have a direct channel to speak out!"

"Hmm, the *Tian Tian Daily* side needs to be managed well!"

Lin Baiyi nodded with satisfaction and said leisurely: "I've finally understood now: no matter how much money you have in your hands, you must have a channel to speak out under your control!"

"Indeed!"

Lin Ershao sighed: "This time, the man in Macau was dealt with very miserably!"

"Clearly, things weren't that exaggerated, but after ATV's reporting, the man in Macau was directly labeled as 'not a good person.' It's a huge loss!"

As a top-tier tycoon family in Hong Kong, their information channels were very well-informed.

The inside story of the interest dispute between Hong Hing and the man in Macau was also very clear to them.

They just hadn't expected that Hong Hing would actually pull off such a beautiful public opinion offensive.

As a result, they had forcefully pushed a Macau big boss who clearly held the advantage into a highly passive vortex of public opinion; it was truly an eye-opener.

It was clearly Hong Hing underlings who went to Macau, used money to bribe local residents to cooperate, and used funeral music to stir up trouble.

Yet in ATV's news reports, it turned into the hateful faces of Macau society members who were arrogant and domineering, not even sparing the dead.

Also, that scene where Macau society members chased down Hong Hing fighters—it was clearly the Hong Hing fighters who provoked them first.

But what was the result? The content broadcast on television became that the man in Macau was covering the sky with one hand, directing Macau society members to act recklessly in broad daylight.

These situations were all clearly investigated by the Lin family, as top-tier tycoons of Hong Kong.

But because Hong Hing held the right to speak, they directly pinned all the blame on the man in Macau.

This scene taught all the top-tier tycoons in Hong Kong a good lesson!

It made them understand the huge hidden dangers of not having a channel to speak out!

Was the strength of the man in Macau not strong enough?

Yet after losing the dominance of public opinion, he was simply being pressed to the ground and crazily rubbed.

Influenced by public opinion, many of the methods he could have used lost their effect!

In such a situation, the only thing left to do is to compare the size of one's wealth and the number of one's underlings.

Clearly, as the number one society in Hong Kong, Hong Hing held an absolute advantage in numbers!

The most terrifying thing was that under a wave of attacks and guidance from public opinion, a large number of residents in both Hong Kong and Macau defined the man in Macau as an underworld big boss.

A perfectly fine top-tier tycoon had actually turned into the image of an underworld big boss.

The blow to the reputation of the man in Macau was absolutely unimaginable!

Because of this definition, the man in Macau was naturally excluded from the business circles of Hong Kong and Macau.

Without the help of friends in the business circle, many methods on the surface were not so easy to use.

As for underworld methods, as the number one society in Hong Kong, would Hong Hing be afraid of that?

One could only say that Hong Hing's public opinion offensive this time was played too beautifully.

First, they stood on the moral high ground, so no matter what the man in Macau did, it was wrong.

Afterward, through one incident after another, they dissipated the halo around the man in Macau, and even let many interested parties perceive his true background.

Letting outside forces understand that the man in Macau was actually not as powerful as imagined!

By this time, the public opinion environment was already highly unfavorable for the man in Macau.

Even as a bystander, seeing this scene, one couldn't help but feel deeply shocked.

Asking themselves, if the Lin family were to go up against Hong Hing, they were afraid they wouldn't be able to withstand such successive public opinion offensives either.

Are you kidding!

At the very least, Macau's television station was still standing on the side of that big boss in Macau.

But here in Hong Kong, if it hadn't been for the failure to compete for ATV earlier, and out of unwillingness, they had set their sights on the *Tian Tian Daily* and taken it down at the fastest speed, the Lin family really wouldn't have controlled any channel to speak out.

You couldn't see anything usually, but when it really came to a critical moment, it was very fatal.

While the father and son were talking, Lin Dashao appeared leisurely.

"Under my command, there is a newspaper regarding arcade games, and also a fashion magazine imitating *Night Color*; it still has a certain amount of sales and influence!"

After hearing Lin Ershao's retelling, Lin Dashao smiled lightly and brought out his own media resources.

"Unfortunately, Hong Kong only has two television stations!"

He said with some regret: "When Jiayi Television was poorly managed back then, the family should have made a move to take it down!"

"ATV is the best choice, isn't it!"

Lin Ershao said unconvinced: "Back then, if the old man had increased his efforts, maybe ATV would have been in our hands!"

"Impossible thing!"

Lin Dashao sneered: "If it weren't for Qiu Sheng being caught by the handle, how could he have handed over ATV so easily? Otherwise, do you really think Qiu Sheng was so easy to manipulate?"

"Jiayi had so many restrictive conditions, it simply couldn't make money!"

Lin Ershao said disdainfully: "Who would do a business that doesn't make money?"

"If the old man could help me get that television license from Jiayi, I would be willing to take it over!"

