Published at 10th of September 2019 11:56 am

Chapter 123 - Choosing a Topic

This chapter is updated by NovelFree.ml

Translator(s): Zryuu

Editor(s): Amalea, FistFullOfDollars, Juurensha

The next morning, Yu Hao felt a little better, so he insisted on going to work again. The manuscripts weren’t submitted yet. He was prepared to let Lin Ze know once he submitted the manuscripts, then come back and take a nap.

He had just returned to the office when Yu Hao saw the vice Editor-in-Chief appear in their office. Lin Ze stood as he listened to his rebukes and threw Yu Hao a look, telling him not to come in.

“All my face is about to be thrown away because of you guys!” Vice Editor-in-Chief said, “Now all the netizens are going to Weibo and WeChat’s public number to talk about how you guys can’t do anything right and only know how to spam hit counts and buy reposts! How do you want me to explain this in Monday’s meeting?!”

Yu Hao still went in and stood with Lin Ze.

“It’s him again?” Vice Editor-in-Chief said, “Lin Ze, don’t tell me it’s this intern who was in charge of it again.”

“It’s a small accident.” Lin Ze said, “I’m already ready to transfer him to a full-time position.”

Yu Hao said, “What happened?”

“Do you guys have so much money that you don’t know where to spend it?” Vice Editor-in-Chief said, “A media public number going around buying views, are you trying to deceive your superiors? Not fulfilling the view target set for you guys and then resorting to such dishonest practices!”

Yu Hao, “……”

The one Chen Yekai introduced was the Student Union, so that shouldn’t have happened?! Yu Hao’s heart jolted -- could the Student Union have bought views for them in order to meet Lin Ze’s target?

“The mistake has already been made.” Lin Ze said, “We found a third-party to promote it, we also didn’t think that would happen. We’ll clear the followers and restart it. We’ll definitely be more careful from now on, do you think that would be okay?”

The Vice Editor-in-Chief almost roared angrily, “What kind of an offhanded attitude is that with regard to admitting your mistakes?! Or are you trying to say that you’re not in the wrong this time?! Stop the usage of your public number! Write a review for me……you! Intern! You write the review! A Notice of Criticism for the entire newspaper! We’ll look at your attitude in acknowledging your mistake before deciding whether to let you guys use your public number again or not! Without suffering a severe punishment once, you won’t learn your lesson! And you’d still resort to dishonest practices next time!”

Four words whirled out of Yu Hao and Lin Ze’s heart at the same time. Vice Editor-in-Chief turned around and left.

Yu Hao sat down. After looking at the WeChat public number on his laptop, he took his phone. Lin Ze said, “Don’t call. Your Laoshi doesn’t know either, there’s no point in mentioning it.”

Yu Hao said, “The middlemen did such a great job, I……ai!”

Lin Ze said, “At least the department’s formally established now. I was intending to find them for a drink tonight, everyone will go. Better ask vice chief for a favour while drinking ba.”

Yu Hao said, “Then I’d better write the review first.”

Lin Ze cursed a few times. Situ Ye came over, and after he heard about what happened, he said, “Ah Ze, I already told you not to accept this job. Why don’t we just beat them up and go home?”

Lin Ze, “Xiao Ye!”

Situ Ye wore a gloomy expression on his face. Lin Ze immediately said, “What would Yu Hao think after hearing you say that? What would Jin Laoshi think?”

“Jin Laoshi’s not around.” Yu Hao said, “It’s okay, I think the same as Lady Boss. Lady Boss, look at this picture?”

Yu Hao showed him the flag-raising photo at first light that Situ Ye had shown him before, and Situ Ye started laughing helplessly.

Yu Hao wrote manuscripts all morning and was still worried about the review. Jin Weicheng only came to work after lunch, “The topic has been chosen, Yu Hao, follow me. Do we need to report to the newspaper first?”

“No need.” Lin Ze was deleting the followers on their WeChat’s public number, while Situ Ye looked at the reposts on Weibo. Lin Ze said, “The newspaper won’t care, just finish the feature first. Jin Laoshi, talk about the topic a little?”

