Later that morning.
Due to the arrival of the World No Tobacco Day, a piece of news attracted widespread attention.
The news came from Central TV's Live Studio. It was about the introduction of new regulations on PSAs. The higher-ups had issued a document to regulate the scope and standards of PSAs. The document clearly stipulated that smoking was harmful to one's health in PSAs that were broadcasted on television were prohibited from showing the lungs of real people. There were also three or four similar new regulations that were prohibited. Once this document was introduced, Central TV and the other provincial satellite channels were not affected too much and were still considered to be in compliance with the regulations. At most, they would have to adjust the graphics and make appropriate changes to the new regulations. But Beijing Television and several other local BTV channels suffered greatly!
Beijing Television's quit smoking PSA was axed!
Beijing Television's two local PSA on the No Tobacco Day had been axed in one of them, while the other did not get approved. A large amount of the production budget had gone down the drain. It was a huge loss!
The netizens were very puzzled.
"Why is it so strict?"
"Why did such a policy suddenly come out?"
"Yeah, PSAs are not meant to earn money. They are usually funded and produced by the TV stations themselves. Why are they being so strict? Won't the TV stations be crying?"
"Don't you guys know that some time ago, a charity organization protested against the inappropriate graphics of the PSAs? I think it happened at the end of last year. It was that black lung caused by smoking. There were pictures of a late-stage lung cancer patient's chest being cut open in the operating theater. A lot of viewers could not accept it, especially non-smokers and minors. Quit smoking PSAs are meant to be seen by smokers, but the TV stations are unable to screen the target audience. As a result, before the smokers could be warned, non-smokers and minors were scared to death. The scenes were too bloody and scary, so they definitely had to be rectified to take into account the overall impact. "
"So that's how it is."
"Now that you mention it, that's true. I even saw that Beijing Television advertisement about black lung yesterday. Actually, it wasn't that scary. I've gotten used to it after watching it for so long. The quit smoking PSAs are all the same, such as the death rate, infertility rate, and how black lungs are. There's nothing new about them and I'm already sick of them. For a veteran smoker who has been watching such quit smoking PSAs for a decade, I'm already numb to them. There's no way I would be scared off by them and stop smoking. If I had the time to do so, I might as well broadcast some other advertisements."
"Yeah, the quit smoking PSAs these days are all pretty much the same."
"When I first saw them a few years ago, I was a little disgusted. I even quit smoking for a few months. But the more I watched them, the more I felt they didn't matter.
"Beijing Television is in for a headache."
"Tomorrow is World No Tobacco Day. Let's see how they change it."
"Tomorrow? That would be too late. If he couldn't make it in time, wouldn't he have to pay a fine? It seems like the current policy is very strict. There is a minimum requirement for TV stations to do public service. If they don't meet the minimum requirement, they will be fined quite a lot. "
…
The other side.
At home.
As Zhang Ye was chatting with his parents, Hu Fei called.
"Little Zhang, it's me," Hu Fei said.
Zhang Ye exclaimed, "Brother Hu, what's the matter?"
Hu Fei's tone was a little hesitant. "Well, I do have something to talk to you about."
"Go ahead." Zhang Ye took the remote control and lowered the volume of the TV. His parents, who were beside him, did not say a word.
Hu Fei nodded and said, "It's hard to explain over the phone. How about this, let's meet up and talk."
"Sure, where?" Zhang Ye never hesitated when it came to his friends and people who had helped him before.
Hu Fei thought for a moment, then coughed and probed, "You're almost a B-list celebrity now, so it's not convenient for you to meet up with the public and get surrounded by your fans. Why don't you come over to Beijing Television Station? You haven't been back since you left, so you can come over to have a look. Dafei, Xiao Lu, and the others also miss you a lot, so why don't you come over to catch up with them? Since you don't have any work to do, you should have some time, right? "
Zhang Ye blinked and roughly knew what was going on.
Without waiting for him to say anything, Hu Fei immediately said, "Ha, then it's settled. Send me a message when you're almost there. I'll be waiting for you. I'm hanging up now."
Before he could say anything, the call was hung up.
Zhang Ye was speechless. He turned his head and said, "Dad, Mom, I'm going to Beijing Television Station."
His mother stared at him. "Beijing Television Station? Where are you going? "
"Hai, a friend is looking for me. Maybe there's something he needs my help with." Zhang Ye was already getting dressed. "I won't be having lunch at home."
His mother said unhappily, "They fired you back then and chased you away. Now that they have something to ask of you, you're going over just because they want you to? Have you forgotten about the incident with Wang Shuixin? It was all that Wang guy's fault. His son ran amok in the unit and even beat someone up. His father also kept finding trouble with you and even got involved in corruption and bribery. 'Father Wei' was such a good comrade, but he was forced to his death by him. You upheld justice, but the television station still fired you. What the hell is this!? Just mentioning this makes me angry! "
Zhang Ye exclaimed, "Didn't Wang Shuixin get sentenced? The television station fired me not because I was wrong in upholding justice, but because I caused an accident during a live broadcast."
