His mother called for him from the living room.

“Son.”

“Yes?”

“Time for dinner.”

“OK, I’m coming.”

Zhang Ye came out of his room feeling more refreshed than before. His face did not show any signs of struggle or hesitation, like he had already made up his mind.

His father was already eating when he asked him, “Did you manage to sleep?”

“I did sleep for a while.” Zhang Ye also started to eat.

His mother looked at his expression and said, “Have you decided?”

Zhang Ye gobbled up his food and said, “Yes, I have. I’ll make a trip to Beijing Television Station tomorrow.”

His mother said, “Do you intend to go back?”

Zhang Ye calmly said, “No, I will go and discuss something.”

……

The next day.

Early morning.

As it had rained last night, the temperature was cooler by four or five degrees today. Before Zhang Ye left the house, his mother reminded him to put on additional layers. He drove to Beijing Television Station, having arranged a meeting with Hu Fei. However, when he reached the television station, he was welcomed not only by Hu Fei but also a few others who he knew very well.

Xiao Lu screamed from a distance away, “Teacher Zhang!”

Zhang Ye waved and greeted, “Xiao Lu, long time no see. You’ve become prettier again.”

The first person to come forward was Dafei. Without saying anything, he gave Zhang Ye a bear hug and then said, “I really missed you a lot, Teacher Zhang!”

Zhang Ye laughed. “Me too.”

Hou Ge also came. He pulled Dafei away before giving Zhang Ye a bear hug as well.

When Xiao Lu saw this, she also hugged Zhang Ye happily and said, “Come back quickly, Teacher Zhang. We don’t have any motivation to do programs without you.”

Hu Fei asked, “Have you decided yet?”

Zhang Ye nodded and replied, “Yes I have. Let’s go in and talk.”

“I hope it will be a positive answer,” Hu Fei said.

Zhang Ye followed them and entered the new office of the new program team at the satellite channel. Upon entering, he said, “I’m sorry, Brother Hu. I may have to disappoint you.”

When everyone heard that, they could only muster an “ah.” Suddenly, all their happiness and hopes disappeared without a trace.

Xiao Lu said anxiously, “You’re not coming back?”

Dafei asked, “Why?”

Hou Ge said, “Please reconsider again. Don’t rush to answer.”

Hu Fei did not say anything and waited for Zhang Ye to explain.

Zhang Ye laughed and said, “I’d already decided yesterday, no, to be honest, I had already decided on this matter a very long time ago. After I left Beijing Television Station, I did not plan on coming back again, at least not now when the time is not yet ripe. Everyone, don’t try to persuade me anymore. You all know how stubborn I can be. Since I’ve already made up my mind, it will not change. I have my own way of persisting.”

Hu Fei looked at him deeply and said, “When you agreed to come back to help with the public service announcement, I knew that you still had deep feelings for Beijing Television Station. But your decision now leaves me confused. Since you do not have any better place to go to for now, with such a good contract offer, why are you still refusing to come back?”

Zhang Ye organized his thoughts and said, “I do have feelings for this place but it is not like how Brother Hu put it. If I must describe it, I think that these feelings are from my memories and the blood running through me. From childhood, I’ve grown up watching Beijing Television and other local Beijing stations. Those cartoons, soccer matches on BTV-Sports, BTV’s Spring Festival Gala, BTV-Entertainment news and programs on Beijing’s street and food culture. Those emotions are all engraved into my memories and are very difficult to describe with words. I love Beijing Television Station and that is not something anyone can change, because I’m from Beijing and it’s that simple.”

Hu Fei said, “Then you ought to come back.”

Xiao Lu said, “That’s right, that’s right.”

Zhang Ye said from the bottom of his heart, “I am confident to say and guarantee that some day from now, I will surely give my best and most excellent television program to Beijing Television Station, my hometown television station. But for now, I can’t come back. It’s not the right time either.”

Hu Fei sighed lightly, “It’s useless to say anything more then?”

“Yes. I’ve already made up my mind,” Zhang Ye said.

Hu Fei smiled bitterly and said, “Alright, then I also will not say any more. I know some people in the industry. After this, I will call up some old friends and ask them to help link you up with the other television stations.”

Zhang Ye said, “No need, Brother Hu. If they’d wanted to contact me, they would have already done so, it’s not something that can be forced. I will just wait at home and take whatever comes.”

Xiao Lu turned around and walked over to the other side of the room and slumped into a chair, wiping away her tears.

Zhang Ye was shocked and said, “Woah, what are you doing and why are you crying?”

Xiao Lu ignored him.

Hu Fei sighed, “The station has added to our burden during this period of time. We have such a good broadcasting time slot, but the new program is still not ready, so everyone is very stressed. We were hoping that if you came back to join us, you would be put in charge of program planning and become the executive director. Forget it, there will be a solution somehow.”

Zhang Ye asked, “What kind of program did the station request?”

Hu Fei smiled helplessly, “A singing program.”

Hu Fei was promoted, together along with his team in Beijing Television, and even secured the critical spot of Friday’s primetime slot. Because of that, there were many voices of doubt at the station. Everyone held their breaths and tried to produce a good result, but the outcome did not meet their expectations, the reason being simply because were too many singing programs on the market. They found out that, in the short span of half a month after they had decided to do a singing program, six or seven other satellite channels had also launched their singing programs at the same primetime slots from Friday to Sunday.

One or two were still acceptable.

But five or six? Seven or eight?

Moreover, this situation was not a recent occurrence as there were already signs of such a trend beginning since a year ago.

No matter how high a saturation level the market could accept, it still couldn’t have so many similar programs together at once. Even the most hardcore singing show lover would be bored to death!

