The gathering ended on a cheerful note, and as Yan Xi and Song Hai were leaving the Zhou family home, most of the Zhou family members were busy seeing Song Chao off. It was Zhou family's son-in-law who was escorting them out.
"Zhou family's attitude is too excessive," Song Hai said after they got into the car. "Even if they need something, there's a limit. Being overly eager isn't the best way to seek cooperation." There were many guests at today's gathering, and although Zhou Boss had managed to connect with the Song family, his subservient demeanor might have made him seem "too spineless" to others.
"Anything taken too far is not good," Song Hai said, more as a life lesson than a critique of Zhou Boss. "Business and personal life are the same. You can bend, but you shouldn't bow. Once you bow too low, standing up becomes much harder."
Yan Xi nodded obediently. This city was full of hustle and bustle, but behind the glamour, who knew how many people were working tirelessly.
"Dad, actually, I feel like I've heard of the name 'Song Chao' before. Where have I heard it before?" Yan Xi racked her brain. "Did you mention it before?"
"If his name was Qin Chao or Tang Chao, you'd probably feel familiar with it too," Song Hai explained. He thought the Song family had been clever in naming their child. "By giving him this name, when he was in school, teachers and classmates would remember it easily. It naturally attracts attention. It's just like with the surname Song, it's not as catchy as others."
"That makes sense..." Yan Xi was convinced by her father's reasoning.
As the holiday passed, Yan Xi returned to work, hunting for news and gathering materials with her colleagues. Perhaps because of the attention her program, Xiao Song Song, had received, the station had set up an official Weibo account for their show, titled "Things Around Us." However, apart from joining forces with other unnoticed shows from the Beijing station, the account had no fans or likes.
Chen Pei, having noticed this, discussed it with the head of the station and spent a few hundred yuan to buy some fake followers, occasionally having some fake accounts post likes and comments. This made the otherwise desolate official Weibo appear less pitiful.
After recording her show, Yan Xi was called over by the head of the station. It turned out that in response to building closer relationships with the audience and better understanding the tastes of the younger generation, the head suggested that Yan Xi should also open a personal Weibo account.
Yan Xi: ...
If the official account was barely maintaining its dignity with fake followers, was she supposed to spend her own money buying followers too?
Seeing the expectant look on the station head's face, Yan Xi couldn't bring herself to refuse. She decided to create an account and maybe spend a few dozen yuan on followers just to make it look decent.
After lunch, the station head came over to ask about her Weibo account again. Yan Xi had no choice but to register the account right there under the head's watch, setting her work ID photo as the profile picture.
"Not bad, not bad," the station head said as he nodded approvingly when he saw the work ID photo. "Your attitude is very professional."
Yan Xi felt there was some misunderstanding between her and the head. If she really had a professional attitude, she would have chosen a beautifully edited photo of herself, worked hard to increase her followers, and generated buzz for the show. But instead, she had done it in such a half-hearted manner.
Sometimes, generation gaps were really hard to resolve.
After being praised by the head, Yan Xi didn't want to leave her Weibo account blank, so she contacted the fake follower seller and had her followers boosted to over a thousand. Then, she posted:
"Good luck today, I'm opening a Weibo. [smiling dog face]"
She didn't hire any fake accounts to like or comment, as it was a bit too expensive. She needed to save her salary to buy a birthday gift for her dad for his upcoming 50th birthday.
As a low-level host, she didn't earn much. Fortunately, Yan Xi was also an amateur popular online artist, so otherwise, she might have ended up using the money her dad gave her to buy him a gift.
Once the post was made, she was about to log out when Chen Pei walked in. "Yan Xi, the station just received a report. There's an employee about to jump from the building of the Changfeng branch nearby. Go with Zhao Peng to the scene."
"What?" Yan Xi was momentarily stunned. "Won't this interfere with the police's work?"
"You'll just interview the crowd outside the police cordon," Chen Pei smiled. "If this wasn't happening at Changfeng's branch, you and Zhao Peng wouldn't have to go at all."
Yan Xi immediately understood. What truly mattered in news was the buzz. If there wasn't any, no one would care. Chen Pei was pushing her, the host, to do the reporter's job not because she cared about the person about to jump, but because it could involve Changfeng Company.
"I understand," Yan Xi grabbed her bag and rushed out with Zhao Peng. To save time, she had the driver take her own car instead of the van with the station's logo.
