Chapter 1041: A quarrel
For three consecutive days, Xiao Peng's livestream showed the underwater salvaging of the Buddha statues. The livestream was incredibly boring. Even so, countless comments were still calling out to him, yet Xiao Peng wasn't even there.
Three days later, the statue was finally salvaged. Xiao Peng then appeared before the camera, this time taking a helicopter to the Calypso to verify whether there were any jewels inside the statue.
At this time, netizens in the live broadcast room were surprised to find that they could no longer post barrages!
"Do you think it's weird that you can't post comments?" Xiao Peng said to the screen, "I've been fed up these past two days. I've received no less than a hundred calls, all urging me to go live. I always thought that few people knew my phone number, but now I feel like the whole world knows it! But the problem is: as soon as I mention 'money', no one dares to show any concern when they want to know who will reimburse me for the cost of my live broadcast. It's understandable if you think about it. The cost of live broadcasting here is too high. I won't count the fuel and labor costs and the various live broadcast equipment on my ship. I'll only count the network costs. Thanks to our country's growing strength, I'm now using our country's satellite. 5G technology is a huge help for maritime communications. The bandwidth I'm using now is both high-speed and affordable. Basic bandwidth is only $2 per minute, roughly one-tenth of the cost overseas. However, to ensure your live stream doesn't experience lag or other issues, I can only use high-bandwidth internet, which is slightly more expensive, around $10 per minute. With 1,440 minutes a day, two ships have 2,880 minutes, which means my ship's daily internet bill is $30,000 and 200,000 RMB. You guys spent three days watching boring salvage footage, and I spent 600,000 RMB on internet. So what do you think? Just to entertain you, I'm being nice, right?"
"I've received a lot of weird phone calls these past two days. Some even ordered me to do a live broadcast, some threatened me by using my grandfather's life in China, and some hinted that they'd wait for me to return to China to deal with me... I say, these people are really awesome! Gentlemen, I'm really scared! Let me be clear here, I don't know how you got my phone number, but I can tell you that I have a bad habit, which is recording phone calls. Gentlemen, you should be under investigation while I'm live streaming, right? Because of this matter, your future has been damaged. I want to sincerely say to you: you deserve it!"
"Of course, I've received calls from some bigwigs over the past couple of days. I have to say, these bigwigs are incredible. With just a few words, they've elevated me to the patriotic throne and made me unable to get down. You might not believe it, but if I don't broadcast live right now, I'll be a national sinner. But if I'm allowed to broadcast live, there should be some substance, right? When it comes to money, it's about the country developing and the people getting rich. They're all stingy people. No, calling them stingy people is a compliment. They're all glutinous rice chickens—the kind that won't spend a penny but still take a cut!"
At this time, in a courtyard in Beidu, someone spat out the tea in his mouth.
"Xiao Zhao, he is talking about me, right? He is talking about me, right?" Old Zheng stared at the big screen with wide eyes.
Old Zhao, whom he called 'Xiao Zhao', looked helpless: "Mr. Zheng, he is talking about me too!"
Mr. Zheng sighed and said, "Don't today's young people have a spirit of dedication? Don't they have faith? Think about when I was young, and then think about my predecessors... The gap between today's kids is really huge!"
Old Zhao said, "Mr. Zheng, let's be honest. Xiao Peng has done a great job. Were there so many people who said bullshit when you were young? They would have been arrested long ago! The money he spends now is all his own money. Although it's not something he can afford, what else can he do with it? One live broadcast is like throwing away a villa! He's not even married yet. To be able to do such a thing and have such awareness at this age is something that not everyone can do!"
Mr. Zheng slammed the table and said, "Money, money, money! He talks about money all the time! He doesn't even let people remember his good deeds! But... sigh."
"Mr. Zheng, why are you sighing?" asked Old Zhao.
Mr. Zheng said helplessly, "The controversy surrounding him won't stop anytime soon. What attitude should we take towards him? There's no reason to even want to help him! Confucius said, 'If the name is not right, the words will not flow.' Isn't that right?"
Xiao Peng's deeds are actually a problem for people in China. Since he became rich, he has caused huge controversy, and the reason for the controversy is Xiao Peng's industry.
Deep-sea salvage is actually illegal under domestic law. According to the law, all underground and underwater treasures within Daxia territory belong to the state. Therefore, the domestic marine salvage industry is essentially a "national team" affair.
Xiao Peng's sudden appearance has drawn people's attention to the wealth of the ocean, but the question of "who should own the wealth salvaged from the deep sea" has sparked controversy among all parties.
Some believe that China should follow the trend and open up the deep-sea salvage industry, which will further promote economic development. Others believe that it is important not to set a bad precedent. Furthermore, with so many Chinese people, large-scale development of this industry would undoubtedly impact China's maritime transportation and fisheries: what if it blocks shipping lanes? What if it encroaches on fishing grounds?
The most crucial question is: if the ocean's wealth is released, what will become of the underground wealth? Tomb robbers in China are already a headache, and if the ocean's wealth is released, a whole host of more troublesome problems will arise.
The key point is that so many public intellectuals in China have jumped out at this moment, using Xiao Peng's case to criticize relevant domestic laws and imply that the domestic leadership is inflexible. And there's also a group of money-hungry keyboard warriors supporting these public intellectuals.
Xiao Peng never thought that he hated those public intellectuals the most, but one day he would become a weapon in their hands.
Regardless, the two sides argued fiercely over how to treat Xiao Peng, but they all shared one thing: they hoped Xiao Peng would continue livestreaming and working in this industry. After all, his livestreams were the best publicity for China's shipbuilding industry, offshore engineering tools, and tools like HOVs and ROVs, offering a great opportunity to showcase the country's technological advancements to the world. Furthermore, the precious metals and cultural relics Xiao Peng had brought back were truly substantial contributions!
So how to deal with Xiao Peng became a problem, and they resorted to the legendary "delay tactic." Basically, it meant: You continue to advertise for us, and we won't do anything about it.
As a result, they had no choice but to make some statement when Xiao Peng went on strike.
But what should they do? In the end, they ended up arguing again.
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