Chapter 373 The Fish Has Taken the Bait

“People always change. I hope he has truly turned over a new leaf.” Xu Yue sat down behind her desk, a smile curving her lips.

She had long made up her mind that if her brother made another mistake this time, she would disregard their sibling bond and kick him out of the Xu Family.

Just then, Yang Xun pointed at Chen Lu on the surveillance monitor and said in a low voice, “The fish has taken the bait.”

“I’ve arranged everything. Now we just watch them put on a show.” Xu Yue sneered, her expression turning gloomy.

Meanwhile, at the headquarters of Meiyan Biotechnology Company.

Cheng Ye sat in his office, a freshly printed formula spread out before him, his fingers gently tapping the desk. A man in a black coat stood beside him. He was a private investigator Cheng Ye had hired externally, currently looking down and reporting his findings.

“It’s confirmed on Chen Lu’s end. The formula is indeed in our hands, and the Xu Clan hasn’t noticed a thing.”

“Excellent.” Cheng Ye picked up the formula, his eyes quickly scanning the ingredient list as the corners of his mouth slowly curled into a smile. “Tell them to speed up production. The first batch of Repair Cream must hit the market before the Xu Clan’s.”

“Yes, sir.” The man complied, turned around, and quickly walked out.

Left alone in his office, Cheng Ye watched the sky gradually darken outside the window, a long-suppressed coldness in his eyes.

“Yang Xun, Xu Yue… Do you really think you’ve won?” he thought. “It’s far from over!”

The next day, Meiyan Biotechnology held a massive press conference.

The venue was the banquet hall of a five-star hotel in Zhonghai City. It was brightly lit, and the media seating area was packed. A sea of cameras and microphones was pointed at the podium.

Cheng Ye, wearing a well-tailored dark gray suit, stood before the microphone with a solemn and grief-stricken expression.

“Regarding the recent adverse reactions caused by the Jade Skin Cream, I would like to extend my sincerest apologies to all affected users on behalf of Meiyan Biotechnology.” He bowed deeply to the cameras, his posture exceedingly humble.

Below the stage, shutters fired off in a frenzy—CLICK CLICK CLICK—and the flashes were blindingly bright.

Cheng Ye straightened up, his tone carrying just the right amount of sorrow. “But I must tell everyone here today that the quality issue with the Jade Skin Cream was not an intentional act by our company. Rather, it was a malicious setup by someone else.”

As soon as these words were spoken, an uproar erupted from the audience. Reporters raised their microphones one after another, their pressing questions rising and falling in waves.

“President Cheng, what do you mean by a setup?”

“Do you have proof?”

“Do you know who the mastermind behind this is?”

Cheng Ye raised his hand to signal for quiet, then spoke at a measured pace. “As everyone knows, the Jade Skin Cream went through multiple rounds of internal testing before its launch, and the results all met the required standards.

“However, on the eve of the product’s official release, our core researcher, Xiao Shijun, suddenly disappeared. His whereabouts remain unknown to this day.

“We have reason to believe that Xiao Shijun was acting under someone else’s orders. He intentionally spiked the official production batch of the Jade Skin Cream with banned ingredients, which led to the adverse reactions experienced by our consumers.”

His tone carried the anger and heartache of betrayal. “This was a carefully orchestrated commercial frame-up!”

The media seating area instantly exploded into a frenzy. Reporters lowered their heads to take rapid notes, the sound of camera shutters clicking continuously.

Cheng Ye waited a few seconds before adding, “We have already compiled the relevant evidence and reported the matter to the public security authorities. We believe we will soon be able to give the vast number of consumers an explanation.”

Meanwhile, online public opinion instantly split into two factions.

One side felt that Cheng Ye was just passing the buck, shifting the blame onto someone else when his product was clearly at fault. The other side began to suspect that there might actually be a hidden truth behind the whole affair. After all, the rivalry between Xu’s Beauty Industry and Meiyan Biotechnology was no secret and had been going on for a long time.

“I knew it! The Jade Skin Cream worked so well; how could it suddenly cause facial rotting? Someone must be playing dirty!”

“Xu’s Beauty Industry’s Repair Cream appeared way too timely. Right after the Jade Skin Cream had issues, they were ready to launch a repair product. Isn’t this timing a bit too coincidental?”

“I heard that Xu Yue even suppressed her own biological brother to fight for power. What wouldn’t she do to crush her competition?”

“This tactic is too despicable! How many innocent people has she harmed?”

Several highly biased comments were rapidly pushed to the top of trending lists, clearly propelled by someone behind the scenes. Cheng Ye had purchased an army of ghostwriters to overwhelmingly steer public opinion across various social media platforms.

The wording of those comments was virtually identical. They uniformly pointed the finger at Xu’s Beauty Industry, insinuating that Xu Yue would stoop to any level to suppress her rivals, even paying off Xiao Shijun to tamper with the Jade Skin Cream. A flood of curses and questions swarmed the official accounts of Xu’s Beauty Industry, and their customer service hotlines were blown up with calls.

Sitting in her office, Xu Yue looked at the vile comments on her screen, her expression remarkably calm. Yang Xun sat across from her, also scrolling on his phone. He didn’t even bat an eyelid when he saw the remarks.

“Ghostwriters always use the same old tricks. It’s just old wine in new bottles,” Yang Xun remarked. “It seems Cheng Ye has been pushed into a corner, leaving him no choice but to use this self-destructive method to divert attention.”

Xu Yue picked up her teacup and took a sip, her demeanor unruffled. “He’s doing this merely to shift the blame and redirect the consumers’ anger onto us. Let him jump around for now.”

Yang Xun chuckled. “Once his Repair Cream hits the market, he’ll dig his own grave without us having to lift a finger.”

Over the next two days, the online uproar continued to ferment.

Although Cheng Ye’s “frame-up theory” didn’t completely dominate the narrative, it did successfully deflect most of the heat. Consumers unaware of the truth began to be led by the nose. Meanwhile, Xu Yue’s continued delay in launching their own Repair Cream only made everyone think she was feeling guilty.

Right at this moment, Meiyan Biotechnology’s Repair Cream was the first to hit the shelves.

The advertising was beautiful, the packaging exquisite, and the most tempting part was the price. Consumers who had previously bought the Jade Skin Cream could use their purchase history to buy the Repair Cream at a discounted price of one thousand yuan. Furthermore, all subsequent purchases of Meiyan Biotechnology products would be thirty percent off.

To those consumers whose faces were ruined by the Jade Skin Cream and who had already spent a fortune on medical treatments, this was like a lifeline.

“Only a thousand bucks to fix my face? That’s way more cost-effective than going to the hospital!”

“Meiyan Biotechnology is actually showing some sincerity this time. Let’s give it a try.”

“My face is already ruined anyway. I’m willing to try anything at this point.”

The first batch of Repair Cream was completely sold out on the day of release, and backend pre-orders were backed up into the next month.

Back in the office, the senior executives all wore stern expressions, looking at Xu Yue in bewilderment.

“President Xu, what exactly are your intentions? Since we’ve already developed the Repair Cream, we should take this opportunity to put it on the market!”

“If Meiyan Biotechnology’s Repair Cream actually works well, then the blame for the Jade Skin Cream disaster will be pinned entirely on us. By then, we won’t be able to clear our names no matter what we say.”

“Exactly! With Cheng Ye stirring up public opinion, he can turn lies into truth.”