Chapter 92: Outburst

“At six o’clock last night, in Happy Homes on Linjiang Road, a hallway awning suddenly came loose and fell. Fortunately, no residents were injured. This station would like to remind everyone: when entering or leaving building corridors in the future, do not linger, so as to avoid unnecessary accidents...”

On the television, the stern-faced female anchor, Fan Li, was delivering the report.

Compared with the way she had looked when she first appeared on the program, she was now a completely different person. No longer nervous, she delivered every story with calm assurance and composure.

Lin Chuan sat at the dining table, watching the morning news he had personally reshaped, yet there was no trace of pride or satisfaction on his face. Instead, his brows were tightly knit.

The report from just now lasted only about a minute in total, and then ended with that bland little reminder. A reminder of what? Viewers cared more about how that awning had come down in the first place, and what explanation the relevant authorities had to offer.

With shoddy work like that, the matter had to be dug into thoroughly. This time no residents had been hurt, but who could say there would not be a similar incident next time?

If one was going to do people’s livelihood reporting, then it had to be done properly. One had to stand on the people’s side and examine the issue from their perspective.

“Dad, I want an egg,” Lin Yiyang said softly beside him.

Lin Chuan pulled himself from his thoughts and picked up an egg to peel.

“Xiaochuan, you seem a bit unhappy. What’s wrong? Why not tell us, so we can be happy too?” Yuan Ye said with a broad grin.

Lin Chuan shot him an irritated look. If the old man had not been there as well, he might have cursed the fellow out already. As the deputy director of the television station, Yuan Ye also bore responsibility for how the news had turned out.

And yet, instead of realizing the key issue, he was still joking around like nothing mattered?

Lin Chuan sighed, placed the peeled egg into his son’s bowl, and looked up. “How’s your side coming along? The month’s almost over. Can we start recording in November?”

“No problem. Everything’s basically settled now, except for the host and the special guests. If all goes smoothly, we can record the first episode in early November,” Yuan Ye said, the teasing smile fading as he became serious.

Ever since they returned from the one-day trip to Beining, all the preparatory work for If You Are the One had been handed over to Yuan Ye alone. After all, Lin Chuan could not stay in Quencheng forever; there were still many things waiting for him in the capital.

Just yesterday, Uncle Gao had called to say that another commercial performance was coming up soon. In addition, several television stations wanted to invite him as a guest for one or two interview programs.

As for whether he would accept, Uncle Gao could not decide on his own. Everything would have to wait until Lin Chuan returned before a decision could be made.

“Special guests are easy. Find two older veterans, people with some rich experience and life knowledge in matters of the heart, and that will do. As for the host, if it really comes to it, go to a university and look there,” Lin Chuan said, his brow still furrowed.

At present, the thing he worried about most was the choice of host.

In the past few days, Yuan Ye had posted a public recruitment notice for a host on the station’s official website in the name of Quencheng Television.

The response was not bad. In just two or three days, more than twenty or thirty applicants had signed up. But most of them were not well known, and many lacked even the most basic relevant experience. Quite a few of them were little more than amateurs.

Hosting was not their main profession. To be more precise, it was merely a side job. On weekends and days off, they would host small commercial events. For instance, in a busy area, they would set up a temporary stage, hold a microphone in hand, and enthusiastically hawk various goods to the four corners of the earth.

If such people were allowed to host If You Are the One, and halfway through the recording they started promoting products to the participants, it would be a joke of epic proportions.

Therefore, finding a suitable host was not something that could be done overnight. Better to have too few than to settle for the mediocre and be forced to use someone unqualified.

After breakfast, Yuan Ye left the house first to busy himself with the preparations for If You Are the One.

Lin Chuan, meanwhile, went alone to the television station.

In the news department, everyone was buried in their work. The department head, Liang Qingwen, sat at his desk watching interview footage, directing the editors as they cut and assembled each news segment.

“Chairman Lin? What brings you here? Please, have a seat.”

When Lin Chuan came over, Liang Qingwen was first stunned, then quickly rose and pulled over a chair.

Lin Chuan smiled and nodded, but did not sit. He studied the footage for a moment and asked, “Is this today’s news?”

“That’s right. The piece we’re editing now is from just this morning. When the live broadcast vehicle arrived at Eternal Peace Bridge, it found that there had been a car accident there, with one dead and three injured. It looked like a family of three,” Liang Qingwen said with a nod.

“Play the edited version for me,” Lin Chuan said, his expression tightening.

Soon, the footage began to roll.

The scene of the accident was a mess. Two sedans had collided, and the front end of one black car had been completely crumpled. Large splashes of blood stained the windshield.

In the footage, many traffic police had arrived, and two ambulances were parked nearby. A woman and a child of about five or six were being carried into them one after the other.

