Chapter 10

The sky outside the office was pitch black.

It was past eleven in the evening, and there was less than half an hour left before the midnight live broadcast of the program!

"Still not done?"

"Boss, I really can't find it!"

"You have to find it for me! Look at the time!"

"Yes, I'll try again, I'll do my best!"

The office was filled with people working overtime, a dozen or so busy trying to put out fires. If described with an idiom, it would be a chaotic pot of millet porridge!

"Boss," Tian Bin said cautiously.

Zhao Guozhou waved his hand, "You go to the live studio and wait!"

Li Si ran back from outside, "Still no luck. I've asked a dozen or so supernatural novels, and the audio rights have all been sold to other websites or radio stations. I've also contacted the few that were given to the Beihexian Radio Station, hoping to collaborate, but they refused. There are also some relatively ordinary horror novels, but the time is too tight now, and I can't even contact the authors; some don't even have contact information."

Zhao Guozhou slammed the table, "Not a single book?"

Li Si said bitterly, "Now supernatural novels are in high demand, and the market is just forming. There are basically only a dozen mature works, and all the major local radio stations are competing for them."

An editor said, "In the worst case, we can only suspend the broadcast for one or two episodes. We can buy the rights over the next two days and resume broadcasting after the contract is signed."

Zhao Guozhou said sternly, "This program has been running for five years without a single suspension. Who will take responsibility for this now? Besides, the advertisements for the program have already been aired for several days, and our three stations have been promoting the new novel for 'Midnight Ghost Stories' for three days. Who doesn't know that the first day is the most important for a novel? Even though people don't know which book will be broadcast, with such extensive promotion, at least four to five times the usual number of listeners are waiting by their radios today. Suspend the broadcast? You go and tell them? The program must be broadcast today, no matter what! Keep trying! I don't believe we can't secure the rights to a single supernatural novel!"

Because they thought 'Soul Summoning' was the hottest supernatural story at the moment, the station naturally wanted to capitalize on the momentum and promote it. But they never expected that this large-scale promotion would now become their noose!

Tian Bin whispered, "If it really can't be done in time, then..."

Zhao Guozhou shouted, "You have to make it happen! You caused the trouble, you clean it up!"

Tian Bin didn't dare to speak, sweat pouring down his forehead. He felt extremely frustrated, with no outlet for his anger. Who would have thought it would be so coincidental? If he hadn't tripped over the lunch box lid, he wouldn't have closed the message window from Deputy Director Li, and the reply wouldn't have been sent incorrectly. If he hadn't been knocked over by a passing colleague, he wouldn't have clicked the wrong name. If the light tube hadn't burst and Li Si hadn't knocked him down, he wouldn't have pressed the send button by mistake. Tian Bin had never done such a series of blunders in his life, but all these coincidences had happened at once, making him feel very strange! Now the program faced a major accident, and Tian Bin might also face a series of punishments. He didn't know what he had done to offend the heavens to be treated like this. Tian Bin looked at Zhang Ye as if he had seen a ghost, ever since their big argument, he had been unlucky everywhere!

...

Before midnight.

Live Studio No. 5.

This was the dedicated live studio for the arts and culture radio, fully equipped.

Zhang Ye and a staff member entered to adjust the equipment. The person tested the headphones, and Zhang Ye tested the sound. There were ten minutes left, and the live broadcast was already in countdown. Without the novel's authorization, the live broadcast couldn't be done. What could he say? This wasn't a talk show where casual conversation would suffice. This was the ghost story segment, and people turned on their radios at night to listen to this. Without the real thing, it wouldn't work.

On the other side of the live studio, there was a transparent glass, and a soundproof room where the phone editor usually sat. After everything was set up, Zhang Ye went over, and Zhao Guozhou and Tian Bin followed one by one.

A female assistant reminded, "Three minutes left."

Zhao Guozhou said to Tian Bin, "Go on!"

Tian Bin was at his wits' end, "Boss, how can I go on without a story? I can't do it!"

Zhao Guozhou, under immense pressure, shouted, "Do you think I don't know you can't do it without a story? But what can we do now? Tell me what to do!" Pointing to the live studio, he said, "Get in there quickly! The program is one hour long! You have to make it through, even if you have to bluff!"

"One hour, I can't bluff that long," Tian Bin refused to move.

The other colleagues also looked at each other, realizing there was no solution at this point!

The female assistant checked the time, "One minute, fifty-nine seconds... fifty-eight seconds..."

Wang Xiaomei, the top anchor of the arts and culture station and a key figure, was also on the scene. Seeing that Tian Bin didn't even dare to take his seat, she scolded, "Hurry up! If you don't go on, it won't just be a broadcast accident! Think about it!"

A small leader from the arts and culture station also said, "Just go on and see what happens!"

Tian Bin still didn't move, his expression miserable!

The female assistant quickly reported the time, "Ten seconds... nine seconds..."

At this moment, Zhang Ye suddenly clenched his teeth and made a decision. You can't do it? If you can't, I can! He was always looking for a chance to get on a program, and this was his opportunity! Without the novel's authorization, Zhang Ye remembered that the few tomb-raiding novels in his memory didn't exist in this world. Although he didn't know if the novels from his world would work here, it was worth a try! He took a deep breath, his demeanor changed, and he walked into the live studio in two quick steps, sat down, adjusted the volume control, and put on the headphones.

Everyone was stunned!

"Zhang Ye!"

"What are you doing?"

"How did you get in there?"

No one understood what Zhang Ye was doing. Without a single word of the novel, how could he do the program? How could he live broadcast? Was he trying to take over?

Only Tian Bin felt a bit relieved, almost grateful.

Three seconds, two seconds, one second, the live broadcast began!

At this point, no one could pull Zhang Ye out. Zhao Guozhou and many others were on the edge of their seats. Zhang Ye, a new employee who had only been there for a few days, was about to go on air with such a major mistake. How could he resolve the situation? He might even make a bigger mistake!

Let it be, Zhao Guozhou and the others gave up!

Zhang Ye, however, looked calm, or even a bit excited. He said calmly, "Hello everyone, this is the 'Midnight Ghost Stories' program. I am today's DJ, Zhang Ye. The last novel ended with your positive reviews, and today we will welcome a new work—'Ghost Blows Out the Light'!"

'Ghost Blows Out the Light?'

What is this?

Zhao Guozhou and the others were stunned!

Zhang Ye adjusted his tone and spoke in a low, deep voice, "Introduction: Tomb raiding is not like having a meal, writing an article, or painting and embroidery. It cannot be done with such refinement, such ease, such gentility, such politeness. Tomb raiding is a technique, a technique of destruction..." Zhang Ye spoke steadily, "This story begins with a damaged book left by my grandfather, 'The Sixteen-Character Yin-Yang Feng Shui Secret Techniques.' The lower half of the book was torn away for unknown reasons, leaving only the upper part, which contains the secrets of feng shui. The book mostly describes the unique techniques for interpreting the feng shui of tombs."

Zhang Ye chose this novel for several reasons. First, 'Ghost Blows Out the Light' did not exist in this world. Second, the book was extremely popular in his world, both in terms of sales and reception, far surpassing even the most popular romance novels of the time. Third, he had practiced reciting and narrating the book for a while, so he could recite much of the beginning verbatim. Even if there were some mistakes or forgotten parts, they wouldn't significantly affect the plot.