Chapter 137 Reactions from all parties
As soon as cotton candy appeared on TV, people with a keen sense of smell immediately discovered the business opportunity. Even if some people did not watch the talk show at the time, they learned about it through various channels afterwards. Many people's first reaction was to merge and acquire, or at least to buy shares. However, before all means were used, after learning about the background of this small enterprise, the conspirators immediately stopped their efforts and began to contact the company in a proper manner.
After Rong Yuan and his partner rejected all requests to discuss company shares with them, countless orders came in like snowflakes. The price of cotton candy was lower than anyone thought. After taking all factors such as production materials, machines, sites, and employee wages into consideration, the cost price of each cotton candy was 63 yuan, and the greater the output, the lower the cost. After discussion, the two decided to price each cotton candy at 100 yuan.
Compared to some companies that sell clothes that cost a few yuan for hundreds of yuan, or sell cosmetics that cost more than ten yuan for thousands of yuan, the price of Marshmallow is really conscientious. Many people thought they missed a zero when they heard the price. Then they confirmed again and again - is it a grand opening discount? How long will the discount last? Is there a purchase limit?
In fact, for Rong Yuan, the reason for such a low price is very simple - he doesn't want anyone to be deterred from buying cotton candy because of the reason of "not being able to afford it", and then be unable to save themselves when they encounter danger, resulting in the loss of some of the merit points that he could have obtained. If the price is relatively low, even the poorest people can save some money to buy one or two for their family as a backup.
In order to prevent some stupid guys from just treating marshmallows as a new and interesting toy, he specially designed various advertisements to be broadcast repeatedly on TV and major video websites, telling everyone in a rude and direct manner that this is how this thing should be used!
——Are you still worried that your child will be killed by a drunk driver or speeding driver on the way to school? In the ad, a car at least 50 miles per hour quickly hits the pale-faced actor. In an instant, this young actor who is willing to risk his life for fame activates the marshmallow in time, turns into a white ball and is hit by the car. A few minutes later, he climbs out of the candy ball without any injury!
——As a passenger in a car, are you still worried about being squeezed into dumpling fillings in a car accident? As long as there is marshmallow, it can expand outwards to support a space under a certain pressure, and provide all-round protection for the life wrapped inside, even a baby will not be squeezed and suffocated to death.
——Are you still worried that the plane will crash in bad weather or due to lack of maintenance? In the advertisement, the plane exploded into a ball of fire, and the passengers pressed the buttons on the ring (that is, the control switch of the marshmallow), and dozens of white balls fell from thousands of meters in the sky like dumplings, landing in the sea, on the mountains, on farmland, on lightning rods... Then the passengers were rescued one by one safely (of course, this advertisement was basically made of special effects).
——Are you still worried about being buried by a sudden earthquake or mudslide? As long as you start the marshmallow, even if you are crushed by dozens of floors of buildings, the soft and elastic structure of the marshmallow ball will provide a safe space for people (of course, it is not very comfortable), and the edible sugar thread can sustain life for at least one month (it is best not to take it as daily food when it is absolutely necessary, because marshmallows have greatly sacrificed their nutrients in order to achieve their various magical functions), which can provide sufficient rescue time for rescuers.
Rong Yuan hired someone to shoot more than 30 short ads, some lasting a few seconds, and some lasting only a dozen seconds, but he included all the possibilities of first aid he could think of, almost teaching others how to take care of their lives. Under his influence, many netizens also enthusiastically discussed the various uses of marshmallows online, and their imaginations were amazing.
The advertisement, which was shot in a very short time, was actually not very sophisticated, and the acting skills of the extras were very exaggerated, but the effect was very significant.
The most notable thing is the skyrocketing sales of cotton candy, and people lined up for days and nights in front of cotton candy sales points in every city just to grab a few cotton candies. Because the sales are so tight, the cotton candies produced are almost bought by merchants waiting outside the factory as soon as they leave the factory. Under the situation of supply and demand, they have to implement a limited sales strategy, and each customer can only buy a maximum of three at a time with their ID card. Sugar Country is vast and densely populated. Once the huge purchase volume is revealed, it is like an insatiable bottomless pit that can swallow up all the goods. At present, domestic demand cannot be met, and many orders from abroad can only be postponed indefinitely.
Soon, a real case proving the effect of marshmallows appeared in the news: a bus in a tourist mountain area lost control and ran off the winding mountain road. Except for two passengers who used the marshmallow-elastic version in time and survived, the remaining 46 people on the bus all died.
A fire broke out on the 23rd floor of a high-rise residential building. The fire quickly engulfed the floors above and below. At this height, the fire ladder could not reach it, and it was also difficult to put out the fire by shooting water. However, a two-year-old boy who lived on the 23rd floor survived because his mother wrapped the child in a marshmallow ball and threw him out of the window in a desperate attempt. However, she herself died in the fire.
…
The frequent occurrence of such incidents in a short period of time made many people truly realize the great role of marshmallows. The most intuitive thing was that the number of people waiting in line outside the sales point all night increased several times again. At first glance, some people who were not in the know thought that a superstar was going to hold a concert.
A haggard middle-aged man in the team said to the camera during an interview: "I don't know how we got by before we didn't have it. Now, if my child doesn't have this A-1, I won't let him go out."
"How long have you been waiting here?" the reporter asked, the camera sweeping across the messy quilts, thermal boxes and small stools on the floor.
"Three days and two nights." The man looked at the long queue in front of him and said, "I guess we'll have to wait for another day or more."
"So what are you going to do with the A-1 marshmallows you bought?" the reporter asked again.
"Of course I keep them for self-defense." The man said without hesitation, and it was obvious that he had already thought about it. "One for my wife, one for my child, and one for my mother. My wife has also asked for leave and will be queuing in the back starting this afternoon."
