Qin Zhihui and Yang Xiuyu ran a company that had seeded stories on the web that subsequently went viral, usually in order to create publicity. Some examples included a tale that the family of an Italian killed in a train crash had received far more compensation, 30 million euros, than Chinese victims, and that a senior manager of the Red Cross had showered his girlfriend, Guo Meimei, with a Maserati sports car.