Chapter 91: End of the World
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“How is it possible?”
“That’s impossible! How can the quality of the parts manufactured locally be better than that of the imported j.a.panese ones?”
“I study aviation design and I have used brushless motors for airplane design before. I can tell that in the current brushless motor area, the quality of the local products must be far behind the ones imported from j.a.pan. This video is fake!”
“The video is fake, and the parts are fake! This is just like the Hanxin Scandal. If it’s real, how come it is a product of ‘Three Nos’? No product number, no quality certification, and no production unit. Why?”
“Are you blind? They’ve explained in the video. The batch of spare parts were only testing products. They couldn’t add the product number because they were rus.h.i.+ng to meet the production quant.i.ty! Besides, if the parts were fake, would they perform even better than the imported parts?”
“That’s right! if you copy from the top student in the exam and get a hundred mark, then the top student can accuse you of copying. But if you score a hundred and twenty, which is even higher than the top student, can the copying accusation explain this?”
The skeptics were furious and said, “This explains that the video is absolutely fake, it’s a sham!”
Immediately someone replied to him, “Oh, you fawning dog and apple-polisher of the j.a.panese, you have knelt under them for so long that you can’t even stand up now? If foreigners can succeed, why can’t China achieve the same?”
“I believe the video is real.”
Wong Xing also replied, “I took the Wa-wa robot apart and tested the two parts inside, the performance was not bad, but actually outstanding, so I believe the video is real too!”
The netizens were divided into two parties, the skeptics and the believers, sparking off a heated debate. But in general, the skeptics gained the upper hand. After all, in the area of brushless motor and the moving parts of the mechanic arms, China had been far behind j.a.pan, but all of a sudden, China caught up and even surpa.s.sed it; therefore they thought it was fake, subconsciously believing that it was a sham.
w.a.n.g Xing, who joined the “Believers’ Party”, strove his best to explain, but still, he failed to convince the majority. Considering that Xing Hai technology would hold a press conference at ten o’clock tomorrow morning, and it would be willing to take on doubts and answer any questions regarding the “Quality Scandal”, the netizens decided to call a cease-fire and see how Xing Hai Technology would respond.
The next day, at ten o’clock in the morning, the press conference of Ao You Xing Hai Technologies was having a grand opening in the news hall of a hotel. More than 100 media organizations and more than 200 journalists were there. Some of them were invited and some asked to come. Well-known media companies such as Xinglang, Tencent, Baidu, and NetEco were all there.
Hao Jian, the manager of public relations, which was the temporarily-established department of Xing Hai Company, was responsible for holding the press conference. He was a man with a funny name and a pretty good image. Professional and eloquent, he was responsible for answering all questions raised by the media and journalists. Hao Jian made a self-introduction and announced the start of the conference. After that, countless journalists raised their hands.
“Mr. Hao, can you please explain the reasons for the Wa-wah robot’s quality problem?”
“Were the disclosure posts real? The Wa-wah robot can only be used for up to two months?”
“Do you really use low-cost counterfeit parts?”
All kinds of questions were raised.
“Calm down ladies and gentlemen!” Hao Jian signaled, “Before answering your questions, please allow me to play a video. In this era, in the face of widespread rumors, any verbal clarification is in vain, and Xing Hai Technologies is not good at explaining, so we will just let the facts speak… everyone, please watch the video!” Hao Jian pointed his fingers to the screen behind him, and the lights in the room dimmed.
A video played.
It was the “This is the Quality of Our Country’s Core Parts” video uploaded last night by Xing Hai Technology. Twenty minutes later, the video ended.
Some journalists were shocked and amazed. “The core parts of our country are so powerful!”
But one journalist laughed coldly and said, “I watched this video last night. It is fake from the first glance. You prepared that beforehand, it’s not trustworthy at all!”
Hao Jian said, “We know there will be some doubters! So we are doing an ultimate violent test right here, right now. Seeing is believing, journalists!” Looking at that journalist, waved his hand and said, “Bring all the machines and equipment to the stage!”
In a series of noise and hustle, dozens of equipment was carried to the press room. The journalists were shocked. s.h.i.+t, the press conference had turned into a field test!
Then a total of five ultimate violent tests were conducted before hundreds of media cameras:
The Maximum Power test incessantly increased the voltage and current until it was overloaded, and the brushless motor burned down.
The High-Temperature Work test incessantly increased the working temperature until it exceeded the capacity and the brushless motor broke down.
The Low-Temperature Work test: Continuously lowered the working temperature until it could not function properly.
The Repeated Drop test and Violent Shock test was given until the equipment failed to work.
More than an hour later, the final test ended. The results were obvious, the brushless motor with the “Three Nos” triumphed, beating the imported j.a.panese products.
But still, a journalist put forward his doubt. “The tests you are doing are all short-term tests. The consumers have to use Wa-wah robots for at least years. Can you guarantee that your brushless motors can work for twenty thousand hours without any malfunction?”
Hao Jian replied, “If you are willing to stay and partic.i.p.ate in the long-term test, we welcome you to join the testing department of Xing Hai Technologies and take part in the long-term tracking test. We can offer several posts for you.”
Another journalist asked, “Then where do you get your parts? Are they really 100% made in China? Can you tell us more about the manufacturers?”
Hao Jian shook his head and said, “This is not something I can answer. All you need to know is that the Wa-wah robots of Xing Hai Technologies do not have any problems. Our core parts are perfectly up to standard and even excel imported products. This is a fact. I believe all of you witnessed that just now with your own eyes.”
But some journalists were not convinced and asked, “Then how do you explain the quality problems exposed on the internet? A ten thousand Wa-wah robots malfunctioned at the same time, how do you explain that?”