Jin Weicheng said, “Bumped into two petitioners, they were both daughter-in-laws in their families. There’s a battery processing plant in Guangxian County; it discharged wastewater containing cadmium far above quota, resulting in large-scale cadmium poisoning. An explosion had even occurred in September, killing twelve people and injuring ten. This plant is backed by officials and businessmen, so the news had been forcibly suppressed. Now, the cadmium poisoning has affected nearly 3,000 residents. The government has given some compensation, but most of it was embezzled by the village committee. An armed fight broke out in November that killed three people.”

“Okay.” Lin Ze answered as soon as he heard it, “Do that ba, that’s steady. Pick a soft persimmon to begin with, don’t go too big.”

Jin Weicheng said, “I just asked a few questions before some guards came over, so I couldn’t ask them in much detail. But they left me a number. We’ll look for that old lady’s home first after going over.”

“Just need to worry about news leaking.” Lin Ze said, “But Jin Laoshi is more experienced than us, so the two of you decide. I’ll entrust Yu Hao in your care.”

Jin Weicheng said to Yu Hao, “Just follow me.”

Yu Hao’s head was still hurting a little. He asked, “When do we set off?”

Jin Weicheng said, “I’ve checked the train departure schedule. Why don’t we leave in the afternoon?”

Lin Ze said, “You can’t. The department was just established, so we need to accompany the leaders for dinner tonight. Tomorrow ba.”

“Caught a cold?” Situ Ye saw Yu Hao’s runny nose and tested the temperature of his forehead, “Go back and rest ba.”

Yu Hao said, “I don’t have a fever.”

Lin Ze said, “Can you go?’

Situ Ye and Lin Ze looked at each other with slight anxiety. Yu Hao waved his hand, “It’s just a slight cold, I’m really okay. I’ve taken medication.”

Situ Ye asked, “What did you take? Don’t drink at night.”

Yu Hao said, “I know what I’m doing, I didn’t take cephalosporin. It’s okay.”

Lin Ze thought about it and found it difficult to decide. Yu Hao insisted that he was okay, that it would be fine as long as he drank less. Lin Ze frowned, “It’s not about drinking less or not, you may not be able to control how much to drink when you’re at the table.”

Yu Hao said, “I just got scolded this morning. If I’m absent from the dinner tonight, what would the vice Editor-in-Chief think? He would definitely think that I’m giving him an attitude. I must go. I’ll just drink less.”

“You’ll be fine after a nap on the train.” Jin Weicheng said, “People his age have healthy bodies.”

“Conduct your interview the day after tomorrow ba.” Situ Ye said, “He’s already this skinny. Be careful of his boyfriend coming over to slaughter us later.”

Lin Ze said, “It won’t be funny if the Porsche comes crashing in.”

Yu Hao, “Knock it off. As soon as the petitioners came, Guangxian must have caught wind of the news. We need to make a move as soon as possible.”

Jin Weicheng gave Yu Hao a thumbs up to express his praise.

“I’ll look for petitioners again.” Jin Weicheng said, “See if they have been brought in, and whether I can get anything out of them still.”

After Yu Hao finished writing the manuscripts, he started on his review. Lin Ze said, “Will it really be okay? It’s very cold there, and it’s a mountainous area too.”

It was nearing the end of November, and winter this year came very suddenly. The temperature had already dropped to near zero degrees. Situ Ye said, “Or Ah Ze, you go with Jin Laoshi instead?”

Yu Hao said, “I won’t hold you guys back!”

Lin Ze seemed hesitant. Situ Ye said, “Think about his resume, what kind of violent storm has Yu Hao not seen?”

Lin Ze’s doubts were dispelled, “Buy more heating pads.”

“I won’t force myself.” Yu Hao said, “I’m really not a pampered brat.”

