Chapter 136 - The Difficulty of Getting One Live Ticket! (1/2)
4 o’clock.
Two hours after the program was broadcasted, the reactions and reviews online became more and more heated. The discussions and praises kept coming in. Some areas outside of Beijing, like Hebei province or the northeastern provinces, were not able to receive the broadcast of BTV – Arts Channel, but they got curious and, with the trending news of it, went ahead to search for online videos and watched “Lecture Room”’s first episode on streaming websites.
The program was going viral!
It was really viral!
Shortly after, a few people suddenly loitered around outside Hu Fei’s team’s office. A 30-something-year-old woman and two youths looked in and said, “Excuse me. Is this the office of ‘Lecture Room’?”
Xiao Lu, who was the closest to them, replied, “Yes. Who are you looking for?”
The woman said, “It’s like this. We are from BTV – Sports Channel, and are your fellow colleagues. I would like to ask if there are any tickets to today’s recording for ‘Lecture Room’?”
Xiao Lu looked at Hu Fei, “Leader?”
“There are. Besides the ones we distributed, we still have about 50 tickets left.” Hu Fei opened the drawer and generously pa.s.sed the tickets to Xiao Lu, “I had nearly forgotten about them. Please distribute them as you like. Hur Hur.”
Xiao Lu gave them three tickets.
The woman said, “Thank you so much. If there’s any compet.i.tion, as long as it’s sports related, we will definitely have some tickets. Just look for us.”
Xiao Lu smiled. “It’s fine. We are all colleagues.”
Ring, ring, ring. Suddenly, Hou Ge’s phone rang.
Hou Ge answered, “h.e.l.lo. Old Sun? I’m busy right now; it’s almost recording time. I will call you back tonight.”
The caller seemed to be someone from the television station, “Don’t hang up. First, help me get a few tickets for ‘Lecture Room’. I have a few friends who like the show very much. Since they know I work here, they are insisting that I help get tickets for them. My G.o.ddess is one of them! Old Bro, you need to help me out here. My happiness depends on you! I will come upstairs to look for you later. That’s set, so leave me three tickets at least!”
Hou Ge was speechless and hung up.
Outside, there was someone again, “Is Dafei around?”
Dafei looked up, “Yo. Isn’t that Science Channel’s Brother Wu?”
That Brother Wu smiled. “Dafei, my dad and mom would like to attend the live recording of ‘Lecture Room’, I heard you start at around 5 to 6 P.M.? Let me have two tickets then.”
Dafei generously agreed, “Sure. If uncle and auntie wants to watch, it won’t be problem.”
Wave after wave, people came to ask for tickets. Some were for themselves and some were for friends. There were even people asking for their parents and relatives. In the blink of an eye, their 50 tickets became less than 40 tickets. It was decreasing rapidly, but the number of people who came to ask for tickets kept increasing.
“Hou Ge, give me a ticket!”
“Brother Fei, are there still any tickets? Just one will do.”
“Sister Xiao Lu, please just give me one. My friend really wants to come. If I don’t get one for him, how can I show my face!”
Xiao Lu did not know whether to laugh or to cry, “But I don’t have any.”
“Help me to find one, please. Thank you.”
“Oh, alright then. Teacher Zhang, can you give me two of your tickets?” Xiao Lu could only turn to Zhang Ye for help.
The 50 tickets from before were already handed out to the team earlier. Zhang Ye had received ten tickets himself. Since he did not know many people in the station, he handed them to Xiao Lu, “Take them.”
This afternoon, Hu Fei’s program team had become highly sought after. It was difficult to get ahold of a ticket from them!
Later on, the people from the advertising section who knew Zhang Ye from before also wanted some tickets. But Zhang Ye had none left. He was practically empty.
Xiao Lu wiped off her sweat, “So our program is this popular?”
Hou Ge also said tiredly, “Whoever comes next, I won’t be able to give anymore tickets to. I’m out of tickets, too.”
Hou Di seemed to enjoy the attention. He said, “When we are going around next time, we can puff our chests out and be proud. Let’s see who dares say our program cannot make it!”
Zhang Ye laughed. Suddenly, he looked around, “Eh? Where’s Chenchen?”
Xiao Lu also helped to look around, “I don’t see her around. Where did she go? She couldn’t have gotten lost, right?”
Hou Ge happily said, “Can you even lose that little one? Anyone can be lost, but she will never be lost! She’s got the street smarts! I’ve never seen a kid as smart as her!”
As he was saying that, Chenchen came back holding a can of cold c.o.ke, walking and happily slurping her drink. She even gave a delightful burp!
Zhang Ye stared at her, “Where did you go to? I told you not to wander around!”
Chenchen put out her hand and said commandingly, “Zhang Ye, give me a live ticket.”
Zhang Ye was stunned, “I will bring you in later. You don’t need a ticket. Why would you need one?”
Chenchen pointed outside towards the door, “That auntie bought me c.o.ke. I promised her a ticket.”
Zhang Ye smacked his forehead. He had been utterly defeated by the little imp. She even knew how to take bribes now. He had to give Chenchen the last ticket in his hand.
Chenchen took it to the auntie.
She said before leaving, “Thank you, lovely baby. Teacher Zhang, thank you, too.”
Hou Ge was very excited, “Look. You guys, even the kid has been activated. This shows how popular our program is. They are crazy for it!”
Hu Fei laughed, “Alright, we should get to the studio earlier.”
Hou Ge said excitedly, “Right, we should work hard on today’s recording, too. Usually the first episode’s ratings are higher. After all, it was a new program. It’s more refres.h.i.+ng and audiences watch it with hopes that it will be different. But from the second episode onwards, the quality really matters. If it’s not a good program or does not hold up to expectations, the ratings would drop by a lot. We have to do better in this episode than the last one!”
Dafei gave to Zhang Ye a bottle of mineral water, “Teacher Zhang, it’s all yours.”