Since Chen Lin’s interview was handled by Xu Lingyue, and the two of them were not far apart in age and shared a lot of common interests, they had gotten along quite well. Although they couldn’t yet be called best friends, they were certainly good colleagues.

"Yueyue, Yueyue!"

Upon seeing Xu Lingyue looking rushed, Chen Lin quickly waved her hand at her.

"What’s wrong?"

Xu Lingyue stopped in her tracks, rubbing her forehead, looking a bit troubled, "If you’ve got something to say, say it quickly. Mr. Jiang hasn’t eaten all day, and I’m just about to bring her some food..."

"Is it because of... that thing with Mr. Zhou?"

Chen Lin moved a little closer, and seeing Xu Lingyue’s expression change slightly, she quickly handed her phone over, "It’s already blown up online, and it’s trending high on both Douyin and Weibo’s hot topics. Haven’t you seen?"

Xu Lingyue was taken aback and hurriedly took the phone to have a look, then shook her head, "I was busy ordering food for Mr. Jiang just now, so I didn’t have time to pay attention... No, I can’t chat with you; I need to report to Mr. Jiang immediately!"

After saying this, Xu Lingyue quickly ran into the company, leaving Chen Lin to let out a disappointed "Hey".

She had initially intended to probe a bit through Xu Lingyue about how the company planned to respond. However, it seemed that neither Xu Lingyue nor Mr. Jiang behind her had anticipated how quickly the issue would escalate in popularity...

But even if they had anticipated it, what could they have done?

Although Chen Lin didn’t have much experience, she knew that such "scandals," once exposed, could be devastating to public figures.

Haven’t many online celebrities, stars, and bosses all fallen because of public opinion?

Although Zhou Wang was only a semi-public figure, given the cyber environment domestically, once someone falls, everyone’s quick to kick them while they’re down. Negative influences might rapidly spill into real life.

Thinking of this, Chen Lin sighed deeply.

The ensuing events unfolded just as Chen Lin expected. As more and more onlookers joined the accusatory crowd, gradually, even the most loyal fans of Zhou Wang were silenced, and online comments were nearly entirely denunciatory.

Chen Lin refreshed Wangzhou Group’s official account, which still showed no activity. Common sense would dictate that they ought to release some sort of clarification or rebuttal, wouldn’t it?

Even if it wouldn’t help, it’s better than doing nothing at all...

Lying at the reception desk and fiddling with her phone, Chen Lin didn’t even realize when she fell asleep.

It wasn’t until a familiar voice roused her from her slumber that Chen Lin opened her eyes, realizing that night had fallen.

She looked towards Xu Lingyue, who had awakened her, and said a little embarrassed, "It was probably something wrong with the milk tea I drank earlier. I don’t know why I suddenly got so sleepy..."

Xu Lingyue nonchalantly waved her hand, her expression inexplicably relaxed, "It’s almost nine o’clock. Hurry home; everyone has left."

"Left?"

Chen Lin’s mind cleared up, and she glanced into the company, indeed finding most of the lights off.

She was full of confusion. Wasn’t this the most critical moment? Why had everyone left work?

"Yueyue, how come..."

She hurriedly called Xu Lingyue to try and figure things out.

Seeming to understand what Chen Lin wanted to ask, Xu Lingyue merely smiled and said, "Just open your phone and see for yourself. I need to go; there’s a classmate’s engagement I need to show up at tonight..."

After Xu Lingyue disappeared into the private elevator, Chen Lin, realizing something might have happened, quickly unlocked her phone.

The phone screen was still on Weibo’s trending list, but it didn’t seem to have changed much from a couple of hours ago. However, realizing something, Chen Lin quickly refreshed it.

Sure enough, the entire Weibo trending list changed in an instant, and what was at the top was no longer topics related to "BlackPink scandals," but four eye-catching characters:

"Zhou Wang Response."

Chen Lin quickly clicked into it, only to find that Zhou Wang’s response wasn’t in writing but rather a video that was clearly moved over from Douyin.

As the video played, a luxurious-looking study room appeared in the background, and Zhou Wang himself was seated in the chair in the middle, dressed in a set of what could only be described as a magnificent suit, fingers interlocked in front of him, calmly gazing at the camera.

Chen Lin’s attention lingered on Zhou Wang’s suit for quite some time.

She had never seen a suit of this style before; it seemed like a combination of a Western tailcoat and a traditional Chinese Tang suit. The colors were flashy but inexplicably tasteful, and it fit Zhou Wang so harmoniously, elevating his entire aura.

Then she heard Zhou Wang in the video speak calmly:

"Today, unbeknownst to me, a wave of online rumors erupted concerning me and a well-known girl group. I originally didn’t want to pay it any mind, not because I have a guilty conscience, but because I believe the innocent should stay clear of any suspicion, and I’ve always thought that one should leave some leeway in doing things; speaking too openly benefits no one."

At this point, Zhou Wang paused, but Chen Lin couldn’t help but focus entirely on the man in the video.

He seemed to just be giving a routine opening, yet for some reason, it made Chen Lin start doubting the whole situation’s truth—was it really as BlackPink described?

Then Zhou Wang continued:

"But later, thinking it over, even if I don’t care about it, there are still so many people who follow me, and what I cannot tolerate is that many have escalated the matter to some higher level."

"As a dignified Huaxia person, I cannot sit by and watch this happen."

Zhou Wang’s words were calm, yet they carried an air of righteous integrity, causing Chen Lin to instinctively sit up straighter.

Then Zhou Wang, with a tone devoid of any emotion and seemingly from an objective viewpoint, narrated what happened that night.

According to Zhou Wang’s account, what happened that night was roughly as follows—

As a casual fan, Zhou Wang heard that BlackPink were performing at Ao Island, so he bought a VIP ticket to support them. However, the audio-visual effect wasn’t great, and fans around him were discussing how BlackPink’s performances didn’t seem as professional or engaging as abroad.

With doubts in mind, Zhou Wang heard about a meet-and-greet and thought about going backstage to see BlackPink to check if their physical condition affected the performance quality.

As a result, after waiting backstage for half an hour, he was informed that BlackPink wouldn’t be showing up.

Zhou Wang admitted that he was very angry and used some connections to pressure BlackPink, but in the end, only Lisa and Jin Zhixiu attended.

Zhou Wang thought of this as some kind of closure and hadn’t planned to make a big deal out of it. Regarding the leaked video during the photo session, Zhou Wang pointed out that since the two girls were quite far from him, he thought they were being stand-offish, which was why he couldn’t help but reach out and pull them closer.

The so-called "taking advantage of them" was a completely out-of-context misrepresentation due to the camera angle.

The two girls made no protest at the time, and the staff present can attest.

Zhou Wang never expected the situation to turn against him and escalate to such an extent...

In the video’s closing moments, Zhou Wang’s expression turned serious: "I have already sent legal teams to negotiate with BlackPink’s managing company YG Entertainment. If they do not eliminate the negative impact and apologize to me, I can guarantee that I will make them pay an unbearable price!"

The video ended there.

Chen Lin was already filled with admiration, even clenching her fist in indignation, without questioning whether Zhou Wang’s account was truthful. She had completely accepted his side of the story as fact.

The comment section below was in complete uproar.