Chapter 33 Suspension

 “That would be me. What would Chairman Zhao like to talk about?”

Se Cai said after taking a deep breath.

He frowned slightly, affected by Chairman Zhao’s open hostility.

PR Department… It was the PR Department again!

Se Cai felt confident about his piece yesterday, he could firmly say that it was the best news he had written in his career. It had even gotten the approval of someone as experienced as Station Manager Wei.

So how could it have gone wrong when it reached the PR Department?

With a raised brow, Se Cai looked straight at Chairman Zhao and enquired, “If it’s related to the piece, I would like to request Chairman Zhao to point out what was wrong.”

“What kind of attitude is that? Fine, I’ll tell you what’s wrong with your script!”

Chairman Zhao slammed the table and said. He was annoyed that a small reporter like Se Cai would have the audacity to look at him with a challenge in his eyes.

“First, your piece mentions government official that is above the county rank so how dare you skip informing the PR Department before you send it off to province and central news. This is a gross violation of our department’s rules.”

“Second, you’ve mispronounced the official’s name. Everyone at the county admin refers to him as Commissioner Xie, do you know how much shame you have brought to our department?”

“Third, we are not supposed to be so cavalier with news reports on bombs and explosion. With rumors of terrorist attacks on the rise, do you know how much damage your piece has caused or is it your original intention to sow public turmoil?”

Chairman Zhao leaned back in his chair, took a sip of his tea and glared icily at Se Cai.

Xu Jing Song immediately filled another cup and passed it to Chairman Zhao, adding consolingly, “Chairman Zhao, here, please take another sip of the tea to calm down.”

His status as the Deputy Station Manager put him as almost equal standing to this Chairman Zhao, they were both municipal leaders but he felt no harm being a little bit reverential.

His expression changed immediately as he turned away from Chairman Zhao to face Se Cai. He scolded, “Se Cai, quickly apologize to Chairman Zhao and I’m sure he’ll forgive you if you’re willing to suspend yourself to reflect on your mistakes.”

He could barely contain the smile that was twitching at the corner of his lips.

Yesterday, Se Cai stole his son’s credit and openly defied him, now he was going to get his just desserts.

“Chairman Zhao… Se Cai is still new at this so he’s unfamiliar with the inner workings of the system. It’s my fault for not teaching him so please don’t suspend him, take a cut out of my salary instead!”

Hai Dong stood up and sighed apologetically.

Se Cai was deeply grateful towards Director Bai, he knew Hai Dong couldn’t directly challenge Chairman Zhao so shouldering part of the blame was already the best he could do.

Director Bai’s action was especially heartfelt because Se Cai knew Director Bai had been saving to buy himself a house and to find himself a wife.

Se Cai narrowed his eyes and read Chairman Zhao’s mind.

This Chairman Zhao obviously came prepare to pin the blame on Se Cai so chances were, he himself was be particularly familiar with the rules that Se Cai so-called broke.

“Chairman Zhao, do calm down but I believe you might have treated me unjustly.”

Se Cai smiled confidently as he continued at length.

“First, according to your department’s rules, one could bypass informing the department if the situation calls for it. If you don’t believe me, you could refer to Clause 12 of Chapter 3 that was added to the Department Rulebook last year. Furthermore, even if I wanted to send the script to your department, it wouldn’t have reached any of you because it’s already over the department’s working hours.”

Se Cai hit the nail on the first point. The PR Department was a governmental body, it worked a 9 to 5 schedule. Unlike the people at the Tv Station, no one would have stayed after 5.

“Second, the pronunciation for Commissioner Sai is not wrong. It’s the people from the administration that have been calling the commissioner wrongly. In fact, I hope Chairman Zhao would correct them when you return.”

“What, you said it’s wrong so it must be wrong?”

Chairman Zhao snorted.

In lieu of a reply, Se Cai removed from his pocket a gilded name card. It was the one given to him by Sai Wu himself.

Chairman Zhao accepted the name card with a frown and read aloud from it, “The people’s republic of China State Department Ministry of Public Safety Vice Department Chief, Sai Wu?”

Commissioner Sai had just been transferred to his new post so he was still using his old name card.

