Ch123.1 – Choosing a Topic

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?”

“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.