Chapter 42

Friday.

Waking up early with plenty of time, Zhang Ye didn’t rush to take the subway to work. Instead, he lingered at the newsstand by the entrance of the residential area, flipping through the morning papers one by one, hoping to see if "Little Bunny Be Good" had been reported.

*Beijing Times? No!*

*Capital Morning News? No!*

*Other small newspapers in the capital? No!*

Zhang Ye was disheartened. Could it be that the voting deadline was too late yesterday? These newspapers probably started printing at four o'clock. Did they miss it? That would be bad. He had hoped to rely on this to boost the ratings. How could he boost them without any publicity? Sigh, let it be. He had done everything he could and put in his best effort. Now, he could only hope that today would be the day when "Old and Young Story Time" would no longer be at the bottom of the ratings, even if it only rose to 19th or 20th place. At least it wouldn’t look so bad, and then he could think of ways to improve the show. Time was running out.

This time, Zhang Ye had placed all his hopes and bets on the official education department's essay contest. Whether "Old and Young Story Time" could be revived depended on this one move!

Zhang Ye’s current goal was simple: to quickly make the show he was handling as big and good as possible, to win a newcomer award in broadcasting and hosting as soon as possible, preferably a significant one. Then he could leave this broken unit with a clear conscience. This place was just a stepping stone for him, a transit point to a higher stage. After obtaining the necessary credentials, Zhang Ye would naturally have a vast sky to soar in. Otherwise, relying solely on the obscure late-night show "Ghost Stories at Midnight" would make his resume too thin, not impressive enough!

He planned to develop in the direction of a TV host in the future, a role that required showing his face, with much higher standards for appearance and height than a radio broadcaster. How could he make the male and female leaders, directors, and program producers of the TV station overlook all external conditions and hire a newcomer like him, who had an average appearance, average height, no background, and no connections?

Women, even without a good face, could rely on makeup, and even without makeup, they could rely on their figures!

But men? What could a man with an average appearance rely on? There were only three things:

First: Good kidneys!

Second: Must have good kidneys!

Third: Must have very good kidneys!

Okay, seriously, what he could rely on was his strength and credentials!

Zhang Ye wasn’t lacking in strength; he was only lacking in credentials. He needed a show with explosive ratings to back him up!

...

At the station.

Everything was as usual.

He arrived just in time for work. As soon as he got there, Jia Yan was already holding the ratings chart to announce the rankings. Zhang Ye knew that his show from yesterday was still at the bottom and didn’t give him any face, so he didn’t listen and went straight to the recording studio to record today’s show.

"Hello, children. Recently, there have been several cases of child abduction and robbery when parents are not at home. So today, I will tell you a little story called 'Little Bunny Be Good.' I hope you will never open the door to strangers in the future!"

"Mommy Rabbit has three children, one is called Red Eyes, one is called Long Ears, and one is called Short Tail."

"Little Bunny Be Good, open the door."

"Open it quickly, I want to come in."

Zhang Ye’s singing was just like an ordinary person’s, not particularly skilled, but not too bad either. After all, he had studied broadcasting, and his voice control, vocal quality, and lung capacity were all up to par. The children’s song sounded very nice.

"No, no, I won’t open it!"

"Mommy hasn’t come back, I won’t open it for anyone!"

After singing a few times and re-recording a few times, Zhang Ye was finally satisfied and called his assistant, Xiao Fang, to organize the recording.

Xiao Fang came in hesitantly, "Teacher Zhang, your show’s ratings..."

"Last place, right? I knew that yesterday. It’s fine," Zhang Ye wasn’t surprised.

Xiao Fang was more anxious than him, "But the weekend is almost over, and 'Old and Young Story Time' will be taken off the air. You won’t have a show anymore!"

Zhang Ye said, "There are still two days left. Until the end, no one knows the result."

At noon, the show started broadcasting. Zhang Ye didn’t go to eat but sat restlessly, worrying about the ratings. However, Zhao Guozhou and the two station leaders weren’t at work today, as they seemed to be attending a meeting. It seemed that next week, the Beijing Writers Association and the Beijing Radio Station would be hosting a Mid-Autumn Poetry Festival, which would be live-streamed. With the Mid-Autumn Festival approaching, everyone seemed to be busy with this, so Zhang Ye couldn’t get the ratings in advance. As for the publicity for "Little Bunny Be Good," there was no movement at all. The TV stations and newspapers were all silent, which made Zhang Ye feel very disheartened.

...

The next day, Saturday.

Today was a collective overtime day, and most of the colleagues were there.

"Teacher Jia, have you finished recording your first episode?"

"The first two episodes are done. What do you think?"

"Very good, high quality. I think it can make it into the top ten."

"Teacher Jia, you’re really amazing. The station will be dominated by young people like you in the future."

When Zhang Ye came to the office area, he saw Jia Yan mingling with the colleagues, being flattered in the middle. Jia Yan seemed to enjoy this feeling.