After Yu Hao finished his review, he thought that Lin Ze must feel quite vexed about dealing with the relationship with his superiors. He usually didn’t deal with the manuscripts, but he had a harder time than the rest of them. After all, the one who was least experienced in dealing with the top honchos was Yu Hao himself.

However, Lin Ze has always been very patient and powerful. Everything would actually proceed as planned, like a broken car that could fall apart at anytime but still swayed along, narrowly escaping death as he pushed it towards the end. That kind of tenacious perseverance was the most important thing Yu Hao learned from him.

“Then remember to play your role well in the dinner tonight.” Lin Ze said to Yu Hao, “What’s your role?”

“An intern.” Yu Hao answered.

“Yes!” Lin Ze said, “Be an intern who would evoke people’s affections! A clumsy, childish newborn calf who’s not afraid of tigers, a workforce newbie that would make the leaders want to cherish new talent! Life is like a play, it all depends on your acting skills.”

Zhou Sheng:【I’m going to report the project now.】

Yu Hao:【Jiayou, my little prince.】

It was very cold in Ying City today. Zhou Sheng had changed into a slim shirt, ankle-length suit pants, his AJ shoes, and a pair of non-prescription glasses. His hair was slightly combed up and had been waxed. He stood in the conference room, holding a remote control as he flipped through the slides of his PPT. The light shone on his body, as if it was illuminating a celebrity.

“……and thus, strategic deployment is of great urgency.” Zhou Sheng concluded his speech and turned the PPT to its last slide, “The End, that’s it. Please take a tea break, everyone. I’ll conduct a Q&A later, and I’d like to implore everyone to hold back on their abuse.”

The crowd laughed. A major shareholder said, “It’s been a long time since I’ve heard such a vibrant project report.”

The corners of Zhou Sheng’s mouth quirked up, but his smile didn’t reach his eyes. He nodded at the major shareholder.

The major shareholder exchanged a few words with Zhou Laichun in a soft voice. Zhou Laichun quickly nodded, then made a ‘please’ gesture to another shareholder before tossing Zhou Sheng a glance to ask him to follow along. Zhou Sheng put down his remote control, high-fived his department’s manager, then followed them out.

Zhou Laichun accompanied the two shareholders to the smoking area. Zhou Sheng took out a lighter and lit up a cigarette for his father. The chief financial officer handed a light over, then Zhou Sheng cut cigars for the two shareholders.

The three sat down separately. Zhou Sheng stood at the door as he smoked an electronic cigarette. He smiled at the major shareholder, “It was my first time reporting to my uncles, so it was a little nerve wracking.”

Zhou Laichun said to Zhou Sheng, “In order to listen to that report of yours, one of them flew back from the United States while the other from Britain.”

Zhou Sheng revealed a surprised look at the right time. The shareholder said, “The two of you really are of the same lineage.”

Zhou Laichun burst out laughing. Evidently, he really liked to hear other people say that Zhou Sheng resembled him.

“But your father has some shortcomings you shouldn’t learn.” Another shareholder said pensively, “Playboy! The divorce lawsuit he filed that year with all the division of properties gave us a huge headache.”

Zhou Sheng naturally knew that it wasn’t the divorce with his mother, so it must have been the one with the rich lady.

Zhou Laichun laughed even louder now and high-fived both shareholders. Zhou Sheng laughed, “My philosophy on love has always been: one pair for eternity.” As he spoke, he showed them his electronic cigarette, “My wife bought this for me, I’ve already quit cigarettes.”

The two shareholders nodded. After one cigar finished, Zhou Laichun smiled and made a ‘please’ gesture, so the shareholders stood up. Zhou Sheng wanted to send them off, but Zhou Laichun said, “Go back to handle your Q&A ba, there’s nothing for you to do here now.”

Zhou Sheng stood outside the office building until the car drove away. He went back to drink a bottle of Red Bull and returned to the conference room.

“Okay, next, if there are any questions, feel free to raise them.” Zhou Sheng turned off the PPT and stood on stage. This part had been his biggest challenge, but once the two shareholders left, Zhou Sheng knew that he had already won half the battle. Following which, it would be fine as long as he didn’t make any mistakes.

