Chapter 148: The Final Blow!

Hearing his eldest sister's words, Chu Lin smiled and said into the phone, "Young Master Tu, I will remember this favor. I'll invite you over for tea in a few days."

He did not say much more.

He also knew that Tu Shanyue was after the Atlantis sea-sponge.

Therefore, once this matter concluded, he would simply give two pieces to the other party to repay this favor.

"Alright then, I'll await Mr. Chu's call," Tu Shanyue said with a smile.

After chatting for a while, the two hung up.

Shortly after, Chu Lin called Julie to inquire, "Julie, how are things with the people you've contacted on your end?"

After all, it would take a massive effort for Julie and her team to persuade people one by one.

Fermenting overnight, the trending popularity clearly exceeded her imagination. Moreover, this level of popularity had completely surpassed the agreement she had made with the other party regarding extra payments.

In any case, the reputation of Linyao Cooking Wine was thoroughly ruined; any internet user who came across anything related to Linyao Cooking Wine felt compelled to leave a few abusive comments.

"Congratulations, Luo Yan," the assistant said with a smile.

Before long, the assistant added, "Luo Yan, the other party has paid promptly, and the funds will arrive momentarily."

After hanging up, Chu Lin discussed the specific legal representation matters with his eldest sister.

Isn't there a very famous commentator named so-and-so who acts like this? How many times has he played dead, pretending to know nothing?

She pulled out out-of-context remarks; the profile picture was indeed Momo's, and clicking on it led straight to Momo's homepage.

"But I've been threatened! That Momo said if I don't delete the video, she'll make me pay!"

Such a person would undoubtedly be a premium client for their law firm.

Luo Yan hung up the phone and immediately said to her assistant, "Our follower count has now surpassed 2.7 million. Let's deliver the final blow to that Momo right now, and let our followers completely break the 3 million mark."

Julie persuaded, "Mr. Chu, we are aware of how your video was slandered and smeared. Therefore, we are willing to help you with the lawsuit, and all the expenses incurred from filing will be covered by us. Since you suffered defamation and emotional distress, the court will surely order the other party to pay compensation for mental anguish, and all of that will go to you."

Whether there was compensation or not, he didn't care. He had already been immensely angered, and being able to sue Luo Yan to vent his pent-up frustration was what mattered most.

Soon, the assistant contacted the other party and brought up the matter of the extra traffic and popularity.

"Process the video and upload it, then let's head to the Bentley 4S dealership!" Luo Yan smiled triumphantly.

Luo Yan had specially put on a pathetic makeup look, applying a few drops of eyedrops to make herself look as though she had been crying.

She sat in front of the camera looking pitiful and fragile, and said sorrowfully yet resolutely to the lens, "There is something I must share with everyone. I previously tested the effects of Linyao Cooking Wine, and the results are plain for everyone to see."

For a product, this was simply unbelievable.

Once upon a time, Zhang San accidentally went viral over some keyboard warrior incident, gaining traffic and attention. Then a team noticed him, packaged him, and began legally and righteously acting as keyboard warriors regarding all sorts of news events.

Time passed.

"Understood." Hearing this, the assistant immediately took out the equipment, aimed it at Luo Yan, and prepared to shoot.

As the situation fermented overnight, Luo Yan's food-testing video grew increasingly popular.

Early the next morning.

The supervisor immediately understood Chu Yan's intentions: "Chu Yan, wait a moment. I'll assemble a team for you right away to handle this case properly."

"Such high traffic! Contact the other party for the payment!" Luo Yan said excitedly to her assistant nearby. "Once I get this money, I can make the down payment on a Bentley. My follower count grew by another 400,000 overnight. Once this whole thing is over, I'll also be a major internet celebrity, and I can easily afford the loan repayments."

With the joining of these people, more individuals were guided, and out of nowhere, the incident soared to the number one spot on the trending charts.

These people were also playing the role of righteous crusaders, and all kinds of videos smearing Linyao Cooking Wine began to appear:

As the mastermind behind the whole affair, Luo Yan naturally kept a close eye on developments.

And just like that, they became internet celebrities.

As long as the traffic was high enough, a single live-streaming sales session in the future could earn her half a year's previous income.

This person was named Chu Han, and he happened to be a male fan of Momo.

To give a simple example, Zhang San was a typical internet keyboard warrior who loved to chime in on every single matter.

"Don't worry, I will definitely take care of it. We've been friends for so many years, would I lie to you? Please help me process the paperwork as soon as possible..."

