Chapter Eleven: The Root of All Evil: The Blind Box(5K)
Tom's string of words is pure chicken soup literature, and it is not chicken soup made from chickens, but chicken soup prepared from chicken essence.
But Hermione, who had never tasted this kind of chicken soup, really did this!
After hearing what Tom said, Hermione's eyes widened in surprise. Although she felt vaguely that something was wrong in her heart, Hermione had to admit: what Tom said seemed very reasonable.
"It doesn't matter whether a person conforms to mainstream values. What matters is what he is doing." She repeated this sentence again, frowning in thought.
The surrounding Weasleys were confused. They could understand every word Tom said, but they couldn't understand them all together.
Who is Bill Gates? What is Harvard? What is Microsoft and code?
Seeing everyone's confusion, Harry tried to explain to everyone.
"Bill Gates is a rich man in the non-magical world. It is said that he will soon become the richest man in the world. Microsoft and code, one is a company and the other is a career. As for Harvard, it is one of the best universities in the world...
."Being in one of the best universities is Harry's final stubbornness as an Englishman.
With this explanation, everyone will understand.
"Can I understand it as a wizard who dropped out of Hogwarts and started a company and became the richest man in the world?" Ginny concluded.
This summary is quite insightful.
"Don't let mom hear such words," Ron looked around guiltily, fearing that mom would pop out from somewhere and give them a lesson in love.
"You don't know, Mom has been in a bad mood ever since she saw Fred and George's L grades, and then coupled with this thing - they are planning to take these things to Hogwarts
Go sell it! There was a lot of quarrel that day, because mother wanted them both to work in the Ministry of Magic, but they just wanted to open a toy store."
"The result is that mother burned all their order forms." Ginny told Ron the outcome of the conflict.
"I feel sorry for them. In my opinion, opening a toy store is super cool!" Ron said with emotion.
Bill scratched his chin. Why does this story of dropping out of school and becoming a big boss sound so familiar?
"If I remember correctly, Grindelwald was also fired by Durmstrang?" he asked with some uncertainty.
"That's right," Hermione, who is proficient in the history of magic, replied immediately, "Although Durmstrang is a magic school that advocates dark magic, Grindelwald was still arrested because he went too far on the road of dark magic.
Expelled from school."
"So is Bill Gates the Grindelwald of Muggles?" Ron made a simple analogy and came to a shocking conclusion.
Tom,Hermione:…
This statement is too much. Although the Muggle community always has various conspiracy theories about Bill Gates, for example, Bill Gates is actually the incarnation of the devil, and he is planning to wipe out mankind, etc. But compared with Grindelwald
, that's still a little bit worse - Grindelwald really started a world war in the wizarding world.
If we had to find a Muggle with a similar status to Grindelwald, it would probably be the failed art student in Vienna - the professor wouldn't let him paint on the canvas, so he painted on the map.
Just when they were chatting happily, a door on the second floor platform opened, and Percy's face wearing horn-rimmed glasses stuck out from it. It was obvious that he was very impatient.
"Hermione? Tom, and Harry?" After seeing the three guests standing on the stairs, the impatience on his face softened a little. It was obvious that he was still surprised by so many guests.
"Percy, hello," Tom said.
"Oh, hello and welcome. What are you talking about?"
"Grindelwald."
"Bill Gates."
"The relationship between dropping out of school and becoming a devil."
Percy:???
I can understand each word, but combined it is difficult to understand.
Percy shook his head, as if trying to get these confusing words out of his mind, "Okay, cool topic, but can you please lower your voice? I'm at work - the latest work in the ministry
It's very stressful...the noise outside makes it hard for me to concentrate."
"What are you busy with?" Harry was a little curious, but Ron's expression suddenly changed when he heard this. He kept winking, trying to get Harry to stop, but it was too late.
Percy was very proud to tell Harry that he had been reused in the Department of International Magical Cooperation. Mr. Crouch had assigned him many tasks, and he had completed them all brilliantly without exception. He could be said to be the younger generation in the Department.
