Chapter 8: Bulletproof, waterproof, and can even crack walnuts—competitors are green with envy.

In the square, everyone's eyes were locked onto Lu Jingming's hands.

That pitch-black xinghai generation 1 shimmered with a cold, hard luster under the sunlight.

Several camera lenses were shoved almost right into his face, and the sound of shutters clicked in a frenzy.

Boss Liu's chubby face twitched as he forced a cold sneer.

"Pretend! Keep pretending! If you actually dare to smash it down, the motherboard inside will fall apart on the spot!"

Brother Biao folded his arms, his triangular eyes full of malice.

"It's a piece of junk worth less than a thousand, and you want to claim it's bulletproof and can smash bricks? Just wait until you smash it to pieces and see how you clean up this mess!"

Lu Jingming completely ignored them.

He held the phone in one hand, flicked his wrist sharply upward, and then, with a gust of wind, slammed it down hard.

Without a moment's hesitation, the phone screen struck directly against the solid, burr-covered red brick.

Niu Dazhuang was so scared he closed his eyes, not daring to watch the heartbreaking scene.

The reporters offstage also shrank their necks back, terrified that shattered glass shards might fly into their eyes.

"Bang!"

A dull, teeth-gritting thud exploded suddenly.

Immediately following that was a crisp "crack" sound.

Half of the red brick rolled along the fracture lines and tumbled to Boss Liu's feet.

The cross-section was rough, broken clean and sharp.

The entire venue fell into dead silence, with only the sound of people gasping in shock remaining.

Lu Jingming slowly straightened his back and blew the red brick dust off the phone screen.

He turned the screen around, facing it toward the lenses below the stage.

There wasn't a single crack, not a scratch, not even a white mark left behind.

What was even more incredible was that the screen was still lit.

A catchy, brainwashing song, "Above the Moon," was happily blasting from the sturdy speaker.

"I am looking up, above the moon..."

The impassioned singing echoed through the empty square like invisible slaps across the competitors' faces.

Boss Liu's hand, which had been rolling walnuts, suddenly trembled, and the two walnuts clattered to the ground.

His chubby face turned liver-colored in an instant, then quickly faded to a sickly green.

"This... this is impossible!" he stammered, retreating backward. "It must be a prop! That brick is fake!"

Brother Biao's eyes were practically bulging out of their sockets.

He had been grinding away in Huaqiangbei for so many years; where had he ever seen a machine used as a hammer with its screen?

Even with a Nokia brick phone, you'd have to use the corner to smash a brick; who would dare to use the front screen to bash it directly!

"You're cheating!" Brother Biao roared at the top of his lungs.

The live broadcast thread on Jifeng Forum was already flooded with exclamation marks filling the screen.

"Holy crap! That's a divine weapon!"

"I didn't even dare to blink just now; he really used the screen to smash it?"

"Watching that red brick snap made my own teeth ache; this quality is insane!"

Lu Jingming turned off the music and casually tossed the unscathed phone to a reporter below the stage.

"Whether it's a prop or not, feel it for yourselves."

The reporters scrambled for the black metal gadget as if it were the Imperial Seal, their shock growing the more they touched it.

"This weight, this feel—it's the real deal!"

Lu Jingming jumped down from the broken wooden board and clapped his hands.

"Dazhuang, did you buy the water?"

Niu Dazhuang finally snapped out of it, carrying a bucket of tap water fetched from the water room, and came running over while panting.

"Young Master, the convenience store ran out of ice water, so I just brought a bucket of tap water."

Lu Jingming nodded, took the phone back from the reporter, and walked over to the bucket.

"Just smashing a brick isn't exciting enough; someone just said the motherboard inside would fall apart?"

He didn't even lift his eyelids, held the phone between his thumb and fingers, and relaxed his wrist.

With a "splash."

The xinghai generation 1 dropped straight into the plastic bucket full of water.

Water splashed all over Brother Biao's pant leg.

He instinctively jumped back a step, looking at Lu Jingming as if he were a madman.

"You're crazy! Water ingress will definitely fry the motherboard; that's common sense!"

Lu Jingming had his hands in his jeans pockets and tilted his chin toward the reporter with the black-rimmed glasses.

"Brother, make a call and test it."

