Chapter 141: Little Star Registered for the Senior High School Entrance Examination
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
On the 12th of May, Xing Hai Technologies published a post on Weibo from its official account. The content was an image. It was a joint photo of the boss of Xing Hai Technologies, the upper management, and hundreds of staff on the technical teams posing with 100,000 silk banners. The 100,000 silk banners, with their bright scarlet color, took up 85% of the entire photo area. There was a line of words on the top of the image. With a haughty tone, it read, “100,000 silk banners~ And almost 2 million letters of appreciation. Thank you, everyone, for the deep love shown to Xing Hai Technologies.”
After this Weibo post was published. The netizens broke out in a frenzy!
“F**k!”
“How is this possible?”
“100,000 silk banners, a whole 100,000!”
“Do you know the meaning behind this image. It’s their comeback! A retaliatory comeback! It’s saying, ‘you won’t ever dare to look down on the Little Star learning machine again!’”
“My face is stinging from that metaphorical slap! Xing Hai Technologies is truly amazing.”
“Now, the Little Star learning machine is selling for $30,000 per unit on the second hand market! It gets as ridiculous as $50,000. But as long as you have the guts to sell it, someone would buy it for sure!”
“Back then, I was one of those who didn’t look very positively on the Little Star learning machine. But, now, I take my words back!”
“Do you know how the scalpers are currently responding? They’re wailing in anguish and sick with regrets. However, there’s a mysterious scalper who experimented by h.o.a.rding 100 units. He’s known as the scalper guru now.”
“The Little Star learning machine truly is an astonis.h.i.+ng epochal product. There was an educational expert who used the Little Star learning machine for a period of time. The knowledge trees come with a logical design, and every video is simple and easy to understand. Not only can the learning machine grasp the shortcomings of each student almost immediately, but it can also automatically adjust the structure and components of the knowledge trees according to the different learning abilities of students. Its level of intelligence is astonis.h.i.+ng!”
“We’ve underestimated Xing Hai Technologies. The product that they launched was not a learning machine, but an intelligent learning machine! We’ve neglected the most important word, ‘intelligent.’ Our imagination was limited by common sense. The Little Star learning machine definitely cannot be compared to the ordinary learning machine!”
“A popular product that matches up to the Wa-wah Robot! According to the statistics from the national education department, there are a total of 105.64 million primary school students in the country. The sales volume of the Little Star learning machine could go up to 50 million units at the very least!”
“I wonder when Xing Hai Technologies will distribute the second batch of the Little Star learning machine? I can’t wait for it to happen.”
“Yes, I won’t let it slip through my fingers this time around.”
…
At Xing Hai Technologies, in a meeting with the upper management. The upper management advised Chen Jin collectively to increase the production quant.i.ty of the Little Star learning machine.
“President Chen, it’s a frenzy. Parents are desperate to get their hands on one of the Little Star learning machines on the market. I’ve even heard that there was one parent who spent $100,000 to buy one unit.”
“Quickly expand the production capacity, President Chen. We need to produce at least 50 million more units to meet the demand!”
“President Chen, the customer service department has recently received many calls from parents who are urging us to increase the production of the Little Star learning machine. They say that their children need it urgently. With a pioneer batch of only five million units, it’s really inadequate to meet the current demand!”
“If we don’t expand the production capacity, I’m afraid that the parents would not simply stop at urging us. They might make a complaint against us or report us to the regulatory departments. The back office has recently received many warning letters requesting that we immediately expand the production capacity of the Little Star learning machine so that their children can seize back their number one cla.s.s ranking!”
“President Chen, let’s quickly expand the production capacity!”
The expressions of the upper management were of utmost urgency. Each one of them was rubbing their palms, itching for some action. They changed. The att.i.tudes of the upper management personnel had experienced a 180-degree change collectively! Originally, they did not favor the learning machine project. They did not support it, and even looked at it in a negative light. Now, they strongly favored and supported the learning machine! Their eyes shone with excited gleams. In their minds, they were thinking with some regret. The boss was the boss for a reason. He had a different perspective than them. What he saw and the decisions he made were always one step ahead of them, ultimately achieving a success that was beyond anybody’s expectations.
