Entertainment mogul: Starting his business with the internet

Chapter 177 Photos
At 10 p.m., the night was deep and all was quiet.

In the hotel room where the crew of "A Little Thing Called First Love" stayed, the air conditioner was blowing warm air, dispelling the winter chill.

After finishing a day of filming, Liu Shishi had just washed up and was feeling refreshed. Wearing loose pajamas, she sat lazily in a chair with her smooth, fair legs crossed.

His eyes were fixed on the laptop screen in front of him, his face showing a shocked and incredulous expression.

On the computer screen were rare, private photos of several popular Hong Kong actresses. The photos were so explicit that they were astonishing, making Ms. Liu blush and her heart race.

"That's so daring! It's really burning!"

Liu Shishi bit her lip, her face flushed with embarrassment, and clicked the mouse, as one photo after another that would make a man's blood boil slowly scrolled by.

The female celebrities in the photos are alluring and seductive, striking all sorts of poses, which broadened her horizons, as she had always been conservative.

After admiring several exquisite versions of works by Hong Kong female artists for a while, Liu Shishi nervously closed the webpage, muttering to herself with lingering fear:

"It's terrifying. How can someone be so disregardful of their image? After these photos are exposed, how will they ever be able to face anyone again?"

Thankfully, Yi-yi doesn't have the strange habit of taking photos, otherwise I wouldn't know whether to refuse or agree. But this uniform is nice; I could try it on too.

After calming her surging emotions, Liu Shishi opened her Weibo homepage. Now, unless she's filming and doesn't have time, she checks Weibo every day and interacts with her fans.

The recent broadcast of "Hello, Old Times" on satellite TV has been a hit, with a viewership rating exceeding 2%. Her number of Weibo followers has surged, surpassing Song Ci's, reaching over 60,000.

"Shishi, you portrayed Yu Zhouzhou so beautifully!"

. . .

"National School Beauty Liu Shishi!"

Seeing the praise and compliments from her fans, Ms. Liu beamed with joy. After happily replying to and interacting with a few of her most active fans, she then opened Song Ci's Weibo homepage.

Mr. Song's Weibo account has not been updated with any new posts yet. However, due to the broadcast of "Beiping Interviews" tonight, his comment section is much more lively than in the past few days, with many netizens leaving comments.

Some book fans are asking when the new book "So Many Years" will be released; others are asking about Song Ci and who Liu Shishi's childhood sweetheart is, as revealed in the program; and of course, there are Song Ci's female fans who regularly check in and call him "husband".

"Nonsense, my husband doesn't have a girlfriend at all!"

"Laugh, Song Ci's silence is tacit admission, so it's clear that what Liu Shishi said is true."

"You upstairs are such a waste of space, you're always online. My husband has such a big career, he doesn't have time to use Weibo at all."

"Song Ci definitely had a girlfriend, I have proof. [Image.jpg]"

Liu Shishi read the comments with great interest, enjoying the subtle way they showed off their affection. But when she saw that netizens had evidence, she was stunned and hurriedly clicked on the picture.

"Thank goodness, it was just this photo. It only shows my back, so they probably wouldn't recognize me."

She patted her slightly developed chin and saw a photo posted by a netizen, which was the one from last year when Song Ci graduated, showing her being held in his arms and kissed.

Ms. Liu breathed a sigh of relief. At the time, she was wearing a baseball cap, and only a blurry silhouette could be seen, making it impossible to discern her face.

"Damn it, Song Ci's kiss was so passionate. Who is this woman? She's wearing a baseball cap, so I can't see her face."

"It's probably the childhood sweetheart Liu Shishi was talking about. Go ask her on her Weibo."

After reading a few more comments and sensing the intense jealousy among the female netizens, Liu Shishi felt secretly pleased.

The melodious ringtone of her cell phone rang, and Liu Shishi quickly answered, her sweet voice ringing out, "Darling!"

"Shishi, is filming going well?"

"Successfully! Yi-yi, haven't you rested yet?" Miss Liu asked with concern.

Song Ci, far away in North America, couldn't help but smile: "Silly girl, I'm in America, it's 9 a.m.!"

Liu Shishi stuck out her tongue, looking embarrassed, and said, "Oh! I forgot there's a time difference in America. When are you coming back, darling?"

"I'll be staying in New York for a few more days. If all goes well, I'll be back on the 9th, and I should arrive in Beiping on the 10th."

"If I'm not busy on the 10th, I'll pick you up from the airport. Oh, and darling, I have something to tell you..."

Then, Liu Shishi, looking gossipy and shy, told her boyfriend about the photo scandal she had seen on Weibo that day.

Song Ci's expression gradually froze, her brows furrowing as she sensed something was amiss: "Shishi, are you saying that you saw those explicit photos on Weibo?"

"Yes, I searched and found that many users on Weibo are forwarding it."

