The assistant quickly bought Paid Internet Trolls and released various dirt on Xu Zifan. Speeding, alcoholism, clubbing, a chaotic private life, looking down on the poor, etc. Each of these could easily stir up public resentment. The term "rich second generation" itself is easy to associate with bad things. Now, this seemingly true and false information was released on a large scale, making it seem like real things, and immediately attracted widespread attention.
Although Xu Zifan is a highly intelligent person, he is still mostly just a passerby online. After seeing this information, many "rational passersby" started to analyze it.
[Flies don't land on eggs without cracks; Xu Zifan is usually so arrogant, I think it's probably true.]
[Are your eyes that sharp? You can tell it's fake at a glance? This is clearly a fabrication and slander. Do you have any evidence? If you're so capable, show me the solid proof. If you're helping Xu Zifan, you'll be getting a lawyer's letter!]
[ Why are Xu Zifan's fans so die-hard? What has he given you? Does he expect you to fawn over him just because he slipped something between his fingers?]
[Don't think like that about others just because you're a bootlicker. Zifan is incredibly charming, we just love him! Stop talking without evidence! Xu Zifan, come out and confront them!!! Stop hiding away, we miss you so much! Show your face! Take a selfie! Yao Kexin's sister-in-law, post a nine-grid photo of Brother Fan!!!]
Xu Zifan and Yao Kexin's fans have weathered many storms and are incredibly resilient, fearlessly facing any challenge head-on. They've been fans of Xu Zifanfor a long time, and many have even met Immortal Master fans; how could they not know who theysupport? If solid evidence were to surface, they'd be blind; but since there's no evidence yet, they won't allow anyone to spread such rumors.
Paid Internet Trolls are not afraid of making things worse, and their scandals keep piling up. Their fansare just as fierce, fighting back to keep up with them. Moreover, the fans especially like Xu Zifan, and they are happily calling for him to show up and post selfies, and asking Yao Kexin for handsome photos of Xu Zifan. They don't seem to care about the haters at all, and seem to want to use this opportunity to bring Xu Zifan out of the shadows.
Xu Zifan actually showed up, posting on Social Media Platform: "[My girlfriend's first movie is coming out in a week. You all know what to do, right? Follow my girlfriend and retweet this Social Media Platform post for a chance to win one of 666 lucky fans. Each winner will receive two movie tickets + 1000 RMB for food (going to the movie doesn't necessarily mean eating out; you can use this money to buy more tickets and take your relatives and friends to see it too). By the way, who's trying to sabotage me? Watch out, if I find out who you are, I'll ruin you! I'm accepting reports. Whoever finds out who this person is, report them to me. If it's confirmed, there's a 5 million RMB reward."]
Xu Zifan rarely makes public appearances, yet he helped promote Yao Kexin's movie. Yao Kexin's fansand their shippers are absolutely thrilled! Hackers andPaid Internet Trolls with some skill are also itching to expose Xu Zifan – they could get five million for doing that! Anyway, Yao Kexin... Fan base surged again, withXu Zifan's Social Media Platform being retweeted more times than top-tier male celebrities. The hashtags #SupportYaoKexinWithMyFamily and#FindXuZifanHatersWithFiveMillions quickly becamethe top two trending topics, both marked with the word "explosive."
Upon seeing this, Xu Hao immediately asked his assistant to find an Advanced The hacker erased all traces of the assistant's contact with Paid Internet Trolls and remained on standby to ensure his side remained undetected. With the hacker in place, the assistant became much bolder and began having people stream pornographic content on Zifan Live, intending to report them. However, these streams were blocked within two minutes of starting; his attempts failed several times. Zifan Live even posted a notice on its homepage: "[Recently, we have discovered attempts to conduct pornographic or illegal live streams. We are monitoring them closely and welcome reports from our viewers. A successful report will earn a 100 RMB reward. We are determined to eliminate all live streams that harm everyone's mental health. Please join us in monitoring this!]"
The announcement immediately garnered widespread praise. There are other live streaming platforms online, so why is Zifan Live so popular? It's because it gives off a high-end feel. Other platforms have all sorts of pornographic, violent, and obscene content—the good, the bad, the filthy—but Zifan Live is different. They ban accounts immediately upon discovery and even offer rewards to encourage reporting. That speed and attitude are top-notch!
The idea of posting the notice came from Xu Zifan. When he initially designed the live streaming platform, he wrote code to constantly monitor all text. If an account posted ten prohibited words, it would be banned. If ten prohibited words appeared in the chat of a live stream, the entire live stream would be immediately banned and sent for a more thorough review. If the reviewers confirmed there were no issues, the bans would be quickly lifted, causing no real problems. This is why Xu Hao's assistant was at a loss.
While the professional manager was reporting the situation to Xu Zifan, he wrote another program and sent it over, saying, "Just say that the live streaming platform has been maliciously targeted and will be shut down for a few hours to replace the program. Tell the technicians to add this in. Each account must be bound to a mobile phone number and ID card for authentication, otherwise it will be invalid. Limit the online time of the account according to the year of birth on the ID card. This is to protect the physical and mental health of minors and the elderly to the greatest extent. You should find a way to publicize this."
The manager said to Dao with some concern: "This will drive many customers to other platforms."
"No, anyone with a brain knows which one is better.Our platform is becoming more and more advanced in every aspect, and the number of users will only increase. We're not afraid of trouble or expense, we're just afraid of being low-quality!"
Having witnessed Xu Zifan's capabilities, the managerreadily agreed and quickly convened a company meeting, outlining the tasks one by one. Once the technical department was ready, they notified all users that the live streaming platform would be shut down for two hours, explaining the specific reasons. Initially, many people complained, criticizing them for having nothing better to do and creating such a hassle. However, when the time came, the live streaming platform shut down and quickly upgradedits system.
