In terms of business capability, Davis was inferior to Steve.
But in terms of tactics, Davis was much more formidable than Steve!
Especially when it came to timing, Davis had a knack for it.
He wouldn't miss such a great opportunity to make HM take the blame, take down HM, and also get himself a promotion and a raise!
Soon, another topic made it to the trending list:
[Unable to compete with Meiyou, HM hires hackers to infiltrate Meiyou's servers!]
This trending topic completely ignited the situation, causing a sensation across the entire network!
Netizens who were originally preparing for bed all perked up, fuming with anger.
These days, it was still the vast number of netizens who had the strongest sense of justice!
They all left comments in the comment section, cursing HM and boycotting HM.
Even HM's official Weibo account was flooded.
Some people even called HM's hotline to insult HM.
Initially, HM's customer service didn't take it seriously, but as the calls piled up, they were dumbfounded.
When they understood what was happening and saw the trending topic, they were collectively bewildered and quickly reported it up the chain.
It was already ten o'clock, and many of HM's senior executives had long since washed up and gone to bed.
After all, once people reached middle age, they really couldn't stay up late every day like young people.
Even Ulysse, HM's President for the Xiaguo region, was woken up by a call:
"What? Our HM is being slammed on the trending list?"
"Saying our HM can't compete with Meiyou, and even hired hackers to infiltrate Meiyou's servers?"
"And it failed? The damn hackers we hired were even caught?"
"And it's all trending, HM is being boycotted nationwide? Return rates are skyrocketing? Negative reviews are surging? Even the company hotline is jammed?"
"Fuck! What in the world is going on?"
Ulysse was bewildered, completely stunned.
He couldn't snap out of it for a long time!
In the middle of the night, they had long since gotten off work, gone home, and were sleeping.
They had no idea what had happened!
As a result, they were sitting at home, and trouble came from the sky!
And it was a super invincible big blame!
The kind that was directly welded on!
Ulysse's mouth twitched, and he felt terrible.
Other HM executives were also woken up in the middle of the night, their faces ashen, and they looked completely confused.
Many executives even thought that HM had truly done this!
After all, even if such a thing were to be done, it would be a secret operation.
It was normal for non-core executives not to know.
Even Ulysse suspected whether some idiotic subordinate had done this privately!
Thus, a video conference was convened, with all senior executives attending.
Ulysse's face was ashen:
"Who did this? Confess quickly! What a bunch of idiots, hiring hackers to infiltrate Meiyou's servers, that's fine, it was a good idea. But it failed! And failing is one thing, but you were caught red-handed! You guys are truly unbelievably stupid! Sigh!"
"Confess quickly, who exactly did it?"
Hearing this, all the senior executives fell silent.
Some even shook their heads directly:
"We didn't do it."
"Our department didn't do it either."
"None of you did it?" Ulysse frowned:
"At this point, assigning blame isn't the main priority; the main thing is how to solve the problem. Confess quickly, who did it? I won't pursue it!"
But still, no one admitted it.
Ulysse was furious and was about to erupt, but the Vice President couldn't help but say:
"President, for something this big, even if we were to do it, we would need your approval."
Ulysse nodded:
"You mean, we didn't do this at all? Someone is framing us?"
"Yes, actually, I already inquired just now, we really didn't do it!"
"I see!" Ulysse fell silent, then became even more furious:
"So, other companies couldn't compete with Meiyou, so they invaded Meiyou's servers, failed, got caught, and then directly pinned the blame on us HM, even arranging two trending topics to weld this blame onto us!"
"Yes, that's exactly it!"
The Vice President was also burning with rage:
"I strongly suspect that ZARA is the one who damn well did this!"
Other executives also spoke up:
"That's right! ZARA previously hired people to write smear articles, trying to discredit Meiyou, but the smear failed and they were boycotted by Xiaguo netizens. We seized the opportunity to make an issue of it, heavily hitting ZARA and causing ZARA's parent company to lose over 20 billion in market value. Now ZARA is making us take the blame, it's probably for revenge!"
"Yes, ZARA did this, and then made us take the blame for them, it's a classic two birds with one stone!"
Ulysse nodded:
"Makes sense. Davis, that son of a bitch, has always been shameless, he must be the one who did it! And he even made two trending topics, truly ruthless!"
"Yeah, we can't let this slide, we need crisis public relations as soon as possible."
"Right, if this continues, we HM will take the blame for ZARA, we HM will be boycotted by Xiaguo users for ZARA, we'll be wrongly accused to death!"
