Chapter 60: Apple reluctantly releases the product, only to face an epic wave of returns.

Cook straightened his tie and, biting the bullet, walked out from the shadows of the backstage.

The spotlight hit his face, stinging his eyes so much he could barely keep them open.

Hundreds of the world's top tech media outlets were seated in the audience.

What should have been a scene of the entire crowd standing and cheering was now as quiet as a morgue.

Cook walked to the podium, his palms slick with cold sweat.

He cleared his throat and forced a stiff smile.

"Today, Apple will redefine the phone."

He held up the first-generation iPhone in his hand.

The silver and black body featured aluminum alloy pieced together with large chunks of black plastic.

The top and bottom of the screen were bordered by thick black bezels that looked bulky and dull.

The foreign media reporters in the audience exchanged glances.

Charles from The New York Times leaned back in his chair and rolled his eyes without hiding it.

Three days ago, he had just handled the xinghai pro in Donghai City.

It was a single piece of smooth, translucent glass, with the screen practically spilling over the edges.

Looking at this thing on stage now, it was like an artifact dug up from the last century.

Rough, cheap, and reeking of compromise.

Cook felt his scalp tingle and had no choice but to bite the bullet and go through the motions.

"To protect the absolute privacy of our users, we have adopted a brand-new passcode tap-to-unlock feature."

He extended his thumb and tapped on the number pad on the screen.

To bypass the global patents of Xinghai Technology, the software department had forcibly deleted the underlying swipe code.

They had shoved a password patch in instead.

This created a fatal logical chasm in what was originally a closed-loop system.

His finger finished tapping the last digit.

Cook breathed a sigh of relief, waiting for the screen to enter the main interface.

But the screen didn't move.

The image froze like a lifeless photograph.

For a full second, the phone remained as unresponsive as a dead brick.

"Click!"

An abrupt stuttering sound traveled through the microphone and filled the entire venue.

Only then did the desktop icons slowly pop up, trailing ghost images behind them.

A wave of unmasked laughter erupted from the audience.

Charles immediately raised his voice recorder and mocked him loudly in English.

"Mr. Cook! Is this the masterpiece that Silicon Valley spent ten years on?"

He pointed at the device on the big screen, which still had the lingering effects of the stutter, laughing until he was doubling over.

"It's lagging like an old man with arthritis! You call this changing the world?"

The colleagues around him joined in the jeering.

"This is ridiculous! It can't even unlock smoothly!"

"You're comparing this thing to the Full-screen Display of the xinghai pro? Is Apple planning to switch to making comedy shows?"

Cook's brain went "buzz."

Cold sweat dripped down his chin directly into his suit collar; he couldn't even find words to rebut them.

This press conference, which carried the last pride of Silicon Valley, had completely become an international joke.

Donghai City, Xinghai Technology building.

In the CEO's office, Chu Xuan was hugging his laptop, laughing until he fell over.

He slapped the armrest of the sofa, tears of laughter streaming down his face.

"Boss Lu, have you seen Twitter! The foreigners are all cursing!"

Chu Xuan pointed at the red-hot posts on the screen, jumping up and down with excitement.

"These netizens have trashed Apple's official account!"

He read the English translations above, his mouth stretching almost to his ears.

"Is this the trash Apple has been holding in for ten years?"

"Comparing this thing to the xinghai pro is simply an insult to the industrial design of the Chinese people!"

Lu Jingming sat in the boss's chair, spinning that plastic lighter in his hand.

He flicked the ash, a lazy smile curling at the corner of his mouth.

"They were bold enough to force a patch in without even clearing the underlying logic; it would be a miracle if it didn't lag."

Lu Jingming tossed the lighter onto the desk, making a crisp sound.

"Old Qiao has really lifted a rock only to drop it on his own feet this time."

The solid wood door was pushed open.

Shen Qingqiu walked in wearing high heels, holding a transoceanic fax.

"Lu Jingming, Apple's US retail stores have been stormed."

She pushed up her gold-rimmed glasses, and even that cold, aloof face couldn't help but reveal a hint of a smile.

"The consequences of forcing a release are here."

Shen Qingqiu slapped the fax onto the desk, the paper rustling.

"The American users who spent over five hundred dollars to buy the new machine in the first batch are all furious."

She flipped through the report, speaking quickly.

"They discovered that this phone not only lags when unlocking but also can't import contacts with one click."

"If you open just two more web pages, the body gets hot enough to fry an egg."

Chu Xuan leaned over to look and gasped.

"Oh my, an epic wave of returns!"

The report showed that outside Apple retail stores across the United States, lines of returns stretched for hundreds of meters.

"After comparing it with our Xinghai demo video on YouTube, these foreigners feel like they've been taken for fools."

Shen Qingqiu looked at Lu Jingming, admiration in her eyes.

"Our overseas official pre-sale channel just opened, and the influx of orders has already crashed the server three times."

"Serves them right! Let them be arrogant!"

Chu Xuan was so happy he didn't know what to do, scratching his parted hair messily.

"I guess this makes us legendary in one battle! The high-and-mighty tech filter of the foreigners has been completely crushed by us!"

Lu Jingming stood up and walked to the floor-to-ceiling window.

He looked down at the bustling traffic below, but his eyes gradually turned cold.

"It's too early to call it legendary. Cutting off someone's path to wealth is like killing their parents."

Lu Jingming put his hands into his jeans pockets.

"We've run into their backyard to steal their meat. Those giants in Silicon Valley won't just sit by and watch us grow."

On the other side of the ocean, Manhattan.

Inside the top financial building on Wall Street, outside the panoramic floor-to-ceiling windows was the decadent night view of New York.

Soros sat on a large leather sofa.

This international short-selling tycoon was gently swirling a glass of deep red Romanée-Conti in his hand.

The red wine swirled in the crystal glass, refracting a bloodthirsty light.

The fund manager opposite stood nervously, holding a due diligence report.

"Mr. Soros, Xinghai Technology has already registered a subsidiary in North America."

The manager swallowed hard, his voice very low.

"They are burning money to set up offline experience stores, and the cash flow they are throwing out is like a bottomless pit."

He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, trying to dissuade his boss.

"The product power of these Chinese people is too terrifying; Apple simply can't stop them. Isn't the risk too high if we make a move now?"

"Avoid their edge?"

Soros sneered and tilted his head back to finish the red wine in his glass in one gulp.

He placed the goblet heavily on the marble tabletop with a dull thud.

"Xinghai is not public, so we can't short it directly on the stock market."

Soros stood up and straightened his expensive custom-made suit tie.

He walked to the giant LCD screen.

On the screen, a network map of Xinghai's overseas supply chain flashed densely.

Greed like a vulture eyeing carrion appeared in Soros's eyes.

"But they are burning real money to set up their layout."

Soros turned his head, looking at the fund manager under him, baring his teeth.

"Those overseas contract manufacturers and parts suppliers they cooperate with are all listed on our stock market."

The manager's brain clicked, and he instantly broke into a cold sweat.

"You mean... smash their partners?"

"Go, smash the stocks of Xinghai's overseas suppliers to the ground."

Soros walked to the window, looking at the sea of neon lights below, his voice revealing the cold blood of capital.

"Create panic about a run, forcing those contract manufacturers to demand sky-high final payments from Xinghai in advance."

He picked up an empty wine glass again, playing with it in his hand.

"What's the use of a strong product?"

Soros narrowed his eyes, looking at his own reflection in the glass, and sneered.

"Once the capital chain breaks, this rampaging Eastern beast will just be a fat, sacrificial lamb waiting to be slaughtered."