Chapter 126: Nationwide Shopping Spree

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Since the 8th of January, which was the official release date of the Wa-wah Robot 2.0, millions of units were sold out within minutes. Subsequently, Xing Hai Technologies maintained their usual “stock everyday” style, releasing up to 50 thousand units of stock every day. In spite of that, they still could not supply the demand. Every day, it was sold out within minutes.

Xing Hai Technologies had taken many measures to prevent scalpers from stockpiling. Despite their efforts, the scalpers still gained a fortune. Wa-wah Robot 2.0 in the second-hand market was sold at prices above 15 thousand; any of them below this price would be bought by those in desperate need within a shorter time. According to surveys, among the consumers that were panic-buying the Wa-wah Robot 2.0, as many as 27.3% of them had previously bought the Wa-wah 1.0 or Wa-wah 1.1. In the household of those people, they were not lacking a Wa-wah robot. But they still decided to buy another unit of the latest model. 5% of the users bought all three versions of the Wa-wah robot; the Wa-wah 1.0, Wa-wah 1.1 and Wa-wah 2.0. Buying another one would be unnecessary, but those users expressed themselves helplessly by saying, “I really can’t control myself, I just feel like buying it, so I placed my order.”

Not long after millions of Wa-wah 2.0 were put into service in millions of households, throughout the Z nation’s entire short video sharing websites, social media, and news reports, the networking platforms were flooded by the Wa-wah 2.0 one after another.On Dou Yin, Kuai Shou and other short video platforms, videos were piling up.

“Wa-wah, give me a smile.”

“Wa-wah, sing me ‘Xiao Pingguo’.”

“Wa-wah, perform a robot dance.”

“In today’s ‘I love the Environment’ activity, I brought my household Wa-wah robot to clean a 1,000 square meter plaza and collected a full 10 Eco-points. We fought against other robots for two times and we achieved absolute victory.”

“Mommy is going to work, take care of the house, Wa-wah.”

Within social media platforms, there were many people who posted their daily lives with the Wa-wah robot. Many funny moments with the robot were recorded, on which they had gotten countless ‘like’ reactions.

In just a few days, several media reports pushed the Wa-wah 2.0 fever to a new pinnacle.

“17th, the police in the A district received a mysterious phone call, the caller claimed itself to be the Wa-wah robot named ‘Ah Bao’. Ah Bao told the police that an unfamiliar man came into its master’s premise and was currently flipping stuff all around the house searching for valuables. Ah Bao suspected that he’s a thief and requested the police to come and seize him. Ah Bao provided the police the exact address. 15 minutes later, the man by the name of Mr. Xu, who committed burglary, was caught by the police. Up until the moment Mr. Xu was caught, he did not know how his plans had failed.”

“18th, the civilian hospital in the B district received an emergency phone call, the caller claimed itself to be ‘Dodo the robot.’ Dodo said that the elderly under its care had a sudden illness and there was nobody home. It requested for doctors to provide aid. 10 minutes later, medical staff and the patient’s family arrived at the premise at the same time. After rescue efforts, the old man was out of the danger zone… the doctor said that if the old man were to be admitted to the hospital another five minutes later, he could have lost his life.”

“19th midnight, a fire broke out in some small area within the C district, but because of the timely report made by the robot ‘Dou Dou,’ firefighters arrived just on time. The fire was quickly controlled, and people were evacuated on time. It only caused minor losses. Houseowner Mr. Lee told the reporters that fortunately, Dou Dou alarmed the authorities just in time. If it wasn’t for Dou Dou discovering the fire and woke hid family, when the fire intensified, his family would have died. Dou Dou saved their lives!”

“20th afternoon, two children in the D district seized the chance to climb up to the balcony’s stainless-steel window to play when their parents were absent. Robot ‘Sweety Pie’ became aware of the situation and after reminding efforts were to no avail, it contacted their parents. The children’s parents rushed home, pulled the kids off the window and punished them. The father of the kids told reporters that the balcony’s stainless-steel windows were severely corroded, three screws had already dropped off. The floor they are staying in is the 18th floor.”