's mainstay.
"Two days ago, I just submitted the standard report on the thickness of the crucible - the bottom of some imported crucibles is too thin, and the permeability rate increases by 3% every year. This is no joke -"
Ron muttered: "What a great report, it will definitely change the world. The headline on the front page of the Daily Prophet read: The Crucible Leaks."
Percy's face turned pink, and he continued as if he didn't hear his brother's complaints: "Now I have received some arrangements during the World Cup... They are all chores, and there are many kinds-"
"Yeah, right," Ron nodded very perfunctorily and took the initiative to walk upstairs. Percy took a deep breath, stabilized his emotions, slammed the door, and continued working.
Ron's room is not big, and the lighting is good. The room is quite bright. There are posters of Charlie Cannon all over the bedroom. There is a goldfish tank on the window sill with a huge frog in it. It looks very cute at first glance.
Repelling mosquitoes. Ron's little owl was jumping up and down in its cage, making an unusually noisy noise.
The room is not big, and three beds have been squeezed into it. This is where Tom will sleep tonight.
Tom quickly stuffed his luggage under the bed. The bedding was all ready-made, so there was almost no need for him to do anything. So with the luggage stuffed, it was almost as if the packing was complete.
The same goes for Harry. The simple steps made Tom wonder if it was necessary for everyone to carry their luggage up.
Tom walked to the window and looked out of the window. This was probably the place with the best view of the entire Burrow. The village of Ottery Saint Catchpole not far away was clearly visible, with a few scattered fields dotted between the vast fields.
It is a small English-style country house. The scenery in the distance is a bit blurry, and the outline of the hillside can be vaguely seen.
Looking closer, the exterior of the Burrow is also in full view. The courtyard of the Burrow is divided into two parts by the Burrow itself. There is a small yard in the front half. There is a chicken coop and a garage in the yard. The garage used to be Arthur's house.
The place where Mr. Arthur placed the Ford car and other Muggle artifacts. The garage is now empty. The classic car has been wandering in the Forbidden Forest for almost two years, and Mr. Arthur did not dare to buy himself a new car.
Mrs. Weasley was scolding Fred and George in the yard, and Arthur stood aside, looking in a dilemma.
The back half is a huge garden, with a small stone room at the entrance, which is the Weasley family's broom shed. When the boys are at home, they store their broomsticks in it.
Seeing this small shabby house, Tom remembered that his broom was still in the suitcase.
The garden was a wild wasteland and a large green pond with many frogs. Tom saw Crookshanks chasing the gnome in the garden with vigorous steps, and it was obvious that he liked to do this kind of thing.
Hermione also came over and leaned against the window to look at the scenery.
"Maybe it's not a good decision to let Crookshanks live in the house every day. Not everyone likes to live in a jar like my bird and snake." After the summer vacation started, Crookshanks stayed at Granger's house.
He rarely goes out, which is completely different from his behavior at Hogwarts. When he was at Hogwarts, Crookshanks disappeared every day.
"Will you take it to the World Cup?"
"It's not necessary." Tom subconsciously pulled Hermione a little closer to him, letting her stand closer to him. He didn't take Crookshanks with him, mainly because he was afraid that he would get too excited and get lost.
"I realize now, you are just sophistry!" Hermione finally figured out the strange smell in the bowl of chicken soup, "There are many dropouts, but there is only one Bill Gates! Not everyone can become
From Bill Gates!”
Tom glanced at Hermione appreciatively: Not bad, very smart. Unlike some fools who really thought that a restaurant would wash the dishes seven times and drink the toilet water in the toilet.
"But there is only one Fred and George."
The words still sounded like quibbles. Hermione wanted to say something, but Tom stretched out a finger and pressed it on her lips.
"Listen to me first - Fred and George's talents are not in studying. It would be a waste of their talents if they entered the Ministry of Magic."
Hermione:?
"I probably haven't mentioned to you yet that Fred and George's products are very popular in the Ministry of Magic. When I was working part-time..."