His mother said angrily, "You're still speaking up for them?"
Zhang Ye gave a dry laugh. "I didn't speak up for them. When I was fired, I was also quite unhappy. But I understand the television station. Some of the ways I handled things were indeed not appropriate."
"You damned child!" His mother was slightly angry.
Zhang Ye hurriedly coaxed her, "Mom, calm down, calm down. I know what I'm doing."
His mother said, "What do you know!?"
His father said, "Alright, let our son handle his own matters. What are you worrying about?"
Zhang Ye's feelings towards Beijing Television Station were very complicated. It was so complicated that even he could not understand it. Having been in the industry for so long, if he were to go through his previous work experiences, the place he had the most trouble with was Beijing Television Station. He had gotten into a fight here, gone to the police station, scolded the leaders, and even "caused trouble" during a live broadcast. Finally, he was fired. With so many negative experiences, if it were anyone else, they would definitely not have a good impression of this place. Zhang Ye was no different, but the difference was that he still had very special feelings for this place.
First of all, he was born and raised in Beijing Television Station. He had not only grown up watching Beijing Television, but he had also grown up watching BTV Literature, BTV Sports, BTV Education, and other local television stations that could not receive any signal from other provinces. Such feelings could not be explained with words. Secondly, this was the place that nurtured and made him who he was. It was Hu Fei's invitation that allowed him to come here and get the chance to appear on television for the first time. He was invited to do "Lecture Room". It could be said that this was the most important step on Zhang Ye's road to fame. This was a favor that he could not just throw away.
When his mother finished speaking, Zhang Ye did not expect that he would actually speak up for Beijing Television Station. Thinking about it again, it turned out that Zhang Ye no longer cared about all those grudges from the past.
… …
Half an hour later.
Beijing Television Station's building.
He parked his car at the roadside parking lot and put on his sunglasses before getting out of the car. Zhang Ye went straight to the building's main entrance and looked up at the familiar office building that he had not seen in a long time. He walked in.
In the lobby, someone saw him.
"Eh?"
"This person looks familiar."
"Aiyo! Could it be Zhang Ye? "
"It's Zhang Ye!"
"It's really Zhang Ye!"
"Why is Teacher Zhang here? He's here as a guest? Or is he doing a show? I've never heard of him! "
"Recently, Teacher Zhang has been in the limelight. I don't think there are any rumors of any television stations signing a contract with him. Everyone is just waiting to see, right?"
When Zhang Ye arrived, he did not stand on ceremony. He casually sat down on the sofa in the lobby's resting area and picked up a magazine to read while waiting for someone.
A youth waved at him from not far away. "Teacher Zhang, long time no see."
Zhang Ye looked over and found him familiar, but could not remember his name. He only remembered that he was an employee from another program team who used to work in the same department as him. "Hello."
"Teacher Zhang, you've gotten even more handsome!"
"Teacher Zhang, do you still remember me?"
"Since you're here, does it mean that … you're coming back?"
A few of the staff members who had interacted with Zhang Ye before but were not particularly familiar with him came up to greet him warmly. Two reporters from BTV News even rushed over after hearing the news. They were trying their best to get some first-hand information from Zhang Ye. This was because even a fool would know that Zhang Ye would not appear here for no reason at all. Especially when he had a bad relationship with Beijing Television Station previously. Everyone's imagination was very rich. In an instant, they thought of many possibilities and kept asking questions.
At this moment, Hu Fei arrived.
Accompanying him was a youth with stubble and looked a little tired.
When Hu Fei saw that there were so many people, he quickly said, "Please make way, please make way." Then he casually greeted Zhang Ye and the two of them went up the stairs from the other side. "You're still the most popular. Look, even though you've left Beijing Television Station for so long, everyone still misses you."
Zhang Ye felt that there was a hidden meaning in his words. He smiled and said, "Brother Hu, if there's anything, just say it."
Hu Fei did not beat around the bush and introduced to the left, "This is Sun Han. He's the person in charge of our station's public service announcements last year. He's also the son of an old colleague of mine."
Sun Han stretched out his hand and said, "I've heard a lot about you."
Zhang Ye shook hands with him and said, "Hello."
Hu Fei said a little embarrassedly, "I asked you to come here because of the public service announcements. I believe you've already seen the news this morning. This time, all of the station's public service announcements have been taken down. Tomorrow is World No Tobacco Day, so the new public service announcements have to be approved by tomorrow. It's a very urgent matter, and Little Sun's side has no other choice. Their department has been discussing for a long time, but they still haven't come up with a basic plan yet.
