Chapter 261 - 256: Has the World Long Suffered Under the Fruit Group?

Chapter 261: Chapter 256: Has the World Long Suffered Under the Fruit Group?

If they could successfully draw this sword, it would be wonderful. They could completely sever the shackles that had bound them, and perhaps even soar to new heights.

If they failed... a year-long slump was practically guaranteed.

And this year was precisely when 5G was beginning its gradual rollout. If the Xia Wei Group fell behind, they would very likely lose all their previous advantages!

Meanwhile, the internet was buzzing with activity.

Countless onlookers, with nothing better to do during the New Year holiday, were debating who would come out on top this time.

’I think the Xia Wei Group is in a tough spot this time. After all, the Fruit Group’s power far exceeds the Xia Wei Group’s! They can’t even begin to compete when it comes to sheer resources and legacy.’

’I’m not sure about the Xia Wei Group’s Noah operating system. It was so hyped up online before, but to be honest, I feel like it’s a bit of an exaggeration.’

’I’m leaning more toward the Xia Wei Group coming out on top. No matter what, it’s a domestic brand, so we should support it.’

’Woke up this morning and saw that the Fruit Group’s stock has gone up again.’

’Yeah, the specs for the AiPhone 7X were also leaked. A full-screen display and a 4000 mAh battery, they say. I’m starting to get tempted.’

...

Ye Ling was also monitoring the online chatter and couldn’t help but let out a small sigh.

Overall, it looked like the Fruit Group had the upper hand.

A $150 price drop was indeed a killer move.

What was the biggest advantage of domestic phones?

Wasn’t it their low price?

And now that this major advantage had been weakened... the early sales figures for the Rongwei P40 were likely looking grim.

Just half a day after the new product launch, a sales comparison between the Rongwei P40 and the AiPhone 7X was leaked online. The AiPhone 7X was clearly ahead of the Rongwei P40 by a huge margin!

Perhaps influenced by Ye Ling, Ning Ruoxi was now also paying attention to the news online.

"The Rongwei P40 is being underestimated."

Ye Ling said, his brow furrowed.

"Being underestimated?"

Ning Ruoxi blinked.

Evidently, while she was paying attention, she didn’t have a particularly deep understanding of the situation.

"The Rongwei P40’s Noah operating system isn’t actually much worse than the Fruit Group’s. The reason we’re seeing this situation now isn’t just because of the Fruit Group’s price-cutting strategy. The more important reason is all those online articles that were designed to kill it with excessive praise."

Ye Ling’s words hit the nail on the head.

Then again, the Fruit Group’s move this time was truly vicious. They were trying to completely steamroll the Xia Wei Group!

Ye Ling checked the time, then immediately took out his phone and sent a message to Zhu Yun.

’Time to move!’

Ye Ling’s goal this time was crystal clear: he wanted to strike the Fruit Group when they were at the zenith of their power, to knock them right off their pedestal!

’So you wanted to kill the Xia Wei Group with praise, did you?’

’Well, today, I’m going to let you experience what it feels like to plummet from miles up in the sky.’

’I bet that’ll be quite a thrill, won’t it?’

’Roger that!’ Zhu Yun replied swiftly. She was already in position at the Shengding Group and immediately issued orders to her team.

Since Ye Ling’s target this time was the Fruit Group, the public opinion campaign couldn’t just be limited to the Xia Country. It had to be worldwide!

Zhu Yun definitely couldn’t do it alone.

So... Zhu Yun had the Shengding Group’s publicity team handle the matter directly!

Meanwhile, Ye Ling had also secretly contacted Wei Kun. In other words, this scandal’s exposure was a joint operation between two companies: the Shengding Group and Character Jumping.

’You say the Shengding Group’s power isn’t enough?’

’No problem. What about adding Character Jumping into the mix?’

These days, Character Jumping’s D-Sound app alone had already surpassed one and a half billion downloads, which showed its incredible influence.

Of course, as a major corporation, Character Jumping couldn’t do this sort of thing openly. But secretly giving a little traffic boost to the short videos exposing the Fruit Group’s shady moves? That shouldn’t be a problem, right?

