HPDBC The press conference for Chapter 124 was held.
The press conference for Chapter 124 was held.
In this circle, there are never any grudges that last overnight, because grudges are usually settled on the spot.
Gu Heng didn't play by the rules this time, and kept it to himself for several days.
In the past few days, the paid online trolls and parents thought Gu Heng had backed down, so they cursed him even more fiercely. Some even went to the Yuanjian Entertainment Building to unfurl banners, making the scene quite unsightly.
The headlines of the entertainment sections of major portal websites are all titled "Gu Heng's silence suggests a guilty conscience" and "The arrogance and prejudice of capital".
Those rival companies that were waiting to see Gu Heng suffer had already opened several rounds of champagne.
However, just as public opinion reached its peak, with some even clamoring for a boycott of "Aftershock," Vision Entertainment suddenly issued a statement:
A press conference will be held at 3 PM.
The fewer the words, the bigger the story.
At 3:00 PM sharp, the press conference was packed with hundreds of reporters.
Everyone was eager to see how the young billionaire would weep and apologize, or how he would make a feeble and furious defense.
Unfortunately, they were overthinking it.
Gu Heng walked out calmly, dressed in a casual suit and without even bothering to style his hair.
Following behind him was neither the public relations director nor Yang Mi, but a middle-aged man carrying a briefcase, wearing glasses, and looking incredibly shrewd.
Zhang San.
The legal heavyweight who helped Yang Mi tear up Rong Xinda's contract back then has now seen his value multiply, and he's simply too expensive for ordinary people to hire.
Upon seeing this gentleman's entrance, several seasoned reporters in the audience, who knew their stuff, had a gut feeling that the tide was about to turn.
Gu Heng didn't stand on ceremony with the group below, not even bothering to say a few polite words, and simply took the microphone.
"I know what you all want to hear today. No need to rush, you'll see everything you want to see." Gu Heng sneered and turned to gesture to the staff below the stage.
The giant projection screen behind them lit up.
The first page of the PPT prominently features several clear screenshots of bank statements and transfer receipts.
"The parents who spearheaded the online protests by writing short essays recently received several remittances ranging from 60,000 to 100,000 yuan in their accounts."
Gu Heng pointed at the screen, "Everyone, take a look at the payment recipients. Coincidentally, they are the three online troll companies that are currently the most aggressive in spreading negative news about Yuanjian."
The reporters below were in an uproar.
You begged for it, and you got it! This is a Black man caught red-handed!
Before these people could even process what was happening, the PPT flipped to the next page, which was filled with a dense array of IP addresses and several scanned copies of dual contracts.
"You accuse me of neglecting my duties and of using children's lives for a publicity stunt. Fine, I accept that, I can take the blame. But what you shouldn't have done was, in order to smear me, drag Principal Ye, who is truly risking his life to protect his students, into this mess!"
Gu Heng slammed his hand on the table, causing the microphone to emit a piercing buzz. "Since some people like to hide in the gutter and play dirty tricks, then today we'll expose them to the full force of the sun!"
At this point, Gu Heng turned to look at Lawyer Zhang beside him.
Attorney Zhang adjusted his glasses, opened the folder in front of him, and said calmly, "At the request of Vision Entertainment and Mr. Gu Heng, we have submitted all the evidence to the public security authorities and the people's court. This is not only civil defamation, but also organized provocation. The list of fifty-one people includes the so-called parent who leaked the information, the leader of the online trolls, and the heads of the three public relations companies that funded the leak."
"We have filed criminal private prosecutions against all of them. My client does not accept any form of out-of-court settlement and only asks for one thing—to let the rumor-mongers go to jail for free."
Boom! The whole place erupted in chaos.
Ruthless! That's fucking ruthless!
In the entertainment industry, lawsuits usually involve sending a perfunctory lawyer's letter to intimidate the parties involved, at most demanding some compensation for emotional distress. To force someone into jail like Gu Heng did is simply unheard of.
This press conference caused a major shift in public opinion in China.
What the public hates most is being used as a pawn. As soon as they saw that these parents had been paid to stir up trouble online, the netizens' anger instantly turned against them, and they cursed those people's ancestors for eighteen generations.
