Chapter 146: Lin Yao is out of cooking wine!

Seeing Wu Ying's anxious expression, Cai Yao asked in confusion, "Xiao Ying, what happened? Why are you in such a panic?"

Wu Ying hurriedly explained, "Sister Yao, didn't you ask me to keep an eye on how our cooking wine is doing online? After the promotional event was announced, the momentum was really good and the popularity kept rising, but suddenly something went wrong. Someone started smearing our cooking wine, and now the situation seems to have completely reversed."

With that, she took out her phone, opened a video, and handed it to the two of them.

It was a video that had already gone viral and hit the trending lists.

The title read: *Linyao Cooking Wine is really good at hype. Their cooking wine is nowhere near that good; it's just nightlife-background internet celebrities taking money to lie with a clear conscience! The manufacturers are just paying people for publicity! All those praising Linyao Cooking Wine are just paid shills!*

The video had been posted by an internet celebrity food reviewer named Luo Yan.

In the video, Luo Yan, wearing a heavy filter that distorted his appearance, said with absolute certainty, "Hello everyone, I am your food reviewer Luo Yan. In each episode, I expose a product that insults everyone's intelligence, and today the product I'm reviewing is Linyao Cooking Wine."

"Online orders are only something we will consider after expanding our production lines and increasing our capacity."

"What a paid shill, aren't you afraid your future child won't have an asshole?"

Comments calling Luo Yan a conscientious reviewer had gradually started appearing.

Later on, he found out that these internet celebrities speaking up were actually just doing things for money.

As someone who had been navigating the internet for so long, she was quite proficient at online maneuvers. It just so happened that this time, a boss had approached her, willing to spend money to stir up trouble.

"However, so as not to give Linyao Cooking Wine free advertising, the product has been censored."

He immediately posted a comment: "Linyao Cooking Wine has great results, creator please don't spread nonsense. Right now, it's completely impossible to buy it online."

Furthermore, this internet celebrity Luo Yan's video had skyrocketed to super-trending status, the kind where the whole internet knew about it. Even with her own small following and piggybacking on Momo's popularity, reaching such trending heights in this short span of time was a bit exaggerated.

Perhaps most of the cooking wine in her hands wasn't even their product, which was why she had to censor it.

"..."

Good products deserve to be known by everyone.

Other people spend money, and she gets to enjoy the hype.

"Lao He Heng is definitely tastier, the other one is just so much worse."

"???" Chu Heng was simply exasperated.

Thinking about the current landscape of cooking wine in Fujian, it didn't seem too hard to guess what was going on.

This was also a classic hype tactic—stepping on someone else to steal their thunder.

The assistant, however, expressed some worry, saying, "I'm just afraid that without solid evidence on our part, if the popularity gets too high, will it cause trouble?"

Luo Yan smiled and said, "Then we'll just have the other party transfer the remaining balance. If the engagement breaks records again, they agreed to give an extra bonus."

Seeing this video now filled her with absolute rage.

She was willing to spend any amount of money.

Those consumers were truly heartless. It was just a little bit of pork belly; if you can't afford it, don't buy it, but don't stir up trouble just because you wanted something cheap and bought it.

It was clear that they had also spent money on boosting the post through paid promotion. Seeing the wall of smear campaigns against Linyao Cooking Wine in the video, they definitely must have hired click farms as well.

Cai Yao looked at the video with a face full of anger, "This woman is simply talking nonsense. The participants in our event were just regular supermarket customers, not paid shills at all."

It was easy to tell that she was in a very good mood. After all, she got to spend someone else's money while hijacking their popularity. Because of her bashing of Linyao Cooking Wine and that girl Momo, this episode had netted her a substantial gain in followers.

Many such incidents had happened online before.

"Everyone, you see, this dish was made using Linyao Cooking Wine, and this dish was made using Lao He Heng Cooking Wine." As Luo Yan spoke, he acted almost as if putting on a show, stopping random passersby on the street to have them taste test the two dishes.

"..."

When Chu Lin and Cai Yao saw the video, their brows furrowed tightly.

This stuff was genuinely good. Using this cooking wine in his culinary efforts clearly made the dishes taste much better than usual.