"Oh no!" Song Ci exclaimed, "I have urgent business to attend to, I must hang up on Shishi first!"

Liu Shishi nodded understandingly: "Then you go ahead with your work, darling. I'll rest now and contact you again tomorrow."

"Goodnight, Shi Bao!" After saying goodbye to Miss Liu in a hurry and hanging up the phone, Song Ci did not hesitate for a moment and immediately called Liu Yan, the president of Weibo. She waited anxiously for half a minute before the call was finally connected.

"Mr. Song!"

Song Ci spoke swiftly: "Don't say anything. Right now, immediately, notify the Weibo backend review staff to delete all the celebrities' indecent photos. You should understand what I mean."

Liu Yan was taken aback, noticing the seriousness of the chairman's tone and realizing the gravity of the situation: "I'll arrange it immediately."

After hanging up the phone, Song Ci paced back and forth in her hotel room, anxiously awaiting news from Liu Yan.

Those indecent photos of female celebrities ultimately fall under the category of pornographic content, and their widespread dissemination on Weibo had an extremely negative impact.

Sometimes, these kinds of things go unpunished unless reported by the public, but if they are reported and verified, they may be punished by the iron fist of justice.

If Weibo is ordered to be shut down for rectification, it will be a devastating blow to the fledgling platform. All of Tengda Group's previous efforts will be in vain, and its first-mover advantage will vanish.

Moreover, Song Ci always felt that today's events were unusual, with a vague sense of conspiracy.

Being in a foreign country, he couldn't get information in time. If it weren't for the phone call just now, and Liu Shishi happened to say something extra, who knows how far things would have escalated by the end of the night.

The phone rang abruptly, interrupting Song Ci's thoughts. She glanced down at the screen; it wasn't the expected call from Liu Yan, but from Zhang Yong.

"President Song, it was my oversight, I apologize..."

Zhang Yong's words carried a hint of nervousness and self-blame, and he was interrupted impatiently by Song Ci as soon as he opened his mouth.

"Alright, Lao Zhang, now is not the time to assign blame. The key question is how well things have been handled?"

The Song Dynasty poem conveyed anxiety and discontent. Now, every minute and every second is crucial, and taking immediate action to remedy the situation is better than a thousand words.

Zhang Yong quickly reported, "President Song, I have urgently dispatched reviewers from other departments to help with this. However, there are indeed quite a few posts that violate the rules, and deleting them will take some time. Moreover, as soon as they are deleted, others will post them, one after another, and our staff is constantly overwhelmed."

Upon hearing Zhang Yong's response, Song Ci flew into a rage and sternly reprimanded him: "Is this how you do things? You have no sense of vigilance at all!"
Can't you see by now that there's a mastermind targeting Weibo? Accounts that continue posting pictures will be banned, and a nationwide announcement will be made forbidding any user from forwarding these photos.

Zhang Yong was startled upon hearing this, his whole body jolted, and he seemed to wake from a dream: "Yes, I'll take care of it right away."

"We also need to keep a close eye on Toutiao.com to prevent any diversionary tactics. Also, we need to arrange for online trolls to muddy the waters and drag Tieba, Tianya Community, and other portal websites into the mess. We can't just be passively taking hits. By the way, we must be careful not to leave any evidence."

Song Ci's gaze was cold and sinister. Did they really think he had a good personality and wouldn't fight back when he was beaten?
Zhang Yong was slightly surprised; the chairman wanted to escalate the matter. "I know!"

Song Ci reiterated, "I will return to China on the 10th. Before I return to Beiping, the company must submit a detailed rectification report and handling opinions to the regulatory authorities to take the initiative."

Furthermore, we must find out who is behind this targeting of Tengda, and who is stirring things up and taking advantage of the chaos. We must figure out who our enemy is.

As the largest internet company in China, Tenda Group has always been a target of attention. Its recent high-profile launch of Weibo is bound to raise concerns among other internet companies.

The business world is like a battlefield, and others obviously wouldn't just stand by and watch Tengda continue to grow stronger. However, Song Ci didn't expect the other party to arrive so quickly, as their Weibo account had been online for less than a week.

"Damn it, a bunch of idiots, no sense of awareness at all!" After ending the call, Song Ci couldn't help but curse under his breath. He had only been away from the company for a few days, and this had already happened.

Because of their foresight, Tengda Group has enjoyed smooth sailing in recent years, leading to a complete lack of crisis awareness among the company's senior management.

Song Ci sighed softly. This photo incident will definitely have a negative impact on the company, but it has also served as a wake-up call for Tengda's senior management. It can be considered a lesson learned.

At the same time, I should also reflect on myself and train the emergency response capabilities and crisis awareness of senior management so that I won't be caught off guard when such a thing happens while I'm not at the company.

It was already midnight, but the Tengda Group headquarters in the Beiping Modern Center Building was still brightly lit. All the senior executives in Beijing had been woken up from their sleep and rushed to the company for an emergency meeting.

