harleyscars Chapter 26 The Anti-Counterfeiting Scandal: The Richest Man Endorses Him
Chapter 26 The Anti-Counterfeiting Scandal: The Richest Man Endorses Him
On the system interface, a new line has been added to the notes section of the Shrek City renovation map:
Requirements for a one-day tour of Shrek Academy in Douluo World:
1. Authenticity: 300000
2. Town occupancy rate: 60%
Current occupancy rate in the town: 32%
300,000 genuine, 60% occupancy rate.
This is the condition for starting a day trip to Shrek Academy.
The first phase of the town, consisting of 100 courtyard houses, has been completely sold out, but most buyers are investors, and not many people have actually moved in yet. To increase occupancy, either buyers need to move in gradually, or ways need to be found to attract more people to stay long-term.
Lin Yi thought for a moment and then made a phone call to Shen Rongguang.
"Mr. Shen, the experiential short-term rental project in the town can be launched now."
Shen Rongguang laughed on the other end of the phone: "I was just about to tell you about this. Several people in my entrepreneurs' club want to stay with you for a while. I'll make the arrangements and try to get them all here before the end of the month."
"Thank you, Mr. Shen."
"Don't mention it, I'm also a shareholder in this town."
After hanging up the phone, Lin Yi sent Xia Tian another message.
"The number of places for the healing camp will be expanded to one hundred for the next session. Accommodation will be arranged in the town."
Xia Tian replied instantly: "Really? Boss, I love you to death! I'll go send out the notification right now!"
After making these arrangements, Lin Yi opened the system and took a look.
Authenticity: 173400.
Popularity score: 1520/2500.
Occupancy rate in the town: 32%.
All three objectives are progressing steadily.
He closed the system interface and turned to walk deeper into the town.
There's still more to do tomorrow.
......
The tree catches the wind.
The sudden popularity of Tangmen Town has finally brought trouble.
The trouble originated from a Kuaishou streamer known as "Fake Exposing Brother Jia Bin".
This person is somewhat famous on Kuaishou, specializing in "debunking" various popular tourist attractions and products, and has over two million followers. His strategy is simple: find trending tourist spots, then nitpick and create controversy under the guise of "on-site visits" and "revealing the truth," generating traffic by finding fault with everything.
With Tangmen Town being so popular, it naturally became his target.
Jia Bin and his team came to Qingshi Village, stayed for two days, and filmed a lot of footage. They then edited it into a 15-minute "debunking" video.
The video's title is extremely sensational: "Unveiling the Tang Clan Town of Qing Shi Village! Is the so-called 'coexistence of four seasons' just special effects? Is the so-called 'divine tree' just a lighting installation? Is the so-called 'martial spirit awakening' just a charade?"
In the video, Jia Bin uses various tricky angles to film the town and mountain trails, magnifying every detail that can be explained by "science" in an attempt to prove that it is all a man-made "hoax".
"As you can see, this so-called 'coexistence of all four seasons' is actually an illusion created by artificially planting flowers and plants of different seasons and using temperature control equipment."
"And this 'sacred tree,' the light inside the tree hole is clearly an LED light strip. I had someone climb up and take a look, and there's a hidden light source inside."
"As for the Martial Soul Awakening Experience Hall, it's nothing more than a light show. Those so-called 'Martial Soul phantoms' are just holographic projections."
At the end of the video, Jia Bin addressed the camera with righteous indignation: "In all my years of exposing fraudulent projects, I've seen countless schemes designed to fleece investors, but Qing Shi Village is definitely the most elaborately packaged. All that talk about Martial Soul Awakening and the miraculous appearance of the divine tree is just marketing gimmicks. I hope everyone will be discerning and not be fooled."
After the video was posted, it received over two million likes in just half a day.
In an instant, a flood of doubts about Tangmen Town appeared on the internet.
"I knew it! The idea of all four seasons existing simultaneously is simply impossible!"
"Did the Martial Soul Awakening Guy mess up?"
"I've felt something was off for a while now. How could such a run-down village have so many strange things?"
"Well done, anti-counterfeiting guy!"
Lin Yi's Kuaishou account comment section was flooded overnight.
The previous praise was pushed down, replaced by a barrage of insults and doubts.
Lin Yi remained calm after watching Jia Bin's video.
The other party's "debunking" method is not clever—using seemingly plausible "scientific explanations" to confuse the public, avoiding talking about those truly inexplicable phenomena (such as the effects of soul power nourishment, the real experience of enlightenment), and selectively turning a blind eye.
However, such videos can be extremely damaging to netizens who are unaware of the facts.
He was about to contact Shen Rongguang to discuss countermeasures when his phone rang first.
It was Shen Rongguang calling.
"Boss Lin, I've seen Jia Bin's video." Shen Rongguang's voice was calm and unhurried, without any hint of anxiety. "You don't need to worry about this; I'll handle it."
"Mr. Shen..."
"I've been in business for decades, and I've seen plenty of small fry like this." Shen Rongguang smiled. "If he dares to mess with our small town, he should be prepared to face the consequences."
Less than two hours after hanging up the phone, Lin Yi received a news notification.
Kuaishou livestreamer "Fake Exposing Brother Jia Bin" has been criminally detained by the public security authorities on suspicion of extortion and defamation. It is reported that in recent years, Jia Bin has solicited "public relations fees" from multiple companies under the guise of "fighting fakes," involving a huge amount of money. This time, he was reported due to the Tangmen Town incident, and the police quickly opened a case for investigation.
Following this, a law firm controlled by Shen Rongguang issued a statement indicating that it would file a civil lawsuit on behalf of the Tangmen Town project against Jia Bin and the MCN agency behind him, seeking 10 million yuan in damages for defamation.
Public opinion reversed instantly.
Those netizens who were just criticizing Tangmen Town have suddenly turned against Jia Bin.
"As expected, it was a staged accident; they got caught!"
"So that's why this anti-counterfeiting guy suddenly appeared; turns out he's trying to extort money from us."
"The guy who awakened his martial spirit has a powerful backer; this comeback was brilliant."
But it's not over yet.
The next day, an even bigger piece of news exploded online.
Mining tycoon Ding Baiwan, the richest man in a certain province, posted a video through his daughter Ding Xiaolin's (pseudonym) social media account.
In the video, Ding Baiwan stands in the central square of Tangmen Town, with bronze statues of the Shrek Seven Devils behind him.
"Hello everyone, I'm Lao Ding. Many of you may not know me, but that's okay. I'll tell you something and you'll know—I'm Ding Xiaolin's father."
"My daughter came to Qingshi Village to play a while ago, and she kept talking about how great it was. At first, I didn't believe her. How great could a mountain village be? But she insisted on bringing me here, and I stayed for three days."
"In these three days, my old bones have experienced things I haven't felt in decades. The back injury I developed when I was young from working in the mines used to hurt on rainy days, but after staying here for three days, the pain is gone. I've had poor sleep quality for decades, but I slept well for three days here."
"I'm not here to give up. I just want to say, Tangmen Town is worth it."
"By the way, I've already bought a house with a yard here. Everyone is welcome to come and visit in the future."
At the end of the video, Ding Baiwan added with a smile, "Also, my daughter said that Boss Lin is her most admired person. So I have to stand up for Boss Lin too—anyone who dares to mess with Tangmen Town is going against me, Old Ding."