Listening to the words of the executives, Ulysse's face grew uglier:
"You're absolutely right, we need crisis public relations as soon as possible. Everyone think, what should we do about this? How should we handle crisis public relations?"
The executives all spoke up:
"Didn't ZARA buy trending topics? We'll buy them too!"
"Didn't they say we did it? We'll say they framed us!"
"We have no conflict with Meiyou, ZARA is the real culprit!"
"Right, if they buy two trending topics, we'll buy five!"
"Anyway, we didn't do it, so what the hell are we afraid of!"
"We also need to send a lawyer's letter, sternly condemning ZARA!"
"Not only send a lawyer's letter, but also report it directly to the police!"
Listening to these words, Ulysse nodded:
"Okay, act immediately! Xiaguo is the world's largest market. If we really take this blame, our HM will be ruined, and we might even have to withdraw from Xiaguo! We must clear our name, throw the blame back, and then weld it onto ZARA's head!"
"Yes!"
Soon, HM also took action.
HM's lawyer's letter immediately hit the trending list:
[Solemn Statement: HM has not hired hackers to infiltrate (Meiyou) servers.
All incidents are purely malicious defamation by a competitor, and HM has already reported it to the police.
We urge everyone not to believe or spread rumors.
Legal action will be taken against those who maliciously defame HM's reputation, and they will be held legally responsible!]
Not only was there a lawyer's letter, but also screenshots of the police report.
Netizens believed it, but not many.
After all, people had seen many lawyer's letters, but in the end, most of them just brought more trouble!
Then several more Weibo posts made it to the trending list:
[HM and Meiyou have no grievances; this incident was done by ZARA, maliciously framing HM!]
[ZARA hired hackers to infiltrate Meiyou but failed, then framed HM – what a brilliant move to kill two birds with one stone!]
[ZARA slandered Meiyou a few days ago, and now again hired hackers to infiltrate Meiyou's servers, truly shameless!]
Because HM was willing to spend money, and this incident was at the forefront of public attention, all these Weibo posts shot up to the top of the trending list.
For a while, netizens were all bewildered.
Regarding the infiltration of Meiyou's servers, ZARA said HM did it!
HM said ZARA did it!
Netizens didn't know who to curse anymore.
After some thought, clever netizens split into several factions: one continued to curse HM, believing HM was the mastermind.
Another part turned to curse ZARA, believing ZARA framed HM.
And yet another part simply cursed both sides, as neither was any good!
Watching this scene, Wang Yi smiled.
He hadn't expected ZARA's move to be so audacious, shifting the blame eastward, it was simply '6' (meaning awesome)!
Seeing the situation getting more serious, Song Sining sent Wang Yi a message:
"Boss, are we just going to watch? Do nothing?"
Wang Yi smiled:
"No, let those two dogs fight each other first, let them wound a thousand enemies while suffering eight hundred casualties themselves. Anyway, in the end, it's our Meiyou that will benefit!"
"Yes, because of tonight's trending topics, our Meiyou's user numbers have exploded! We gained over 2 million users today! Total users exceed 20 million and are still growing!"
Song Sining was thrilled:
"Today's revenue has also long surpassed 100 million, not far from 150 million!"
Wang Yi smiled:
"Very good, let them continue to fight like dogs, and we'll enjoy this wave of top-tier traffic!"
"What other good thing could be better than achieving Meiyou's success by stepping on two major international brands, ZARA and HM?"
"I hope they don't stop, let them keep tearing each other apart for a few more days, so we have traffic every day!"
But obviously, this was unrealistic.
However, even so, this wave of traffic was enough.
"Sining, have someone prepare the copy. When they stop fighting like dogs and the trending topics die down, we'll make our move!"
"Okay!" Song Sining smiled, the boss was the best at playing the traffic game!
This wave, Meiyou was destined to win big!
ZARA Headquarters.
"President, HM has made a move, arranging five trending topics at once. Public opinion has somewhat reversed, and many people suspect we did it!"
Davis waved his hand:
"No matter, continue to arrange people to fight with HM on Weibo!"
"Anyway, we will definitely be the winners in the end, heh heh heh."
Hearing this, Du Ke was a little confused.
'If this continues, it'll be at best a 50-50 split, or 60-40, how could the President be so sure of victory?'
'Could it be that the President has other tricks up his sleeve?'
Du Ke was suspicious about this, but he wouldn't ask out loud.
As an assistant, one had to know their place.
What comforted him was that as long as Davis didn't let anger get the better of him, his mind was very clear, and his methods were terrifying.
Especially the move of framing HM, it was simply brilliant, completely baffling HM.
