Chapter 272: Chapter 262: Master, I Am Enlightened

At 1:00 AM, an article titled "Fruit Group Blaming Their Battery Supplier? Here’s the Real Story!" appeared online.

...

Thanks for the invite. I’m on the Oublo Continent, currently on vacation!

I’ve been hearing a lot of buzz online about the Fruit Group recently. With some time on my hands today, I looked into it and discovered something very interesting.

The Fruit Group responded to the incident of their phone catching fire while charging in-store, stating that it was the battery manufacturer’s fault... To be honest, when I read that, I had to laugh!

It’s true that lithium-ion batteries can be unstable. However, as everyone has probably been ’educated’ on by now, they only pose a risk of catching fire or exploding when they get too hot!

This is why it’s not recommended to use your phone while it’s charging—it can easily cause the phone to overheat, leading to performance issues.

But, and pay close attention here, no one was using the iFeng phone in the video. It was just charging normally!

Let me ask you all: how many of you can actually manage to not use your phone while it’s charging?

That’s practically by-the-book charging procedure, wouldn’t you say?

And yet, under these ideal conditions, it still caught fire. Is that really a problem with the lithium-ion battery? Or is it a problem with the iFeng phone itself?

Would you dare to buy a phone that might overheat and catch fire just from charging!?

...

The moment this article was published, it was pushed to all major social media platforms. Clearly, this was a premeditated campaign.

But at this point, people online didn’t care whether someone was manipulating public opinion from behind the scenes. All they cared about was whether the content was true and whether it resonated with them.

And undoubtedly, it did!

This article struck a major chord with anyone who had ever used an iFeng phone.

Namely, the overheating issue!

The iFeng phone’s overheating problem had been complained about countless times. Anyone who’d ever used one had the same experience: you’re just scrolling through Penguin, chatting with someone, and the phone starts to get hot?

It was just ridiculous!

And so, the article was shared like wildfire, and the focus of the public outcry gradually shifted from the ’iFeng phone catching fire’ to the ’iFeng phone’s overheating defect’.

At that moment, consumers worldwide erupted, furiously complaining about the iFeng phone’s overheating defect. At the same time, this triggered a flood of complaints about all sorts of other minor flaws they had experienced.

To be fair, it’s not like other brands of phones are perfect; they all have minor issues of one kind or another...

It’s not even limited to phones. In truth, nothing in this world is completely perfect!

Take laptops, for instance. Overheating is basically a universal problem for them, right?

But now, thanks to the wave of public opinion, the Fruit Group’s minor flaws were being blown completely out of proportion.

This revealed another flaw in human nature.

Take this example: you buy a new shirt online, and when you try it on, it doesn’t fit quite right. Maybe the hem is a bit too wide. But because you can’t be bothered to return it, you just make do and wear it out.

If everyone you meet compliments you on it, you’ll think to yourself, ’It’s just a tiny flaw, no big deal.’ But... what if everyone says it looks strange on you?

You’ll probably stand in front of the mirror again, and the more you look, the wider that hem will seem, and the more it will bother you.

The end result, naturally, is that you’ll never wear that shirt again.

And the situation online right now was much the same.

Had these minor flaws with the iFeng phone only just appeared?

Of course not!

They’d been around for ages!

So why had no one mentioned them before, yet now everyone was coming forward to complain?

It was because they saw so many people online bashing the iFeng phone. Suddenly, the iFeng in their own hands lost its appeal, and what were once minor issues were magnified into major flaws.

In the past, when they’d pull out their new iFeng phone and bask in the envious gazes of their peers, would they have cared about these minor issues?

Of course not!

They were too busy showing off, you know?

At this point, there was no longer any need for Ye Ling or Zhu Yun to do anything. Masses of consumers were already online, exposing all sorts of defects with the iFeng phone.

Public opinion is all about which way the wind blows.

Once you set the direction of the wind, your job is done. All you have to do is wait for public opinion to ferment.

As for how far things would go, that all depended on how much passion the online community brought to the table.

Ye Ling sipped a cup of tea, leaning back on the sofa in a leisurely manner, looking utterly content.

At this moment, he held victory in the palm of his hand.

’Never mind that the current situation was completely in his favor. With the precognitive cheat provided by his system, did he even need to worry about losing money?’

’What a joke!’

’Don’t be so surprised. A man with a double safety net is just that awesome, okay?’

In stark contrast to the leisurely mood of the mastermind, Ye Ling, a new storm was brewing in the US Stock Market.

The events unfolding online triggered a chain reaction, and the first thing to be affected was the Fruit Group’s steadily climbing stock price.

Originally, the Dugan Consortium had bought up all of Celestial Dragon Investment Company’s short positions, which should have signified that the ’disruptor’ who appeared mid-game had been eliminated.

The next step should have been for the numerous retail investors to follow the three great white sharks, get their share of the profits, and push the Fruit Group’s stock price to an even higher peak, right?

But...

But, influenced by the online backlash, the Fruit Group’s stock price stalled at 183, refusing to budge!

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