It was obvious that their Linyao Cooking Wine had gone viral, and this sudden smear campaign was definitely stepping on the toes of other brands.

"As expected, no matter who it is, the harvesting of leeks is always on the way—though it may be late, it never misses."

The crux of the matter was that there were just too many brainless internet fans. Some actually believed it and flooded the comments to show their support, even feeling that the Shuangyang brothers were so pitiful, tricked by the manufacturers and then targeted by consumer complaints.

"Lao He Heng is delicious. I saw the internet promoting Linyao Cooking Wine and charging 100 yuan, but this is all it amounts to..."

The other party had taken money again to smear their Linyao Cooking Wine.

I'll ask Eldest Sister later if there's a way to put this person behind bars.

Luo Yan had many passersby taste-test, and the results were completely one-sided.

The reason he even knew about this internet celebrity was because of the Shuangyang brothers' pork belly incident.

It was a typical case of someone earning a monthly salary of 3,000 yuan while pitying the people whose hands got sore from harvesting leeks, yet being sold out and still helping count the money for others.

He could only sigh, helplessly deleting the video recommending Linyao Cooking Wine, and then disabling the comments.

When a person becomes popular, being smeared is normal. When a product becomes popular and poses a threat to others, being smeared is also normal. Whether driven by jealousy or conflicts of interest, it was always unavoidable.

Even if someone bought it at today's event and needed it mailed out, it wouldn't arrive now anyway. After all, courier services required unified dispatch, and for items like cooking wine, deliveries to farther places took two to three days.

"Isn't this just a dog kept by the Shuangyang brothers?" Chu Lin frowned slightly upon seeing the internet celebrity in the video.

As he spoke, Luo Yan actually pulled out a bottle of Linyao Cooking Wine with the branding completely blurred out.

"So that's how it is. I really thought Linyao Cooking Wine was good."

What the hell kind of online ordering?

Moreover, being able to smear them so quickly meant there was a very high chance they already knew the effects of their cooking wine and might have even tried it personally.

For them to conduct promotions, have the opponent try it, and react with such speed—it could only be someone currently in Fujian, and furthermore, the person might have even visited the event site.

Some people were speaking in riddles, insinuating that those who complained were just looking for trouble, not even knowing which principal to confront.

Therefore, he had proactively recommended it and posted a video online.

However, right after posting the comment, he received a notification: *Your comment has been deleted.*

The assistant beside him said, "Right now, this popularity has reached the client's initial requirement. If this keeps up, Linyao Cooking Wine is finished, or at least won't achieve anything for a long time."

"No wonder he spoke up for Linyao Cooking Wine."

What on earth is this?

Soon, however, he found that his notification box was flooded with comments—all responding to the video he had posted recommending Linyao Cooking Wine.

Yet, after going to the scene and personally experiencing the effects of Linyao Cooking Wine, he wasn't doing it for Momo anymore, but for the product itself.

He had originally gone to the event site for the sake of little sister Momo. A girl like Momo was truly his ideal type, the apple of his eye. If he could find a girlfriend like Momo, he would gladly shorten his life by 20 years.

"Everyone, you see, this is the actual test of Linyao Cooking Wine." With that, Luo Yan directly tossed the bottle of Linyao Cooking Wine into the trash can. "This is the most authentic situation. Linyao Cooking Wine is just an extremely ordinary cooking wine, nowhere near worth 100 yuan. It just shows that capital wants to harvest leeks, completely blinded by money. Products like this belong in the trash."

Clearly, public opinion was extremely unfavorable to Linyao Cooking Wine, and the hype was clearly growing stronger, overshadowing Momo's popularity. Luo Yan even seemed to be usurping Momo's spotlight.

Men were usually the ones seeking entertainment in bars, and many women harbored a natural aversion to women associated with nightlife.

"Therefore, let me remind a certain Momo who came from the nightlife scene: since you're lucky enough to be famous, you should watch your words and actions even more. Taking money to do someone's bidding will make people curse behind your back. And as for those shills helping promote Linyao Cooking Wine, you really shouldn't lose your conscience."