“Those were rumors, malicious rumors! We’ve already gathered enough evidence to file a report to the police. The slanderers will be arrested very soon if everything goes smoothly. Xing Hai Technologies will not tolerate any nasty slanderers. We will file a lawsuit and bring the slanderers to justice using legal weapons.”
Ring ring ring~
Just then he received a call; after answering it, his face lit up, and he immediately announced to the journalists, “Good news! The police from the capital just called, saying that they’ve cracked down on a slanderers organization, and caught twenty-three criminals.”
“Ahhh!” The journalists were all in shock.
…
Bang!
“Don’t move!”
“Put your hands in the air, put them behind your back and kneel down!”
“Don’t play tricks with me, kneel down now!”
When the door of the studio was kicked open, a lot of police officers dashed in, shouting “Don’t move, don’t move!”
The renowned online influence, Qing Huohuo, was completely lost. His mind was blank. How did the police find them? He was very careful and never left any trace. His accounts were all sockpuppet. Using the virtual private network, he avoided exposing the local IP address. How did the police find his spot and catch him red-handed? He didn’t even have time to remove the evidence, and the police had already taken away everything. How did the police do that?
A hundred thousand “Whys” popped into Qing Huohuo’s mind. The police officers fastened the cold handcuffs to him. His arms were twisted in pain and his head was pressed down, with the shouting of “kneel down” echoing in his ears. This was when his arrogant head finally bowed. The glory and arrogance in his emperor-like eyes slowly dissipated and finally disappeared.
There are only two words echoing in his brain: it is over.
…
On Planet Haierfa, at the Base of Operations, Chen Jin unplugged a cable from the routing switch and nodded. “Alice, you’ve done a good job.”
“Master, this is a piece of cake. Which generation does this network technology belong to? It’s too backward, and loopholes are everywhere.”
“Don’t ask something that you don’t need to know, understand?” Chen Jin glared at her.
“Yes, master,” Alice said, sticking out her tongue.
…
After the slanderer’s organization was shut down, the police released a huge amount of authoritative evidence. On the internet, public opinion reversed rapidly about the contested “Quality Scandal” of the Wa-wah robots.
“A professional gang of slanderers could fool millions and millions of the netizens, luring them into their trick so that they fell into the unconscious state. Apparently, it is still a long way to go if we are to improve the quality of the people.”
“Qing Huohuo was right about one thing: an online publicity stunt requires one to fool the netizens. It has to incite their feeling and emotion so that the status one climbed in a lifetime, the honor earned and the wealth acc.u.mulated in their entire life will be crushed into pieces overnight. Then a person or a topic will grow and prosper on top of the “dead bodies” of the three publicity stunt targets… Rumors will not stay by the wise, but the next rumor. This is the sorrow of our time.”
“Some people are f****ing idiots. They didn’t buy Wa-wah robots themselves but attacked its quality. For those who bought the robot, they just returned the products in a hurry even though the products were working just fine. Are they all nuts?”
“How many more people are still kneeling down and cannot stand up? Who says the quality of the local parts must be far behind the foreigners? Our enterprises have been advancing, don’t tell me they can’t catch up, huh?”
“Everyone has misunderstood Xing Hai Technologies. Wa-wah robots don’t have any quality problems! Those who remain skeptical about the quality can take the robots to professional organizations for testing anytime. Xing Hai Technologies said that it will refund ten times the price if the robot is fake. As for those who are still spreading malicious rumors, I hope that your comments will be flagged.”
“I returned my Wa-wah robot, can I buy it back?”
“Me too! I was misled by the others. The online rumors were too evil! I want to buy my robot back too. It’s too tiring to clean by myself.”
“Ouch, I suddenly realized that without the Wa-wah robot, I can’t accommodate to the ch.o.r.es at all. I don’t even want to touch the mop, and I can’t ask my wife to do the ch.o.r.es as well.”
“Wa-wah, your master is wrong! Xing Hai Technologies, can you resell the Wa-wah to me? I will pay more.”
After reading these comments, Wong Xing shook his head helplessly. “A bunch of people without independent thinking, they only know how to follow the crowd. Cleaning for a few days is only a trivial lesson for you! You asked for it!”
A bunch of reflective and regretful voices appeared on the internet. Wa-wah robots felt needed again. Its brand impression went straight back up. The scalpers, who almost suffered unbearable losses because of the piled-up Wa-wah robots, raised the price back to above ten thousand.
…
In Beijing, although it was daytime, Cheng Yunfeng found everything before him dark. The Quality Scandal of the Wa-wah robot was proven to be rumors. Xing Hai Technologies was safe and sound. The production of Wa-wah robots continued to proceed.
As soon as the press conference for Rock Robot was held, Xing Hai Technologies filed a lawsuit, accusing Rock Technologies of multiple patent infringements. With the solid evidence, the court ruled that Robot Rock could not be sold in the market unless it paid enough compensation to Xing Hai Technologies. But where could he get the money? He had taken all the company’s cash flow just for the three-million spare parts order of the two j.a.panese companies. Moreover, he placed the company, his estate property, and his cars as collateral in order to borrow dozens of hundred million dollars.
Qing Huohuo was arrested and in prison. In order to reduce the sentence, he went crazy in accusing others, including Cheng Yunfeng, the leader behind the scene. The police summoned him and requested an investigation. Once he was convicted, he would be facing a sentence of three years in imprisonment.
“It’s over. Everything is over. I’ve lost the battle. I’ve lost everything. I still have some savings of over a hundred thousand dollars. I’ll divorce my wife tomorrow then find a higher rooftop. I’ll strive again in the business filed in the next life!”
The next day, after divorcing his wife in the Civil Affairs Bureau, Cheng Yunfeng found a building with over twenty floors. He enjoyed the last few seconds of his life, and then freed himself into the sky.