Chapter 250: WebTVs First Historical Live Broadcast!

Evening.

Nearly 7 P.M.

Zhang Ye came to work under the light of the moon. According to the company, this was a classic case of working late. It was also something that the Leaders had specially approved. It wasnt too different from a traditional television station. Usually, before a live broadcast, the hosts wouldnt be kept too busy. Theyd also usually do their preparations an hour or two before the show started, otherwise, if they were to work normal hours like everyone else, how would they be able to handle the live broadcasts at night? They wouldnt be able to their energy levels up!

The lift doors opened just as he entered the building.

Zhang Ye quickened his footsteps so that he caught the lift just in time.

There was a man inside the lift, someone that Zhang Ye knew. It was the person who hed met on his first day after joining the companythe one from Human Resources whod made him fill in his form with an English name.

His name was Yang Yang. He glanced sideways at Zhang Ye with a sunken expression.

Zhang Ye didnt pay any attention to him, and pressed the button for his level, looking relaxed.

Yang Yang didnt attempt to speak to him either. The two of them had already argued in the past, so of course they didnt want to speak once again!

The lift went to the basement first, where Zhang Ye walked out. He walked straight to Studio 7 for the recording. He entered by pushing the door. Damn, it had already transformed into a whirlwind of activity and staff.

Is the signal okay?

Its almost there.

Ill adjust it a little more, then.

Lights, we need some more lights over here!

Over a dozen people were busy climbing around and carrying equipment.

When Zhang Ye noticed the WebTV departments second-in-command, Wang Xiong, he knew that the company had placed a lot of emphasis on this live broadcast of Zhang Yes Talk Show. The department leaders were all handling this personally, causing Zhang Ye to subconsciously feel pressured.

Little Zhang, youre here? Wang Xiong said when he saw him.

Zhang Ye went forward to greet him, Director Wang.

Wang Xiong looked at him, laughing, You look pretty confident. Howre your preparations? Has the script and all of the joke segments to be used been decided already?

Zhang Ye nodded, Its been decided.

Wang Xiong said with heartfelt emotions, Your talk shows program style is the first of its kind in the country, as well as in the world. Theres been no precedence nor experience with this sort of program. Although our company has many scriptwriters and editors, they cant really write good material for joke segments like you can. Its their first time handling something like this, so before they familiarize themselves with it, well still depend on you to write it. When they know it better, in the future, itll be much easier. Ill find a group of writers for you, in order to help with your background research and work, so that you wont have to work so hard.

Zhang Ye smiled. Its alright, Director Wang. Writing these things comes quite naturally to me.

Wang Xiong cautioned, Director Feng asked me to remind you that the joke segments should all be original, just like in the first episode. If youre out of any original joke segments, you can get some from online too. However, the company will have to purchase the rights on your behalf. At least well avoid any copyright issues then.

Dont worry. Zhang Ye didnt have any such worries. He said, You wont find any of the joke segments from my talk show online.

Wang Xiong said at ease, Haha, thats good then. Come, you should get ready. Go do your makeup and get changed first. Ive gathered the best from each department in order to help out the situation here today. This is a historical live broadcast in WebTV history, and also a first. Its a real milestone for us, so weve gotten the backstage works all ready for you. You can rest assured, and just do your best up on stage. This live broadcast isnt only watched by our companys top management you shouldve seen the discussions online? There are many people in the same industry, and peers, who are watching us. We arent asking you for perfection, just for you to do the best that you can.

Zhang Ye replied, I wont betray the leaders trust.

Backstage.

In the aisle.

Sister Four from the filming department was chatting with Dong Shanshan and Wang Bei. Ah Qian and Little Yu were present as well, but didnt say anything.

Zhang Ye was a little stunned, Shanshanteacher Shanshan, arent you busy with your program? Whatre you doing here?

Dong Shanshan turned around and smiled at him, My old classmates doing a live broadcast today, therefore I definitely have to come and support him. No matter how busy I was, Id still have come.

Zhang Ye said happily, Interesting.

Dong Shanshan added on, The main reason is because Im afraid that youd use me as your topic again, so Im here to watch you!

Everyone laughed.

Zhang Ye looked over at Sister Four, Sister Four, youve worked hard.

Sister Four snapped her fingers, It was nothing. The person one whos going to have to work hard in a while will be you. If anything happens during the live broadcast, the responsibility is all on youPui, curse my mouth! Then, without saying any more worrisome words, Sister Four said, Oh right, howd you offend that Lee Parkwoo from Korea?

Zhang Ye held his hands up in denial, I dont even know him, nor have I even heard of him before this.

Wang Bei added her share of opinions, That person is such a grandson. He had nothing better to do, so he wanted to create trouble for you? His sense of superiority is really there. A Korean thinking that he has fans from both countries, and that he can even forget his surname? Ive already posted a reply on Weibo to scold him. That Lee Parkwoo really is unbearable to watch. He looks all high and mighty, and with just a few words, leads those brainless Chinese fans of his to do all the dirty work for him. He even looks like hes enjoying the entire process, which makes him that much more hateful!

