Chapter 1537 Too Kind to the Wicked, Too Cruel to the Good

"Hello everyone, I am Yan Qi, the producer of the *Shu Li* project. Thank you very much for your attention and love for the *Shu Li* project. I am overwhelmed by the support of so many players, and I will do my best to develop *Shu Li* to the perfect level in my mind. I hope this game will meet you all as soon as possible."

"I have also noticed that many players are worried about the financial situation of *Shu Li*. Please rest assured that our production team has the ability to solve the funding problem ourselves and does not intend to open pre-sales. Please do not over-interpret it and wait patiently for the official release of *Shu Li*!"

Yan Qi wrote a simple Weibo post as an announcement.

He originally thought that this matter should be over. I have already issued an announcement stating that I am not short of money, so you should be relieved, right?

However, to his surprise, after this message was sent, there were many comments and reposts, but the problem was… it seemed that many people still didn't believe it!

"Not short of money? Could it be a case of putting a sheep's head on a dog's body? Judging from the situation shown in the promotional video, the investment in this game must be at least one hundred million. Is your team that rich? Or are you just planning to make a small-scale, castrated version?"

"Don't! There's no such thing as 'enough' development funding, right? With the world view of *Shu Li*, a starting investment of one hundred million is necessary, and one hundred and fifty million wouldn't be too much. It doesn't matter if you attract more investment to make the game bigger. They said they won't interfere with the development, so why not take the money?"

"I think as a producer, you still have to be responsible for the project. What do you care where the money comes from, as long as you get the project done? There's no need to be at odds with money!"

Yan Qi was a little dumbfounded.

What a mess!

He couldn't tell how many of them were internet trolls, how many were passers-by who were led by the trolls, and how many were players who were really worried about the *Shu Li* project.

There was no way, they were too well hidden!

Because even the trolls were actually expressing concern for the project.

As the saying goes, one doesn't strike a smiling face. If they were the kind of trolls who opened their mouths and sprayed, it would be easy to deal with, but these kinds of trolls were very deceptive.

If Yan Qi got angry at this time and started spraying directly, or pointed the finger at the Anti-Tengda Alliance, saying that this was all a conspiracy of the Anti-Tengda Alliance, it would easily hurt innocent bystanders and inevitably give people a feeling of "persecution complex," which would be very inappropriate.

The key to this matter was that Yan Qi did receive investment from Tengda, but President Pei didn't allow him to say it, so even if he issued an announcement, it would still give people a feeling of being "vague and evasive." The trolls just pushed the situation along, and led the bystanders astray.

"Oh well, believe it or not, it doesn't really have much impact on the *Shu Li* project anyway."

"Brothers, let's go to lunch. It's on me!"

Yan Qi felt that he had already issued an announcement and there was no need to dwell on this issue too much.

To issue another announcement? That would likely make things worse. As long as he didn't clarify the source of the money and didn't reveal the relationship between the *Shu Li* project team and Tengda Corporation, the trolls would always find a way to mislead everyone.

So, he decided to say nothing and go eat first.

Although the release of this promotional video, due to the interference of the trolls, failed to let the popularity naturally ferment as initially expected, judging from the reaction of netizens and players, everyone still recognized and liked the game *Shu Li*, which could be considered a success.

Let the people from the Anti-Tengda Alliance do whatever they want!

…

Afternoon, Sheng Yun Corporation.

Nie Yun Sheng was also paying close attention to the latest trends in online public opinion, and then instructing the internet trolls he had hired.

The deputy general manager of the Public Affairs Department hurried over and said, "President Nie, Yan Qi has not issued any new announcements so far."

Since the last public opinion incident with Tengda, half of the people in the Public Affairs Department of Sheng Yun Corporation had been poached, but fortunately, the highest position that left was only a deputy director. The deputy general manager and the directors were still there, and some key employees were also retained, so they quickly reorganized and could still operate normally.

But the deputy general manager of the Public Affairs Department was inevitably scolded by Nie Yun Sheng.

After all, he was the deputy general manager in charge of this department. Half of his subordinates were directly poached, which was obviously his dereliction of duty.

The deputy general manager had no choice but to work harder in the following work to reverse the impression of incompetence in President Nie's eyes.

Nie Yun Sheng asked, "Is there still no news from Tengda?"

The deputy general manager nodded: "Yes, Tengda doesn't work on weekends. Judging from the current situation, they shouldn't make any response."

"I highly suspect that Tengda may not even realize that the *Shu Li* matter is targeting them. President Pei may still be completely unaware of it."

Nie Yun Sheng was very satisfied: "Very good! In that case, we can enter the next stage."

"Launch an attack on Tengda!"

After deliberate hyping, the popularity of *Shu Li* was already very high, and it had gained good attention online.

