Cheng Jue's efficiency was quite good. Within two days, he had thoroughly investigated all the high-level personnel at Tao Li. As for the editor-in-chief, Ms. Fan, he dug up everything about her, even finding photos of her bullying classmates in elementary school.
"Tsk tsk, I never expected her past to be so colorful," Cheng Jue said, flipping through the documents in his hand. "No wonder she could become an editor-in-chief so soon after graduation. It seems someone was backing her."
The thick stack of materials detailed every stage of her life, from birth to the present. In this information-rich modern era, uncovering dirt on someone was not difficult.
For instance, she grew up in an orphanage and was later adopted. However, her adoptive father was an alcoholic and a gambler, and her adoptive mother was weak-willed. After they had their own son, they no longer favored this adopted daughter. Therefore, Ms. Fan, the editor-in-chief, did not have a good childhood; it could be described as living in dire straits. When her adoptive father was drunk, he liked to take his anger out on her. If things weren't to his liking, he would resort to physical violence.
Later, in high school, she managed to graduate thanks to the help of kind-hearted people. After getting into university, she relied on student loans and scholarships to make it through her studies. Upon graduation, she cut ties with her adoptive parents' family.
To escape that family, she even changed her name.
Perhaps it was her difficult childhood experiences that made her develop a competitive nature, leading her to resort to unscrupulous methods to achieve her goals. Her work capabilities were indeed outstanding, but her personality flaws made her somewhat blind to her own problems.
Just like this time, she thought that by creating such a buzz, she would attract traffic, and given the good performance, everyone would overlook the issues she raised. Little did she know, she had truly stumbled upon a hard nut to crack this time.
Because there were people who simply didn't care about money.
These documents appeared on Lu Yanbei's desk the very next morning.
Lu Yanbei barely glanced at them, picking out the file for editor-in-chief Fan and instructing Cheng Jue to hand it over to Tao Li's competitor.
"The boss isn't planning to act personally?" Cheng Jue was somewhat surprised.
"Does it require my personal effort to deal with such a minor character?" Lu Yanbei shot him a glare.
Cheng Jue sheepishly rubbed his nose and quickly left with the documents.
Those who do evil will ultimately destroy themselves.
Not long after, Ms. Fan's negative information was exposed online. Initially, a minor celebrity wrote a blog post, seemingly venting, but subtly mentioning an event last year where she, as the third female lead, was scheduled for an interview. However, because Ms. Fan mishandled the timing, after chatting with the main characters, she directly deleted the portion of her interview, making her stand on stage like a wooden post for a long time without saying a word.
Afterward, the other party offered no apology, only a perfunctory explanation.
This incident led to her being ridiculed for a long time, and she even fell into depression.
To prove her claims were not false, the minor celebrity posted records of her treatment at a psychological clinic online.
Although not a very popular celebrity, she still had a group of loyal fans. Seeing their idol suffer so much, the fans were heartbroken and immediately left comments in the comment section to comfort her.
Following the clues she provided, it wasn't difficult to find the culprit.
The video of last year's event was still online; a quick search would reveal it. Soon, the fans locked their target onto Fan Shiqi, the host of that event.
In the past two years, quite a few artists had suffered unfair treatment at the hands of Fan Shiqi. When one person spoke up, others indignantly shared their own experiences.
The strength of these individuals might seem weak, but collectively, they were not to be underestimated.
Coupled with the subtle encouragement from Su Lin's side, Fan Shiqi's name quickly began appearing frequently on various media lists.
"Who is this Fan Shiqi? Why are there so many pushes about her?"
Driven by curiosity, many people clicked in to find out, and the popularity quickly surged.
By the time Tao Li realized something was amiss, it was already too late to remove the trending topics.
As the incident escalated, more and more people felt that her actions were unethical. She often made excessively inappropriate jokes during interviews. The guests' faces would be strained, yet she would smugly continue to tease them.
"Why does Tao Li let her host these events? She seems so unprofessional!"
"Does Tao Li only look at academic qualifications and not personal character when hiring employees?"
"Has anyone noticed that since this woman joined Tao Li, the atmosphere at Tao Li has become increasingly worse?"
"What's there to explain? She slept her way up!"
Initially, people were solely focused on Fan Shiqi, demanding a fair resolution from Tao Li. However, Tao Li remained unresponsive, believing that after a few days, everything would calm down and the matter would pass. Therefore, they continued their business as usual, even allowing Fan Shiqi to host a movie premiere.
Such an attitude instantly enraged the fans who were seeking justice.
Tao Li's reputation deteriorated, and its stock price began to fluctuate.
By the time the higher-ups paid attention, it was too late to regret it.
The executives rushed to the company overnight for a meeting to discuss solutions.
"It's obvious that someone is stirring up trouble behind the scenes, fanning the flames!"
"It's not out of the question that competitors are playing dirty!"
"Send someone to investigate where the information originated."
"What about Ms. Fan's situation?" someone finally asked. "Because of her, the company has suffered significant losses, and the board requires an explanation."
The CEO, sitting at the head of the table, scanned the room and asked, "Which one of you hired this Fan Shiqi?"
Several men standing near the desks trembled at the question.
Seeing their varied expressions, the CEO couldn't help but smile. "I didn't expect her to be quite capable! So many people are protecting her!"
Upon hearing the latter half of the sentence, their expressions turned grim.
Could it be that Fan Shiqi wasn't just involved with them?
Once this seed of suspicion took root, it immediately grew into a towering tree.
Men loathe nothing more than being cuckolded!
*
"I wonder what happened to that Ms. Fan in the end?" Su He sat in her office, listening to the gossip with keen interest.
Her assistant smiled and said, "Of course, she was fired by the company! And her reputation in the industry is ruined; she'll probably be blacklisted."
Su He let out a soft "oh," feeling no pity for her.
Every effect has a cause!
When she acted without discretion, she was bound to pay the price.
After discussing the gossip, the assistant suddenly remembered something. "The TV series based on 'Living with a Big Shot' is about to start filming. The crew is holding auditions for many celebrities. Would you like to go and help us vet them?"
The studio staff were all young and enjoyed watching dramas. For their boss's work, they naturally hoped it would be produced to the highest standard. Therefore, whether it was costumes, makeup, or actors, they wanted everything to be perfect.
Su He didn't actually know who would be the most suitable for the roles, but there was one thing that had to be guaranteed: they had to be visually appealing!
"Let's go and take a look!"