In Qin Muyan's Mech Ji live streaming room, the number of haters wasn't that large.
On other major social media platforms, experts, scholars, and geniuses, relying on discrediting Meng Hao and riding his coattails for traffic, truly enjoyed a feast of attention.
Many streamers and self-media personalities, who gained fame by slandering Meng Hao, had garnered nearly a million followers.
Meng Hao.
He had become another internet sensation, like Ma Baoguo and "Ji Ni Tai Mei," who was being heavily criticized across the entire network.
Discussions about Meng Hao were ubiquitous on all major online platforms.
As an e-commerce streamer for Huarong Industries and a devoted fan of Meng Hao, Qin Muyan felt powerless to stop or explain the posts and comments, which were almost personal attacks designed to attract traffic and cash in.
These organized, purposeful online haters.
Every single one of them was a top-tier keyboard warrior, skilled at manipulating opinions and stirring up trouble.
"Speaking of which, where has Brother Hao, who claimed he'd live stream to slap our faces, disappeared to?"
"It's been eight days. Didn't he say he'd make us eat shit while standing on our heads? I haven't defecated for days waiting."
"I suspect this guy is just riding the wave of hype. Perhaps Huarong Industries isn't affiliated with the Russian military as they claimed."
"I even suspect this Brother Hao knew about the conflict in Russia beforehand and quickly jumped on the bandwagon, slapping similar-looking mech toys onto their factory's products!"
"This Brother Hao has guts, daring to latch onto such a trend... Russia is our Great Xia's staunch ally, and these are military robots. Riding this wave might get him thrown in jail!"
"To be fair, his publicity stunt was well-executed. A million-dollar tip for questions, finding a pretty girl for live streams, and somehow getting a few shills to buy mechs at three million each!"
"Plenty of people gifted him during the live stream back then. Those fools were all scammed... It's likely that Brother Hao has already been arrested and cuffed... So bold, latching onto the Russian military's popularity."
"..."
Facts proved.
Whether it was the era before the internet or the current information age, human memory could be manipulated.
As long as the economic benefits were substantial, the resources invested were immense, and the number of people fabricating lies was vast.
Black could be turned into white.
Nothing could be made to appear as if it existed.
The ancient wisdom of the Great Xia was truly remarkable.
The theory of "a white horse is not a horse."
The theory of "calling a deer a horse."
The theory of "three men talking about a tiger."
All were being replayed on the internet.
Netizens who had initially firmly believed that the formidable war machines and giant humanoid mechs displayed by Russia were Huarong Industries' products were gradually losing confidence.
Even more netizens, swayed by the narrative and unaware of the truth, had forgotten—
That Meng Hao's promised live stream verification in the coming days was to prove that the large mechs produced by Huarong Industries were merely figurines and large toys.
And not, as the black fans who flooded the internet with malicious intent claimed... that Huarong Industries was piggybacking on the Russian military's popularity!
As one of the very few, perhaps the only one, on the entire internet who firmly believed in Meng Hao, Qin Muyan was already powerless to refute the chaotic narratives of the online haters. Even answering the questions from viewers in her live stream who raised similar doubts felt like an uphill battle!
Where did Meng Hao go?
Why wasn't Meng Hao verifying the mechs?
Didn't Meng Hao promise to live stream the mechs in a few days? m..oΓg
To these questions, Qin Muyan felt a deep, unspeakable frustration and injustice!
After all, Qin Muyan herself hadn't been able to contact Meng Hao for several days; he seemed to have vanished from the face of the earth.
...
Meng Hao, of course, had not vanished.
For the past few days, he had been at the desert base, personally supervising the multi-functional robots mining, manufacturing, and assembling mech components.
Only after these components were sent back to the Huarong Industries factory, and he personally watched the technicians assemble seven more mechs, shipping five of them to the buyers' addresses, did he finally heave a sigh of relief.
As an engineer, Meng Hao's approach had always been rigorous, cautious, and extremely demanding of quality control.
After confirming that the mechs were in perfect condition and had successfully rolled off the production line, Meng Hao picked up his phone, intending to call Qin Muyan... Ah, he hadn't used his phone for over a week, and it had run out of power and shut down.
It seemed.
The plan to develop a Great Xia domestic smartphone with ultra-long standby time, utilizing the high-energy composite graphite silicon lithium batteries used in the mech cores, would have to be put on the agenda.
He plugged it in.
The phone powered on.
Dozens of missed calls.
All from Qin Muyan.
Huh?
Was there something important?
Meng Hao quickly dialed her back.
...
Qin Muyan, having just showered, wearing a bathrobe, and without even bothering to dry her hair, rested her chin on her hands. Her delicate face was etched with melancholy.
She stared at her phone.
The screen displayed the number Meng Hao had left her!
Just as Qin Muyan was debating whether to call again, she suddenly noticed an incoming call on her screen.
It was Meng Hao.
"This idiot finally remembered to contact me!"
"I thought he had gone missing!"
"Hmph, in all these years, I've never actively called a guy this many times!"
"You're handsome, you possess mind-blowing black technology, your fame has reached Russia, you're amazing!"
"Hmph, I don't care!"
"..."
After a few grumbles, Qin Muyan answered the call. Her voice was even more gentle and amiable than during her live streams, devoid of any of the previous biting anger and resentful retorts towards Meng Hao!
"Hello, boss, you've finally appeared. I was worried sick..."
This tone, this manner, this act of coquettish charm, even startled Qin Muyan herself. As a woman of science and engineering, who had always looked down upon clingy girls, when had she unconsciously learned to act cute?
"...What's wrong?"
"What happened?"
Meng Hao had intended to directly inform Qin Muyan about the mech testing live stream tomorrow and have her host it. However, hearing the girl, whom he hadn't contacted for seven or eight days, suddenly transform from Mech Ji into a cute youngster, he paused and let her speak first.
"Those keyboard warriors online are really slandering you badly. They say you're afraid to show up, and some even claim you've been arrested..."
Qin Muyan adjusted her mindset, regaining her cool demeanor, and reported the recent situation to Meng Hao.
After hearing Qin Muyan's words, Meng Hao actually laughed instead of getting angry.
"So, you're saying that my and Huarong Industries' popularity hasn't diminished at all? Instead, with these haters jumping around, the popularity has only grown higher?"