Chapter 96: 094 Effect

The company was smashed, and the chairman was beaten.

This incident enraged Yu Xing, but he also thought… this was exactly the kind of thing a ragtag crew would pull off!

Even giants like Tencent and Alibaba have plenty of well-known cases that strip away illusions—how much more so them?

But this could not stop Baixiaosheng’s bombardment; it would only add fuel to the fire.

Yu Xing confirmed he would accept NetEase’s interview the next day, finished the procedures at the police station, and immediately called Kong Huilin, asking her to write an account of today’s ordeal.

This woman, formerly a journalist and now the girlfriend of the victim, would surely write a passionate article.

When he returned to the company, the earlier chaos had been mostly cleaned up, and even the broken screens had been urgently replaced.

Yu Xing addressed the staff again—comforting them while affirming his unwavering stance of no compromise.

This incident felt like an outburst of rage, or a warning—but nothing more.

At eight p.m., after finishing his work and grabbing a quick meal, Yu Xing finally called Liu Wan in Jin Ling.

“Are you okay? Are you safe? If not, just hide for a while,” Liu Wan asked with concern.

“I’m fine. It just happened suddenly. I don’t know who did it, but they’re not a particularly big company, and this is still Shanghai,” Yu Xing mused. “Judging by their style, they’ll probably just beat me up.”

As he spoke, he walked to the window and peered down: “Should be fine—I don’t see anyone suspicious outside the building.”

Liu Wan sighed: “Your competition has sunk this low… I didn’t expect it.”

Yu Xing couldn’t help laughing: “Fighting and brawling? Too down-to-earth, right, Xiao Ying? Back when I was counting screens in Pengcheng, if Zhongfen had found out what I was doing, would they have beaten me up too?”

Liu Wan paused: “They probably would…”

“I didn’t even get a chance to fight back!” Yu Xing sat back at his desk, passionately declaring, “It’s all your fault, Xiao Ying—if I hadn’t called you, I’d still be in the office!”

Liu Wan teased: “Boss Yu, you mean you didn’t get a chance to get beaten up, right? Still got time to get punched if you want.”

“It’s over, all over,” Yu Xing reflected. “Those guys just walked past me…”

He’d been on the phone downstairs when he saw those conspicuous figures—but never imagined they were coming for him.

By the time he heard the commotion and rushed upstairs, they’d already fled.

Yu Xing puzzled over it: “How did they precisely drag Song Yufeng out? Why was Song Yufeng so brave?”

He couldn’t make sense of it—logically, Song Yufeng’s smart bones shouldn’t have stepped forward in such a moment.

Or perhaps… he’d been pretending so long he’d become real?

Liu Wan knew about Song Yufeng. After a brief pause, she offered: “A gentleman judges by deeds, not intentions.”

Doesn’t matter what he thought—his actions this time were commendable.

Yu Xing grunted, shifting focus to the significance of the event: “This will be great material—no matter who did it, they represent the industry.”

He concluded: “I’ll call the hospital again. Xiao Ying, bye.”

Liu Wan warned: “Stay safe. If you get beaten, cover your head.”

Yu Xing thought he should consult Song Yufeng about his experience.

He called Kong Huilin and learned there were no serious injuries; she’d nearly finished the article.

“Send it to me—we won’t wait till tomorrow,” Yu Xing said. “Xiao Lin, stay with Feng Ge at the hospital these days. Call me if anything happens.”

Yu Xing put down his phone and waited for Kong Huilin’s draft.

But before the email arrived, a familiar number called in.

It was Mu Yan from Baihe Network.

Yu Xing frowned, wondering if this was behind today’s attack—if so, they were truly brazen.

“Boss Yu, your new project is interesting,” Mu Yan said cheerfully as soon as the call connected. “But why start by targeting our industry?”

Yu Xing skipped pleasantries: “Don’t say ‘we,’ Mu Zong. It’s ‘you.’ Your industry has problems—so afraid of being called out?”

Mu Yan was taken aback by his tone but kept smiling: “Boss Yu, what industry doesn’t have problems? Don’t exaggerate. Don’t use this as a pretext for your own agenda—is that meaningful?”

“Can’t I do something righteous?” Yu Xing retorted.

“You’re just waving the banner of righteousness,” Mu Yan’s cheer vanished, his tone turning sharp. “Boss Yu, be honest—are you doing this for your new website’s growth, or for the good of the industry?”

“So, no matter if what I exposed is true, as long as I profit from it, I’m wrong? Righteousness can’t have a whiff of money—is that your point?” Yu Xing fired back.

