Peninsula: These female celebrities are all so neurotic.

The chilly night wind of Seoul swept in from the direction of the Han River, making the flags in front of the Dispatch building flutter in the wind.

Park Hyun-woo stood in the fire escape, holding his phone to his ear with one hand and his other hand in his pocket.

He had just come out of the meeting room, using the excuse of going to the restroom, but actually he wanted to call Liu Zimu.

The board meeting has been going on for almost two hours, from 6 pm until now. The ashtrays have been changed three times and the coffee has been refilled four times.

Eleven people sat on either side of that long table, making as much noise as a market.

He felt it necessary to tell Liu Zimu about this.

After all, Liu Zimu is now the second largest shareholder of D-Company.

"Mr. Liu," Park Hyun-woo lowered his voice, "the board meeting is still in session. Let me give you a briefing on the situation."

A soft "hmm" came from the other end of the phone, neither loud nor soft, revealing no emotion.

"The police came to Dispatch this afternoon." Park Hyun-woo lowered his voice even further. "They advised Dispatch to retract the news about Goo Hara and issued a statement saying that the evidence provided by Goo Hara still needs to be verified."

"Suggestion?" Liu Zimu repeated the two words.

He accompanied Choi Sulli to Japan. Since he didn't know anyone in China and was bored by himself, he went along to see what it was like for her to work, and then they returned to the peninsula together.

Right now, he's at home watching Choi Sulli exercise!

Park Hyun-woo gave a wry smile: "The original words were a suggestion, but Mr. Liu, you understand the tone. The police officer in charge, surnamed Kim, talked to President Lee for forty minutes, and when he came out, our president's face was pale."

Liu Zimu was silent for a few seconds: "Anything else?"

"It's not just the police." Park Hyun-woo shifted his position, leaning against the wall. "Starting at 3 PM this afternoon, Dispatch's public relations department received seven calls, from three television stations, two major newspapers, a chaebol, and the secretary of a high-ranking official at the Blue House."

Liu Zimu didn't interrupt, he just listened.

"The secretary of that high-ranking official at the Blue House," Park Hyun-woo paused, "his exact words were, 'This report has caused a lot of unnecessary controversy, and we hope your company will prioritize the overall situation and handle it properly.' Mr. Liu, you should have realized that this is not a negotiation."

"What does Li Mingjiu mean?" Liu Zimu asked.

"President Li's idea is to retract the article first, lay low for a while, and then release the full version later. I guess it's because D-Company might be facing some tax risks, so..."

"Wasn't Li Mingjiu quite assertive when he founded the company?" Liu Zimu's tone changed slightly, it was hard to tell if it was sarcasm or something else.

Park Hyun-woo didn't respond to that.

He's just an asset manager and doesn't want to get too involved in these things.

Moreover, there is unrest throughout the entire peninsula, with hundreds of thousands of people petitioning the government and demanding severe punishment for Lee Seung-ri and others.

"Mr. Liu, the board is about to vote. Would you like to speak with me?"

"Did you record it?"

Park Hyun-woo was stunned for a moment: "What?"

"Did you record the conversation when the police came to Dispatch?" Liu Zimu asked calmly.

Park Hyun-woo opened his mouth, then suddenly realized what was happening.

recording.

Yes! Recording.

"Probably. With President Lee and Director Choi's shrewdness, they should have thought of recording it."

"However, whether they dare to release this recording is another matter entirely," Park Hyun-woo added after a second's hesitation.

He'd seen this kind of thing far too many times.

"Okay, you can go back now. I have two points. First, don't retract the news. Second, release the recording. The whole peninsula is petitioning now, and these people are our support."

Park Hyun-woo was silent for a moment, then said "okay," hung up the phone, and walked back to the conference room.

The meeting room was still filled with smoke.

Li Mingjiu sat in the main seat, the ashtray in front of him overflowing with cigarette butts, not a single one intact, each one twisted and deformed.

Sitting to his right was a middle-aged man wearing gold-rimmed glasses, a legal consultant surnamed Che, who came from the Seoul District Prosecutors Office and was considered the most senior legal consultant in their company.

The car consultant was speaking, his tone unhurried, as if reading from a prepared script: "From a legal perspective, our report is sound. Every screenshot, every video, has a complete source chain. Even if the other party sues, we have a chance of winning. However... a legal victory does not guarantee real-world safety."

"What does the car consultant mean?" Sitting across from him, Executive Director Kim Il-soo stubbed out his cigarette, and another corpse was added to the ashtray.

The car consultant didn't answer directly, but turned to look at Li Mingjiu.

Li Mingjiu leaned back in his chair and remained silent for a long time: "If it doesn't work, then we'll retreat."

Editor-in-Chief Li Xiangyi's tone was full of resentment: "President, this news has broken records for clicks, the highest single-day traffic since D-Media's founding. If we withdraw now, how will D-Media cover news in the future?"

"If we don't withdraw, will you take responsibility?" A fat man sitting opposite him spoke, every word sharp and barbed. "If we don't withdraw, someone will come and investigate our finances."

Lee Myung-gu looked at Park Hyun-woo: "Manager Park, what does Director Liu mean?"

Park Hyun-woo smiled: "Mr. Liu's meaning is very clear, just two points. First, issue a statement immediately, releasing the full transcript of the recording of the police coercing us. Second, the legal team should prepare materials overnight and submit a formal complaint to the media arbitration committee before 10:00 AM tomorrow."

Everyone fell silent.

Who exactly is Liu Zimu, who suddenly owns 15% of the company's shares?

Their attitude was surprisingly tough!

Editor-in-Chief Li Xiangyi slammed her hand on the table: "Not bad! Just release those recordings too? Since its inception, how many celebrity scandals has Dispatch exposed, how many management companies has it offended? Every time, it has been fiercely criticized. But Dispatch's success is not based on fabrication, but on the fact that the information it exposes is true."

Everyone pondered for a moment and then looked at Li Mingjiu, after all, he was the president and the largest shareholder.

The final decision also rests with him!

Li Mingjiu lit another cigarette and remained silent for a long time.

"This matter has not only alarmed the police and high-ranking officials, but even the tycoons are getting restless. We are under immense pressure!"

"but......"

"Just like Director Liu and Editor-in-Chief Li said, if our D-Company backs down this time, then our D-Company will not be able to survive in the future."

He stood up.

"So my decision is, we won't remove the news, but we also won't release the recording. That's the end of this matter!"

Park Hyun-woo glanced at Lee Myung-gu, shook his head, and got up to leave!

After leaving the house, he immediately told Liu Zimu about the situation.

Liu Zimu simply replied, "Okay, I understand!"

He put down the phone, looked at Choi Sulli coming out of the gym, and sighed.

It seems Li Mingjiu chickened out after all!

It's a pity you missed an opportunity for Dispatch to become famous overnight.

He leaned against the doorframe, looking at Choi Sulli in her tight-fitting sportswear: "Jinri, go and copy the data from that USB drive tomorrow."

A youth who doesn't go a little crazy is a wasted youth!

Do not!

I'm a junior high school student, not a teenager anymore!

He changed after returning from China.