We don't even have a single idea on how to come up with the idea. "Sun Han said with his stubble," I've been really worried these past few days. Teacher Zhang used to be a veteran of the station and even helped the public service announcement department do an electricity conservation ad before. Then you should know that our department is actually not specialized in advertising design. We've only been established for two years and we're mostly in charge of overall planning, funding, and supervising the production. Some of the creative ideas and even the production are done by other professional advertising companies … "
Before coming here, Zhang Ye had already guessed that it would be about this matter. "Then why didn't you look for an advertising company?"
"No one took up the call." Sun Han said worriedly, "When we received the notice, it was around 6 or 7 AM this morning. We immediately contacted an advertising company to come up with a new column of public service announcements for World No Tobacco Day to fill in the gaps. At the very least, we could buy a creative idea and our department could do it ourselves, but we don't have enough funds. The early stage of the quit smoking PSA had already used up all of our funds and budget, so we can't come up with much more. In the end, we had to seek special approval from the higher-ups to give us some money. However, the advertising company did not come to an agreement on the money, but it was more of a problem of time. They felt that there wouldn't be enough time if they accepted the task today and started work tomorrow. They said that they would need at least three days to plan and produce the ad. Three days? As for buying a creative idea, we've asked a few companies, but they couldn't come up with any for the time being. As the demand for quit smoking public service announcements has been very high recently, they've already completed all the cases. "
As he spoke, he had already gone up to the fifth floor.
Zhang Ye asked, "Why don't we just make a simple PSA that conforms to the regulations first?"
Sun Han said helplessly, "That's even worse. We probably won't be able to get the approval, and the station probably won't agree to it either. A public service announcement is also related to the quality of a television station. Although our Beijing Television is not one of the top television stations in the industry with the highest viewership ratings, we're still a mid-tier television station. We can't possibly fool around in this aspect. Besides, the new regulations have just been announced, so I'm afraid we won't be able to fool them even if we wanted to.
Zhang Ye did not say a word.
Sun Han looked at him and said, "Anyway, that's the gist of the situation. Time is very tight, so we don't have any other choice. In the end, we asked a few advertising executives in the industry, as well as a few of our staff from the Public Service Announcement Department. Many of them recommended a person to me — Teacher Zhang."
Zhang Ye glanced at him and said, "We don't have enough funds, manpower, and no creativity. Starting from scratch, to produce a 15 or 25 second PSA in a day? It might be possible to do it crudely, but to do it meticulously and with creativity, it's not realistic at all! "
Sun Han said seriously, "I know this is very difficult, but I really have no other choice. That's why I thought of asking Uncle Hu for help. Although I haven't been in the industry for a long time, I've heard of your name in the advertising industry. The Electricity Conservation PSA, the 'I'll speak for myself' variety show PSA, the Brain Gold PSA, all of them are textbook classics of the advertising industry. Others might not be able to do it, but you can definitely do it!"
Hu Fei added, "Little Zhang, I know that the station did not treat you well back then, but at that critical juncture, the station's decision was forced upon them. I believe you also know that the station is in trouble this time. It's very likely that they will face a huge loss in reputation and fines, so you can't just stand by and do nothing. Just treat it as giving me some face! Besides, your reputation in the media has not been too good recently. There are a lot of negative comments about you. If you take on the PSA, you can turn the situation around to a certain extent. Yes, if you have any other requests, feel free to raise them. "
Sun Han added, "We definitely won't let you do it for free. As for the fees, we can discuss it. As long as you help the station get past this hurdle, I believe that the labor fees …"
Zhang Ye raised his hand and interrupted him, "I don't want any money."
Sun Han was taken aback. He didn't want any money? He said, "But …"
Hu Fei said, "Listen to Little Zhang."
"If you want me to help you with this, I can." Zhang Ye said, "But I have a request."
Sun Han immediately said, "Speak."
Zhang Ye said, "I'll be in charge of all the planning for this case, including the personnel arrangements and the expenditure of the funds. You have to listen to me in everything — that's all."
Sun Han guaranteed, "You don't have to worry about that. You can command all of the department's staff, including me."
Zhang Ye nodded. "Alright then."
Sun Han asked, "Then it's … settled?"
"I'll take on the job. It's been a pleasure working with you." Zhang Ye shook hands with him again.
Sun Han heaved a sigh of relief and shook his hand excitedly. "With you taking on the job, we can rest assured. Thank you so much, Teacher Zhang. You've been a great help!"
Zhang Ye shook his head. "It's still not certain if I can help. Time is too tight."
Hu Fei patted Zhang Ye on the shoulder. "No matter what, thank you, Little Zhang."
Zhang Ye smiled and said, "There's no need to thank me. Since Brother Hu has spoken, even if I have to climb a mountain of swords or plunge into a sea of flames, I will do my best to get this done."
"I like what you said." Hu Fei said, "In any case, I owe you a favor."
Zhang Ye chuckled. "Come on, with our friendship, there's no need for that. Where's the office? There's no time, let's get to work! "
Sun Han led the way. "It's over here. Please follow me."
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