Chapter 236 - Program Title Introduction, “I’ll Feed a Bag of Salt to Myself”! (1/2)

The next day at work.

At the office, almost everyone had come to work already.

“Hey, Zhang Ye’s here.”

“Did you all see it yesterday?”

“Of course! It was really awesome like they said.”

“No wonder the company spent so much money to advertise for him. Did you hear? Our web portal had an 8% increase in traffic yesterday night!”

“Only now do I believe that he is really, really, capable!”

“He’s so good at program planning, like with ‘Lecture Room’ or those public service advertis.e.m.e.nts and even ‘I’ll speak for myself’. But why is that new program that he is preparing so obscure? If you don’t seek death, you won’t die. Can’t he plan up a proper program nicely? Why must he attempt this baffling talk show thing? Even if his promotion was so successful, I am still not convinced of his new program.”

“Yeah. Sigh. Such a good promotion has gone to waste!”

“In my opinion, they should have just done the promotion for other hosts instead!”

“Sigh. Zhang Ye is here. Hush, let’s not talk about it anymore.”

Zhang Ye walked into the office.

“Teacher Zhang, good morning.” greeted w.a.n.g Bei who was seating in the center of the office.

Ah Qian and Little Yu also said good morning to Zhang Ye.

Zhang Ye greeted back everyone. He then nodded to Dong Shanshan, who had left the apartment a little earlier than him, before taking his seat at his desk.

Outside, w.a.n.g Xiong came inside to look for two people. After delegating some work to them and sharply criticizing a host who did poorly in recording yesterday, he finally came over to Zhang Ye’s side, “Little Zhang Ah.”

Zhang Ye stood up, “Leader.”

w.a.n.g Xiong patted him on the shoulders and said with a warm expression, “Well done! Yesterday’s advertis.e.m.e.nt had a really desirable effect. You should follow up on your program tightly; there aren’t many days left.” Saying that, he handed him a list, “This is our staff listing. You will be in charge of a.s.sembling the program team. Choose your team so that we can start work the day after. You will need to prepare the stage, script and the program introduction amongst others. Pay close attention to it.”

Zhang Ye nodded, “I will.”

w.a.n.g Xiong walked off as Zhang Ye looked through the list.

It was filled with the names of many members of the staff. They included details of their positions like copywriting, planning, directing, etc.

Zhang Ye also saw Ah Qian and Little Yu’s name. He only knew the two of them, so he looked over to them, “I need to a.s.semble a team for my program. You guys?”

Ah Qian replied, “I’m already in Teacher Shanshan’s team.”

“Me, too. Sorry about that, Teacher Zhang.” Little Yu said apologetically, “‘Online Talents’ will be starting preparations today, so…..”

Zhang Ye smiled. “It’s okay. I will ask around.”

As he said that, he looked at a name and asked, “Is Xu Neng around?” This was a program director’s name.

A youth heard his name and stood up to walk over, “That’s me.”

Zhang Ye said, “My program is starting preparations soon. If it’s convenient for you….”

Xu Neng made a sound and said, “Teacher Zhang, sorry, but I have already been appointed as deputy director on two programs. The workload is very heavy. I can’t take on another role.”

“Well, that’s fine then.” Zhang Ye looked at the name list again. This time, he found a 50-something-year-old comrade. He hoped an experienced comrade could lead the team.

When he found him finally, the experienced producer did not seem interested. He replied to him without enthusiasm, saying, “I still have work on my hands. You should find someone else.”

After asking several people, all of them said that they were busy!

Zhang Ye was initially patient, but in the end, he ended up becoming frustrated!

Busy? A good program did not require pus.h.i.+ng for hires. Everyone would rush to join instead. Because when a program ended, their names would be credited. The experience and credentials gained could help bolster up their resumes when they wanted to job-hop to other companies. But right now, these people were all dodging him! It was simply because they were not confident of his talk show segment and did not want a share of it because of what could happen if it failed!

Dong Shanshan suggested an idea to him, “You don’t need to ask them for their opinion. Just put down their names and give it to the Leader. They would have no choice then.”

Ah Qian also agreed, saying, “Correct. You are the program team’s highest decision maker.”

Dong Shanshan’s new program was headed by an Executive Producer who was in his forties. The members of the program team had been decided by that Head Producer. Dong Shanshan only gave suggestions, but she did not have the authority to decide on it. However, Zhang Ye was different. To headhunt him, who was both great as a host and a program planner, the company had given him preferential treatment. For example, he had the freedom and absolute authority with regards to the program. This was not treatment any typical newcomer would receive. In WebTV, only the hosts who had been famous for a long period of time could be given the t.i.tle of Executive Producer.

However, Zhang Ye said, “There’s no need.”

“Then how are…” Little Yu asked.

Zhang Ye finally put down his words, “If no one wants to, I will do it on my own!”

Ah Qian said in shock, “On your own? How can the team’s work breakdown be….”

Then, they could only stare in a dumbfounded manner as Zhang Ye filled in his name in all of the team list’s columns. Executive Producer – Zhang Ye. Director – Zhang Ye. Overall Planner – Zhang Ye. Technical Advisor – Zhang Ye. Costume Design – Zhang Ye. Stage Setup – Zhang Ye. He wrote his name closely in all the columns, ignoring the dumbfounded stares of his colleagues. Zhang Ye then directly brought the list to w.a.n.g Xiong’s office and submitted it.

w.a.n.g Xiong took a glance and nearly fainted, “Little Zhang, what do you mean by this? I know you are multi-talented, but do you need to go this far? Is this because they don’t want to join your program team?” Saying this, w.a.n.g Xiong’s face also scrunched up, “Don’t worry. Just fill in their names. I dare them not to come!”

