"Black-hearted boss, Gao Fei, give me back my hard-earned money!"
The loudspeaker repeatedly broadcast the message.
Vendors and elderly people practicing morning exercises in the residential compound were all drawn to the scene.
Watching a group of well-dressed bosses demanding money, whispers and gossip erupted among the onlookers.
The bribed reporters, meanwhile, busily snapped photos of the crowd and the distressed franchisees.
Inside her home, Yang Lan, who had not yet come downstairs, turned deathly pale at the sound of "Black-hearted boss Gao Fei, give me back my hard-earned money."
Peeking through a gap in the curtains at the franchisees and reporters below, she panicked.
Gao Fei was away for military training and couldn't be reached.
Yang Lan immediately called Zeng Keming.
After explaining the situation, the lawyer Zeng told her to stay home and that he would handle the franchisees.
While they waited, the bribed reporters began their work.
Three reporters picked up microphones and started interviewing the franchisees and onlookers.
One reporter approached a man wearing a gold necklace. They exchanged a knowing glance, and the interview began.
"Sir, we're told you're also a franchisee of Yuanfei Catering. There are rumors that Gao Fei swindled franchise fees. Can you tell us how he did it?"
The reporter signaled to the cameraman, who immediately focused the lens on the man with the gold necklace.
"Hmph!"
The man spat on the ground and, revealing his gold teeth, cursed, "How else could he swindle? He just took our money!
Before, to get me to be a franchisee, this kid begged and pleaded, looking for connections everywhere.
After knowing me for a short time, he and his associates got me drunk at a dinner and had me sign the contract in a daze.
Since becoming a franchisee, I've lost over a hundred thousand yuan.
Tell me, isn't this fraud?"
The man with gold teeth spoke with furious gritted teeth, as if he wanted to tear Gao Fei apart.
Meanwhile,
A portly man, weighing nearly two hundred pounds, twirled his jade thumb ring and snarled, "I paid over a hundred thousand yuan for the franchise, only to have it all go down the drain. Do you know my annual income is only tens of thousands?
Over a hundred thousand! That was two years of savings. Gao Fei cruelly took it all.
I have elderly parents and young children. My mother is hospitalized, and my child was just born..."
The胖哥 (Fat Brother) choked back tears as he recounted the hardships after becoming a franchisee.
All the vendors expressed deep regret over their decision to join Yuanfei Catering, lamenting their financial losses.
No one mentioned how eagerly they had signed the contracts, nor did they speak of the secret recipe.
In short, all the losses from the past month's business were blamed on Gao Fei.
He was made out to be the great sinner who had cheated the franchisees!
The franchisees in the compound grew more agitated, some almost picking up stones to hurl at the windows.
Had it not been for the swift arrival of the local police, these franchisees might have resorted to even more despicable means.
With the police present, the ringleader was taken to the station for criticism and education, and the remaining individuals were persuaded to disperse.
The curious residents who had gathered to watch also scattered once the police arrived.
The compound, which had been filled with the clamor of debt collection just moments before, finally fell silent.
After the crowd dispersed, Yang Lan, wearing sunglasses, a mask, and a hat, finally went downstairs and got into a car, driving away from the compound.
"Lawyer Zeng, is there a solution to what happened today?"
Zeng Keming, in the passenger seat, nodded and comforted her, "Auntie Yang, when Xiaofei left for school, he anticipated this situation and had already made preparations.
Don't worry, Auntie, this trouble won't last long."
He took out a plane ticket from his backpack and continued, "Auntie, I've booked you on a tour to Yacheng. Go relax by the sea for a while.
When the trouble in the city is resolved, you can return."
Yang Lan initially wanted to refuse, but realizing she couldn't help by staying in the city, she eventually took the ticket and agreed.
An hour later, at Fengyun City Airport.
Watching Auntie Yang enter the boarding gate with the tour group, Zeng Keming breathed a sigh of relief.
Gao Fei had told him earlier that if the franchisees caused trouble, the first step was to send his mother out of the city.
Now that she was gone, he felt temporarily at ease.
The intern lawyer, a junior student, asked curiously, "Senior, when you said Junior Gao had a plan, did you mean something about the contract clauses?"
"Something like that!"
"Since those franchisees have banded together to cause trouble, can we sue them now?"
Zeng Keming turned and shook his head, walking away. "Xiaofei's plan is to wait for now. We can't sue yet!"
"What do you mean?"
"As he put it, let the bullets fly for a while!"
The lawyer did not elaborate on the future plans.
His immediate task was to wait for the morning's events to spread online and then start collecting evidence.
As expected.
After the franchisees caused a disturbance that morning, the incident quickly ignited online.
The three self-media outlets invited to the scene used interview videos to write articles, extensively denouncing Yuanfei Catering for swindling franchisees.
Initially, the articles had low traction.
But after the hidden benefactor funded the three self-media outlets to buy hot searches, they instantly climbed into the top twenty.
Netizens who had been following Gao Fei, after reading the self-media reports, adopted a wait-and-see attitude, neither taking sides nor joining the fray.
This was because every time there was a negative hot search about Gao Fei, he had managed to turn the situation around in the end.
Therefore, whether fans or haters, everyone watching hot searches related to him was now in a state of anticipation.
Seeing that the articles had no comments, only likes,
The three self-media outlets, using their benefactor's money, began to hire paid commenters.
Within five minutes, the article comments surged to over a hundred.
"Hahaha, Gao Fei, you've finally been exposed! Colluding with merchants through despicable means to join, how shameful!"
"After waiting for so long, I've finally seen news of Gao Fei's downfall again. My rusty keyboard finally has a purpose. Gao, this time there's evidence that you swindled franchisees. I'll see how you turn this around!"
"Manually @ Fengyun City Supervision Bureau, @ Fengyun City Police Department, quickly look into your city's celebrity merchant who defrauded people of their hard-earned money for franchise fees. He's clearly a swindler!"
With the paid commenters entering the fray, the black fans who were still observing couldn't help but start typing.
Following the paid commenters' lead, the black fans voiced their condemnation of Yuanfei Catering's alleged swindling of franchisees.
Just as Gao Fei's fans were hesitating whether to speak up,
Yuanfei Studio suddenly released a statement online:
"Clear conscience prevails!"
The brewing online battle was completely quelled by this statement.
Only the black fans and paid commenters continued their incessant barking.
...
Kyoto Military District.
"Xiaogao, you're back from training! Hurry up and watch the video we made!"
Seeing Gao Fei, dripping with sweat, return to the production team,
The team members offered water and moved chairs. Cao Yuanyuan personally brought a laptop and opened the promotional short film.
"You guys are too kind!"
Gao Fei enjoyed the gesture as he sat down.
Looking at the promotional video, the smile on his face gradually disappeared, and his brows furrowed slightly.