Friday.
Afternoon, there was a clear sky.
Today was the day of the live broadcast of the Golden Microphone Awards. Countless numbers of people crowded outside the Beijing Television Station’s Grand Theater. They were lining up with their entry tickets.
The moment that Zhang Ye came, he saw his colleagues.
“Little Zhang, over here!” Big Sis Zhou waved from the group.
“Big Sis Zhou? Auntie Sun?” Zhang Ye blinked before walking forward.
Auntie Sun let him cut in line. She thickened her Beijing accent, “Come over quickly. There’s no need to line up behind everyone.”
Zhang Ye did not feel bad about cutting in line, since he was nominated. He did not need to line up and could just show his work pass to enter. “Why is everyone here?” He really did not know that there would be so many people coming, as he had not gone to work the past few days. He had been fired from “Late-night Ghost Stories”, and “Old and Young Story Club” was still halted, so he did not have any work to do. Zhao Guozhou also took into account Zhang Ye’s mood, so he made an exception to let Zhang Ye take a few days off.
“These are tickets from the unit. There are many seats in the Grand Theater. Almost all our colleagues are here. Look – Tian Bin and his wife are right in front. See them? They are near security, and Teacher Xiaomei came early and is already inside. We actually came late.” Big Sis Zhou said laughingly.
Auntie Sun said in a comforting fashion, “Little Zhang, just relax today and don’t think about anything else.”
Big Sis Zhou also cheered him on, “Right. It’s alright if you don’t get it this time. There are still chances in the future. Just treat it as watching a show.”
Zhang Ye said untruthfully, “I understand.”
“That’s good. Let’s go.” It was their turn to go through security.
Throwing his lighter into the trash can, Zhang Ye passed through security and entered with them.
This was the largest venue that Beijing Television Station had. It could accommodate a thousand people. The seats for Zhang Ye’s unit were arranged to the right of the front rows. It was pretty good. After all, their radio station was part of the Beijing Broadcasting Television Station. It was their turf, so they naturally had priority treatment. It was much better as compared to the other broadcasting stations from the other provinces. This was the home turf advantage.
“Teacher Little Zhang, you’ve come?
“Sis Zhou, you are too slow.”
“Little Chen, Little Xu, why are you so early?”
The tickets for the Literature Channel were all in serial, so they naturally all sat together. Some came alone, while some brought their lovers. Some even brought their children.
After greeting each other, everyone sat down.
Right in front was the Beijing Radio Station’s News Channel’s seats. Zhāng Yě was sitting in the first row. Clearly, it was for him to easily go onstage to receive his award. He had already made his preparations. At this moment, he turned around after being reminded. He looked at Zhang Ye and raised his hand with a smile to attract Zhang Ye’s attention, “Zhang Ye.” He was the same age as Zhang Ye, but had entered the station half a year earlier, so he did not use the salutation of “Teacher”.
Zhang Ye looked over, “Oh?”
Zhāng Yě laughed, “Why aren’t you sitting in front? The both of us are nominated for our station.” There was not too much of a problem with these words, but people felt uncomfortable hearing it.
Everyone knew that Teacher Zhang Ye did not sit in the first row for nominees because he knew he would not win. Yet you had to rub it in? Aren’t you doing this on purpose!?
Zhang Ye said coldly, “There’s no need.”
“Oh, suit yourself, then.” Zhāng Yě turned around.
Jia Yan also happened to arrive at this moment. With his ticket in hand, he did not sit at the Literature Channel’s area, and instead went to the News Channel’s seats.
“Zhāng Yě.”
“Hi, Jia.”
“There was heavy traffic; that felt crappy.”
“Sit over here. I reserved a seat for you.”
Jia Yan a