Chapter 10: Winds from All Directions

To ensure the trap set for Park Young-gwan was deep enough, Gu Cheng had to choose not to expose the legitimate reason for his late-night speeding. He would have to resolve the issue another way.

Sitting at his cousin’s desk, he first asked her to guide him through the origins and development of the online news. In early 2002, the spread of gossip on the internet was not yet rapid. After all, there were no message boards or QQ groups; the only forum-like venue was Tianya Community. At that time, Tianya had fewer than one million unique IP addresses, and most of its users were relatively civilized, showing little interest in spreading vulgar gossip. As the saying goes, rumors stop with the wise; before the era of internet trolls and instant messaging groups, the contagion rate of online vitriol was quite slow.

Thus, the news currently resided only on a secondary local page of the NetEase news portal. There were no comment sections or reply features, only a high click count. Judging from the content, the first-hand material had likely been leaked to the portal by "freelance reporters" on the fourth day of the Lunar New Year (newspapers would not accept such submissions). Initially, because the owner of the car was unknown—just a mysterious video—the NetEase editor-in-chief hadn't paid it much attention and didn't post it immediately.

The turning point came after the Golden Week holiday ended on the seventh day. Perhaps the source was exceptionally persistent, or perhaps they believed this was a massive scoop that could make them famous overnight. Through the vehicle management system and other channels, they had tracked down the registration of the license plate shown in the video. Naturally, they discovered that the car belonged to "Legend Entertainment," a company currently trending, and was linked to Gu Cheng, who had exploded in popularity last summer and remained a figure of intense interest.

Celebrity news! The paparazzi who made the discovery were as excited as if they’d been injected with adrenaline. Even if they had to pay out of their own pockets to bribe an editor at NetEase, they were determined to take the risk and break the story.

Gu Cheng could understand media figures—or those aspiring to enter the industry—tracking celebrities for the sake of clicks. However, the person smearing him clearly had no bottom line when it came to sensationalism. Not only did they use clickbait headlines, but their phrasing deliberately steered the narrative toward character flaws and tawdry implications of picking up women in the middle of the night.

Gu Cheng’s face was ashen with anger. "Cousin, after buying Fantasy Bookstore and renovating Qidian Chinese Network, how much is left from the second payment provided by Masayoshi Son?"

Pan Jieying didn't even have to think. "The website acquisitions and renovations didn't cost much, only about 100 million. The key expense was buying out a group of authors, offering them contracts for serialized works at rates of 30 to 200 per thousand words. That cost was much higher. Since Qidian doesn't have a reputation yet, they all demanded lump-sum payments for at least 300,000 words before agreeing to write for us. We've signed hundreds of authors, and that has cost more than building the site itself. There are still future expenses..."

"Stop there, I don't need the details," Gu Cheng interrupted. He thought for a moment and said, "Take 100 million and start absorbing some NetEase shares on NASDAQ. It’s a market winter right now; I recall Ding’s shares have fallen below $1."

Historically, during the internet winter from 2001 to 2003, the stock prices of the three major domestic portals listed on NASDAQ plummeted, with NetEase repeatedly hovering below $1, nearly facing delisting. The historical bottom was the second half of 2002, with a recovery only beginning in 2003. Now, thanks to the butterfly effect of Gu Cheng’s presence, he didn't know where the bottom was, but if it wasn't even worth a dollar, how much further could it fall?

Pan Jieying was shocked. "Buying that much all at once? Ah Cheng, don't be impulsive. This is just a minor grievance; a phone call to Ding Sanshi would solve it. Why go to such lengths?"

Gu Cheng didn't mind. "It’s fine. It’s 2002; how much longer can the internet winter last? The real value of NetEase stock is certainly far beyond $1 a share. Besides, I'm not asking you to dump all the money at once. Just accumulate it slowly. As soon as it breaks $1, we stop. Take a few months to buy it up. Of course, I’ll still make the call; I need to give Old Ding a chance to save face."

Gu Cheng made a decisive call to Ding Sanshi. "President Ding, you aren't giving me much face. Is it because I didn't pay you a New Year's visit that you let your subordinates smear me like this?"

Ding Sanshi naturally had Gu Cheng’s number saved and was quite polite upon answering; after all, they had been conspirators in the past. Exaggerated, sensationalized news appeared on portals every day, and Ding Sanshi was naturally unaware of the specific issue Gu Cheng was raising. Once he heard about it, he immediately dismissed it as a trivial matter and promised to handle the post deletion.