Hu Fei explained to Zhang Ye and said, “A singing program is easy to do, the template is simple to follow and even if the program ratings are not considered high, the worst it would do is still acceptable. It makes for a very safe choice. That’s why many television stations love to do these kinds of programs. But as it coincidentally turned out this time, all those television stations had the same ideas, leading to so many similar programs flooding the market. We were one step too late and didn’t seize the opportunity. If we just broadcast like this, our program ratings would surely be very poor. That’s why I had been enduring the pressure from the station and did not start on the recording of the program even though the equipment and stage settings were ready.”

Zhang Ye took out a tissue and handed it to Xiao Lu.

Xiao Lu took it and wiped away her tears.

“Hur hur, don’t cry anymore.” Zhang Ye patted her shoulder and said, “Earlier, as everyone kept on asking me about my reason, I could not finish what I had to say.” Since he had come to the station today, he was of course not intending to only reject their offer in person, because if that were the case, he would not have needed to come in person. A call would have sufficed since a face-to-face conversation would have made it even more awkward. Since Zhang Ye chose to come to the television station, he naturally had his own plans. He said, “I only said that I wouldn’t be coming back, but I never said that I wouldn’t help everyone plan a new program, right?”

Hu Fei looked at him.

Xiao Lu also stopped crying and turned her head with teary eyes.

“Teacher Zhang, what’s the meaning of all this?”

Hou Ge also added, “If you are not coming back to work, how are you going to help us do a program?”

Zhang Ye said, “Since there are professional program production companies that sell their programs to television stations, I can do the same. Hur hur, but I won’t be selling a program. Instead, I will help everyone plan a program and be fully responsible for the initial stage. If it is acceptable and everyone goes along with my program plan, I can guarantee that the program ratings will not be poor. I also do not need any payment in return, except for my most basic copyright fees.”

Actually, the reason why Beijing Television Station was so desperate to sign Zhang Ye was not because of his hosting ability. That was a secondary priority. The more important factor was because of his program production skills. The station wanted Zhang Ye to come back to help them make a signature program that could compete with the other satellite channels! If the program was bad, even if one had strong hosting abilities, it would be useless. But if the program was well produced, no matter who the host was, as long as he or she was not too bad at it, the host might even become popular as a result of the primetime program. This was why it also showed the quality and the indispensable side of Zhang Ye. It was not for his hosting ability but for his production strength.

“Ah?”

“How can that be?”

“Is this…is this a good idea?”

Everyone was hard pressed for ideas on how to make this singing program into a good one. And with the current program it was replacing slated to end soon, they were getting anxious. Although they were nervous, they were still rational. If Teacher Zhang Ye really signed with television station and came back, they would surely accept it as his program production skills were top-notch in the industry. If he did not make an effort, then the others would definitely not agree to it. But now that Zhang Ye had rejected the contract with the station, even if he wanted to help out as a friend by giving a free program structure and plan, Hu Fei would absolutely not accept it. Zhang Ye was a friend indeed, so he could not be ungrateful either.

“This will not do.” Hu Fei rejected directly and said, “I appreciate your kindness, but…”

“Brother Hu, please let me finish.” Zhang Ye coughed and said, “I do not have any demands for the monetary side of things except for the copyright fees. As for the other aspects, I have a request that might be very unacceptable to the station, and that would be my one and only request for helping the station plan a program.”

“Oh?” Hu Fei blinked. “Let’s hear it.”

Zhang Ye pondered for a while and said, “I would like to appoint my choice of host for this primetime program. The station must sign her and let her be the host. That is my one and only condition.”

Hu Fei asked, “Who is it?”

Zhang Ye said, “You all may not know her, but her name is Dong Shanshan.”

“Dong Shanshan?” Hu Fei repeated after him.

Xiao Lu exclaimed, “I know her! Back when you were hosting the talk show, you mentioned her several times. She was your old classmate and was also a host at the online television station!”

Zhang Ye laughed and said, “That’s right, it’s her.”

Hou Ge exclaimed, “I also know Dong Shanshan! She is very beautiful and goes down the path of sexiness. But isn’t she not exactly well-known in the hosting industry? About that…”

In the small community on the internet, the number of Dong Shanshan’s fans was not too bad at all and she had many diehard fans as well. But on a large platform like the provincial satellite channels, Dong Shanshan was obviously a nobody and most people would not be able to recognize her.

Hu Fei said, “No wonder you say the station will find it very hard to accept. A satellite channel that broadcasts nationwide on a Friday primetime slot letting an inexperienced and average rookie host such a heavily invested, top-rated program—I believe that there are no satellite television station that would have such courage!” Saying that, Hu Fei also delightfully remarked, “Unless the station is mad.”

Zhang Ye said, “That’s right.”

Almost immediately, Hu Fei’s tone changed and he said, “But I believe for your program plans, the station is willing to be mad for once!”

Zhang Ye said, “What do you mean?”

“I do not have any problems on my side, but I need to seek approval from the upper management. I can’t make that decision alone.” Hu Fei turned to leave just like that as he said, “Wait for my news.”

Zhang Ye nodded and said, “Alright!”

Translator’s note: Some news update for everyone, I’ve started my Patreon, so you can check it out here

For every $50 increment in total pledges, there will be 1 chapter accumulated for release in the following month. Thank you for your support!

On top of this, until the end of April, for every increase of 10 patrons, up to 80 patrons, regardless of amount pledged, 1 chapter will be released within the day of hitting the milestones. This will run concurrent to item 1. (The next is the 30 patrons milestone/8 more to go!)

There are plans for advanced chapters sometime next month, so watch out for the announcement!