Chapter 912
The power rising from the bottom up is unstoppable.
“My name is Zhang Fan, and I work at the R&D center of Galaxy Semiconductor. I joined last year after graduating. People online say our salaries are low? I don't know where they got that data from. All I know is that after a year, I've already received my stock options, and the company has provided us with talent apartments. The rent is only 500 yuan a month. How can that be called exploitation?”
He pushed up his glasses, his tone carrying the youthful energy characteristic of young people.
"Do you know what Galaxy Semiconductor has achieved? A lithography factory! 7-nanometer chips! EDA design software! Photoresist! These are technologies that foreigners used to hold us back from.
"Now that we've developed it ourselves, do you know what kind of changes these technological breakthroughs will bring? It means that we won't be subject to others, and we won't have to pay exorbitant prices for our chips and other cutting-edge products."
"Those who criticize our company, do you understand technology? Do you know what a 7-nanometer chip means? Do you know how significant its practical implications are?"
He took a deep breath and calmed down.
“I’m not trying to take credit, because to be honest, I didn’t contribute anything to these achievements.”
"However, from the perspective of practitioners, the breakthrough in domestic technology has provided a large number of high-paying jobs in China. If it weren't for our company's breakthrough, China wouldn't be able to accommodate so many high-paying jobs. We would have to go abroad, work for foreign companies, and earn money in China."
Zhu Gui, an assembly line worker at Galaxy Energy's Gui'an factory, also stepped forward.
In his video, the background is a factory training classroom, with a banner on the wall that reads "Learning has no end".
He spoke slowly and deliberately to the camera, but every word he uttered conveyed a seriousness.
“My name is Zhu Gui, and I work at the Gui’an factory. A colleague of mine filmed a video saying that I had signed up for the company’s training course to learn technical skills. Now I can tell you that I have completed the course, passed the exam, and have been transferred to another position.”
When he smiled, his eyes narrowed into slits, and you could feel the genuine joy he exuded even through the screen.
"I'm a repair technician now, and my salary has increased by more than a thousand yuan. My colleague Xiao Anzi has also signed up and keeps bothering me to borrow his notes."
"I don't know what those people online who criticize our company are thinking. But I do know that working here is reliable. If you work hard, the company will see it and won't treat you unfairly. That's enough."
Chen Mo, an engineer at GalaxySpace, also posted a video.
His videos are the most unique.
He didn't talk about his treatment or his story; he simply stood in the assembly and testing hall of Galaxy Aerospace, with the Hercules rocket engine, which was about to undergo testing, faintly visible behind him.
"My name is Chen Mo, and I am a propulsion system engineer at Galaxy Aerospace."
His voice was calm, but beneath that calmness lay an indescribable pride: "Some people online say that Galaxy Technology's foray into aerospace is a waste of money, a show, and a meaningless endeavor."
He turned around and pointed to the enormous, silver-gray object behind him.
"Do you see this? This is our independently developed Hercules improved rocket engine, with a thrust of 1,200 tons, the world's most powerful liquid oxygen-methane engine. Last year, it sent our founder to the moon, and this year, it will send the core module of our lunar base there."
"What do you mean by meaningless? Is there any meaning in sending humans to the moon? Is there any meaning in establishing a permanent base on the moon? Is there any meaning in exploring the universe?"
For the first time, his voice betrayed a fluctuation of emotion.
“I’ve wanted to be an aerospace engineer since I was a child. When I was a kid, my biggest dream was to build a rocket with my own hands. But back then, aerospace was a national affair, and ordinary people couldn’t even dream of it. Later, private capital was allowed to enter the aerospace field, and Galaxy Aerospace was established immediately. At Academician Wang’s urging, I resigned from my secure job in the system and came here.”
"As it turns out, I didn't do anything wrong."
"Some people said our private space industry couldn't do it, but what happened? We successfully landed on the moon. Some people said we couldn't handle heavy-lift rockets, but what happened? The Hercules rocket engine was developed. Some people said our lunar base was just a dream, but what happened? The whole rocket landing plan has passed expert review."
He looked directly into the camera and said, word by word, "I don't know if those who criticize us have any dreams. But I know that my dream is being realized here. Galaxy Aerospace is the place where my dream comes true."
A researcher at the Galaxy Biological Laboratory is named Li Wei.
She wasn't wearing work clothes, but a white lab coat, with a laboratory full of instruments in the background.
"My name is Li Wei, from the Galaxy Biomedical R&D Center."
Her voice was gentle, but her words were impossible to ignore: "Some people online say that our company is involved in biopharmaceuticals to raise money and fleece investors. I want to ask you, have you ever seen a company that's just trying to raise money willing to invest huge sums of money in research and development every year?"
