Chapter 37: CCTV Praises Xinghai, Making it a Shining Example of Domestic Products

6:50 PM, the first-floor conference room of Xinghai Technology.

The air was filled with the smell of braised pork lunch boxes.

Chu Xuan was standing on a plastic stool, butt sticking out, fidgeting with the antenna of the 29-inch color TV in the corner.

"Lu, is this antenna rusted? The screen is full of static."

He shouted at the top of his lungs while slapping the TV casing hard.

Lu Jingming was leaning back in his boss's chair, holding a paper cup.

"A couple of slaps will do, just make do with it." He blew on the tea leaves in his cup.

Shen Qingqiu sat opposite him, arms crossed, her pretty face cold.

"The 200 million in funds was wired to the special account of the National University Chip R&D Fund this afternoon."

She stared fixedly at Lu Jingming, grinding her teeth.

"If you dare to joke about something like this, I guarantee there will be one more male corpse in the Huangpu River tomorrow morning."

That was 200 million in real cash.

Just like that, it was donated without even making a splash. Anyone would feel the pain.

"What's the rush?" Lu Jingming raised his wrist to check his watch.

"Five minutes left. This is called spending a little to achieve a lot."

Old Li, holding his lunch box, squatted by the door and shoveled a big mouthful of rice.

"Young Master, what show are we watching? Why do all the senior executives of the factory have to gather here for training?"

Niu Dazhuang nodded in agreement; his work wasn't finished yet, and he felt uneasy.

7:00 PM sharp.

The familiar golden globe appeared on the TV screen.

The stirring opening music instantly resonated throughout the conference room.

Shen Qingqiu was stunned and turned to look at Lu Jingming.

"You made us watch the News Broadcast?"

Who in the country didn't know that this was the place where the tone was set? Could Xinghai, a bankrupt electronics factory that had just turned things around, get on this?

"Just keep watching and you'll know." Lu Jingming curled the corner of his mouth and sipped his tea calmly.

For the first twenty minutes, it was all national affairs.

Chu Xuan's legs were numb from squatting, and he was about to stand up to stretch his muscles.

The TV screen suddenly flashed.

The news anchor's clear and standard voice came out.

"Next, please watch our station's special report on the technology column: Breaking Barriers, a New Star of Eastern Technology."

As soon as the voice fell, the screen cut to a bustling, modern factory building.

Three bright silver robotic arms were precisely die-casting mobile phone casings.

The camera turned, and the back of a girl wearing an oversized white lab coat flashed by, holding half a sausage in her hand.

"Clang!"

Old Li's aluminum lunch box fell to the ground, and the braised pork rolled all over the floor.

He jumped up suddenly, pointing at the TV, his fingers trembling as if electrified.

"Dazhuang! Is that our No. 1 workshop? Isn't that Xia chewing on a sausage!"

Niu Dazhuang's eyes widened like copper bells, his mouth agape.

He couldn't get a word out for a long time.

This was CCTV! Hundreds of millions of people across the country were watching!

On the screen, a beautiful reporter with a sweet look and intellectual elegance appeared in front of the camera.

Bingbing held a deep blue xinghai gen 2, revealing her signature healing smile to the camera.

"Dear audience, what I am holding in my hand now is the Xinghai Mobile that has sparked heated discussions on the Internet recently."

She extended her fair index finger and swiped gently across the screen.

The screen flowed silkily without any stuttering.

"For a long time, our country's mobile phone operating system has relied on foreign technology licensing."

Bingbing's voice was crisp and pleasant, yet it carried an inspiring force.

"But just a few days ago, a local private enterprise completely broke this monopoly."

The narration cut in at the right time, with a high and loud tone.

"Xinghai Technology, using the fully self-developed Xinghai OS underlying architecture, has proven China's creativity to the world."

"This is not just a product, but a sharp sword for Chinese technology to break through barriers!"

A short three-minute special report.

Bingbing focused on demonstrating the one-click phone switching and multi-touch functions.

Finally, the screen froze on the gold-plated plaque in front of the Xinghai Technology building.

"Domestic products should strive for self-improvement, the light of Xinghai, the future is promising."

With this definitive comment, the report ended.

There was a deathly silence in the conference room.

Only the TV was still broadcasting the next news.

Chu Xuan's legs went soft, and with a "thud," he fell off the stool.