Tom told Hermione about his experience as a "second-rate dealer".
"So you can actually sell two Galleons for seven Sickles of fake wands?" Hermione was shocked by Tom's marketing ability.
"That's not an ordinary fake wand, but a limited-edition Niu Niu wand!" Tom shook his finger, "I have a plan to make a lot of money, and I plan to give it to Fred for free. Let me ask you first, have you heard that
Have you ever been to a blind box?”
"Blind box?" Hermione had never heard of such a thing.
"The so-called blind box refers to a toy box in which consumers cannot know the specific product style in advance and has random attributes."
Hermione:?
"I don't understand... How can anyone do business without informing customers of the specific styles of their products?" After hearing Tom's explanation, she became even more confused. She couldn't see any business opportunities in this.
The culture of blind box originated from the United States and flourished in Japan. It is essentially a hunger marketing method that bundles popular products with ordinary models.
"Let me give you a simple example. The fake wand developed by Fred and George can transform a total of twelve different animals. Wizards like fire dragons the most and mice the least. Normally, the fake wand is placed in
What will happen in the market?”
"The fire dragons are sold out, and the rats are unsaleable." This question was very simple, and Hermione answered it without thinking.
"That's right!" Tom snapped his fingers, "But as a business, we certainly hope that customers will buy as many fake wands as possible. But customers who like fire dragons will only buy fire dragons, and those who like tigers will only buy tigers. This is different from
Our expectations are not in line. When encountering this situation, ordinary merchants will increase the production of fire dragon wands and improve the styles of other wands, but blind box merchants do not need to. They only need to put an opaque box outside the wand."
Hermione:(??o??)
She vaguely guessed what Tom meant.
If a wizard wants to buy a fake fire dragon wand, if there is no blind box, he only needs to spend 7 Sickles. But with the blind box, if he is unlucky enough, he may not be able to buy it even for 700 Sickles.
A fake wand that turns into a fire dragon!
"The most unethical thing doesn't end there. I am a conscientious store!" Tom tapped his finger on the window sill and looked at the setting sun by the window. "You know, customers can't see what's inside the blind box when they buy.
The contents are, but the store can see them when they put them in!"
The blind box blindness is only one-way blindness. Blind customers are not blind to the store. The store can completely determine the most popular style through market research, and then artificially lower the explosion rate of this style to stimulate sales through hunger marketing.
Therefore, the blind box is actually the same as gambling, but because it is not so straightforward, it escapes control and accurately targets people's character weaknesses. The birth of the blind box is a victory for marketing, but it is also a setback. Everyone should have it
A clear understanding: blind box = gambling.
Tom has released this source of all evil, but you can't blame him. This kind of thing will be born sooner or later. The sooner it appears, the sooner it can be controlled. If blind boxes in the non-magical world can be strictly controlled from the beginning, there will be chaos.
It will be much less - and not all blind box merchants are bad. Some merchants even say that the total value of the goods in the blind box exceeds the value of the individual purchases of these goods.
For example, if a blind box sells for 100 yuan, they guarantee that the sum of the items sold inside will be greater than 100 yuan.
After listening to Tom's story, Hermione couldn't laugh or cry: This guy can always come up with something new.
But this is also the charm of this big boy, isn't it? He is a mysterious person. The longer she gets along with Tom, the more she feels that there is a layer of fog in Tom, a layer of fog that people can't help but want to dispel.
"This is just a marketing tool. The key is that Fred and George's works are really popular. Did you know? The Ministry of Magic once wanted to place an order!" Tom's words were a bit exaggerated. The Ministry of Magic wanted to buy them in bulk.
Yes, it was the magic props he made. Those prank products were not under the scrutiny of the Ministry of Magic.
"Maybe," Hermione's attitude was softened by the intervention of the Ministry of Magic, "but no matter what, they still have to study hard. If they don't study, how can they make novel toys?"