Fortunately, he had anticipated all the questions that could have been raised and had simulated answers for them. His efforts in the past three months have not been in vain. He had personally experienced and understood almost every link in the chain from business models to profit and supply chains. Although three months was a very short time, on paper he was already capable to perform all his tasks.

Zhou Sheng was very humorous with his words and turned the Q&A into a lively reception. An hour and a half later, Zhou Laichun came back and still sat in the conference room. After listening to it for five minutes, he got up and left the table. Another half an hour passed before Zhou Sheng ended his presentation and politely said, “I’d like to thank everyone for attending this presentation.”

At the end, the department manager took the lead in applauding Zhou Sheng, then the meeting was dismissed.

Zhou Sheng stood in the conference room. He was the only one left now.

He turned around and looked at the camera that had been connected to Yu Hao yesterday. He smiled, then stuck his tongue out at the nonexistent “Yu Hao” and made a “yeah” gesture.

“The most important thing in a relationship is mutual understanding.”

After Situ Ye finished listening to what had happened in Yu Hao’s video call yesterday, he said to him, “It’s like that between friends and couples. Soulmates ma, it’s only through understanding each other before one can enter deep into the other’s soul and walk even further together. A relationship with mutual understanding is the healthiest kind of relationship.”

Yu Hao said, “Yes, it’s that kind of fear. Yesterday I suddenly realised that he seemed a bit unfamiliar to me.”

Yu Hao has always envied Lin Ze and Situ Ye a lot. When one of them said that he wanted to come to Beijing, the other resigned from his job at an educational institution and followed along without another word. Most importantly, they’ve always had a sort of connection between them, and they would understand what the other was thinking. Lin Ze was extremely solemn and serious at work. He would always wear a suit and tie every day as he sat at his office desk, and when he started handling anything related to his professional matters, it was as if he had turned into another person. It was very similar to when Chen Yekai stood on a platform for his lectures.

Meanwhile, Situ Ye was responsible for joking around with the editors of the general office, adjusting the atmosphere, and helping their office maintain interpersonal relations. Yu Hao usually revered and feared Lin Ze, but ever since he started work, Lin Ze has never scolded him before. If only Lin Ze was here, then Yu Hao might have had a very hard time here.

“Ah Ze has never scolded me.” Yu Hao said, “Actually, my stress tolerance isn’t that low.”

Situ Ye smiled, “He doesn’t scold you because someone like you doesn’t need to be scolded. When something small happens, you’ll be the one feeling all guilty first. Scolding you would just alleviate your guilt.”

Yu Hao, “Okay then.”

Situ Ye’s eyes widened as he edited the photos he took. He raised an eyebrow and said to himself, “But his temper is better now. He used to scold people until they cried.”

Yu Hao said, “He shouldn’t have scolded you before ba?”

“He did when I was his subordinate.” Situ Ye said, “After I assumed a full-time post, he never scolded me anymore. Just need to take note a little in front of outsiders once in awhile. That’s the good thing about Chongqing men, they aren’t too particular about saving face.”

Yu Hao thought that did seem to be the case. Situ Ye would pull the rug out from underneath Lin Ze’s feet once in awhile, but Lin Ze had never gotten angry about it. However, Situ Ye’s the Lady Boss so it was okay, Yu Hao himself can’t pull the rug out from under his leader’s feet. He has to be careful with his words and actions during dinner that night.

“I’m guessing that the vice Editor-in-Chief will say that you’re someone with ‘character’ tonight.” Situ Ye said, “You have to take note of that, don’t think of it as a compliment.”

Yu Hao said, “I’ve been curious about this for a really long time. What does it mean to be described as someone with ‘character’ by a leader?”

“The old men are all into collectivism.” Situ Ye said, “Saying that you’re someone with ‘character’ is scolding you for being stupid, that you should be more obedient. When you hear that, quickly nod and laugh awkwardly a few times, and it’ll pass. Don’t go along with it and express your character.”