Or they could just push those short videos straight to the trending page.

’After all, Character Jumping didn’t create this stuff. The users posted it. It has nothing to do with us, right?’

Wei Kun naturally understood this, so he agreed to Ye Ling’s request without the slightest hesitation.

It was a risk-free way to land a heavy blow on the Fruit Group. Why wouldn’t he take the opportunity?

Did people really think the Xia Wei Group was the only company from the Xia Country being suppressed?

What a joke!

Any company that came out of the Xia Country would face joint suppression from those overseas conglomerates. In their eyes, the companies from the Xia Country were just tiny shrimp, and they were the great white sharks.

Isn’t it a law of nature for great white sharks to eat tiny shrimp?

But this time, Ye Ling was going to turn the tables and let the tiny shrimp take a huge bite out of the great white shark!

「Xia Country. Lunchtime.」

All across the web, exposés about the Fruit Group secretly throttling processor frequencies during updates began popping up like mushrooms after a storm. Actually, you couldn’t really call them exposés—after all, it was a fact!

The article Ye Ling had Lin Xiao prepare earlier instantly flooded the entire internet, spreading across Weibo, D-Sound, Little Green Book, WeFriend Moments, Penguin Zone...

Every corner of the internet was exploding with the exposé!

Ye Ling scrolled through the news online while eating his meal.

Suddenly, he noticed something very interesting.

The article about the Fruit Group’s processor throttling had somehow hit the trending list—and it was number one, beating out some C-list celebrity’s cheating scandal!

Ye Ling offered a silent prayer for the celebrity. ’For many C-listers, this might be their only chance to ever hit the top of the trending list in their entire lives,’ he mused.

’And it still got pushed down a spot?’

Soon, Ye Ling discovered this wasn’t an isolated incident. On Penguin’s own trending list, the article about the Fruit Group’s processor throttling had also gone viral!

Pinned to the very top, no less!

Ye Ling quickly checked the trending lists on all the major websites, including BaiDu, 360, and he even took a spin through Bihu.

That’s right—it was number one on every single one!

If this had happened on a single website, it could have been due to a genuine surge in traffic. But on every single website... that was a bit too abnormal, wasn’t it?

So.

Had the whole world been suffering under the Fruit Group’s tyranny for this long?

In reality, the Fruit Group was just unlucky to have walked right into the line of fire.

Lately, the suppression of Xia Country’s businesses by overseas conglomerates had been particularly ferocious. Internet companies like Penguin and others were on the verge of being driven mad, you know?

As Ye Ling watched, he couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

"What is it?"

Ning Ruoxi looked over curiously, sipping her chicken soup.

Ye Ling explained what had happened, including the fact that all the major websites were silently pushing the Fruit Group’s scandal to the top of their trending lists.

"The Fruit Group is having it rough!"

Ning Ruoxi also burst out laughing.

So.

The Fruit Group was no longer the darling everyone praised, but a villain everyone wanted to condemn?

Actually, this kind of manipulation wasn’t really against the rules. After all, given the momentum of the Fruit Group scandal’s exposure, it was only a matter of time before it hit number one on the trending lists!

It was just that numerous bigwigs had all silently given it a push, successfully helping it ascend to its divine throne!

Number one on every trending list online. To be honest, that was a flex... something the Fruit Group could brag about for quite some time.

And at that moment, all over the internet, countless consumers in the Xia Country activated their continuous keyboard-lashing mode against the Fruit Group.

Among them were many who hadn’t been able to resist the temptation and had just brought home a brand-new AiPhone 7X.

Imagine: you’ve just spent a fortune on a new phone. You’re happily playing with it during your lunch break, savoring that new-gadget feeling.

And then, a news alert suddenly pops up, telling you that the brand of the very phone in your hand is crooked.

Brother Ling had never experienced such a feeling himself, but he could try to imagine it.

TSK TSK!

So satisfying!

And so, those high-performance phones were transformed into the ultimate tools for venting, as countless consumers went online to curse the Fruit Group’s entire family tree.

This time, in a rare show of unity, the entire internet was on the same side. No one was speaking up for the Fruit Group anymore, because this kind of tactic was just too disgusting!