For example, the 100,000 silk banners that were sent by the parents. The banners were first stuffed into the storeroom of the back office and then taken out to be hung all across their office walls. What they felt from the banner display was not pride and self-satisfaction, but shame and awkwardness. Their past judgments and behaviors were proven to be wrong. They too had received the metaphorical slap on the face by the product that they had looked down on. What a harsh slap it was.
Following which, every single one of them had a change in att.i.tude. They had all transformed into die-hard supporters. In their hearts, the Little Star learning machine occupied the same level of importance as the Wa-wah Robot! For the first time, they realized that Xing Hai Technologies possessed two extremely powerful trump cards.
If the production capacity of the Little Star learning machine was expanded, they would be able to sell more than 20 million units this year. This would cause the revenues of Xing Hai Technologies to dramatically double. The company would ascend to become one of the top 100 most powerful enterprises in the whole country! Established for two years, and in the top 100 most powerful enterprises in the country! Even imagining it caused one to feel excited and inspired.
However, Chen Jin did not show a happy expression when faced with their excitement and delirium. On the contrary, his expression was somber, dark, and one that showed how upset he was.
As the audience sensed that something was wrong, their smiles congealed on their faces and they looked askance at him.
Liang Ying carefully probed, “Pre… President Chen, what’s wrong? Is there a problem?”
“You bunch of idiots!” Chen Jin really could not hold it in anymore and vented his anger on the audience.
The upper management was dumb-founded by his scolding.
Chen Jin continued, “It’s been almost a year since the Little Star’s initial conception and a full two months since its launch. Do you still not understand the real application of the Little Star learning machine? Do you still not understand what its greatest capabilities are?! Did you really think that the Little Star learning machine is only a learning machine? Did you really think that the purpose of developing the Little Star learning machine is merely to improve the grades of students? I’ve said this countless times — the Little Star learning machine will change the entire world. It will change the educational structure of the entire Z nation. But which one of you have truly believed these words? Oh, what’s this expression on your faces? Unhappiness? Are you unwilling to accept my words? Feeling that you are put in a difficult position? I shall let you know the error of your thinking. I’ll get Chief Technical Inspector Song Bojun to teach a cla.s.s on scientific knowledge and you will know what Little Star’s greatest capabilities are, and the real meaning behind its birth.”
Ending his speech, he called Chief Technical Inspector Song Bojun to come to the office. In the upper management’s meeting room, Song Bojun used one whole hour to explain the series of technical principles behind the creation of the Little Star learning machine. He talked about the “smart learning program” and expounded on what the real capabilities of the learning machine were and how powerful they could be.
After the lesson had ended, there was none in the upper management without their mouths agape. They were wide-eyed and unable to make a sound. Their eyes were filled with disbelief.
Li Yuan Liang mumbled to himself, “Our learning machine is actually so powerful? I…I didn’t even know anything about it?”
It was not only him. The company’s CEO, Ling Jundong, lowered his head in shame. He felt so ashamed that he wanted the ground to swallow him whole! He was a self-proclaimed intelligent man who was a prodigy in the field of management. However, when it came to the specifics of technology, he felt that he was an utter idiot now. His ignorant behavior was a total letdown of the trust and importance that President Chen had placed on him. He was like all the other upper management personnel in the room; a moron! Ling Jundong sank into the depths of self-castigation. He had realized his greatest flaw too. He felt that he really needed to further educate himself on certain topics.
Chen Jin announced one last bit of news that caused them to be struck dumb with amazement yet again. “I’ve gotten someone to submit the application to the Department of Education for Little Star First Gen to partic.i.p.ate in the nation-wide Senior High School Entrance Examination on the 6th of June!”