The audience was clearly puzzled.

“What is this? It takes up so much space?”

“A standing air conditioner? An oversized refrigerator? No, that doesn’t seem right either—those wouldn’t take up this much space!”

“This is two meters long! Could it be a wardrobe?”

“Total weight 200 kg! What thing is so heavy?”

“With all that weight, can it still be called an ‘intelligent new product’? Can it still have anything to do with ‘intelligence’?”

Chang You smiled slightly, feeling that the suspense had been built up enough.

“Alright, now comes the time to unveil the mystery of this new product. Please watch a promotional video that we’ve carefully prepared for this intelligent new product.”

After Chang You finished speaking, he walked off stage. The lights dimmed, and the promotional video began playing on the big screen.

Everyone held their breath and watched attentively.

Everyone wanted to know what this behemoth actually was!

“Solid chest muscles.”

“Strong latissimus dorsi…”

On the big screen appeared the promotional video that Meng Chang had previously shot with Lin Jiaqiang.

In the video, Lin Jiaqiang was wearing a loose athletic tank top, sweating profusely on the Smart Fitness Drying Rack.

However, in the next second, he had already given up and started hanging clothes on the Smart Fitness Drying Rack.

“With a Smart Fitness Drying Rack that has such abundant functions, what are you waiting for? Order now!”

At the end of the promotional video, Lin Jiaqiang stood next to the Smart Fitness Drying Rack, giving a thumbs-up to the camera in approval.

His naturally comedic face, paired with this uniquely designed machine, gave the final scene a hilarious effect that had people doubling over with laughter.

Chang You returned to the stage: “This is Outu Technology’s craftsmanship masterpiece, our intelligent new product: the Smart Fitness Drying Rack!”

“It solves the biggest pain point of home fitness equipment: inconvenient clothes drying!”

“This device can not only be used for fitness but can also dry more than a dozen pieces of clothing. With its automatic drying function and intelligent reminder function, the fitness equipment in your home will no longer be just a decoration!”

Chang You’s serious introduction made the audience burst into laughter once again.

“Hahahahaha, what the hell is this? I was wondering why it was so heavy—turns out it’s fitness equipment!”

“Artificial intelligence combined with fitness? Which genius product manager came up with this?”

“I was wrong. From the beginning, I shouldn’t have viewed this as a serious press conference. Although I repeatedly reminded myself that this press conference would likely involve some buzz creation, I never imagined that the entire press conference’s existence was about creating buzz!”

“Indeed. I suggest Director Chang charge an admission fee next time. You create buzz, deliver a comedy routine, entertain the audience, yet release a product that you clearly don’t intend to sell. You don’t make any money from us and even waive the entrance fee—this really makes us feel too indebted!”

“True, maybe charge for tickets in the future. After all, seriously designing such a humorous product that won’t sell—that’s quite costly. Charging a small admission fee to recover costs would be understandable to everyone.”

The audience was amused by this bizarre product and by Chang You’s deadpan introduction.

Originally, they were just expecting Chang You to create some buzz with his verbal artistry while the product itself would be a serious one, like the E1 before.

But unexpectedly, Chang You surprised everyone by making even the product itself a joke!

What purpose did this “Smart Fitness Drying Rack” serve?

It seemed… none could be seen.

The only purpose appeared to be making everyone laugh heartily.

It must be said that such a conscientious manufacturer, spending huge sums on R&D and prototypes, then holding a press conference to entertain the public for free, was truly rare.

Cherish it while it lasts!

As for the product itself…

Honestly, if it were another product, such as a smartphone or a robot vacuum cleaner, people would certainly complain if the price was inflated or if the product had serious flaws.

Because everyone would understand that the manufacturer still intended to sell it, but had simply messed up.

But this Smart Fitness Drying Rack was different.

The way the manufacturer designed it, they didn’t seem to have any intention of selling it!

If a manufacturer’s product has a few minor criticizable points, people would think it’s due to the manufacturer’s insufficient capability. But if a product has so many issues that there’s nowhere to start criticizing, people would think the manufacturer is creating buzz, joking with everyone, and has no intention of selling it at all.

Since the manufacturer didn’t intend to sell it, and nobody planned to buy it, people naturally didn’t care about any flaws the product might have or any pricing issues. Instead, they all adopted a spectator mentality, watching the entire event unfold.

It’s like street vendors—those who praise your goods saying “this is good, that is good” are probably not intending to buy at all. Only those who repeatedly examine and find fault are the ones really planning to spend money.

Seeing the audience’s reaction, Chang You couldn’t help but feel a bit helpless.

“Why is everyone laughing?”

“I’m very seriously introducing this product. This is an internal Outu Technology project on the same level as the G1 phone, one that’s highly valued!”

“This project, from its inception to design, was fully coordinated and followed up on by Mr. Pei himself.”

