"So, what was the reaction to this announcement?" Ye Zhi asked.
"Of course, it was heavily criticized!" Zhan Ruoqing said gleefully. "Not long after this announcement was posted, there were already thousands of comments scolding them!"
Ye Zhi was stunned for a moment, then understood. It was Friday, and tomorrow was a holiday, so there were more people staying up late than usual.
"It seems this time Feitong's attempt to steer the narrative wasn't very successful."
"That's right! Feitong should think about how many times it's tried to steer the narrative," Zhan Ruoqing said with disdain. "Once or twice is fine, but if it happens too often, who will believe it? Do they really think everyone else is an idiot?"
After Zhan Ruoqing complained for a while longer, she hung up the phone.
Opening Zhiwei, Ye Zhi quickly scanned through it. As Zhan Ruoqing had said, all the comments were one-sided, accusing Feitong of deliberately diverting attention. The issue was clearly with them and the drop-off points, yet they wanted to use users as shields.
Ye Zhi put down her phone, finding it somewhat amusing. It seemed steering the narrative was becoming difficult, and Feitong's boss was likely going to lose sleep tonight. Moreover, the timing was terrible; Feitong's public image was likely to deteriorate further.
However, what did Feitong's situation have to do with her? Time to sleep.
As she had predicted, Feitong's situation worsened.
That announcement had thoroughly enraged users. Many people stayed up late to curse Feitong for most of the night. By the next day, another wave of users who woke up understood the situation and took over the scolding.
Due to the high level of attention, the servers of many forums crashed. Only the servers of the Zhiwei platform were robust enough, not even lagging. Instantly, many new users flooded into Zhiwei.
This unexpected outcome made Zhan Ruoqing beam with joy. She really hadn't expected the delivery war to end up benefiting Zhiwei so much.
However, Yang Xu was so troubled he was about to pull all his hair out. He couldn't understand why people were still scolding Feitong when they had already offered compensation. He just wanted a good reputation; why weren't people scolding the drop-off points instead of Feitong?
But Yang Xu soon realized he wouldn't have much time to dwell on this matter, as new troubles were brewing!
Companies like Sutong and Kaitong were brazenly poaching employees. Their stated reasons were fewer complaints and higher salaries! Many delivery personnel switched jobs, and this betrayal left Yang Xu in a state of utter chaos.
This wasn't the most problematic issue. What bothered him most was that Feitong's delivery personnel had suddenly stopped dropping off packages at the designated drop-off points and were instead depositing them at something called a "Fangxin Yizhan"!
Originally, he could skim quite a bit of profit from the delivery personnel. Now, the delivery personnel were giving the money to someone else – how could that be tolerated?!
Furthermore, quite a few drop-off points suddenly announced they were terminating their cooperation with Feitong. Yang Xu was in a panic. He dispatched people to investigate, and the results pointed to that "Fangxin Yizhan" again!
Yang Xu was furious. What was the background of this Fangxin Yizhan that it dared to go against him?! If he found out who was behind it, he would never let them off! But when he investigated...
Fangxin Yizhan turned out to be Zhan Ruofeng's?!
This discovery nearly drove Yang Xu insane!
"So, that's why things have been so difficult to manage. The person backstabbing me is actually one of our own!" He was determined to demand an explanation from Zhan Ruofeng!
However, Yang Xu knew very well that Zhan Ruofeng was not easy to deal with. So, after spending a few days gathering all the necessary information, he specifically convened all the investors. He was ready to deliver a fatal blow to Zhan Ruofeng!
The investors also didn't expect that in the past, their meetings were always about issues with Qianbai. Now that Qianbai was quiet, Feitong was causing trouble again.
However, since Yang Xu was actively seeking trouble, they wouldn't hesitate to be aggressive.
"Yang Xu, what's going on? Feitong's online reputation is so bad right now, and instead of finding a solution, you're calling us to a meeting?"
"Feitong has such a high rate of lost packages, how can you expect us to entrust Qianbai's self-operated logistics to you?"
...
Facing the investors' questioning, Yang Xu said with grief and indignation, "Everyone, it's not that I don't want to solve these problems. It's just that someone is secretly colluding with Taoxun and deliberately targeting Feitong, and this person is right here in this meeting room!"
The investors were in an uproar. Was Yang Xu saying there was a mole among them?
"Everyone, please take a look!" Yang Xu distributed a thick stack of documents. As he watched everyone start to examine them, he said indignantly,
"This suddenly emerged Fangxin Yizhan has squeezed out a large portion of Feitong's drop-off points! Now, many drop-off points have converted to Fangxin Yizhan and are no longer cooperating with Feitong.
Moreover, Fangxin Yizhan deliberately opened locations in areas where Feitong's business is concentrated. This is directly competing with Feitong for business. It has also poached many of Feitong's delivery personnel. Many delivery personnel have now switched to working for Fangxin Yizhan, causing a shortage of staff for Feitong. All of this is Fangxin Yizhan's doing!
Everyone, Feitong and Qianbai are closely linked. If Fangxin Yizhan is causing trouble for Feitong, it is undermining Qianbai's self-operation plan and helping our enemy, Taoxun!
Mr. Zhan, since Fangxin Yizhan was created by you, shouldn't you explain this to everyone?!"
Everyone looked at Zhan Ruofeng in surprise. Was there such a thing?
Zhan Ruofeng's expression was calm. He sighed in disappointment, "Mr. Yang, I didn't expect you to be so confused about friend and foe. I was clearly helping you."
"W-what?" Yang Xu was completely stunned.
"Fangxin Yizhan solves the last mile of express delivery. Feitong now has a high rate of lost packages and a poor reputation. If Fangxin Yizhan takes over, doesn't that perfectly solve Feitong's worries?
As for the site selection for Fangxin Yizhan, we chose locations with the highest rate of lost packages for Feitong. This is to salvage Feitong's reputation and provide Feitong with better options!
Furthermore, Fangxin Yizhan has not poached Feitong's delivery personnel. We cooperate with all experienced delivery personnel. However, Feitong's delivery personnel are indeed the most numerous. Shouldn't this prompt Mr. Yang to reflect on whether there are any issues with internal management?"
Yang Xu was dumbfounded. So, he was supposed to thank Fangxin Yizhan and Zhan Ruofeng, wasn't he? He had never seen anyone twist the truth so much!
Fortunately, he was prepared!
"But your Fangxin Yizhan also accepts packages from Sutong, Yuantong, and even Shunda!" Yang Xu said angrily.
Zhan Ruofeng smiled, "Are you saying, Mr. Yang, that Fangxin Yizhan can only make money from Feitong and not from other companies, especially Shunda?"
Yang Xu, in a fit of rage, exclaimed, "But you had dinner with Ye Zhi in private! I saw it with my own eyes! You must have other intentions towards her and want to use Feitong to win her favor!"
The investors: ...
Although Yang Xu's current demeanor was akin to a primary school student tattling, ...
Why hadn't they thought of that?
While they couldn't take down Taoxun, they could find a way to win over Taoxun's boss.