Hearing the explanation, the man immediately breathed a sigh of relief and chuckled, “Oh, so that’s how it is. I actually thought it was a real recovered battery. This Ji Xiaomeng is bloody good at making things up. She can lie without even blinking, and her brain works fast.”
The other person nodded and said in a low voice, “This Ji Xiaomeng only joined the team less than half a year ago, yet she’s already in the core circle. How do you think she managed that? It’s all thanks to that glib tongue of hers. This woman can call black white and white green. The vice-president really rates her. This protest today is meant to hype her up. Someone is secretly live-streaming on YouTube with a phone. After this, she’ll definitely blow up.”
The man clicked his tongue in surprise and said, “Someone’s live-streaming?”
“Of course,” the other replied. “Every event we do has people streaming and filming. There’s a professional team handling post-production and editing. Even among the people we’ve blocked, we have insiders shooting from another angle. Only by doing that can we create buzz online. Remember, although we’re protesting offline, in reality we’re performing for the online audience.”
The man nodded and asked, “What did this Ji Xiaomeng do before?”
The other gave a snort of laughter and said, “Before joining us, she was just an amateur photographer from China who took the unofficial route. Apparently she couldn’t even afford a proper camera, so she used second-hand gear. She’d take tens of thousands of photos a year and post them online, but after years of doing it she only had two or three thousand followers. No proper job, no commercial deals, the classic type who had one meal but wasn’t sure about the next. A total loser. Then she saw how the climate girl got famous and decided to jump on the same bandwagon, wanting to become an eco-influencer.”
“At first she tried protesting in Asia, but nobody paid any attention. Later she entered America on a tourist visa to protest there. The idiot went to Texas and tried blocking pickup trucks. She nearly got shot dead by rednecks, so she fled to Europe on the next flight overnight. Who’d have thought she’d thrive here the moment she arrived.”
At that point the man sighed softly and remarked, “People like her only have a future in Europe. In America she’d have been beaten to death long ago.”
Listening to their conversation, Charlie wade sighed inwardly. This lot didn’t sound like genuine environmentalists at all. Each of them clearly had their own agenda.
By now the man with the Tesla had lost the argument in front of Ji Xiaomeng and could only drag his suitcase on foot toward the airport.
Ji Xiaomeng looked at his sorry retreating back and shouted after him, “Mr Tesla driver, please remember that environmental protection isn’t just empty words or buying an electric car. You need from the bottom of your heart to revere nature and feel compassion for the animals that lose their homes, or even their lives, because of global warming!”
The crowd of protesters was completely won over by Ji Xiaomeng’s eloquence and aggression. They burst into cheers and applause. Ji Xiaomeng stood among them looking smug. It was only after joining this organisation that she discovered her true talent. Her gift wasn’t photography or running social media. It was putting labels on people and splashing mud on them with her sharp tongue, always finding the most devastating way to attack so the opponent had no comeback.
