Chapter 193 - 124: Paying 10 Million for Peace

Chapter 193: Chapter 124: Paying 10 Million for Peace

So when the crowd guessed that the newly set-up sales counter was for the moisturizing cream, everyone naturally wanted to buy some.

Zhang Yuan felt awkward hearing the tourists’ comments.

She had only wanted to build a little suspense, but she hadn’t expected them to figure it out so quickly.

Since everything was nearly set up anyway, she simply went ahead and pulled off the red cloths.

Sure enough, this revealed the sign for the moisturizing cream sales counter she had prepared, along with neatly stacked boxes of the cream itself.

The surrounding tourists could also see the 208 yuan price on the sign.

But the tourists had already seen the price online, so they didn’t mind at all and eagerly pulled out their money to make a purchase.

Their only fear now was that they wouldn’t be able to get any.

Many tourists even started filming videos with their new purchase or trying it out at the nearby tables as soon as they bought it.

With all the buzz around the moisturizing cream, these people were eager to experience the effects for themselves and upload a video about it.

It wasn’t necessarily about chasing clout, either.

After all, most ordinary people didn’t think that far ahead. It was simply that when something got popular enough online, participating became a trend in itself. Filming a video, getting likes and praise from friends—that seemed to be the cool thing to do.

However, as more and more tourists arrived, the scene grew chaotic.

Zhang Lin called the head of security and asked him to bring some men over to maintain order.

’This also showed Zhang Yuan hadn’t thought things through completely,’ Zhang Lin noted. ’But that’s normal for someone just promoted to department manager. It’s her first time handling something like this; you have to give people room to grow.’

A few moments later, a burly man in a security uniform entered, leading a few other guards.

The burly man was named Ye Ling, one of the guards Zhang Lin had recruited through the game. Because his build was so sturdy and intimidating, Zhang Lin had promoted him to security captain.

Having received the call, he had personally brought his men over and went straight to the sales platform to maintain order.

Just then, Zhang Lin’s phone rang. It was Lin Muxue. He answered, and her voice came through, "They agreed to the 10 million!"

"For real? I’m on my way!" Zhang Lin said, his face filled with surprise.

’Ten million... That was more money than countless ordinary people could ever earn in a lifetime, and the other party had just handed it over. No wonder so many people were rushing to become influencers. It really was an incredibly lucrative business.’

When he arrived at the operations department, he saw that Li Qian and the other young women on the team were all incredibly excited.

It was no wonder they were excited. After all, Lin had said that if the other party agreed to the 10 million, President Zhang would give the operations department one million as a discretionary fund. This was essentially a perk; they could hold team-building activities every month or throw a party for someone’s birthday.

Tomorrow was Lin’s birthday, which was the perfect occasion for their first party.

So how could they not be excited?

"President Zhang, they said they’ll wire the money over soon, so please look out for the transfer!" Lin Muxue greeted Zhang Lin with a huge smile. "Oh, right, Lili Fragrance had another request. They’re going to film a clarification video first, and we’ll need to like it from the farm’s account. Once they’ve handled their end of things tomorrow, they’ll come over to shoot the collaboration video. I can be the one to appear in it."

"Okay, that’s all fine," Zhang Lin nodded.

Just as they were speaking, he received a bank notification for the payment from Lili Fragrance:

"Account ending in... Deposit: 10,000,000.00 yuan. Current balance: 20,845,634.25 yuan."

The transaction memo even read "collaboration fee," not "extortion" or "hush money."

The word "collaboration" was specially noted.

Zhang Lin smiled when he saw the memo on the transaction.

’The things people do for appearances on the internet...’ he thought with a wry smile. ’Even now, they have to save face. No wonder so many influencers can get caught red-handed with irrefutable proof, have their live streams flooded with insults, and still thank their ’family’ without batting an eye.’

This 10 million deposit pushed his balance over the 20 million mark.

