Chapter 111 Heresy
The office area of Fantasy Park is a bit shabby and does not seem to match the overall style of Fantasy Park, but Zhao Xingguo feels close to it. He believes that this is because the director has used all the funds to develop the park. This is rare among young people nowadays and is very much in line with the hard-working style of their generation.
Zhao Xingguo had a better impression of Director Chi. When he sat down in the office and met him, he found that Director Chi was not like the old-fashioned people who tried to evade him or bargain him down, nor did he beat around the bush to confuse him. Instead, he went straight to the point, which made Zhao Xingguo have a better impression of him.
Chi Yizhen asked, "Boss Zhao, I want to know why you've stuck with your old ways while other companies are transitioning?"
Chi Yi really couldn't believe that Zhao Xingguo couldn't see how similar companies had climbed up over the years.
Zhao Xingguo had clearly given this question a lot of thought. He said, "I hesitated many times. After several price cuts failed to boost sales, I considered just doing what other companies do. But I've seen their products so many times, and every time I see them, I feel more contempt. The factory is clearly capable of producing better quality and more effective products, but to make more money, they deliberately produce defective products. They're deceiving consumers and themselves. I can't live with it."
"The current market environment is too profit-driven and too distorted. I know there are some complex reasons that I cannot understand, and it is not just for the sake of making quick money. I have accepted it and have repeatedly reduced the production line and the scale has become smaller and smaller. I have always persisted, thinking that I can always wait for the day when the market environment will improve. But after waiting for so many years, I have not been able to wait. If I wait a few more years, until my factory's technology is upgraded, maybe..." He originally wanted to hold on for a few more years, but now he can't even pay wages, and core technical members are leaving one after another. The so-called technology upgrade is just a dream.
As Zhao Xingguo spoke, he began to smile bitterly. He knew that it was not good to do this in front of Principal Chi, so he pulled up the corners of his mouth and revealed a somewhat ugly smile.
After listening to this, Chi Yizheng was silent for a while.
He said to the game system in his mind, "Zhao Xingguo is right. The current market environment is not just a matter of capital chasing profits."
He used to have a lot of questions that he couldn't figure out, but since his level has been raised and his mind has become clearer, he can grasp the main points of many questions just by looking at them briefly.
"Capital pursuit of profit is only one reason. If there were no such profit-seeking capital, and everyone followed the honest people like Zhao Xingguo in making products, and an appliance could be used for decades without being replaced, then gradually, fewer and fewer families would need to buy appliances. The market would not need so many companies, and many would go bankrupt. In the end, only one or two companies would be needed to produce a small number of products sufficient for replacement."
Game: [Isn't this good? Without wasted production capacity, we can focus more resources on other things, and human civilization can progress.]
Hearing this, Chi Yizhen wanted to smile bitterly, "Game, you're talking about an ideal world, but it's impossible in the real human world. Fewer electrical appliances are needed, more businesses are closing down, and fewer jobs are available. People lose their jobs, so they have no motivation to consume. Without consumption, money is a dead thing that can't flow. If one thing is affected, the whole body will be affected, and other industries will also be depressed. As for concentrating wasted production capacity to do other things, it is good, but the speed of human progress is too slow. In the country where I live alone, many places are like the uncivilized feudal world. Even if those manufacturers producing inferior products are forced to stop, I don't know what to do with these companies. The update of technology cannot keep up with the speed of production. If this continues, where will the idle workers go? There are many people who will cause social unrest if they are not given things to do."
"Comparatively, it's more important for the country's top managers to prevent an appliance from becoming obsolete after a few years and to keep a business running longer. This way, they'll have the economy, manpower, market, and tax revenue."
"In the market for ordinary household appliances, Mingsheng Electric's products are of high quality and have a long service life. The raw materials used in their production must also be of high quality. But now that prices are soaring, even good materials are expensive. Isn't it because Boss Zhao's sales can't cover his costs that he is on the verge of bankruptcy? A dozen or twenty years ago, during Mingsheng Electric's heyday, not so many people in China could afford electrical appliances. If he had reacted in time, adjusted his direction to explore the lower-tier markets, developed a so-called inferior product line to seize market share and earn more profits, and then put the high-quality appliances on the boutique line, perhaps he could have taken a different path. Unfortunately, his conscience is too good."
"When I was a game streamer, I was online every day and did most of my shopping. I've seen astonishing sales of appliances priced around ten or twenty yuan. Buyers know they're buying low-quality products, and they don't expect them to last long. Most just get by for a while. Some, unable to find a stable place to live, can't bear to spend big on better appliances and furniture. Others don't care about the user experience, some get bored easily, and some are vain and prefer expensive products to quality. Appliance companies are also constantly adding more bells and whistles, tempting consumers to frequently upgrade their appliances."
"There are many reasons for this, too complicated for me to explain in detail. I can only say that Boss Zhao is not wrong."
game:【……】
The game didn't speak, but Chi Yi could really feel the game's silence. He thought, although he still didn't understand what the game was, he could guess that it was related to an intelligent program. It might be difficult for it to understand why humans repeatedly wasted production capacity and allowed bad money to drive out good money.
If we put ourselves in their shoes, modern humans cannot understand why the ancients did not try to deal with the locust plague but instead prayed to gods and Buddhas.
