Chapter 39
It came again, that familiar feeling of her heart being tugged, that bittersweet sensation. How could he be so good at this?
Jiang Shangwan’s heart, which had been hanging in suspense, slowly eased when she saw his message. He was different from people like Ji Zhao. Their relationship wasn’t based on a trade of interests, it was founded on the purest attraction between two bodies and souls.
Jiang Shangwan felt something strange. As she recalled all her past relationships, she realized there had never been one that made her feel this way. It wasn’t because they were a good match in terms of practical conditions, nor was it simply the novelty of unfamiliar beauty.
The closer she got to Shi Yu, the more special he seemed.
He could easily calm her restless heart and suppress the fears buried deep inside her. In many past relationships, she subconsciously felt a lack of security, worried that the other person might have other partners or unhealthy sexual experiences, or that they might one day betray or hurt her.
Only Shi Yu had truly steadied her.
She had never asked for it, but he would report in regularly, with no messy entanglements with other people around him. His life was filled only with pure study and work. Even when she suggested filming intimate videos, he still considered her privacy.
【Did you miss me, Wanwan?】
【Aren’t you busy yet? Still thinking about sending me messages?】
At that moment, Jiang Shangwan’s heart melted. Even though she knew his words might be a response to her subtle probing, his answer was enough to move her.
【Mm, I suddenly really miss you.】
【On my way. I’ll be there soon. Sending a heart emoji.】
Shi Yu: 【Okay.】
【Sending hearts emoji, hearts emoji, hearts emoji.】
Jiang Shangwan stared at the three repeated heart emojis, her lips involuntarily curling into a smile.
—
In early October, during the annual long holiday, Jiang Shangwan hurried back to Jiangcheng, just catching the tail end of the holiday rush at the end of September. One more day, and she would have been caught in the sea of people traveling and the long traffic jams.
Shi Yu was unhappy on the phone. He seemed to be working overtime at the company, and she could hear the faint sound of papers flipping: “It was supposed to be half a month, but you’re only coming back after almost a month, leaving me here alone for so long.”
“Well, around that time. How did the game’s public beta perform?”
“Surprisingly well.” Shi Yu nodded while answering the phone, “Got it. You handle things on your side first. I have stuff to do here.”
“Boss, it’s not that you can’t keep an eye on things, but the marketing department is about to explode. We’re trending on social media for all the wrong reasons. They’re calling us stingy, saying we’ve only released a limited number of beta test slots, and now scalpers are reselling accounts at high prices.” Ma Xingqi, who had gradually risen to a managerial position under Shi Yu’s promotion and also served as his assistant, was drenched in sweat, wondering if he should have just stayed as a programmer working on hairpin code, at least he wouldn’t have to worry so much.
His boss at this startup company was great in many ways, but he had a bit of a romantic brain—how could he be answering his wife’s call during such a critical time?
“Ugh, can you stop comforting the boss’s wife for now? We can chat later, but go check on the situation first. Our game’s about to go from red to black.”
Jiang Shangwan chuckled lightly, her voice already reaching his side: “You go ahead and handle it. It looks like the buzz is good? Congratulations.”
Reluctantly, Shi Yu hung up the phone: “What’s wrong? It’s trending? Let me see.”
“It’s trending, but it’s the kind of trending that gets us bashed.”
Shi Yu opened Weibo and scrolled down to the trending topics section. The fourth and fifth spots were right next to each other: #StingyCompanyStopsBetaSlots,Even ScalpersCan’tGetIn# and #DeepBlueLoveBeta,ServerCrashed#.
Within moments, the trending topics were still climbing.
“It turns out a million-subscriber YouTuber made a strategy video for our Deep Blue Love game, and it blew up. I saw some colleagues sharing the link in the work group,” Ma Xingqi swallowed, “Boss, the comments were fine at first, but now they’re all criticizing us. They’re saying that before ‘Wish Come True’ was so popular, we didn’t make enough money, and now we’re being stingy with the beta slots.”
Shi Yu calmly clicked on the trending search terms. The most popular posts were pinned at the top, including a promotional video by a blogger titled “Deep Blue Love Opens a New World for Women’s Games! Pain-Free Marriage and Childbirth Are No Longer a Dream! You Can Choose Your Own Husband and Raise Him Yourself!”
The copywriting was bold and attention-grabbing, and the comments were extremely enthusiastic.
Top Comment 1: 【What’s wrong with this company? The beta was released quietly without any promotion. No preparation at all. After finally getting a code from a friend, now it’s overcrowded and impossible to get in.】
Top Comment 2: 【Only 10,000 slots, avoid this! So stingy, haven’t they made enough money yet?】
Top Comment 3: 【Scalpers are selling activation codes for 8,000… I advise against it, don’t bother.】
Top Comment 4: 【Seriously, a game that’s finally interesting, but it’s lagging so badly. Can’t they make a proper game? If not, just shut down already.】
Shi Yu refreshed the comments section, and many new comments were rapidly loading. Among them, a few praised Deep Blue Love for its art style and production quality, but the majority were angry, criticizing the company.
Shi Yu stood up, and Ma Xingqi hurriedly wiped his sweat and followed him.
Right now, everyone was scrambling like ants on a hot pan because of the sudden surge in attention. Unlike the extensive promotional campaign when Wish Come True first launched, Deep Blue Love was entirely relying on player and influencer-driven publicity. Shi Yu didn’t make any special efforts to hype it up, simply following the usual publicity process.
