SOTC Chapter 16

The next day.

“Today, I’ve gathered so many elite members of our Yulin Cultural Media together because I have some good news to announce. After seven years of trials and tribulations, our Yuzhou Cultural Media has finally passed the IPO review and is about to embark on the final leg of our journey towards listing. During this process, I hope that everyone will continue to work together with Yuzhou Cultural Media as always, striving to bring this final journey to a perfect conclusion.”

Liu Yuxi’s words were as impassioned as ever.

Before his words had even finished, thunderous applause erupted.

As an entrepreneur, Liu Yuxi was successful.

He was just over forty years old and was about to usher in the greatest glory of his life, successfully listing Yuzhou Cultural Media, which had been established for less than seven years.

This was undoubtedly a huge miracle. In a small county town like Yulin County, the birth of a listed company was something that probably no one dared to imagine just a few years ago.

Xu Qing applauded along with the others.

But in reality, this matter didn’t have much to do with her.

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Because the Legal Daily could at most be considered a large label attached to Yuzhou Cultural Media.

After all, at the beginning of Yuzhou Culture’s establishment, Liu Yuxi used the acquisition of Yulin Newspaper to brand himself with a cultural image.

But before that, before Yuzhou Culture gradually started, the scale of Yulin Newspaper was also gradually shrinking, until now only the Legal Daily remained.

So, throughout this entire meeting, Xu Qing was most concerned about Zhao Yangfu.

She was always unintentionally glancing at Zhao Yangfu, wanting to know what secrets this person was hiding.

But Zhao Yangfu didn’t seem to notice this. He was looking at Liu Yuxi with a fanatical and adoring gaze, and his voice was the loudest when the applause started.

“Alright, alright.”

At this moment, Liu Yuxi pressed his hands down towards the crowd, signaling for the applause to stop.

He looked at the people in the conference room with satisfaction, then put his hands behind his back and slowly said—

“Actually, the main purpose of today’s meeting is to announce this good news to everyone. Yuzhou Cultural Media’s success today is inseparable from everyone’s efforts. But we can’t afford to be complacent because of this. The company’s future development still requires everyone to contribute. Alright, today’s meeting is adjourned. Xu Qing, stay behind for a moment. Everyone else, you’re dismissed.”

As Liu Yuxi’s last words fell, the crowd began to walk out of the office in a hubbub.

Xu Qing hadn’t expected Liu Yuxi to make such an arrangement. When she heard Liu Yuxi say her name, her body trembled involuntarily, and a bad premonition arose in her heart.

But Liu Yuxi obviously had no intention of changing his mind. He sat in the conference room and waited quietly for a while. After everyone had left, he slowly sat down, put on an amiable face, and greeted Xu Qing warmly—

“Editor Xu hasn’t been in office for long and hasn’t participated in many of the company’s meetings, right? Actually, I personally have a lot of affection for our Yulin Daily. It’s the starting point of our Yuzhou Culture. I can say that without Yulin Daily, there would be no Yuzhou Culture today. But you also know that due to many objective factors, the traditional newspaper industry is actually not doing very well now.”

“President Liu is right. The emergence of self-media and news platforms has changed the reading habits of most young people. Now, only some elderly people still read newspapers. So, the editorial department has been trying to expand offline reading, although the effect is not as good as expected, the readership is much larger than before.”

Xu Qing was a little nervous. She didn’t understand what Liu Yuxi meant by saying these things to her.

Liu Yuxi had no reason to leave her behind alone to discuss topics like this.

Xu Qing couldn’t figure it out, so she could only carefully arrange her words.

But Liu Yuxi obviously didn’t have these concerns. While tapping his fingers on the table, he continued—

“That’s right, pure reading is no longer suitable for this era. Do you know why I eliminated Yulin Daily but kept the Legal Daily? Because in today’s world, where traditional media is gradually being replaced by the internet, regional limitations will become fatal flaws. After leaving Yulin County, no one will click on the headlines of Yulin Daily. This is the fundamental problem of the regional newspaper industry. But you gave me a new inspiration. If traditional paper media can generate a certain degree of discussion on the internet, it may make the industry itself different from the past. Can you tell me how you came up with this idea?”

Liu Yuxi naturally led the topic here, causing Xu Qing to immediately become alert.

“Idea? President Liu, are you talking about…?”

“It’s about the new section established by the Legal Daily. It’s about stimulating readers’ attention through discussion. I noticed that the case you’re currently using is the robbery and murder case that happened two months ago, not the ongoing cash transport vehicle theft case that’s generating the most discussion. Can you tell me the reason for this?”

Liu Yuxi’s voice seemed to have a peculiar magic. He appeared very gentle, without the airs of a big entrepreneur, and didn’t make anyone feel any pressure.

But Xu Qing always felt that Liu Yuxi’s questioning had other deeper meanings, because the new section established to find Yang Xu was not successful in essence, and shouldn’t have attracted such special attention from Liu Yuxi.

“I… just wanted to try something.” Xu Qing tried her best to suppress the panic in her heart. “The cash transport vehicle case is currently at the center of public opinion. Even in Yulin County, many people are paying attention to this case. I was worried that blind speculation would have the opposite effect, so I used the Chen Fan case, which was no longer being paid attention to.”

“Chen Fan.”

Liu Yuxi slowly read out this name, then smiled at Xu Qing.

“Speaking of which, I have some impression of this name. Little Zhao mentioned this person to me a couple of times. Oh right, he also said that he did an exclusive interview with you because of Chen Fan’s matter. Are you and Chen Fan on good terms?”

“No, I’ve met Chen Fan a few times, but I’ve hardly spoken to him.”

Xu Qing shook her head repeatedly.

“Then I’m a little confused.”

