Chapter 6 (1/2)

Hai

Dong closed his memo pad with much frustration, “With such laziness, how is our

program going to fulfill its goal of bouncing our news up to the province and

central stations? We’re approaching November and completion of this year’s goal

is still nowhere in sight. You people are going make me lose the bonus that I

need to find a wife. No woman is going to take me without a house.”

Although

Hai Dong was joking, it was undeniable that there was such a goal.

Hai

Dong’s <focus tonight=””> was given orders by the County Publicity

Department to at least bounce 50 of its own news to the province station and 2

news to the central station every year.

The

goal had been reached easily for the past few years because their county was

near the ocean. Whenever there was a tornado, their station’s disaster relief

reports would get on both province and central news.

This

was why Hai Dong always commented jokingly that the survival of their program

depended on the heavens. And heavens weren’t smiling on them that year. There

was not one tornado.

As the

end of year drew nearer, the station people got increasingly pressured and agitated.

Everyone

cracked up hearing Director Bai’s complaint. Huang Xi even chided him, “Director

Bai, if you cut back on the beer money, you would have both a house and a wife

by now.”

Cigarettes

and alcohol were Director Bai’s Achilles’ heels and those were the 2 things his

subordinates usually teased him about.

“Shut

it. Quickly get to work, the earlier you finish, the earlier you can leave!”

Director

Bai scolded half-seriously. The morning meeting thus drew to a close.

Half an

hour later, the newsroom was empty again. All the reporters were out hunting

their own news, only Se Cai sat in the room facing his computer.

“This

d.a.m.n computer, it’s giving me a blue screen again. It’s the second time this

has happened today!”

Se Cai

screamed in agony as he slammed his fingers on the keyboard.

Most equipment

in County S Tv Station was as old as the building itself. Even if they bought

new equipment, they were reserved for current politics programs like <county s=”” news=””>.

After

all, <county s=”” news=””> had daily recordings and often invited important

figures to their shows. It was only natural that shows like these needed a

sense of grandeur that befitted its guests.

<focus tonight=””> was on the other hand, a program on society and lifestyle. Their

focus and guests were the general public. Naturally, they got the hand-me-down

equipment.

Along

with the show set, they were also still using old tape recorders that often got

stuck.

“Hmm…

Since Zhang Xin Yu is still not here, I’m sure she doesn’t mind me borrowing

her personal computer.”

Se Cai

sucked in a breath and peered into the dubbing studio that was beside him.

The

studio was Zhang Xin Yu’s domain, it was her office. Since she usually stayed

at the station until 7 or 8 pm to record her voice over, she would come in late

every morning at 10.

The

computer inside the dubbing studio was built for recording and not typing work

so it was much faster.

It would

finish rendering a 3 minute newsreel in 20 seconds while Se Cai’s old computer

would take 5 to 6 minutes. It was the best computer in the whole Tv Station.

A piece

of device so impressive was understandably guarded. The directors wouldn’t even

let the reporters get close to it, fearful that it would be ‘tainted’.