MMB Chapter 2 Good Ideas
Chapter 2 Good Ideas
Sitting in the crowd of protesters.
Meng Ran looked up.
But then a Buick SUV stopped about five meters in front of the crowd.
A bald, white man in his thirties got out of the car.
He had a Nikon SLR camera hanging around his neck and a backpack on his back.
Meng Ran remembered him; he was a reporter for the Detroit Free Press and had worked with the project team for a long time.
"Jimmy, for God's sake, can't you at least be a little more creative with your protest?" the reporter grumbled as he walked toward Jimmy.
"Protests aren't a competition; what's needed is a burning passion for environmental protection, not creativity," Jimmy said, shrugging.
"You always have more reasons than others." The reporter picked up his Nikon camera. "I think we should speed things up a bit."
After saying that, he took pictures for a few minutes.
He then took out a voice recorder from his backpack and held it up to Jimmy Noodles: "Tell me about it."
Jimmy was somewhat embarrassed by such a perfunctory attitude.
Just then, a black Cadillac SUV pulled up on the nearby road.
The car door opened.
Exquisite leather ankle boots stepped on the ground.
A woman with shoulder-length wavy red hair came into view.
She was wearing sunglasses, a beige trench coat, and a wool dress, and she just leaned against the car door with her arms crossed, looking this way.
They didn't even bother to wear a T-shirt and participate in the sit-in, like bystanders.
This person is none other than the red-haired director, "Clarissa".
Clarissa's appearance instantly transformed Jimmy back into a "gentleman."
He glanced at me furtively.
He then adopted a "leader" demeanor and lectured the reporter: "I believe you should have basic professional ethics. We are undertaking a great..."
"Come on, Jimmy." The reporter didn't have time to play along and interrupted him directly.
Before a reply could be received, the reporter laughed and said, "Detroit is lacking in everything right now, except protests. Protests against unemployment, protests against taxes, protests against this, protests against that."
Your colleague Conrad was out yesterday with a group of people pretending to be bullfrogs hopping on Jefferson Avenue; he's way more creative than you guys.
"Pfft~~"
Thea's head drooped instantly as the reporter spoke.
Her shoulders were still trembling slightly from trying to suppress a laugh.
Meng Ran was puzzled and turned to look at her. What was so funny?
Thea whispered, "Damn it, Conrad's ass is over a meter wide, and he's so fat he doesn't even have a neck. He looks like a bullfrog, and he even tries to hop like one."
"Tch~~"
Meng Ran also lowered his head.
Some images involuntarily surfaced in my mind.
It wasn't just him.
The other colleagues nearby also couldn't hold back.
For a moment, the noise was like a tire puncturing, rising and falling.
The jarring snickers drew the attention of Jimmy, who had been embarrassed by the reporter at the front of the crowd, and he turned around to glare angrily.
He thought everyone was laughing at him.
Almost without hesitation, he habitually asked Meng Ran, "Bane! What are you doing?"
"God is my witness, I did nothing." Meng Ran gestured with his hand.
Being new to the area, he didn't want to be too conspicuous.
Jimmy had always had a problem with the original owner, thinking that the original owner, a newbie who had only been there for two months, was an easy target.
Therefore, he habitually scolded, "Why didn't you come up with the idea of pretending to be a bullfrog jumping around? Do you even deserve the job opportunity the association gave you?"
Meng Ran frowned slightly, about to speak.
Thea, standing nearby, quickly defended him, saying, "Your question is ridiculous, Jimmy! Bane is just a project assistant."
"And what about you, Thea? You've been with the association for over a year, why has your work attitude gotten worse and worse these past few months?" Jimmy immediately retorted.
"Don't you know why?" Thea wasn't afraid of Jimmy, the manager, at all.
As she spoke, she glanced sideways at Director Clarissa, who was leaning against the car, her emerald green eyes filled with displeasure.
Thea's actions made Meng Ran's gaze quickly sweep over the three of them.
He wondered to himself: Could Jimmy, Thea, and Clarissa be in a love triangle?
wrong.
Based on my memory, it seems that the conflict between these three was purely due to their positions.
Forget it.
Now is not the time to explore this.
Considering that the system's tasks are related to NGO affairs.
I'd better take this opportunity to show my face in front of that "red-haired director" with whom I haven't had much interaction before.
This might even increase the chances of triggering system tasks.
So, Meng Ran deliberately raised her voice slightly and calmly said, "Jimmy, I don't think pretending to be a bullfrog jumping is a good idea."
