The female assistant, Xiaofang, came looking for Zhang Ye while holding a slip, smiling sweetly, “Teacher Zhang, it’s time to do the recording for tonight’s program. You have Room 7 from 10 A.M. to 11:30 A.M. Don’t go any later than 11:40 A.M., because there is another recording after that. Well, in the afternoon, Room 8 has a lot of free slots. If you are up for it, I will book the timings for you? We can book three hours at the most.”
Zhang Ye considered this, “Okay, then thanks for the trouble. Book it for however long it is available for. I will try to record three broadcasts by today.” Of course, it would be good to prepare a few broadcasts in advance while in good health and spirits, rather than to rush at a later time. Besides, in this line of work, having one’s voice in a good condition was imperative. If he caught a cold, it would definitely affect the quality of the broadcast, so it was better to be prepared.
“Sure.” Xiaofang blinked, “Then, should I help to prepare your manuscripts?”
Zhang Ye waved his hands, saying, “No need for that. I don’t have any manuscripts. Let’s go straight to recording.”
No manuscripts? Xiaofang couldn’t help but look at him admiringly. Even the colleagues around who heard that were impressed. Ignoring the composition skills of the newly-arrived Teacher Zhang, just his off script reading skill was one of a kind in the Beijing Radio Station. Even for programs that demanded spontaneity like interviews, the host would still require a script of some sort for a guide, not to mention a program like story-telling!
Tian Bin watched with envious fury. Look how everyone is behaving. It’s just a good result for the first broadcast and that’s to be expected. I don’t believe that the next few broadcasts will bring such high ratings. The station had been promoting it so strongly, so, of course, the first broadcast would be highly-rated. Tian Bin also had a broadcast for a novel last year and on the first day of the broadcast, he had received ninth place. But the next few broadcasts’ ratings dropped exponentially by the day. In the end, it became last place as usual. Such is the law of programs in the late night segment and no one has ever managed to escape the claws of this curse!
Wait and see what happens tomorrow and the day after! I will watch you cry when that happens!
Tian Bin was already confident of his judgement!
Other Literature Channel colleagues, even Zhao Guozhou, had similar thoughts. Luck probably played a part for its first broadcast rating. No matter what, this was a late night segment: a midnight segment, in fact. This timing had the lowest audience numbers, so the ability to take third place would be lost for sure. It would even be normal for it to slip to around the tenth place.
However, the way the situation progressed caught everyone by surprise!