Women’s games have a fixed audience, and as long as there’s something that attracts them, people will try it out. The initial launch of Wish Come True was during the company’s startup phase, and he needed an opportunity to boost its visibility in order to keep the company afloat. Deep Blue Love was a later experiment, and the skyrocketing attention was completely unexpected.
“How many more slots can the emergency servers handle?”
“Five… five thousand,” the programmer wiped the sweat off his forehead and respectfully answered the boss, “But now there are hundreds of thousands of people trying to get in, and it’s just impossible to accommodate them.”
“I’ll contact them to buy more immediately.”
Ma Xingqi covered his mouth and whispered, “Boss, do you think we should spend some money to have the marketing department clean up the negative trending? The insults are getting worse and worse.”
In just a few minutes, a new negative trending topic emerged. #ShiYuIsSoStingyGetReadyToGetCursed# had climbed to second place in the trending topics, almost overtaking the entertainment news, and was about to claim the top spot.
“No need.” Shi Yu, now having a basic understanding of internet backlash, wasn’t in a hurry or panicking. He quickly assessed how to respond: “Don’t remove it. The free attention saves us so much in marketing expenses. Being hated and loved is still being noticed. Criticizing the company is the same as criticizing me. Stay calm and don’t overthink it.”
Ma Xingqi’s eyes were filled with tears. It was easy to say that, but being cursed out was truly unpleasant.
The phone rang abruptly, and Shi Yu walked out of the server room to pick up Lin Chuan’s call: “Hey, buddy, I just checked Weibo. Isn’t that company that’s trending your company? You’re getting roasted so badly, it’s almost dominating the trending list. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” Shi Yu lowered his gaze, “I saw it.”
“Do you need me to get my mom to help remove the trending topic?” Lin Chuan lowered his voice. “If you need, I’ll get it all taken down. It feels like they’re about to start doxxing you.”
“No need, thanks.” Shi Yu smiled, despite not being angry. “Don’t worry, it’s fine. I can handle it.”
As soon as the call ended, Jiang Shangwan’s phone rang, her voice slightly urgent but full of concern: “Why was your phone busy just now? I thought everything was going smoothly, but then I accidentally saw that your company’s trending, and all the comments are cursing you guys. What happened? Are you okay?”
“It’s fine.” Shi Yu’s tone softened, as if he was reassuring her. “Lin Chuan called to ask if he should help take down the trending topic too, since he saw the insults. I turned him down. I can handle it myself.”
“I was just about to ask if you wanted to remove it,” Jiang Shangwan frowned, scrolling through the comments. She didn’t expect the netizens to be so fierce. She had tried to call him to check on him, but couldn’t get through for a while.
“Don’t worry, being hated is still being noticed. This is actually a good thing,” Shi Yu’s voice was calm. “Leave it to me.”
Ma Xingqi didn’t know much about his boss’s background, but seeing how successful he was at such a young age, he figured he was no ordinary person. In the midst of all the chaos, Shi Yu managed to remain calm, which confirmed Ma Xingqi’s suspicions.
“Um, boss, how about you take a break?” Ma Xingqi cautiously suggested. “Out of sight, out of mind. Maybe you could turn off your phone and rest for a while. The heat might die down, and once this blows over, the cursing should stop.”
“How can we let the heat die down? The more they curse, the better,” Shi Yu scoffed lightly under Ma Xingqi’s stunned gaze. “Help me find a cameraman and get a camera over here.”
Shi Yu, dressed in a smoke-gray suit, exuded a calm and dignified aura. He sat upright in front of the camera, both hands properly placed on either side of his knees, his back straight, and his gaze fixed firmly on the lens.
His expression was composed and steady, showing no sign of anger or joy. His thin lips parted slightly as he said in a calm, measured tone: “Hello, everyone. I’m Shi Yu, the CEO of Ting Wan Technology. I didn’t expect the launch of Deep Blue Love to cause such a stir. I apologize for inciting anger, and I would like to address some of the concerns and dissatisfaction that have arisen.”
“First, we’ve urgently purchased additional servers and will be gradually opening 50,000 spots for the public beta test. This will later expand to 200,000. Please follow our official Weibo for timely updates on activation codes and avoid purchasing them from scalpers, as that only encourages bad behavior. Second, due to the overwhelming popularity, some users have been unable to load the game promptly. We will issue a compensation lottery ticket 10 consecutive draws and 500 in-game currency to all servers. Third, Deep Blue Love welcomes every player who wants to experience a new female-oriented romance game. Here, you can follow your heart and shape the kind of partner you desire, instead of being forced into pre-established character profiles by our game’s official setting.”
“Our company will fully entrust the right of choice to our players.”
In just a few minutes, this clear and well-organized clarifying video had delivered every point perfectly, with calm composure. Ma Xingqi was deeply shocked. It was hard to imagine that this was the response to a public relations crisis that had been made entirely without a script in such a short time.
Is this even possible? Which high-ranking CEO comes forward to record a video to clarify things themselves?
And even if someone were to clarify, shouldn’t the proper process be to urgently find a spokesperson to write a heartfelt, eloquent apology letter, then read it out awkwardly while recording? But here, their boss did it entirely off the cuff, without any preparation, just improvising and recording straight away?
While Ma Xingqi was still stunned, Shi Yu swiftly uploaded the unfiltered, unedited, high-definition video to the official Weibo account.
He even quietly included his own hashtag.
#Ting WanHasResponded #Ting WanIsSoStingyGettingCursedOut
Ma Xingqi: … This mental fortitude, I have to say, I’m impressed.
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