Lin Dashao looked at Lin Baiyi and smiled lightly: "Even if it loses money, it would lose at most thirty or forty million a year!"

"But with a television station in hand, and having this example of the man in Macau being dealt with, which top-tier Hong Kong tycoon would dare to mock us recklessly?"

Lin Baiyi did not answer.

With his energy, wanting to get that television license was also a highly difficult matter.

Fortunately, Lin Dashao didn't hold any hope at all, so he wouldn't feel any disappointment.

However, his impassioned speech made Lin Ershao and Lin Baiyi feel somewhat awkward.

Why did it feel like just taking down a *Tian Tian Daily* was a bit small-minded?

In fact, there were quite a few top-tier Hong Kong tycoons who were stimulated!

It was just that in the past, they didn't care much about the public opinion power of television stations and newspapers.

They felt that with the family's strength, they could solve any unfavorable public opinion reports just by saying a word.

But now they understood that such influence alone was clearly far from enough!

If there were entities possessing strong public opinion power, like the public opinion offensive launched by Hong Hing against the Macau big boss this time, then they would fall into a highly embarrassing and passive situation.

In fact, as top-tier Hong Kong tycoons, Bao Chuanwang and Li Bancheng both had the means to directly control public opinion media.

For example, the Wharf television station and the once very famous Star TV were public opinion platforms concocted by the groups under these two men.

It was just that Hong Kong's scale was ultimately limited; having ATV and TVB was already enough, and it couldn't accommodate more television stations, otherwise these two public opinion platforms might have had a decent performance.

But even so, for a time, the value of Hong Kong's top-tier newspapers rose quite a bit.

Such a change was naturally seen by the initiator, Wu Feng, who felt it was quite funny.

One could only say that the local tycoons of Hong Kong had not experienced the storms of the outside world.

Those powerful European and American financial groups only treated Hong Kong as an outpost or a springboard and had no intention of making a big fuss in Hong Kong.

Coupled with the special treatment Hong Kong enjoyed, this allowed the local tycoons to avoid many storms.

The action against the man in Macau was definitely not as simple as just a public opinion offensive.

To make that man feel threatened, or rather, heartbroken, the best way was to snatch the gambling license in his hands.

Unfortunately, Wu Feng had transmigrated a bit too late and had already missed such an opportunity.

Another way was to start from the source of the casino's customers!

Currently, the effect was still quite good!

The disgusting little tricks done by Hong Hing underlings at least affected the mood of many Hong Kong gamblers.

According to the estimates of Hong Hing underlings on the front line, the number of gamblers from Hong Kong going to Macau to gamble recently had decreased by at least fifty percent.

It could be said that the business of many Macau casinos had been affected to varying degrees!

It didn't look like much, but in reality, the effect was quite good!

A gambler gambling in a Macau casino, if lucky and winning money, wouldn't they want to have a good time in a high-end hotel in Macau?

Wouldn't this benefit the hotels and service industry in Macau?

But if they lost, there was immediately a thoughtful service for lending money!

Subsequent interest-on-interest, violent debt collection, as well as related financial companies, and the pimps connected to the society, might all start moving.

It could be said that this was a relatively complete gray industrial chain!

Losing one gambler meant that the entire industrial chain would earn much less; it was just that exaggerated!

The casino business was indeed profitable, but not to the point of being too exaggerated!

In fact, casinos earned from the share of the turnover and peripheral service income!

Don't be fooled by the plots in television and movies; in fact, the number of gamblers playing big in casinos was not high, and there weren't huge gambling games every day.

For the casinos in Macau, it was already quite good if the daily turnover could reach the ten-million level.

As for the casino's share, the daily share income started at around one million!

Excluding various labor expenses and other miscellaneous fees, in fact, the normal income of a casino was not as astonishing as imagined.

Otherwise, the richest people everywhere would be those running casinos!

It could be said that the actions of Hong Hing fighters definitely affected the normal business of Macau casinos!

But with the matter blown up, and television reporters reporting on the spot, the major Macau casinos had scruples and didn't dare to go too far, no matter what they wanted to do.

Moreover, it was clear that the matter was stirred up by that big boss in Macau, and the bosses behind the other casinos were all watching the development of the situation intentionally or unintentionally, with no intention of being the first to stick their necks out.

Wu Feng wouldn't be polite; he was currently in Yangcheng!

Rarely, he once again invited Chairman Liao of the Yindu Institution to come forward and help contact the relevant departments in the Mainland.

How to put it, he intended to send a large number of television reporters to keep a close eye on the several casinos under that big boss in Macau, wanting to see which tycoons frequently patronized them.

Since they had the money to go to Macau casinos to have a good time, then don't mind being directly exposed by television stations.

In fact, Wu Feng's purpose in coming to the Mainland this time was very simple: not to say cutting off the channel for Mainland people to go to Macau casinos, but at least to achieve significant interference!

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 256 =====