Chapter 318: Chapter 318 Rebirth from the Ashes_1

Seeing that she couldn’t get in touch with Xu Xinxin, Xu Yixue didn’t insist any further.

“You can never wake someone who is pretending to be asleep” goes the saying. If Xu Xinxin wanted to make an appearance, even if there were ten thousand difficulties, she would stand by Xinghai Media’s side and resist the crisis that the company was currently facing together with Xu Yixue.

But if she wanted to hide, then she would have a thousand ways to make sure Xu Yixue couldn’t contact her.

It could only be said that everyone has their own ambitions. Xu Xinxin wanted to choose a better platform, and Xu Yixue was completely supportive, but many things that seemed like a pie in the sky often turned out to be traps dug for her.

Xu Yixue’s Xinghai Media, although only a second-tier media company in Zhonghai City, was still the legitimate daughter of the entertainment industry’s powerful Xu Family. As for issues like job-hopping, preventive measures were in place long ago.

Ordinary employees weren’t much of a problem; their wages could be deducted, and the situation could be resolved by hiring a few more. But artists were different; they were the result of the company’s significant resource investment. If they wanted to leave, that’s fine, but they’d have to pay back ten times the resources spent on them in breach of contract fines.

And how to calculate these spent resources, of course, was up to Xu Yixue.

As long as Xinghai Media didn’t go bankrupt, what would follow for Xu Xinxin would be astronomical breach of contract fees.

This kind of contract was something every artist who wanted to sign had to agree to, and rumors of it circulated online, humorously dubbed by netizens as the “indenture contract.”

Though it wasn’t as severe as selling oneself into servitude, if Xinghai Media didn’t collapse, Xu Xinxin would face a compensation fee in court she absolutely couldn’t afford. By then, even selling herself probably wouldn’t cover Xinghai Media’s claims.

Xu Yixue might have a kind heart, but she was used to the deceit in the business world. Xu Xinxin’s contract had already been signed with her, and such contracts were meant to bind the artists, so the company wouldn’t have to worry about investing in someone who might just leave when they found fame.

Right now, Xu Xinxin was relying on the assumption that Xinghai Media definitely wouldn’t survive this crisis. Once Xinghai Media went bankrupt, the contract would become nothing but a worthless piece of paper, and Xu Xinxin could then disregard the agreement from years ago.

But she hadn’t considered that although there were many cunning moves behind the scenes, Xu Yixue also had several unplayed aces up her sleeve. Whether Xinghai Media would collapse was still unknown.

The contract signed by Xu Xinxin was now right in Xu Yixue’s hands. If Xu Xinxin signed a contract with another company without properly terminating her contract with her, Xu Yixue estimated that even without being greedy, she could demand a breach of contract fee of over five billion from Xu Xinxin. By then, a second-tier celebrity like Xu Xinxin, no matter what, couldn’t afford it.

If she couldn’t afford it, then she could forget about continuing in the entertainment industry. No company would be foolish enough to take on the hot potato that was Xu Xinxin. If they wanted to, it would be simple; just compensate Xinghai Media the five billion yuan in breach of contract fees.

However, Xu Xinxin was just a nearly second-tier celebrity. If any company had five billion yuan, they could use that money to cultivate a new second-tier or even a top-tier artist. Who would invest in Xu Xinxin?

After thinking through Xu Xinxin’s matters, Xu Yixue then began contemplating Heishui Media’s third strike, the issue of engaging in unfair competition.

In the current state of affairs, many companies were actually engaged in unfair competition acts, such as during advertising, trademarking, by smearing competitors, or misleading consumers to choose their products, and so on.

These acts of unfair competition are common in traditional industries, but in the media industry, they are mainly seen in buying hot search rankings, speculating on topics, and obtaining others’ business secrets.

Actually, many companies engage in this behavior, but it can’t be done openly. If it is, they would bear the collective wrath of numerous netizens.

If such things were exposed on an ordinary day, at most it would be considered a public relations crisis. The relevant authorities would come around to impose a fine and require a corrective report, and that would be it.

But if it goes according to Heishui Corporation’s plan, after Xinghai Media has already been hit by financial fraud and artist defection scandals, revealing unfair competition practices would very likely be the final straw that breaks the camel’s back.

When the wall falls, everyone pushes; a worn-out drum is beaten by thousands. If Xinghai Media is struck by these three severe blows, its stock price is certain to plummet, followed by shareholders hurriedly selling off their stocks in panic.

Once this behavior triggers a chain reaction, it will quickly spread widely. Xinghai Media’s reputation built up over years will turn into rubbish after these negative news breaks.

Moreover, Heishui Corporation’s negative campaigns were solely to create a hostile public opinion to kick Xinghai Media when it’s down. More importantly, there were behind-the-scenes forces yet to emerge; their actual goal was to short-sell Xinghai Media’s stocks, and many speculative financial institutions were likely already eyeing Xinghai Media’s shares.

Under their lead, Xinghai Media’s stocks would definitely experience a plunge at the start of trading.

These were investment institutions with insider information, whose responsiveness to information was keener than a hound’s nose, and they would certainly rush into the fray at the first opportunity to take a bite from Xinghai Media.

Though the general shareholders might be slow to react, once they see Xinghai Media’s stock begin to plummet, no one can sit still, and they’ll urgently sell off their Xinghai Media stocks.

At that point, Xinghai Media as a company would be facing the triple pressure of Heishui Corporation, financial institutions, and shareholders. Bankruptcy would be the most likely outcome.

Only they didn’t know, Xu Yixue had already been aware of the company’s problems when she entered Xinghai Media and had previously done some investigation and preparations in these areas. Without this incident, Xu Yixue would have slowly and gradually resolved these issues, but the current conditions no longer allowed for delay.

Of course, crisis is also an opportunity. If Xinghai Media could weather this crisis without collapsing, then those previous issues could be resolved on the back of this crisis.

By then, Xinghai Media would be reborn like a phoenix from the ashes and transform into a brand-new company.