Days had passed since the incident, and not only had the Zhan Corporation failed to resolve it, but they were also shirking responsibility, claiming it had nothing to do with them.
Netizens were furious. Tens of thousands of comments flooded the platform, all of them lambasting Zhan Bei Jue and the corporation.
Jiang Nan Fang wasn't very familiar with Zhan Bei Jue's work style and didn't know how he would handle such a situation.
However, from her own perspective, even if an employee's death was not directly related to the company, shirking responsibility like this was not the best approach.
Besides product quality, a company's most important asset was its reputation.
Even if a significant portion of people hadn't consumed their products, they were future potential customers.
When something happened, what they looked for was an attitude, not necessarily the absolute truth.
Just moments ago, she had been disgusted with Zhan Bei Jue, but seeing this news, she suddenly found herself worrying about him.
The moment of truth had arrived for Zhan Corporation's public relations capabilities. She wondered what would happen next.
If the public outcry online hadn't been so extreme, perhaps his subordinates wouldn't have reported the matter to Zhan Bei Jue.
Upon seeing the "facts" screenshots posted by netizens, Zhan Bei Jue flew into a rage at the explanation provided by the HR manager.
It could be said that for the first time in his many years of work, everyone witnessed him unleash such fury.
"Stupid, utterly foolish!"
"Knowing that such things, especially written words, can easily be used as leverage against us, why didn't you report it to me immediately?"
The HR manager and the head of the public relations department stood before him.
The manager explained,
"The reason we didn't report this to you was precisely because she was no longer an employee of Zhan Corporation."
"She was an intern, working in sales for less than two months before transferring to customer service. She unilaterally took three days off without signing a renewed contract."
"According to company regulations, she had already been dismissed. Who knew that just two days after her dismissal, such a thing would happen."
"We didn't make her work overtime, nor did we owe her wages. Now her family is making a big fuss about this, undoubtedly trying to extort money!"
"Since we know their intentions, we should handle it even less casually."
Zhan Bei Jue looked at the head of public relations.
"Go now and compile her internship labor contract, attendance records for her absence, and the proposed disciplinary action for her absence into written documents."
"Then, conduct interviews with her friends to ascertain her activities before the incident. Only after confirming that the incident is unrelated to our company should you make a public announcement online."
The head of public relations understood.
Only by presenting sufficient evidence to the public could the company's suspicion of exploitation be cleared.
Empty words would not suffice.
He nodded, about to leave, when Zhan Bei Jue called him back.
"Calculate how much compensation she would be entitled to in this situation according to the latest labor injury compensation laws, and transfer it to her family from my personal account. Release it together."
If the preceding arrangements could be understood, then the payment from his personal account was inexplicable.
"Mr. Zhan, isn't this an unnecessary step? If the incident is unrelated to the company, why should we provide death benefits and labor injury compensation?"
"I think this is somewhat contradictory. To put it bluntly, netizens might criticize us for being guilty."
"So, according to you, the first priority is to distance ourselves from her?"
"It's not about distancing ourselves, it's about the facts!"
Zhan Bei Jue insisted.
"The fact is that the company occasionally requires overtime. The reason netizens are paying so much attention to this matter is because they have many grievances about overtime, and it resonates with them."
"If we keep shirking responsibility, and someone else produces evidence proving that we did indeed have overtime, what then?"
"Issue another statement explaining the reasonableness of overtime? Argue with netizens about what they say? Will this quickly resolve the issue?"
"..." The supervisor fell silent.
Zhan Bei Jue continued,
"The priority now is to appease people, to make them feel that even if something happens, even if it's not directly related to the company, they won't be abandoned."
"Zhan Corporation is a humane company. Reputation is paramount. Everything else comes second."
The HR manager also had concerns.
"But what if this sets a precedent, and other employees follow suit..."
Zhan Bei Jue suppressed his anger and refrained from scolding.
"That is precisely what you need to focus on next."
"How to prevent such situations from happening in the first place, and how to detail existing systems, is what you should be thinking about, not me."
Despite saying this, he still felt a sense of unease.
After speaking, he pointed them in a clearer direction.
"Convene a meeting with all department heads. Announce that overtime is not permitted without urgent circumstances."
"Even if overtime is necessary, it must be strictly limited to twelve hours, and overtime pay must be settled strictly according to market requirements."
"Furthermore, establish an emergency medical team to handle minor ailments like headaches or unexpected situations during working hours promptly."
"Organize regular health check-ups for employees and purchase medical insurance. I do not wish to see such an incident happen again."
Soon, Jiang Nan Fang saw the announcement posted by Zhan Corporation online.
The announcement was divided into two parts.
One part used various pieces of evidence to prove that the deceased female employee was not a formal employee of Zhan Corporation and had already been dismissed during her internship due to unauthorized absence.
This incident did not fall under the scope of work-related injuries.
The other part stated that Zhan Bei Jue, out of humanitarian concern, had provided a sum of condolence money to the family from his personal account.
Finally, it requested the public's supervision, stating that Zhan Corporation would strictly adhere to laws and regulations in managing the company and urged everyone not to spread rumors.
As soon as the news was released,
the public opinion overwhelmingly praised Zhan Bei Jue again: responsible, accountable.
Some netizens even felt that Zhan Corporation had such good benefits and asked if they were still hiring.
They also wished they had such a boss.
This incident not only had no negative impact on Zhan Corporation but actually caused its stock to rise by three percentage points in two days.
It was quite peculiar.
What was initially thought to be an isolated incident passed and was forgotten.
Zhan Bei Jue continued his busy work of acquiring New Vision.
Soon, the bidding results were released. Zhan Corporation, as the undisputed biggest winner, brought New Vision under its wing.
However, as soon as the various acquisition procedures were completed,
and Zhan Corporation announced its introduction of smart electricity to the public,
another social news story emerged.
A woman at South City Airport, half an hour before takeoff, suddenly caused a disturbance, claiming someone was trying to harm her.
The staff immediately canceled the flight and conducted individual checks on all passengers.
As a result, no suspicious activity was found.
The woman was taken away for investigation on charges of disturbing public order without cause.
However, in the car, she attempted to jump out.
The incident was very serious.
Although it initially had nothing to do with Zhan Corporation, after the woman was released from the police station, she proactively contacted a video website.
In an interview with a reporter, she said,
"I am not mentally unstable, nor am I hallucinating. I was hypnotized."
"It was the work of New Vision Electronics, which Zhan Corporation recently acquired."