"To protect our peers, I won't disclose the R&D expenses of our domestic counterparts here, but I can say with certainty that the combined R&D expenses of all their companies don't even equal ours."
"Although we have only been established for a short time, every one of our products is an original drug, a new drug developed from scratch, not a generic drug, and certainly not a drug that has been repackaged after the patents of overseas drugs have expired."
She picked up a lab report from the table.
"This is our choleretic and liver-soothing tablet, which has just completed Phase III clinical trials and has a cure rate of 92% for gallstones. This is our brain-computer interface project, which has already restored partial vision to 37 blind patients. This is our intelligent prosthetic technology, which combines neural connections and artificial intelligence technology to allow more people to have more flexible prosthetics."
“Some people say that we are making huge profits by using products such as Changqing Liquid and are unwilling to lower prices, which is malicious profiteering.”
"I want to say some profound truths, but I don't know how."
"We have a clear conscience about what we have done!"
Her eyes were a little red, but her tone remained firm.
“I’m speaking for the company, and I’m speaking for the patients. When you criticize the company, you’re criticizing all the hard work we’ve put in. Do you know how many sleepless nights we’ve spent developing these drugs? Do you know what the patients’ expressions were like when they knew there was hope?”
She took a deep breath and bowed slightly to the camera.
"Thank you to those who believe in us, we will continue to work hard."
The scales of public opinion have tipped completely.
The comments section of those meticulously planned fabricated and attacking posts was flooded with angry netizens: "If you say it's true, then stand up and show your credentials like Xie Tao did!"
"Don't just post for money. If you're so capable, go work at Galaxy Technology for a few days and see what they're really like!"
Those accounts that hired online trolls began to be reported and banned in large numbers.
The masterminds behind the scenes discovered that their meticulously crafted lies were as fragile as a piece of paper in the face of the simple and honest accounts of a group of ordinary, low-level employees.
However, things have spiraled far out of their control.
Because the voices of those employees not only did not stop, but grew louder and louder.
Colleagues from the operations department of Pinduoduo Agricultural Products spontaneously produced a long video called "The Road We've Traveled".
The video documents the PinYiDao team's experiences helping farmers in rural areas over the years: in Jingning, Gansu Province, they teach farmers how to bag apples; in Zhaotong, Yunnan Province, they eat boxed lunches with fruit farmers on the mountain; in the mountainous areas of Guizhou Province, they help villagers transport cured meat from the deep mountains; and in the three northeastern provinces, they teach the elderly how to open a shop using their mobile phones.
The video ends with a series of smiling faces of farmers.
The caption was just one sentence: "We're not doing business, we're doing something."
The couriers of Xinghuo Express spontaneously organized themselves and filmed a group video.
Dozens of young people wearing Xinghuo Express uniforms shouted at the camera:
"We are couriers from Xinghuo Express!"
"We are not outsourcing!"
"We have five social insurances and one housing fund!"
"We have commercial insurance!"
"We have year-end bonuses!"
"We have dignity!"
Then they shouted in unison, "Go Xinghuo! We support you!"
The engineers from Galaxy Aerospace, all wearing blue windbreakers with the words "Galaxy Aerospace" printed on them, stood in a row in the final assembly and testing hall.
Chen Mo stood at the front and said to the camera, "We are engineers from Galaxy Aerospace. What we are doing is to help humanity go into space."
Behind them, the engineers shouted in unison, "Go Galaxy Aerospace!"
The researchers at Galaxy Bio took a group photo in the laboratory.
In the photo, everyone is wearing a white lab coat and holding various experimental equipment.
The caption reads: "What we are doing is helping more people live healthier lives."
Galaxy Energy employees took a group photo in the training room at the Gui'an factory.
The photos show workers in overalls, technicians in white coats, and trainees who have just finished training.
The caption read: "Here, we have found our future." Workers at Galaxy Electronics unfurled a banner at the factory gate: "We are Galaxy people, we speak for ourselves!"
The banner was photographed and circulated across the entire internet.
The next day, another banner was hung up.
That was at the entrance of the agricultural product warehouse where Pin Yidao (a food delivery platform) was located.
The banner read: "We are genuinely helping farmers."
On the third day, the various business lines of Galaxy Technology seemed to have reached a tacit consensus.
No one organized it, no one gave the order, but across the country, in every workplace under Galaxy Technology, the same banner was displayed:
"We are Galaxy people, and we speak for ourselves."
On Douyin, a topic called "A Day in the Life of a Galaxy Person" suddenly went viral.
Under this topic, countless employees of Galaxy Technology shared their daily lives.
Some food delivery riders posted pictures of the scenery along their delivery routes.