"So she was just a paid shill."

Among them, Luo Yan had the most malicious words.

Luo Yan looked at the backend data of the video with great satisfaction and said to the assistant beside him, "The engagement is growing very well right now. Momo's popularity has essentially played into my hands for free. The capital behind her is about to waste all their money."

In the video, Luo Yan, who had God knows what level of filters applied, said with absolute conviction, "Hello everyone, I am your food reviewer Luo Yan..."

Were these hired click farms?

...

"Damn it, this guy is talking utter nonsense." How could Chu Lin not understand what was going on?

Normally, they wouldn't get involved, but situations like this would prompt them to enter the battlefield.

Yet the result in the video was that those passersby all chose Lao He Heng as tastier after eating the two dishes.

In the video, Luo Yan had already brought people to set up a stall on the street, quite seriously cooking dishes using the two types of cooking wine, and finally plating two portions labeled with numbers.

"Huh, how come we didn't know about this?" Cai Yao was somewhat dumbfounded.

As a result, everyone who saw the comments section of her video believed it. Netizens were always blind. Luo Yan even exaggerated and smeared Momo's identity as a bar singer, labeling her a bar slut lacking in character, which further amplified some women's aversion to Momo.

"Suddenly the internet has been blowing up about Linyao Cooking Wine, saying how great it tastes, and some people claimed with certainty that they experienced it themselves. So, I ordered a bottle of Linyao Cooking Wine online to let everyone test it."

He had bought some pork belly sold by the Shuangyang brothers, and because he felt cheated and went to file a complaint, many internet celebrities had rushed to speak on behalf of the Shuangyang brothers at the time.

As long as there was money, they could be treated like dogs, forced to wildly praise an ugly person and make them out to be a beauty without even blinking an eye.

The crucial part was that this feeling of wielding absolute power felt amazing.

He just couldn't figure it out: he bought fake meat, meat that would make him sick if eaten, yet somehow it was his fault?

Wasn't it only natural to complain to whoever sold it to you?

Anyway, he had been furious at the time, directly blocking the Shuangyang brothers and swearing that spending another penny in their livestream room would make him a dog.

He carefully reviewed all the cooking wine brands; most of them wouldn't smear him just yet. Before he expanded his operations out of Fujian, no matter how much online traction he had, it wasn't enough to warrant such a hasty smear campaign.

She was naturally more than willing to do this.

She had taken all the products to Huaiyong Supermarket for the promotional event, so where would she have any leftover stock to sell online?

Besides, she hadn't even opened online ordering channels yet, had she?

Her current production volume wasn't even enough to meet Huaiyong Supermarket's subsequent supply demands.

Absolute nonsense.

"..."

Earlier, they had sent two thieves to prison.

"It seems you really can't trust internet celebrity products; older brands are much more resilient. The key is that Linyao Cooking Wine even has the nerve to sell for 100 yuan."

"???" Chu Lin was utterly dumbfounded. He asked Cai Yao, "Can our cooking wine already be ordered online?"

"To think I actually had some expectations; what a waste of anticipation."

However, it wasn't as if no one spoke up for Linyao Cooking Wine; Chu Heng was one such person.

In Anhui Province, inside a high-end residential complex...

Thousands of comments poured in all at once, instantly filling Chu Heng with uncontainable rage. But he quickly realized he couldn't delete them fast enough, nor could he reply to them all.

"What kind of quality can a cooking wine recommended by a nightlife slut have? That kind of woman only knows how to seduce, probably doing anything for money, maybe even sleeping with clients."

She could single-handedly influence a product's future, which meant she had to work even harder and become an even bigger internet celebrity.

Luo Yan chuckled at this and said, "What are you afraid of? Is it possible they'll actually sue us over something like this? Even if they really sue, we can just claim it's a difference in regional tastes. Is it a crime if I'm not used to the taste of dishes made with their cooking wine?"

"At worst, I'll just issue an apology post later. By then, everything will be a done deal anyway—I'll have the money, my follower count will have grown, and issuing an apology has no real loss. Followers are brainless anyway; with a bit of spin later on, I might even gain a persona of being accountable and willing to correct my mistakes."