Chapter 298: Epic Marketing

"Exactly! My blood pressure shot up the moment I heard the news, I almost had a stroke!"
"Those bastards!"
The team members, hearing this, were all filled with righteous indignation, genuinely angry.
After all, they all had contributed to the rise of Fang Huan Shipping.
"Alright, alright, calm down," Su Hao soothed. "As the old saying goes, after the worst comes the best. When bad things happen, good things are just around the corner."
Everyone gets angry, and Su Hao was no exception.
But his almost superhuman intuition had already shown him a crystal-clear "future picture."
The picture was simple:
The global shipping industry, currently being chased by global capital and experiencing explosive growth, was about to plummet from its zenith into a quagmire, utterly destroyed!
In other words, those self-righteous EU bastards were practically begging him to spend money to dispose of a bunch of assets that were about to become worthless.
And at an exorbitant price!
"As expected of Chairman Su... his mental fortitude is practically forged of steel..."
"President Liang says every day that Chairman Su's level of 'iron will' and 'beast-like heart' is not something ordinary people possess."
"That's called vision! Understand? Vision!"
Listening to his subordinates' flattery, Su Hao thought to himself, if it weren't for his intuition "spoiling the plot," he'd probably be like Liang Haiyuan, locking himself in his office every day, chugging Erguotou (a type of Chinese liquor).
"By the way, the public outcry is huge?"
"Huge! It's more than huge! Turn on the TV now, every channel is talking about it!" an employee reported.
"However… Mr. Su, this has also brought unexpected positive effects for us.
Before, the outside world's opinion of Fang Huan was always complicated, somewhat demonized.
But after this incident, we've become innocent victims of bullying, winning a massive wave of support from people both domestically and internationally!"
"Oh? Is that so?"
"Yes, this is the public opinion analysis report I just compiled. Take a look." Another person handed over the documents.
Su Hao took the report, flipped through it, and smiled.
Sure enough, the report showed that because Fang Huan was forcibly taken over by the EU, public sympathy both domestically and internationally was overflowing, and emotions were running high.
The number of new users for Fang Huan Exchange, and even the short video platform "PicPic," is skyrocketing worldwide!
This wave was essentially an "involuntary" epic marketing campaign.
"Heh, interesting."
While they themselves remained calm and unperturbed, netizens both domestically and internationally erupted in outrage, each hailing themselves as champions of justice and launching a scathing attack on the EU.
In the public eye, the EU's actions were no different from highway robbery.
Thanks to this, Fang Huan's brand image had become unprecedentedly "glorious and righteous"!
'They cleaned up my mess and even gilded my corporate image while they were at it…'
Su Hao stroked his chin, deep in thought.
'Perhaps… I should donate more money to Europe through my foundation?'
***
Meanwhile, in Brussels, at the EU headquarters.
The heads of state were holding a second round of meetings regarding sanctions against Fang Huan Shipping.
"I really didn't expect this... to end so uneventfully?"
"Yeah, I thought there would be a fierce battle.
Judging by his reputation, isn't Fang Huan a mad dog? I didn't expect him to back down so easily?"
"Perhaps, that's their cleverness?
A person who can climb to that position must have excellent judgment.
They probably already calculated that if they continued to fight head-on, we would launch our follow-up plans, and it wouldn't be as simple as losing a shipping business.
They would face our all-around, multi-dimensional attack; the entire Fang Huan Group could be wiped off the face of the earth."
This left the group of bigwigs feeling somewhat uneasy. They felt like they had put in a lot of effort, only to punch cotton—unsatisfying, extremely unsatisfying!
They had even prepared to crush Fang Huan to death the moment he dared to resist, ensuring he could never rise again.
But, he slid to his knees faster than anyone else.
These guys actually understand the principle of "discretion is the better part of valor."
“So, what’s the next step?”
“This was spearheaded by the EU, so the spoils should naturally be distributed prioritized among EU member states.
Besides, this is the shipping industry! An unprecedented bull market!
The BDI (Baltic Dry Index) alone has already broken through 2000 points!
Reaching 2500 points is just around the corner!”
“Fang Huan’s side understands this, which is why they’re unwilling to sell cheaply. They’ve broken the company into pieces, trying to get the highest possible price.”
“Isn’t the price too high? Is their offer reasonable?”
“Frankly, it is a bit expensive.
But considering the future growth potential of the shipping industry, this is absolutely a sure-fire deal! On the contrary, it’s a huge profit!”
“Then what are we waiting for? Let’s encourage our European companies to actively and enthusiastically ‘snatch’ back these high-quality assets!”
Since the EU took the lead, the biggest fruits of victory should naturally be reaped by the EU.
“However, Mr. Speaker, don’t you think… Fang Huan surrendered a little too easily this time?”
A cautious official still raised the question.
“Didn’t someone just say they were perceptive?” The Speaker waved his hand dismissively.
“But they could have gone through legal procedures, filed a lawsuit, and stalled for time. There’s no reason for them to give up so quickly.”
“Don’t overthink it!” The EU Speaker waved his hand, appearing somewhat impatient.
“There’s still a huge mess left from Brexit. We don’t have time to drag this out with a Chinese company for long!
The entire EU uniting against one company is already embarrassing enough. A quick resolution is the best outcome!”
He didn’t want any more complications.
Brexit had already caused the EU’s reputation to plummet; he didn’t want to leave the outside world with the impression that “the EU can’t even handle one company and is frantically jumping around.”
"Besides, the shipping industry has a very bright future, doesn't it?" The Speaker leaned back in his chair and chuckled easily.
"So what's there to worry about? Is the shipping industry going to suddenly collapse?"
He glanced around and made what he thought was a very humorous joke:
"We can't possibly... have every country in the world close its borders overnight and implement a massive lockdown, can we?"
Yes, how could that be possible?
If that were to happen, it would be an apocalyptic scene straight out of a science fiction movie.
In reality?
Everyone present knew perfectly well that.
Such an absurd and laughable thing was absolutely, positively impossible!
"Hahahaha!!"
A burst of laughter erupted in the conference room, filling the air with a joyful atmosphere.