Hey, wait, there are too few supernatural factors on Earth now, which has led to the extinction of all immortals, gods, monsters and ghosts. If we understand it from a supernatural perspective, maybe the ancient practice of praying to gods and Buddhas would be effective?
Chi Yizheng frowned, feeling that his brain's CPU was about to spark. Perhaps he saw that Chi Yizheng was confused.
The game spoke, "Players, don't worry. For nearly eight thousand years, Earth has been devoid of supernatural genes, making it impossible for immortals, gods, demons, or ghosts to exist."
Chi Yizhen didn't relax, but asked, "Why eight thousand years?"
Game: [Oh yeah, why 8,000 years? I'd like to know that, too!]
Chi Yizhen: ...
Here it comes, this way of forcibly changing the subject was as if the director of the Tourism Bureau who was at the theme park selection meeting that day appeared in front of him again.
Because Chi Yizhen was silent for a while, Zhao Xingguo gradually became uneasy. He even began to suspect that Director Chi's silence was a silent order to leave. Just when Zhao Xingguo was about to feel depressed again, Chi Yizhen suddenly spoke up, "Mr. Zhao, I think your current products are really not very competitive."
Before Zhao Xingguo could reply, Chi Yizhen rattled off a bunch of words, "Mingsheng Electric mainly produces household appliances such as televisions, air conditioners, and washing machines. There's no doubt about the quality, but Mingsheng Electric is no more competitive than other appliances on the market in terms of functionality."
Zhao Xingguo wanted to refute, but Chi Yizhen didn't stop talking, "Listen to me first. The biggest advantage of Mingsheng Electric Appliances is its long service life and resistance to drops and build-ups. However, for wealthy families, this is not as practical as the exquisite and beautiful appearance. Such families don't care about the lifespan of appliances. For them, if they don't replace them for a few years, they are outdated. For families with average economic levels, there are too many products of the same price to choose from on the market, and they have more functions, such as voice recognition and intelligent control. Young people especially like them, and the elderly don't mind buying something new. As for the lower-class market, such as ordinary tenants working in big cities, or remote villages and towns, the price of Mingsheng Electric Appliances is too high and it is beyond their consumption range."
In other words, Mingsheng Electric is on the wrong track! No matter how good its performance is, it won't win any awards.
Hearing this, Zhao Xingguo's eyes dimmed. He nodded, "I understand." Just as he was about to get up and leave, he heard Director Chi say, "I have an order that needs to be completed by Mingsheng Enterprise."
Zhao Xingguo was stunned, but saw Director Chi took out a paper contract from somewhere and placed it in front of him. It was not a small order, but a large order that Mingsheng Electric had not received for many years.
Zhao Xingguo was stunned, not knowing what emotion to express for a moment. He stammered, "Director Chi, does your park need so many electrical appliances?"
Having already toured Fantasy Park, Zhao Xingguo knew it would continue to expand, perhaps even opening a hotel. But wasn't it a bit premature for the park to place this order now? Besides... Zhao Xingguo smiled wryly and said, "Director Chi, I heard you're dedicated to supporting local businesses in Jin'an City, so I shamelessly came to you hoping your park would help advertise for me. You don't have to give me this order out of pity."
Besides, a large order could keep Mingsheng Electric running for a short period of time, but what about the future? He wanted consumers to truly recognize Mingsheng Electric, rather than relying on others' pity to survive.
Chi Yizhen shook his head. "You misunderstood. I recently opened up an overseas market... well, a small country you've never heard of. There aren't even any signal towers there, and the circuits haven't even been laid out. I need your company, Mingsheng Electric, to produce a batch of high-quality, long-lasting, and drop-resistant appliances. For now, these include air conditioners, freezers, and televisions. It doesn't matter if they're smaller, but they need to consume less energy and be rechargeable! Televisions, or monitors, are in the greatest demand, and they also need to be able to read USB flash drives... I bought a battery-powered TV from your house before. It's good in every way, except that it's too old, the battery is too heavy, the screen isn't big enough, and the storage capacity is small. I hope you can improve it."
Zhao Xingguo: ...
Another world, the dwarf elves.
Battery-powered televisions are very popular among the dwarfs. From morning till night, the dwarfs gather around the TV, and many curious cubs occasionally pounce on and hit the TV. Fortunately, the TV is durable and still serves the elves wholeheartedly. Since there are only a few programs, the chief, Hohochi, watched them several times and finally remembered where the familiar Thornes and Atelan came from.
He quickly ran back to the cave and dug out a dusty old item from inside. It was a box, and inside the box were several stone tablets inscribed with text. On the stone tablets were records about the Thorns Empire.
"Atelan, the fifth-generation prince of the Thorns Empire, died for his country..." Hohochi read out the records on the stone tablet in a low voice. Unlike the scribbled inscription in the City of Mischief, this stone tablet clearly recorded Atelan's achievements and revered him as a heroic spirit. It was precisely because of Atelan's deeds that everyone came to the conclusion that it was possible to maintain sanity after being infected by monsters, and no longer killed the infected people or other races.
However, the poet who left these stone tablets was killed, and the poet's family was denounced as heretics by several righteous gods and had long been exterminated by all major churches.
If Fantasyland is related to Atelan, then doesn’t that mean it’s also related to heresy?
If Fantasyland promotes Atelan's virtues, isn't that promoting heresy?
Hohochi's eyes widened.
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