The reporter swallowed hard, tremblingly took out his own Xiaolingtong, and dialed the official Xinghai number.

"Beep... beep..."

A few seconds later, the black gadget at the bottom of the bucket suddenly lit up.

The colorful breathing light flashed wildly underwater.

Accompanied by intense "buzzing" vibrations, ripples spread across the surface of the water.

The phone happily played its ringtone underwater; although the sound was somewhat muffled by the water, it was still clearly audible.

At this, the competitors' faces turned completely green, as green as scallions just pulled from the ground.

Boss Liu's legs went weak, and he slumped down onto the edge of the flower bed nearby.

Brother Biao, even more so, looked as if he had been drained of all strength, his hand holding the steel pipe shaking uncontrollably.

Their so-called high-end knockoff phones, which they were so proud of, were like water-soaked toilet paper in front of this waterproof and drop-proof monster.

Lu Jingming rolled up his sleeves, reached into the bucket, and fished out the still-vibrating phone.

He shook off the water droplets, pressed the answer button, and immediately put it on speaker.

"Hello, can you hear me?"

The reporter shouted into his Xiaolingtong, and a clear amplified echo came from the dripping-wet xinghai generation 1.

There was no static, not the slightest sign of a short circuit.

"Clatter!"

The reporter with the black-rimmed glasses slammed his Xiaolingtong onto the ground, his eyes glowing green with envy.

"I'm not writing this news today! Boss Lu, sell me one of these! I'll pay two thousand!"

The passersby around them also started crowding forward frantically.

"Save one for me! I often work on construction sites; this phone is practically tailor-made for me!"

"Nine hundred and ninety-eight, I'll buy three! I'll get them for my mom and dad!"

The scene was on the verge of turning into a shopping frenzy.

Lu Jingming pocketed the phone and pointed at the Bolang Mobile Phone Factory building across the street.

"Everyone, don't be anxious. Those who want to buy a phone, go to the other side and look at the official website and order hotline under that banner."

"We at Xinghai do business with clearly marked prices and honest dealings."

He turned his head and looked down at the ashen-faced Boss Liu.

"Boss Liu, are you going to pack up this red brick and take it with you, or are you going to eat it right here on the spot?"

Boss Liu shuddered all over, scrambled into the crowd, and didn't even dare to look back.

Brother Biao gritted his teeth, knowing he had lost all face today, and slunk into the Santana with his yellow-haired lackey.

He slammed his foot on the gas, and the car sped off, leaving a trail of black smoke until it disappeared.

Meanwhile, at the first-floor office area of the Xinghai Electronics Factory.

This place had been temporarily converted into a customer service center, with eight landline phones placed on a few broken tables.

Former Canteen Chef Wang Chunhua, now temporarily drafted as the customer service director, was dozing off under a fan.

The factory hadn't had any business for over half a month, and the phone lines were almost covered in spiderwebs.

Former Canteen Chef Wang Chunhua yawned, preparing to get up and go to the kitchen to make some mung bean soup to cool off.

Suddenly, "Ring, ring, ring—"

The red landline on the far left emitted a shrill sound.

Before she could reach out to answer it.

"Ring, ring, ring, ring—"

"Ding, ding, ding—"

All eight landline phones in the office area, as if under a spell, exploded with frantic ringing at the same time!

The piercing ringing converged, practically threatening to blow the roof off.

Former Canteen Chef Wang Chunhua was startled, dropping the cattail fan in her hand to the floor.

She scrambled toward the nearest phone and grabbed the receiver.

"Hello? Xinghai Electronics Factory..."

Before she could finish, an impatient voice came through the receiver.

"Quick! Give me ten of those phones that can smash red bricks! I'll pay! I'll pay right now!"

Former Canteen Chef Wang Chunhua was stunned and turned to look outside the door.

Niu Dazhuang was running back from the square, covered in sweat, his voice hoarse from shouting.

"Sister Hua! Don't just stand there! The Young Master wants you to go to the workshop and count the inventory!"

"Count what inventory?" Former Canteen Chef Wang Chunhua asked, holding the still-frantically ringing receiver, looking bewildered.

Niu Dazhuang wiped the sweat from his face, his eyes shining terrifyingly bright.

"Count that batch of black gadgets! The online orders have exploded; our factory, it's come back to life!"