Chapter 287
Penguin Tower in Shencheng, WeChat Business Department President's Office.
Heavy blackout curtains blocked the glaring sunlight outside the window.
On the large desk, various data reports were piled up in a scattered mess.
Liang Dong's eyes were glued to the computer screen. The high-definition photo of the data-free SIM card made his temples throb.
His proud chain of schemes had actually become a joke in the face of naked profit.
He grabbed the phone on the desk and dialed Brother Hei's number.
As soon as the call connected, the noisy sound of calling numbers in a business hall rushed over, mixed with the quarrels of middle-aged women fighting over queue tickets.
He could even clearly hear a Unicom salesperson pitching the MicroChat data-free plan in a sweet voice.
Liang Dong gritted his back teeth. "Brother Hei, isn't this a bit unethical? Where is your professional morality?!"
Brother Hei on the other end of the phone didn't feel guilty at all; instead, he confidently raised his voice.
"President Liang, a wise man submits to circumstances.
"You have no idea, the queue outside this business hall stretches all the way to the curb.
"This MicroChat data-free card can save the brothers hundreds in data fees a month. With hundreds of people in our studio, that's solid, real money."
Brother Hei paused on the other end, and a louder sales pitch came from the background.
"As the saying goes, if you can't beat them, join them.
"We are also considering the long-term development of the studio.
"The little bit of troll-army fee Penguin gave isn't even enough to pay our internet bills.
"If you are really sincere, multiply the budget by ten, otherwise the brothers won't even have the motivation to post.
"My brothers here are almost done queuing. Cards are registered, do not disturb!"
With that, only a busy tone remained in the earpiece.
Listening to the busy tone on his phone, Liang Dong was so angry that his fingertips trembled.
He raised his arm and swept the newly replaced coffee cup off the desk onto the floor again.
The sound of shattering porcelain echoed in the spacious office, and brown coffee stains quickly spread across the carpet.
He couldn't accept that the elite troll army he had hired at great expense had actually defected on the battlefield.
Just such a newly founded, hillbilly company, and both he and Su Wan, two elite returnees, couldn't take it down?
Is this MicroChat toxic?!
Liang Dong's eyes unconsciously turned red, and then he roared at his assistant shrinking in the corner:
"Immediately contact the backup troll studio for me. No matter how much it costs, I want smear articles about MicroChat stealing data plastered all over the internet!!!"
"Y-yes, sir."
The assistant swallowed hard and frantically opened his computer to contact the next agency.
As soon as the backup troll army heard it was an urgent big order from Penguin, they immediately demanded an exorbitant price.
And to complete the task, the assistant could only grit his teeth and agree to the other party's outrageous quote.
Ten minutes later, thousands of shoddily produced smear articles quickly flooded major message boards and forums.
The assistant looked at those dry press releases on the screen, carefully observing Liang Dong's livid face, wondering if he should speak his mind.
Now that MicroChat's momentum was already established, sending out these articles was just like a mantis trying to stop a chariot.
The result was obvious. Less than five minutes after the smear articles were posted, they vanished without a trace into the internet-wide carnival of people showing off their data-free SIM cards.
Under the few sporadic hate posts still holding on, the comments were uniformly ruthless mockery from netizens.
"Did the original poster's village just get internet? You're posting this kind of stuff?"
"I'm replying with my newly registered data-free card. I can use as much data as I want without feeling bad at all. What are you yapping about?"
"Is this Penguin's troll army? They only know how to play dirty tricks. If you have the guts, do a network-wide data-free plan and fight head-on."
A few others directly posted screenshots of their bills from last month to fight back.
The screenshots clearly showed the minuscule deduction records after using MicroChat.
Liang Dong stared at the steadily rising curve of MicroChat's daily active users data in the backend, only feeling a wave of dizziness.
Clutching his faintly aching chest, he slumped into his leather chair, panting heavily.
At this moment, he finally experienced the overwhelming sense of powerlessness that Su Wan had felt when she faced MicroChat earlier.
Qinglin City, GR Company President's Office.
Sunlight streamed through the bright floor-to-ceiling windows, spilling onto the wood-colored desk.
Li Sinan held a tablet, laughing so hard she was trembling and could barely stand straight.
She reported the bizarre operation of Penguin's troll army defecting and running to queue up for SIM cards to Gu Ran in full detail.
Having just finished eating with his sister and returned to his dorm, Gu Ran leaned back in his chair, overjoyed after hearing this.
Then he opened his computer, logged directly into GR Technology's official Weibo, and drafted a post.
The title of the post had huge characters: The competitor is a **!
"I heard the troll army our friendly competitor hired with heavy cash are all queuing up to register for our data-free cards? Thanks to our friendly competitor for generously gifting us performance metrics. GR Company reminds everyone once again to look for Unicom business halls. Register early and enjoy early."
After posting this text, he still felt it wasn't enough. He rummaged through his gallery for a long time and specifically attached an animated sticker saying "Thank you, Boss."
The little character in the sticker had its butt in the air, kowtowing and bowing vigorously.
Far away in Shencheng, the moment Liang Dong refreshed his feed, he saw this official Weibo post that stabbed right into his heart. Seeing that punchable sticker, his vision went black with anger.
The public opinion war that Penguin had carefully prepared for declared bankruptcy before it even started.
After posting on Weibo, Gu Ran grinned and took out his phone, sending a sticker of a puppy poking its head out to the aloof girl to test the waters.
