"Sir, that's the situation. Carlot sold us out, betrayed his country for a measly 500,000 US dollars! It has nothing to do with me, so why should I be fired too? I spent 15 days in prison for the company. Even if I don't have merit, I have at least endured hardship, so how can you treat me like this!" Wally was released after being detained for 15 days.
However, it was only 15 days, and everything had changed too much.
Although Wally immediately explained the situation to his superiors upon release, pushing all responsibility onto Carlot, it was useless. Headquarters directly announced that Wally had been fired, just like Carlot.
But headquarters did not give Wally any chance to defend himself. After announcing the order over the phone, they hung up and arranged for HR to handle the matter with Wally.
Oh, right, because Wally was detained, HR righteously used the reason of violating the laws of another country and causing serious damage to the company's image.
Not only was Wally fired, but he was also denied any severance pay. They even intended to seek compensation from Wally, which completely bewildered the former head of The New York Times in China.
Only later did he realize that he was being made a scapegoat for headquarters.
Carlot's video caused unimaginable colossal losses to the United States United Super Vacuum Pipeline Railway Company. The stock price even fell below the issue price, and the total market value dropped to less than 2 trillion US dollars, causing huge losses to all shareholders. A scapegoat was definitely needed to take responsibility.
Although the main culprit was undoubtedly the US United Super Vacuum Pipeline Railway Company, which refused to pay the 500,000 US dollars, meaning the Goldman Sachs Group, which truly controlled the entire company's operations, it was impossible for Goldman Sachs Group to take the blame. If they did, they would either have to abandon their control of the company or compensate the shareholders for their losses. Both of these choices were unacceptable to Goldman Sachs Group.
Therefore, shifting the blame was the best option.
According to the explanation given by Goldman Sachs Group to other shareholders, the US United Super Vacuum Pipeline Railway Company had directly transferred the money to the headquarters of The New York Times.
They asked The New York Times to transfer the money to Carlot on their behalf. Unexpectedly, the headquarters of The New York Times embezzled the money and refused to hand it over, which led to this huge incident.
By directly shifting the blame to The New York Times, The New York Times had to accept it, especially since Goldman Sachs was also a major shareholder of The New York Times.
Of course, The New York Times had also skillfully mastered the art of shifting blame. Thus, the blame was directly passed on to Wally. They claimed that they had given the money to Wally, and it was Wally who intended to embezzle it, ultimately causing such a big mess. Wally naturally became the scapegoat, bearing all the responsibility.
From then on, this once-famous media person completely disappeared from the industry.
Although the blame was successfully shifted, the consequences could not be remedied. The entire market had definitively confirmed that China had completed the construction of the first phase of the project, while there was not a trace of the US United Super Vacuum Pipeline Railway Company's pipelines to be seen.
Although according to official statements, they had already produced hundreds of kilometers of pipelines in the factory, and they only needed to be installed along the roads, with astonishingly fast construction speeds.
Ultimately, the progress of the US United Super Vacuum Pipeline Railway Company could not surpass that of China. Therefore, China would become the first country to possess vacuum super-high-speed pipeline railways, and it would also completely open up the international market, thereby completely encroaching upon the future market of the US United Super Vacuum Pipeline Railway Company.
Investors and institutions that had been expecting the US United Super Vacuum Pipeline Railway Company to make a fortune through the global market naturally withdrew their investments one after another, and the stock price plummeted as expected.
Of course, facing such a situation, the US United Super Vacuum Pipeline Railway Company could not sit idly by. They once again urgently convened a board of representatives meeting to discuss the next course of action.
As a result, this representative meeting, which was originally expected to end in at most four to five hours, had its first six hours consumed entirely by various arguments. To put it bluntly, the interests could not be allocated, and everyone was still arguing endlessly over the land acquisition quotas.
It was only when the representative of Goldman Sachs Group, who was responsible for the entire meeting, helplessly reminded everyone that the fundamental purpose of this meeting was to counter the competition from China and to find ways to raise the company's stock price that these people finally put aside their disputes temporarily.
"I think we should be prepared for both possibilities!" A representative stood up boldly and said, "The current market crash is mainly because the market does not understand the agreement between us and the Jiangnan Group. They don't know that the Jiangnan Group has completely abandoned all markets except the Chinese market, so their pipelines and railways are simply incapable of competing with us in the world market. As long as this point is clarified, the stock price will rise accordingly."