Yu Hao seemed like he had just awoken from a dream and hurriedly thanked Situ Ye. Situ Ye said without much concern, “Kids raised by the rich ma, they all have quite a character. 90’s kids ma, they have character too. Everyone is a person of character.”

Yu Hao said, “Stop talking about ‘being raised by the rich’, I’m really afraid that Jin Laoshi will explode from all your attacks.”

When Lin Ze wasn’t around, Situ Ye would always expose the truth and teach him how to understand the thoughts these people really harbour. Yu Hao truly did love him, but he was also really afraid that Situ Ye would rouse people’s hatred with his words.

“You didn’t understand his meaning.” Situ Ye said.

“Then why the hell did he say that?” Yu Hao really didn’t understand this either.

Situ Ye said indifferently while he edited his photos, “He said that you’re raised by the rich to mean that you don’t understand the sufferings of the common people. You don’t lack money, yet you don’t know how to help him issue a few fake invoices to help him take advantage of the state a little……”

Yu Hao, “……”

As soon as Lin Ze returned, Situ Ye stopped talking. Lin Ze tore apart a pack of anti-alcohol drugs, swallowed a handful, then looked at Situ Ye and Yu Hao to ask them if they wanted some too.

Situ Ye turned up his nose at them. Yu Hao was sick, so he didn’t dare take another medication. Lin Ze said, “Get ready, let’s go. Everyone’s very energetic. Angry birds, set off!”

For this dinner in Beijing, they reserved a room at Nanmen Hotpot. Lin Ze had invited three leaders, the three mainstays of the press -- secretary, editor-in-chief, vice editor-in-chief, as well as the two heads from the department of news interviews and editing.

Yu Hao didn’t dare interrupt. With this group of reporters and editors, as soon as they started talking, the conversation would be filled with all sorts of anecdotes, and they were all quite talented. It was as if in every one of their spirits, there lived a lamenting, impulsive, and unrestrained Zhou Sheng. Lin Ze greeted them one by one, chatting jovially with them as he made jokes and took good care of his leaders and colleagues in all aspects.

“What do you think?” Lin Ze smiled at Yu Hao. He would call on Yu Hao from time to time.

“I’ve never thought that I would be able to buy a house in Beijing in my life.” Yu Hao answered honestly, “If only the land would be redistributed again sometime in the future.”

Everyone laughed at the same time.

“Indeed, these property prices have shut the door in the faces of many talented young people.” Yang Hong looked at Yu Hao adoringly.

“If you don’t buy one in your life,” the secretary said, “In the future, your son and grandson will have to buy it anyway. Would there be any difference?”

Everyone laughed again. The secretary said, “Man struggles upwards, while water flows downwards. If you want results, you’ll have to squeeze into the top places in this industry. Beijing is the political and cultural center of the country, you can’t evade it. If you want to just dabble in finance, you’ll have to go to Shanghai, Hong Kong, or New York. If you want to achieve even greater success in China, then you can only choose Beijing. See, didn’t Lin Ze come too?”

Lin Ze could only nod and say ‘yes, yes’.

Lin Ze would toss some questions at Yu Hao from time to time. Yu Hao followed the script and acted out his role as a college student who had just entered the workforce, and seriously answered his questions.

The vice editor-in-chief ate some shabu meat, drank wine, smoked a cigarette, and called Yu Hao out within the smoke, “You try to get smart too often, be a little more down-to-earth.” Then he said to Yang Hong, “Amongst the batch of interns we recruited this year, he’s the most good-looking one right?”

Yang Hong said, “Yu Hao does look quite good. When I saw Xiao Ye the first time, I thought Lin Ze’s assistant didn’t look much like a photographer, but more like a male model? But after Yu Hao came, he got downgraded again!”

Everyone roared with laughter. Yang Hong said to Lin Ze, “Where did you get so many high-quality resources from? Ah?”

“Xiao Yu has quite a character.” The vice editor-in-chief narrowed his eyes, “Young people na, are all people of character.”