Zhang Ye heart warmed up as he said slowly, “Leader, a forcefully ripened fruit does not taste sweet. I will be fine alone. Just give me a few cameramen and lighting a.s.sistants and I will do the program well!”

w.a.n.g Xiong said in worry, “Besides them, I will find a few more people for you.”

“It’s really alright, Leader. Thank you. My program will be handled better by myself. If there are too many people, it will be counter-productive instead,” Zhang Ye insisted.

w.a.n.g Xiong hesitated for a moment, then smiled bitterly, “Alright then. If you say so. Then it is set. The cameramen and other crew will be arranged for you. The other departments will also coordinate with you at your convenience. The costumes and program intro filming will be prioritized for you and Dong Shanshan’s programs!” After saying all that, he gave Zhang Ye a doc.u.ment, “Go to Studio 7. From today until the first day of your program’s recording, it will fully belong to your production team. No one will be sharing it with you, so as to let you get the place up and running. If your program really gets the approval, only then will we arrange for the studio to be shared with others. The set’s layout will be adapted to whatever program is being recorded. After all, our recording studios are not abundant, so it gets a little tense.”

Zhang Ye said, “I understand.”

“Give this doc.u.ment to Supervisor w.a.n.g. He will arrange the rest for you.” w.a.n.g Xiong said.

Before noon.

Soon, all of the department’s staff heard of the shocking news. As many people did not wish to be in Zhang Ye’s production team, Zhang Ye filled in almost all of the team’s positions with his own name in a fit of anger. Eventually, even the Leader had approved of it. This made everyone at a loss of whether to laugh or to cry. They thought that with such a tantrum, if it were left to w.a.n.g Xiong to arrange, who would dare not turn up? They could not possibly turn it down either. A new program would definitely need a proper team. But who would have thought that Zhang Ye was so indifferent — They don’t want to come? Then I don’t even f**king want them! With Zhang Ye’s move, it had left many in the office feeling awkward and feeling bad.

w.a.n.g Bei was speechless, “Teacher Zhang, you can’t handle it all by yourself!”

Ah Qian also said, “Yeah, you only have a pair of hands and legs. How can you handle so much work? This…. There’s even a lot of specialized positions in the team. You…”

Zhang Ye knew they meant well, but he had already decided. Understaffed? Then he will just work overtime for a few more days. Specialized jobs? Well, he had spent some time working at the television station, so it wouldn’t be difficult for him. Zhang Ye felt that he could handle it well, “I will be fine by myself.”

Dong Shanshan looked at him, “You know how to pick the costumes?”

Zhang Ye replied, “It will be a suit and tie for every episode. Every episode will have different colors.”

Little Yu was also sweating when he said, “How about the set layout?”

Zhang Ye, “It’s in the proposal. I’ve already written out the setup I want.”

Dong Shanshan rolled her eyes, “You can’t possibly do the post-production, too, can you?”

Zhang Ye said matter-of-factly, “My program will not require any post-production. As long as the audience shots and my shots are planned out properly, there won’t be any shots to edit.”

The surrounding colleagues had all heard this.

Bulls.h.i.+t! You really know how to bulls.h.i.+t!

Of course, they didn’t believe it. But those who had ever worked with Zhang Ye before, like Hu Fei, like Xiao Lu, Dafei and gang, would definitely know Zhang Ye’s claims were true. His recorded programs really did not need any post-production. All of the shots and sequences were all controlled by Zhang Ye’s pacing. Not even a second of additional footage would be recorded. It was because Zhang Ye’s broadcast program was already a finished product from his previous world. It had already been edited by the professionals from that world and all that was left was the essence. Zhang Ye had used the finished product, so, of course, there won’t be any mistakes!

Everyone continued to advise him.

But Zhang Ye was stubborn. He did not listen. Actually, in his heart, he just wanted to prove them wrong. Hur hur. You guys don’t have much hope for this bro? Sure, then I will show all of you! Even if this bro is alone, he will be able to make this program great! At that time, let’s see who still dares to talk tras.h.!.+

Before afternoon, Zhang Ye had found Supervisor w.a.n.g. He then went over to Studio 7, which temporarily belonged to him. The audience’s seats were all in place. The lights were also already set up. All he needed to do was to decorate the stage a little and it will be ready for recording. Zhang Ye had decided by now that for the next few days, this would be his office.

After lunch, Zhang Ye did not idle. All of the work to be done rested on him. He did not have any time to waste, so he began his first task, a task that was supposed to be handled by the Director or Deputy Director and the Marketing Planner — the making of the program’s t.i.tle introduction.

Zhang Ye found the middle-age woman who had previously handled his promotional advertis.e.m.e.nt. He had known by now that this woman was called ‘Sister Four’. As her husband was also working in Weiwo company as the Deputy Supervisor of Logistics, his popularity was rather good. Everyone liked to call her husband as ‘Brother Four’, so ‘Sister Four’ naturally became her t.i.tle, too.

Staff room.

Zhang Ye navigated left and right through the mess, “Sister Four? Is Sister Four here?”

In the small office, Sister Four looked up with a pair of disposable chopsticks in her mouth, “Oh, it’s Teacher Little Zhang?” She was just having some soup dumplings.