Various farm vehicles and trucks tied billboards to their sides, added a loudspeaker, and began to parade through the streets as a convoy. The music playing wasn't any song, but rather the sounds of Tumpara.
"Hello everyone, I am Thompala, the chairman of Guangming Electronics, the engineer who returned from overseas. I apologize for speaking to you in this way, but I feel that you must know what happened. The news has been overwhelming these past two days, and I have been suffering a lot. I wanted to say a few words to you through the media, but all the media in China have been paid and are not allowed to make their voices heard."
“I am in great pain, really in great pain. The enthusiasm I had when I returned to China has now cooled down. I am an honest and simple person by nature. I only understand technology and not human nature. Some time ago, the heads of Motorola and Toshiba called me and threatened me, demanding that I raise the price or they would gang up on me.”
“I didn’t take it seriously, but I didn’t expect them to actually do it. They’re trying their best to smear me, just because I sell at a low price. But they make several times the profit, which I can’t do. I came back to do something, to end the era of foreign capital dominating the market.”
Thompala's words were exceptionally sincere and moving, as if he had been bullied by foreign capital and had no choice but to speak out because of his weakness.
On the streets and alleys, countless people stopped to listen to these words, and were filled with emotion!
Looking up, I saw workers starting construction by the streetlights. Two plaques were hung up, showing a picture of Thompala weeping, with the words: "His company is called Light, but he can't see the light."
Passersby looked up and stared blankly at the billboard. At that moment, their hearts ached. Why did someone who wanted to do something for the Chinese people have to go through all this?
As offline advertising began to roll out, emotions began to shift. The flowery words of foreign investment executives on television and in newspapers could not compare to the simple, honest expression on Thompala's face.
"Tumpara is a puppet; someone is controlling him from behind!" A man in his thirties cursed as he looked at the billboard.
The people around him turned their heads away, no one spoke, their eyes fixed on him.
“What I said is true. He’s a puppet. So many CEOs say he’s a puppet.”
"Those bosses are all after your money. The owner of Guangming Electronics has publicly stated that their costs are very low, and there's a huge price difference between domestic and international markets. They've colluded to raise prices because he sells them cheaply. He told the truth, so now he doesn't even have the right to speak." Someone angrily shouted at the man, "You're a traitorous lackey of Thailand, a lackey of capital!"
Faced with so many angry stares, the man dared not speak. That's how marketing is; it's a zero-sum game with competitors. It's either the East Wind prevails over the West Wind, or the West Wind prevails over the East Wind.
At 11 o'clock, the Guangming Electronics store became crowded. A TV was placed at the entrance, playing an interview with Tumpara. A man in his thirties walked into the store, picked out a VCD player, paid at the counter, and then strode out.
The shop assistant noticed he hadn't taken his product and hurriedly chased after him, saying, "Sir, you haven't taken your VCD!"
"No need! Support domestic products!" he said, and ran further and further away.
The crowd that had been watching from outside was shocked by what they saw. They looked at each other, and most of them dispersed. Only a small number of people who needed the product went into the store. Around noon, sales began to increase.
At noon, Vera and Zatee had lunch together and opened a bottle of champagne to celebrate. They were naturally praised for completing the task assigned by headquarters so quickly.
While eating his steak, Zha Tai said, "Let me tell you, these are just appetizers. Next, I'll give you the main course."
"What main dish?" Vera asked curiously.
"Watch closely." Zha Tai took out his phone and made a call. After a short while, the call was answered, and he asked, "How's it going? When do we start the investigation?"
"Mr. Zha, I was just about to call you. This is a difficult situation. Everything was going well. They all agreed to conduct a spot check today and close the store tomorrow. But just now, they suddenly came to me and said that there was no problem with the company. They even gave me a stern scolding."
"What?" Zha Tai was a little confused and asked, "Did you take a cut of the money?"
"How could that be? I was just following the rules."
"Is the money not enough? We can add more." Zha Tai felt that something was wrong. He had previously used his department to investigate and punish many local businesses, which was just a matter of spending some money.
"No, people told me that one should have a conscience, that they wouldn't do such a thing, and even called me a lackey."
"Conscience?" Zha Tai was somewhat incredulous that those two words would come out of those people's mouths. It certainly wasn't about conscience. What force was interfering behind this?
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