Mu Yan controlled his temper: “I think you’ve exaggerated the industry’s problems.”

“How did I exaggerate? Did I fabricate every single case I listed? Or do you think I’d make up cases under these circumstances?” Yu Xing scoffed. “How exactly did I exaggerate the industry’s problems?”

He answered himself: “Oh—I listed things your industry has done.”

Mu Yan fell silent for five seconds, then said: “Boss Yu, I admit the industry has some issues, but I don’t believe our company is that bad. Your indiscriminate attacks have damaged our reputation.”

“Mu Zong, what exactly do you mean by ‘not that bad’?” Yu Xing chuckled. “Do you know, or don’t you?”

Mu Yan explained: “Our company, under these industry conditions…”

Yu Xing cut him off: “Even the top three companies in this industry—what good could they possibly be?”

Mu Yan snapped: “You’re wearing colored glasses—”

Yu Xing interrupted again: “The people who smashed our company today—you sent them, right? Then called to threaten me afterward? Mu Zong, just say it plainly!”

Mu Yan froze: “Smashed your company? That… we didn’t do it! You’re saying—”

He began to doubt the truth of the claim.

“We’ll see each other online. No more of this,” Yu Xing said, ending the call.

Mu Yan stared at the disconnected phone, frowning.

Attacking Baixiaosheng’s company like this? Too foolish!

Century Family and Baihe Network were acting recklessly!

It wasn’t surprising that rivals would do something like this.

Mu Yan gripped his phone, shook his head, then paused—could it be that his subordinates had acted on their own to vent their anger?

He thought and thought, then couldn’t resist calling to confirm.

…

At ten p.m., Kong Huilin’s article was published on Baixiaosheng, placed directly below the incendiary manifesto.

To Yu Xing’s surprise, her writing was restrained—no excessive emotion, yet clearer in depicting the events.

Not surprisingly, the small anecdote Yu Xing added made the article spread even further.

—Last month, at the airport, security stopped me—the detector kept beeping. The officer checked me thoroughly but found no prohibited items. Confused, she asked me why. Only then did I realize—it detected my iron bones and steel will!

—But then again, even my iron bones got cracked this time. You really went all out, didn’t you?

—You can break my bones—can you break my will?

Accompanying the article were photos from that afternoon: the ruined office, the victim lying in his hospital bed.

This instantly spiked Baixiaosheng’s traffic. The public was already in peak gossip mode—now another twist? The scandal became even juicier!

Just fifteen minutes later, NetEase republished and reported the latest developments.

This enthusiasm made Yu Xing marvel: NetEase was practically an eager older brother standing beside him, rubbing his hands together…

When Yu Xing woke up, he saw the older brother’s influence—not only NetEase, but Sohu had also reposted it, albeit not prominently, further expanding the event’s reach.

Beyond media coverage, the two top posts on Baixiaosheng had reached a critical mass of dissemination—appearing on campus networks and major BBS forums.

Internet dating industry performance wasn’t the focus of these forums—but the countless victim stories in the txt files became the talk of the internet.

Though the spread didn’t follow his expected angle, the momentum was undeniably real.

At 5 p.m. on December 23, Baixiaosheng’s servers crashed due to overwhelming traffic, then were urgently restored half an hour later.

Under the two top posts, comments like “Here today,” “Came to see the Iron Chairman,” and “Diba visits” flooded in.

Yu Xing watched the site recover, amused and exasperated by the BBS power.

Baidu Tieba was at its peak—“Diba,” Li Yi’s forum, was one of the most popular. Its two trending threads drew many curious users.

“All good now, Xing Ge,” Tong Xingjian, the programmer who defected from Zhen’ai Network, sighed in relief.

“Alright, given today’s situation, let’s work overtime,” Yu Xing said. “NetEase’s reporter’s coming soon—just treat them normally. No need to be nervous.”

Tong Xingjian nodded, then hesitated, pointing at the screen: “Xing Ge, there’s a new voice saying you’re doing this for PR money, just to promote your site—should we keep these comments?”

“Keep them. Whether they’re from rivals or not, we’ll respond to them all in the interview,” Yu Xing said without hesitation.

Tong Xingjian nodded silently, a strange thrill rising in him—finally, he was turning his blade against his old employer.

No one else knew how the industry and company truly operated—he knew best.

Those cases? He’d personally created them!

Though he’d been an anonymous hero, this whirlwind of public opinion? It felt amazing.

