This was an incredibly sinister trap laid in plain sight, built entirely on information asymmetry.
The attackers weren’t lying—Verdant’s product did indeed contain a "banned ingredient." Verdant hadn’t broken the law, either; their production and sales were perfectly in line with national regulations. The core of the conflict lay in the massive chasm between professional legislation and public perception.
The attackers were exploiting exactly that. They knew full well that in the court of public opinion, people cared more about a black-and-white sense of right and wrong, and more about venting their emotions. No one would have the patience to listen to explanations about "old versus new regulations," "production batches," or "sales grace periods." Once the words "Verdant" and "banned toxic ingredient" were tied together, public outrage would ignite. They didn’t want the truth; they wanted an outlet for their anger.
This was a textbook execution of public opinion strangulation. It was perfectly legal—and absolutely lethal.
Wendy Lynch stared at the clues mapped out on her screen, a chill running down her spine. This was a flawless killing stroke. An overt scheme that capitalized on regulatory loopholes, information asymmetry, and mass hysteria. The opposing party didn’t even need to utter a single lie from start to finish. They only needed to present a fragment of the truth in the most sensational way possible to push Verdant into a bottomless abyss.
At the end of the day, Forrest Quinn’s crisis had merely been an issue of brand image and marketing strategy. As long as their attitude was sincere and their plan appropriate, there was always room for salvation.
But Verdant’s situation this time was completely different.
Once they were slapped with a "toxic product" label, it would be a death sentence. In the cosmetics industry, safety was the baseline—an absolute red line that could never be crossed. The moment the impression of "Verdant equals toxic" took root in consumers’ minds, all the explanations and public relations in the world would be utterly futile.
Wendy subconsciously glanced at the time in the bottom right corner of her computer screen.
12:38.
There was less than half an hour left before the 1:00 PM press conference. She didn’t have much time left. She had to act immediately!
After a moment’s thought, she pulled the business card Evans had given her out of her wallet. Back then, he had offered the card with the promise that if she ever needed a favor, she could contact him directly. However, Evans probably never imagined that their first time speaking wouldn’t be because Wendy needed help, but because Verdant did.
Without a shred of hesitation, Wendy dialed the number on the back of the card. After only a few seconds of ringing, a slightly tired and confused male voice came through the receiver.
"Is this Miss Lynch? I apologize, but unless this is an emergency, you might need to reach out to me again in a few hours. I have an important press conference coming up shortly."
Evans sounded rather surprised. At this moment, he was in a conference room, making the final preparations for the impending launch. Receiving such a sudden phone call left him a bit baffled.
"Mr. Evans, the situation is urgent, so I’ll keep this brief," Wendy said, speaking at a rapid-fire pace. "Your press conference this afternoon is an ambush. Someone is going to use this opportunity to completely destroy Verdant!"
The other end of the line fell silent for a second.
"Miss Lynch, I don’t understand what you mean," Evans’s voice darkened.
"I noticed that starting at ten o’clock this morning, a massive amount of negative sentiment regarding Verdant’s Luminous Radiance Serum has appeared online. They’re claiming the product causes cancer and leads to various skin issues," Wendy explained.
Busy preparing for the afternoon’s event, Evans was clearly oblivious to this. His tone carried a hint of confusion. "Being smeared by a competitor’s rival product is very common. If things blow out of proportion, we have professional PR and legal teams to handle it. While this isn’t a very serious matter, I still appreciate your warning—"
"No!" Wendy immediately cut him off. "This isn’t a normal smear campaign! That was just the first step to drum up public interest! Their true killing stroke is the ’Morning Glory Extract’ in your product!"
Hearing the chemical term, Evans clearly froze on the other end of the line.
Wendy didn’t give him time to process, continuing, "This ingredient has been listed as a banned substance in the latest *Catalog of Banned Cosmetic Ingredients* released by the National Medical Products Administration on July 15th of this year. Even though your products were legally manufactured before the new regulations took effect, in the eyes of the public, ’banned’ means ’toxic’!
"They’re going to wait until your press conference is at peak popularity before dropping this bombshell! When that happens, every single media outlet’s focus will shift from your new product to the topic of ’Verdant using banned toxic ingredients’!
"Mr. Evans, you know better than I do just how pale and powerless logic and regulatory explanations are in the face of raw emotion. Once that label is pinned on you, Verdant is finished!"
Wendy poured out all her analysis and deductions in one breath.
A deathly silence fell over the phone. Evans didn’t speak, but Wendy could hear his breathing grow increasingly heavy. As the head in charge of the entire Asia Region’s operations, Evans was certainly no fool; in a flash, he pieced together all the connections.
He instantly understood the ruthlessness and viciousness of this plot. This wasn’t just business competition at all; this was an attempt to beat Verdant to death! If it hadn’t been for this phone call, he and his team would still be basking in the joy of their impending product launch, waiting to step onto a meticulously prepared guillotine.
A cold sweat instantly broke out on his back.
"Miss Lynch..." Evans’s voice had turned somewhat hoarse. "Thank you very much for the warning."
"Now is not the time for that!" Wendy glanced at the time—12:40. "I’ve told you everything I can. You must figure out a way to handle this as quickly as possible."
Taking a deep breath, Evans quickly regained his composure. "Understood. I will convene my team right now to discuss a solution! Miss Lynch, thank you again for your warning. You’ve given us the most precious thing of all: time."
His tone had already taken on a decisive, ruthless edge. "Since they want to play, we’ll gladly play along. I will let them know that Verdant is no lamb to the slaughter!"
With that, Evans hung up the phone.
Meanwhile, in the backstage lounge of Verdant’s new product launch.
A group of Verdant Beauty executives quickly commenced an impromptu meeting.
Half an hour later, Evans slammed his hand on the table. "Then it’s decided! Cancel the original product launch schedule entirely! The press conference will proceed as normal."
He paused, articulating every word with absolute clarity. "However, the theme has changed. From this moment on, this is not a new product launch. This is... an explanatory clarification conference!
"Also, immediately notify the PR and public opinion departments to monitor online sentiment around the clock. We must seize the initiative in this incident!"