Less than two hours after the press conference ended, a higher-level, heavyweight official media outlet directly published an article.
The article's title carries significant weight: "The Conscience of Capital and the Tragedy of Cyber Violence."
The article not only highly praised Vision Entertainment's charitable acts of donating funds to build schools and popularizing earthquake drills in Sichuan, but also unusually used the terms "responsible entrepreneur" and "compassionate filmmaker" to describe Gu Heng.
The article concludes by harshly criticizing those who spread rumors for petty gains and demanding that relevant departments severely punish them.
The moment this report was published, the entire entertainment industry fell into complete silence.
We're all seasoned foxes; can't we see the winds blowing this way?
This is practically giving Yuanjian a get-out-of-jail-free card! Not only is it officially endorsed, but it has also elevated Gu Heng's status to an unbelievable level.
Those film and television companies that had been secretly plotting behind the scenes were so frightened that they deleted their public relations department's chat history overnight. Several of the bosses wished they could bury their heads in their pants and pretend to be dead, fearing that Gu Heng would follow the clues and come knocking on their door.
As for those veteran actors and young heartthrobs who changed their minds at the slightest provocation and ran away under the pretext of scheduling conflicts, they are now filled with regret.
Goodness, this foresight not only didn't backfire, but actually became an officially recognized hot commodity. If they could make an appearance in this movie, wouldn't they be on a meteoric rise to fame?
As a result, Su Qing's phone was bombarded with calls.
Several old-timer agents shamelessly called, claiming it was all a misunderstanding, saying the veteran artist had suddenly become healthy again and his schedule had miraculously become available, and he was willing to come to the film crew for a cameo appearance without pay.
"Let them go cool off somewhere else," Gu Heng said dismissively. "Do they really think Yuanjian is a garbage collector? They ran away faster than rabbits before, and now they want to come back for a piece of the pie? Get lost!"
Su Qing chuckled on the other end of the line. She knew her boss was a vengeful person, so she replied, "Alright, I know how to deal with them."
After swiftly and decisively cleaning up the mess in the industry, Gu Heng's life returned to normal, and he went about his business as usual.
He called Lu Yang into his office. The young man had lost a lot of weight recently, running around with the film crew.
"The old guys we already had can't be used anymore. You and your casting team need to start casting again."
"There are countless talented actors in China who are eager to make a name for themselves. Don't just focus on those few who are aloof. Gather everyone, sign solid contracts, and be ready to start filming at any time."
Lu Yang nodded solemnly in agreement and turned to get to work.
As for what happened in Wenchuan, Sichuan, Gu Heng not only didn't restrain himself, but instead went even further.
Riding the wave of public opinion surrounding this online uproar, Visionary directly issued a press release: After experiencing this turmoil, Director Gu Heng personally conducted in-depth research in Sichuan and was deeply moved by the current state of education in mountainous areas! In order to better prepare for the film "Aftershock" and to give back to society, Visionary decided to provide additional aid funds.
Not only at Sangzao Middle School, but also at junior and senior high schools in several surrounding counties, as long as there are safety hazards in the teaching buildings, Yuanjian will fund the reinforcement and repair!
As soon as the news broke, the internet was filled with praise, and Gu Heng was completely molded into a responsible young director of the new era.
Local officials naturally welcomed them with open arms; it would be foolish not to accept such a windfall and political achievement delivered to their doorstep.
But Gu Heng wasn't about to be taken advantage of when it came to spending real money.
He directly assigned Chen Kai to lead a team, sending more than a dozen professional finance and audit personnel from Vision Capital over.
No matter how much the local authorities assured them, Vision's rule was always the same: all funds were managed by Vision's own people, and project payments were directly transferred to the construction team without any intermediaries.
It wasn't that Gu Heng didn't trust anyone, it's just that these days, tens of millions of dollars are too easy to attract flies that smell the scent.
Even when doing good deeds, the humanity within cannot withstand the test.
He wanted to make sure that every penny of his money would eventually be solidly turned into steel and cement, firmly welded to the school buildings above those children's heads!
After doing all this, Gu Heng finally breathed a long sigh of relief.
The netting has been laid; now it's a race against time.