Chapter 22

The sky grew dark.

It was a little after ten in the evening.

Many people had already finished work, but Zhang Ye went to the recording studio alone to work overtime. He hadn't been able to schedule a recording slot during the day, and the live broadcast of "Words of the World" had delayed him for a long time, so his own show had to be recorded at this hour. The pre-recorded episodes for the weekend had run out, and he had to produce today's episode of "Ghost Blows Out the Light" within an hour and a half. Time was tight.

"Whenever tomb raiders dig into a large tomb, they must... wait, that's not right!"

"Whenever tomb raiders dig into a large tomb, they must light a candle in the southeast corner of the tomb chamber."

"If the candle in the southeast corner goes out, they must return the treasures they have taken, bow three times respectfully, and retreat the way they came."

This recording was different from the previous ones, a bit bumpy. Zhang Ye felt a bit bitter. He had anticipated this day, but not so soon. Indeed, he had memorized this book during his training period, but that was only the beginning. No matter how good his memory was, it was impossible for him to memorize the hundreds of thousands of words in "Ghost Blows Out the Light." He only remembered the beginning, and now that part was used up. He was about to enter a section he didn't remember well. Although Zhang Ye knew the plot and many details, it wasn't the original version, and he would have to rely on his own creativity, which would inevitably be a significant downgrade in both writing and literary quality. He was well aware of this, and it would certainly affect the listening rate.

He paused, deleted a section, and re-recorded it.

It took a long time to finish just before midnight.

This episode was a bit of a muddle, but what about the next one? Sigh, if the quality drops and the listening rate falls even more, what will he do?

After finishing his work, Zhang Ye leaned against the window in the hallway and smoked a cigarette. Smoking was prohibited in the building, but it was late and quiet, so no one cared.

Ring, ring, ring. Suddenly, his phone rang.

Zhang Ye wondered who it could be at this hour and answered, "Hello?"

A male voice came from the other end, "Hello, is this Mr. Zhang? I'm a reporter from Jinghua..."

Before he could finish, Zhang Ye, thinking it was a scam or spam call, said, "I don't care if you're from Jinghua or Shuanghui, just don't tell me I've won a prize. I've already won 47 times this year, with three BMWs, two Mercedes, and 12.23 million yuan in total. Don't tell me my daughter has been kidnapped either, you'd have to find me a wife first. And don't try to sell me sausages. To be honest, I only have 1.5 yuan in my pocket. If I were you, I'd hang up now. Otherwise, after five minutes, even if you talk me into buying your sausages with my 1.5 yuan, the commission wouldn't even cover your phone bill." Zhang Ye was experienced in dealing with such calls. "Alright, now you can speak."

Usually, people would hang up when they encountered someone as rude as Zhang Ye.

But the man on the other end didn't. He said, "I'm not selling Jinghua sausages. I'm a reporter from the Jinghua Times. Is this Mr. Zhang Ye?"

Zhang Ye was taken aback, "A reporter? Oh, my mistake, I thought it was a scam."

The man said, "No problem. I got your number from a friend at the radio station. I wanted to inform you about something. I listened to today's 'Words of the World,' and our editorial team is very interested in your two poems. We might publish them in tomorrow's newspaper. I also wanted to ask you the name of the second poem, as you didn't mention it in the broadcast."

Zhang Ye thought for a moment, "The second one is called 'A Generation.'"

The reporter was surprised, "A Generation? The title seems a bit off."

The title of "A Generation" was quite specific, reflecting the thoughts and persistence of the original author, Gu Cheng, in that era and society. The original meaning of the poem that Zhang Ye had told the female college student wasn't as profound, but he respected the original work. Using someone else's wisdom, he couldn't change the title. Intellectuals, after all, were often stubborn, and Zhang Ye was no exception. He had principles.

So what if the title didn't fit? He knew the title didn't match the meaning he expressed tonight, but this was a classic work by a great poet from his world. Classics needed respect. Zhang Ye asked himself, even if the original author couldn't see it, could he violate his principles? Could he do something against his morals? The answer was clear... of course he could!

Zhang Ye said, "You can change it however you like, as long as it gets published. Adding a fantastical element to the title for better sales is fine too!"

The reporter almost choked. He had just expressed an opinion casually, never expecting Zhang Ye to be so unprincipled. A modern poet, an artist who could write such classic verses, allowing others to change the title? What kind of literary integrity did he have? The reporter was speechless and coughed, "That's not what I meant. We won't change the title. It will still be 'A Generation.' We wouldn't dare change your poem."

"Alright then," Zhang Ye said indifferently.

They exchanged a few more words, and the call ended.

One of Zhang Ye's strengths was that he never shied away from the spotlight. As soon as he hung up, he couldn't contain his excitement. Getting published in the Jinghua Times? He would become even more famous! He was one step closer to his goal! Right, he should check his reputation points. He opened the game interface!

Total Reputation: 95,344.

What? How did it get so high?

Zhang Ye was stunned. He had used up all his reputation points on Saturday morning. According to the reputation accumulation from "Ghost Blows Out the Light," about 20,000 people would add to his reputation each day, so over the weekend, it should have been around 40,000. Even with a slight increase in the holiday listening rate, it wouldn't exceed 50,000. In other words, today's live broadcast of "Words of the World" had given him over 50,000 reputation points. No wonder it was the top-ranked cultural radio show! The audience base was different! Of course, much of the credit went to Zhang Ye's outstanding performance. The two poems were perfectly timed and had definitely won over many listeners!

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