After the Divorce, I Could Hear the Voice of the Future
Chapter 624 - 616: Damn it, everyone’s up to something

Chapter 624: Chapter 616: Damn it, everyone’s up to something

In the cities near Su City, car owners identified received Tianxing Automobile’s full moon gift around noon the following day.

A sophisticated hardboard box, along with a shopping bag, both printed with a light blue four-corner star, looked like a high-end luxury brand, costing a fortune.

Inside the package was a white shoulder bag about the length of a forearm. It wasn’t anything fancy, but its texture was exactly as Lu Liang had shown.

"The material is A-grade leather, mainly used for high-end brands. Brands like LV and Chanel, and their premium A-grade products all use this material."

"It’s not fancy, but the texture is nice. Occasionally, it’s fine for carrying a phone, documents, or cables."

A part-time short video blogger uploaded his unboxing video to his social media account.

It was an unintentional act; he thought it would end up with the same underwhelming four-digit views as his previous videos.

However, as the first blogger in the entire network to unbox this item, the video was quietly promoted by the Douyin algorithm, and the views and comments began to rise.

By the time he returned from lunch, he was stunned. The video had over a million views, more than all his previous hundred-plus videos combined.

His private messages were completely flooded.

There were mainly three types of people: one group begged for a rich V50, claiming they hadn’t eaten in two days and were shaking with hunger.

Another group was pretty young ladies from near Su City, expressing their love for the bag and asking if they could have it.

Lastly, there were some like second-hand scalpers, starting the bidding at 500 yuan and going as high as 3400 yuan.

"What’s so good about this thing?"

Chen Xing was dumbfounded. He couldn’t understand why a simple shoulder bag was garnering so much attention.

It wasn’t even LV, Gucci, or Chanel. Although the material was good, there was no brand premium.

However, looking at the thousand-plus private messages, he couldn’t help but feel great.

The car was worth it, and now the value had already equaled the car’s price.

As time went by, more unboxing videos surfaced, catching the attention of professionals.

Among them were second-hand luxury brand bag resellers analyzing from a professional perspective how this gift suddenly went viral.

"First, and most importantly, Mr. Lu’s attitude empowered this gift, making it more special than luxury items. It’s a gift from a billionaire as an apology, and although many were given out, the sentiment remains unchanged."

"Second, the material and sewing craftsmanship rival luxury products. If you observe closely, this is the 21-stitch sewing technique. Sometimes clothes, shoes, or hats may not show price, but the texture stands out instantly, and exquisite sewing craftsmanship plays a major role."

"Some might only know Putian is the paradise for high-end A-grade products, but don’t forget, Su City is renowned as the textile capital, and Su embroidery is one of the four famous embroideries. The world’s finest textile technology is right in Su City."

"Lastly, who says this shoulder bag has no brand premium? It’s full of it, okay?"

"Because this bag represents an electric car worth 300,000. Online, there are claims that a monthly salary over 10,000 is no big deal, and an annual salary of a million is common, but anyone can create these stories."

"The reality is, there are very few who can spend 300,000 on a car, and even fewer who can spend 300,000 on an electric car."

"A white bag body with a light blue four-corner star; anyone who knows will recognize it as a Tianshu car owner."

"Nowadays, young people all want attention, so the sudden popularity of the Tianxing bag makes sense, it’s not abrupt."

This blogger’s influence wasn’t small, and related to Lu Liang and Tianshu, the video re-entered the conference rooms of competitors.

NIO’s Li Bing: "Everyone write this down in your notebooks, if the ES6 we launch in August isn’t delivered on time, just use this strategy directly."

Li Xiang from Ideal: "Contact Hengli Group in Su City and have them customize car beds using the L9 as a model, giving away two thousand pieces."

He Xiaopeng from Xiao Peng: "Damn it, is everyone playing like this? Tell the design department to reserve more space at the base of our next P7 trunk and fit a full-sized spare tire. Who says electric cars have no spare tires? Xiao Peng does."

Companies like Weiliao and other automakers quickly responded, not to be left behind by second-tier brands like Jihu, Lantu, Ling Pao, and Avita.

Because of a small shoulder bag gifted by Tianxing Automobile, a mysterious competition emerged among major new energy car companies.

"In this grand rivalry, better to follow someone else’s breakthrough than miss any opportunity."

Far in Beijing, Lei Jun murmured to himself, feeling that they should do something too.

