This situation had everyone confused. Chen Juntai had himself announced that he would permanently ban Meng Hao's live stream. And it was almost time; if Huazhuo Industry's live stream didn't provide a satisfactory explanation to Little Broken Site today, it would be banned without hesitation.
Yet, Chen Juntai not only stopped the technical department from banning Meng Hao but also personally issued an apology letter. His tone was so humble and his attitude so deferential that calling it subservient wouldn't be an exaggeration.
Why would Chen Juntai engage in such self-contradictory behavior?
Alright, even if businessmen only cared about money and not face, why would he risk offending his benefactors by cutting ties with those mech concept companies? Why would he throw tens of millions in compensation to find scapegoats to silence people?
This needed an explanation! After all, Uncle Chen was usually the most money-grubbing person around.
While everyone was still baffled, Chen Juntai wasn't finished. He tapped his index and middle fingers on the table, then stopped abruptly.
"Public Relations Department."
"Disseminate this apology letter of mine across your other social media platforms."
"No matter what it takes, no matter how much money we spend, we must get it trending on the hot search lists of those competing social media platforms!"
Huh?
The head of the Public Relations Department's eyes nearly popped out! Whether it was Weibo, Zhihu, Tieba, or their own Little Broken Site, half of the trending hot search lists were for sale. In fact, the sale of trending hot searches on social media platforms was an open secret in the industry. Even the worst spots on these lists cost tens of thousands per hour. To dominate the trending topics, even for slightly lower rankings, would require an investment of over a million per day.
And yet, Chen Juntai not only wanted it pinned on their own site but was also willing to spend money to push it to the top of other platforms' hot searches. This maneuver left the head of the Public Relations Department utterly dumbfounded.
Chen Juntai seemed to sense his bewilderment and explained with an air of calm confidence.
"Believe it or not, I'm not the only one who wrote a public apology letter. Other platforms must have written them too... and they'll definitely come to us to buy hot searches... Well, with one cancelling out the other, it's essentially free!"
Chen Juntai's guess was spot on. Almost the moment he finished speaking, several people from the Public Relations Department rushed in to report to the head.
"Mr. Chen,"
"You really guessed right."
The head looked utterly shocked, his eyes filled with admiration.
"Heh heh."
"I knew it!"
"They must be even more panicked than us... After all, Meng Hao is still a user of our platform!"
Huh? What's going on? Meng Hao, who was about to be banned, was suddenly a hot commodity for Chen Juntai. Moreover, he seemed genuinely proud that Meng Hao was streaming on their platform.
The head of the Public Relations Department, holding the situation report submitted by his subordinates, reported each item to Chen Juntai.
"Including Douyin, Tieba, Toutiao, Zhihu, Weibo, and over a dozen other major internet platforms, they have all pinned an apology letter to Meng Hao on their main pages and have requested to purchase hot search rankings on our Little Broken Site..."
Chen Juntai chuckled, looking as if he had anticipated all of this.
"The mech Ji channel of Huazhuo Industry, whose live stream user we originally intended to ban, has just started streaming, and the viewership has already broken one million, nearing two million..."
Oh? Chen Juntai raised an eyebrow, appearing flattered. It seemed that Meng Hao continuing to stream on Little Broken Site brought him great relief.
"Furthermore, representatives from various platforms are contacting Meng Hao, using the excuse of 'Little Broken Site wants to ban you, this is too much, please come stream on our platform' to poach him..."
Holy cow! The usually calm Chen Juntai let out a curse. This development, he truly hadn't expected. He hadn't anticipated that these competing platforms, who were cheerfully mingling with him just a short while ago, would so brazenly poach Meng Hao.
After all, Meng Hao had attracted the attention of several top executives in Kyoto. If Meng Hao remained on their Little Broken Site, he would be an invaluable backing. These scoundrels were all smarter than they looked.
What Chen Juntai had realized, they had also realized, and were even openly trying to snatch him away. And the reason was one he himself had provided. "Originally intended to ban Meng Hao" – this was a knife that Chen Juntai himself had handed to the competing companies. If they truly lost Meng Hao, such a formidable backer, it would be a catastrophic loss for Little Broken Site.
More importantly, if those top executives mistakenly believed that he was defying orders and had driven Meng Hao away by his own will, then his end would surely be near.
Should he... contact Meng Hao? That would be far too humiliating. It would be a blatant act of self-betrayal.
Never mind.
He couldn't afford to care anymore. The survival of Little Broken Site was at stake. What did face matter?
The mood of Chen Juntai, who was prone to fluctuations, vanished. He no longer had the patience to deal with his bewildered subordinates and hurried back to his private office.
...
Meng Hao's stream had been going on for five or six minutes. The Huazhuo Industry live stream, which had yet to be banned, was filled with "joyful laughter." Various onlookers who loved to stir up trouble were even encouraging Meng Hao to build his own live streaming platform and then specifically recommend Huazhuo Industry's products.
This made Meng Hao want to laugh and cry. He couldn't even handle those newly emerged mech concept companies that were constantly suppressing and smearing him. And they expected him to start a new live streaming company and compete for market share with giants like Douyin, Little Broken Site, and Weibo? Wasn't that like trying to find death?
While chatting and laughing with his viewers, Meng Hao's phone suddenly rang. It was an unknown number.
"Which viewer is playing a prank?"
"How do you guys even have my number!"
Meng Hao immediately suspected that a viewer was intentionally causing trouble and instinctively answered the call.
"Hello, I am Chen Juntai, Executive Director and Founder of Little Broken Site..."
*Pfft.*
Meng Hao burst out laughing. He didn't rush to reply to the call but instead held his phone up to the camera.
"I say, everyone's too idle, aren't they!"
"To impersonate Chen Juntai and call me!"
"Come, I'll put it on speaker, let everyone hear what this 'Chen Juntai, Mr. Chen' has said to us!"
Clearly, Meng Hao believed this was a prank. Indeed, the lively bullet comments in the stream were also making fun of the situation. No one believed that Chen Juntai, the founder and executive director of Little Broken Site, would call Meng Hao. After all, Little Broken Site had previously threatened to ban Meng Hao's stream. Although there had been no movement so far, it was impossible for Chen Juntai to personally call Meng Hao. This was definitely a prank.
"Stop the fuss, let's see what kind of fancy trick the viewer impersonating Uncle Chen will come up with..."
"Hmm, popcorn, popcorn..."
"They really know how to put on a show, even coming up with a scenario of impersonating 'Mr. Chen' to call Brother Hao..."