"The 10 million is in!" Zhang Lin didn’t forget to share the news with Lin Muxue and her team. He then added, "So, Muxue, you can go to HR and apply for a bank card for the department’s discretionary fund!"

’Technically, the card wasn’t HR’s responsibility, but since there was no finance department yet, he had to give it to them for now. After the finance interviews in two days, it could be properly handed over.’

Hearing this, Lin Muxue said, "President Zhang, getting the card and transferring the funds will take time. But it’s my birthday tomorrow, and we were planning a party. Could you just sign this? We’ll count it as a reimbursement from the one-million-yuan fund!"

As she spoke, she produced a request form and handed it to him.

Zhang Lin was in a great mood, so he glanced at the form and signed his name.

’In any case, this one million was a reward for the operations department. How they spent it was their own business, as long as everyone on the team was fine with it.’

’Every company had departmental activity funds that corporate wouldn’t interfere with. He’d even heard that in some international corporations, these funds could exceed ten million, and some well-off department managers had company cars more extravagant than their own bosses.’

’Of course, that was just a rumor. Zhang Lin had no idea if it was true.’

After signing the form and handing it back to Lin Muxue, he saw the young women of the department already huddled around her, discussing which bar in You City they should go to for the party.

It was clear they really liked going to bars.

Zhang Lin didn’t judge them for it. Even though he rarely went to bars himself, he couldn’t hold onto old-fashioned views in this day and age. Online data suggested that more and more people saw bars as a place to release emotional stress.

He imagined it was the kind of release that came from being with a group of friends, jumping and shouting wildly without a care for what anyone else thought.

Zhang Lin returned to his office in a great mood. The operations department would handle liking the video.

Before long, he saw the video Lili Fragrance had posted. In it, Zhao Lili looked pitiful and helpless, her eyes red as if she had been terribly wronged. She began to tearfully explain:

"I just found out about what’s been happening online. I’m feeling a little overwhelmed and helpless right now, because the video I posted before has clearly been misunderstood and twisted!"

"As you can all see, I only presented data and used Lancome and L’Oreal as examples. I never definitively said that Li Yuan Farm couldn’t make the moisturizing cream. I even specifically stated that we couldn’t rule out the possibility that Li Yuan Farm possessed some special technique!"

"Now, the facts have proven that if companies like Lancome and L’Oreal can’t make it with rapeseed oil, it’s because their technology is lacking! It means they aren’t as good as Li Yuan Farm! This has been my viewpoint and stance all along!"

"..."

Watching the video, Zhang Lin had to hand it to the woman. That pitiful, helpless act at the beginning was something no ordinary person could pull off.

The rest of the video was a masterclass in playing the victim to gain sympathy. Crucially, she used the escape route she’d left for herself earlier, throwing Lancome and L’Oreal under the bus while simultaneously flattering Li Yuan Farm.

The key was how she presented this as her original viewpoint, completely twisting the truth.

But her pitiful act actually convinced her fans. After all, fans tend to see the influencers they follow through a certain filter.

’Anyone who makes it as an influencer really is something else.’

At that moment, Li Yuan Farm’s "like" came into play. It instantly rallied her fans, who were now ready for battle. *See? Even Li Yuan Farm liked the video! They support Lili!*

Zhang Lin watched all this unfold with a smile. These fans would never know about the drama that had happened behind the scenes. After all, they were just another crop of suckers to be harvested.

He put down his phone, intending to handle some other farm business, when his attention was suddenly drawn to the game interface in his mind. A notification had appeared.

[Congratulations! A new item has refreshed in the Mountain Goods Market. A swarthy old farmer seems to have dug up something incredible deep in the mountain forests!]

Zhang Lin immediately opened the Mountain Goods Market. When he saw the newly refreshed item, a look of surprise crossed his face.

’Isn’t this something that all men would love?’

’This is pretty amazing. If something like this actually existed in the outside world, people would go crazy for it.’