After hanging up the phone, a hint of panic arose in Michelle's astonished mind. Relying on her parents' protection, she had hundreds of millions of wealth to squander, and she traveled almost sideways in European and American countries.
Life in the twenties has always gone smoothly.
Until she met Zhou Qingfeng, Michelle experienced many dangers and encountered obstacles. It made her realize that the world does not revolve around her.
Zhou Qingfeng is ruthless, cunning, and scheming, and his ideas for doing things are unconstrained and unrestrained. All Michelle's pride seems worthless in front of him.
If this was just a shady underground leader, the little foreign girl wouldn't have much interest, and would even mock him as a rotting rat hiding in the sewers, who could only hold a feast in a dark and smelly corner.
But Zhou Qingfeng has been dazzling with dazzling light from the moment he appeared. His influence has risen so fast that it is hard to find in ancient and modern times. He is slowly changing history.
The sudden phone call confused Michelle's mind. She hurriedly left the shop that had not yet been renovated and returned to her house in Central Park, Manhattan. Only by staying at home could she feel calmer.
"Hey, Uncle Billy, I'm Michelle. Can you do me a favor? Do you know that I was studying China's Holy Light Group before? Do you have any new news about that company recently?"
Michelle called her father's assistant. In terms of relationships, the nearly 50-year-old 'Uncle Billy' was no different from the rest of the family. With her father's status, the assistant's connections were like an octopus.
Doesn't make sense.
Michelle made the phone call at noon, and two days later received a package personally delivered by her father's assistant.
The parcel contains all the public and non-public reports about the Holy Light in the past month, including the sensation caused by the "new fighter jet". But the most eye-catching ones are a few VCD discs.
"Don't the CIA use video tapes now?" Michelle complained.
The assistant uncle who delivered the package laughed, "The CD is light, has a large capacity, and is easy to encrypt. The CIA is not ignorant and always chooses the most advanced technology. But these are not special secrets. VCD is used just for convenience."
"It seems that 'Holy Light' has produced products that affect the world." Michelle has a VCD player at home, so there is no problem in playing it.
When he heard 'influence the world', the assistant uncle nodded in agreement, "This thing really has a great impact."
Michelle turned around, expecting her assistant to continue talking. Because there must be a deeper reason behind such a comment.
"Since the beginning of this year, Holy Light's VCD production capacity has exploded. They were short of foreign exchange, so they used 80% of their production capacity for export.
Originally, their foreign markets were mainly in Southeast Asia and Eastern Europe. These regions have poor consumption power and low income. We didn't pay too much attention to it. But you must not have thought who is buying the most VCDs now?"
Michelle was even more surprised, "Is it the United States?"
"No, it's Europe. Especially those countries that have to pay TV taxes."
Many countries in Europe collect TV taxes, such as the United Kingdom, Italy, Belgium, etc. As long as you buy a TV, TV stations such as the BBC will send people to your door to collect the money.
It doesn't matter if you say you don't watch the BBC.
If you have the possibility to watch, you have to pay. If you peek, you will also face a huge fine - please believe the BBC, if anyone watches TV without paying, they will have professionals using professional equipment to come to catch you.
Guaranteed to make anyone who peeks feel heartbroken.
When you go to Europe, you will find that many families don’t have TV sets at all. Don’t be surprised, this is all forced. So many people would rather go to bars at night than stay at home because home is too boring.
It’s okay now, ‘Holy Light’ has sent a VCD.
By connecting the VCD to a monitor that cannot accept external signals, and getting some pirated CDs, you can enjoy modern audio-visual products. It is not illegal to possess pirated CDs, and at most they will be confiscated.
Even if it breaks the law, hiding a pirated CD is much easier than hiding a TV.
"The sales of VCDs and pirated optical discs are particularly hot in Europe right now. No matter how the media publicizes the harmful effects, ordinary people don't pay any attention to them.
Since most of this is an underground transaction, officials are unable to estimate the exact number.
A British reporter conducted an undercover investigation into a London neighborhood and found that more than 80 households out of more than 500 households in the neighborhood used VCDs.
Nearly half of the remaining families also had the desire to buy, but they just couldn't buy it temporarily because of the shortage.
The British police have been investigating VCD smuggling channels, but there has been no progress. At present, not only local gangs are involved, but also many regular businesses are involved.
Because the profits are so great, the risks are still low. I heard people joking a few months ago that people who used to sell drugs are now selling VCDs and pirated CDs."
Michelle curled her lips and whispered: "This is a typical 'Holy Light' style. You know that it has done bad things, and there is even sufficient evidence, but you can't catch it. It's so hateful!"
The assistant uncle also sighed, "Now the VCD industry is not only smuggling, it has also caused other social problems."
"What deeper impact could there be?"
"Of course." The assistant uncle nodded affirmatively, "VCD recording equipment is very cheap. It can be purchased for only a few thousand dollars. This is much cheaper than ripping video tapes. So private disc production began to flourish.
For example, some underground bands run by black people lack distribution channels for their street music. Well, now, Holy Light recently launched a portable VCD, which is almost a perfect match for street music.
If you go to Brooklyn now, you will see almost all black people wearing headphones and a portable VCD on their waist, listening to hip-hop music and walking around on the street.
Similar homemade audio-visual videos are growing explosively, and some people are already studying the impact that the rapid spread of subculture will have on mainstream society.
Because many people no longer get information from formal media, this has even affected votes in some areas. Your father has noticed these things, he is worried about it, and he feels that this may be an opportunity.
Another point is that the VCD patent of 'Holy Light' comes from Philips. However, Philips found that the technology it developed was actually cheaper than others, and it is filing patent lawsuits around the world.
In addition, Philips is also teaming up with other technology companies to prepare for the next generation of DVD technology, hoping to regain the current hot VCD market.
But you must know that the VCD market is entirely supported by pirated discs. If DVD wants to restrain piracy, it is almost doomed to fail.
'Holy Light' issued a statement not long ago, saying that if they are refused entry into the new DVD Alliance, they will not hesitate to destroy this industry.
At present, Japan’s Sony has given in and is trying to get Philips to give in because they realize that the ‘Holy Light’ is really capable of making their efforts come to naught.”
"That bastard is so domineering." Michelle complained weakly.
The assistant uncle smiled again and said: "It is indeed annoying and overbearing, and let others do nothing about it. However, your mother's interest in the 'Holy Light' has been increasing day by day recently."
"Oh, I know."
The assistant didn't say much, but Michelle knew what the other party meant. Most of the goods she got from the Holy Light were handed over to her mother for promotion and sales.
Luxury goods from other worlds have a strange alluring effect, and the ladies of New York and Washington are unable to resist them, and they all donate generously and spend thousands of dollars to buy them.
If you make more money, your goodwill will naturally increase.