Chapter 76: Does this Award Count?

“It’s not me?” Zhāng Yě was the first to be dumbfounded.

Jia Yan was just about to applaud Zhāng Yě, and his hands were still frozen in midair.

Host Zhang Huo’s words made many people who knew what was going on stunned. Everyone looked disbelievingly at Zhang Huo, thinking that he had made a mistake!

However, Zhang Huo looked seriously at the award certificate in his hands, and with great care and confirmation, read once again, “This year’s Silver Microphone Award winner… Zhang Ye!”

He articulated his words very clearly!

It was Ye! Not Yě!

Deputy Station Head Jia was stunned!

The Station Head’s face turned black!

Everyone from the Beijing Radio Station made an uproar!

Xiaofang almost jumped up. She grabbed Zhang Ye and shook him hard, “Heavens! It’s you! Teacher Zhang, it’s you!”

Zhang Ye was in a daze, “Me?”

Auntie Sun widened her mouth, “How did it become Zhang Ye?

“I don’t know, either.” Zhang Ye wasn’t sure himself.

“It’s you! He has already read your name twice!” Big Sis Zhou was happy all of a sudden. She gave Zhang Ye a hard push, “Haha! Stop looking silly there! Quick go on stage to receive the award!”

The old editor also urged in a whisper, “No matter what, just go up first!”

“Right, first get the award before speaking. Even if the staff made a mistake, it will be too late to change who gets it at that point!” Big Sis Zhou came up with a rotten idea.

Zhang Ye was about to stand up, but he was stopped.

A staff member suddenly ran onto the stage to communicate with the host, and then took the award certificate from his hands.

Next, Zhang Huo waved his hand at Zhang Ye, “Teacher Zhang, wait a while. The jury has asked for a pause. I think there’s been a mistake.” Following that, he said to everyone present, “Sorry, everyone. We have a situation on our hands. Please wait for the jury’s review.”

The other people did not know what was happening and also waited to see a show play out before their eyes.

The five judges were already in discussion. Besides them, there were other staff members gathered together.

Deputy Station Head Jia went over to take a look and also came together with the Station Head to understand the situation. What had happened? It was clearly supposed to be Zhāng Yě. They had even seen Zhāng Yě’s trophy. But why did the announcement suddenly change to Zhang Ye? Wasn’t this nonsense!? There was no precedent of additional nominations winning an award! Not even once!

“Where’s the award certificate?”

“It’s here. Take a look. It’s written ‘Zhang Ye’.”

“It’s definitely not him. It should be the Beijing Radio Station’s Zhāng Yě.”

“Ah? Then why is it this name in the award certificate? That’s not right. The trophy is here, too. It’s also engraved ‘Zhang Ye’. There’s no mistake.”

“Even on the trophy was written ‘Zhang Ye’?”

“Can someone tell me what is happening?”

“Teachers, this might be the fault of my people.”

“Qu Ping, what are you talking about?”

“Just now backstage, one of my staff members spilled some water and the award certificate could not be used. The trophy also shattered from falling, so I got them to get a spare from the manufacturer. But.. they might have heard the names wrongly. Zhang Ye and Zhāng Yě sound quite alike.”

“What do you mean by this?”

“How can this happen?”

“Then how are we to present the award?”

“The names are all written as Zhang Ye, so should we present it now or not?”

At this moment, the Beijing Radio Station’s Station Head interrupted their conversation, “Even if it’s wrong, it should still be presented to Zhāng Yě. This was decided by the jury, so how can we change it?”

An old judge looked at him, “We already announced it, so how do we take it back?”

Deputy Station Head Jia knew that Zhāng Yě had to get this Silver Microphone Award, for he was the only son of the Station Head’s old war comrade. Hence, he said, “Since it’s an error made by the jury staff, we shouldn’t have it affect our station’s newcomer award winner because of this! That would be too unfair for Zhāng Yě! You can’t do that!” Fairness? When they were pushing Zhang Ye to a cliff, refusing to give him a nomination, they had never thought of the meaning of fairness. But now, once it affected their own interests and relations, they began shouting about fairness!

The old judge was very unhappy with their tone. In terms of qualifications, he was an old veteran in the circle, and was one grade more senior than the Station Head and Deputy Station Head Jia. “Isn’t Zhang Ye from your radio station, too?”

Deputy Station Head Jia flatly said, “No way can it be Zhang Ye! It has to be Zhāng Yě!”

One of the five judges, a younger judge, stared at Deputy Station Head Jia, “Please keep your tone down and don’t scare us again. Now that we are discussing how to resolve the matter, must we go to the point of making such a fuss? Zhang Ye and Zhāng Yě are both comrades from your radio station. I have some impression of Zhang Ye. If I remember correctly, his results are much better than Zhāng Yě’s, right? So this should not be a huge difference for your radio station.”

The judge’s tone had changed. They seemed to have the intention to leave the mistake uncorrected and make the best of it.

Actually, Zhāng Yě was chosen by them. Among the five, four votes were given to Zhāng Yě, while one abstained. Under normal circumstances, the jury would of course respect the views of the radio station, but the problem now was that the circumstances were now not normal. The trophy and certificate were all wrong, and even the host had announced the wrong name. It was not easy to deal with this situation. And with the Golden Microphone Awards about to be broadcast live, where did they have the time to make a new trophy for Zhāng Yě?

