36: Chapter 36 A Full-Scale Online Suppression? This is a 100 Million Dollar Assist.

"Get lost! You don't want the deposit anymore, right? Fine! In the future, even if you kneel and beg, don't even think about getting a single wire from our factory!"

Old Zhou slammed the phone receiver down onto the landline, and the plastic casing cracked on the spot.

Big Mouth Liu walked in carrying a basin of machine oil.

"Uncle Zhou, what's wrong? Why are you so angry?"

Big Mouth Liu set the basin down on the floor with a clatter.

Old Zhou unbuttoned his collar and gasped for air.

"Those three small accessory OEM factories under Xinghe Technology just called. They'd rather pay the penalty for breach of contract than continue the partnership. They said they're afraid of being associated with us and getting investigated later."

Big Mouth Liu exploded upon hearing this.

"Are those bastards out of their minds? Are they blind to our shipping speed over the past few days?"

"The internet is full of people calling us an illegal pyramid scheme den. People in business are most afraid of trouble."

Old Zhou wiped the sweat from his face.

The office door was pushed open.

Zhang Xiufang walked in with her head lowered.

The blue Chenguang Electronics Factory jacket she usually loved to wear was now tightly gripped in her hands, crumpled into a ball.

"Sister Zhang, what's wrong?" Big Mouth Liu asked.

Zhang Xiufang looked up, her eyes red, tears welling up.

"I went to the corner market to buy groceries just now. Two vegetable vendors pointed at my back and cursed at me."

Zhang Xiufang's voice trembled, "They said I was an accomplice to a fraudster, that our factory specifically tricks fresh graduates into doing hard labor. Even Old Li at the pork stall refused to sell meat to me; he said earning our dirty money is bad karma."

Old Zhou slammed his fist onto the desk, making the teacup jump.

Zhang Xiufang clutched her jacket to her chest.

"Brother Zhou, we clearly haven't done anything wrong. We pay wages on time, and the cafeteria has meat every day. Factory Director Lu even distributed new apartments to everyone. Why are they splashing dirty water on us like this online?"

Da Biao strode in from outside, carrying two rubber batons in his hands.

"Sister, tell me which stall it was, and I'll go flip it over." Da Biao walked out with a dark expression.

"Da Biao, stop right there!"

Old Zhou shouted at him, "If you go out and cause trouble now, you'll fall right into the trap of those people online. They're just waiting to catch us for assault!"

Old Zhou took out his phone, opened a short video app, and handed it over.

"See for yourselves."

Old Zhou's voice was trembling.

On the screen was a mega-influencer with tens of millions of followers named "Justice A-Wei."

A-Wei was screaming hysterically at the camera.

"Family! That Chenguang Electronics Factory in Jiangcheng is purely a den of monsters that eats people without spitting out the bones!

Lu Chen is using the guise of making a Solid-state battery to trick hundreds of students from Hongxing Vocational College into being locked in a basement doing hard labor.

Tomorrow is their bullshit press conference. I, A-Wei, am putting it out there today: I will go to the scene in person tomorrow.

I will strip bare the bottom line of this pyramid scheme in front of hundreds of thousands of family members!"

The video's like count had already exceeded two million.

The comment section was filled with uniform cries of "Investigate Lu Chen strictly" and "Send the fraudster in to pedal the sewing machine."

"This bastard took dirty money and is spewing shit here!" Big Mouth Liu cursed loudly.

Old Zhou put away his phone and walked out.

"Let's go, come with me to find the Factory Director. This press conference absolutely cannot be held tomorrow. Holding it now is just walking straight into the muzzle of a gun."

Old Zhou pushed the door open and rushed out.

On the factory plaza, dozens of huge black flight cases were piled up.

Da Biao and the security team were unpacking them.

Lu Chen stood in the middle, holding a tablet to check equipment data.

"Da Biao, set up these eight 8K ultra-high-definition cameras at the four corners of the main stage. Lay the tracks well, no blind spots allowed, and all camera positions must be directly connected to the fiber optic network."

Lu Chen gave the order without lifting his head.

Da Biao pointed to four huge black boxes on the ground.

"Bro, those eight-rotor heavy-duty aerial drones have arrived too. These things can fly for two hours on a single charge, withstand a force-8 gale, and the image quality is maxed out."