“This time, we’ve prepared an inventory of up to 10,000 units for the Smart Fitness Drying Rack. All our warehouses in Jingzhou are completely filled!”

It’s worth noting that the initial inventory for the E1 phone was only 1,000 units, which sold out before the press conference even ended.

The Smart Fitness Drying Rack was fitness equipment—it takes up a lot of space and fewer people buy it. Stocking 10,000 units meant tying up tens of millions in inventory, which was enough to show how seriously they took it.

However, Chang You’s explanation only made the audience more convinced he was creating buzz.

“Haha, how does Director Chang keep from breaking character and laughing?”

“Obviously, have you ever seen a comedian laugh during their performance? This is basic skill—Director Chang is a professional.”

“A project on the same level as the G1? With Mr. Pei fully involved? Hahahahaha, okay, I believe you!”

“Would it take a decade of brain hemorrhage to design something like this?”

“It might actually be true though. Wasn’t the Fully Automated Contrarian Machine designed according to Mr. Pei’s ideas? It even embodied Mr. Pei’s philosophical thinking.”

“It’s true that the Contrarian Machine embodied philosophical thought, but what philosophical thought does this drying rack embody? Reminding us that clothes will dry when hung out?”

“Wow, they even have pictures of the inventory? Must be Photoshopped, right? Even if this thing sold more than 1,000 units, it would probably take a whole year to sell out. If they really stocked 10,000 units, I seriously doubt if they could sell out by the time the OTTO E8 phone is released…”

The venue was already awash in a sea of joy, and Chang You had no choice but to continue with the next segment.

He introduced the basic functions of the Smart Fitness Drying Rack, including its training modes and how useful it was for drying clothes.

Besides that, he also mentioned that it was equipped with AEEIS, which would mock and ridicule you when you weren’t working out. He mentioned that Headwind Logistics would provide delivery service, warranty service, and even an annual moving service.

But this seemed to further confirm that this was a “buzz-creating product”—the more elaborate the content, the more fake people thought it was.

Finally, Chang You introduced, “In addition, Shangyang Games has created a mobile game specifically for the Smart Fitness Drying Rack. This game is still in the final stages of development and will be available to everyone as early as next week!”

The PPT flipped to the last page.

“Next Tuesday, May 15th, we will welcome Tenda’s ‘May 15th Gaming Festival,’ with massive discounts and benefits waiting for you! Detailed rules will be announced at midnight on May 15th—stay tuned!”

“That concludes all the content for this press conference. Once again, thank you sincerely for your attendance!”

“Please exit in an orderly manner. Free small gifts can be collected at the entrance.”

“If you’re interested in the Smart Fitness Drying Rack, you can log onto Outu Technology’s official website or Tenda’s official online store. Headwind Logistics staff will deliver it to your doorstep immediately!”

Chang You checked his watch—the time was perfectly controlled to exactly one hour, absolutely perfect.

Although the press conference had ended, people’s discussions hadn’t stopped.

Most people focused their discussions on the bizarre “Smart Fitness Drying Rack” product, while others focused on the two points Chang You mentioned at the end of the press conference.

“Director Chang said Shangyang Games specifically developed a game for this equipment? Is that true or false? Is this a joke, or is it real?”

“I think it’s probably a joke. This thing was already a loss just to design, and they lose money on every unit produced. If they develop a game for it, wouldn’t that be adding loss upon loss? Who would do something so foolish?”

“But today isn’t April Fool’s Day, and Director Chang didn’t seem like someone trying to deceive the audience.”

“He said they’re making it, but maybe they just created a new folder for it? Some manufacturers use this as a gimmick—they talk about it nicely at the press conference, but it only comes out months later. This kind of thing isn’t uncommon.”

“It might also be an extremely simple mini-game, not even worth mentioning at the press conference. If it were a major game, they would definitely spend a lot of time introducing it. The fact that they didn’t mention a word about it—not even showing a single image—doesn’t that already explain everything?”

“This ‘May 15th Gaming Festival’ sounds interesting though. What’s its relationship with the ‘October 24th Digital Festival’?”

“I happen to be thinking about replacing my computer. Will there be another ROF assembly upgrade activity?”

“Don’t know, let’s keep an eye on it at midnight that day. In my experience, anything Mr. Pei calls an ‘XX Festival’ usually has especially large discounts—something to look forward to!”

…

Meanwhile, Pei Qian had also finished watching the press conference on his home TV and was somewhat nervously monitoring the sales data on the Smart Fitness Drying Rack’s product detail page.

Ten minutes passed.

Half an hour passed.

A full hour passed!

Pei Qian checked every so often, and after a full hour, the sales figure on the page “reluctantly” exceeded 10, becoming a two-digit number.

Pei Qian couldn’t help but be overjoyed, letting out a long sigh of relief.

Success!