Chapter 202 Our Memory Chip Factory is on Fire Again (1/2)
The 27th of February, 20X1, after the lantern festival, heralded a new school year. The primary schools, junior high schools, and senior high schools opened for the new school year in succession. Some had even conducted supplementary lessons over the break.
There were people who described the opening of a new school year as the opening scene of a great disaster. Students were about to be thrown into the boring routine of studying after relaxing for the entire winter break. Changing from one routine to another was extremely painful. It was indeed a disaster for students who did not like to learn.
However, the situation this year was a little special. For students with an intelligent learning machine, the new school year was not a disaster or a prison. Studying was no longer the painful process that it had been. On the contrary, it was rather easy and interesting. The process could even be said to be delightful. The so-called ”happy learning” had been transformed into a reality. Moreover, this mode of learning did not present itself as an obstacle for students' mastery of knowledge.
Naturally, the students and parents who did not manage to buy an intelligent learning machine felt extremely anxious and impatient. A mass of opinions could be heard on the official Weibo account of Xing Hai Technologies and Chen Jin's own personal Weibo account. As a whole, they were urging for more stock. ”Why is my child's learning machine not produced yet?” There were also those who expressed themselves with harsh words and threats, like, ”I'll bomb Xing Hai Technologies!”
Parents who had been watching Z country started to feel restless. It seemed that the situation in Z country was about to become explosive. Some of the overseas powers, who were shrouded in secrecy, took out their metaphorical stools, potato chips, soda, and other snacks as they got ready to watch an exciting drama.
However, they were disappointed. After a mere few days, the tumultuous storm on the Xing Hai Technologies official Weibo account had passed. The irritable voices and overly agitated rhetoric had been reduced. The parents of Z country seemed to have been appeased by a mysterious force.
...
In Gorea, in a particular meeting room, confusion fell.
”What happened? Why did the parents of Z country stop kicking up a fuss? Don't they know that if they don't get a learning machine now, they won't be able to buy one even after a year?”
On a screen, a foreigner from a remote location said, ”This is too strange. Z country's college entrance examination will begin in July. But a significant portion of the senior high schoolers do not have a learning machine. They won't be able to buy one even after the exam has ended! Their children are about to lose to other students that have a learning machine. This is not fair! They should resist!”
”Yes, this is indeed unfair. If this happened in Merica, the parents would definitely be marching on the streets in protest. But it is bewildering that the parents of Z country did not protest.”
”I understand now!” The president of Samsin company, Li Jianrong, who had been sunk into deep thought, suddenly yelled, ”We've underestimated Z country; we've neglected the government involvement in Z country. It must be their government who has suppressed this issue! Z country is the best at covering up terrible incidents. It was said that their Wuchuan Province was hit with a flood and thousands drowned, but only a few fatalities were mentioned in the official reports. A mining disaster happened in a coal mine and hundreds were killed, but there were no media reports on the incidents. No matter what disaster happens, it's all within their control! Z country's government must have suppressed this matter too by getting rid of the parents who protested. They frequently do this sort of thing and the way they deal with such incidents is very skilled. The proper and reasonable requests of parents are destined to meet with a dead end.”
The remote foreigners on the screen let out shocked gasps as their expressions changed.
”It's a nightmare of the democratic world.”
”I can't imagine the outcome if the same thing happened in Merica.”
”Our media should expose the truth of the matter and let the parents of Z country know about this!”
”No!” Li Jianrong shook his head awkwardly, ”It is because Samsin had banned the sale of memory chips to Z country that has resulted in the reduction of the manufacturing capabilities for the Little Star learning machine. If the parents of Z country got wind of this, their rage will be directed at us… we cannot expose the truth.”
Everyone looked at one another in dismay and some awkwardness. Perhaps this was called cutting off one's nose to spite one's face. Then, what should they do? Was there nothing that they could do about Xing Hai Technologies?
Of course not!
Suddenly, Li Jianrong revealed a strange smile. ”Gentlemen, I do have an idea that would solve both issues. It will allow us to expose the truth about the Xing Hai Technologies' insufficient production capabilities without incurring the wrath of the parents.” In addition, it might even bring about great benefits to Samsin company. He thought, it was killing not two, but three birds with one stone.
”What is it?” All attention was focused on him.
”We'll burn down our memory chip production factory.” As his weird grin spread across his face, Li Jianrong slowly said, ”Of course, it'll be a fake fire that looks real. Then, we'll announce to the world that the factory has stopped production of our memory chips so we're unable to supply them any longer. This is especially so for Xing Hai Technologies, who will miss a batch of memory chips from us. This will cause all the parents in Z country to realize that it's very unlikely for them to successfully buy a learning machine in the short-term.”
”Good; this is a good idea!”
”Let's do this.”
An official from the EU said with an ugly expression, ”Mr. Li, you're not trying to inflate the price of memory chips by taking this opportunity to fish for benefits, are you? I'm warning you, the price of your memory chips is already very high. If it continues to rise, European consumers will be very unhappy. Beware, we could carry out an antitrust investigation on Samsin!”