Although Yan Qi had already posted on Weibo saying that the *Shu Li* project was not short of money, he was not a big V, and did not have as many fans or as much influence as Tengda Games.

Yan Qi's statement only had a certain impact within a small range. Many players who were discussing on forums and Weibo did not even know that he had posted on Weibo, and were still being led astray by the trolls.

Moreover, judging from the current situation, Yan Qi would probably not post a second Weibo, and Tengda had not realized that the popularity of *Shu Li* was actually related to them.

What's more, Tengda doesn't work on weekends, so the weekend was the perfect time to launch an attack!

The deputy general manager immediately nodded: "Okay, President Nie, I'll arrange it!"

After determining the reactions of Yan Qi and Tengda, the next stage was to point the finger at Tengda, saying that Tengda was indifferent to *Shu Li*, claiming to revitalize the domestic game industry, but in the end, they were only sweeping the snow in front of their own door, and did not drive other domestic game companies as promised!

Tengda would definitely not be working on the weekend, which meant that they could be slandered at will on the weekend without any resistance.

Even if Tengda reacted on Monday, there were only two choices: either to remain silent and not respond, or to really express their willingness to invest in the *Shu Li* project.

They couldn't issue an announcement saying that someone had hired trolls to slander them, right? That would not only have no effect, but would also seem like making a mountain out of a molehill.

Nie Yun Sheng felt that no matter what Tengda chose, the initiative was on his side!

…

Shanghai.

He An didn't go to the company today, but was leisurely drinking tea at home.

Although he was currently in a semi-retired state, he would still go to his own company to take a look every now and then, and also paid attention to the latest trends in the domestic game industry.

For him, talents emerged in every generation, and with President Pei, such a rising star, supporting the domestic game industry, the future was bright.

Creators always have a peak period of creation. Once the peak period is over, it is difficult to keep up with the trend. So there is no need to force anything, it's good to retire when it's time to retire and enjoy life.

However, even in a semi-retired state, it is still necessary to pay more attention to the development of the domestic game industry.

"*Shu Li*? Hmm, this game looks pretty good, another rising star?"

"Choosing the action game genre is quite courageous. There is no turning back now. Either it becomes a masterpiece, or it will lose everything… Judging from the promotional video, it is very clever not to follow the path of *Turning Back is the Shore* and *Eternal Reincarnation*, which is a wise move…"

"Huh? Discussing *Shu Li* is fine, but why are some people dragging Tengda into it? This is outrageous!"

"What does this have to do with Tengda! President Pei is willing to invest in whatever game he wants, and doesn't want to invest, then he doesn't invest. Why are some people playing the moral blackmail game?"

He An was intensely browsing news about *Shu Li*, expressing high expectations and attention to the future of this game. As a result, as he was browsing, he came across some discussions that made him very angry.

"The *Shu Li* project team seems to be in Jingzhou. Several investment companies have expressed their willingness to invest, so why doesn't Tengda have any reaction?"

"Yeah, Tengda has always claimed to be committed to revitalizing the domestic game industry, but when it comes to the point where real money is needed, they are silent?"

"Damn, are you sick? Tengda has been making its own games, and also cooperated with Skyfire Studio to develop *Bullet Marks 2*. The efficiency of making games is simply as productive as a sow. What else do you want?"

"But what practical things has Tengda done to support the domestic game industry? How many independent game and single-player game developers are short of funds? The *Shu Li* project is in Jingzhou, and Tengda hasn't said anything about helping them out. And the Morning Dew Gaming Platform is such a good platform, Tengda hasn't put its own games on it?"

"Tengda never said that it would unconditionally help any domestic game developers!"

"But aren't Tengda's fans always hyping it up like this? The light of domestic games? The only hope for revitalizing domestic games? Tengda can't enjoy this kind of hype and false reputation while being calculating and only caring about itself, right?"

Seeing these comments, He An felt his blood pressure rise instantly.

Are they out of their minds!

Although it could be seen that there were traces of internet trolls, some people really thought that way.

It can only be said that many things are so speechless. A good person does one bad thing, and immediately suffers irreversible consequences and loses their reputation. But a bad person does one good thing, and is immediately sought after by thousands of people, as if all the bad things they have done before have been whitewashed.

Even good people can't not do good things. If something happens, as long as you do good things slowly, it's immediately "character collapse," and immediately "the fox's tail is revealed."

People are always accustomed to using the highest moral standards to demand good people, but for bad people, they lower the moral standards to an extremely low level.

Taking the current situation as an example, those investment companies had never made any investments in domestic games before. After expressing their willingness to invest in *Shu Li* this time, many people felt that their attitude was very sincere and worthy of encouragement. However, Tengda, which had always been placed with high hopes, had not made any statement about the *Shu Li* project, let alone money, not even a superficial word of support, which was very disappointing.