However that wasn’t the point. The point was the pin yin underscored underneath the Chinese characters… Sai Wu.

Since it was written on his own name card, Se Cai was of course in the right on the second account.

“Third, there’s no reason for us to suppress this news. There were many people at the actual scene, if we didn’t release an official news, it would lead to rumors and speculation. Then, you would have a real terrorist scare on your hands!”

Se Cai rephrased what Manager Wei had said the day before. The purpose of the news was to calm the public and validate the truth.

It was the responsibility of the media to do so.

“You…”

Chairman Zhao was startled by Se Cai’s brilliant defense. He refuted every single point that he had brought up. Not only that Se Cai had done it with great eloquence!

Se Cai cheered inwardly when he saw Chairman Zhao’s flustered demeanor.

The so-called mistakes were riddled with flaws, but Chairman Zhao assumed they were enough to bully a reporter as inexperienced as Se Cai, and he would be right if not for Se Cai’s mind-reading cheat.

Furthermore, Se Cai had pulled out another important piece of information from Chairman Zhao’s mind.

He was indeed here on the behest of Wang Run Fa. His intention was to punish Se Cai for sniffing around Blue Sky Rehab. Se Cai went to the school on the request on a mysterious tip, he didn’t know it would lead to so many ensuing troubles. They had bribed the hospital, kidnapped an anchor and now conducted administrative bullying. How tyrannical this Wang Run Fa can be?

“You… are you insinuating the PR Department of putting the blame on you unjustly?”

Chairman Zhao was shivering with anger. He was used to people bowing to him referentially so he made livid by Se Cai’s reaction. He stared threateningly at Se Cai, adding, “It’s not you nor the tv station who decide whether a news is threatening to public order and whether it should be suppressed or not, only the PR Department can do that!”

Chairman Zhao was obviously very angry because he had uttered such shameless arguments.

“And as a representative from the PR Department, my sentence is that you… are guilty as charged! You’ll be suspended from now on!”

He slammed his notebook on the table loudly, resonating the finality of his statement.

 Xu Jing Song added fuel to the fire, he pointed his finger at Se Cai, berating, “Se Cai, how dare you oppose Chairman Zhao? Suspension is too light a punishment for you, you’re fired!”

Se Cai knew he was in the right but this was a lost cause. He was just a lowly reporter, what can he do?

“Director Bai, thank you for your kindness and mentorship.”

Se Cai sighed and left his reporter ID on the table. Now where would he go to earn his News Point?

With such an administration, no wonder County S Tv Station had stagnated in its growth.

“Xiao Se!”

Director Bai’s eyes were red. He opened his mouth to say something but ultimately swallowed it.

He dared to argue with the station manager but this was the chairman from the PR Department. Unlike Se Cai, he was not in his twenties anymore, he no longer had the drive and the recklessness to quarrel with his superior.

Suddenly, the door of the conference room opened with a bang.

“Station Manager Wei?”

Se Cai said in surprise.

“Chairman Zhao, sorry I’m late, I was held up by the people from the Province station.”

Manager Wei uttered in between breaths. It looked like he ran there.

“Of course, I understand that Manager Wei must be busy with everyday workings of the station. I wouldn’t want to disturb unless truly necessary…”

Chairman Zhao stood up and said.

Station Manager of the County Station was slightly higher in ranking than Chairman Zhao. At the end of the day, he was only a right-hand man for the Department Head.

“I couldn’t help but overheard Se Cai was getting suspended. Could you tell me what is his lapse?”

Manager Wei said as he walked to the conference table.

“Manager Wei, your reporter here violated departmental rules, openly defied his superior’s orders, and worst of all, his suicide bombing piece will cause general panic and undermine public order!”

Chairman Zhao continued in a serious tone, “I believe this kind of rogue reporter should definitely be suspended and even blacklisted in the journalism world.”

 “Is that so?”

Before Manager Wei could reply, a female voice came from outside the open door.

The voice clicked in Se Cai’s mind, it was one he had heard before!

[My release rate will probably slow down in these few days in preparation for migration to webnovel.com as fan translation. Still unpaid but the formatting should be easier on the eyes.]

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