Although the Xiaomi Car factories were still under construction, the industry’s disputes became ever so relevant to them after Xiaomi announced car production.

Unlike phones, cars aren’t something changed annually; they’re a significant purchase, usually not reconsidered for three to five years.

Xiaomi’s concept car wouldn’t be unveiled for another year or so, their sense of urgency needed to heighten.

Lei Jun glanced at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Since Xiaomi announced car production, the stock price had finally climbed back to 15 yuan after several months.

Though still 2 yuan short of its 17 yuan initial offering, at least it no longer appeared to have plummeted embarrassingly.

Investors across sectors expressed high confidence in Xiaomi’s car production, willing to give Lei Jun an additional three years.

"Eight years since our founding, and this year we went public in Hong Kong. We must thank those fans who have been with us from the start."

Lei Jun called his assistant, intending to conduct a large-scale refundable gift in celebration of Xiaomi’s eighth anniversary.

By that afternoon, news emerged that Xiaomi Group was refunding 370 million yuan to 184,600 initial Xiaomi 1 users.

In appreciation of their support eight years ago, they would receive gift packets equivalent to 1,999 yuan to purchase any product from the Xiaomi Mall.

The announcement created waves online, overshadowing the surge of Tianxing’s shoulder bag and outshining Weiliao.

"Damn it, they’re all at it."

Deep Blue President Wei frowned, as their alliance with Ideal continued negotiations with Tianxing Technology.

But amidst the negotiations, Zheng Yaowen from Tianxing suddenly informed them of an imminent car system version upgrade.

This update’s most significant addition was Tianxing Technology’s collaboration with DiDi Technology to launch the nation’s 13th High-Precision Map.

Originally just the entry-level L2 auxiliary driving, after this upgrade, it would elevate to L2.5-level intelligent driving.

Equipped with Tianxing Laser Radar Technology, it would transform into a full-form capability, comparable to the Tianshu’s semi-L3 level.

Obvious strategy, Lu Liang was forcing them to choose since the system update was a notification, not a discussion.

Car owners had the option to update or not voluntarily, while car makers became a third party without mandatory involvement.

"Wasn’t it said that there’s turmoil inside Tianxing Technology, how can they make such major decisions?"

President Wei’s face was somber, looking toward his assistant, rumors circled about Tianxing Technology planning relocation, but many within opposed.

Turns out it was false news, misleading them into thinking they could leverage it for more time and gain more benefits.

"They probably calmed things down since moving to Su City meant promotions and raises, not demotions and cuts." The assistant replied.

President Wei remained silent, sighed: "It’s only June, is it already time to decide?"

He recalled his visit to Shenzhen talking with Yu Dazui, where Huawei showed much interest, even setting up the Qiankun Intelligent Driving division early, indicating maturity but requiring another year or so of development.

"Old Yu, Deep Blue can’t wait any longer, Lu Liang is already pressing on us. Let’s hope there’s room to collaborate in the future."

President Wei called Yu Dazui, a sigh full of bitterness, even if Deep Blue relied on Chang’an, it’s still a new brand.

Whether they’d be enslaved by Tianxing like Android dominated phone makers was a matter for the future.

Currently, they couldn’t even have enough to eat, and whether they’d survive to see that future was another question.

The urgent matter was to ensure Deep Blue’s survival and successful establishment in the industry.

President Wei was smart, keenly aware of when to argue and when to surrender.

Being indecisive might miss opportunities, he decided to backstab Ideal and become the first to surrender, perhaps gaining special treatment.

"President Wei, let’s wait, let’s continue our discussions..."

Yu Dazui didn’t finish speaking before hearing a busy tone from the other end.

"Should move quicker, even faster, else nothing remains."

He frowned deeply, having no time for Deep Blue as he quickly headed to the CEO’s office next door.

"Mr. Ren, President Wei from Deep Blue can no longer hold out..."

Yu Dazui’s words paused at his lips seeing Mr. Ren’s face unusually solemn, thus asked: "What happened?"

"Xiaozhou encountered some issues in Canada, but they shouldn’t be significant."

Mr. Ren waved it off, showing reluctance to elaborate, suddenly laughed: "Old Wei can’t hold on?"

"This morning Tianxing sent notices to these car manufacturers to open the update channels on the 10th."

Yu Dazui explained the reason, Mr. Ren chuckled: "Mr. Lu’s actions are indeed decisive, would love to find time to meet him and have a good chat."