After the Divorce, I Could Hear the Voice of the Future

Chapter 475: Chapter 470: Public Opinion Explosion

“Let’s go to Sinograin.”

On the way back, Lu Liang opened the company’s official account and saw the video that was updated yesterday at noon.

The medium-length video had been online for less than 15 hours yet had garnered over ten million views, over a million likes, and more than five hundred thousand comments.

Lu Liang fell silent and watched it through.

This time, 428 child patients were funded, with 15,000 yuan of real money donated to each, not just paper vouchers.

The content of the video merely followed two children and their families who were willing to be filmed, documenting a day spent with them.

There was no special filming of their haircutting, just a scene where they went out to buy some things at noon, and when they came back, there were four bald heads.

Lu Liang then opened the comment section, glanced at it briefly, put away his phone, and couldn’t help but laugh at himself sarcastically.

If he hadn’t seen Chen Jinchun’s bald head that evening, he wouldn’t have even known something like this happened.

If he put aside emotions and viewed it rationally, from a marketing perspective,

the effect brought by the six million plus yuan far exceeded one hundred million.

It wasn’t just about the money, but also Chen Jinchun’s attitude—naive, foolish, innocent.

Which made people believe that she was sincere and genuinely liked doing these things, not just for show or fame.

So much so that many netizens took a liking to everything associated with it, flooding the comment section and tagging Lu Liang: “Liangzi, after holding out for two years, have you finally developed the car? If it launches, I’ll definitely buy it in droves.”

Before long, Lu Liang returned to Sinograin No.1. It was a workday, and Li Manli had a live broadcast, so he was left alone in an empty apartment.

As the night deepened, the news online continued to ferment, and many netizens, after watching the video, found themselves unable to calm down for a long time.

Feeling deeply moved, they concluded that only someone from humble beginnings like Lu Liang truly knew what those in need required.

Patients needed funds for treatment, but they also needed respect; they did not like nebulous paper vouchers or pretentious photo shoots.

Paper vouchers eventually require someone to exchange them, and there have been instances of passing the buck.

Red cash is the most direct way after all.

The Red Cross was once again dragged out for public lashings by netizens, followed closely by Shuidi Crowdfunding.

Yet even so, some netizens still felt dissatisfied, feeling that they ought to do something for Lu Liang.

A grass-roots entrepreneur as conscientious as him deserved to grow bigger and bigger, so the battle spread to DiDi, Lenovo.

Gradually, the voting incident at 3GPP in August last year was dug up by Internet users.

3GPP, the third-generation partnership project, initially had the goal of achieving a smooth transition from 2G to 3G networks and evolved into a standardization organization, leading the way in the customization of 4G and 5G standards.

The 5G network signal standard had been under discussion since last year, with a total of 83 international meetings and three voting sessions.

Back then, there were two proposals, L and P, from Huawei and Qualcomm, respectively. During the third vote, Huawei lost by a single vote to Qualcomm, giving up the qualification to custom the 5G standard.

The key vote for Qualcomm’s victory came from Lenovo, also the only domestic company that voted for Qualcomm.

Contrarily, the Taiwan Company, the Singapore Company, Xiaomi, and other competitors had all thrown their support behind Huawei.

“Damn, did it really go down like that?”

“Don’t talk nonsense, isn’t Lenovo a national brand?”

“With 27 executives, 14 of them foreigners, whose national brand is this?”

“4G is still in its infancy, barely two years in, and it seems fast enough. Letting 5G go is just making a mountain out of a molehill.”

“This is making a mountain out of a molehill? I’m starting to wonder if you have cerebral atrophy. From 1G to 4G, it’s all about communication between people, but 5G isn’t just about human communication. It’s also about communication with objects, machines to machines, involving the internet of things, vehicle networks, industrial automation, and other large-scale infrastructure projects.”

“For example, in some areas, 4G is like high-speed rail, or places with dense crowds or buildings, where you could lose signal.”

“But it’s not the case with 5G, which has stronger penetrability, the difference is even greater than that between ethernet cables and fiber optics.”

“Once you become the customizer of the 5G standard, all countries developing 5G signals will have to follow our standards.”

“If it had been a fair loss to Qualcomm because we were not as skilled, then we would have accepted it, but losing by a single vote is a betrayal!”

Deep in the night, public opinion continued to ferment online.

A few hours later, as the sky gradually brightened, cities woke up, and the people sleeping within them slowly roused from their slumber.