Suddenly, Jia Yan saw Zhang Ye and said with a forced smile, "Oh, Teacher Zhang is here? I was just looking for you. We need to hand over the show."

Zhang Ye put down his things and sat down, not even looking at him.

Jia Yan’s face turned a bit sour, "My show starts on Monday. On Saturday and Sunday, you should greet the listeners and promote my show, okay?" He paused and said, "Teacher Zhang, I know you have your thoughts and opinions and can’t accept the show being cut, but the station has strict rules. If a show’s ratings are consistently in the bottom three, the station has the right to adjust or even cancel the show. Nowadays, fairy tale shows are all in decline, a trend that no one can reverse. So I hope you will prioritize the bigger picture and make way for my show."

Zhang Ye looked at him, "I don’t need a newcomer to tell me what the bigger picture is. Just do your own job. My business is none of your concern."

"Are you looking for trouble?" Jia Yan got angry.

Zhang Ye laughed, "I came to work and do my job. You start lecturing me as soon as I arrive. Who’s looking for trouble here?"

"What attitude is this, Xiao Zhang?" Wu Datao, who had a conflict with Zhang Ye, scolded, "Are you eating gunpowder?"

Zhang Ye looked at him, "This is my attitude, and it will always be. I don’t need anyone to tell me what to do. I still say, 'Old and Young Story Time' is still on the air, and I’m still the host. My show doesn’t need anyone else’s interference! Want to take over the afternoon slot on the cultural frequency? Fine, wait until your show is on the air!"

Jia Yan confronted him, "Fine! I’ll wait!"

Tian Bin laughed, "Zhang Ye, you didn’t check the ratings yesterday, did you?"

An old broadcaster said, "Xiao Zhang, I’ve been listening to Teacher Feng’s show for many years. Although I don’t want it to end, the fact is that it can’t keep up with the times. There are too few fairy tales and high-quality works. It’s a trend."

Teacher Feng, sitting next to Zhang Ye, sighed deeply.

Another middle-aged editor said, "We understand your dedication to the show, but you need to be realistic. You should prepare for the show to end."

Some were adding fuel to the fire, some were gloating, and everyone was "advising" Zhang Ye one by one.

Wang Xiaomei, annoyed by the chatter, said, "The show will definitely end, but how Teacher Xiao Zhang does it and how it ends is his decision. Everyone should mind their own business, can’t you?"

The old broadcaster frowned, "Xiaomei, what’s wrong with us old colleagues giving advice to a newcomer? His ideas are problematic, and he shouldn’t be allowed to say them?"

Zhang Ye laughed, "I don’t think my ideas are problematic. I want to have a positive attitude and do my show well. What’s wrong with that?"

Tian Bin snorted, "But are you doing it well?"

Jia Yan shrugged, "Let’s stop. He won’t listen anyway."

Wu Datao shook his head, "Wanting to improve a few ranks is a positive attitude, but wanting to jump from the bottom to the top ten? That’s unrealistic and delusional!"

Someone came in!

"Who will take the ratings chart?" It was the staff from the ratings department.

"I’ll take it." Jia Yan, acting like a leader, slowly walked over to get the chart. After the staff left, he didn’t even look at it and directly announced, "I’ll announce yesterday’s ratings." This felt great. He had high hopes for his future and was confident in his show. He thought that as his show’s ratings increased, he could get a position in the station. Then he would have to deal with this Zhang Ye!

Few people paid attention, as the station’s ratings were almost fixed, with little change every day.

Teacher Feng didn’t care, or rather, he didn’t want to listen.

"First place..." Jia Yan announced, "Wang Xiaomei’s 'Words of the World,' with a rating of 3.87%."

Wang Xiaomei’s rating breaking four percent was not the norm, but even without breaking four, "Words of the World" had gained many listeners after the incident with the college student’s suicide, and the ratings were much higher than before.

Everyone clapped symbolically and then continued with their work.

"Second place..." At this point, Jia Yan suddenly trembled, staring wide-eyed as if he had seen a ghost, "This!"

"What’s wrong?"

"Teacher Jia?"

"Why did you stop?"

Everyone realized something was off and looked over.

Wu Datao laughed, "What? Did my 'Daily Entertainment' ratings go up again?"

"Daily Entertainment" was always the second most popular show on the cultural frequency. Due to its special nature, the hosts were rotated every few days, usually a male and female pair. Currently, Wu Datao and a female host were paired, and the show’s ratings had been steadily increasing this week.

Jia Yan didn’t say anything.

Wu Datao was surprised. What? Second place isn’t me?

Everyone was also shocked. Impossible! "Daily Entertainment" is a news program! Such a program has never dropped out of the second place!

Then who?

"Ghost Stories at Midnight"? No way! Late-night shows don’t have that kind of audience base!

Under everyone’s gaze, Jia Yan paused for a long time before dazedly announcing, "Second place is... 'Old and Young Story Time,' with a rating of 2.40%!"