At the critical moment when rumors spread that Xiaohongshu had secretly filed a listing application for a Hong Kong IPO by the end of June, Chen Hao, the former head of commercial operations in South China, lodged a real-name complaint with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and the Securities and Futures Commission, stating that before a large number of employee stock options were due to be exercised, the company centrally terminated employment contracts on grounds such as “incompetence,” causing the options to be rendered void directly.