No one in the private room thought much of it. Han Guangqi stubbed out his cigarette.
"What investigation report?"
"The investigation report on the noodle sheet processing plant. It’s about the sanitation issues there. They wrote an 80-plus-page report detailing the cause of the incident, the investigation findings, the resolution, and customer compensation. It’s all spelled out clearly."
"Over 80 pages? Holy shit, haha..."
Zhou Jin burst out laughing. "I didn’t even write that much for my goddamn thesis."
"Skip all that fluff. Just get to the point."
"The report says they’re giving the whistleblower a 100,000 yuan reward."
"Huh???"
Everyone in the private room fell silent, their expressions frozen as they stared at Han Guangqi’s assistant.
"You just said they’re giving the whistleblower a 100,000 yuan reward? Are you sure you read that right?"
"Yes."
"What the fuck kind of move is that? Shouldn’t they be sending him a letter from their lawyer and suing him for slander?"
This was Zhou Jin’s honest thought. ’If it were me, that’s exactly what I’d do.’
Birds of a feather flock together. The other three men thought much the same.
’You fucking report me, ruin my reputation and credibility, and cost me money, and I’m supposed to fucking pay you for it?’
"Why give money to the whistleblower?"
"According to the report, the whistleblower’s timely discovery of the problem served as a wake-up call for the company’s development, which is why they’re giving such a large reward."
"What the hell is wrong with their brains? This is completely insane," Zhou Jin cursed.
"What else did it say?"
"The problematic noodle sheet facility was only a temporary one. It was in operation for a total of two days before the issue was discovered. They said that any customer who purchased noodle sheets during those two days is eligible for 1,000 yuan in compensation."
"What?!"
Before, they were merely baffled. Now, their jaws were on the floor.
"With Berkeley’s level of foot traffic, a lot of people must have bought those noodle sheets over the past few days."
"The report states that over 8,000 people bought the noodle sheets, so the total compensation will be over 8 million yuan."
Han Guangqi: ???
"Just because of a sanitation issue at a processing facility, they’re going to pay out over 8 million in compensation?"
The assistant nodded. "That’s what the report says."
The four men frowned to varying degrees, replaying the course of events in their minds.
Even though they wanted Lin Jiang to go under, they felt it was excessive for him to pay over 8 million just to make things right with customers over a minor sanitation issue.
’Does that guy think money grows on trees?’
"I’m heading out. I’ll call you guys when I have time."
With that, Han Guangqi left in a hurry and got back into his car.
"Where did you see this report?"
"On their official social media account. The content is legitimate; they posted it themselves," the assistant said.
"What’s more, they moved extremely quickly. We made our move last night, and the online backlash didn’t truly explode until around 11 AM this morning. It’s only been about twelve hours since then, and they’ve already handled the whole thing—complete with an 80-plus-page report. Their speed and methods are far faster and more professional than we imagined."
For a moment, Han Guangqi was at a loss for words.
He tried to put himself in the customer’s shoes.
’If I bought some of their cold skin noodles, found an issue, and then got 1,000 yuan in compensation, I definitely wouldn’t press the matter further.’
’More importantly, the noodles themselves might not have even had anything wrong with them; it was just that the processing facility was a bit dirty. In that case, I’d be even less likely to complain.’
’If even I think this way, the average person certainly wouldn’t give it a second thought. They might even be thrilled.’
He had thought this was an unstoppable, open-and-shut plot, but Lin Jiang had neutralized it just like that.
"Handled to this extent, it probably won’t affect Berkeley’s reputation anymore. But no matter what, we made him pay a price of over 8 million, which is equivalent to a month of their profit. This attack wasn’t a complete failure."
"President Han, the impact of this incident might not be as simple as we think."
The assistant looked at his phone and said, "The online narrative is already taking shape. Public opinion is overwhelmingly positive toward Berkeley. People are extremely satisfied with how they handled it. It’s currently number eight on the trending list, and it’ll probably shoot to number one before long."
"Even though it was a negative incident, their response was textbook-perfect. In other words, even if they had spent over 8 million on a marketing campaign, they might not have generated this much buzz. This has, in effect, become a massive advertisement for them. The returns could be immeasurable."
The assistant’s reminder brought this issue to Han Guangqi’s attention.
Such an efficient and sincere approach... never mind the general public, even he couldn’t find any fault with it.
If this story went viral online, Han Guangqi didn’t dare to imagine the level of popularity and traffic they would achieve.
"President Han, are you not feeling well?"
Seeing Han Guangqi’s face turn pale, the assistant asked with concern,
"Let me take you to the hospital. You’ve really been overworking yourself lately."
"I’m fine."
Han Guangqi waved his hand wearily.
The assistant had just pointed out something he had overlooked.
They had seemingly lost over 8 million, but in reality, the traffic and reputation they gained were something 80 million couldn’t buy.
An old saying came to Han Guangqi’s mind.
A blessing in disguise.
Publicity could certainly destroy a person.
But it could also, to an enormous degree, make someone’s fortune.

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