Lu Chen walked over to check the mounted gimbals.

"Get them all into the air and on standby. Once the press conference starts, give me a comprehensive overhead shot circling the factory area.

I want the people on the other side of the internet connection to be able to see clearly even how many legs the ants on our ground have." Lu Chen arranged.

Old Zhou ran over and pressed down on the tablet in Lu Chen's hands.

"Factory Director! The sky is practically falling outside, and you still have the heart to tinker with these cameras!"

Old Zhou stomped his feet in anxiety.

Lu Chen swatted Old Zhou's hand away.

"This is called a multi-camera synchronized live broadcast matrix. It cost me nearly 20 million to buy this set," Lu Chen said.

Old Li, the deputy director of the Solid-state battery laboratory who had followed him out, shook his head repeatedly.

Old Li was an old engineer in his sixties.

"General Manager Lu, listen to my advice."

Old Li's face was full of worry, "Cancel the press conference quickly and lay low. In the current situation, we are already being roasted over a fire.

Once this live stream starts, those millions of mouths online could tear us alive. It might even cause a riot at the scene."

Lu Chen handed the tablet to Big Mouth Liu standing nearby.

He turned to look at Old Li and Old Zhou.

"Lay low? Why should I lay low?"

Lu Chen took out a pack of cigarettes and pulled out two to offer them.

Both waved their hands to decline, so Lu Chen lit one for himself.

"Old Zhou, have you ever calculated the cost? To buy the top ten trending searches on all major national platforms simultaneously and keep them there for two days and two nights.

Plus, hiring hundreds of mega-influencers and internet celebrities with tens of millions of followers to stir things up—how much would that cost?"

Lu Chen exhaled a smoke ring.

Old Zhou was stunned for a moment.

"At least a hundred million RMB," Old Zhou replied.

Lu Chen laughed.

"Exactly, at least a hundred million."

Lu Chen pointed to the sky with his cigarette.

"Wang Teng and that bunch of foreigners spent a full hundred million in real money.

They gathered the attention of netizens across the country onto our Chenguang Electronics Factory without missing a second. This is massive, free traffic."

Old Li retorted eagerly.

"But this is all negative traffic! They are cursing us for being a pyramid scheme and fraud!"

Lu Chen walked over and patted Old Li on the shoulder.

"Old Li, negative traffic or positive traffic, only traffic that can be monetized is good traffic."

Lu Chen glanced at the staff setting up the jib camera.

"In the business world, the scariest thing isn't people cursing you; the scariest thing is no one paying attention to you at all."

Lu Chen turned to look at the factory gate behind him.

"Now, people across the country have pulled up their small stools, eyes wide open, waiting to see how I, Lu Chen, will die.

If I cancel the press conference at this time, how could I justify the 100 million in advertising fees that President Wang paid for me?"

He flicked off the cigarette ash.

"Since they've set up the stage, I'll put on a good show for the people of the country.

I want to turn the traffic they paid for into an invincible advertisement for our battery."

Old Zhou still felt unsure.

"But that mega-influencer with tens of millions of followers is coming to crash the event, and our workers are so aggrieved they don't even dare to go out wearing their uniforms," Old Zhou sighed.

Lu Chen stepped on the cigarette butt, "Go notify all employees: no matter who comes to provoke today, don't say a word back, just hold it in for me.

Tell them, the deeper they hold in this grievance now, the more satisfying it will be when we slap their faces tomorrow."

At the same time, in the luxury office on the top floor of the Tengfei Electronics headquarters.

Several opened bottles of foreign liquor sat on the solid wood desk.

Wang Teng leaned back on the leather sofa, holding a wine glass, his face ruddy; the previous decadence had been swept away.

PR Director Sun Zhi was holding a tablet, grinning from ear to ear.

"President Wang, there is no more noise on the entire internet now. Any search term with the words 'Chenguang' in it, once clicked, is full of uniform condemnation."

PR Director Sun Zhi reported, "That mega-influencer, Justice A-Wei, is already on his way to the Chenguang Electronics Factory. His live stream is already open, and 800,000 people are already online waiting to watch the show."

Wang Teng took a large gulp of wine.

The phone on the desk rang; it was a video call from Jason.