Hong Guodong picked up his phone and started recording.
He recorded it five times.
On the first take, he stumbled on the third sentence, his tongue seemingly tied in knots. Delete. On the second, his mind suddenly went blank halfway through, and he froze with his mouth open for five seconds. Delete. He finished the third take, but his wife murmured beside him, "Your tone... sounds like you're about to pick a fight." Delete. On the fourth, he deliberately lowered his voice, then played it back-
Timid.
Far too timid.
Delete.
On the fifth take, he gritted his back teeth and finished recording. He watched it back. Barely usable.
In the video, Hong Guodong sat at his workstation. He had deliberately chosen this angle: the wall behind him was covered in an assortment of colorful testing reports.
"First, I need to clarify something."
He stared into the camera, trying to look composed.
"Ever since I started this account, I've been speaking up for consumer rights. Even the liquor factory on Wei Zijin's side admitted there'd been a production incident and paid tenfold compensation-what does that tell you? It tells you the problem existed. I wasn't wrong to expose it."
"The point is, consumers received real, tangible benefits."
He paused there and clenched his fists.
"As for that 'I’m Not the Fake God' accusing me of manufacturing a claim-"
His voice rose.
"You say I'm manufacturing claims, but what about you? Wasn't that video you posted just chasing views? You've got over seven million followers. What's the point of bullying a small creator like me? You invited me onto your livestream-is that a debate? That's bullying!"
The more he spoke, the more worked up he became.
"You think being a top creator gives you the right to crush people? Come onto