"That's true, but I believe in their talent more." Tom smiled and shook his head. The Weasley twins are "drop-out" bosses! In the past, they were able to launch so many prank toys in such a harsh R&D environment.
, enough to prove their talent.
"By the way, you just said that the most important thing about a person is what he does, so what do you want to do in the future?" Hermione looked at Tom, trying to see something from his calm black eyes.
She was very curious, what is Tom's ideal? It can't be to be a warden, right?
"I have two ideals. One is to explore the future of the magic world - you and I both know that if technology continues to develop like this, it will only be a matter of time before the magic world is exposed to human society. Our generation should be the last chance for the magic world.
Of course, if in a few decades, Muggles don't want to make progress, keep fighting among themselves, and technology stagnates, then the wizarding world can survive for a while, but we can't pin our future on such uncertain things.
"
The topic suddenly became serious.
Tom, who had just been talking about making money, suddenly became serious, which made Hermione a little uncomfortable.
"You, I..." She writhed her hands and tangled them together, as entangled as her mood. Tom's words made her worry.
"As for my second ideal..." Tom leaned close to Hermione's ear and whispered something. Hermione's face turned red all of a sudden, like a ripe gold prawn.
While Tom and Hermione were chatting and looking at the scenery, Harry was talking to Ron about Percy.
From Ron's mouth, Harry learned that Percy had almost fallen into madness recently, working like crazy every day, and Crouch seemed to like him very much and arranged a lot of work for him.
"When can we eat?" Ginny asked quietly, "I'm a little hungry."
Bill went to the window and took a look and came to the conclusion: it would still be a while before dinner started.
"Go down first and see how your parents are doing." Tom gently pulled Hermione's clothes and motioned for her to go out with him.
Bill watched Tom gradually disappearing on the stairs and hesitated to speak. He finally decided to wait until dinner in the evening to talk to Tom.
Mr. and Mrs. Granger's room was downstairs. When Tom and Hermione came to their room, they were studying the various furnishings in the room.
"This is a miracle," Mr. Granger said, pointing to the illustrations on the wall. "All the pictures here are movable!"
"And these sculptures are actually movable." He's mother became interested in the dog-headed god sculpture on the bedside table. The sculpture also responded to He's mother's pointing. It raised the spear in its hand, the tip of the spear was bright.
Got up - this turned out to be a bedside lamp.
This statue has a strong Egyptian style, and it looks like it belongs to Bill.
"I hope you get used to living here." Tom looked around at the decorations in the bedroom to prevent anything from scaring the Grangers.
After looking around, I didn't find anything unusual. Mrs. Weasley was quite reliable and moved all the dangerous items out of the room.
The few of them just chatted away. After a while, Harry appeared at the door and brought good news: Mrs. Weasley had started preparing dinner.
When everyone arrived at the kitchen on the first floor, it was already busy: Charlie and Bill were setting the table, and Ginny was carrying the plates that would be needed for a while. Mr. Weasley politely invited Mr. and Mrs. Granger out.
, Ron, and Harry were given the task of setting the cutlery and cleaning the cups, so Tom and Hermione naturally had to help.
————
Remember the lottery. Although you only have one chance, you can still give it a try!
I had a very sad dream last night.
－－－－－－Digression－－－－－
In my dream, I dreamed that I returned to my hometown and went hiking with my dad. After coming down the mountain, I felt a little tired, so I planned to take the bus home.
But when I got to the station, I realized that I had neither a mask nor a shirt (I was sweating from climbing a mountain, so it was normal not to wear a shirt), so I couldn't take the bus.
So my dad gave me his shirt and bought me a large glass of sugar cane juice before getting in the car. The large cup cost 3 yuan and 5 yuan, and the small cup cost 2 and 5 yuan. As soon as the sugar cane juice came into my hand, I woke up.
Coming.
This is the most reasonable and realistic dream I have had in the past few years, but this dream is really too painful.
Even my dreams have been polluted by this damn epidemic! Damn it! Can’t you even relax in your dreams? When will everything return to normal? Will we all have to wear masks when going out in the next life?