“But…” the Station Head said with a long face.

The old judge said, “We will take it into consideration. Can those who are uninvolved please return to your seats?”

The Station Head could not say certain things, so Deputy Station Head Jia decided to say it, “This Zhang Ye has a character problem. That’s why our station did not recommend him. He definitely doesn’t deserve to win this award!”

As their voices were a bit loud, and Zhang Ye was sitting in the front area, and was pretty close by, he could hear clearly what the Deputy Station Head said!

I have a character problem?

I don’t deserve this trophy?

Zhang Ye laughed from extreme anger. He never expected that these so-called Leaders would not only trample on him for no good reason and push him aside, they would even smear him now!

The old judge looked at Zhang Yuanqi, who was still onstage smiling and chatting with the host, before looking at Deputy Station Head Jia’s eyes, “Character problem? An exception was made for Zhang Ye’s nomination by our jury. Are you questioning our jury’s level or are you questioning our jury’s basic distinguishing ability?” Seeing that they still wanted to add on further, he waved his hands and put it to a stop, “I’ve already said that uninvolved people should please leave!”

…

Over here.

Big Sis Zhou was straining her ears to listen, “What are they saying?”

A Literature Channel’s young editor said, “I think they were saying the trophy broke from falling, and they wrote wrongly. That’s all I heard.”

Zhang Ye had naturally good ears, so he heard more than them. He had not missed a single word of what the two Station Heads said!

“The trophy shattered?”

“No wonder! So this was written wrongly?”

“Hehe, I see. Zhang Ye and Zhāng Yě are quite similar!”

Everyone finally understood. After all this time, it was a blunder!

Blunder? At this moment, Zhang Ye finally understood. He had initially thought that the Lucky Bread had been ineffective, as he had not seen any effects. In fact, it was not ineffective, but it had happened without him knowing. He was sure that the shattering of the trophy, the messing up of the award certificate, and having the name written wrongly were definitely the effects that the Lucky Bread gave in those five minutes. If not, there was no way that such a thing could happen!

All the mistakes happening together at the same time?

If it was a coincidence, it was too exaggerated!

Zhang Ye secretly touched his game ring. You sure helped me a lot this time!

Wang Xiaomei looked at Zhang Ye who was two seats away, “Teacher Little Zhang, I still do not know what magic you used? Such a thing can even happen?”

Wang Xiaomei said out what was on everyone’s mind!

That’s right! This can even happen? You can even make a comeback with this!?

During his time in the station, Zhang Ye had never had a smooth-sailing experience. He was looked down upon the moment that he came. He was never appreciated. He later offended the Leader, and was repressed by the Leader. It could be said that he stumbled to the extreme.

However, what made everyone speechless that despite all the dire situations, Zhang Ye had never suffered. He had managed to turn around every difficulty and problem that he encountered, saving the situation. He was godly!

They were sure that Zhang Ye would definitely plant his face into the ground this time, but who knew that this would happen. He had managed to get his name announced in a manner that no one could believe!

Big Sis Zhou laughed heartily, “Our Little Zhang is full of luck!”

In the back row, Tian Bin and his wife heard this. They were thinking, “What darn good luck? He was more bad luck. Whoever stained themselves with him would end up unlucky.” The bizarre sequence of events that happened in the office was still fresh in their minds. It was similar with this situation. The coincidences made people speechless!

But it was still early to say that Zhang Ye had won the Silver Microphone Award, because the jury had not made their indication, so no one could guess the outcome!

Zhāng Yě’s face tightened as Jia Yan spoke to and accompanied him.

The Station Head and Deputy Station Head were sent back. They sat in their seats, silent. They stared unblinkingly at the people in the jury. This was not only about Zhāng Yě not getting the award, it also had to do with their Beijing Radio Station’s face. Although Zhang Ye was from their station, he was not nominated by them. Letting a newcomer that they had abandoned win the Silver Microphone Award? The few Leaders in the radio station could not afford to lose this amount of face!

This was not just the smacking of the face!

It was the trampling of the face! The kind that used feet to trample!

They were all waiting for the jury’s decision. The jury was still in urgent consideration, and had not made up their minds.

However, a few minutes later, a few guests and audience members could not bear waiting. They did not understand what had happened, nor did they care if there was a problem. They did not give a damn who won the award!

“What the heck?”

“Are they still handing out the award?”

“Hurry up! Sis Zhang has been waiting there for so long!”

The few judges and staff members halted their exchange. The final words they said seemed to mean that they had come to a conclusion.

A staff member immediately ran up to the podium and whispered to the host, Zhang Huo.

Zhang Huo nodded slightly, as his lips moved without anyone knowing what he was to say. He then picked up his microphone, “Sorry for the wait. I will announce this award again.”

Zhang Ye took a deep breath!

Zhāng Yě appeared full of anticipation!

Both Big Sis Zhou and Auntie Sun balled their fists!

The Station Head and Deputy Station Head Jia’s faces looked solemn!

This result had caused a lot of angst amongst many people’s hearts. After Zhang Huo remained silent for a moment, he announced, “The winner of this year’s Silver Microphone Award, Beijing Radio Station’s…Zhang Ye!”