Little Yu echoed, Yeah! He still said that Teacher Zhang was faking going off-script? Why doesnt he just die? We all saw it clearly back then, even the audience saw it! Teacher Zhang never once referred to the script from beginning till the end. He didnt have an earpiece prompter either. Lee Parkwoo is just blatantly accusing him. I read on the internet that many Hallyu fans believed it, and are scolding both Teacher Zhang and our company for misrepresenting it to the audience. What do we even call this?

Zhang Ye smiled, but then sighed, Its just a small matter. If they wish to say so, then leave them be. Ill go and get changed, and have my makeup done first.

He left.

Only Sister Four, Dong Shanshan, Wang Bei, and the others were left looking at each other.

Eh. This wasnt right. It definitely didnt feel right. Everyone in the company knew about Zhang Yes terrible temper. If someone casually said something that offended him, he might even desire to grab them by the collar and scold them. Whats more, that Korean celebrity had blatantly accused him like this. This wasnt Teacher Zhang Yes style at all!

Ah Qian wondered, Whats with Teacher Zhang?

Sister Four was also bewildered, Just a small matter? Shouldnt this be a big matter? Hell let it go, just like this?

It was still his old classmate, Dong Shanshan, who knew him the best. She smiled diligently, saying, This is the calm before the storm. Zhang Ye is simmering his feelings right now. I think in this episode of the program today, someones definitely going to get scolded. And I think hes going to be scolded really, really badly!

Put on makeup.

Get changed.

The costumes were all handled and chosen by Zhang Ye himself. The makeup artist gave him some opinions, but he didnt listen. He insisted on wearing a suit and tie. No one except Zhang Ye understood what a talk show was like. In his previous world, a suit and tie were the symbol of a talk show, therefore Zhang Ye didnt want to change and lose that in this world. He picked a color that he felt matched, and went to the front.

A field director along with several staff members were carrying a teleprompter.

What are you doing? Zhang Ye went over and asked.

The director said, Oh, Director Wang said to prepare this for you.

Zhang Ye said with a wave of his hand, Take it away. I dont need something like this.

Sister Four, who was fiddling with the cameras, looked over, Teacher Little Zhang. This is a live broadcast, so theres a need to be prepared. You might not need it, but its always better to have it prepared in case you forget a line

Zhang Ye was very stubborn. Smiling, he said, Sister Four, theres no in case. I definitely wont forget my lines. In fact, I dont even have a script, so whats the teleprompter going to show?

The director nervously said, Ah? You dont even have a script for a live broadcast?

Ive never used a script when I did a recording or broadcast. Zhang Ye had said this before, and he repeated it again today.

The few of them didnt dare to make a decision. One of them ran over to Wang Xiong in order to seek his advice.

Wang Xiong frowned and looked back at Zhang Ye. Then he told the staff, The production team is handled by Teacher Zhang Ye, just do whatever he says. Theres no need to ask me for advice!

The staff appeared to be choked, but didnt dare to say anything further.

Wang Xiongs attitude towards Zhang Ye was to give him full support.

20 minutes until the live broadcast.

The audience had already entered the studio. Then, Feng Guiqin and a few of the companys leaders entered through a side door. They didnt sit in the front row, instead sitting in one of the corners. The remaining company staff also came along to watch, even though they didnt have any tickets. He couldnt neglect his fellow colleagues, so he arranged for them to stand to both sides near the stage. The cameras wouldnt be able to capture them, as it was considered a section for the internal crew to watch over the set. Their fellow colleagues whod wanted to come and watch had all arrived. Even that person, Yang Yang from Human Resources, whod argued with Zhang Ye before, was here.

Finally.

The audience numbered around 70 to 80 people.

The companys staff members watching numbered around 40 to 50 people, almost equal in number to the live audience numbers.

Dong Shanshan, Wang Bei, and the others had tickets for seats, so they sat in the middle and waited. Everyone was looking forward to the broadcast, but a lot of them were worried about it.

Zhang Ye looked on as the time approached. He tested the mic on stage, Hello, I hope everyones doing good. The live broadcast will be starting soon. The situation today will be a little different. Because the picture and sound will be broadcast real time over the internet, I hope that everyone can minimize their movement and volumes. Thank you.

Sister Fours camera crew gestured to himthere was still 10 minutes left.

After the audience had been seated, they started discussions amongst themselves.

Did you see what happened online?

Yeah, youre talking about Lee Parkwoo, right?

Yes, those bunch of Koreans are so wicked!

Yeah, I already disliked them from before. They shouldve just quietly had their own developments to earn our money and gain our fans. But now theyre even scolding our hosts?

Korea has always been like this!

Right? Theyre really strange people. Always claiming that everything belongs to them!

I came to the recording the previous time, and I know that Teacher Zhang didnt use a script. Look, theres no teleprompter today as well, right? This is a live broadcast, lets see if that Korean still dares to shoot his mouth off this time!

But what if a situation arises?

Hai, indeed. There can be all sorts of incidents during a live broadcast. I hope Teacher Zhang can do well for our countryman, such that that Korean cant mock us!