What drew Lin Chuan’s attention, however, was a middle-aged man in a leather jacket with blood streaming down his head. He stood there speaking with a traffic officer. Since there was no sound, their conversation could not be heard.

The footage stopped there. In total, it was just over a minute long.

“Is that all?” Lin Chuan frowned and glanced at Liang Qingwen beside him.

“Uh... that’s it, Chairman Lin. This story could make tomorrow’s front page, couldn’t it?” Liang Qingwen said with a smile.

Lin Chuan’s face darkened.

This news piece, like the awning collapse report from the morning, had no beginning and no end. It was over in a minute or two, hurried and incomplete. Who was supposed to care about that?

“What about the follow-up report? What was the result of handling this traffic accident?” Lin Chuan asked coldly.

“Th-that...” Liang Qingwen was momentarily speechless.

Lin Chuan glanced at him and continued, “How are the injured now? Did you send anyone to the hospital for further interviews?”

“...” Liang Qingwen stood there, face flushed and neck red, unable to answer.

“This is such a major story, and you only gave it one or two minutes? And yesterday’s awning collapse, such a serious accident, you brushed over it as well? Did you go to the relevant authorities to find out what happened? Who is responsible for shoddy construction like that? The audience has a right to know about these things. What they want is for the station to stand on the people’s side and investigate the matter thoroughly, not just to offer a simple reminder and a vague word of caution.”

Lin Chuan lost his temper and exploded right there in the news department.

At that moment, everyone stared in astonishment at the young chairman who had become a star in the public eye.

In their minds, Lin Chuan had always been the mild-tempered sort, smiling at everyone and rarely losing his temper. So what had happened today? Why was he suddenly scolding Department Head Liang over a single news item?

Liang Qingwen stood frozen in place, hardly daring to breathe. He had never imagined that Lin Chuan would be so furious.

“What are you standing there for? Call the reporters outside at once and do a follow-up on this morning’s accident. And as I said, fully investigate yesterday night’s awning collapse as well...”

Liang Qingwen snapped back to himself and hurriedly nodded, fishing out his phone to make the arrangements.

After issuing all of that, Lin Chuan left. Instantly, the entire news department erupted.

“What was that about? Why did Brother Lin get so angry? Did someone piss him off?”

“No way. Even if someone did, he wouldn’t come take it out on our news department, would he?”

“I don’t think so. We’re in the business of news. We really should be making these reports comprehensive. You don’t know this, but when my dad and mom watched the news this morning, they kept complaining that the awning collapse was actually pretty serious and should not have been wrapped up in just a few minutes.”

“Exactly. I felt a bit awkward when I saw that report this morning too. There was so little content, and it ended after just one casual reminder. No wonder the chairman got angry.”

“All of you, lower your voices. If the boss hears you, you’ll be the ones in trouble.”

At those words, everyone’s gaze turned to Liang Qingwen. His face had already gone completely dark. Anyone foolish enough to provoke him at this moment would surely suffer the consequences... Everyone could not help drawing a sharp breath.

“What’s going on? What happened?”

Suddenly, a figure drifted over.

Everyone turned to look. It was Fan Li, who had just returned. The moment she stepped into the news department, she sensed the oppressive atmosphere.

“Fan Li, come here quickly,” said a woman wearing glasses, waving her over at once.

“What is it?” Fan Li asked as she approached, her brows slightly furrowed.

“Just now, Chairman Lin came over and gave our boss a savage dressing-down. Oh, it was brutal... Let me warn you: do not provoke him today. The boss is in a foul mood right now.”

“Brother Chuan scolded the boss? What on earth happened?” Fan Li was even more confused.

“It was all because of the news...” Several people began speaking over one another, explaining the whole sequence of events.

At the same time, Lin Chuan returned to his office. He had only just sat down when the phone in his pocket rang.

“Hello? Yuan Ye?”

“Xiaochuan, are you at the television station?” Yuan Ye’s voice came from the other end.

“Yes. What’s up?” Lin Chuan asked.

“Come to Yuhua Hotel. I’ll be waiting here. Call me when you arrive,” Yuan Ye said hurriedly.

“Yuhua Hotel? It’s not even mealtime yet, and you’re already in such a hurry to invite me to dinner?” Lin Chuan said, momentarily taken aback, then teased him.

“Dream on. My cousin just called, and she wants us both to go over... Anyway, I’ve passed the message along. Come or don’t come, it’s your choice. If anything comes of it, you can deal with it yourself,” Yuan Ye said, and hung up.

Lin Chuan set down his phone with a wry smile. The words “cousin” really did carry an enormous amount of weight. Even he did not dare offend her lightly.