Sure enough, Situ Ye got it right, and Yu Hao almost spat out a mouthful of wine.

“Yu Hao?” Lin Ze’s face was flushed red from all his drinking.

He tossed Yu Hao a glance to remind him, and Situ Ye immediately said, “Xiao Yu drank a little too much today, I’ll help him……”

Yu Hao immediately understood that this cup of wine must be toasted by him. These are all things that Zhou Sheng had never taught him before. He had to pour the white wine first, then bow and toast the vice editor-in-chief. The vice editor-in-chief sat down and drank it.

These people are very polite to Jin Weicheng, but they didn’t like him very much and often interrupted him. Jin Weicheng could only bear it. The head of the reporter’s department said, “Xiao Yu looks like the type to have been pampered at home.”

“We are all kids raised by the rich.” Situ Ye took the initiative to say sincerely, “Once we entered the workforce, we’d feel like there’s too many things we have to learn. Come come, cheers.”

Yu Hao, “……”

Situ Ye’s drink had blocked that person’s mouth straight away, so as to prevent him from continuing to nag. It’s not like he’s a leader anyway. The secretary asked, “My grandson is about the same age as you, but that kid yo, can’t calm down enough to focus on his studies and only cares about dating. He’s always enjoying the limelight at school and is gifted in many areas, he’s just not cut out for studying.”

Lin Ze continued the secretary’s words, “Examination-oriented education doesn’t reflect much. Don’t we rarely look at grades when we recruit people too? In the media business, what we need are quick-witted people.”

Jin Weicheng said, “Does Xiao Yu have any other talents?”

Yu Hao looked at Lin Ze. Lin Ze nodded slightly, then shook his head again. Yu Hao didn’t know what he meant, so Lin Ze smiled, “Do you want to embarrass yourself?”

Yu Hao understood. He meant that if you’re not confident, then don’t try to show off any of your ‘talents,’ lest it ends up biting you in the ass; if you have a good one that can add points for you, then take it out. It could end up being effective.

“Shall I sing a pingtan for the teachers?” Yu Hao said.

“Yo!”

This talent was beyond everyone’s expectations. Yu Hao took a chopstick and knocked on a white wine glass twice, then cleared his throat, “I lost the blazing sun —— a gentleman loses his willow, the willow lifts up gently, all the way up —— to the highest heavens ——”

Three words appeared on the top of Lin Ze, Situ Ye, and Jin Weicheng’s heads at the same time -- “what the fuck?”

Lin Ze looked completely dumbstruck. Yu Hao knew he must be thinking, “you fucking know that too?”

“Ask Wu Gang……what he has, Wu Gang holds……osmanthus wine……”

Yu Hao was a little drunk. He closed his eyes a little, grasped the wine cup, stood up with a crouched posture, and gently clinked his cup with the vice editor-in-chief’s then downed all the wine in his cup. This song was the pingtan sang by Yu Hongxian; Zhao Kaisheng used Mao Zedong’s words. Almost everyone who had experienced that era would know how to sing it; the secretary, Yang Hong and vice editor-in-chief all started humming along.

“Good!” The crowd applauded.

The secretary was quite surprised, “Good! There aren’t many young people who can sing that nowadays!”

Yu Hao smiled, embarrassed, “I’ve just made a fool of myself.”

“It’s been so many years.” Yang Hong sighed ruefully.

Secretary said, “It’s been so many years.”

The vice editor-in-chief drank the residual wine, “It’s much better now compared to the environment 30 years ago.”

“Un.” Yang Hong nodded pensively.

No one spoke. After all, none of them had come from that era. The three leaders began to laugh as they recalled those years. Lin Ze spoke a little and praised them continuously. Yang Hong began talking about experiences before the Chinese economic reform, and everyone at the table started listening to the stories of the leaders. Yu Hao’s pingtan had turned into a short interlude for this dinner.

Translator's Note:

Juurensha: The reporter life is rough.

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