Liu Yuxi looked at Xu Qing thoughtfully, and slowly said along with her words—

“The Legal Daily, as a newspaper reporting on social hot cases, it seems a little inappropriate to deliberately publish an article introducing the life of the victim, right? Generally speaking, publishing the victim’s life story is equivalent to defining the nature of the case, but the new column of the Legal Daily itself is to arouse public attention by describing some details of the case. I think these two things seem to be a bit contradictory. Is it because there are still different opinions in the editorial department regarding the new column?”

“…”

Xu Qing’s gaze towards Liu Yuxi gradually became a little horrified.

She didn’t understand what Liu Yuxi wanted to ask. He seemed to be talking about these things naturally following her words.

But on closer inspection, this naturalness seemed to have an element of deliberateness.

“What’s wrong? Is there something you can’t say?”

Liu Yuxi continued to ask with a smile.

“No, I just think that having different opinions is very normal, because every innovation also means that there may be risks. I don’t want my words to affect the future of other colleagues. They are all very hardworking, and even if they have different opinions, they will have a reasonable discussion with me. And some interviews are just a preliminary plan. I hope President Liu can understand.”

“Understand, of course I understand.”

Liu Yuxi waved his hand nonchalantly.

“Editor Xu doesn’t need to be so serious. We’re just casually chatting about the future development of the Legal Daily and the problems it may encounter. As for the internal problems of the editorial department, I won’t interfere now, and I won’t interfere in the future either. Since the company has decided to let you be the editor-in-chief of the Legal Daily, these rights will naturally be handed over to Editor Xu. I’m just a little curious. Editor Xu is so young, yet you can write such brilliant reasoning. It must have taken a lot of effort, right? How did you suddenly start questioning the entire process of the case?”

“At first, I just had doubts about the murderer’s purpose.”

Xu Qing slowly said.

“The fact that the murderer didn’t leave fingerprints at the scene shows that this was a premeditated case. But how could a premeditated murder case only rob so few valuables, and didn’t even use the victim’s bank card? This doesn’t fit the general definition of a robbery and murder. And according to my experience as a reporter for the Legal Daily, robbery and murder cases are often evolved from burglary cases. Even if thieves carry weapons, they are generally some easy-to-carry knives. I’ve never seen a thief carry a blunt object that is not easy to move around with to commit theft. So, this is also one of the reasons why I have doubts.”

“Amazing, amazing.”

Liu Yuxi lightly applauded, and continued to say.

“I didn’t expect that our Yuzhou Culture is really full of talented people. Editor Xu not only writes well, but is also particularly good at observation and reasoning. In that case, has Editor Xu considered striking while the iron is hot and launching a special report on this cash transport vehicle theft case? The format should preferably be similar to this one that can interact with readers.”

“President Liu, isn’t that a little inappropriate?”

Xu Qing hesitated as she looked at Liu Yuxi.

“Why is it inappropriate? I think it’s very appropriate. Hot cases will have a high degree of discussion, especially since this case has been going on for almost a month. The police haven’t even found the whereabouts of the lost cash. Now, many people are saying that although the police have issued a wanted order for Gu Zheng, they actually have no interest in arresting Gu Zheng at all. As a media person, if we appropriately use public opinion to put pressure on them and urge them to solve the case as soon as possible, that would also be a good thing. How about this? Go back and prepare, and use the same thinking as when you wrote the Chen Fan case to write a similar article. We can discuss it in a few days. What do you think?”

Liu Yuxi’s tone was not like he was discussing.

Xu Qing couldn’t possibly express her opposition at this time. She could only nod and say—

“I understand, President Liu.”

“Then that’s all for today. Thank you for your hard work.”

At this time, Liu Yuxi stood up from his chair and patted Xu Qing on the shoulder with a smile.

“Then I’ll leave first, President Liu.”

Xu Qing still maintained a polite smile, bowed to Liu Yuxi, and then quickly turned and left the conference room.

And as Xu Qing left, Liu Yuxi’s smile gradually cooled down.

He sat back in his seat again, and after pondering for a moment, slowly picked up his phone.

A few minutes later, Zhao Yangfu walked back into the conference room, standing respectfully in front of Liu Yuxi.

“President Liu, is there anything you need?”

“Find a few people to keep an eye on this Xu Qing, and see who she usually contacts.”

“Does President Liu think that this woman really has a problem?”

Zhao Yangfu asked in a low voice.

“I want to know what her purpose is.” Liu Yuxi said expressionlessly, “My praise and compliments didn’t make her show any degree of joy. As the editor-in-chief of the Legal Daily, if she created such a risky new column, and her purpose is not to be praised by the head office, then what is her purpose? The police have clearly announced the wanted order for the suspect, but she questioned the police’s conclusion from the murderer’s purpose. I don’t think this is the thinking method of a normal person, and plus, her reasoning itself has no flaws. I just find it very interesting that such a capable person has been hidden in our group for a full four years before suddenly revealing herself.”

“President Liu, are you saying…?”

After hearing Liu Yuxi’s words, Zhao Yangfu suddenly became nervous.

“I don’t mean anything. I’m just very interested in her. I want you to know what to do.”

“Yes, yes, I understand, President Liu. I will definitely handle this matter properly.”

Zhao Yangfu, who was always gentle and refined, actually had coarse beads of sweat on his forehead at this moment.

He quickly took out a tissue and wiped them away.

Liu Yuxi’s expression didn’t change in the slightest because of Zhao Yangfu’s actions. Instead, as if it was a habit, he casually patted him on the shoulder.

“Do what you need to do well, and then you can have a long and prosperous future, right?”

After the words fell, Liu Yuxi walked out of the conference room so freely, leaving only the distraught Zhao Yangfu still panicking alone.

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