Users on social media platforms were in an uproar over this issue, with half thinking it was troublesome, useless, and a waste of time, while the other half thought it might be a better approach.
At least the idea is good, and some minors are complaining about having no human rights, even being restricted from watching live streams. However, not many people support this; the general public still believes that it's better for minors to focus on their studies. Before they finished arguing, Zifan Liveupdated, along with a new page skin that looks much better than before, and even gave each user a 10 RMB red envelope.
Although many people still criticized the binding of mobile phone numbers and ID card numbers as unsafe, too troublesome, and unnecessary, the offer of a red envelope as compensation swayed most people to their understanding. Not many people verified their identities on the first day, but the number increased significantly the next day. A week later, when the manager saw that user activity had only decreased slightly, he was truly relieved and deeply admired Xu Zifan's boldness and foresight.
At this time, Zifan Live's official Weibo account posted a photo of a lawyer's letter: "[Upon discovering that someone was maliciously targeting Zifan Live, we immediately reported the incident to the police. Now that we have located those individuals attempting to illegally stream, we will pursue legal action to protect our rights.]"
In the end, such cases usually only result in an apology and compensation, and the compensation is minimal, perhaps even less than the lawyer's fees. However, by adopting this attitude, Zifan Live gives the impression that they are not to be trifled with, subconsciously making people take the incident more seriously. For example, the term "malicious sniping" didn't attract much attention when it was mentioned last time, but now it's trending on social media and sparking heated discussions.
Many people are speculating about who's targetingZifan Live. Initially, people suspected other live streaming platforms, with some even developing detailed theories. These other platforms aren't as successful as Xu Zifan, and it's also known that... Xu Zifan, true to his nature, quickly issued a statement claiming that netizens' speculations were pure fabrication and that they had never done such a thing. This statement was both laughable and speechless; it was the first time netizens had seen someone jump out so quickly to issue a statement disclaiming all responsibility, especially since several live-streaming platforms had issued statements. Many jokingly remarked that Xu Zifan had intimidated them.
Several platforms issued statements, and while netizens didn't necessarily believe them all, they started speculating, connecting the malicious attacks on the live-streaming platforms with the recent attacks on Xu Zifan. They further speculated that someone was targeting Xu Zifan, trying to ruin his reputation and career! Netizens always seem to have a knack for guessing the truth, which is also related toXu Zifan's subtle guidance; in any case, they're pretty much right about it!
As soon as this speculation came out, people had an instinctive skepticism about the rumors about Xu Zifan. They were no longer half-believing and half-doubting as before, but most people were inclined to be skeptical. They said they would not believe it until they saw solid evidence and would not be used as pawns.
Xu Hao's assistant's first attempt to harm Xu Zifanfailed, but he wasn't discouraged and moved on to the second. He criticized Xu Zifan for lacking perseverance, being only enthusiastic for a short time, and being irresponsible. He handed over the live streaming platform to professional managers after it was launched, abandoned the esports club after it was established, and didn't even show up during their recent domestic competitions, showing no concern whatsoever, making him completely unreliable. And what about the two labs he set up, researching high-tech smart products and new drugs? Who does he think he is? Researching these things is clearly a rash decision, throwing all his money down the drain.
Paid Internet Trolls mocked Xu Zifan for watching too many science fiction movies, saying he squanders his money, can't see the beggars on the street, can't see the poor children in the mountains, and can't see how many people in the world need help. He just throws his money away without even knowing how to do charity. Where is his humanity?
Some people enjoy moral blackmail, especially when it comes to the wealthy doing charity. It's as if whoever has more money should help the poor, and not helping is considered cold-blooded and inhumane. Their logic is, "You have so much money, you can't possibly spend it all, right? You can eat, drink, be merry, and indulge in wasteful spending, but can't you help others?"
After the assistant's post about being kidnapped by Tao, it actually garnered a lot of support. Keyboard warriors also joined in the discussion, debating whether Xu Zifan's frequent reposting and giveaways, and how he gives away so much money just to promote a movie, would be more meaningful if he did more charity work. Compared to donations, his extravagant spending on reposting and giveawaysonly made those in need seem more pitiful.
Furthermore, there's a general consensus that Xu Zifan lacks perseverance and doesn't seem to care much about his own career, which is quite irresponsible. Also, his decision to set up a lab is truly bizarre and incomprehensible. Looking at it this way, he seems like a rich second-generation heir who recklessly squanders money!
Xu Hao was somewhat satisfied to see this direction of public opinion, and praised him for his reasonableness, saying, "Continue, it would be best if something happened to his live stream and team, to prove just how many people his irresponsibility has hurt."
"Yes, Chairman!"
The assistant's next step was to try and contact the players on Xu Zifan's esports team. However, once they started doing so, they discovered that this method was incredibly difficult to implement. The players, seemingly under some kind of spell, held Xu Zifan in extremely high esteem, calling him the king of esports and their most admired figure. They wouldn't do anything to harm him in the slightest. They wouldn't even accept money— was Xu Zifan short of money? Would he offer them less? Even their families wouldn't accept this, because Xu Zifan had considered character when initially selecting players, not only their integrity but also their families' circumstances. It's fair to say that Xu Zifan, having weathered many storms, was extremely cautious in every aspect.
Several players who had been in contact with him immediately told Xu Zifan about it. Although Xu Zifanwasn't playing with them in the competition, they maintained regular contact and he still assigned them training tasks every day. Upon hearing this, he just smiled and said, "Someone's giving us free publicity. That's great!"