Even though HM released five trending topics, a lawyer's letter, and reported it to the police, seventy percent of people still believed HM was responsible!
For no other reason than Davis struck first.
Many things, once a preconceived notion takes hold, it becomes difficult to dispel rumors or correct perceptions later.
Soon, ZARA also arranged a Weibo post.
[The middleman who hired the hackers has close ties with HM!]
Even though there was only one, it came with irrefutable evidence, carrying significant weight.
As a result, public opinion flipped again, and the situation HM had just recovered collapsed once more.
Over ninety percent of netizens believed HM was responsible.
After all, the evidence of the middleman had come out.
This infuriated HM, forcing them to continue the public opinion battle.
The two major brands bickered, carrying on until 1 AM before finally quieting down.
Firstly, it was too late, and everyone was asleep.
Secondly, both sides realized that continuing like this would yield no results, ultimately only benefiting Meiyou for free and providing Meiyou with traffic!
It was better to cease hostilities for now.
The night was deep, and netizens had all gone to sleep.
The popularity of several posts also continued to decline.
Wang Yi ignored these matters, checked the data reports after midnight, and then peacefully went to sleep.
Because of the mutual tearing between the two major brands, the Meiyou APP not only gained 2.5 million new users.
Online revenue also surpassed 160 million, with profits exceeding 100 million!
Adding in offline revenue, it could only be said they were raking in cash!
These days, the "pure desire" style summer clothing was selling well in the south, and "pure desire" style autumn clothing was selling well in the north.
Coupled with the impact of the trending topics, Meiyou's daily profit was around 100 million.
The 700 million capital gap for making mobile phones was almost earned back!
Once Zhenyou is launched and another wave of agent orders is arranged, the 700 million capital gap will be enough!
Even exceeded!
HM also monitored for a while longer, confirming that ZARA was no longer stirring up trouble, and then everyone went to sleep, though they arranged for people to monitor Weibo trending topics all night.
Any slight disturbance would be immediately reported to senior management.
On the other side, ZARA was brightly lit.
Du Ke looked at Davis:
"Boss, should we continue to arrange trending topics?"
Davis waved his hand:
"No need, everyone go back to sleep, and then tomorrow morning, wait to hear the good news."
"Good news?"
Everyone's eyebrows lifted with delight:
"The President has a new idea again!"
Davis, with a profound and mysterious demeanor, merely smiled without speaking.
Everyone left one after another, heading home.
Davis sat in the boss's chair, guarding the empty meeting room.
It wasn't until past 3 AM, in the dead of night, that he dialed a number:
"Act!"
Instantly, a series of actions began overseas!
By 4 AM, when HM's Xiaguo executives were sound asleep, a series of explosive news stories appeared on international social media!
[BBC: Unable to compete with Meiyou, HM hires hackers to infiltrate the opponent's servers, and is caught red-handed!]
[Ta Kung Pao: HM's hired hackers caught red-handed, faces widespread consumer boycott, performance may plummet to freezing point!]
[The Guardian: HM's hired hackers caught red-handed, suspected of criminal activity, may completely withdraw from the Xiaguo market!]
[United Times: Losing the world's largest market, HM may head towards ruin!]
Davis smiled slightly.
To use their own methods against them!
A few days ago, HM had done the same thing to ZARA!
By the time ZARA discovered the anomaly, the parent company's stock price had already plummeted!
Over 20 billion evaporated in one go, and Steve was dismissed because of it!
Now he was retaliating against HM Group in the same way!
Also launching a surprise attack in the middle of the night, also stirring up trouble in overseas markets!
The exact same routine, but it was just so effective!
As soon as such negative news broke, shareholders would definitely run for the hills first!
After all, he did it even more professionally than HM did back then, truly with pictures, truth, and even links!
Thus, that night, all of Xiaguo was asleep.
In the West, it was daytime, but a storm was brewing.
As soon as the news broke, HM's stock price instantly plummeted, with a drop even more terrifying than ZARA's!
After all, ZARA was only slandered and boycotted at the time, the extent was lighter, and the impact limited.
But this time, HM hiring hackers was suspected of criminal activity domestically!
Then the matter became serious.
It wasn't just a boycott by civilian consumers; perhaps even the authorities would impose penalties!
Predictably, HM Group's stock plummeted, dropping 10% in just half an hour.
The total market value plummeted from over 400 billion to just over 360 billion!
A staggering 40 billion evaporated!
Such a terrifying drop caused immense pain to HM Group's chairman and shareholders.
They decisively launched a series of measures, strongly intervened in the market, hoping to control the stock's decline.
