Chapter 135: Played For a Fool
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Jingling~
Heart-stirring music began to play. A plume of fog gushed out of the dry-ice machine placed at the side of the stage.
A young man dressed in a white long-sleeved s.h.i.+rt and jeans appeared. He had a tall and straight posture. With energetic steps, he walked up to the stage and faced the audience.
Countless females in the audience shrieked.
“F**k!” Countless men in the audience ridiculed in agitation.
At a corner by the stage, Zheng Ker s.h.i.+n was so stunned that she stood rooted to the ground. Her cherry mouth formed an “O” and her eyes were filled with disbelief. “It’s…..It’s you. You’re the big boss of the company? Ah!!” She shrieked and covered her red face with her hands. “I’m finished. I’ll be fired, I can’t work anymore. I actually treated the company’s boss as CEO Ling’s a.s.sistant… I’m so dead. Zhen Ker s.h.i.+n, you’re dead. You have no more dignity to continue staying in the company; pack your stuff and leave tomorrow!”
Vice President Liang Ying looked at her behavior with some amus.e.m.e.nt. Silently, she thought, It’s the boss who told us to keep it from you. Lady, you’re too naive.
…
It was about an hour into the launch event and it was progressing very well. The smooth delivery of the handsome president, the powerful functions of the intelligent learning machine, and the intermittent ear-piercing shrieks from the female audience all proved to be good indications.
There were more than six million viewers watching the live event across various broadcasting platforms. This was the largest number of viewers who were watching the event at the same time. The launch event could be described as a huge success.
The introduction of the various functions of “Little Star learning machine” was complete.
Chen Jin started to announce its price. “So, how much is it selling for? “After a round of discussions and consultations, it’s final price was set at $5,888!”
$5,888! This could totally be described as a “friendly price.” Of course, the production costs of Little Star First Gen’s hardware was not high. With a configuration of 4+64G, a cheap CPU, and a self-developed AI chip, the total hardware production cost was less than $1,500. By setting its price at $5,888, the net profit margin for the hardware could reach 30% or more. However, the development costs of this learning machine exceeded five billion. But, with the addition of R&D costs, he could only “break even and make a generous profit” by increasing the unit price of all five million Little Star First Gen by $1,000.
However, everyone still did not really understand the intelligent machine. In such an environment, Chen Jin thought that setting such a high selling price for the first model of a new product would cause many consumers to retreat. The powerful capabilities of the Little Star learning machine would only remain known to the richer consumers. He would not only do business with the minority. Xing Hai Technologies would not serve only a small quant.i.ty of people! Xing Hai Technologies intended to take the whole market share and change the entire Z country.
Hence, the purpose of setting the price of “Little Star First Gen” at $5,888 was to build a popular reputation for the product and to get people talking about it. When the more advanced and more intelligent “Little Star Second Gen” was launched, one would be humiliating the capabilities of the product to set anything lower than $10,000!
…
After the end of the event, a furor was taking place online. Netizens held furious discussions on Weibo and other social media platforms. However, what was surprising was the two very clearly different directions taken in the discussions.
These were the responses of the female netizens:
“Oh my G.o.d, he’s so handsome!”
“My prince charming has appeared. My husband has appeared!”
“25 years old, handsome, and rich. He’s still single too… n.o.body is allowed to take my husband!”
“I thought fiction was fiction. I never imagined that the domineering president exists in reality too.”
“I married too young. ‘I return your pearls with flowing tears; what I wouldn’t give to have met you when I was still unmarried’!”
“I quit being the fans of those young flashy boys. My husband is better looking.”
Messages from countless friends and buddies flooded Yuan Lin’s WeChat friends circle. Her phone shut down several times from the huge load of incoming messages.
“Lin Lin, I’m begging you, can you give me his contact?”
“Lin Lin, we were in the same cla.s.s since kindergarten. It’s 20-plus years of sisterhood!”