Just past 9 AM, the related news hit the top of the trending search lists on the entire network, with the topic quickly reaching over two hundred million clicks.

“My God, Lenovo actually committing treason?”

“How is that possible? They’re a government-designated procurement supplier.”

“How is it not possible? The rumors online have gone crazy, those trending searches on Weibo, I bet you can’t even pull them down.”

At the reception of a certain company, several young ladies were passionately discussing this when an engineering guy came over and sneered, “What’s so strange about that? Knowing the Liu family background, it’s not surprising at all.”

Pairs of eager and curious eyes turned toward him, and he suddenly felt rather smug, starting from how Old Liu helped foreign enterprises suppress mainland companies.

When he passed away, for this very issue, Old Liu delivered a eulogy basking in reflected glory, ostensibly to help foreign capital groups better realize the domestic departments’ determination to implement patent law.

Although it seemed like rough speak with solid reasoning, one had to consider the context; every country that has developed, including neighboring Neon and Korea, initially relied on piracy to get started.

Old Liu gained favor with foreign capital by destroying countless companies, paving the way for this generation.

This generation’s Old Liu was even worse, not only embezzling state assets but also dismissing academicians and choosing Wan Guozao at a time when the country most trusted him and should have been focusing on independent research and development.

Then there was Liu Qing, who joined Goldman Sachs straight after graduation and went from intern to regional manager in five years before parachuting into DiDi.

To say there weren’t any under-the-table deals, he wouldn’t believe it if you beat him to death, “So, considering the family background, it makes perfect sense for them to backstab Huawei at a crucial moment. I just didn’t expect last year’s incidents to blow up this year.”

“Could it be Lu Liang?”

“High probability, can’t rule it out, especially since I heard he was getting cozy with the Liu family recently.”

“Oh, by the way, you seem to be late.”

The engineering guy was startled and hurried to punch the clock; looking at the time, he wanted to cry without tears; it was already 9:30 AM.

He had said so much, not even offered a glass of water, was late by thirty minutes, and they didn’t even remember his name.

Such braggadocio tidbits were performed throughout the country, and the online public opinion spread offline to a full-blown eruption.

At the same time, at Sinograin No.1,

“Who the hell is calling me so early?”

Lu Liang squinted, felt a slight vibration, and fumbled for his phone under the covers, accidentally pinching something soft and bowl-shaped, instinctively squeezing it, feeling somewhat bouncy.

Suddenly, a soft grunt.

Li Manli, still drowsy, emerged with her hair exploding like a lion’s mane, visibly charged with static electricity.

“You disappear and appear like a ghost every day.”

“Not at all, I told Mrs. Liu, as long as you return, send me a message.”

Li Manli stretched lazily; she always preferred to sleep naked, perhaps not out of preference but due to her restless sleeping habits.

Sometimes, even if she went to bed fully clothed, she would wake up with nothing left on her body. Lu Liang asked, “Did you see my phone?”

“I have a vague recollection.” Li Manli reached under the covers, giggled foolishly, “It’s under my butt, no wonder I kept feeling like someone was patting it.”

She pulled out a phone that was hot from use. Lu Liang was speechless but glanced at the missed calls and frowned deeply, “You go back to sleep.”

He stepped out of the bedroom, greeted the nanny Mrs. Liu, and walked into the living room to return the call, “What’s so urgent?”

“Mr. Lu, please check the online news first.” Xu Jiawei from Beijing called him, sounding extremely anxious.

“Hmm, let me see.”

Lu Liang logged onto Weibo and went straight to the top of the trending search list.

His eyes suddenly widened, and he murmured to himself, “Is this a blessing, or is it a curse?”

The Liu family was completely ablaze with such titles as ‘Three Outstanding Members of One Family’, ‘A Whole Family of Loyal Martyrs’, and ‘Conscience of the American Empire’.

“The Liu family did so many things on the sly?”

Lu Liang grimaced; he had never even heard of 3GPP, but it seemed this black mark was destined to be on his back.

If it was just public opinion fermenting on its own, that was one thing, but if it was a case of using others to do one’s dirty work, then he had to admit, the move was especially ruthless.

Last year’s incidents in the south, this year’s troubles in the west, and the Middle of the year creating the biggest hit in history, War Wolf 2, raking in 6 billion at the box office,

All of this was proof that nationalism was surging like never before; now, with this scandal breaking, it was clear someone wanted the Liu family dead without a place to bury them.