"Alright, alright, I'll go check out the cars later..."

Chu Yan arrived at the law firm, met her supervisor, handed him a stack of case files, and said, "Supervisor, I can't handle all these cases by myself."

The reason people are arrogant and utterly unbridled is simply because they do not know what kind of consequences they will face.

"Well, you've all worked hard. Once this matter is over, I'll issue bonuses," Chu Lin said generously, dangling a carrot.

Julie's side did not waste a single moment either, quickly locating the very first person who had posted a video.

In reality, while people like this were called internet celebrities, in a sense, they were merely high-level keyboard warriors.

Hiring Chu Yan in the first place had truly been the right choice; this was the equivalent of thirty retainer fees for senior-level lawyer representation from a single case.

Therefore, in the influencer circle, the current level of popularity was at its peak. This made many bloggers and influencers who survived on commenting about news events turn green with envy, and they also began posting videos to ride the wave of popularity.

The supervisor took a look and was immediately astonished. There were over thirty cases in total here, and every single one of them was employing senior lawyer representation—the crucial point being that they were all specifically suing the exact same person.

"I know that bars are a mixed bag of fish and dragons, full of shady characters from society, but even faced with threats, for the sake of justice in my heart, I will not compromise or be afraid..."

And once the situation reversed, these people would surely delete their videos and start playing dead.

The crucial part was that this client was actually willing to use the legal system to solve the problem.

Moreover, combined with the traffic Chu Lin had previously poured into supporting Momo, and the traffic poured in by the people behind Luo Yan to smear Linyao Cooking Wine, the popularity of this incident skyrocketed directly to the top of the rankings.

Chu Yan did not waste much time; she quickly signed the case representation contract with Chu Lin and immediately began preparing the documents.

"This is the message she sent; let me show everyone."

"Truly, a product must be grounded in facts. It cannot engage in exaggerated publicity like Linyao Cooking Wine. Such tactics are truly cheap."

"I was actually looking forward to Linyao Cooking Wine since I'm someone who loves to cook, but honestly, I have zero desire for it now."

"It's not to say that Linyao Cooking Wine couldn't possibly sell for 100 yuan, but they must be out of their minds for money!"

...

On the internet.

She failed to understand a fundamental truth.

How many products wished to advertise, spending vast sums of money just to get noticed, yet never achieved this level of traffic?

Yet coincidentally, these individuals all had quite a few followers, and combined, the number was considerable.

How could Chu Han hesitate at such a moment?

After the champagne was popped, they began to celebrate. Especially after the funds arrived, Luo Yan made a phone call and said, "Manager Chu? Yes, it's me. Is the Bentley model I had my eye on still available?"

With the video shooting finished, the assistant gave her a thumbs-up. "Luo Yan, your emotional performance just now was so good, simply amazing! Once this video comes out, that Momo is completely finished."

As long as she had enough followers, whenever any domestic brand launched a new product and she leaked the news, the other party would willingly deliver hush money to her doorstep. Naturally, she could then proceed to sell goods through live-streaming.

These people were all pretty much the same.

Every time a trending event occurred, they would swarm like flies smelling rotting meat, rushing forward simply to ride the coattails of the trend.

Julie's voice came through: "Boss, we split up and have already made appointments with several people. We are currently on our way to meet them."

Wasn't this refusal to stop until someone was sent behind bars?

The crucial thing was that many of these cases were handled through private criminal prosecution; clients like this were undoubtedly fabulously wealthy.

They didn't care whether the matter was righteous or not; securing traffic and views came first.

That was where the real fortune lay.

Right now, all these various reasons surrounding the newly released Linyao Cooking Wine had somehow converged, getting smeared to such astronomical heights of popularity that it was simply unbelievable.

They would feign ignorance until the storm passed, and then become active again.

"As long as the other party pays promptly, that's fine. Let's also open a bottle of champagne to celebrate," Luo Yan instructed her assistant with a smile.

Doing all of this—food testing and what-not—was ultimately just to attract followers and profit from them. Talk of justice or exposing conscience-less products were all mere excuses.

He also understood that his client was extremely anxious. He felt he should pay a visit to his former leader, especially to have a word with the police department to prioritize filing the case and submitting the materials to the court.

The headlines before this were either national news or celebrities collapsing and earthquakes striking.

Blinded by greed, walking crooked paths would always lead to trouble.

Soon, Luo Yan uploaded the video to the internet and happily headed to the car dealership with her assistant.