“Lin Lin, I’m begging you. Can I transfer $100,000 to you? I’ll treat you to a meal tomorrow.”
“Yuan Lin, do you still remember what you said before? Have you forgotten this phrase ‘to share bliss and misfortune together’?”
“Yuan Lin! This is the last time. Don’t force my hand! I can take all kinds of action!”
“Crazy!” Yuan Lin was so p.i.s.sed off she blocked a good half of her friends in her friends circle.
…
The responses from the male netizens were all sorts of envy, jealousy and resentment.
“Motherf**ker. I was still studying like a nerd in school when I was 25.”
“He’s rich, and handsome too. Can’t he let us have a chance with the ladies?”
“I’ve suffered a ton of hurt!”
“Ah, as compared to him, I’ve wasted my life living to this age.”
The focus of the netizens’ discussions was the young boss of Xing Hai Technologies.
Only a small number of professionals discussed the Little Star learning machine in depth. They reached a unanimous conclusion: This type of learning machine was a pretty good product!
…
The next morning, Chen Jin received a call while he was sleeping.It was from the Sales Manager Li Yuan Liang. He said with some panic, “President Chen, bad news! Some unlawful punks are smearing your reputation in a frenzy!”
What?
Chen Jin crawled out of bed and opened his computer. Logging into Weibo, he finally understood what Li Yuan Liang meant by “smearing his reputation.”
Memes. Memes were being spammed and distributed across countless Weibo comments and QQ’s group chats. They were all based on his image or the Little Star learning machine. For example, there was a panda who was holding the Little Star learning machine in his hands. It was accompanied with a line at the side saying, “Silence! You’re disturbing me when I’m using the Little Star learning machine!”
There was also a video capture of him hosting the launch event, saying, “Little Star, do you know the answer to 1+3?”
When a question was solved, the Little Star learning machine said, “Correct, you’re the smartest baby in the world!”
Also, that cla.s.sic ad line, “Mom will not have to worry about my studies anymore.”
Some nosy netizens even gave him a nickname, “smart baby,” which was currently spread to countless netizens as a punchline.
In addition, there were countless other similar memes which all combined to nearly tarnish his s.h.i.+ning image beyond repair.
Li Yuan Liang said furiously, “President Chen, call the police, you have to call the police! Let the cops catch all of the people who smeared your reputation. This is too enraging!”
“That’s not necessary.” Shaking his head, Chen Jin forced a smile. “They’re just making some harmless jokes. As long as it doesn’t go overboard, let them do as they like; let it go.”
“Let it go? President Chen, you’re giving them free rein to tarnish your image?”
“What else can I do? If I really call the cops on those busybodies, will the netizens praise me for a job well done or will they criticize my pettiness? Let it go. As long as it’s not malicious, let them do as they like.” This was the consequence of being a public figure. Chen Jin had asked Brother Lei what his opinion was on the solo concerts that he held. Brother Lei had said that he disliked it and even felt uncomfortable about it. However, the concerts also spread the popularity of Da Mi Company. It was a mixed bag of blessings and he would not make a fuss about it.
Li Yuan Liang said reluctantly, “Ok, President Chen. We will keep a tight watch on the responses online. We’ll call the cops immediately once any extreme images appear.”
Chen Jin ended the call. Using his mouse, he went onto Weibo again to check out the memes flooding the platform.
F**k! Are they all f**king geniuses?!
He was filled with frustration and an impulse to chop somebody with a knife. But, ultimately, he could only remain helpless. Having been played for a fool by the netizens, he realized his own mistake too. “Little Star First Gen is a type of learning machine for primary school students. The main users are the primary school students, not the mainstream netizens. We should have invited parents and guardians in their 30s and 40s as live audiences at the event. In addition, we could have invited some teachers and educational professionals to make up the audience. There was no need to organize online livestreaming sessions for the event as well. Young adults won’t buy this toy so what’s the point in attracting their attention? In any case, only parents and guardians will be invited to the next launch for the learning machine! Step aside, young people!”