A deliveryman posted a photo of the busy sorting warehouse.
The workers received meals from the canteen.
There are instruments in the laboratory provided by engineers.
There are notes from the training room provided by the technicians.
Local specialties from farmers were distributed by agricultural assistance specialists.
Each video is very ordinary and everyday, without any packaging or editing.
But even such an ordinary video received an astonishing number of likes.
Because everyone knows that these videos are real.
Those ordinary working people, in the most ordinary way, spoke the most truthful words.
And truth is always the most powerful thing.
The tide of public opinion has completely turned.
Those media outlets that were previously observing have begun to collectively shift their focus.
Renren Daily's mobile app published an article late at night titled "When employees stand up and speak out, rumors will fall apart on their own."
The article states: "The spontaneous voices of Galaxy Technology employees have revealed the true face of a company to everyone. The most simple stories from these ordinary workers are more persuasive than any PR statement. This reminds us that only by truly caring about our employees can we gain the strongest support."
CCTV's news channel broadcast a three-minute special report during prime time.
The title is "The Voice of the Galaxy People".
The report did not include interviews with executives or information about performance; it only edited together video clips of Xie Tao, Duan Ping, Zheng Mingjun, and others.
Finally, the host concluded by saying, "The loudest voices often come from the grassroots."
The Youth Daily published a full-page report titled "Why Did They Stand Up?"
The article interviewed several sociology experts to analyze the social significance behind this phenomenon of employees speaking out spontaneously.
One expert said, "This is an awakening of workers' sense of agency. When employees truly identify with a company, they will spontaneously become its guardians, which is something that no amount of capital can buy."
The official Douyin account of CCTV News reposted Xie Tao's video with the caption: "Everyone who lives life earnestly deserves respect. Salute to the workers."
This video garnered over ten million likes overnight.
Those ordinary netizens who were previously hesitant and observing were completely moved.
"I never imagined that employees of a company would stand up so spontaneously."
"What does this show? It shows that this company is really good to them."
"Do those who spread rumors still dare to speak now?"
"Xie Tao, Duan Ping, Zheng Mingjun, Zhu Gui, Chen Mo, Li Wei, Lin Xiaoyu... you are the real heroes."
Those who had previously criticized or questioned the posts have begun to quietly delete them.
But netizens disagreed.
"Delete what? Weren't you pretty tough when you were criticizing us?"
"If you're so capable, don't delete it! Let everyone see how badly you've been slapped in the face!"
"I just want to know, how are you people who get paid to post these things feeling right now?"
Tech bloggers spontaneously organized themselves and began to trace the source of those rumor-mongering posts.
Soon, they discovered that many of the IP addresses of those posts came from overseas, while some came from certain well-known "public relations companies" in China.
Even more shockingly, some bloggers have discovered that several of these companies have close ties with certain competitors.
"The truth has come out! So that's how it is!" The comment section erupted in an uproar.
Surprisingly, Galaxy Technology has never made any accusations against these competitors.
They simply posted a brief announcement on the official website:
"Regarding the recent false statements made about our company, we have commissioned lawyers to collect evidence. We thank all our friends who care about and support us. Galaxy Technology will, as always, focus on doing our own thing well."
The comments section under this announcement completely changed its tone.
"Perspective! This is true vision!"
"He didn't retaliate even after being insulted like that, he just focused on his work, I'm impressed!"
"I was blind before and almost believed those rumors. From now on, if anyone criticizes Yinhe again, I'll be the first to fight back!"
"Go Galaxy! We support you!"
The gloom that once shrouded Galaxy Technology was completely torn apart by the faintest yet most tenacious light.
These lights come from Xie Tao, Duan Ping, Zheng Mingjun, Zhu Gui, Chen Mo, Li Wei, Lin Xiaoyu, and countless ordinary people in the Milky Way.
They stood at the grassroots level, using the simplest words to tell the most truthful stories.
And truth is always the most powerful.
This sudden media storm ended in a way that no one could have predicted.
Those who meticulously planned to spread rumors not only failed to achieve their goal, but also provided free nationwide publicity for Galaxy Technology.
The term "Galaxy People" has been imprinted in the hearts of countless people for the first time in this way.
At Galaxy Technology's headquarters, no one held meetings, no one gave orders, and there were no official actions.
But every galactic being felt that invisible force.
Faced with a deluge of negative news, the lowest-level employees, without any organization, spontaneously stood up to defend the company and expressed their true feelings.
This is both to protect one's job and a simple expression of gratitude.
But it is precisely because of this that these words feel so real.
Only then can the gloom that previously shrouded Galaxy Technology be pierced. (End of Chapter)