He didn't even care about the pain, scrambling to Lu Jingming's desk.

"Boss Lu! We were on TV! And it was a solo feature interview!"

Chu Xuan was so excited that his face turned red, and he grabbed his own center-parted hair.

"The pride of domestic products! The official stamp of approval! This golden signboard is priceless!"

Old Li's eyes were all red, and he turned around, covering his face and sobbing.

He had worked in an electronics factory for half his life, being scolded every day as a bumpkin making knock-offs.

Today, the machine he built was on the national channel and became a source of national pride.

Shen Qingqiu sat in the chair, her gold-rimmed glasses slightly tilted.

Her chest heaved violently, and she felt a current rushing from the soles of her feet to her crown, her whole body numb.

She finally understood the value of those 200 million.

At this critical juncture where foreign capital was eyeing them covetously and peers were cutting each other's throats.

Lu Jingming used 200 million in university R&D funds to buy an invulnerable suit of armor!

"You knew it would be broadcast today?"

Shen Qingqiu's voice trembled as she looked at the man who was plotting strategies.

Lu Jingming put down the paper cup and flattened the empty cup.

"The 'tribute' was submitted, so naturally, there would be a return gift from above. This is called mutual understanding."

He stood up and walked to the window, looking at the brightly lit factory area outside.

"With this report, Xinghai will no longer just be an internet celebrity in the digital circle."

Lu Jingming turned his head, his eyes as sharp as an eagle's.

"When the sun rises tomorrow, no matter men, women, young or old, as long as they buy a mobile phone, the first one they think of can only be us."

Lu Jingming guessed correctly.

That night, the name of Xinghai Technology went viral.

Aunties at the vegetable market, grandpas playing chess, everyone was discussing that blue glass mobile phone.

Online forums were directly paralyzed by enthusiastic netizens.

With official endorsement, those internet trolls who had once taken money to smear Xinghai were so scared that they canceled their accounts overnight.

However, behind this national carnival.

Across the ocean, Silicon Valley, USA.

It was a sunny morning.

At the Apple headquarters building, in the all-glass conference room on the top floor, the air pressure was low enough to freeze people to death.

At the end of the long table sat a thin man in a black turtleneck sweater.

Steve's face was livid, staring fixedly at the video screen on the big screen.

That was the just-intercepted and translated CCTV report from China.

On the screen, Bingbing was using two fingers to zoom in on that landscape photo.

Swipe, zoom, smooth beyond reason.

Steve's fingers tightened abruptly on the solid wood tabletop.

His fingernails made a harsh friction sound.

"What exactly is going on here?"

He turned his head sharply, staring at the trembling technical executive next to him.

"Multi-point capacitive touch? Isn't this the top-secret weapon we planned to showcase at next month's product launch!"

The technical executive swallowed, cold sweat soaking his shirt on his back.

"Mr. President, we worked overnight to dismantle their machine called the xinghai gen 2."

The executive's voice trembled, as if reporting a supernatural event.

"Their hardware is very backward, relying entirely on the code called the Tombstone Mechanism at the bottom layer to forcefully pull it along."

He opened the report in his hand, his hands shaking so much that the paper rattled.

"But this algorithm is too genius. We are even half a generation behind them in touch logic."

"Bang!"

Steve slammed his fist on the table, a flame of rage burning in the depths of his eyes.

The trump card prepared for ten years was intercepted half a month early by an assembly plant across the ocean!

He was planning to change the world with this product!

Now, the whole world would think they were copying a Chinese enterprise.

"We cannot let this mobile phone leave China."

Steve took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down, his eyes as cold as ice.

"Where are their touch screens and glass panels manufactured?"

The executive quickly flipped through the information and answered quickly.

"The glass is from their local OEM, but the core light-emitting components of the capacitive screen use goods from the Samsung Group in South Korea."

Steve narrowed his eyes, and a cruel sneer pulled at the corner of his mouth.

He leaned back in his boss's chair, his fingers tapping gently on the table.

"Call President Park of Samsung Greater China Region."

Steve glanced at Lu Jingming's frozen face on the screen, his voice as if laced with poison.

"Tell her to cut off all screen supplies to Xinghai Technology. I want to turn this so-called new Eastern star into a pile of blind scrap metal by tomorrow."