Take it if it's free

"How can I not be worried?" Lei Hui frowned. "This incident has blown up so badly—it’s bound to damage his reputation."

"Boss, don’t forget, Boss Lin Xuan himself is more than capable of handling such a trivial matter," the secretary reminded him. "And even if he can’t, there’s still Boss Su to back him up."

"Right, right."

Lei Hui’s tightly knitted brows gradually relaxed.

After calming down slightly, he began carefully scrolling through the barrage of hateful comments targeting Lin Xuan. When he came across a particularly scathing remark from one of Lin Li’s fans, an idea struck him.

"This kind of publicity is too good to waste."

It was the perfect opportunity to promote their company’s upcoming TV series—and especially Wolf Warrior.

No need to spend extra on marketing.

"Little Liang," Lei Hui said with a grin, "go ahead and stir the pot. The bigger the uproar, the better—especially if it rallies people to boycott Wolf Warrior."

When the truth eventually came out, the backlash would be spectacular.

And Wolf Warrior wouldn’t even need much promotion after this.

"General Manager, you’re…?" The secretary was baffled by Lei Hui’s intentions.

"Learned it from the boss."

A sly smirk curled at Lei Hui’s lips. "This free publicity just fell into our laps—of course we’re going to make the most of it."

It would save the company a fortune in advertising costs.

He had a feeling Wolf Warrior’s box office performance would far exceed expectations.

The secretary instantly understood.

With a nod, she replied, "Understood, Manager Lei. I’ll arrange it right away."

Following orders, the secretary instructed the Douyin (TikTok) team to aggressively push Jiang Shuqin’s video.

Many viewers were left scratching their heads.

[The owner of Douyin is Lin Xuan himself. What’s going on? Instead of suppressing this damaging video, they’re actively promoting it?]

[I’m curious too. Maybe Lin Xuan has nothing to hide, so he doesn’t care if the video spreads?]

[Nothing to hide, my foot! Since when does a mother slander her own son? And wasn’t Lin Xuan’s disownment by the Lin family real?]

Meanwhile, Weibo reached out to Lei Hui.

[Manager Lei, rest assured, we’ve already taken the initiative to remove the negative hashtags about Lin Xuan.]

Good.

Better to act first than risk Lin Xuan hacking into Weibo’s backend again.

[Lei Hui]: No need to take them down. Let the hashtags trend as they should.

Weibo: ???

Are you sure?

But since Lei Hui had been entrusted by Lin Xuan to oversee Skyline Group’s operations, his word was as good as Lin Xuan’s.

Honestly, Weibo wasn’t about to pass up this kind of traffic either.

After getting Lei Hui’s confirmation, they immediately reinstated the trending topics.

"Big Sister."

In the office of Starlight Group’s Lin Qingwan, Lin Qingyan rushed in, phone in hand.

"It’s bad—look at these news reports!"

She handed the phone to Lin Qingwan, who had been immersed in drafting promotional plans for their company’s upcoming film and was unaware of the online storm.

Lin Qingwan took the phone, and her pupils shrank in shock.

"This…" Her face paled.

Why would Mom go to Skyline Group and do something like this?

Lin Qingyan fretted, "This scandal is going to ruin Xiao Xuan’s reputation. It might even land him in jail."

"Big Sister, should we clarify things for him?"

"No, we can’t." Lin Qingwan shook her head, murmuring, "If we refute it, wouldn’t that mean Mom was lying? She’d be thrown into the spotlight."

"But are we just going to stand by while Xiao Xuan gets attacked by everyone?" Lin Qingyan pressed her lips together.

Lin Qingwan’s mind buzzed with noise, utterly lost on how to handle this.

On one side was her birth mother; on the other, the younger brother she’d been desperate to make amends to.

Torn between them…

Lin Qingxiu, overhearing her sisters’ conversation, took the phone with a puzzled frown and skimmed through the posts.

"Big Sister, Second Sister, what’s there to hesitate about?"

She scoffed.

"Mom’s telling the truth. Maybe this will teach Lin Xuan a lesson."

"Xiu’er, Xiao Xuan isn’t the person you think he is," Lin Qingyan argued.

"Second Sister!"

Lin Qingxiu stared at her in disbelief. "I get Big Sister defending him, but you too?"

She remembered Lin Qingyan used to despise Lin Xuan the most in their family.

Lin Qingyan pressed her lips together. "I’ve just realized Xiao Xuan isn’t who I thought he was. He’s… actually a good person."

He had quietly done so much for her.

She’d been blind, overlooking his kindness all along.

"Good? How?" Lin Qingxiu sneered. "If he were so great, he wouldn’t have abandoned me during the car crash. And last time, because of him, I lost my job at the hospital!"

Lin Qingwan frowned.

She used to believe Xiao Xuan had left Xiu’er behind, but after getting to know him better, she realized he wasn’t that kind of person.

Xiao Xuan had a habit of jotting down even the smallest details in his diary. Maybe he’d recorded the truth about the accident.

She’d check when she got home.

If it was there, it might clear up Xiu’er’s misunderstanding.

And she’d show the diary to Dad and Mom.

Once they saw Xiao Xuan’s true character, maybe they’d welcome him back.

"Big Sister," Lin Qingyan pressed again, "have you figured out what to do?"

"I don’t know."

Lin Qingwan shook her head.

If they defended him, Mom’s reputation would suffer. She couldn’t do that.

She wanted a perfect solution, but none came to mind.

Her head throbbed.

Leaning on the desk, she massaged her temples.

Meanwhile, the online frenzy reached Lin Chang through his secretary.

Lin Chang skimmed the media comments and smirked.

Who knew Jiang Shuqin could be useful at a time like this?

The bigger the scandal, the better.

Lin Xuan had beaten him, ripped out his nails, and walked away unscathed—Lin Chang wasn’t about to swallow that.

If Jiang Shuqin’s theatrics could pressure the authorities into arresting Lin Xuan, even better. It’d be sweet revenge.

And let’s not forget, this uproar was free publicity for their company’s film.

This time, the entire internet was united in boycotting Lin Xuan and Skyline Group.

This time, Lin Xuan was truly finished.

Lin Chang sneered.

"Lin Xuan, you dare challenge your own father? How laughably naive."

He instinctively clenched his wine glass—only for a sharp pain to shoot through his hand.

"Ah—!"

His face twisted in agony.

How could he forget?

Lin Xuan had torn out his fingernails. Even the slightest movement was excruciating.