A Minor Stir

Our reporter Fang Yun and trainee reporter Zhou Kai report: Recently, a certain toy car in Baisha City disrupted traffic, with large numbers of teenagers chasing the toy cars through streets and alleys. Fortunately, no accidents occurred.

Chonglang Net urges the public not to chase or roughhouse in public places.

It had been a week since Liang Xing Toys Store opened, and GD Racers had sparked a racing craze in Baisha City.

What followed was criticism from various websites.

With the United Nations Intellectual Property Protection Platform in place, news regulation in the Parallel World was equally strict.

Fabricating rumors, maliciously concealing facts to incite online violence, and similar behavior intended to steer online commentary were not matters that could be settled with a simple fine for personal venting.

But if they could not win through fair competition, they had to find some way to protect their own interests, right?

Steering public opinion in the Parallel World was a technical skill.

"Is that all?"

In the general manager's office of Liang Xing Toys Factory, Liang Xing received a call from Zhou Shuya. Shortly afterward, he received a series of news articles from her on Feige.

Without exception, their headlines all broadly claimed that a certain toy car in Baisha City was disrupting traffic.

They did not name names. After all, those who understood would understand. Internet users who had truly been affected would naturally stir up the discussion and tell others exactly what this "certain toy car" was.

"And you don't think that's serious? Boss! The traffic department just called. This needs to be dealt with!"

Zhou Shuya had joined the Toy Factory's physical store straight out of high school. Now that she had finally become store manager, her attachment to the Toy Factory might have been even stronger than Liang Xing's.

After all, although Liang Xing had promoted her to store manager, she could tell that he did not particularly enjoy managing affairs.

So, following the former manager's habits, she contacted the general manager first—the highest-ranking leader of Liang Xing Toys Factory.

The young woman was still rather naïve. She felt that Little Liang was so skilled at research that Old Liang should have had more experience with social connections and worldly matters.

Who would have thought that Liang Xing was the one answering the general manager's office phone as well?

Seeing that Liang Xing had stabilized the situation, Liang's Father and Liang's Mother had long since returned to the countryside for a vacation.

"It's fine. I know about this. Some people can't sit still anymore. This is the only little trick they have."

Liang Xing truly did not want to bother with this sort of thing. After all, regulations in the Parallel World were fairly strict.

As long as there was no problem with the toys' quality, the relevant departments would never harass them without cause.

The traffic department calling the physical store was, plainly put, just a reminder: our department has received complaints, so watch yourselves.

Such complaints were common, and they occasionally happened with other toy cars as well. But the recent incidents in Baisha City had been particularly frequent, and every single one involved GD Racers. That was somewhat abnormal.

However, the offenders showed a good attitude in admitting fault and had no records of illegal or improper conduct in the past year. Even if Huaxia's traffic department determined that they had acted deliberately, all it could do was issue a verbal warning and a fine.

They admitted everything and were especially eager to pay.

So whether for public or private reasons, Huaxia's traffic department called to notify them. As for whether they understood the implication, that was their own problem.

It had to be admitted that no matter which world it was, there would always be idiots.

The people stirring things up usually would not risk themselves for a tiny profit. They merely picked a seemingly justified cause, and there would always be idiots willing to charge forward for them, believing they were carrying out justice.

What they did not know was that most of those chasing GD Racers through streets and alleys and nearly causing accidents had been paid.

Who did not know that GD Racers were Mini Four-Wheel Drive Cars? The track was where they belonged.

Besides, GD Racers were not slow. At 998 Huaxia Currency, they were not cheap either, with only the first day offered at half price. If one ran beyond voice-control range, the loss would be real money.

Only those with genuine stakes involved would be willing to spend heavily steering public opinion. The effect was obvious too—at least many parents now did not dare buy them for their children.

Better safe than sorry.

What if a child chased a GD Racer onto the road and got into a traffic accident? There would be nowhere to cry injustice then!

They would not carefully study GD Racers' performance. They only knew there were so many news stories online, so it had to be true.

The people behind the scenes had thus achieved their goal.

In fact, Liang Xing had received a Feige message from A Lie a few days earlier.

Someone had contacted A Lie in the name of being a fan, saying they would gift him a fleet if he livestreamed a race between the toy car and actual cars by the roadside.

There would be money and popularity.

But A Lie felt it was unsafe. Moreover, as a public figure, he believed the values it promoted were wrong, so he painfully turned it down.

Since it was his first time livestreaming GD Racers, A Lie had gotten a taste of being an internet celebrity.

He considered himself a public figure now, and felt that his every word and action should set an example.

He disdained such an obvious publicity stunt with safety hazards.

Later, when he saw more and more online articles condemning toy cars for disrupting traffic, he immediately realized what was happening.

Were those bastards planning to target Liang Xing Toys Factory?

Without another word, he hurriedly contacted Liang Xing. But since the other party had approached him as a fan, they still had no idea who was behind it.

"Then what do we do? No, I have to clear things up for you in my livestream!"

A Lie panicked.

Liang Xing had been researching Electric Roller Skates at the time, yet he had to comfort A Lie instead.

Still, Liang Xing could only accept the goodwill.

Although Mini 4WD was far less popular in the Parallel World than before, the profits in that circle were not low.

Pirated products were rare animals in the Parallel World. Even when they existed, they would not cost much less than genuine products.

After all, with the United Nations Intellectual Property Protection Platform in place, pirated goods priced too cheaply would be discovered immediately.

History had repeatedly proven that if pirated goods were too cheap, they would not even be able to pay the fines when caught!

In the internet age, everyone had grown smarter, leaving even less room for pirated goods to survive.

Yet GD Racers and Mini 4WD targeted almost exactly the same audience, and GD Racers could completely replace Mini 4WD.

That was far more hateful than piracy!

Everyone could understand sharing the cake, but was it not excessive to carry away the whole plate?

Liang Xing had lived two lives and had seen far too many clashes between competing interests.

Besides, compared with the fantastical dramas exposed on Earth, the underhanded tricks of the Parallel World were practically innocent little flowers.

Making money~

Nothing shameful about that!

Liang Xing could not be bothered to investigate who exactly was behind it. There was no need to think too hard—those behind it were certainly tied to the major Mini 4WD manufacturers.

Liang Xing now firmly controlled the high-end market, while Mini 4WD relied on public opinion to keep a tight grip on parents' wallets.

Given the Parallel World's regulation of public opinion manipulation, they must have spent quite a bit of money.

Liang Xing did not particularly like fighting with words. He preferred to let facts speak.

But one could not simply take hits without striking back. That would only encourage others to push further.

Since he could not find the person behind it, he might as well broaden the target and bring the entire Mini 4WD industry into his grasp!

This was destined to be a long-term goal.

Moreover, Liang Xing respected Liang's Father's wishes and avoided taking loans.

But with GD Racers' money-making power, that day should not be too far away.

Liang Xing had already begun researching Electric Roller Skates, and news of the First Baisha City GD Racing Tournament would soon appear on the official website.

—The track was the romance of GD Racers!