“To-date, the Wa-wah robot has assisted the police in capturing 13 burglars; saved eight elderly; reduced potential loss in three fire outbreaks; reported special situations of 37 children to their parents; and even calling 911 and preventing some cases of domestic violence that might cause death. It can be seen that the Wa-wah robot will pull off more similar feats in the future and become the patron saint of even more families.”

“Are you still hesitating to buy a Wa-wah robot? Is the $8,000 price hindering your decision? If something happens to the elderly in your home when you are not around; when your child has a fever and you are not beside them; when all kinds of accidents that might lead to tragedy happens and you are not present, you will regret, and ask ‘why didn’t I buy a Wa-wah Robot?’”

After the passage above appeared in the comment section of the news report on the contributions of the Wa-wah robot, and appeared in the linked article of the WeChat friends circle, netizens were unable to keep their calm.

“Stop it, stop saying those words, I’ll buy it, I’ll buy it alright?!”

“I’ll buy one for my mother, she’s not in that good of a condition and I’m too busy at work, I’ll let Wa-wah stay by her side.”

“When there’s a Wa-wah Robot at home taking care of the kids, it eases my heart a lot.”

“Don’t hit me my wifey, I have been trying to buy it for three days, give me one last chance! This will be the last time and I’ll definitely get one today!”

“Hubby, if you still refuse to buy me a Wa-wah Robot, I am divorcing you! When Wa-wah is here, will you still dare to hit me?”

“Prevent domestic violence; buy Wa-wah, my fellow sisters. From now on; no Wa-wah, no marriage!”

“Yes, no Wa-wah, no marriage!”

It was uncovered. The value of the Wa-wah Robot was thoroughly uncovered. It was the ultimate floor cleaner, keeping households at their cleanest state. It was a family’s patron saint, safeguarding peace, harmony, and wholeness in each family. It was the angel of environmental protection, shouldering the conquest to protect mother Earth’s environment. It was brought around the community and public places, making them clean and comfortable. When it was bringing more and more wonderful changes in people’s lives, people were no longer complacent. The way they looked at the Wa-wah Robot changed, they started yearning, envying, and desiring it.

People that used this product could distinctively feel that their lives were getting better and their happiness index rising. In the case of middle-aged woman Yan Meiling, after her Wa-wah 2.0 was delivered, in addition to her previous Wa-wah 1.0 and 1.1, she had three Wa-wah robots at home. All of them brought upon her countless joyous moments. She was completely freed from depression and she started to enjoy her life in happiness.

There were many similar cases of hers that can be listed out. Therefore… it had gone wild. The sales of the Wa-wah 2.0 had totally gone wild. The 50 thousand units that were released every day were depleting faster than ever. The scalpers were unscrupulously inflating its price. One unit of Wa-wah 2.0 was tagged at 20 thousand, even 30 thousand, but there was no need to worry about it not selling.

Nowadays, the most popular greeting was, “Have you got it today?”

In daily meetings, conversations, the sentence that would bring upon envious eyes was, “I got my hands on the Wa-wah Robot.”

Even more, the Wa-wah Robot became a symbol that symbolized the “middle class” status. Households that did not have a Wa-wah robot were not qualified to be classified as “middle class” and call themselves a well-off family.

Facing the sudden exponential surge in market demands, facing scalpers running wild and the netizens’ complaints, Xing Hai Technologies seemed to be in quite a terrible fix. They announced with panic that they would go all-out in increasing production capacity.

Chen Jin invested two billion in Ling Feng Jing Mi Company and obtained 15% of their market shares, he tasked Wang Quan Long to use this money to establish an OEM production line in order to boost the production of the Wa-wah 2.0 to above 100 thousand units per day.