But unfortunately, ZARA's parent company had already prepared thoroughly.
They seized the opportunity to unite with several capital giants, jointly suppressing HM's stock price and collaborating to profit!
So, after a series of operations by HM, the stock price briefly stopped falling, only to then plummet even more terrifyingly.
By the time Ulysse was startled awake by a call and learned everything, HM's stock price had already evaporated by over 50 billion!
Watching such a drop, Davis was in high spirits, so excited he couldn't sleep!
"Last time HM caused our parent company to lose over 20 billion in market value!
This time, I wiped out over 50 billion from HM's market value!
Completely avenged the parent company!
I bet the parent company's executives will personally reward me, ha ha ha!
Maybe I can even get another promotion and raise!"
Davis was in high spirits, already looking forward to an infinitely bright future!
Sure enough, before long, the parent company's chairman called:
"Davis, you did very well this time, exceptionally well. The board of directors unanimously decided to promote you! In addition to being President of ZARA's Xiaguo region, you will also become Vice President of ZARA's Asia-Pacific region!"
There was no denying, Davis handled this beautifully!
He directly wiped out over 50 billion in market value from a competitor!
Washing away past humiliation, with double the revenge!
It was f***ing awesome!
To achieve such a great feat, not giving him a promotion and raise would be indefensible!
Thus, Davis was directly promoted from President of the Xiaguo region to Vice President of the Asia-Pacific region!
Another level up!
"Thank you, Chairman! Thank you!"
Davis was incredibly excited, patting his chest and assuring:
"I will definitely redouble my efforts, never let down the Chairman and the board's kind regard, nor fail the parent company's nurturing of me. As long as I, Davis, am here, HM will absolutely not be able to turn the tables!"
"Good, very good!"
The Chairman's eyebrows lifted in delight:
"The parent company truly didn't pick the wrong person, you're much stronger than that good-for-nothing Steve, ha ha ha! I'm optimistic about you! Keep it up, do well, and you even have hope for Asia-Pacific Regional President in the future!"
"Yes, Chairman, I will certainly work hard!"
The call ended, and Davis was in high spirits:
"My luck has been great recently, just became President a few days ago, and now I'm Vice President of the Asia-Pacific region! It's even possible to join the parent company in the future!"
"The future is promising!"
"Must celebrate!"
Davis was in high spirits, driving home, full of confidence for the future!
He even felt that joining the parent company's senior management was only a matter of time!
However, HM's side was furious.
Ulysse, President of the Xiaguo region, was so angry his face turned purple:
"Well done, Davis, you actually copied my methods and stabbed me like this! And got promoted! You wiped out 50 billion in market value from HM, very good, I'll give you that you're ruthless!"
"But this can't be a tragedy for HM alone; even if we go down, we'll drag you ZARA with us!"
Ulysse snorted coldly, and decisively initiated a video conference with headquarters:
"Chairman, esteemed shareholders, this matter was my oversight, but it truly wasn't done by us. ZARA hired hackers to infiltrate Meiyou's servers and got caught. Fearing exposure, they maliciously framed us! Their aim was to collapse our market value!"
"What? It was like this?!"
The HM board of directors was enraged, all filled with indignation.
They were originally preparing to deal with Ulysse, but his words redirected everyone's anger towards ZARA.
Ulysse nodded:
"ZARA President Davis is this kind of scoundrel!
First framing us, then contacting the media, causing our stock price to plummet!
This whole plan, that guy had prepared it long ago! His goal was to retaliate against us.
After all, I dealt with their company the same way a few days ago!
Causing their stock price to plummet and their market value to evaporate by over 20 billion!"
For a time, everyone fell silent.
A few days ago, when Ulysse dealt with HM in this manner, everyone applauded and was extremely excited.
Some shareholders even planned to groom Ulysse to become the group's Vice President!
After all, such talent truly had boundless prospects and had to be a priority for development!
But who would have thought, the boomerang flew back too fast!
Ulysse's tactics were actually learned by Davis, and used against HM!
And he delivered a critical hit, directly wiping out over 50 billion from HM's market value!
How could this be justified?
HM's Chairman took a deep breath:
"Ulysse, you performed meritoriously in taking down HM previously, so let's consider this matter even, merits and demerits balanced. But I want to know, how do you plan to counterattack next?"
His position was saved! Ulysse breathed a sigh of relief:
"Chairman, I suggest we immediately counterattack and drag ZARA down with us! Directly expose on overseas social media that ZARA slandered HM, and that ZARA hired hackers to infiltrate Meiyou!"
(End of Chapter)