"Secondly, we need to tell everyone that the vacuum maglev pipeline railway of the Chinese is just a pile of garbage, and I don't think this is difficult."
"I have watched the relevant videos very carefully and found that the Chinese pipelines are a complete piece of trash."
"First of all, it's very cramped, only able to accommodate single-row seating, and passengers cannot even stand up or go to the toilet. This is an infringement on freedom. This is not a means of transportation at all, but a moving cage."
"Just this point alone, we can use public opinion to spray them into fools!"
"Conversely, our trains are very robust, capable of accommodating four rows of seats simultaneously, and can also provide an aisle for pedestrians to pass through in the middle. They can also be equipped with restrooms like normal trains. By comparing the two conditions, anyone will understand which is the most comfortable vacuum maglev train in the world."
"In addition, I found that their operating model seems to be moving away from the traditional train model and operating like public buses. Such a model is bound to bring a huge problem, which is that there are too many vacuum maglev trains running simultaneously in the pipeline, and a single miscalculation in scheduling could lead to a train collision accident."
"Friends, these are trains traveling at 3,000 kilometers per hour. If they collide inside the pipeline, the situation would be beyond mere annihilation of bones and remains. Just this point alone can make the entire market full of doubts about the safety of Chinese trains."
"Moreover, their train pipelines seem to be buried underground, which makes the problem even more difficult. Various substances under the soil will corrode the train pipelines, and geological disasters such as earthquakes will also destroy the entire pipeline. These are all huge safety issues. As long as we combine our strength, identify these issues, and launch a fierce attack worldwide."
"Even if the Chinese manage to build it first, so what? Theirs is still garbage, while our railways are the most excellent pipeline railways in the world!" The representative spoke eloquently.
"Well said!" Everyone around applauded and praised. This was a decision full of wisdom.
Indeed, this was indeed the most effective approach for the entire United States United Super Vacuum Pipeline Railway Company at this time.
"Have we overlooked another problem?" Just as everyone was applauding collectively, an impudent representative couldn't help but say, "Our own trains haven't even started construction yet, so we'll be finished sooner or later!"
"Sir, how old are you?" Hearing this, representatives around couldn't help but laugh loudly and ask.
"What does my age have to do with what I'm saying?" the representative asked with a dark expression.
"Of course, it has something to do with it. If you weren't too young, you wouldn't ask such a stupid question!" this person continued to laugh heartily, "My friend, you don't understand, it's not important when our pipeline railways will be built. What's important is maintaining the stock price, that's the most important thing!"
"No, it's actually beneficial if it's not built, as it will give us a reason to continue issuing more shares. And Congress, seeing the funds already invested, will definitely keep investing in them so as not to let them go to waste. That's what we need!" another person added with a hearty laugh.
"Then it's important to at least build a section, otherwise, once the public's anger is ignited..."
"Alright, we will build it, but haven't we finished discussing the routes and how to plan them?" the Goldman Sachs representative interrupted, "The routes haven't even been decided yet, so what's there to build? If our own interests haven't been properly allocated, then don't rush to start construction!"
Everyone nodded upon hearing this. This was the correct approach.
The young representative who had made the suggestion nodded thoughtfully, as if he had grasped some profound truth.
Regardless, starting the next day, a large number of comparative posts began to appear online. According to the representative's previous statement, they detailed the differences between the super-high-speed vacuum maglev trains in the United States and China.
The conclusion drawn was that the Chinese trains were not for people to sit in, but for pigs and livestock, while the American trains were truly for people.
It must be admitted that this comparison was very effective, allowing netizens in the United States to quickly find a target for attack and quickly regain their morale.
That's right, the Chinese trains were simply anti-human. In contrast, their country's trains were truly a democratic model, a train of freedom, and so on. Thus, the stock of the United States United Super Vacuum Pipeline Railway Company began to rebound slightly, and the downward trend of a sharp decline was finally curbed in time.
At the same time, some media outlets began to widely explain the agreement signed between the United States United Super Vacuum Pipeline Railway Company and the Jiangnan Group, and then told all investors that even if the crawling people's railways were built faster, they would only be able to operate within China, and the world market would still belong to the United States.
Therefore, the stock of the United States United Super Vacuum Pipeline Railway Company began to rise rapidly again, and the market was once again filled with joy and laughter, as if nothing had happened, except for those who were flying blind.