At this time, Ye Zhenzhen was sitting at her desk, flipping through a thick textbook.
Hearing the vibration, she immediately picked up her phone.
Looking at the sticker on the screen, a smile subconsciously rippled on her lips.
Zhao Xiaoxiao beside her leaned over to take a look, and immediately stretched her tone in a sarcastic manner.
"Oh my, this sour stench of love is about to suffocate people.
"Our iceberg goddess has now completely molded into his shape."
Chen Jing covered her mouth and chuckled on the side, blinking at the girl whose ears were burning.
"Ahhh, Xiaoxiao, stop your nonsense!"
"Who molded into his shape!"
With that said, the two tangled together, tickling each other.
On the other side, seeing that Ye Zhenzhen hadn't replied, Gu Ran directly pressed the voice message button.
"Doctor Ye, going to the library to read?"
The phone vibrated again. The girl in the female dorm hurriedly dropped her roommate, trotted back to the desk, and picked up her phone.
Listening to the boy's voice in the message, a trace of sweetness welled up in her heart, though her words remained unforgiving.
She cleared her throat, held down the voice button, and replied.
"Her Highness is in a good mood today, so I'll reluctantly accompany you to study."
After sending the voice message, she placed her phone face down on the desk, stood up, walked to the wardrobe, and began picking out clothes to wear out.
Knowing that the girl still had to change clothes, Gu Ran arrived at the library early to save seats.
Even though it was break time, the library was still packed to the brim, as expected of the top university in the province.
He wandered around for a few laps before finally spotting a pair of empty adjacent seats.
But the moment he sat down, the chair next to him was pulled out, and an unexpected figure took the seat...
s the Eldest Princess, renowned for her cold and aloof detachment, became the most docile of lambs, obeying his every command without question. But when the final move was played on the chessboard, as Gu Chenghan seized everything and ascended on the verge of apotheosis, that very Princess suddenly embraced him from behind, her tone carrying a dependence never heard before: "Wait... you haven't yet... commanded me to love you forever." Gu Chenghan froze abruptly. She... hadn't been hypnotized?! ... [The Eldest Princess's Diary] [When my soul was extracted, becoming the sole spectator outside my own shell] [At first, there was overwhelming fury, until I saw] [How he used my sword to effortlessly shatter my inescapable doom] [How he wielded my authority to eradicate fatal conspiracies I had never even detected] [Like a deity, he rescued me from the deep mire I was trapped in] [If not for those annoying vixens, he and I would be a match made in heaven] [I think I am ill, gravely ill] [My deity should belong to me alone] ... "Hypnosis? Oh, it succeeded, my dear Master." "Only this time, it's my turn to hypnotize you."
for mindless slaughter, this isn't for you.] My name is Ye Shu, and I'm a transmigrator. It seems I'm supposed to be the protagonist, but that feels pretty unlikely. This world has been invaded by a system. The antagonists on the other side have suddenly become pure, flawless saints. The female leads have been force-fed the so-called "original plot," making them think they've been reborn. Now, everyone thinks I'm scum. Including the old lady in my ring. And here I am, in the Monster Beast Mountain Range, braising pork. To put my situation in perspective— It's as if, the moment Xiao Yan stepped into the Monster Beast Mountain Range, the Soul Emperor already knew he would become the Flame Emperor, and Yao Lao had been turned to the enemy's side. I have nothing right now. Oh wait, that's not true. I do have a white-haired loli child-bride who's the Heavenly Dao, and her only skill is acting cute. So, tell me guys... what are my chances of making it to the end?
nd fell into a coma while saving his younger sister from an out-of-control car. He became a vegetable. No one knew that his consciousness had crossed into a world of cultivation. Over the course of sixty years, he began as the lowest kind of mine slave, struggling to survive amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. By sheer chance, he eventually obtained the complete memories of a fallen Immortal King. Alchemy, medicine, formations, feng shui, physiognomy, artifact forging… Every great inheritance of the cultivation world was now his. But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that ten full years had passed in the modern world. To pay for his treatment, his father had sold the family’s shop and house, leaving himself covered in lasting injuries and illness. His mother had cared for him day and night, and more than half of her hair had already turned white. His younger sister, who had been only fifteen back then, was now twenty-five. To help repay the family’s debts, she had been forced to lower her head and put on a smiling face in places of glittering lights and endless revelry. Only then did Chen Xuan understand that what he had lost was not merely ten years. He had lost the life his entire family was meant to have. The good news was that he had brought back the memories of an Immortal King’s entire lifetime. The bad news was that his soul had returned alone—his cultivation had not come with him. Spiritual energy was scarce, resources were depleted, and the modern world still had firearms, surveillance, capital, and laws. If he wanted to protect his family, break free from everyone’s control, and become truly invincible beneath the heavens, he would have to start all over again.
d intelligence to keep the plot moving, and sometimes even the protagonists are forced into absurdly dumb decisions. Why does the A-list celebrity heroine in urban romance novels ditch the top-tier movie star and become a lovestruck fool for a pockmarked male lead? Why do the leads in historical tragedy novels keep dancing between love and death, only for the blind healer to end up suffering the most? And Gu Wei never expected that after finally landing a villain role to stir up trouble, she’d pick the wrong gender! No choice now—she’ll just have to crush the protagonists as a girl!