There are many people like this man who put aside their work, study and other matters to queue up to buy cotton candy Some people also saw the business opportunity and resold the cotton candy at a high price. The original price of 100 yuan per piece was raised to more than 8,000 yuan at night, but even so, there was no demand. In particular, there is basically no scalper party formed by collusion between staff and outsiders in the sale of cotton candy, because whenever someone shows a tendency to abuse power for personal gain, he will be immediately exposed, dismissed and held accountable by law. The Public Security Bureau has shown unimaginable courage in this regard, and the sales supervision is also unimaginably strict.
…
A month has passed, and "Rongyuan" and "Marshmallow" have been the most searched terms on the Internet. People's enthusiasm for them has not decreased over time, but has become more and more intense. You can find news about marshmallows in any magazine or newspaper; no matter which news page you open, the first thing listed is definitely this cute little thing with a particularly cute name.
After the initial excitement passed, Zhou Yuan became a little uneasy. She walked into Rong Yuan's lounge in the factory with a newspaper. Jin Yang was there too, reviewing a pile of documents carefully. The owner of the room was lying on the sofa, seemingly sleeping.
Zhou Yuan didn't think Rong Yuan was being lazy, because she knew that this was how Rong Yuan looked when he was thinking about a problem.
Jin Yang looked up when he heard the voice and saw Zhou Yuan looking worried. He asked, "What's wrong?"
"Look at this, what a bunch of nonsense!" Zhou Yuan handed the newspaper to Jin Yang and said angrily.
Jin Yang took it and glanced at it, then smiled and covered Rong Yuan's face with his hand. Rong Yuan picked it up and opened one eye to scan it. This was considered an official and formal newspaper in City A. A photo of Rong Yuan occupied most of the page. More than 90% of the text was probably the reporter's imagination and various story details pieced together. Anyway, except for the name, the description was basically two completely different people from Rong Yuan.
"Why should I be angry about this?" Rong Yuan said in confusion, "He didn't say anything bad about me."
In fact, far from any negative description, the report described Rong Yuan as being too perfect, almost unreal.
"Don't you think... don't you think... this is not right?" Zhou Yuan thought for a moment, and struggled to find the most appropriate description from the vocabulary in his mind: "Overpraising! Yes, isn't this overpraising?"
Jin Yang's smile faded a little.
"Overpraising to death... Overpraising to death is when you can't bear it, and becoming famous is when you can bear it. I'm not afraid, so what are you afraid of?" Rong Yuan said lightly.
"But..." Zhou Yuan still felt uneasy.
"Zhou Yuan," Jin Yang paused and said, "This matter has been communicated to us in advance."
In fact, before the interview program was broadcast, people from the Academy of Sciences had come to test whether the actual effect of cotton candy was really as good as they said. If there was even a little exaggeration or deviation, the current publicity would not be so popular that it frightened Zhou Yuan.
"Above? Communication?" - How come I don't know?
Zhou Yuan repeated it blankly, and suddenly felt that ever since he backed down at the last moment, he seemed to have been pulled down by those two people, and there was a distinct sense of distance between them.
Jin Yang said: "My grandfather called and said that the higher-ups wanted to set up a model. And it's not without benefits for us. We will get all the conveniences we can get. Look, the land we applied for has been approved, and construction will start next week. If everything goes well, we'll be able to add a few more production lines in two months."
"Oh, so that's how it is." Zhou Yuan felt relieved. She carefully looked at Rong Yuan who had closed his eyes again, sat sideways on a round stool next to her, and began to help Jin Yang sort out the documents.
Zhou Yuan had unconditional trust in Jin Yang. When she put aside her worries, she did not see the subtle worry in Jin Yang's eyes.
The official propaganda of the Sugar Country was only at the beginning, and it was still very rational and restrained at that time. Later, partly because of the instigation of some people with ulterior motives, partly because the people below over-understood the meaning of the top, and partly because of the general public's following and admiring, the situation gradually got out of control and became in full swing. Now Rong Yuan is like standing on the cusp of the storm, he can only move forward and not retreat, otherwise the greater the force that pushes him up, the greater the force of the counterattack will be when he retreats.
Rong Yuan didn't seem to be very worried about this, he had always been so confident that he was almost arrogant. After the cotton candy production was successful, he basically let go of everything except asking Wandou to watch the production process and make sure there were no problems with the machinery. Now he was focusing his attention on the next "invention". Because his brain's thinking and calculation speed far exceeded the speed of handwriting or computer calculation, he was now used to doing a lot of calculations and analysis in his mind, and only wrote down a few words on paper when he had some results, and then continued to think.
…
Between two rows of colorfully painted residential buildings that look like a fairytale world, there is not a flat street, but a rippling river. An exquisite wooden boat drifts in the river, and a woman with shoulder-length hair leans on the boat. She neither paddles nor takes a camera to take pictures. Instead, she half-closes her eyes and sleepily enjoys the warm afternoon sun. She doesn't even apply sunscreen, and her tanned skin presents a unique wild charm.
"Hi~lu, good afternoon." A small boat leisurely passed by, and the man on the boat greeted her loudly. His eyes, as blue as the Mediterranean Sea, were deep and charming, as if full of affection.
"Good afternoon, Pete." Lu Yao said lazily.
When the two boats passed each other, Pete threw a stack of newspapers over and said, "Lu, today's newspaper has news from your country! SUPER-BOY!"
"Um?"
Lu Yao opened the newspaper. In the middle of the page was a half-length photo of Rong Yuan, only half the size of a palm, and it didn't take up much space, but she saw him at first sight.
A familiar face, a strange boy.
"Rong Yuan... Rong... Could it be that..."
Lu Yao's whole body stiffened, and the newspaper slipped from her hand and fell straight into the river.