The branch wasn't far from the station, and since it wasn't rush hour, they arrived in about twenty minutes. The scene was surrounded by regular police officers, community workers, and firemen, each doing their part, focusing all their attention on the suicidal person.
Crash mats were laid out at the bottom of the building, and a crowd gathered behind the police cordon, each person holding a phone, filming the building. Some even started live-streaming. When people learned the jumper worked for Changfeng, there was a sense of schadenfreude in the crowd.
Changfeng wasn't an easy company to get into, and the people working there were somewhat capable. The bystanders, whether mocking the person or simply enjoying the spectacle of Changfeng's misfortune, seemed to find amusement in the situation.
"Mum, can we stop him from jumping? It will hurt a lot if he falls," a little boy, his hand bandaged, said anxiously as he looked at the scene.
His words made the crowd around him feel awkward, and the chatter quieted down.
"Don't worry, little friend, the uncles will save him," said a firefighter manning the cordon. He patted the boy's head and asked, "How did you get hurt?"
"I fell while climbing high..." the boy replied sheepishly.
"Next time, don't be so naughty," the firefighter chuckled as he knelt to face the boy. "It hurts, doesn't it?"
"Yeah," the boy said, touching the firefighter's rough hand with a small scratch, "Uncle, did you also fall from climbing?"
"Yes," the firefighter nodded, glancing at the rescue operation, showing the boy his rough, calloused hand with cuts and unhealed blisters. "I didn't listen to my parents, and this is what happened."
"Uncle, you're amazing! Even though you fell like this, you didn't cry," the little boy said, full of admiration. "No wonder my mom says police officers are the best."
Standing aside, Yanxi didn't approach but instead let Zhao Peng capture this moment on film.
In the firefighter, she saw responsibility and resilience; in the little boy, she saw kindness, innocence, and hope.
The standoff between the firefighter and the would-be jumper lasted for nearly another half hour. Then, a commotion broke out in the crowd. Several men in suits pushed through, parting the crowd and leading others behind them to squeeze past the onlookers and into the restricted area.
"Thank you for your hard work, comrades," said Yuan Yi, looking at the rescue operation above. "Is there anything our company can assist with? We'll cooperate fully."
Yuan Yi came in person?
Yanxi was a little surprised. Normally, when such incidents happen, senior executives try to avoid getting involved to avoid any negative fallout. But Yuan Yi, as the second son of the board, had personally come to handle the situationâthis was quite rare.
Yanxi was too far away to hear the conversation between the firefighter and Yuan Yi, but soon after, Yuan Yi was escorted into the building. A few minutes later, she saw the jumper at the window turn to speak to someone inside.
At that moment, the firefighter, suspended by a safety rope, climbed down from the window and kicked the jumper back inside!
The crowd erupted into applause when the jumper was rescued. Some praised the police officers at the scene, others were relieved that the person's life had been saved, and some even took it upon themselves to buy water for the firefighters. However, the firefighters couldn't accept the civilians' gifts. In the end, they had to distribute the water to the onlookers.
While the crowd was nosy and had some petty flaws, their kindness toward life outweighed any negativity. So, despite their occasional annoyance, they were still a lovable bunch.
Yanxi walked through the crowd, ready to interview the police officers. When she got closer to a few young firefighters, she realized they were all much younger than her. She approached one, who was sweating profusely, and after showing her work ID and explaining her intentions, the young firefighter's face turned bright red. He nervously avoided looking at the camera.
After asking for his age and name, Yanxi learned that this young man was only 19 and was a contract firefighter. As they spoke about their work, the shy boy slowly became more at ease.
"Putting out fires, opening locks, saving people, saving cats and dogs, emergency repairs, poking hornet nests, and cleaning animal pens in villagesâthese are just some of the things we've done," the young man said, wiping sweat from his face and laughing carefreely.
Although he didn't say anything particularly touching, Yanxi was deeply moved by his words.
Yuan Yi came out of the office building and, seeing the cameraman at the scene, turned to the branch manager and said, "The reporters are here too?"
The branch manager silently cursed under his breath. "I'll get rid of them right away."
Yuan Yi frowned. "If they've already come, sending them away will make us look guilty. If there's no issue, don't make one. Just let them be." As he descended the steps, he overheard a reporter talking to one of the firefighters.
"Thank you for agreeing to this interview. I wish you safety and good health."
Hm?
Hearing that familiar voice, Yuan Yi froze in his tracks. Yanxi?