...

Deng Zihan had been in a good mood these past few days. Since becoming a freelance media contributor, the news articles and photos she leaked had received the highest engagement on the local section for the first time. She was a journalism graduate who had spent two or three years unable to land a job at her preferred media outlets, settling for a secretarial role at a small company. Outside of her tedious work, she occasionally supplied content to online media to build her resume, hoping one day to enter the industry.

She lived in a government-subsidized housing complex along Wensan Road. In the early hours of the third day of the Lunar New Year, she had been filming a video on her DV with her new boyfriend on their balcony when the roar of an engine startled her. She had instinctively turned around and captured a precious video. The car appeared to be coming from the direction of the Eastern Software Park, heading toward the Provincial People’s Hospital, traveling at least over 100 km/h.

A few days later, after discovering the owner of the license plate she had filmed, she felt she was about to hit the jackpot. NetEase was one of the three major domestic portals, and its boss, President Ding, was the only businessman from Zhejiang province, having opened a branch in Qiantang, which resonated well with the locals. Deng Zihan was familiar with a few editors at NetEase, so she had submitted the story there.

On the ninth day of the Lunar New Year, she finished her half-day shift and sat down to eat, checking the engagement of her story online. The company's internet speed was slow. As the page loaded, she fantasized: "Hmm, the headline the other day was too polite. I should have been sensationalist and insisted that it was Gu Cheng driving. I checked his basic information—born in January 1984, he's only 18 years and one month old. Even if he got his license the moment he turned 18, he wouldn't have gotten it this quickly. That would confirm he was driving without a license... the image of a reckless young master would be even more vivid."

Just as she was imagining herself becoming a glorious NetEase news editor, the page finished loading. Her news was gone!

Deng Zihan panicked. Unwilling to give up, she called the friend who had accepted her submission. The friend, who had collaborated with her several times, was blunt and impatient: "Don't come to me with unverified fake news like that again! We aren't accepting your contributions anymore!" The other party hung up.

Deng Zihan was stunned. She trembled slightly, then felt a surge of indignation: "Did Gu Cheng pressure NetEase? How dare he! Interfering with freedom of speech and the press! This evil capitalist is truly despicable. But I don't believe this! I'll dig deeper and expose even more scandalous connections. Qiantang is Gu Cheng’s lair; I probably can’t stir up any waves here... Wait, the director of Dingdang Network, Gao Dasong, was supposedly a director at Sohu Entertainment before coming to Dingdang. Could it be that Gu Cheng poached him from Zhang Chaoyang? I’ll compile the material thoroughly and email it to Sohu in Beijing! I don't believe Gu Cheng can reach so far that I can’t defeat him in Beijing if I can’t beat him in Qiantang!"

At that moment, the frustration of years of failing to get ahead seemed to erupt. In her mind, she had become the embodiment of journalistic justice. If Sohu’s boss, Zhang Chaoyang, knew someone was concocting such a grudge-filled fantasy about him, he would surely swat this pest like a fly.

Regardless, if Deng Zihan wanted to stir up trouble again, she would need time for deep investigation and preparation. It would be impossible for her to cause any waves within the next ten days or half a month.

...

The fake news on NetEase was deleted after being up for a day. Most people who weren't obsessed with Gu Cheng didn't notice this small ripple. However, there were still those who kept a close watch on him.

On the morning of the eleventh day of the New Year, Gu Cheng received a call from a number in Beijing he hadn't saved. Upon answering and hearing the youthful female voice on the other end, he realized it was Liu Feifei.

"I heard that during the New Year, you were speeding through the downtown area in the middle of the night with a young woman? What could you possibly be thinking? You once said..."

Gu Cheng covered his forehead in frustration. *What is this nonsense!* Do celebrities have no human rights? How on earth are those trolls online spouting such garbage?

"I don't want to talk about this. It's not what you think. Feifei, there are some things I haven't had the chance to explain to you. I think you have some misunderstandings about our relationship. In a while..."

Listening to him, Liu Feifei’s breathing quickened; she seemed unable to control her emotions. "That day we took you to Zhongguancun, you didn't even say goodbye when you left on the third day! And now this! What kind of woman are you actually looking for?"

"There are things I can't say right now! Can you give me two months? Or even one? I will tell you the truth, and I'll clear up all your misunderstandings at once. What you need to do now is study hard and focus on your own work. That’s all!"

After hanging up, Gu Cheng felt a deep sense of powerlessness wash over him. It was truly exhausting.