"If this is considered a good idea, you might as well have people pretend to be dead fish contaminated by heavy metals and go winter swimming in the Rouge River."
"What?" Jimmy was clearly not expecting Meng Ran to say these things.
Meng Ran continued, "Imagine a group of giant 'dead fish' floating on the Ruzhi River in winter."
"Using such footage to condemn Ford's pollution of the Rouge River would be far more effective in terms of news coverage and impact than what we're doing now."
"They don't need to swim for too long; this act will become a news tip. After that, they can pretend to be dead fish and protest on the streets for a long time."
"A protest with a trigger point is much better than sitting here doing nothing."
After he finished speaking, everyone's attention turned to Meng Ran.
He's been doing this kind of work on Earth, and his mind is full of ideas for "stirring things up and grabbing attention."
Moreover, there are countless absurd things that environmental organizations around the world have done.
I can come up with a whole bunch of ideas just by casually recalling them; there's no need to think at all.
However, Jimmy clearly didn't want Meng Ran to steal the spotlight, and he was about to refute her.
But Meng Ran didn't give him a chance and continued, "Of course, winter swimming might be a bit dangerous. With your courage, you might not even dare to go into the river."
"It's alright, I have an even better solution."
"We can also perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation and artificial respiration on bullfrogs."
Upon hearing this, Jimmy couldn't hold back any longer. He waved his hands and laughed, "Oh Jesus! What did I just hear? This is ridiculous!"
Meng Ran chuckled softly.
Then he looked at the reporter next to him.
"Mike, you're a professional journalist. Do you think absurd content spreads more easily, or a run-of-the-mill sit-in attracts more attention?"
The reporter did not respond.
He stroked the camera, looking at Meng Ran with curiosity.
Meng Ran kept observing Clarissa's reaction out of the corner of his eye.
Seeing her leaning against the car, tilting her head and looking at herself, Meng Ran continued, "We can find a thin little girl to perform CPR on the bullfrog."
"Imagine a scenario."
"On the muddy banks of the Ruzhi River, a dirty, thin little girl was kneeling on the ground, bending over to give a bullfrog artificial respiration."
Is she mentally unstable?
"Or do you have some kind of unusual or unusual taste or fetish?"
"Neither."
"The real reason is that this girl is saving her best friends, these bullfrogs, in her own way."
"The girl grew up on the banks of the Rouge River. Her father was probably a worker at the Ford-Rouge plant, but he lost his job and became an alcoholic."
"Her mother may have died young from an overdose of banned drugs. She herself suffered from chronic lead poisoning due to heavy metal pollution in the Rouge River."
"She grew up in poverty and bullying. She had no friends, only a group of adorable bullfrogs who could listen to her troubles."
"But that very winter, her best friends died one by one because of the sewage that the factory was secretly discharging."
"She couldn't accept this outcome, so she used the first aid knowledge she learned at school to perform CPR on the bullfrogs in an attempt to save them."
"We all know this is futile."
"However, she was too young, and she still clung to her illusions, stubbornly repeating the first aid techniques her teacher had taught her over and over again."
"Blow air, press."
"Blow air again, press again."
"Her behavior was so ridiculous, yet her expression was so devout and earnest."
"I think if we could take a series of photos like this and write a report like this, all the kind-hearted people would be moved to tears and generously donate money."
"This could even be turned into a series of reports, using the girl as a starting point to delve deeper into more stories about heavy metal pollution, ensuring that our project team and the newspaper have long-term topics to discuss."
"More importantly, we can bring the girl into the association and cultivate her into an environmental star in the fight against heavy metal pollution, so that..."
"Fuck!" The reporter excitedly interrupted Meng Ran's story.
He looked at Meng Ran, gesturing wildly in admiration, "Listen, buddy, you're a genius! This news is way better than that bullshit sit-in!"
After saying that, he turned to Jimmy and said, "I think you should do as he says."
Jimmy was speechless.
He couldn't possibly agree.
But it's not easy to deny it directly.
So, he could only stand to the side with his hands on his hips, pretending to be considering it.
Thea and her colleagues were also extremely surprised.
None of them expected that the usually taciturn Bane would come up with two solutions all at once today.
however.
Just when everyone was surprised.
Clarissa, who had been observing Meng Ran for a while while leaning against the car, shook her head and said, "I'm sorry, Bane, we can't adopt your plan."