In the conference room, Zhang Yong's expression was extremely solemn as he asked Liu Yan, "Mr. Liu, how much more time will it take to clean up the risky accounts and illegal information on Weibo?"

Liu Yan stammered and gave a vague answer: "It will probably... take a few more hours."

"Don't give me an approximation, I need a precise time. The chairman is still in the US waiting for my news. How am I supposed to report to him like this? When exactly will this be resolved?"

Zhang Yong's voice suddenly rose, his tone carrying an undeniable sternness.

Liu Yan's forehead was sweating with nervousness, and he said tremblingly, "There are still newly registered users posting, and new pictures are constantly being generated."

Zhang Yong made a decisive decision: "Then temporarily close new user registration and prohibit all users from posting. In this situation, we must take decisive measures to prevent the situation from deteriorating further."

Liu Yan looked conflicted: "This is too much of a move. Won't it have a bad impact? If we don't allow posting and interaction, the user experience will be terrible."

Zhang Yong slammed his fist on the table and said, "You fool! Can't you see now that this is a premeditated and planned malicious incident aimed at destroying Weibo?"

I don't want to elaborate on the country's attitude towards these three major problems, but if those photos are allowed to spread unchecked, the consequences will be unimaginable.

Upon hearing this, Liu Yan tensed up instantly and hurriedly replied, "Yes, yes, I will inform them immediately and do as you say."

Zhang Yong nodded and instructed, "Wait until Weibo has cleaned up all the abnormal accounts and illegal information before opening up new user registration."

At the same time, all departments must closely monitor their own products, conduct thorough screenings, and resolutely prevent similar incidents from occurring.

"We know!" "Understood, Mr. Zhang." Everyone responded in unison.

"Then the meeting is adjourned. Get to work as soon as possible." After saying this, Zhang Yong waved his hand weakly, signaling the group of senior executives to leave and get to work.

Everyone left the meeting room and went straight to their respective departments to get busy.

Zhang Yong sat at the conference table and sighed helplessly. The chairman had only been away from the company for three days, and such a thing had happened on Weibo. He had truly failed in his duty.

He was at a loss for how to face the big boss. He hoped that Weibo could weather this storm, otherwise, if things got really bad, it would be bad for everyone.

At four in the morning, Zhang Yong, who had been up all night, was racking his brains about how to write the report to be submitted to the regulatory authorities at dawn.

Suddenly, there was a rapid knocking on the door.

"Come in," Zhang Yong called wearily. As soon as Liu Yan pushed the door open and entered, he immediately asked, "How did it go?"

Liu Yan, who had run all the way here, was breathing heavily. He took a breath before replying, "President Zhang, all the abnormalities have been cleared up."

Upon hearing the good news, Zhang Yong let out a sigh of relief: "It's finally resolved. I'll report to General Manager Song right away."

The call connected instantly, and Song Ci's authoritative voice came through: "Have the photos on Weibo been processed?"

"Yes, Mr. Song."

"Old Zhang, is Liu Yan in front of you?"

"Yes, Mr. Song."

"Turn on speakerphone," Song Ci commanded.

Zhang Yong quickly turned on the hands-free function, and Song Ci then asked, "Has the whole story been investigated?"

Liu Yan replied, "President Song, it was due to the laxity of the back-end review staff. They acted on their own initiative, initially thinking that photos of celebrities would definitely attract users, so they neglected to manage it. In addition, some people targeted and maliciously spread the photos, causing them to flood Weibo."

Song Ci scoffed: "Relaxation! Negligence! Do you think I'd believe such nonsense? Do you think user development needs to be considered by security auditors? Are you trying to fool idiots with such illogical statements?"

The three consecutive questions left Zhang Yong and Liu Yan dumbfounded!

Zhang Yong's face was grim, and he said incredulously, "President Song, are you saying there's a mole in the company, that someone paid off the back-end auditors to deliberately let the photos spread?"

"Otherwise what! This is the real business war!" Song Ci's voice carried a hint of coldness.

"In business competition, nothing is impossible. We must always be vigilant in order to remain invincible in this war without gunpowder."

Liu Yan was furious that there was a traitor in his own department. He said, "I'll call the police immediately and have the person taken into custody."

Zhang Yong nodded, his tone firm: "Yes, we must take action immediately."

"Let's leave it at that for now. When I get back, the whole company needs to conduct an internal review. Lao Zhang, please prepare the report for the regulatory authorities as soon as possible and send it to my email. I need to review it."

Thinking of that report, Zhang Yong felt a headache coming on and had no choice but to reply, "Okay, Mr. Song."

"Also, find out who did this as soon as possible. I want to know the results when I get back to China. Tengda Group will never be beaten without fighting back!"

The Song Dynasty poems are chilling and incredibly dignified; some people underestimate the true value of the list of the top ten richest people.

(End of this chapter)