Tang Shizhe had no idea that a storm was brewing outside, aimed straight at him.
At that moment, he was sitting in the conference room with Tang Yi and Tang Shi through Tang Shi. Their sales over the past few days had brought in a huge amount of money, and it was time to consider what direction to take next.
"Boss, have you thought about where Titan Environmental should go from here?" Tang Yi asked first, seated beside Tang Shizhe.
Tang Shizhe tapped lightly on the table. The display in the conference room immediately lit up and began playing a video.
"I have quite a few ideas."
"Next, we'll put our money toward expanding production capacity. After that, we'll enter the international market."
"At the same time, I'm planning to release a portable Purification Tree 10ini! The basic idea is to incorporate the Purification Tree into a pendant, so people can breathe fresh air even when they're out!"
"After that, we'll upgrade the Purification Tree and release an improved version: the Purification Tree 15!"
"The new Purification Tree 15 will be able to connect to the internet. It can act as a signal transmitter and broadcast a wireless signal across its entire coverage area!"
"On top of that, users will be able to control the Purification Tree's operating hours through our app!"
"Once we've sold enough Purification Tree 15s, we'll launch the Purification Tree 10 Plus! It'll be a large Purification Tree that can be planted outdoors and can purify the air along an entire street. This special version will be aimed at the government!"
"After that, we'll have the Purification Tree 0, which can generate heat, and the Purification Tree 5, which can cool things down! We'll empty these consumers' wallets! They'll follow our lead and hand over their money to us, little by little!"
"Later, I'll give these Purification Trees the ability to record their surroundings. They'll become our eyes everywhere, monitoring everything around them and transmitting it back to us!" Squinting, Tang Shizhe explained his future plans to the other Splitters through the video.
Then he suddenly remembered that he could share his thoughts through the Mental Network.
He slapped his forehead in exasperation and sent his plans to all the Splitters through the Mental Network.
"Just like you, Boss! Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!" Tang Yi clapped.
"Now that we have the money, we can put our other plans into action, too! Next, we'll start a Series B funding round. We'll give our European shell companies some equity and raise development capital for them!" Tang Shizhe rubbed his chin. Before long, Titan Environmental would become a cash cow, continuously funneling money to his two shell companies and giving them the resources to expand in secret across different regions.
"Understood. I'll contact our European shell companies' agents right away!" Tang Yi nodded.
Since the Splitters couldn't change their appearance, Tang Shizhe's shell companies could only be run through agents for now. Once he found a way to change the Splitters' appearances, he would replace those agents.
Purification Tree Launch, Day Three
As usual, at midnight, the 100,000 Purification Trees available that day were snapped up in an instant. Anyone unwilling to stay up late had no chance of getting one.
At that very moment, a strange phenomenon suddenly appeared: people in heavily polluted cities began staging mass walkouts.
"Walkout" might not have been quite the right word. Companies in these cities suddenly discovered that a large number of their employees had called in sick.
If it had only happened the day before, that would have been one thing. But these people hadn't come to work today, either! It was as if they'd all arranged it in advance—a mass walkout!
The bosses learned through their social media feeds that the same thing was happening at other companies, too!
The story finally reached the media and drew widespread attention from news outlets across the country.
It wasn't until a reporter from a central television station visited the home of a colleague who had called in sick that the public learned what had happened!
Two days earlier
Zhao was an ordinary employee at a central television station. He was also one of the people who had reserved a Purification Tree three days in advance.
As soon as he set the Purification Tree on his windowsill, he could tell the air in his home had changed. It smelled sweet!
The cough that had plagued him for years had vanished!
Even when his roommate smoked heavily in the room, he could no longer smell the cigarettes' pungent odor!
This Purification Tree was the best gift Heaven had ever given him!
Unlike his usual restless nights, Zhao slept soundly for once, waking only when it was broad daylight!
Thanks to the included nutrient pack, the Purification Tree could run through the night, too.
When he got up in the morning, he couldn't smell the stale odor that built up in a room after someone had slept in it all night. It was as if no one had ever slept there!
When it was time to leave for work, he reluctantly got dressed and opened the door.
"Holy crap! What is this outside? A biological attack?" Zhao had barely stepped out before he hurried back inside.
Compared with the clean, unpolluted air indoors, the air outside—with its PM2.5 levels nearly off the charts—was like poisonous gas to him! He didn't want to spend even a minute out there!
With no other choice, he called his boss and said he was sick and needed to take the day off!
He didn't know that several of his colleagues had already called in sick, too. Their boss hadn't been suspicious; after all, people called in sick all the time. It was just a little strange that so many had done so today.
That day, all 500,000 people who had received a Purification Tree and brought it home to use reacted the same way, unless they were exceptionally dedicated to their jobs or lived in an area with relatively clean air.
When the reporter broke the story, many people still thought it was a publicity stunt. But once those 500,000 people came forward to confirm it was true, no one had anything left to say.
However, once the news aired, the employees' bosses ordered them to come to work or be marked absent without leave. With no other choice, they brought their Purification Trees to the office.
And so, a strange sight appeared across the Xia Kingdom: people walked down the streets carrying spherical plants. They didn't look unhappy at all. In fact, they looked thoroughly refreshed!
Especially when they saw everyone else wearing masks to protect themselves from the smog, the corners of their mouths would lift ever so slightly.
"The time has come! Announce that we're about to start a Series B funding round and have already found investors!"
"Once the funding comes in, we'll expand production. While we're at it, announce our new portable product: the Purification Tree 10ini!" Tang Shizhe said, lounging in his chair with a cigar in his mouth, putting on airs.
Of course, he didn't actually smoke cigars. It just made him look more impressive~
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