At six p.m., the third day of Baixiaosheng’s attack on the internet dating industry, Yu Xing gave an interview to NetEase in his office.

He passionately condemned the industry’s problems and mourned the retaliation against his company.

“Boss Yu, I heard your previous company was sold to Zhen’ai Network?” the reporter asked, picking a controversial question after the routine ones.

“Yes,” Yu Xing didn’t dodge—he couldn’t. “I mentioned it in my top post. I even worked there afterward—but it wasn’t a pleasant experience.”

The reporter pressed: “So you sold your company to Zhen’ai Network, then criticized its business model?”

“I’m not criticizing Zhen’ai Network—I’m criticizing the entire industry,” Yu Xing said calmly, bringing up his previous project. “After my company was acquired, I had the chance to continue managing the business—but Zhen’ai’s main goal was to bless college students’ love.”

“Love is beautiful, worthy of blessing—but the current internet dating industry doesn’t respect that beauty.”

“So we stepped forward to change this chaos.”

The reporter nodded: “How do you view the recent statements from the industry’s three major sites? All claim they’ll protect user rights and data.”

That afternoon, Zhen’ai Network, Century Family, and Baihe Network had all issued statements, asserting their values and willingness to lead the industry toward healthy development.

Yu Xing spoke bluntly: “I think these statements lack sincerity.”

The reporter pressed: “What would count as sincerity?”

“We published some past cases in our document—none named the companies, but I’m sure each company knows which clients belong to them,” Yu Xing said. “Did any of them mention compensating those clients? Do they think a few empty words are enough to wash it all away?”

He solemnly continued, “Even if they can’t identify clients using pseudonyms, are there other clients who have posted replies beneath this thread? Do they have any contact? Have they offered any solutions?”

Yu Xing spread his hands wide: “Do you think this counts as sincerity?”

The reporter nodded, feeling such criticism would easily resonate—it was clearly visible.

He mentioned reviews that had appeared on Baixiaosheng within a short time but weren’t deleted; again, this issue stemmed from the earlier implication: “Some say your website is doing this to secure PR fees from internet dating brands.”

Yu Xing gave the reporter a shocking reply: “Baixiaosheng will never accept PR fees. Likewise, to uphold our position as an independent third party, we will not accept any investment from internet companies!”

The reporter asked instinctively: “What about Tencent and Alibaba?”

Yu Xing’s smile vanished instantly; he said sternly: “Then even less so!”

The reporter sensed a certain college student’s naivety, yet a faint respect also surfaced.

Immediately, doubt arose: Could they truly achieve this?

…

Day one: bombardment. Day two: backlash. Day three: interview. By day four, it was already all over major websites.

The unusual name “Baixiaosheng” was remembered by many.

As a result, its campaign against the internet dating industry, after four consecutive days of fermentation and expanding influence, directly triggered changes among the three major brands.

Li Song, the proprietor of Zhen’ai.com, knew about the incident but didn’t pay it special attention—he delegated it to the company’s department.

However, on the 25th, Christmas Day, he received a call from a venture capitalist.

“Mr. Li, let’s hold off on the funding for now.”

Li Song was stunned and pressed for a reason: “We were almost done! Our growth this year has been excellent—next year will definitely be a year of massive growth! Why are you telling me to hold off now? What’s going on?”

“Baixiaosheng’s issue is being resolved too slowly. NetEase, Sohu, and Tencent are all reporting on it. Mr. Li, get this sorted first, then we can continue talking.”

Securing funding after the financial crisis was never easy.

Li Song had struggled for a long time, making concessions just to come close to an agreement—only to have the funding fall through because of an Yulun crisis he hadn’t taken seriously.

“Continue talking”? That was just an excuse.

On one hand, Li Song questioned his management team’s handling, criticizing their slowness; on the other, he was deeply troubled by the future of fundraising.

In the evening, he returned home and saw his wife, Xu Xin, watching TV. He couldn’t help bringing up the funding issue.

“No, I won’t invest,” Xu Xin refused without hesitation. “If others can’t invest because of the public backlash, I certainly can’t either.”

Li Song spoke with some emotion: “We’ll resolve the public backlash issue!”

Xu Xin looked at her husband: “It’s not really because of that.”

Li Song’s face darkened: “Then why?”

Xu Xin shook her head slightly: “You’re not making enough money.”

She added: “It’ll be even less profitable going forward.”

Li Song frowned, his expression grave. But seeing his wife’s firm gaze, he fell silent.

Fine. It wasn’t the first time. If she won’t invest, then fine.

(End of Chapter)