The city didn't wait long.
By morning, Lin Feng's name was in five media outlets—none of them flattering.
"Golden Boy or Paper Tycoon?"
"Celica Analytics' Ownership Under Review Amid Regulatory Scrutiny"
"Anonymous Board Members Question Lin Feng's Sudden Rise"
The articles weren't damning on their own, but they didn't need to be. They were planting seeds. Enough ambiguity to start the rot.
Guo Yuwei sent him the links by 7:30 a.m., all marked up with her digital annotations.
—Who leaked this data?
—Article #2 links to a private licensing committee.
—Zhang Renshu's team most likely fed this.
Lin Feng leaned back in his chair, jaw tight. He wasn't surprised. He'd seen it coming. But seeing the smoke didn't make the fire any cooler.
By 9:00 a.m., calls started flooding in.
Investors wanted "reassurance." Board members of Celica requested "a closed-door update." One of the startup founders he had invested in messaged:
"Should we be worried about our association with you?"
